|
January 2005 Reviews Artist of the Month: Saul Williams I’ve always viewed Saul Williams from afar. That is, Williams has seemingly been at the epicenter of hip for a number of years, but never enough into a mainline consciousness. That may change on this latest record which varies sounds so much that the tracks are enormously accessible and thick and rich in lyrical content. So, take note of Saul Williams and what he has to say. Saul Williams headed to NYC for post-grad at NYU and began to get involved in poetry open mics across the city. Williams’ first real smash onto the artist stage came in the late 1990s when he took the lead role in Slam, the slam poetry film by Marc Levin. Though Williams has vast skills, he excels with poetry and particularly spoken word. His work has been compiled into a wealth of books and articles across the literary spectrum from the New York Times to Essence to Elle. The move to putting his words to music was a natural progression which now is beginning to come into its own. For his latest music offerings, Williams enlisted a host of friends to help him develop and expand his craft. This includes Zack de la Rocha, SOAD’s Serj Tankian and Isaiah Key Owens of the Mars Volta among others. These inputs coupled with the vast and dazzling lyrical content by Williams makes for one of the best and varied records of the year. And what is the sound? Well, it is nearly impossible to characterize beyond ‘urban.’ While the most obvious connection may be with the hip hop world, the songs and sounds are so mind blowing that it doesn’t translate to any marked degree. The music serves more as a vehicle for Williams to get his words and ideas in a tight and memorable package for listeners and observers. The record begins on the eerie and creepy “Talk to Strangers” which features probably Williams’ most straight forward spoken word endeavor across the twelve tracks. The skulking piano and high pitched background vocals presents an image of being in a dank, murderous swamp waiting for something bad to happen. This leads into off-kilter guitars and heavy distorted bass on “Grippo,” and gives you the first sense of what to actually anticipate from Williams’ music. “Telegram” includes fore-fronted old school moderate punk guitar and includes this massively scary voice-altered chorus section. The song is basically about the terrible state of hip hop and soars when Williams riddles off lines like he is dictating a telegram – “Telegram to hip hop/stop/This shit has gone too far/stop/…. “Act III Scene 2 (Shakespeare)” features de la Rocha’s backing vocals and gyrates with seriously flanged space guitars that move back and forth across your speakers. With a seamless transition into “List of Demands (Reparations),” Williams begins with dirty bluesy vocals before the beats come in and singes your memory. “List of Demands” also includes Williams’ daughter Saturn joining in the haunting whining/crying chorus. After the less compelling “African Student Movement,” comes the fantastically upsetting yet catchy “Black Stacey.” “Black Stacey” is about Williams’ apparent self-image problem of being too black growing up in Newburgh, NY and it is impossible to get the chorus out your head. After the short faux-hard “PG,” comes the distorted bass led “Surrender (A Second to Think)” that begins slow but picks up with the inclusion of dark riffing guitars. After the off “Control Freak,” comes the other spoken word-flavored track of the record “Seaweed.” It has Williams going on through his lines with people in back doing partial scales of la’s and breaking in points for light female backing vocals from Mai Doi Todd. The record closes on the electronically-balanced and murky “Notice of Eviction.” This latest from Saul Williams is certainly one of the most innovative and unique records of the year and re-establishes Williams as an artist standing on his own island of creativity. Take advantage of any opportunity to checking out Williams in person whether musically or in poetic form.
Basement 3 This California six-piece is a group that you wish had more innovation to push them over the listening edge. Fronted and led by uber-musician Kenny Schick, Basement 3 combine thick, earthy tones through a wealth of instrumentation that provides a soul-searching theme. This translates into something in the unable-to-describe-nouveau-folk world that draws influences across the spectrum to create their sound. In many respects it is not surprising to find that Schick has been a studio musician for some time, which includes some play with ‘major’ acts. Why it is not surprising is that the musicianship is excellent, but the pure ingenuity of the songs suffers from a lack of innovation. Partially it may be that when I listen to the ten offerings, I immediately envision Basement 3 playing a coffee shop or like minded place to a bunch of crunchies. For that crowd, this record may be nirvana. As mentioned, the musicianship is hot and the harmonies aren’t half bad when they are brought out (e.g., “Flower”). If the band was a bit more purposefully eclectic than they may actually fall into an indie rock crowd as some of the compositions spit like the Paper Chase. Yet, Fuzzyland has too many faux-jazz segments, including unnecessary groove bass and hard to swallow sax (e.g., “Games” and “Mercy”), which, plus some off lyrics and low tempo, turn me off to full appreciation. However, Schick and Basement 3 have apparently taken a turn for the more singer-songwriter flair than their past two records. And this is a welcomed change from their previously self-described raw world-pop sound. A further move in that direction may do a lot for their future. Still, they are exceptional within their own sub sound.
