ABSTRACT
ARTIMUS – Rite of Passage (Dire Life Records, direlife.bandcamp.com)
Abstract Artimus plays an eclectic mix of 70s funk, R&B,
psych, acid rock, punk, glam, etc. Reportedly this album
was recorded in Artimus Alexander’s Manhattan apartment,
with Alexander himself performing all duties, playing
all instruments, etc. That’s dedication and talent!
But does it translate to the music? If you’re into
the whole boogie-rock sound, tinged with 90s grunge, then
yes – the album comes off clean, tightly arranged,
but loose and soulful in feel. On occasion, the tracks
veer into 80s post-punk sounds, such as portions of “At
Large,” the second track on the disc. It’s
got cool angular lines with a bit of drone, but it also
has a loose, soulful sound endemic to the entire album.
And an interesting album, it is. At times brilliant, but
at other times, banal. Mixed reaction here.
DOMINANT LEGS – Invitation (Lefse Records, www.lefserecords.com)
Hmmm…”Take a Bow” sounds like a 70s
disco funk track. Other tracks are overly heavy on the
synth and sound like 80s top 40 pop. Some tracks even
try to blend the disco funk and 80s synth pop, and it’s
even more disastrous. Skip this.
EMPEROR
X – Western Transport (Bar None Records, www.bar-none.com)
This reminds me quite a lot of a much more sedate They
Might Be Giants. This is probably due to the vocal qualities
exhibited by Chad Metheny, who is Emperor X. The arrangements
are lush and creative, and not quite as smarmy as TMBG.
Instead of smarmy, you get intelligent, pleasant pop music.
A real highlight is the fourth track, “A Violent
Translation of the Concordia Headscarp.” The rapidly
plucked acoustic guitar, the pounding drums, and the semi-lo-fi
recording make for a really cool sound. I really love
this track! The equally oddly named track that follows,
“The Magnetic Media Storage Practices of Rural Pakistan,”
has a beautiful, meandering melody and very odd lyrics.
“Compressor repair is not in my skill set / And
that’s why the floor’s wet,” are the
opening lines to “Compressor Repair,” a track
with overdubbed vocals and piano. Funny, yet pretty. This
is a cool disc.
GRINGO STAR – Count Yer Lucky Stars (www.giganticmusic.com)
Yet another band providing an update of the 60s pop sound.
I guess it’s OK, but there’s been better examples
of this kind of music. Most of them were active back in
the 1960s. If you really like the 60s sound, particularly
a bit more of the garage sound, you may enjoy this, however,
I prefer bands to create their own unique sound.
NOISE
BY NUMBERS – Over Leavitt (www.jumpstartrecords.com)
Noise By Numbers features Dan Schafer, AKA Danny Vapid,
formerly of Screeching Weasel. But this ain’t SW
style pop-punk. Instead, you get a more mature, Midwestern
style post-punk album here. Think moiré along the
lines of Husker Du’s mid to late period albums,
blended with just a touch of punk. Plenty of crunch, lots
of thick guitar. Other reviewers have cited Naked Raygun
influence noticed, but I don’t hear it. There’
not enough “Whoa, whoas!” Seriously, this
album exhibits a real maturity of sound, and one that
I wouldn’t have expected from a former member of
SW. No, I am NOT dissing SW, it’s just a totally
different mindset with them. Standout tracks include “Lost
My Way,” which manages to blend super crunch and
pop jangle together and makes it work, and “Yeah
Whatever,” another track blending crunch and jangle.
Good stuff.
PATCHES
AND GRETCHEN – I Steal Carrots (Sandpaper Tongue
Records, www.patchesandgretchen.com)
Gretchen Seichrist is Patches and Gretchen, and she offers
up some really cool, laid back indie music. We get a mix
of acoustic and electric, with all the tracks having a
rootsy feel, with the common denominator being a sense
that Gretchen is just kind of singing to herself and her
friends, just for the love of it. There’s nothing
forced or artificial here at all, which is a refreshing
change of pace these days. A couple of the tracks seem
to be mislabeled, but I am guessing the third track is
“Oh Jenny,” and is a really nice easy, loping
track. I also really like the funky minimalism of “No
Proof of Life (on Mars),” and the whole feel of
“What Mama’s Got,” with its sad, down
home fiddle playing, just floored me. A few of the tracks
make interesting use of tongue clicking, as well, adding
to the uniqueness. The album closes with “Worst
Loss Blues,” which at times meanders in an angular
way, in its quietness, offering a final bit of weirdness.
This is a real winner, here, folks!
TAGGART – For What It’s Worse (www.taggartrocks.com)
This sounds like it’s trying to sound indie, but
it comes across as pretty generic modern rock music. There’s
really not much else to say, other than the fact that
this is my last album reviewed in 2011 is kind of disappointing.
I had hoped to end the year on a higher note. Oh well,
I get to go through all the best stuff now and put together
my 10 best list! That should make up for this.
A
LULL – Confetti / Confetti Reprise (Mush Records,
www.mushrecords.com)
The new album is
Confetti, and "Confetti Reprise"
is an EP of unreleased tracks from the
Confetti
sessions. OK, wow. This is different. Who remembers Crash
Worship? They were a group that performed amazing percussion-trance
music in the 80s and 90s. Now. What if Crash Worship had
added a distinct pop music sensibility to their pagan percussion
act? What if they added smooth boy-band vocal harmonies?
What if they added tUnE-yArDs-like backing effects and vocals?
