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December Reviews Artist of the Month: Second
Story Man Plowing through wake left by bands such as Jejune, the Anniversary and Mineral, Second Story Man from Louisville, KY, show off considerable talent and ingenuity on their first full-length Pins and Needles. Rocking since 1998, Second Story Man also have released two EPs, which, based on Pins and Needles, seem as chose selections. Interestingly, the record was subsidized from a grant from the Kentucky Foundation of Women. I've never heard of a band doing that, but it is great idea. Composed of a core duo of female singers (Carrie Neumayer and Kelly Scullin), Second Story Man maintains catchy rhythms over epic landscapes of soft melodious indie rock. Accompanying and at times leading the vocal barrage are Evan Bailey and Jeremy Irvin. This sets up a nice variance and composition to feel the lyrics, as exemplified by bands such as the Anniversary. The songs do not sacrifice harmony and pop sensibilities to random mixes of off-timed changes and pauses; though oddities still exist within. Nor do the songs sit as only background and sleepy time music, though surely they excel at both. This creates a degree of separation among like-minded bands. Standout songs on the 50-minute composition include "Save It For Another," "You You You," "No Pioneers" and "Paddle Your Own Canoe." One can easily envision, and it should be the case, Second Story Man dominating the college radio waves in the near and far future. All future success appears duly awarded for the hard work and resourcefulness presented on Pins and Needles. Unlike the boring barely-whisper ultra-indie sound expressed recently by schizophrenic former hardcore elitists, Second Story Man make the sound good, fresh and honest again. Second Story Man will be on tour to support the full-length and will probably come to a town near you. Check out the record and check them out live, for you should not be disappointed.
The
Blam Coming
out of the self-described emergent stripped rock scene of Brooklyn
(e.g., the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol), The Blam strike with precision
garage rock. This is the first full-length for the upstart foursome
and hopefully it won't be their last. Although the background
is garage rock, the Blam layer it with various sounds and mixes
at both the conscious and unconscious level. This includes a multitude
of guitar pedal effects, various levels of mic distortion and
keyboards and samples. Most unfortunate for the uninitiated is
that the opening song "You're Making My Head Spin" comes
to close to a duplicate of the next Strokes' song. This may influence
one to shut off the record, mislabeling The Blam as just another
'the' band that…. However, The Blam redeem themselves and
justify their own sound as the record progresses. This is demonstrated
on "I Don't Care About Nobody Else," "Brooklyn
on My Mind" and "Easy to be Good ." In fact, at
times The Blam seem more influenced by the folk singing ways of
early Dylan than any recent fad of garage rock. In a wave of dumbed
down elemental rock, The Blam are able to distance and distinguish
themselves for the rookie of the year prize. Look for The Blam
on tour in January 2003 and for those in the NYC-area look for
them at the traditional haunts of Brownies, etc.
FlashlightBrown
Here comes a three-song EP for this hard working four-piece from
north of the border. After bustin' balls for sometime trying to
do their own booking and promotion, FlashlightBrown seem to have
made a substantial statement since then. The best part of their
past is creating a fictitious booking agency to get shows; wwweeehhh
that's great. Though it comes across as a preview of their new
full-length in the Spring of 2003, the EP has quite a lot to offer.
The three songs are a formed pop-punk background, yet FlashlightBrown
add enough harmony and musically intuition to distinguish themselves
from their peers. So much so, that I am surprised that they had
such problems when starting out; though it could have been due
to a substantial transformation later in existence. In addition,
one is easily able to distinguish the three songs, a feat not
always able to be accomplished in punk bands. FlashlightBrown
are rocking some shows with everyone's favorite brats Sum 41 soon
and don't forget about their upcoming full-length that has the
potential to dazzle.
Snowdogs
In surely one of the strangest releases to hit the streets in
2003, Snowdogs (from the UK) offer their second album on Victory.
Deep Cuts, Fast Remedies is not strange in an experimental
Sonic Youth way or some soma-stricken indie rock head-trip. It
is strange due to the eclectic and sometimes bi-polar nature of
the songs. The songs swing between punk, hardcore, 70's stadium
rock and Beatles-esque pop melodies. Although Snowdogs seem to
suffer from some type of identity disorder, there are some real
gems in this hodge-podge of songs. The album kicks off with Fat
Wreck beat punk on "Average Kid," "Drive,"
"Popstars (Love This)" that would shake out the best
in Ten Foot Pole and Lagwagon. On "Drive" Snowdogs add
a pure 70s man-riff that sounds like the invention of Boston and
the like. This is followed by the hip-hop influenced "Freedom
for Everyone," an Austalian outback-driven (e.g., Midnight
Oil) cover of Paul Simon's "Bubble Boy," the reggae-ska
cut "Hour of Sunshine," before topping off the record
with another punk anthem with "Your Sorry Ass." If you
put this on as background music at a party people would swear
that it was a mix CD. This eclecticism makes for a strange, yet
talented collection of songs that are difficult to group on an
album. I would have hated the job of sequencing the album's songs.
Snowdogs should be arriving on U.S. shores in the near future.
Tora!
Tora! Torrance
Tora! Tora! Torrance rocks the garage sound on their latest record
Get Into It. After freezing balls in Minnepolis for a short
period of time, the warm glow of Huntington Beach, CA came calling
in the hot label The Militia Group. After more changes in the
lineup than your typical NFL team, TTT are ready to take on the
rock world at a moment of precipitous change. TTT are characterized
by the stripped down garage sound with snotty and winy vocals.
Though similar in style to a number of the recent major outbreaks
(e.g., the Vines), TTT are certainly more experimental and aggressive;
moreover the Vines are so annoying. Although Get Into It has a
number of highlights, it suffers throughout from some inconsistency
in quality. For instance, "Hottest Pants" is great song
that parallels the brilliance of early Jane's Addiction with a
catchy chorus that flat-out rocks. This type is greatness is also
echoed on early tracks "Killer Cut the Phone Line" and
"Jonny Got His Crush." However, these numbers are contrasted
by the less than stellar "Shot Down in America" and
"Miles Well." One could make the argument that there
is double-peaked element of goodness on the record, with the beginning
and end quality and the middle less than. This is seen at the
end of the record with "The Sweet Sweet" and "Wear
a Ski Mask…." Hence, there is some breakthrough music
on the record but, again, this is coupled with inconsistency.
If you have come to appreciate the latest wave of retro-garage
TTT should be on your list.
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