Blood Brothers Long the darling boys of underground spastic punk/noise, Blood Brothers demolished quaint listeners on their previous record Burn, Piano Island, Burn – and thus introducing this quintet to the masses. Vocally carried by Johnny Whitney and Jordan Blilie, Blood Brothers come across on their debut for V2 like well-funded and smart songwriting relatives of 3.1.G’s eclectic lineup – and in many ways they are. With the backing of V2, it appears as if BB had the time and space to air out their songs with a slaughtering of sections with nearly ever conceivable sound, but all with a purpose and a reason. That is, there is very little random noise or sound placed in just to be placed in. Most defining are the vocal back-and-forths and coming-togethers of Whitney and Blilie and the underlying pianos/synths. Crimes begins on “Feed Me to the Forest” with slow common noise before vocals and beats come in and quietly builds to the balls out. “Feed Me to the Forest” sets the stage for the rest record as carried on the following “Trash Flavored Trash.” “Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck” beckons the first hint of mellow balladry for BB – and is one of the better tracks here – and “Peacock Skeleton With Crooked Feathers,” “Live at the Apocalypse Cabaret” and “Crimes” really brings home the point. BB makes up for speed drop on spastic tracks like “Teen Heat” and “Beautiful Horses.” The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Nick Zinner adds guitar to the creeping “Wolf Party.” BB close on “Celebrator” and latter-song craze of “Devastator.” As a follow up their breakthrough Burn, Piano Island, Burn, the Blood Brothers succeed with flying colors. One of the real treats to see the boys re-create this energy live – so do it.
By the End of Tonight In a seemingly very short amount of time comes the second release from this Texas-based instrumental four-piece. Their terrific debut EP last fall for TRL, Fireworks on Ice, was a welcomed surprise for the leery listen and provided a stand up and take notice moment. Needless to say, the expectations for this full-length were stacked as high as Mt. Rushmore. While By the End of Tonight take a couple of full-on swings and punches amongst the five songs, they all seem like they are missing something special. The one thing that is vastly clear about A Tribute to Tigers is that BET has nearly shredded all of the practice metal that incorporated and characterized the EP. There are spits and bits of metal around, but the aggressiveness has been diminished by a mark degree. Where it does exist, it sounds forced onto the songs instead of coming naturally. This has led to a more Explosions in the Sky-style atmosphere, which is both nice as well as destructive. The reason is that Explosions are the most talented band doing this shit in the world and everyone else is like playing on the JV team. The inclusive metal thrashs of the EP allowed BET to pull themselves apart from the pack of ordinary instrumental bands. Regardless of the reasons for the moves, we have what we have. The record starts strong on the eight-minute “4’s, 5’s, and the Piano that Never Made it Home” which rambles across various directions and also includes several choice moments. “Stop, Drop and Roll Does Not Work in Hell” begins with super cool low-fi group vocals that give the impression that the band is about to jump into something breath-taking – like an old Hot Water Music sing-a-long. Several guitar hooks measure up on the action scale, but the song has better potential than is realized. “Setting Sail in April” has its flashes, while “Tigers’” slow procession of marching snare and building guitars and electronics excites as you move to an all out attack. A Tribute to Tigers ends on the less stellar, eclectic “7:30 Easter Morning.” “7:30 Easter Morning” is actually closer to the EP’s sound, but still pales in comparison. While A Tribute to Tigers has solid numbers, for those interested in By the End of Tonight’s true potential pick up the EP.