And then they added loads of loops and electronics? Well,
then they would be A LULL. On first listen to the first
songs, this sounds fresh and creative. And so they are.
But there really isn’t a whole lot of variety, and
the songs start to all sound very similar to one another.
“Weapons for War” starts things out really well,
with vocal percussion effects and an explosion of noise.
The vocal effects and percussion are very martial, which
is appropriate for this tune. Each of the other tracks,
taken on its own, is pretty damn good stuff, with the same
combination of intense percussion, smooth vocals, and pop
sensibility. But taken together, as an album, the songs
do tend to run together and sound a lot alike. “Confetti
Reprise” is a separately released EP of out-takes
from the recording sessions not included on the album. But
I’m not so sure why – “Pot Luck,”
the first track is pretty awesome in its own right, with
loads of crunch. As a matter of fact, the EP may be better
than the album, with a bit more variety.
GREENLAND IS MELTING – Where Were We (Paper+Plastick,
www.paperandplastick.com)
Bluegrass music with an attitude! I first heard of these
guys at this year’s Awesomefest 5 in San Diego,
an annual pop-punk music festival. What the hell were
these guys doing on the bill? Well, I didn’t care
why, I dug them, and picked up a copy of their brand new
album. This is mostly acoustic, with guitars, banjo, and
standup bass, and nicely harmonized vocals – harmonized
with a snarl, that is. “Always” is a favorite,
with its quick tempo, great energy, and changes in character.
I also really like “Hogtown Greek” –
hell, I like the whole thing. Good stuff!
LIPSTICK HOMICIDE / BILLY RAYGUN – Split CD (John
Wilkes Booth Records, www.johnswilkesboothrecords.com,
Bloated Kat Records, http://servofromtheinternet.com)
I fell in love with Lipstick Homicide at Awesomefest
5! And lucky for me and you, they happened to have a new
CD recently rreleased, a split with Billy Raygun! So I
get to review it for you! Lipstick Homicide is a three-piece
from the heartland of Iowa, though they played with a
fourth member at Awesomefest. The vocals are performed
by an extremely talented pair of women who also sport
the coolest matching cat tattoos I’ve ever seen.
It’s Rachel Feldmann, who also plays bass, and Kate
Kane, also the guitarist. Rounding out the regular trio
is Luke Ferguson on drums. The music is very tight power-pop-punk,
and is performed with loads of enthusiasm. There’s
seven tracks here, every one a pop-punk gem. I especially
like “Moody’s Point,” with its great
hooks and cool harmonized vocals. Billy Raygun is really
good punk, but I think they kind of pale in comparison
to Lipstick Homicide – they didn’t do themselves
any favors in this match-up. They’re just a little
rougher than Lipstick Homicide, not quite as tight, snappy
and poppy. But they do have a little more “serious”
sound, and maybe a bit more complex, with key changes
switching between major, minor, and modal, so maybe this
makes up for it. “Ashhea,” the closer, is
a particularly strong track. This is a pretty awesome
disc, highly recommended!
STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS – Mirror Traffic
(Matador Records, www.matadorrecords.com)
Another new album from former Pavement member, Stephen
Malkmus, his fifth since the Pavement days. This is interesting
pop music that meanders across musical borders into lands
of country, commercial pop, folk, 60s pop, rock, and so
on. I particularly enjoyed “No One Is (As I Are
Be),” the second track on the disc, with its quiet
acoustic guitar, laid-back feeling, and the addition of
a trombone, glockenspiel, piano and harmonica. The next
song, “Senator,” is probably the most raucous
on the album, but with some pretty silly, crass lyrics.
Some tracks meander too far into territory that I don’t
enjoy, such as “Brain Gallop,” which has too
many elements of white-boy funk and 70s arena rock for
my taste. On the other hand, “Jumblegloss”
is a really cool, albeit way too short track, that is
very aptly named. “Spazz” is kind of cool,
changing meter and tempo pretty rapidly. And then we get
“Long Hard Book,” with tons of slide guitar
that annoys the heck out of me. Overall, this is a mixed
bag – but an interesting one, at that.
MATES
OF STATE – Mountaintops (Barsuk Records, www.barsuk.com)
Bouncy, happy, grin! That’s the immediate reaction
I get listening to this album of sugary pop. It’s
heavy on synth, with happy male-female vocal harmonizing.
And that’s about all you get. There’s nothing
striking or original about it, but you may need insulin
injections after listening. “Total Serendipity”
is one possible exception, though – it’s still
happy bouncy grin music, but it has a white-person 60s
style R&B feel, and includes brass instruments and
organ with less synth. Different, but not necessarily
better.
PALADINO (www.paladinomusic.com)
Nice, mellow alt-country music here. The opener, “Lonely
Mountain,” is a strong, up-tempo track. Jonathan
Harkham’s deep, relaxed lead vocals are a great
counterpoint to the frenetic pace of the instrumentals.
If there was a pop-punk version of alt-country, this track
would define it. The tracks on the disc definitely have
plenty of twang, and lean heavily toward the country side
of things, but there’s plenty of energy in the music,
too. “In Exile” is a good example, with almost
punk-like guitar with a distinct twang. Tracks like “Green
Grass of Home” and “Have You Ever Been Lonely”
are pretty much full-on country, and less to my liking.
