The Silver Lining - Reviews by Paul Silver
ELEVATOR
ART (www.myspace.com/elevatorart)
The first thing that strikes me about this New Jersey
based group is the diversity in musical styles on this,
their debut album. The tracks range from bluesy to pop
rock to folksy to almost psychedelic. The second thing
that strikes me is how big the sound is. I guess that’s
not surprising, considering that this is a five-piece
outfit, with four of the members sharing vocal duties.
The one thing these tracks do seem to share in common
is a decidedly 70s undercurrent. The album opens with
“Matryoshka,” an upbeat pop tune with harmonized
vocals, jangly guitars and driving drum beats. I really
like “Raised by Wolves,” a very folksy tune
that starts out with quiet guitar and a little girls singing
some really sad lines, begging her daddy to spend some
time with her. It quickly jumps to a more raucous rock
tune, with what is supposed to be the now grown-up girl
singing about how her life turned out. “Punch &
Judy” is very much a 70s prog rock track, in the
vein of the likes of Led Zepplin. “Gingerbread Veterans”
sounds sort of like a children’s folk song in its
simplicity. “How the Day Finds You” sounds
just as you would expect from the title, just kind of
easy, breezy, footloose, kind of happy-go-lucky ambling
along folksy stuff. It really sounds so 70s. I really
like “Deja Voodoo,” a song about repetition,
a song about repetition (that’s the opening of the
track, ha ha). It’s a bouncy tune that really catches
me. “Blah Blah Blah is another good one that is
very soulful, both in sound and in lyrical content (it’s
about religion), and it should have been the closer –
it’s a strong song. But an untitled “hidden”
track closes things out, with very traditional acoustic
folk stuff. Overall an interesting, fun listen.
FREE
ENERGY – Stuck on Nothing (DFA Records, www.dfarecords.com)
This is sort of like an updated power pop sound. Some
of the songs are borderline “classic rock,”
while some have a much more indie sound. It’s mostly
reasonably decent stuff, but the problem is there’s
not really a whole lot of “power.” Even the
tracks that sound like they should be rocking hard, trying
to sound like Cheap Trick or something like that, they’re
just kind of there. “Light Love” is a good
example of this; it sounds like this should be a little
faster, a little louder, and have way more energy. The
first half of the disc tends to be the more “indie”
power-pop sounding stuff, and the latter half tends more
toward the “classic rock” sound. The title
track starts things out with a decent, if unenergetic
power-pop sound. And it just kind of stays the same from
there. It’s listenable, but it doesn’t move.
LITHIUM
SEVEN – Something Else is Waiting (www.lithiumseven.com)
Lithium Seven, from the Midwest (Ohio/Michigan) present
a three-song EP of “Americana,” which is another
name for countrified rock music. It seems to be all the
rage these days, lots of bands are doing it. Some of them
are pretty good, and you’ve seen positive reviews
from me in these pages. Some are not so great. Unfortunately,
Lithium Seven seem to fall short of the mark, with tracks
that just drag too much. If you’re a huge fan of
the style, you might want to check them out, but they’re
not among my favorites of the genre.
OUT LIKE LAMBS – Not So Winter Waltz (Music of
the Spheres,
www.outlikelambs.com)
This one is pretty much impossible to classify. It’s
sort of folksy, but it’s also sort of jazzy. The
instrumentation includes trumpet, saxophone, flute, and
violin, but it also includes mandolin, acoustic guitar,
and tambourine. Some of the song structures are very much
folk inspired, but some of them are very much free jazz.
I really love the sound of “Showdown,” the
fourth track on the disc, for the way the keyboards and
the violin blend together to create a very atmospheric
sound. “Archangel” is a really interesting
track that juxtaposes the quiet calm acoustic folk with
guitar buzz and manic trumpet and violin doing the free
jazz thing. The whole disc sort of walks that fine line
between folk and free jazz, and that really grabs my attention.
It sort of reminds me of the Dirty Three, in a way, a
really interesting Trio from back in the 90s. Good stuff
here.
SECRET
CITIES
(www.myspace.com/citysecret)
Secret Cities are a three-piece ouf of Mobile, Alabama,
and they play some pretty good noise rock, sort of blending
the sounds of Sonic Youth, Dischord-ish post-emo, and
a little bit of psychedelic sounds. There may be some
confusion, because there’s also a band from North
Dakota called Secret Cities, who have also just released
an album. Not the same group. This disc opens up with
“Royal Street,” a track that’s full
of sonic tension and plenty of noise, but it’s always
good, melodic noise. “He Makes a Watch That Breaks,”
the fifth track on this EP, is a good summary of the band’s
style. It’s got the guitar dissonance that Sonic
Youth is known for, with the post-emo vocal style. This
reminds me a lot of what a lot of 90s bands were doing,
and I like this stuff a lot.
SHONEN
KNIFE –
Live at Mohawk Place 2009 DVD
(Good Charamel, www.goodcharamel.com)
Recorded in Buffalo, New York, the last stop of their
American tour in 2009, this is just what you think it
would be. It’s three small Japanese women playing
big, old-style punk rock, in the Ramones vein. It’s
catchy, it’s quirky, it’s silly, and it’s
fun. Many of the songs are about food (Banana Chips, I
Wanna Eat Chocobars, Fruits and Vegetables, BBQ Party),
and others are just plain silly (Flying Jelly Attack,
Muddy Bubbles Hell, Giant Kitty, Pyramid Power). Their
nearly all infectious and bouncy, and feature a mix of
older and newer tunes. The production is pretty darn good,
shot with multiple cameras and recorded with excellent
sound quality for a live show. Camera work includes interesting
angles, ultra-closeups, and rapid zooming in and out to
the beat of the music. The band explains that this tour
was 30 shows in 34 days – pretty grueling! But they
are as energetic as ever, and seem to be having a great
time, as do the crowd. As a special treat, original member
Atsuko joins the band for a song toward the end of the
set. The entire DVD, including opening and closing credits,
runs just shy of an hour of enjoyment.