Capillary Action Capillary Action is mostly one Jonathan Pfeffer who wrote and helped record these ten songs during the past year. Pfeffer is joined on this production by Sam Krulewitch, Kevin Alexander and Jeff Cristani in various tracks, instruments and elements. You can’t exactly peg Capillary Action to one or two sounds or genres – by design – but seemingly Pfeffer is trying to channel the entire Temporary Residence catalog in one record. That is, the songs and sections move between rock, guitar instrumental, ambient lounge, etc., but all are sole instrumental stories. Part of the downside to Fragments is that for a large part of the record it sounds like Pfeffer is simply demonstrating his adroitness as a guitar player. So it is like, ‘I can do this style, and this style, and this style, etc.’. Not that that was the goal, but it’s the feeling. Plus the production could have been bolstered by wiser use of layering the tracks. Nevertheless, the few tracks that stand out include lazy “Driving Through Twilight,” the electronic-core “It Was A Typewriter” and the guitar finale “Pillars Disintegrate.” With a bit more effort, direction and experience Capillary Action should persevere in the future.
The Cribs Coming out of West Yorkshire, England, this all-brother three-piece aim to pitch their hat into the stripped-down rock market dominated by uber-cool of Detroit and Brooklyn. Yet, the Cribs prefer to take a more pop and ‘English’ view to this endeavor. The brothers – Ryan, Gary and Ross Jarman – succeed in enormous fashion on the beginning of this record, but then there is musical death-knell put into the middle. The record beginnings on the off-kilter “The Watch Trick” with a carnival-like guitar and vocals which all demonstrate a nice quirkiness. “You Were Always the One” brings on a standard song construction, yet the Cribs include a way catchy chorus that makes the head bounce up and down. The overly-clear bass throughout “You Were Always The One” also adds to the pop-driven feel. Continuing the catchiness is “The Lights Went Out” with guitars and vocals moving down the scales. After the uninspiring “You & I,” The Cribs drop the ball on this entire project on “Things You Should Be Knowing.” Although this entire resurgent style of rock pulls and tears off previous artists, “Things You Should Be Knowing” sounds hideously close to the latest Strokes’ song; which might be okay if the market wasn’t entirely saturated by groups that sound exactly like this. After listening to “Things You Should Be Knowing” it is very difficult to shake the ‘Strokes’’ influence out of your mind. This damages fully appreciating such songs as “What About Me” with the gang chorus vocals, the catchy “Baby Don’t Sweat” and “Tri’elle” which features Bobby Conn on backup vocals. In one fell swoop, the Cribs may have spoiled their future love with the inclusion of “Things You Should Be Knowing.” Though some may make the connection even without that track, the Cribs certainly didn’t do themselves any favors.
Giant Drag Taking their spark from the lazy mood and distorted, fuzzed guitars of yesteryear indie rock, the LA-based duo of Giant Drag offer up five hip tracks on this EP – along with a video. Vocalist and guitarist Annie Hardy sets the tone with her bothered, languid vocals coupled with straight down-strumming guitar chords. On this recording – and the band founder – is Micah Calabrese providing drums and well-orchestrated synth; Eli Smith now is in Calabrese’s position. The synths are what really pushes the songs over the edge from being a rehash of late 80s/early 90s modern rock to something more immediate and attractive. The EP starts in smart fashion with “This Isn’t It,” a song that quietly gets in your mind with verse breakdowns of drums and three-note synths tied with a catchy chorus. There is also a video for “This Isn’t It” whose purposeful film quality matches the distortion-tinged song. While the rest of EP is strong, it is still all downhill compared with this explosive opener. Still it is worth checking out “Cordial Invitation” and “Tired Yet.” Giant Drag’s sound is one that not many bands are attempting nowadays and that definitely helps in its appreciability. With more hot tracks like “This Isn’t It” then we should hear much more from Hardy and Smith.