I really like the faster tracks, though, with “Here
I Lie” being another good one. If you enjoy both
indie music and alt-country, try this out.z
THE
PACK A. D. – Unpersons (Mint Records, www.mintrecs.com)
This album features music hat sort of blends the best
aspects of northwest grunge, punk rock, and garage, sort
of in a White Stripes or Teengenerate sort of way. Even
cooler are the slower tracks, like “Cardinal Rule,”
which just rocks. This is apparently just a guitar/drums
duo, which is awesome for the huge sound they get. I also
really like “Pieces,” probably the closest
thing to a ballad The Pack A.D. has. It has such a cool,
easy, loping feel to it. Cool stuff!
PUJOL – Nasty, Brutish, and Short (Saddle Creek
Records, wqww.saddle-creek.com)
This is garage-punk, no doubt about it. Cool, 60s retro
garage rock with an attitude, good up-tempo stuff. An
interesting Star Trek The Next Generation reference is
in he song “Emotion Chip (No Feeling).” The
song is about not having feelings for someone, but the
title refers to Commander Data, who received an emotion
chip to allow him to have feelings and emotions. Nerds!
Most of the tracks are pretty quick paced, cool garage,
but a few slow things down a bit and don’t work
quite as well, sounding more like old classic rock, like
“Battles,” the third track. Overall, though,
pretty worthy.
COLIN
STETSON – Those Who Didn’t Run EP (www.cstrecords.com)
Uh, jaw drops. This shows the amazing things that can
be done with a saxophone in the hands of a talented artist.
Colin Stetson makes some amazing sounds on this 2-track
EP, with each track coming at just over 10 minutes. The
music is minimalist, in a sense, in that it just features
Stetson’s sax plus bass. But the sound is thick
and intriguing. The title track sounds heavily processed,
though there is no looping or overdubbing at all. The
effects are apparently created by recording with several
mics in various positions. Whatever technizue is used,
it’s pretty mind blowing that these sounds come
from a baritone sax. It’s free jazz mixed with heavy
industrial and trance sounds, and it makes my spine shiver.
The other track, “The End of Your Suffering,”
has a somewhat “cleaner” sound, and is performed
with alto sax and what sounds like it could be a synth
adding nothing more than a percussive, but non-intrusive,
beat. This is minimalism in its purist form, with repeating
lines, but in manic fashion. Amazing stuff!
THEE OH SEES – Carrion Crawler / The Dream (In the
Red Records, www.intheredrecords.com)
This is classic 60s psychedelic-garage kind of stuff.
It’s dynamic and exciting, and if you’re a
fan of the genre, you’ll surely enjoy this. To me,
though, it’s too much of the same sound over too
long a period.
VARIOUS – Awesomefest 5 Compilation
This is the official compilation CD from Awesomefest
4, held in San Diego over Labor Day weekend. No, this
isn’t live recordings of the proceedings, but it
is a comp featuring 40 of the 60 plus bands that played
over the course of the completely DIY/volunteer run punk
festival. It’s chock full of punk, pop-punk and
post-hardcore music, at about an hour and twenty minutes.
It’s uniformly good stuff, but there are, of course,
some stand-outs that need to be mentioned. CITY MOUSE,
a band that was scheduled but didn’t make the festival,
offers up “Bird Song,” and it makes me really
sad that they didn’t make it, because this is cool
stuff! THE COPYRIGHTS’ “The New Ground Floor”
is an energetic wall of pop-punk sound. I really like
the super melodic sound of “Cold Feet” from
the CREEPS. It’s great power-pop, with awesome vocals.
“Macy,” from GATEWAY DISTRICT is cool, and
indicates that they may have had a bit of an off night
when I saw them, because the track is better than the
live show was. LIPSTICK HOMICIDE, one of the best bands
of the entire weekend, offers up one of their best tracks,
“Moody’s Point,” full of incredible
hooks and harmonies. NEW CREASES’ self titled track
is great, as is “Straigh to the Office,” from
the legendary SCARED OF SHAKA. This disc is crammed with
great punk, and I don’t think there’s a bad
one I the bunch. Unfortunately, this may have been a release
only for festival attendees, so keep an eye out on e-bay,
I guess.
1,2,3
– New Heaven (French Kiss Records, www.frenchkissrecords.com)
1,2,3 produce some interesting music. It’s heavy
on the synth, and has strong overtones of 60s girl-band
rock music. But it’s different in that it’s
less “snappy,” and more dripping with soul.
“Lonesome Boring Summer” is a great example
of this, as is “Wave Pool.” The opener, “Work,”
is a different flavor, with it’s pretty upbeat modern
sound, with crunchy guitar chorus and pounding drums.
The high-pitched vocals of lead singer Nic Snyder are
alternately smooth and shining, sort of like wha you would
hear on an Antlers album, and down and gritty, with loads
of expression. “Scared but Not That Scared”
has more of an 80s post-new-wave feel, mixed with indie
folk. “Sorry, Soldier” is a full-on country
ballad. Other tracks have different sounds, too. But,
lest you think this is some Ween-like satire, it really
isn’t. It sounds like this is a band that just enjoys
playing different genres and not being pigeon-holed. There’s
no sense of sarcasm or smarminess in any of the tracks;
rather, they seem honest. This is decent stuff.z
BEL
AIR – Spring
(www.belairtheband.com)
Spring is the first in a series of four seasonal EPs
from this New York City band, which plays nice, mellow,
Americana infused indie rock. The music is simple, the
vocals are harmonious, and the country twang is just enough
to provide the desired effect without becoming overbearing.
The four-song disc starts out with “Cowboy,”
a track on which the reverb laden guitar has an almost
surf-like sound, and the vocal harmonies are spot on.