SPARTA
PHILHARMONIC – (Trans)migratory Birds (www.myspace.com/spartaphilharmonic)
It’s folk. No, it’s pop. No, it’s noise
rock. No, it’s gospel. It’s quiet. No it’s
loud. No, it’s – wow. This is all over the
place! And it’s pretty cool. Sparta Philharmonic
are driven by a pair of brothers from New Jersey, Greg
and Alex Bortnichark. The disc starts out with very lo-fi,
very quietly recorded acoustic folk. A few minutes into
the eleven minute track, the tempo picks up, drums come
in, the guitar gets livelier, and the mood jumps from
somber to joyful. A couple minutes more and it goes to
almost silent, but for a few plucks on the guitar, and
then…and then…an explosion of electricity.
The mood shifts back to somber, but with huge emotional
scars laid bare in the music, with walls of sound. Distorted
guitars are everywhere, and they start playing an incredibly
beautiful melody on top of a base layer of pure, raw noise.
In the last minute of the song, the noise and the guitars
fade away to reveal a vocal choir repeating lyrics over
and over to the end. The next track stays fairly close
to being a standard pop tune. At least at the start. Jangly
guitars and vocals, you know. But as the song progresses,
it gets thicker and richer, with the addition of more
instruments, including violin. Other tracks range from
noisy pop to epic sagas to mournful dirges. Sometimes
all in the same track! In some ways it reminds me of the
late, great Fire Show from Chicago, with its orchestral/experimental
pop style. Unfortunately, I don’t have the track
names, but this is pretty damn fine stuff, and I am highly
recommending it. This album has me just about as excited
as I was last year listening to Cymbals Eat Guitars’
debut, or The Antlers’ “Hospice” album.
TOMMY
STRAZZA – The Model Citizen LP (Red 5 Records, www.tommystrazza.com)
Listening to Tommy Strazza is like listening to a history
lesson of rock & roll. It kinda sounds like what rock
music would have been if the money grubbing corporations
hadn’t gotten their hands all over it. No, this
ain’t indie or alternative or anything like that.
It’s plain old rock & roll. The album starts
out with “You’re Not the Only Show,”
a real swingin’ tune that sounds like it could have
come out an early rock band from the 50s in the south,
with a real rockabilly flare. “Sensory Overload”
is more modern, sounding sort of like an 80s Elvis Costello
pop tune up. One track that sticks out as really different
from the others is “Too Far Gone,” which is
beautiful singer-songwriter fare, with just Tommy and
his acoustic guitar. Nice. “Dinneral’s Song”
is a good old time honky tonk track. Each track sounds
somewhat different than the others, but one thing they
all have in common is a purity of spirit. Look, if you’re
looking for the latest indie “it” band, or
the band that’s going to hit it big on the majors,
you’re not looking in the right place. If you’re
looking for a mosh-pit hardcore band, forget it. If you’re
looking for plain old rock & roll performed with passion,
here it is.
SWANS
– My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky (www.younggodrecords.com)
They’re back! Michael Gira, founding member of
the Swans and Young Yod Records maven, has decided to
utilize the Swans to further his musical vision. He’s
emphatic that this is not a reunion and it is not a “dumb-ass
nostalgia act.” Indeed, this is new, and it’s
epic. It also could be the most musical Swans album yet.
“No Words/No Thoughts” opens the album with
bone-crushing power. It’s ominous, it’s evil.
During the first few minutes, you can even hear the power
saw cutting through your soul. “Reeling the Liars
In” sounds sort of like a cross between Johnny Cash
and a sacred hymn from the old West. Except it’s
not very sacred, because their tossing liars onto the
fire to keep wam. “Jim” starts out a little
jazzy, but then lumbers and thuds, continuing the old
time sound, this time sounding a little like a warped
chain-gang work song crossed with gospel. I mean, the
description doesn’t do the track justice. It’s
brilliant, it really is; it’s exploding with power.
There’s some incredible guitar work from Bill Rieflin
(from the Revolting Cocks & Ministry), in which he’s
rapidly plucking the strings on multiple acoustic guitars
to create a hammered dulcimer sort of sound. “You
Fucking People Make Me Sick” is an interesting track,
starting out pleasantly enough, with jaw harp rhythms
sounding very ethnic. This yields to other instruments,
including guitar, piano and electronics, providing a sort
of shimmer, and then the mandolins come in, and we get
vocals sung by Devendra Banhart and by Michael Gira’s
3 year old daughter. It’s quite delicate, until
the vocals complete, and some violent acoustic instruments
begin pummeling us, including piano, percussion, and slide
trombones and trumpets. “Eden Prison” pounds
and drones and swirls. Halfway through the track, the
vocals end and the track starts pounding harder and stops
swirling. Every instrument pounds, guitars, percussion,
chimes, everything. About a minute before the end the
pounding stops and fades, and there’s a moment of
silence. And then the vocals and swirling returns. The
album ends with a track called “Little Mouth.”
