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November Reviews Artist of the Month: Coheed and Cambria Very few people, including the members of Coheed and Cambria, probably could have predicted or expected the band’s meteoric rise since 2003 issuance of their second album In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3. And yet, anyone with a keen sense of awesomeness would have immediately known that Coheed was about to explode upon hearing the first note of In Keeping. Now with the heavy backing of Columbia – they also re-issued In Keeping – Coheed can use a seemingly endless array of resources to realize their latest chapter Good Apollo. Coheed first hit the page with 2002’s The Second Stage Turbine Blade, a convenient marriage as Coheed and EVR exist in nearly the same place in NY – though it took a bit of prodding from lead singer Claudio Sanchez to get EVR to sign on. While a strong debut effort for Coheed thanks for songs such as “Junesong Provision” and “Devil in New Jersey,” it was really only a hint of what In Keeping would be. Sanchez, along with guitarist Travis Stever, bassist Michael Todd and drummer Joshua Eppard, holed up in Woodstock, NY with Michael Birnbaum and Chris Bittner. The result was an epic hour-long emo prog-rock album that redefined contemporary rock music. Swirling guitar solos that bolstered up eight minute numbers along with Sanchez’s extremely unique high-pitched vocals helped create many people’s number one record of 2003. This is all not to mention the sci-fi story underlying the whole existence of Coheed and Cambria. Starting with The Second Stage Turbine Blade, the band’s records tell the story of Claudio Kilgannon who is winding his way to avenging the death of his three siblings and parents (named Coheed and Cambria). And then there is this virus thing that initiated the deaths. Some may be keen enough to pick up the story directly from studying Coheed’s three records – though The Second Stage is the second record in the sequence and the band is planning the final record to be the prequel. For those with neither the time nor patience for getting the story from the music, story creator Sanchez has been working with various artists to put the story in comic book and graphic novel forms through his Evil Ink press. Besides from the books, Sanchez also hopes to make a film out of the full story someday – a movie that would obviously have the coolest soundtrack ever. Good Apollo shifts some of the attention away from the original story and to the writer of the story. Whether initially planned or not, this has allowed the band to put a bit of their own lives into the music. Heading back into the same Woodstock studio with Birnbaum and Bittner, Coheed took a bit more time, effort and complexity in creating Good Apollo. Besides from a perfect production job, the thing that grabs you on Good Apollo is the employment of a team of outside musicians. This is obviously most noticeable on the two-minute opening track “Keeping the Blade” where strings from Ron Lawrence, Tomas Ulrich, Meg Okura, Julianne Klopotic and arrangement froom Karl Berger floods your ears like a symphony of Coheed’s quasi-theme music. You know the one that sounds like the music from Max Payne. If there is anyway to kick off an epic album, this is it. However, when the acoustic guitars and children voices come out on the second song “Always & Never,” you begin to worry. Where are the riffs? Where is the brilliance? Well you just have to move on to the next song “Welcome Home” to be greeted by the first monster riff track on Good Apollo. Riding the Coheed theme, Sanchez soon bursts through with prog-metal soloing, assuring that Coheed is going to rip you apart. Also enhanced by strings, the six-minute “Welcome Home” needs to get about half-way through for Sanchez to change his robotic vocal cadence and bring the song home. Clearly from “Welcome Home,” Coheed is carrying more of their 60s and 70s rock and metal influences into the production of Good Apollo. “Ten Speed (Of God’s Blood & Burial)” soars on the choruses and is filled with great soloing spinoffs and snippets of Sanchez’s uber-high vocals. “Crossing the Frame” carries the theme, but puts its own stamp on the record after a bridge when hand-claps and lots of oh-ohs come in. After a long intro, “Apollo I: The Writing Writer” winds its way through one of the first true multi-sectioned songs on Good Apollo. In an exercise of talent, “Once Upon Your Dead Body” is a relatively light pop number that features pointed keyboards, while “Wake Up” is a total pop song that can only be described sans lyrics as ‘sunshine and butterflies.’ After this interesting sidejump comes one of the best songs on Good Apollo – “The Suffering.” Beginning with ordinary punk riffs, a minute in finds Coheed encroaching on awesomeness when Sanchez’s vocals are doubled as normal and high-pitched. But the bridge on “The Suffering” is what really makes you crap in your pants and forces you to hit repeat continuously. “The Lying Lies & Dirty Secrets of Miss Erica Court” holds the fort, while “Mother May I” is oddly punctuated by a Police-esque guitar and vocal meeting. The next four songs fall into a separate heading on the track listing entitled “The Willing Well” and all come in at slightly over seven minutes. The first in this set is the frantically coked-out “I – Fuel for the Feeding End” that is always moving but doesn’t really go anywhere. Sunshine again reaches your face – or Sanchez and Coheed’s face – on “II – From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness.” That is, the guitars and vocals bounce around like on prozac along to lyrics like ‘you burn in hell, while they’re digging you out.’ The closing to “II – From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness” is very classic rock and helps to nominate it as one of the best on Good Apollo. “III – Apollo II: The Telling Truth” also dazzles across its wild seven minute adventure and does some revision of In Keeping Secrets along with new lyrics. Like a now standard brilliant Coheed song construction, you need to pay attention and let the song entirely unfold to fully embrace “III – Apollo II: The Telling Truth.” Good Apollo closes on “IV – The Final Cut” where classic rock guitars greet you at the entrance. “IV – The Final Cut” is heavily plodding and trances out in parts like the Dead decided to cover Coheed – and that argument may be even stronger as a quasi-jug band sound actually closes the record. With seventy-one minutes across fifteen tracks, Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV, Vol. I: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness proves that Coheed and Cambria can deliver something just as splendid and innovative in the face of surmounting expectations. While bipolar sweeping emotions are diminished on Good Apollo, the record is also considerably more consistent and solid than In Keeping Secrets. If your only exposure to Coheed is through videos on MTV, you aren’t doing yourself or the band any justice – as the videos tend to hide the brilliance of the band and they should go solely with animated sequences. What you should do is minimally pick up In Keeping Secrets and Good Apollo and play them in sequence at a very high volume in the dark. That should effectively blow your mind.
Abandoned Pools Fronted by multi-instrumentalist Tommy Walter, Abandoned Pools travels the bright pop rock typically reserved for British bands on vast amounts of prozac. Another interesting comparison is if you played Mineral’s records at a higher speed than you would approximate the songs on Armed to the Teeth. Although you may not be familiar with Abandoned Pools, you are most certainly familiar with Walter’s initial outfit Eels. Walter formed Eels back in the mid-90s, but jumped shipped after their 1996 record Beautiful Freak on Dreamworks – in order to focus on a truer and less commercial-driven musical life. After some time, Walter, along with guitarist Sean Woolstenhulme and drummer Bryan Head, formed Abandoned Pools and released their first record in September 2001. Oddly enough, by Walter signing with Universal and offering a strong pop record, he puts himself back in the same boat that he initially escaped from Eels. Despite of the future of Abandoned Pools, we can at least feast on the twelve-song, nearly hour long record Armed to the Teeth. Again, your melodic pop rock dreams will come true on Armed to the Teeth. More importantly, Abandoned Pools don’t simply offer super simple verse-chorus-verse instrumentation, but lace the catchiness within a thick array of different instruments – they employ several extra musicians for this recording and may as well on tour. Among the wall of solid tracks, several immediately catch your ear and make you come back. These include Walter’s sweet vocals on “Tighter Noose,” the quasi-classical riffs on “Hunting (The Universe Breaks My Heart),” “Armed to the Teeth,” “Sailing Seas” and the closer “Goodbye Song.”