Gratitude Is this Jonah Matranga’s latest effort to become an international rock star/pop sensation? It very well may be. Besides from Matranga (Onelinedrawing, Far), Gratitude is headed up by Mark Weinberg (Crumb) and flushed out by Jeremy Tappero, Bob Lindsey and David Jarnstrom. Initially meeting in 1992 with their original groups Far and Crumb, Matranga and Weinberg met up to throw musical ideas around in 2003. The outcome is enormous waves of rock featuring ridiculous harmonies and catchiness with bits of post-hardcore edge. You’re Invited is a four-song teaser EP for their self-titled record coming out in March. From the first song “Drive Away” you immediately see Matranga’s and Weinberg’s agenda for Gratitude. After an uncomfortably Wind Up-like vocal opening, catchy guitars come in to bolster the song’s appeal. The riff is reminiscent of something from Urge Overkill or Jimmy Eat World, and brings you in. If I’ve ever heard a song from that is designed to get radio play without sounding generic, then “Drive Away” is the one. “Last” follows in a more drawn out fashion and contains a breakdown that draws parallels to Onelinedrawing. “This is the Part” is slightly edgier with relatively heavy muting and more intensity, while “Another Division St.” moves from a mellow to catchy chorus with strings underlying. I’m interested to hear the full-length to see how it matches up with this strong teaser. If it successful succeeds then we may have our next big rock thing.
Har Mar Superstar From day one, people have pegged Sean Tillmann (aka Har Mar Superstar) as a one trick pony or a no trick pony. Most of the reviews of his third record The Handler have played and fleshed this out – though not quite too sure why the hate. For those not in the know, Tillmann is a quasi-pudgy white kid from St. Paul who comes across in visuals as a nerdy kid porn star. The amalgam of Har Mar Superstar focuses on sexed up electronic pop R&B songs that merge comedy with the classic feel of artists like Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. My first run in with HMS came from his tours with another legendary solo music comedy routine, Atom and His Package. There used to be this photo on Atom’s website of Tillman and Atom outside of a stripper car wash in North Carolina with Tillman with his shirt off and swinging it around in the parking lot after feeling like they were going to get killed inside. For those familiar Atom and His Package, Tillmann is often referenced in songs with the moniker Sean Na Na – Tillmann’s other aka. For those with a low-brow sense of humor and realize everything musical is subjective, HMS has yet to disappoint on the silly angle. And when Tillmann is at his best, you can’t deny the songs blow your mind – and at least make good fun of Jamiroquai and 80s pop. Surely, there are a number of dudes on The Handler, but there are enough good ones to deserve a listen. The opening “Transit” and “Body Request” get things rolling for the ‘celebration’ and bring the listener into HMS’ world. While both are enticing, particularly with the bridge synths on “Body Request,” they merely set up the album’s highlight “D.U.I.” “D.U.I.” (which is Dialing Under the Influence) is about the drunken booty calls one is apt to make particularly if they are uber-smashed. There is also a video out there for “D.U.I.” with Tillmann doing a show by himself late night in a pet store. The pets of various ilks – particularly fish – have bad CGI of response singing. How can you not find this funny? After a couple of missteps, and unfortunately the one with Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Cut Me Up,” HMS comes back with the odd and creepy sounding “As (Seasons).” The combination of beats, synths and layered vocals creates the strange production about getting action. “As (Seasons)” is the first song of several to include YYY guitarist Nick Zinner. You have to skip a couple tracks to the next highlight, the hip-hop-infused “Back That Camel Up.” But “Back That Camel Up” pales in comparison to “Bird in the Hand” featuring Long Island’s smashing white female rap group Northern State. Tillmann’s opening is so-so, though picks up, but it is only when the girls of Northern State come in does the song elevate to the next level. While the record closes on “Back in the Day” and a cover of “Alone Again (Naturally),” you shouldn’t pay them much attention. Again, Har Mar Superstar can shine and bring memory-smoking songs at times, but he is way too inconsistent to get people over the whole one trick pony complex.