It’s a fitting closer, sounding like a bit of an
ambling song – like something that might be sung
ambling through a forest or something. It even includes
whistling in the background. The track ends nakedly, with
Gira’s acapella vocals. Overall, this album can
best be summed up as sounding like the soundtrack to a
movie western written and directed by David Lynch. There’s
lots of western folk music influence in here, but there’s
a darkness, something sinister in the music, something
twisted. You know what I mean? Another reviewer for a
different publication used the word “grizzled”
to describe the sound, and it’s so apt a description,
I’ll steal it. The band sounds like it’s been
in the desert for years, working in the mines, alternately
baking and freezing, walking through sandstorms. An interesting
note – if you look at the track times, they seem
kind of long, averaging around six minutes each (some
are around three, the opener is more than nine). But they
don’t seem nearly that long. These are not self
indulgent wank fests, on these tracks, every note, every
sound is just where it needs to be. Ugh, I’m gushing
too profusely. Let’s just say I really like this,
and am seriously disappointed that the Swans’ tour
won’t take them to Southern California, or anywhere
near the west coast, for that matter. A candidate for
my best albums of 2010 list, and certainly one of the
most anticipated of the year.
THE
WHITE RAVENS – Gargoyles and Weather Vanes (whiteravenmusic.com)
Sparkly, silly synth sounds and ferocious female vocals
create catchy, quirky pop. Actually, there’s more
to it than that, but listening to this disc made me start
thinking alliteratively. This is a brother/sister duo
from Michigan that produce simple, but rich sounding pop
tunes that are sort of campy in a 60s rock musical sort
of vein. These tracks sound like they could have come
from the competition for the Broadway musical, “Hair.”
The disc starts out energetically with a track called,
“Sparks,” that sets the tone. It’s very
60s pop-rock show tune, but with synth in the arrangement,
along with piano, drums, bass, and the spectacular vocals
of Amy Bennett. This certainly isn’t emotionally
shattering stuff, for sure. It’s pretty light weight
stuff. But it’s certainly a lot of fun. “Rubberband”
is a blast of a song, with a hint of funk and a hint of
“Rocky Horror.” “Broken Halves”
is a hoot, especially the chorus, which starts out with
a chord progression of fifths, then sounds all cheesy
horror film. The disc has twelve tracks, the last of which
is “Eulogy.” It’s the only sad sounding
song of the disc, and has an interesting effect of recording
the piano part in lo-fi, sounding like a scratchy old
recording, but the vocals are in the foreground, very
present. This is pretty cool, and quite different.
ALAMANCE
– In the Moment
(www.smackinthefacerecords.com)
New Jersey-based Alamance might be living In the
Moment, but it’s the wrong moment. This album
presents a cross between commercial “alternative”
rock and boy-band pop. There’s plenty of loud guitar,
bass and drums, and a driving beat, but the vocals are
very smooth and harmonized. The songs are all pretty overblown
with “emotion” and are borderline ballads.
Thankfully, the moment is fairly short, as the album clocks
in at under 30 minutes.
HELEN
EARTH BAND – Our Own Ghost City (www.helenearthband.com)
Helen Earth Band, from beautiful San Diego, offer up
another blend of styles here, with the complex rhythms
of math-rock, but the melodic and harmonic lines of indie-pop.
I must say I’m really taken with the title track,
which has grandiose lines that remind me of some of the
great San Diego bands of yore, like Pitchfork/Rocket From
the Crypt/Drive Like Jehu. The album has plenty of nice
atmospheric touches, driving percussion and rhythm guitar,
and soaring vocals. But the album does also tend toward
mid-tempo stuff, so a lot of the songs end up sounding
fairly similar to each other. Nice stuff, but not earth-shattering.
WILL
KNOX – The Matador & the Acrobat (www.willknox.com)
This is true urban folk music. It’s played with
acoustic instruments, featuring fiddle, banjo, guitar,
upright bass and percussion, plus Knox’s English
vocals. The combination reminds me of a less raucous,
more sober version of The Pogues, in that respect. The
songs have sort of a dark, brooding sadness to them, and
that goes quite well with the lyrcal content, featuring
songs like “Cog in the Machine,” which tells
the tale of someone who is fed up with being the title
character in a dead end job. “Buckled Knees”
is another downer, about someone who moves to LA to try
to make it, makes a deal with the Devil, and pays the
consequences. “Painted Smile” is about someone
whose world is crumbling, but is in denial and fakes happiness.
This is heartbreaking, beautiful stuff.
PERNICE
BROTHERS – Goodbye, Killer
(www.ashmontrecords.com)
The Pernice Brothers seem to have a little bit of a split
personality on this album. Some of the tracks are very
much traditional pop tunes, with sort of a British invasion
character, kind of like “Twin Cinema” era
New Pornographers, but somewhat lighter and more casual.
But then many of the tracks are heavily alt-country tinged.
The disc opens with a couple of straight-forward pop number,
“Bechamel,” and the slightly edgier “Jaqueline
Susann.” And then it’s followed up by an old-timey
country burlesque sounding “We Love the Stage.”
“Then a more traditional folk-alt-country sort of
tune, “Not the Loving Kind.” And on and on,
it goes back and forth with a couple tracks of pop, a
couple of country. Pernice Brothers should choose something
and focus on being really good with it, because this lack
of focus tends to lead to tracks that lack intensity.
I mean, it’s pleasant enough, but it’s not
anything that’s really going to move you.
RICHARD
WALTERS – The Animal (Kartel, www.kartelcreative.com)
This is quiet, delicate stuff, with a singer-songwriter
vibe to it. It sometimes reminds me a bit of the late
Nick Drake, who recorded the same sort of understated
stuff. It features elegant, delicate melodies and harmonies,
and sad, but romantic vocals. There predominant instrumentation
is acoustic guitar and Walters’ tenor vocals, but
there’s also some quiet piano, hushed drumming,
occasional strings, and some backing vocals. It’s
all done rather beautifully. Is it folk? Yes, but not
quite? Is it indie-pop? Well, kinda, sorta, but no. It’s
somewhere in between, with a generous dose of crooner
tossed in. The closer is a stunning cover of the Beatles’
“Julia,” which, I think, outshines the original.