Aiden There is no way that a band that looks so dumb in their promo photos are supposed to be this good. Moreover, with the wealth of bands doing the melodic punk hardcore amalgam, that Aiden is able to stick out says a fuck of a lot. In this case, you really can’t judge a book (or record in this case) by its cover as if you have a discerning taste and are over 25, you’d probably quickly pass on Aiden in a store. Yet, give this a spin and get the full picture before your decision. As their debut for Victory, Aiden’s image is something that they probably should play down. That is, their name comes from the Ring and they prefer the term horror rock for their sound – oh, of course, they like extreme amounts of eye shadow to perfect the goth punk thing. Separate the visuals of the band from the music and you are likely to fall in love – so blind people reading this perk up. Nightmare Anatomy initially kicks off harmlessly on “Knife Blood Nightmare,” but as the guitar pick slides start up and the rhythmic soloing commences, Aiden hints at something different. An initial impression of “Knife Blood Nightmare” is of a lost track of My Chemical Romance; which ain’t necessarily a bad thing. “The Last Sunrise” holds the fort and provides an exceedingly catchy chorus. Yet, “The Last Sunrise” really only serves as a placeholder for the dynamo, smoking song “Die Romantic.” Written under unfortunate auspices (suicide), “Die Romantic” illustrates Aiden as a band with armed with a tremendous sense of Left Coast punk and how to interweave it with a heavier, contemporary sound. On the stop-start chorus with gang vocals, you nearly pass out from glee. There should be no question what track to push Nightmare Anatomy. Of course, every song can’t be as brilliant as “Die Romantic,” but Aiden begins in epic form on the follower “Genetic Design For Dying” which takes you higher on the chorus. “Breathless” follows the general Aiden formula of solid verses and then uber-catchy chorus that don’t fall into pop-orgy fests, but squeezes inklings of what they need from the outer rings (though one must dig the vocal breakdown). Save for the opening “Unbreakable (I.J.M.A.)” is a strong number, while “It’s Cold Tonight” again gets your blood pumping and serves as one of the better songs. Annoying lyrics shame “Enjoy the View” and “Goodbye We’re Falling Fast” is rather average by Aiden standards. “This City Is Far From Here” holds itself together thanks to the chorus but is slipping. “See You In Hell…” closes out Nightmare Anatomy on a strong note, but you could easily see slight harmony variations on the chorus taking it up a notch. Get past Aiden’s imagery and at minimum spin “Die Romantic,” “Knife Blood Nightmare” and “It’s Cold Tonight” on one of those bacteria-filled listening stations as you pick up Nightmare Anatomy.
Rusty Anderson Within a few songs of Rusty Anderson’s solo Surfdog debut, it is clear that he has devised an eclectic album. The eclectism is both good and bad as when Anderson is pushing the pop it can be beautiful, but moves toward the riff-driven tend to fall short. One of the more impressive aspects of Undressing Underwater are the number of megastars he has working and playing on it. See, Anderson has been a highly sought after studio and touring musician who has played on and for a blitzkrieg of artists including Elton John, Perry Farrell, Santana, Gwen Stefani…and Ricky Martin on “La Vida Loca.” Anderson’s most recent work has been playing with Sir Paul McCartney. Essentially, for Undressing Underwater Anderson called in all his favors and got McCartney, the rest of his band, the Police’s drummer Stewart Copeland and producer Murdock to help him get these ten songs together. However, the problem on Undressing Underwater is one that tends to plague studio musicians, including the brilliant ones – which is a lack of ingenuity and new musical and songwriting angles. So, Anderson and his superb assemble offer up ten tracks of tight musicianship, hitting on all cylinders, but you are left with little to remember. In essence, Undressing Underwater is too generic for someone of Anderson’s ability and talent. Still, songs to check out include the star number and opener “Hurt Myself,” “Electric Trains” and “Sentimental Chaos.” If Anderson can channel everything he’s learned from playing with the best in the world, then the future is bright but otherwise look for him adding crucial elements to others work.
Audio Out Send Initially conceived as part of wide ranging full-length, the Oakland boys of Audio Out Send realized that certain songs were beginning to hang together and thus decided to offer a series of EPs as opposed to one large single collection. Featuring Jeremy Detamore, Max Diez, Benjamin Jennings and Zach Moser, Audio Send Out excel in minimal pop soundscapes that are hushed and tempered, but also are uptempo enough to keep you awake. Although the band specializes in electronic undertones, they also traverse standard rock sounds as well-illustrated across the four songs on A Broad Connection. After the short intro track “A Broad Connection” comes probably the best number here “In Our Heads.” “In Our Heads is also the most electronically devised and is a wise introduction to the band. Acoustic guitar ramblings initially greet you on “Wizards Of the Way Station” on Audio Send Out’s slow transition to rock. “Oakland Seas” is a bit of a place filler for the strong closer “Feeding Tape.” “Feeding Tape” features Audio Out Send as a full band and illustrates that the band can run in both traditional rock as well as electronic adventures. Already a well-devised EP, the four four-minute numbers on A Broad Connection make us quite interested in what’s to come on the next EP(s).