Other tracks have a similar blend that makes for a decent
listen.zz
BLACK
WINE – Summer of Indifference (www.dongiovannirecords.com)
Welcome to the second album from this NJ group, featuring
a trio of singer-songwriters. They each get their own
spotlights on this album, which is one reason to like
this – variety in sounds and styles keeps the listener
from getting bored. The styles range from 80s post-punk
crunch to psychedelic garage rock to great indie-rock.
“Through the Foam,” the second track on the
disc, seems to encapsulate a lot of these qualities. “Then
comes “End of Days,” a super crunchy track
with cool, angular lines and a smoother contrasting chorus.
“Ocean’s Skin” mixes things up considerably,
with a more indie jangle track, with hints of Americana
(otherwise known as alt-country). The closer, “Maycrowning,”
is a cool track with awesome deadpan vocals from drummer
Miranda Taylor.” Damn, this is good stuff.
CABIN DOGS – Midnight Trail ( www.cabindogs.com)
This is mild, moderate to slow paced country-folk music.
I find nothing interesting, exciting, or original here.
They even try to get “funky” on some tracks.
And they fail.
CLOUD
CONTROL – Bliss Release (Infectious Music, www.infectiousmusicuk.com)
Entertaining pop-folk music coming out of Australia.
It’s kind of light and breezy, with hooks galore.
The album opens with “Meditation Song #2 (Why Oh
Why),” which starts with simple acoustic guitar
and vocals, but soon enough the electric guitar comes
in with loads of psychedelic fuzz. The keyboards add to
that 60s psychedelic hippie feel, too. Stand-out tracks
include the dark “Ghost Story,” “This
is What I Said,” with its South African vibe, and
the simple, haunting “Hollow Drums.” Nice.
DISAPPEARS – Guider (Kranky, www.kranky.net)
This is cool stuff that reminds me, in some ways, of
the Fall. In other ways, I hear heavy shades of Krautrock,
with plenty of repetitive lines. There’s loads of
reverb, and densely packed guitars, bass and drums. The
end result is a sonic wall that throbs and pulsates. “Revisiting”
is one of the sparest tracks on the 6-song album, sounding
almost like a modern version of Neu! It’s got a
repetitive, pulsing line, minimalist vocals, and “solos”
that just kind of evolve out of single notes and chords.
Wait – these guys are from Chicago?! Sounds more
like they’re from 1980s Europe and fell through
a time warp to the present day. This track also clocks
in at nearly 16 minutes long, and may be just a tad excessive.
But, yeah, it’s on my iPod now.
HIMALAYAN
BEAR – Hard Times (www.absolutelykosher.com)
This is an album full of contrasts. Some of the tracks
are boring as shit - cross country ballads with 50s early
rock ballads and you get…boring shit. But other
tracks are much more interesting. The last track, in particular,
“Man of Fire,” is sort of Antlers-like in
its dreaminess, ambience, and falsetto vocals. And “Half
Wit Son” isn’t bad, either, sounding like
a less noisy, less intense Swans track. “Peace River”
is a microcosm of this disc, starting out interesting
for the first half, and then getting pretty dull. Mixed
bag here.
KAY
KAY AND HIS WEATHERED UNDERGROUND – Introducing
(www.suburbanhomerecords.com)
Now this is different! Take Leon Redbone and an indie
band, put them into the superconducting supercollider
at Fermi Labs, let them spin around and smash into each
other, and you get Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground!
The curtain rises (yes, it’s like seeing a show)
and the scene seems to be a garden. Birds are singing,
and the violins and harmonized vocals swell sweetly, the
flutes fluttering away. I am in love with “Oh Lord,
I Hate You California.” It starts out with an island
feel, and then the violins come in. It then turns into
a folksy, boppin’ tune, that has an old-timey feel,
with its tuba, muted trumpet. Steel drums and violins
on the instrumental sections between verses are just beautiful.
The ending features a guitar with reverb and the sounds
of the ocean and sea gulls. Nice. Songs range from a rag-time
feel to a country feel, all with a modern pop sound. Unique
and entertaining!
THE LIONS – Iconclastic Motion Picture Soundtrack
and Pub Songs & Sing-A-Longs (www.thelionsrockandroll.com)
The press materials that came with this disc say that
the title reflects the band’s diverse approach to
music. That’s funny, because all the songs seemed
to sound a lot alike. It’s kind of working class
rock with a touch of country, sort of like John Cougar
Mellencamp or Bruce Springsteen, only not as good or powerful.
Zzzzzzzz
JUNE
AND JEAN MILLINGTON –Play Like a Girl (www.JuneMillington.com)
June and Jean Millington formed the first all-girl rock
band to sign to a major label, Fanny, in the 1960s. And
they’re still playing. Today they run workshops
and programs to encourage girls to play rock music. It’s
a worthy cause. But, unfortunately, the music they serve
up is pretty dull, ordinary rock music, such as you might
hear in any local dive bar on live music night. Granted,
they’re more talented musicians than your local
cover band, but the songs just don’t seem to have
much spark or soul.
CHRIS
CUBETA AND THE LIARS CLUB (www.chriscubeta.com)
This is old-fashioned commercial rock’n’roll,
but it ain’t all that commercial. The band describes
themselves as playing the kind of music Neil Young or
Pearl Jam would be playing if they were in 2011 Brooklyn.
Not exactly an attention grabbing PR statement for the
Jersey Beat audience, is it? It’s somewhat apt,
too. The performance is solid, don’t get me wrong.