Very nice.
VANISH
VALLEY (Hard Bark, www.myspace.com/barkhard)
This is really cool stuff. It blends alt-country, folk
and a bit of psych to create something fairly unique.
Right from the opening track, “Bad Things,”
I can tell that this is a special album. Instrumentation
includes sitar and really cool distorted electric keyboards.
I really love the track, “Hunters,” a very
quiet, morose song. The use of backing choir-like vocals
reminds me a bit of what the Antlers did on their album,
“Hospice,” one of my favorites of last year,
and very high praise, indeed, if you read my review of
that album. Overall, though, the album sticks fairly close
to more traditional instrumentation, and always stays
reasonably delicate and understated – no over the
top stuff. I really like this – it’s not too
country, a little indie, a lot folksy, and a very enjoyable
listen.
KAKI
KING – Junior (Rounder Records, www.rounder.com)
Kaki King is a talented musician and singer. But the album
tends toward middle of the road folk-pop, bordering on a
“new age” esthetic. It was so laid back that
it faded into the background, with the exception of a couple
of tracks. “Falling Day” has a little bit of
DC post emo sound to it, while “Death Head,”
after starting out with a bit of an ambient intro, gets
the raucous guitar treatment that gives it a bit of life.
There’s way too much reverb/echo effect in the production,
though, and things tend to sound a bit distant. Other than
these two tracks, though, it was pretty much a snoozer.
FAN-TAN – Age of Discovery (www.myspace.com/fantanmusic)
Brooklyn-based Fan-Tan, originally formed in Chapel Hill,
NC, play 80s goth-inspired synth pop. Think Echo and the
Bunnymen, or more obscurely, Strange Boutique. There’s
also hints of 80s Brit post new wave stuff, here, such as
might have been heard in the Manchester, Factory Records
sort of scene. It’s a reasonably short 5-song EP,
and each individual song is decent enough for some nostalgia,
but every song ends up sounding too much alike. So, while
they seem to be decent musicians, they also seem to have
a dearth of ideas.
LOCAL
NATIVES – Gorilla Manor (www.frenchkissrecords.com)
This is kind of easy, breezy indie rock on the debut album
from LA-based Local Natives. On first listen, I didn’t
really think too much of it; it was nice and all, but nothing
really grabbed me. On second listen, though, some things
stood out. There’s some intricate percussion work
and use of percussion to nice effect, pretty harmonized
vocals, simple, yet shimmering guitars, and some plain good
song writing. I really like “World News,” the
fourth track on the disc. It’s got some great hooks,
and starts out really simply, then builds layers. The closer,
“Stranger Things,” is a cool track in waltz
time that uses strings, piano, and those harmonized vocals
in the layering. And, it turns out a lot of the songs are
like these; they’re deceptively simple, but upon deeper
reflection, there’s a lot of thought and complexity
that’s gone into them. It’s pretty stuff.
MIGGS
– Wide Awake
(www.miggsmusic.com)
Miggs is just another band playing overblown, overproduced,
“alternative” music. Lots of wanky guitar, overly
orchestrated tracks, and faux emotional vocals are par for
the course in this sort of album. Folks, this is the arena
rock for our time, and not even the headliner; this is the
warm-up band. If you’re reading Jersey Beat, then
this is the sort of thing you want to avoid. Skip this.
PASSION
PIT – Manners (Columbia Records)
At least this band is following the sage advice of music
reviewers everywhere: always put your best track first on
the album. If the first track is listenable, we’ll
keep listening. If it’s not, we may just pop it out
and move on. The first track, “Make Light,”
is listenable, if not outstanding. It’s sparkly, bouncy,
and a little different, with plenty of synth and falsetto
vocals. OK, I thought, I’ll listen further. And then
came the rest of the disc, a complete waste of aluminum
and plastic. Disco beats, funk-like synth, an actual grade
school backup vocal chorus, and those damn falsetto vocals
won’t go away! Sometimes that sort of thing can work,
but here it just gets on my nerves. To add insult to injury,
a couple of the tracks are repeated in a less orchestrated
version, with just guitar and vocals. The closer is a cover
of the Cramberries’ “Dreams,” which should
have been left alone. Ugh.
RASPUTINA
– Sister Kinderhook (www.rasputina.com)
Rasputina is back with their seventh album of awesome, original,
cello rock and roll. The songs have historical references
and historical feeling to them, but are certainly relevant
to the pop scene. It’s an absolutely beautiful blend
of cellos and vocals, melodic, harmonious, and with just
the right amount of attitude and edge. A few of the tracks
toss in other instruments, but who knew that a string ensemble,
and a primarily cello-based one, at that, could make such
cool music? It’s hard to pick out favorites, because
they’re all so good, but I’ll mention a few.
“Sweet Sister Temperance” has a great colonial
folk music feel to it, with the low strings providing a
menacing sound, but with sort of blues influences vocals.
“The Two Miss Leavens” is a really sweet waltz.
“Olde Dance” is a way too short instrumental
that sounds like it could have come right out of the Renaissance.
“Calico Indians” is a great tune, another waltz,
but this time less sweet and more forceful. It’s about
injustice and dignity. “Snow Hen of Austerlitz”
features banjo, and is an odd song about a girl whose mother
raises birds, and treats her daughter the same as her birds.