The Audition As the number of bands rocking the melodic punk sound grows, I increasingly purposively go into listening to such records with an open mind. I say ‘ok, this song/record has the same progressions, guitar work and vocal cadences as a thousand other records, but is their something to hang your hat on, something that you can take away and say that at least this band does it well’ (witness the above discussion of Aiden). Yet, you are immediately bitch-slapped by some of the worst lyrics and terrible cadence in awhile on the opener “Dance Halls Turn To Ghost Towns.” Even completely ignoring the rest of the lyrics, the line with ‘Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde’ may very well induce you to hit stop. Such an offense to your intuitive senses makes you put a quick black mark in your book. And while, the Audition makes up some ground on their debut for Victory on the catchy follower “You’ve Made Us Conscious,” it is not enough to win back your love as other transgressions transpire (uggh “Don’t Be So Hard”). You respect and acknowledge that the Audition can parallel the song structures of some of your favorites, but you wish that they did something to separate from the pack. The mind-numbing swath of bands that sound similar to the Audition (and that the Audition) sounds like has to suggest that melodic punk’s bubble is verge of busting. Bands like the Audition are going to have evolve to survive.
Baleen Coming from our previous home of Chapel Hill, NC, the five-piece of Baleen combine incredibly odd rock variants on Follow Me Blind. When the one sheet self-admits a band moves between R&B, soul, jazz, funk and rock, you know that a strange record is waiting for you. By the misfortune of poor sequencing, Baleen opens Follow Me Blind with a series of the more annoying songs on the record. “Solidify” is heavy on rock R&B, which is all that I need to say, “Magnifico (the Mule)” is like the oompa loompas singing with thick bass, while “List” just creeps on this side of death. Yet, other songs like the minimalist electronics on “Sold,” the rock “Unmedicated” and closer “Nothing” aint’ half bad. It is clear that Baleen likes to draw on their varied influences and try to shape a unique sound, but their excessive reliance on R&B and jam makes you keep looking.
Black My Heart It is easy and quick to turn away from Boston’s Black My Heart given their out-front straight-edgeness and recognizable (read: done before) sound. But these five young guys give off more intensity and crunch than most in the hardcore world. What immediately piques your attention is their heaviness in vocals, drums and guitar assault. Such attacks create comparisons to Bury Your Dead and Hatebreed, but Black My Heart also periodically picks up the tempo like an old school outfit. While this is seemingly a non-unique style of hardcore, try to think of bands that effectively mix the heavy hoodcore with more four-on-the-floor speed hardcore. BMH does this melding without annoying and obvious shifts between styles and seamlessly integrates the two parts. For choice examples check out the opener “We Weren’t Brought Up Right,” “What You Know About,” “Before the Devil” and “Remember Me.”
Bloc Party Electronic, dance and hip-hop artists aren’t the only ones who can get a cool remix done now – as gloriously demonstrated on this brilliant remix of Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm full-length. While many enjoyed Bloc Party’s originally love fest, this remix makes it all worthwhile a second time. Possibly more important, the remix adds an extra layer or two of a fun fucking time that you will instantly become a fan of Bloc Party or their remixer or both or only the unique combo of the two. Among the remixers are Ladytron, Jason Clark from Pretty Girls Make Graves, Four Tet, M83, Mogwai, Death From Above 1979 and Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (when is their damn follow-up coming out!). As has been demonstrated and established by previous remix, cover and tribute albums, which tracks a certain contributor gets often affects the enjoyability of their effort; though it is not sealed. The remixes that immediately blow your mind include “Like Eating Glass (Ladytron Zapatista Mix),” “Helicopter (Whitey Version)” by NJ Whitey, Jason Clark’s “Positive Tension (Blackbox Remix),” “Banquet (Phones Disco Edit)” by Paul Epworth and possibly the best here, the ambient electronics of Engineers on “Blue Light (Engineers’ Anti-Gravity Mix),” …okay so I just named the first five remixes, “This Modern Love (Dave P. and Adam Sparkles’ Making Time Remix)” which is obviously Dave P., Adam Sparkles as well as Starkey I. and “Luno (Bloc Party vs. Death From Above 1979).” It is apparent that some of the ‘bigger names’ here, don’t stand out in at least this reviewer’s ears. Now with this remix album we can properly enjoy Bloc Party at our favorite club or mildewy shower.