Hood After a brief intro track, the true opening salvo of “The Negatives” launches you into the magical world of this four-piece from Leeds, England. Though Hood has been around for a decade and a half, it is only recently that they have been getting the recognition they apparently deserve. This is probably even more true on this side of the Atlantic. Their previous record Cold House piqued listeners’ interest, scoring vast critical acclaim. On Outside Closer, Hood includes a caldron of local musicians to flush out the songs, adding layers of strings, keys and electronics. The complexity and wealth of sounds included in compositions such as “Any Hopeful Thoughts Arrive” is just stunning. In many ways, Hood is like a brilliant instrumental group who decided to add breathy, ambient vocals to develop a complete package. Providing the mood and atmosphere of some favorites from Temporary Residence Ltd, Hood brings the songs further home with lyrical purpose and, of course, handclaps. The nine tracks average at around five minutes with every strung out, emphasized utterance as on “End of One Train Working.” Hood probably work their most pop on the electronic-beat and synth-based “The Lost You;” and this is where the Englishness flows fresh again. Though songs like “Any Hopeful Thoughts Arrive” and “Closure” are compelling, the forthcoming single “The Negatives” still steals the show. Seemingly, “The Negatives” compile and compress all that is Hood into one stellar track. This latest from Hood certainly caught us off-guard. Outside Closer is the perfect disc mellow out from any metal high or to accompany you on your day of work.
Idiot Pilot This Bellingham, WA duo seems about two steps away some really great musical moments on this record, but their wavering leads to a less spectacular project. Though Michael Harris and Daniel Andersen are barely out of high school, their penchant for full-blown ethereal sounds is striking. Some may be immediately turned off by a next stage Thom Yorke vocal impressions (e.g., “A Light at the End of the Tunnel,” among others). This record was initially released by the duo, but after signing with Reprise they upped the ante with a full production job. Idiot Pilot are at their best when they concentrate on ambient electronica with pop sensibilities laced within that provide a four-dimension experience – see, e.g., “Losing Color.” When they move into other sounds they powers are diminished. One major turn for the bad is the inclusion in various songs of background distorted screaming – for instance, on the otherwise lovely “A Day in the Life of a Poolshark” and “To Buy a Gun.” I’m not sure the point of its inclusion besides for a nod to the hardcore. One of the downsides to Strange We Should Meet Here is as you progress through the fourteen songs you begin to realize that they more or less sound the same. It’s an enjoyable sound. But, it becomes this matter of not being able to figure out one track from another. Therefore, this record may be a good one to keep on in the background while working to serve as a white noise filter as well as soother. Harris and Andersen are both still youngsters you have enormous time to figure out how to knock records out of the ballpark. And this is a very good start.
Lejeune Coming out of Washington, D.C., this is Lejeune’s debut record only a year and half after forming. Composed of Sam Bishop on vocals/guitar, Greg Gendron on drums, Odysseus Leonard on bass and Matthew Richardson on guitar, Lejeune focus on reverb-drenched pop rock that seeks to soothe the mind and soul. Probably the most characteristic aspect amongst the eight tracks are Bishop’s vocals and the heavy reverb that at times you wish could be turned down; like you got stuck in a Texas nightmare. Competently recorded and produced by Dennis Kane in Richmond and DC, the one serious drawback to Lejeune is that they don’t give you much to sink your teeth into or remember them by – besides the reverb. While songs like “New Best Friend” and “Dead Again” provide a break from the norm, it sounds like Lejeune are just missing something that would make them special. For instance, Bishop partially comes off like Morrissey on “Replaced by Robots,” but if they took it to the next level then it would burn into your memory. Lejeune have the potential to write much better music, it just isn’t realized yet.
Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz Lil Jon is more of an enterprise than a rapper. His reputation as the control of crunk and crazy man has allowed him to build empire not simply as an artist or producer but as a purveyor of nearly everything; sweetly evident by his drink Crunk Juice – wisely titled of the album. Along with his compatriots Lil Bo and Big Sam, Lil Jon offers twenty tracks of bits and songs all in an attempt to start or move a party. People with more familiarity of Lil Jon as a culture icon than a rapper will likely be surprised by the actual lack of rhymes and such from this record; though this is the pace that he and others have taken for many years. Lil Jon et al. prefer instead to just yell shit with dropping f-bombs and the like for the majority of tracks. On the first few tracks you question whether Lil Jon has a wider vocabulary than ten words. Given my background the one song that is immediately striking is the Rick Rubin-produced “Stop Fuckin Wit Me.” It is here where the Rubin-produced Slayer tracks “South of Heaven” and “Raining Blood” are compounded with a decent story. At times, “Stop Fuckin Wit Me” sounds like the latest incarnation of Body Count and it is awesome. The other tracks that stand out typically involve scores of featured artists with Lil Jon et al. playing the role of cheerleaders. This includes “Aww Skeet Skeet” with DJ Flexx, “In Da Club” with R. Kelly and Ludacris, “Bitches Ain’t Shit” featuring Snoop, Nate Dogg, Suga Free and Obie and the closer “Grand Finale” with Nas, T.I., Fat Joe, Bun B and Ice Cube. On these tracks where Lil Jon’s random yelling of lines is kept to a relative minimum, the album is something worth spending time with. At the same time, Lil Jon is someone who pushes a visceral reaction from people. However, you can’t escape the cool, way over-the-top personality that is Lil Jon. I look forward to continually getting tips from him on VH1 about what I need to go to a club – 3 grand, an entourage and a pimp cup.
Manuok As is becoming more and more of the trend these days, Manuok is the creation of one Scott Mercado. Though it is becoming more common that musicians screw around with own stuff when they are not doing stuff with their ‘real’ band stuff, often times these solo projects wind up with much better material (umm, Postal Service). Though I’m not overly familiar Mercado’s other main squeeze, Via Satellite, these ten tracks cross a wide spectrum of indie sounds while always maintaining a marked consistency. Mercado has been molesting Manuok since 2001 and he has had time to develop the sound while performing with other groups such as The Soft.Lightes, Pilotram and Mr. Tube. Manuok’s core sound is one of beats of various guises linked with electronic undertones and guitars, often cobbled together to a blissful pop sound. On tracks like “Flowers for Algernon” and “Titleless,” Mercado moves with Beatles-esque lo-fi pop. On others there is a closer adherence to indie electronic mystery as on “Happy Cause” and “Aheadwithnobody.” Mercado rounds things off with a nod towards singer-songwriter happiness on “Lie to Me” and the closer “All Said and Done.” This is a surprisingly good record by Mercado and something that we can all hope he will pursue more aggressively in the near future.
The Music Since being heralded by numerous British music outlets as the second coming, the Leeds-based four-piece of the Music have being riding a hype-driven wave into the U.S.’s musical consciousness. The Music got much love off their previous self-titled debut record, allowing them to play North American dates with Coldplay and the Vines, along with their own adventures. This level of exposure has put a lot of pressure on the band to come through with a stellar follow-up album that can be both financially and critically successful. Enlisting producer Brendan O’Brien, the Music offer eleven songs of pure unadulterated rock on Welcome to the North. The Music’s sound parallels massive classic rock artists like Led Zeppelin as well as more contemporary artists like U2. In that regard, the Music prefer grand sweeping sections with guitars, bits of electronics and psychedelic sidepieces to join Robert Harvey’s soaring vocals. Depending on your standpoint, Harvey’s vocals can either be a refreshing exercise or a tortured affair. He couples rock styles such as Plant, Geddy Lee and Bono into something existing as a contemporary rehashing. And thus, if you are a big rock fan than you will likely love this rebirth. If you are someone who prefers new sounds and directions then you may not be as pumped. This doesn’t take away from the fact that the Music are top-shelf musicians who know how to write good songs. The problem is that the Music aren’t as innovative as they could be, which would put them on another level. For instance, the band has a penchant for writing extremely repetitive songs that nail the technicality of a rock song composition but moves toward the monotonous – for instance, “Breakin’” and “I Need Love.” The record starts in strong fashion on the title track with swirling guitars and Harvey’s vocals that lead to a catchy chorus, even if the song is a bit recurring. After the marginal “Freedom Fighters” comes what I found to be the Music’s first egregious turnoff on “Bleed From Within.” “Bleed From Within” sounds like an old U2 song that U2 original tossed because of its lack of strength; and really is terrible on a breakdown that includes a bunch of rhythmic grunts. That colors me bad for the rest of the record. While “Into the Night” has a strong chorus and “One Way In, No Way Out” has solid rock riffs, Welcome to the North seems best enjoyed by die hard ‘rock’ fans. It will be interesting to see how the Music latest jaunt to North America goes over during this next year.