The track which provides the album title, “Kinderhook
Hoopskirt Works,” is another waltz tempo track, again
with banjo, so simple in construction, with just banjo and
harmonized vocals, but so beautiful. And the closer, “This,
My Porcelain Life,” is stunning, with strings, piano
and harmonized vocals. It’s not snotty punk rock,
or even sparkly indie-pop, but this is very deserving of
your attention. This is going into heavy rotation on my
iPod.
TRIKE – Trike & the Vikings ( www.cheapsatanism.com)
They call themselves an electro-disco trash duo, and that’s
bringing self-deprecation to a new level. But what else
can you expect from Trike, who perform with tongue deeply
implanted in cheek? The music is electro-disco wave with
an 80s flair, but you don’t have to be a genius to
discern that they’re having a great deal of fun and
poking fun at the same time. It’s goofy stuff, and
very fun. Loads of sparkly electronics and effects are the
perfect setting for the oddball lyrics for songs such as
“Zombie Tragedy,” which has a chorus, “Oh
my God I’m so hot, you said / Holy shit, I’m
adorable / Look at me in this outfit / I’m so fuckable.”
“Flowers with Viking Powers” is a song that
reminds me a hell of a lot of the very underrated DC band,
9353, with its sheer goofiness. They even have an ode to
“My Little Pony,” so you know they’re
a little off their rockers, but in a good way. “Let’s
Jog” is the ultimate 80s tribute song, not only sounding
very new wave, but being all about the 80s fitness obsession.
“Rollerderby” is another bizarre track, about
a girl who has a dream of constructing a roller derby rink
in her basement, and a guy who is trying to convince her
that he house is too small for it. She objects, saying he’s
trying to crush her dreams. The closer, “Trikey,”
about a dance step, just has to be heard to be believed!
This is just plain fun! Recommended!
THE
WAILING WALL – The Low Hanging Fruit (www.jdubrecords.com)
Well, this is quite an interesting disc, with its explorations
of ethnic music traditions. The album starts out with “Speak
Not Its Name,” echoing American Indian musical traditions.
“Bones Become Rainbows” is an indie pop track,
as if it had been written in India, with its sitar and tabla
providing an interesting atmosphere. And it makes sense,
giving that Jesse Rifkin, the force behind The Wailing Wall,
has grown up with Hindu chants and Orthodox Judaism. And
it was his skepticism after 11 years of day school in the
latter tradition that led Rifkin to explore other traditions,
both spiritually and musically. Most of the disc tends to
be more rustic folk oriented than the first few tracks,
but it’s still really nice stuff. “Dandelion”
is a cool waltz, with horns giving a slight jazz edge to
this otherwise straightforward country tune. “Lame
Situation” is very atmospheric, and sort of reminds
me of David Grubbs’ folk-inspired album, “The
Thicket,” with its quiet, plaintive banjo and vocals.
Bu this one has some eerie, atmospheric backgrounds in it.
This is a nice change of pace.
DANGERMAKER
(www.dangermaker.com)
Dangermaker? Uh, not in a million years would this band
make any danger. They’re just playing it really, really
safe here, playing really dull, plain, unoriginal rock music.
This is the kind of stuff you might hear in any run of the
mill suburban bar. There’s nothing unique or exciting
here, nothing even remotely “indie” or even
“alternative” about it. The music just kind
of plods along, trying to sound “soulful,” but
only succeeding in boring me to tears. Thankfully, it was
only a 5-song EP. I don’t think I could have gotten
through a full album. The band is proclaiming the second
track, “Need,” as their single, but it’s
probably the worst track on the disc. Guys, not only are
you the wrong kind of music that Jersey Beat readers would
care about, you’re also about 15-20 years behind where
the commercial rock music world is, so, if you have any
dreams of making it big, give them up now.
THE DIRTY WHITE – vs. Evil Circles (www.thedirtywhite.com)
Good stuff that blends the snotty attitude of old school
punk rock with the musical esthetic of the post hardcore
DC scene. I hear loads of influence from bands like Fugazi,
Embrace, Soulside, and much of the late 80s and early 90s
Dischord roster. The vocals are pretty much shouted with
a nasal, high-pitched quality, with limited melodic lines.
The instrumentals are very post-hardcore, early emo. This
is very evident on “We Don’t Hunt,” a
song that refers to the band’s South Carolina home,
where hunting is a typical pastime. “There Were Helicopters”
is a pretty manic, angular track that I really liked. And
the closer, “OJ and the Isotoners,” besides
having a really funny title, is a pretty cool one that has
some old school Mission of Burma sound to it. While this
doesn’t break any new ground, it’s a solid effort
and a decent listen.
LAB
PARTNERS – Moonlight Music
(www.pravdamusic.com)
Ohio-based Lab Partners, now signed to Chicago’s long
running indie label, Pravda Records, give us their first
new recording since 2007’s “Keep Quiet.”
It blends space rock, psych, and shoegaze styles to provide
the indie rock equivalent of easy listening music. Sometimes
it works pretty well, such as on “Steal My Keys,”
a track that provides plenty of fuzzy atmosphere, or “All
Is Beautiful,” a track that encapsulates the best
of the psych and shoegazer sounds. But other times it comes
across as a little pompous, such as on “Back’s
to the Wall,” a track that seems to be saying, “we’re
cool space rockers, look how cool we are.” Or “Barn
Burner,” which gets too 60s acid rock for my tastes.
When this works well, it works very well, but when it doesn’t
work, it fails pretty badly. An uneven effort from these
veterans.
THE
LOOMIS FARGO GANG – Humans, Nature, and Human Nature
(www.theloomisfargogang.com)
> This is all pretty much mid-tempo, understated, even somber
stuff. It sort of reminds me of 70s Elton John ballads.