Chris Bono As his debut full-length, vagabond Chris Bono plays Americana rock that can only be successful at bars with scores of drunk people. Writing and recording Ten Senators and the Rebel Son in Boston, and then moving to NYC, one can easily imagine Bono being a fun time at open mics and bars. But Bono’s serious aping of others (simple witness opener “Killer #17” link to the Black Crowes or Springsteen on the terribly named “Rapunzel (Callin’ You Out)”) and his marginal success makes you wish Bono kept it in dark holes only. If Bono wants to make a career out of this, he should pack up for a major university college town where we would likely be warmly welcomed.
Caroline Though this only a CD single by the gorgeously brilliant Caroline Lufkin, we can’t stop hitting repeat on the three included songs (and one is just a remix). Born and raised in Okinawa, Japan –probably a military link – Caroline attended the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, where often the skilled go but the creativity is stripped. Back in Japan, Caroline received offers from numerous labels thanks to her electronic minimalist indie pop, but instead she reached out to TRL. With MP3s in arm, TRL was like ‘word’ and the magic happened. With bits of influence from artists like Bjork, Sigur Ros and Portishead, Caroline is carried by her magnificent vocals and artfully constructed movements. She wastes no time on “Where’s My Love” when piano and her uttering the title line greets you like the sun on the best morning of your life. Five listens is going to be enough for crack-addict-like needs. This is followed by “Where’s My Love (Magical Mix)” which is more of an electronic nerd’s paradise. The final song on the single is “Time Swells” that picks up on the quasi-chorus where Caroline’s voice is doubled with one doing ‘la, la, las’ and another holding a note. This single leaves little doubt Caroline is an artist to be on the lookout for in the near future.
Chin Up Chin Up Much has been noted about the death of Chin Up Chin Up’s bassist Chris Saathoff a couple years back; partially through the writing of their debut record We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers. Now, the band can separate themselves from that tragedy and record and embark on a new life with this self-titled follow up for hometown Chicago-based Flameshovel Records. Fronting song titles like “Fuck You, Elton John” and “The Soccer Mom Gets Her Fix,” Chin Up Chin Up shimmy through nine tracks of jangly indie rock that brims with pop rhythms. It is funny that the one sheet quotes Jeremy Bolen as saying they wanted to distance themselves from Chicago bands penchant for math-rock, but that they may not have exactly succeeded. That is definitely something you can pull out of the nine songs. Chin Up Chin Up aren’t excessive math rock, but you get a feel as such from the constantly busy guitars and just everything shifting underneath quasi-hushed vocals. An apt comparison may be as if the Jazz June collided with Joan of Arc. Although there is vast consistency between songs, highlights emerge from “Collide the Tide,” “Fuck You, Elton John,” “For All the Tanning Salons in Texas” and “I’m Not Asking For a Tennis Bracelet.” While you notice Chin Up Chin Up’s appeal from the first spin, be sure to take at least one listen on headphones to get a full effect. You get an extra bowl of oatmeal from the enhanced video of We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers.
Constantines An early major player in the recent Canadian indie rock explosion, the Constantines offer a new set of ten songs to get your Bruce Springsteen-colored indie reviving. Outside of Canada, the Constantines – consisting of Bryan Webb (vocals/guitar), Steve Lambke (vocals/guitar), Dallas Wehrle (bass), Will Kidman (keyboards) and Doug MacGregor (drums) – first made their splash with 2003’s Shine A Light for Sub Pop. A year later Sub Pop re-released the band’s 2001 self-titled record which helped explain what all the big fuss was about. The meantime has found the band touring every which way with everyone including like-minded folks the Arcade Fire and Modest Mouse. Tournament of Hearts comes off as a more tempered approach where the tempo is generally slowed and moves are explicitly directed. This diminished emphasis on punk, or as some may contend the Fugazi-part of the band, for the Constantines has created a considerably more constant and solid record overall. Yet, the unintended side effect is that few of the songs are the type to catch your ear on the first listen. Among the songs to take notice of, though, “Draw Us Lines,” “Soon Enough,” “You Are a Conductor” and “Hotline Operator” stand out from the rest. Tournament of Hearts can provide an effective working aide when you need that good background rock, but it is unlikely to rock your pants clear off.