But it bored me to tears. If you like an update to 70s
and 90s commercial rock, fine. But that ain’t my
thing.
DELLA VALLE – Terminology (www.dellavallemusic.com)
This is all over the place, as far as genres. The opening
track, “Bitches Be Crazy,” is a whimsical
track that blends white boy NJ hip-hop with ordinary rock
music. “Something Just Ain’t Right”
is a bluesy track that sounds a bit forced. Then comes
“Put Your Slippers On,” a white boy reggae
track. The rest of the tracks on this mercifully short
EP are standard commercial rock music, nothing special.
Skip it.
OAX
– This Distance (Bladen County Records, www.bladencountyrecords.com)
Kind of “Americana,” indie rock blended with
a bit of country. I’ve heard better. This kind of
drags, to my senses. It doesn’t sound like the band
is really excited about what they’re doing. This
5-song EP tends to lean heavier on the rock side of the
equation, so it ends up sounding neither like full-on
Americana or full-on indie rock. The first track, “Pretty
Good Start,” is probably the most countrified of
the disc. Another “meh” disc his time.
ARRICA ROSE AND THE …’S – Let Alone
Sea (pOprOck records, www.myspace.com/poprockrecords)
z
This is quiet music, part dream pop, part country-folk.
It features multi-tracked harmonized vocals. And most
of it is nice, but sorta dull. A few tracks do stand out,
though. “Summer’s Gonna Burn Me (and So Are
You)” is a good one, sounding kind of like an old
jazz tune, complete with trumpets and trombones with wah
wah mutes. I also like “Nothing Nada Nothing,”
which blends the twang of country with a heavy dose of
R&B, with the aforementioned horns making a reappearance.
But, the phrase, “saving the best for last”
really applies here. The final track is an incredible
“mash-up” of “Video Killed the Radio
Star” and “What a Wonderful World.”
It’s so quiet and sad and beautiful. Overall, just
OK, but that last track is a heartbreaker.
JOSH
OTTUM – Watch TV (Tapete Records, www.tapeterecords.de)
Yet another mixed bag, this is mostly folksy Americana-pop-rock,
complete with acoustic guitars and harmonized vocals.
But then there’s “Storms in the Summertime,”
which is similar in instrumentation, but comes off as
just cheesy. The latter part of the disc has tracks that
borderline on sounding like 70s top-40 pop, like “Feel
Real Brite.” There is one interesting track. “Secret
Age” is a pretty awesome cheesy lounge number, complete
with synth and rock steady tick-a-tick-a drumbeat. But
overall, not terribly interesting.
SEVERE
SEVERE – Break Up the Dance (Bad Archer Records,
badarcher.bandcamp.com)
Severe Severe, formed in LA in 2002 and now hailing from
Buffalo, NY, sound more like they came out of 1980s UK.
They would have been right at home on Factory Records
and in the Manchester scene, sounding somewhat like Joy
Division, though a bit more up-tempo and energetic, and
a bit less dark. In some ways, this band also reminds
me of the dark post-punk sounds of Boston’s Proletariat.
The music certainly evokes feelings of nostalgia for the
80s, but I like my bands to do new stuff that I haven’t
really heard before. So this is OK stuff, especially if
you like that sound. But if you’re looking for something
different, this won’t give it to you.
+
ART
BRUT – Brilliant! Tragic! (Cooking Vinyl, www.cookingvinyl.com)
Good old-fashioned power-pop with a punk edge, sort of
like some of the great music that was coming out in the
late 70s and early 80s. “Bad Comedian” has
a distinct 80s post-punk sound. “Brut” means
“dry,” in French. Dry Art, it’s apt,
as the music has an ironic sound to it. “Clever
Clever Jazz” almost sounds like I’m listening
to the Sex Pistols, for cryin’ out loud. Lyrics
match the attitude, like on “Axel Rose,” with
lines like, “I wanna give the world the finger,
with the exception of my favorite lead singer.”
Hahaha, a song all about how no one understands him like
the aforementioned Guns’N’Roses performer.
This is fun stuff that will make you feel like you’ve
almost fallen into a time warp, if it weren’t for
some more modern pop culture references here and there.
It doesn’t break any new ground, but it’s
a lot of fun. I’ll be these guys are a blast live.
DELICATE
CUTTERS – Some Creatures (Skybucket Records, www.skybucket.com)
Hailing from the American Southeast, Delicate Cutters
plays a unique blend of indie rock, folk, and country
music. It’s not your typical Alt-country “Americana”
that’s been so popular lately, as it’s not
twangy. Instead, it goes for solid indie songs and adds
acoustic guitar and fiddle (performed Kevin Nicholson,
renowned in the Irish music scene in the region) to give
it that folksy sound. On some tracks, such as “”Me
and the Birds,” piano is added to give it an “old
timey” feel, as well. “Los Angeles”
is a really sad sounding ballad. Nice, pleasant stuff.