“Sun, Flower, Seed,” the eighth track on the
disc, even sounds a little twangy, sort of like a 70s Rolling
Stones tune. So, yeah, this sounds mostly pretty lame. Until
the last three tracks. “The Great Scapegoat,”
is a decent track. It has a garage-like guitar sound, and
I like the delicate keyboard lines (or is it vibraphone?).
“The Moon and Me” is a dark, mysterious track,
with plenty of acoustic instrumentation (piano, guitar),
and some cool inharmonic touches. The closer, “Everybody’s
Changed,” blends dreamy, distorted electric guitar
with acoustic guitar, repeating a simple line over and over,
and with quiet, simply vocals on top. If only more of the
album was like these last three tracks, this would be worth
recommending.
THE
SILENCE KIT – Dislocations (www.aztecarecords.com)
Immediately, the first track sounds so much like mid to
late 80s post-punk, but it’s a little off. The vocals
are just out of tune, and it gets on my nerves. And it doesn’t
get any better from there. The second track is 80s style
electronic goth, with the same out of tune vocals that are
really driving me up a wall. After a couple more tracks
like this, I couldn’t take it anymore. Learn to sing,
dude! Or maybe you need a “silence kit?” The
whole disc seems to be a waste of time.
THE
TERROR PIGEON DANCE REVOLT! – I Love You! I Love
You! I Love You and I’m In Love With You! Have an
Awesome Day! Have the Best Day of Your Life! (Luaka Bop,
www.luakabop.com)
Take two heaping tablespoons of They Might Be Giants, add
in a dash of Black Eyed Peas, and you approximate the sound
of the band with a crazy name and a crazier album title.
This is almost theatrical, performance art, more so than
just indie rock. “Go Directly To Space” is an
aptly titled track, sounding like space rock and all…but
still with that smarmy “They Might Be Giants”
attitude. The last track, “Ride Friendship,”
thumps with a rapid, steady beat, and the band sings over
and over, “You make my heart explode.” I can
hear your heart explode in this one. Interesting instrumentation
is used throughout, with trumpet, flute, electronics, and
anything else that can enrich the listening experience.
Sometimes there’s not enough variation from track
to track, but this is a seriously fun album.
TURIN
BRAKES – Outbursts (Cooking Vinyl, www.cookingvinyl.com)
Turin Brakes are perhaps best described as easy listening
for the rock generation. Their music has a rock beat and
esthetic, yet is soft and quiet, full of swelling violins
and vocal choir backing, loads of acoustic guitar, and it
sounds like even harp. There are hints of folk and country
influence in there, too. Is this what the Jersey Beat crowd
is going to listen to in our geriatric years? I can imagine
us all wearing our Exploited T-shirts, sitting in the rocking
chairs, and listening to this stuff, falling asleep on the
front porch. But we ain’t there yet. I know I need
music a little more vital than this.
SHILPA
RAY AND HER HAPPY HOOKERS – A Fish Hook An Open
Eye (www.shilparay.com)
Wow, what a stunner of an album! There’s the unexpected
juxtaposition of harmonium and glockenspiel against raucous
rock. There’s the wide range of Ray’s incredible
vocals, from smooth and melodic to growling, mean and
nasty. I love the cover of “I Only Have Eyes For
You,” an old standard that you’ve never heard
done this way. Other tracks, with titles like “Filthy
and Free,” “I’m Not Frigid Yet,”
and “What the Fuck Was I Thinking?” range
from edgy crooners to rootsy, bluesy rock and roll. “The
Coward Cracked the Dawn…” has a sort of old
western epic ballad feel about, but faster and rowdier.
“Woman Sets Boyfriend on Fire” has a scary
title, but is really more about the jumbled, confused
emotions related to relationships, both being in them
and out of them. I think the track that really did me
in was the closer, “Looking for Mr. Goodbar,”
a simple track with just Ray singing and playing the harmonium.
Shilpa, I don’t know if you’re a good person
or not (she sings that she isn’t), but you sure
are a talented songwriter, singer and musician. I loved
this album on first listen, but I’m more enamored
with each replay. Highly recommended!
VAMPIRE
WEEKEND – Contra (XL Recordings, www.xlrecordings.com)
This is a light, breezy, eclectic mix of sounds, from
calypso to Afro-pop, all infused with American pop sensibilities.
I think that’s why I am instantly reminded of Paul
Simon’s African inspired melodies. “California
English” is an amazingly weird track, mixing top-40
vocal effects, ethnic melodies, and full-on orchestral
arrangements. I really like “White Sky,” too,
with its bright electronics and swirling female backing
vocals. “Cousins” is a jumpy tune that will
have you dancing like a fool. And the closing track, “I
Think UR A Contra,” is likely the best on the album,
slow and shimmering, a little jazzy, a little lazy and
hazy. Falsetto vocals meander around over electronics,
piano and percussion. Strings come in about half-way through,
setting quite a mood. Just beautiful. I’m impressed!
BOY EATS DRUM MACHINE – Hoop and Wire
(www.tenderlovingempire.com)
Boy Eats Drum Machine is Portland singer, producer, songwriter,
visual artist and multi-instrumentalist Jon Ragel. This
guy is freakishly talented, playing every instrument on
the disc. The songs are very jangly, poppy numbers, all
with the aforementioned drum machine pounding away with
a steady dance beat. There are some really interesting
touches, such as the vocal chorus toward the end of track
2, “Constellation.” There’s some cool
sequencing, scratching, and effects added. Saxophone,
samples, and other effects punctuate the tracks like crazy,
making this sound sort of like a cross between 80s dance
music, indie pop, and children’s songs. This is
really entertaining stuff, and my first contender of the
year for a spot in my top ten list.