PseudoMellor I have two discs before me. One is a three-song demo and the second is a seven-song self-done EP from the upstart band PseudoMellor. Starting with the demo, all three tracks merge on the dirty punk, short verse-chorus-verse dynamics with nothing all that surprising between them. The EP starts with the one of the songs from the demo “Whatever Happened To…,” but then moves on to disparate sounds. There is the slow, garage “Sellout Example,” the acoustic “Come Off It,” the ambient instrumental “Silver Link,” etc. One of the things that seems apparent from the EP is that PseudoMellor needs to figure out their own signature sound, instead of just random drops. Another thing there needs to be more time spent on constructing songs and less just laid out. Finally, the recording is a bit sub par to consider the EP anything other than a demo for illustrative purposes. Hopefully, all of this is a starting point instead of an ending.
Razor Crusade Coming out of the Netherlands, this is the five-piece Razor Crusade’s first full-length and their first real endeavor to tackle North America. Razor Crusade seem to be one of those bands that got a good pickup and notice from American melodic hardcore bands touring Europe needing opening acts of like minds. And Razor Crusade fits that bill magically. The band has a penchant for the post-hardcore sound of bands like Refused, Quicksand and Snapcase. For me, the power chords on songs like “Our Planet Is Intimate,” “Europeanly Adorable” and “The Low Spark” sound very close in thought to Snapcase which is both disturbing and cool at the same time; though Razor Crusade doesn’t try any of the magician-like moments of harmonics and rhythmic solos. Though the band focuses on mid-tempo classic hardcore and punk song constructions with smidgens more distortions and stealthy electronic enhancements, Razor Crusade also slow things down on tracks such as “I Wish You Were Me” and “This Is Not You, Holland” that certainly adds to their range and appeal. Other tracks – “Your Should Be Lucky” – follow Left Coast punk conceptions and leave the heavy stuff alone for awhile. Given the overwrought trend of bands doing metalcore and then moving back to melodic sections, it is refreshing to hear a band like Razor Crusade to successful work the space within one style.
Silver Sunshine Silver Sunshine seem like a bunch of lost souls who have done way too much acid amongst a potential wave of hallucinates. Forming in San Diego during 2001, this is four-piece’s debut full-length that illustrates a new, innovative and strong strike in the world of pop psychedelia. What immediately jumps out at you are the grand sweeping guitar solos and the brilliant melodic vocals in both verse and chorus. With obvious nods to 60s rock – included Beatles-esque harmonies – Silver Sunshine are like the stepchild of the original psychedelia sound who prefer the tempo trumped up and tight guitar work. Silver Sunshine excel when they are taking towards the ambient and leave the parallel Beatles’ sound at arm’s reach. For instance, “Trinkets,” “When She Wakes Tomorrow” and “Way Up in the Big Sky” are too similar to Beatles’ lines that it may turn listeners off and takes away from the soaring opening of “Velvet Skies” and “I See the Silver Sunshine.” In that respect, besides from the opening two songs, highlights come from “Greenfield Park,” “Miranda May” and “Merry-Go-Round.” If you are completely taken by Beatles’ throwback style pop, then the rest of the album is for you. This record from Silver Sunshine is a pretty hot affair and is strong enough to possibly usher in a mainline rebirth of pop psychedelia. Done in innovative and cool ways, this may be a well-received movement.