EMA
– Past Life Martyred Saints
(www.souterraintransmissions.com)
Achingly beautiful. This is gorgeous music that imparts
a sense of emotional pain and emptiness. It’s full
of guitar noise and loads of musical tension. There’s
almost a traditional folk sense to this album, if not
for all of the fuzz of the electric guitars. The sound
of desperation would fit well, there. “Grey Ship”
is literally a dirge that starts out with lo-fi sounds
and acoustic guitar, but then subtly shifts to gliding
electric guitars and a higher fidelity sound. Buzzy electronics
are then layered underneath, along with primal percussion
and multi-tracked vocals. “California” blends
the sad musical sounds of The Antlers with the poetic
ranting of the likes of Jim Carroll or Patti Smith. “Milkman”
is a fantastic onslaught of noise, with electric organ
underneath, droning away, and pounding drums. It reminds
me a little bit of a very dark, lo-fi Stereolab blended
with Love & Rockets. “Coda” is an a cappella
track, right out of the Appalachian Mountains, with the
lower voice cracking with obvious stress and pain. “Marked”
follows, and is one of the darkest tracks on the album,
with distorted, rumbling guitars, extremely breathy, pained
vocals, and lyrics like “I wish that every time
he touched me left a mark.” “Butterfly Knife”
starts out with guitar and wailing multi-tracked vocals,
sounding a bit like 80s Lydia Lunch. “Red Star”
is the closer, and it starts out so very slowly and quietly,
with guitar meanderings and hushed vocals. It slowly builds
in intensity, and is a song of unrequited love. Most of
the lyrics are simple, about a beautiful boy with green
eyes and a mouth like the sun, like a red star. But eventually,
Erika M. Anderson (EMA) gets tired of waiting, and declares,
“If you want love me, someone will.” Kind
of a hopeful note to end this album? It ends with “Like
a red star, like a blue scar.” Maybe not so hopeful,
after all. Highly recommended!
HERE
WE GO MAGIC – The January EP (Secretly Canadian
Records, www.secretlycanadian.com)
This band from upstate New York is aptly named –
it’s magical. The music soars and sparkles, with
beautiful harmonized vocal backgrounds and electronics
with a subtle psychedelic edge. The six song EP starts
out with “Tulips,” a track that seems to blend
a garage-like sound with electronic pop. “Hands
in the Sky” is, at the same time, a driving tune,
with a steady sense of motion in the background, but also
a relaxing track in its flowing lines, as does “Song
in Three.” “Hollywood,” the fourth track,
is a stunning beauty. Slow and haunting, with the ever
present falsetto vocals of front-man Luke Temple, it reminds
me just a little bit of the Antlers, another favorite.
“Backwards Time” is a more up-tempo track
that sounds a bit like the Police, from their heyday in
the 80s. Overall, the 20 minutes are very well spent,
and leave me wanting more.
JUNIOR
BATTLES – Idle Ages (Paper+Plastick, www.paperandplastick.com)
Junior Battles plays energetic pop-punk that borders on
an “alternative” rock sound. The songs seem
to focus on aging, or being different ages. The opener is
“Seventeen,” which is followed by “Twenty
Five” and “Nostalgic at 23.” Overall,
it seems to be pretty generic alternative pop-punk. One
possible exception is “Ever Get the Feeling You’ve
Been Cheated,” the fourth track on the disc –
or at least parts of it. It sometimes has a cool, edgy,
harder sound than the rest of the disc. But other parts
of the track are just the same as the rest. “Alternative
1985” almost sounds like they’re trying to sound
like Bad Religion. Sorry, this album just doesn’t
do it for me – it sounds too much like lots of music
getting airplay on commercial radio.
PAT
JORDACHE – Future Songs (Constellation Records,
www.cstrecords.com)
So it seems that Pat Jordache had his laptop computer
stolen, which contained all of the master tracks for this
album. Thankfully, there were backups stored in the cloud,
and also thankfully, Constellation Records liked what
they heard and has remastered and reissued this originally
self-released album. Canadian musician Jordache was a
former band-mate of Merril Garbus, in Sister Suvi, and
both share a penchant for somewhat lo-fi recording, simple
instrumentation, and meaningful, quirky music. There’s
atmospheric electronics, simple guitar lines, and vocals
that sound like a cross between Leon Redbone and Wesley
Willis – and I don’t mean that as a slam.
Jordache’s relaxed, deep baritone comes across perfectly
matched to the music. The disc starts out with “Radio
Generation,” which comes across as sort of a fanfare.
There’s kind of a majesty to it. “Get It (I
Know You’re Going To)” is really cool, with
it’s lo-fi background atmospherics, sounding very
breezy, and a little dark and futuristic, sort of like
the soundtrack from some post-apocalyptic film, but with
a hint of bright hopefulness. This album has a really
great chill feeling to it, but still maintains a drive
and energy. This one gets a big recommendation from me.
LITURGY
– Aesthethica (Thrill Jockey, www.thrilljockey.com)
Oh my. This is quite the study in contradictions, now,
isn’t it? Thrill Jockey, the label that pioneered
things such as the jazz-influenced “post rock”
movement, releasing a black metal album? But, I guess
this is no ordinary black metal group. Liturgy has the
shrieked vocals, the rapid fire drumming, the screaming
guitars, and all. But there seems to be a more experimental
edge to this album, and even some harmonious sounds. There
are no discernable lyrics here, just lots of shrieking
sounds made by voice. There are lots of powerful chords,
lots of virtuoso performances on guitars. There’s
little in the way of song structure, though. There seems
to be more focus on riffs, sometimes repeated endlessly,
and sometimes seemingly randomly put together. “Glass
Earth” is really the only track on the disc I could
almost enjoy, but it’s not a black metal track!
It’s harmonized vocals that reminded me somewhat
of Cordelia’s Dad, that group that did Appalachian
folk music several years ago. Maybe someone who’s
into the whole black metal thing might enjoy this, but
I just couldn’t get into it.