PATRICK
BOWER AND THE WORLD WITHOUT MAGIC – The Dark Lord
(of Love) EP
(www.worldwithoutmagic.com)
Slow, dark and mysterious is the sound that Patrick Bower
seems to be shooting for. The vocal quality Bower has
is reminiscent of Jim Morrison, with that same deep, smooth,
brooding character. But Bower’s phrasing is very
halting, with lots of stop/start/stop feel to it, which
is a little off-putting. The music ends up sounding a
little too slow, a little dull. The result is sort of
retro but without any rocking feeling. World without magic,
indeed.
HANNIS BROWN – Oh Ah Ee (www.hannisbrown.com)
Yow! Something different, something original! Hannis
Brown is an LA-based experimental composer, and this is
Brown’s debut album. It blends indie-rock, free
jazz, industrial music and avant garde experimentalism
to create sonic textures and evoke emotions. Sometimes
it reminds me of Roger Miller’s musical journey
between his gigs with Mission of Burma. In the intervening
years he experimented with various genre mixing, in Birdsongs
of the Mesozoic, No Man, and various solo projects. I
also hear some of the attitude of one of the obscure bands
of the 80s DC scene, 9353, in the slightly inharmonic,
falsetto vocals. I also hear a bit of the great, short-lived
Chicago band The Fire Show, in some of the dramatic use
of strings, and the shifts from minimalist neo-classical
to explosive rock. There’s also a bit of the post-rock
jazziness of Tortoise in some of the tracks. If I have
one complaint, it’s that some of the same ideas
a used over and over in many of the tracks, which can
lead to a bit of monotony. Overall, a very cool debut,
and I look forward to more from Hannis Brown.
DRUG
RUG – Paint the Fence Invisible (www.blackandgreenerecords.com)
This is psychedelic pop, with definite debt owed to bands
like The New Pornographers. After the sparkly, hazy opener,
“Follow,” “Haunting You” comes
belting out like it could have come straight out of Vancouver.
“Never Tell” has more of a bluesy feel, and
then “Blue Moon” comes along with a relaxed
psych pop feel, like TNP on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The
vocal harmonization is right out of TNP’s playbook.
“Hannah Please” is one of the more raucous
tracks, the one with the most drive on the album, and
is more of a garage pop feel than the rest of the disc.
Other tracks go back toward the more relaxed feel, like
“Don’t Be Frightened By the Devil,”
which almost sounds almost like it could have come from
the soundtrack of a 60s era movie with that mod, psychedelic
theme. Overall, this is a decent effort, yet a little
too laid back. I would like liked a little more of the
drive of “Hannah Please” and less of the meandering
of some of the tracks.
FELDIKEN – Small Songs About Us (www.feldiken.com)
This is fairly basic singer-songwriter fare, with arrangements
a little more elaborate than just acoustic guitar and
vocals. Simple arrangements make up the bulk of this disc,
with bits of country twang, Zydeco, a bit of jazz, but
mostly standard folk-rock sort of stuff. I think the nearest
comparison I could make is the late lamented Chicago performer,
Steve Goodman. This has a similar vibe. But Feldiken is
just a little too laid back; he doesn’t have the
energy Goodman had. The tracks are all pretty much at
the same tempo, there’s too little variation, and
just not enough to hold my interest.
FIGHTING
THE VILLAIN – First Impression (Pop Smear Records,
www.popsmearrecords.com)
This stuff tries to be crunchy pop-punk, but all it accomplishes
is sounding like every other “alternative”
band out there trying to make it big. You can hear stuff
just like this by simply turning on your radio and tuning
to the local alternative rock radio station. There’s
really nothing original or unique here, nothing edgy.
First Impression is Fighting the Villain’s debut
EP, and I’m afraid they haven’t left a very
good first impression with me.
HURRICANE BELLS – Tonight is the Ghost (Vagrant
Records, www.vagrant.com)
Another one-man effort, Hurricane Bells is Steve Schlitz’s
debut solo effort. Schlitz is a member of the heavy rock
band Longboard, and is, perhaps, best known for getting
a track (Monsters) onto the soundtrack of the teen vampire
movie, Twilight: New Moon.” But don’t let
that deter you. This is decent, understated music, more
in the shoe-gazer genre than anything else. The arrangements
are fairly sparse, but reverb and overdubbing helps fill
out the sound. “Tonight I’m Going to Be Like
a Shooting Star” is a personal favorite. The vocals
and acoustic guitar are very front and center, but then
there’s some other guitars and flute in the background
with reverb, adding atmosphere. The chorus shimmers, sort
of like Spacemen 3 or Spiritualized. Nice stuff.
JEMINA
PEARL – Break It Up (www.ecstaticpeace.com)
This tries to be “bad girl” punk edged rock’n’roll
music, a la Joan Jett. And, while some of the tracks get
close, too many of them are a little to boring, like “Ecstatic
Appeal,” a track that sounds more like edgy Abba
than the Blackhearts, or “Nashville Shores,”
a real snoozer. And the production is way too slick to
be taken as serious bad girl rock. Probably the best track
on the album is the last one, “So Sick;” it
comes the closest to achieving what it set out to. As
a matter of fact, I would say that the beginning and end
of the disc are OK, but the entire middle is pretty dull.