Son, Ambulance After several years between releases, Joe Knapp’s Son, Ambulance is back working on a different level of musicianship than his previous two releases. As mentioned, Son, Ambulance is essentially Knapp and he utilizes musicians from the Saddle Creek family and outside that circle. Son, Ambulance first release was the 2001 split with Bright Eyes entitled Oh, Holy Fools. It was clear at that stage Knapp was still getting his footing which is even a harder task when alternating tracks with Conor Oberst. However, his debut full-length Euphemystic released later that year, illustrated Knapp was on track for greater things. On Key, Knapp is joined by brother Daniel Knapp on piano, Dylan Strimple on guitar, Corey Broman on drums and Erika Pederson on bass and vocals. Coming out of the Oberst’s world of singer-songwriting, Knapp has very similar compositions to Bright Eyes but heavily lessens the whining, angst atmosphere and less in a storytelling manner. Thanks to the focused use of piano, many of the tracks move towards majestic anthems that help represent Knapp’s rich lyrical content – probably the best illustration being the epic “Sex in C Minor.” The thirteen tracks – though really eleven – combine for nearly an hour of both drawn out eight minute affairs (“Case of You/Wrinkle, Wrinkle”) to shorter, more manageable rock numbers (“Taxi Cab Driver”). While there are no real drop offs between songs, highlights are assured from the opener “Paper Snowflakes” that really sets the tone for the record, the aforementioned “Sex in C Minor,” the complete change on the hip rock number “Taxi Cab Driver,” the spacey, electronic “Glitter Angel” and fast, uptempo piano playing and great latter song harmonies of closer “Pleasure, Now.” Thanks to the unbelievably catchy chorus, “Taxi Cab Driver” receives the special gold sticker of the day for this record; but “Pleasure, Now” is pretty damn close to taking that title. This is one of the best sophomore records I’ve heard in awhile and helps to promise that Knapp and Son, Ambulance are going to be in play for a long time to come.
Tarentel I’m officially convinced that I don’t understand why people love Tarentel. I just don’t get them. With eight years behind this five-piece and now their 5th and 6th release on TRL, Tarentel has consistently received high praise by fans of electronic instrumental, avant-garde music. I’m just having trouble seeing through the fog. Their very recent release We Move Through Water couples with these two to tell a story and report three acts. My remembrance of We Move Through Water was a lot of slow, haunting noises that don’t actually go anywhere. For the most part, the same is true on these two records (though actually combined). First, are four tracks for Paper White that encompass roughly twenty-five minutes and, second, Big Black Square is just one forty-three minute track. When I hear Tarentel, I think of two words: Installation Art. Naturally, I prefer the more standard instrumental number such as “Open Letter to Hummingbirds,” but I admittedly am turned off by the low rumble of the forty-three minute “Big Black Square.” Again, I’m convinced I don’t get what is going on here. So listen to me or not.
Tree Wave This is certainly one of the hippest indie electronic debuts of the past year. Coming out of Dallas, Tree Wave are the duo of Paul Slocum, who uses a plethora of electronic devices to produces dazzling displays, and Lauren Gray who provides the breathy and chic vocals on top. Since the duo claim to primarily rely on old computers and videogame systems of their sounds – e.g., Commodore 64, Atari 2600, dot matrix printer, etc. – their live show must smoke if they are able to pull these sounds off. The EP starts with off-blips and beats on “May Banners,” but soon comes around with transfixing synths and Gray’s vocals. Though I typically hate band-to-band comparisons, but “May Banners” and the EP in general comes across like a female-vocal laden and quirky Postal Service. And that is the grandest comparison I could make. “Machines Fall Apart” provides nice fuzzed bumping and sweet vocals from Gray, and goes after an up-tempo ambient atmosphere. “Sleep” follows suit, but with a heavier reliance on beats and Gray comes across like St. Etienne. After the video game fun of “Instrumental 1b,” “Morning Coffee Hymn” slides in with an array of intertwining electronics. “Same” is more aggressive on the distortion end, though is a bit of a misstep from the others. The EP closes on “Commodore 64 Data Track,” where you can apparently bring up the program on your own C64 – as if you have one. The CD also includes a multi-screen video for “Sleep” and Atari war games video for the song “Combat.” Again, this EP from Tree Wave is one of those rare gems that appear in the mailbox only once in a blue moon. copyright exoduster.com 2005 |