MAN
MAN – Life Fantastic (Anti- Records, www.anti.com)
Well, it seems the circus is back in town! Man Man, those
certifiable freak show escapees, are back with a new full-length
album (and a tour, which I caught not too long ago and
reported on here in Jersey Beat). Man Man play an interesting
blend of rock, jazz, circus music, gypsy melodies, and
dance around the lunatic fringe. There’s an interesting
dichotomy, though, between their live shows and studio
recordings. The live shows are wild, crazy, energetic,
manic, and downright exhausting, but such a blast to experience.
The studio recordings, on the other hand, are more controlled
and professional, though they do retain a sense of the
innovation with the instrumentation ranging from standard
guitar/bass/drums to various keyboards to marimba to saxophone,
flute, bass clarinet, and a wide range of percussion instruments.
And “Life Fantastic” is probably the most
professionally sounding, restrained of the studio albums
– perhaps because they recruited Mike Mogis (Saddle
Creek producer and Monsters of Folk member) to produce
instead of doing that themselves. But fear not, Man Man
fans, this is a tremendously enjoyable disc. The music
is what you would expect, ethnic edged rock music, bouncy
and fun, but the lyrics are very dark, covering topics
such as unhealthy relationships, low self esteem, drugs
abuse, and you get the idea. It’s an interesting
dichotomy, especially on tracks such as “Piranha’s
Club,” which is a very upbeat sounding track with
a 50s rock’n’roll feel, but with lyrics about
how shitty life is (“The world is a shitshow / You
can barely handle) and gives advice (very bad advice)
about how to deal with it (smash some plates, crash your
car into a lake, scream, punch your dad in the face).
Sometimes the tracks get almost as wild as the live shows,
such as on “Dark Arts,” a song that seems
to be about self-loathing and self-destruction, with an
intense energy. The album closer, “Oh, La Brea,”
is an outstanding track, so very different from everything
else Man Man has ever done. It’s a “love song”
to the famed tar pits in LA. It’s so different because
it’s got strings, and it just sounds so beautiful.
This is a great album, recommended. But even more highly
recommended is going to see them live, something we all
must do.
PHOENIX
FOUNDATION – Buffalo (memphis-industries.com)
Phoenix Foundation are apparently minor indie celebrities
in their native New Zealand, but they’re still trying
to make a splash over here. This is their fourth album
to date, and it features slightly psychedelic, light,
airy, semi-acoustic pop music. It’s got some ambient
electronics, standard guitar/bass/drums, occasional glockenspiel,
and harmonized vocals. It’s light and airy, ya know,
like a Twinkie, and has no real substance, and breaks
no new ground at all. It’s pleasant enough background
music, but it doesn’t really grab me or get me going
– it’s just there. Just pop music, you know?
SMALL
BROWN BIKE – Fell & Found (No Idea, www.noidearecords.com)
Talk about a throwback. This album sounds like it could
have come out 10 or 15 years ago. Not surprising, given
that this is a reunion album, of sorts, from a band that
was active through most of the 1990s and broke up in 2004.
They play that sort of post-hardcore, Midwest emo sort
of sound, but smoother. Produced by the legendary J. Robbins,
the album has a big, clean, clear, crunchy sound. If you’re
familiar with the Midwest emo sound of the era, you’ll
know what to expect. Think Braid, Gauge, or Cap’n
Jazz, but a little smoother. It’s decent stuff,
but it does sound frozen in time. When Gauge did their
recent reunion, they updated their sound somewhat, and
still sounded fresh. This is decent, but sounds a little
stale.
SOEMA
MONTENEGRO – Pasionaria (Acqua Records. www.acqua-records.com)
Hailing from the suburbs of Buenos Aires, Argentina,
Soema Montenegro performs Latin folk inspired music, but
with a bit of an edge. Montenegro is an incredibly talented
vocalist, with operatic quality in her voice. She is also
quite theatrical, and it comes through clearly in her
singing, even just hearing and not seeing her perform.
There’s intense passion in her voice, and drama
in the interesting instrumentation. The melodies are simply
beautiful. I can’t imagine most of the readers of
this august web-zine running out to buy this, but I certainly
enjoyed this quite a bit. I especially loved “Milonga
de la Ensonada,” sounding like it could have come
out of some Argentinian equivalent of a Broadway show.
THURSTON
MOORE – Demolished Thoughts (Matador Records, www.matadorrecords.com)
The Sonic Youth co-founder releases a solo effort, and
it doesn’t sound too much like any Sonic Youth album
you’ve ever heard, almost. First of all, it’s
very acoustic. Second of all, it has violins and harps
on most of the tracks. It does have some of the signature
dissonant tuning that we’ve all come to know and
love, though, so maybe it does sound a little bit like
Sonic Youth, though “unplugged.” But it’s
more like 101 Strings plays Sonic Youth than anything
else. There are some decent tracks, such as “Circulation,”
the third song on the album. It has a little more attitude
to it, with plenty of dissonance and a bit of experimental
strings. A few of the later tracks seem to have dulcimer
or something that sounds like a hammered dulcimer in the
arrangement, which is kind of interesting. But overall,
this album just seems to be a real snooze. I think the
headline here is “Thurston Moore Finds the New Age
and Pisses Off Fans.” A lot of the long, flowing,
string heavy tracks sound like they would more at home
in some nature landscape film, or something about whales
in the ocean, than in an indie-rock album. I know I probably
should write some long track-by-track review of this,
because of who it is, but after three listens through
the whole thing, trying to find more positive things to
say, I just couldn’t do it anymore.