THE SCRUFFS – Conquest (www.thescruffs.com)
OK, so the Scruffs are this on-again off-again band that
started out in Memphis in 1977. And they sound like they’re
still back there in 1977. The music is just so late 70s
soulful rock. On some of the tracks, most notably the
closer, “Land of Trance,” I feel like I’m
almost listening to Pink Floyd. “Curse of the Mau
Mau” sounds like an edgier Beach Boys. If it weren’t
for lyrics like those on “iPod Girl” there
would be no way to know that this wasn’t recorded
back in the seventies. And I guess that’s part of
the problem; they haven’t really progressed over
the 30 plus years they’ve been around.
SIX GALLERY – Breakthroughs in Modern Art (www.superballmusic.com)
This is reasonably standard “alternative”
rock, though the musicianship is at a somewhat higher
level than your typical commercial band. The guitarist
is constantly showing off his skills with loads of flourishes
that sound nice, but really don’t add much. Actually,
the guitar work is way overdone, and gets annoying after
awhile, with repeating scales and arpeggios, up and down,
over and over. OK, you can play fast, who cares? Can you
play good hooks and great melodic lines? Vocalist Daniel
Francis sounds like he would be equally at home in a boy
band as in this “alternative” rock outfit,
with his pseudo-dreamy vocals on some tracks, and his
Bono-like soaring lines on others. Probably the only decent
track on the disc is the last one, “Smile Like a
Switch,” which has a much more epic feel, and much
more real. It’s, unfortunately, a very short track,
but lyrically, it seems to make quite a statement about
why the band has gone in the direction they have: “You
smile on and off like a switch / I write silly songs to
get rich / but it’s honest work when you’ve
tried just as hard to stay sick. / Grow old and grow out
your mistakes / Firm grasp or occasionally sane / Nothing
I do or say / Make peace with your face when it’s
fake / I’ll give you what I got to give / Life’s
hard, but it’s harder to live / And there’s
always dead ends. / We act like we are on sinking ships.”
Yeah, life’s hard. Yeah, fans are fickle (especially
so with commercially oriented bands). And yes, there are
dead ends. But there’s also integrity and being
true to one’s self vs. artistic prostitution. You
don’t need to make peace with your fake face. Six
Gallery is a group of talented musicians, and I wish they
would use that talent for good, and do albums that have
more songs like this last one. But instead of even just
ending on high note, they tack on a “hidden track”
of more fast guitar noodling. Guys, you can do so much
better.
SUMMER
PEOPLE – Good Problems (www.readleaderrecords.com)
This album opens with an upbeat, countrified knee-slappin’
hand clappin’ track, “Two Hearted River,”
complete with whoops and hollers. It’s over way
too soon, at under two minutes, yet it sets a great tone
for the disc. No, the album isn’t alt-country, though
some of it is. What it is, though, is energetic and raucous,
tender and delicate, and everything in between. “Broken
Bones” is a hard rockin’ post-garage punk
track that just oozes attitude. The whoops and hollers
are back, but in a more greasy, slicked back way than
on the opener. The next two tracks explore a quieter side,
with “The Other Side” being a mostly acoustic
track, with a bit of twang, and “For Giving In”
providing a bit of shoegazing shimmer. The title track
consists mainly of pounding drums right out of Gene Krupa’s
opener to Benny Goodman’s “Sing Sing Sing,”
one of the greatest big band swing tracks of all time.
The vocals are sort of shouted poetry. Other tracks are
equally as varied as the others, with entries such as
“See Ya Later, Wouldn’t Want To Be Ya,”
an introspective, meandering instrumental, and “Balcony,”
a track that slowly builds in intensity, with soaring
wall of guitars and vocals. “Eclectic” doesn’t
even begin to describe this, but “good” sure
does.
TAB THE BAND – Zoo Noises (www.northstreetrecords.net)
The TAB Band is the offspring of Aerosmith – quite
literally. Half of the foursome consists of Tony and Adrian
Perry, Joe Perry’s kids. The Boston-based quartet
start out well enough, with driving, melodic power-pop.
But after a couple of decent tracks, things start to change
with “I’ll Be Waiting,” which alternates
between the sound of the first tracks and the swagger
of the Rolling Stones circa 1969. And the longer I listen,
the more I’m convinced I’ve traveled back
in time and am listening to the new Stones record. Until
about the mid-way point, that is, when we get a Sex Pistol’s
influenced “Left for Dead in Hilton Head,”
sounding for all the world like it’s 1977 all over
again. “A Girl Like You” is one redeeming
track, with a much more ethnic rock flair, sounding a
bit like drunken Irish pub music, part Greek bouzouki.
But overall, this album really doesn’t do anything
for me. If you’re a fan of late sixties and early
70s power-pop, Rolling Stones, Cheap Trick and the like,
you’ll probably enjoy this. But that’s not
saying very much.
THIS MOMENT IN BLACK HISTORY – Public Square (www.smogveil.com)
Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio is appropriate for this
band. It’s home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
And this band IS rock and roll. It’s raw, energetic,
frenetic, spastic, and everything else you would expect.
There’s a definite punk sound here, but not old
school punk or hardcore. There’s a more modern,
yet more garage feel here. The tracks are short, with
most clocking in at under two and a half minutes, but
that just means more power per second. The tracks are
titled very oddly, with names like “Forest Whiteaker
(In an Uncompromising Role)” and “Makes My
Teeth White.” “Theophylline Valentine”
is a great track with a repeating, descending line, and
a cross between manic raw rock and free jazz. Speaking
of jazz, the opening drum beats of “About Last Night”
make me feel almost like I’m listening to an old
Blue Note album, but then it quickly launches into another
rapid-fire, garage-punk infused fit of frenzy. You get
the idea. And you should get this album – it’s
a natural choice for Jersey Beat readers, and I’m
sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.
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