LLOYD
COLE – Broken Record (Tapete Records, www.tapeterecords.com)
I guess we’re not supposed to call it alt-country
anymore. It’s “Americana” now. And that’s
what you get here, simple country music. Nothing fancy
or flashy, just simple melodies. The former Commotions
front-man has been living in the US, and he apparently
has been listening to a lot of folk and country. The tracks
are gentle and jangly, simple and spare. Guitars, bass,
drums, slide guitar, and mandolin are used, along with
Cole’s baritone vocals. Ain’t nothin’
special, but decent enough if you’re into this sort
of thing.
DAMION
SUOMI & THE MINOR PROPHETS – Go, And Sell All
Of Your Things (Hopeless Records, hopelessrecords.com)
This album is kind of hard to pin down. Sometimes it
sounds very country/Americana, sometimes it’s folksier,
and sometimes it’s more indie folk-rock. The lyrics
are full of religious metaphors and Biblical references,
but it doesn’t sound like any Christian music I’ve
ever heard before. From a purely musical point of view,
this is pretty good stuff, if you’re into the folk-rock
sort of stuff, and if you can ignore the lyrics (or, I
guess, if you’re into that sort of thing, too).
Me? I can overlook it. The music is cool. “The Teacher”
is a favorite; it’s a slower, quieter track, featuring
banjo and Suomi’s plaintive vocals. “I Hope
You Die Sad and Alone” is a drastic shift from the
other tracks, sounding more like an old-time drinking
song about lost love, with just piano, vocals, and crowd
noise in the background. “Pearls (Before the Swine)
is another interesting one, full of admonitions on how
to live, with instrumentation full of horns, clapping,
and shouting chorus.
FROSTING – Fresh Frosting (Kentland Records, www.kentlandrecords.com)
This slickly produced country-rock. To me, it’s
pretty boring stuff. The songs are all mid-tempo, and
really don’t interest me in the least. It sounds
like the kind of music you would hear on an adult contemporary
country radio station. Zzzzzz.
RUTH
GERSON – Deceived
(www.ruthgerson.com)
Americana, country, call it what you want. It’s
country music. There’s been an explosion of it lately.
Some of it is different and interesting, some is just
plain country music. This is the latter. There ain’t
nothin’ special here. If you got a hankerin’
for some geetar strummin’ and down home singin’
this might be for you. But it bored me to tears. There’s
even a countrified cover of Tom Jones’ “Delilah.”
Ugh. The songs just drag and don’t offer anything
to keep my interest.
tune-yArDs
– w h o k i l l (Matador Records, www.matadorrecords.com)
This is wild music for people who can’t sit still
and are a little crazy! I love this stuff; it’s
so off the wall, featuring minimalist melodies, loads
of percussion, and manic vocals. Merril Garbus, simply
put, is a musical genius. The songs on this disc are amazing,
and the arrangements are inspired. The musicianship is
top-notch. Everything about this screams “This album
will be on the top ten list this year!” This seems
to blend jazz, pop, hip-hop, and even an 80s atonal post-punk
aesthetic to create something completely unique. And Garbus’
vocals are so strong and confident that you just have
to take notice. The album starts with “My Country,”
with pounding drums and vocalized melodies. I’ll
call this jazz-pop, because it has a jazzy feel to it.
The melodies are primarily from the vocals, as even the
electronics and horns seem to be there more as percussion,
to punctuate the lines. There’s some pretty inspired
lyrics here, as on most of the tracks, with sentiments
such as “The worst thing about living a lie / Is
just wondering when they’ll find out.” “Es-so”
pushes the envelope further toward jazz, and a really
interesting melodic line that features odd intervals to
keep you off kilter. “Gangsta” is a real stand-out
(hell, every track is a stand-out), with vocalized police
sirens, percussion and vocal gunshots, and lyrics warning
the listener, “never move to my hood,” with
a reggae beat. Interesting lyrics, here too: “Anger
in his heart but he’ll never be a gangster,”
and “Singing from his heart, but he’ll never
be a rock star.” “There is a freedom in violence
that I don’t understand / and like I’ve never
felt before,” is another interesting lyric from
“Riotriot.” “Wooly Wolly Gong”
is very different from the rest of the tracks, and it’s
just plain beautiful in its simplicity. Hell, I can go
on and on about how great each song is, and how varied
this is, how different and, well, plain awesome. But words
can’t do it justice. You are hereby ordered to get
this and listen! You can thank me later.
THE
TUNNEL – Fathoms Deep (www.thetunnelsf.com)
I guess one way to think of this is Swans-light. It tries
to be gritty. It really does. It tries to sound dark.
It comes off more smarmy and oily, though, like they’re
trying too hard. “Wraithes” is a very short
introductory track full of nothing but guitar strumming
in a minor key. Ooh, spooky. “Strange Haven”
just drags too much. “King of the Impossible”
picks up the tempo, and sounds a little more garage-punk-like,
but it still sounds like they’re trying hard to
have that sound, rather than just having it, if you know
what I mean. “Fathomless Deep” is dreamier
and more ambient sounding, but that’s all it is,
instrumentals with female vocals singing “Ahhhh
ahhh” in the background. “Scurvye Dreames”
is one of the most affected tracks on the disc –
it’s slow and draggy, and it the vocals sound like
a desperate attempt to sound like a drunken pirate. In
case you haven’t figured it out yet, I really couldn’t
get into this. It just sounds too fake to me.
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