Criteria Thank God that Stephen Pedersen has an addiction to be in a band and release exceptional records in the face of making bank as a lawyer. Many know the tale, but it’s worth repeating. Pedersen began his musical life playing guitar in the godfathers Cursive, before heading to Duke Law School – an unfortunate decision to be a Dookie. Yet, Pedersen spent much of his off time at Duke rocking neighboring Chapel Hill with his sizzling outfit the White Octave. Not unlike early Cursive, the White Octave featured Pedersen’s angular and brilliant guitar attack and helped continually define Chapel Hill as an indie rock haven. Yet, the cold and random weather of Omaha called Pedersen back to the Saddle Creek gang – or more like presented him the opportunity to be lawyer in Omaha. Naturally, Pedersen found himself momentarily bandless as he worked the law and thus started a new endeavor called Criteria. Writing Criteria’s debut En Garde and enlisting part of the Saddle Creek gang – AJ Mogis (Lullaby for the Working Class, Presto! Studios), Mike Sweeney (Beep Beep) and Aaron Druery – Criteria took off. Now with their first record as a cohesive unit, When We Break rips your balls off as it slams Pedersen’s attack guitars into a phenomenally catchy sound. Right off the bat on “Prevent the World” you get the sense that When We Break is like Pedersen took all the best songs from the White Octave and En Garde and distilled their essence and wrote a matching new eleven numbers. And though you could just leave “Prevent the World” on repeat and be fulfilled for the next few hours, another ten songs are just around the corner waiting to greet you. “Draped in the Blood” winds its way through two-and-a-half minutes of drilling guitars and gets you when you’re not looking on the post-chorus. “Good Luck” opens with riff-right joy and is mind-blowing from then on, while “Kiss the Wake” slows the action to an array of thick jabbing muting guitars. Following with the slower tip, “Grey Matter” shifts between mellow verses and thrashing classic Pedersen choruses. After a length intro, “Salt in Game” punctuates the bass of Mogis though is a relative flounder as is the next number “Self Help.” Quasi-metal riffs open “Run Together” and soon gives way to a less ominous sound, while Pedersen strikes “Ride the Snake” like a classic early 90s melodic punk song. Before the glorious closer “Connections,” comes the rather place filler “On Time.” “Connections” rocks for five minutes once again on the back of Pedersen and Druery’s guitars and is quite a fitting closer for a tremendous record. Far and away this is the best album that Pedersen through his various bands – Cursive, White Octave, Criteria – has ever put out. And that is saying a lot.
Cursive This rarity and unreleased songs record from Cursive is both a gift and a reminder to their fans. The gift is a collection of old 7” songs and two unreleased numbers “Dispenser” and “I Thought There’d Be More Than This.” The reminder is that Cursive can rock with the best of them even without their smoking cellist Gretta Cohn heading out on her own. The reason is that the twelve-track collection of the Difference focuses nearly exclusively on Cursive’s early beginnings between 1996 and 1998, with only one song “Nostalgia” coming from Cursive’s latest lineup with Cohn. And in that respect, Cursive blast away with the brilliant angular attack led by Tim Kasher and Stephen Pedersen as on their Such Blinding Stars for Starving Eyes (1996) and The Storms of Early Summer (1998) full-lengths. If you weren’t able to attain their early 7”s when they came out and don’t feel the need to spend a billion on Ebay, then this is the perfect remedy. The Difference includes the 1998 Icebreaker 7” (“Pivotal,” “Polar” and “Icebreakers”), the 1997 Zero Hour 7” (“Sucker & Dry” and “And the Bit Just Chokes Them”), the 1996 The Disruption 7” (“There’s a Coldest Day in Every Year,” “The Knowledgeable Hasbeens,” “A Disruption in Our Lines of Influence” and “A Disruption in the Normal Swing of Things”) and the aforementioned “Nostalgia” from the 2001 split. Naturally, a majority of the ten songs off of these 7”s rock your mind and make you get excited over Cursive again. But, the song that probably nails the joy most to the wall is the sweet opener and unreleased “Dispenser.” Why the hell they didn’t release “Dispenser” in 1995 or so only brings wonderment. The end story is that if you are down on Cursive, particularly their early stuff like Such Blinding Stars, you will absolutely love this.
Dios (Malos) Without knowing any better, you’d probably assume that a band named Dios (Malos) would be some kind of flailing metal or noise assault. Yet, Dios (Malos) is far on the other side of the spectrum with the only possible assaults occurring on sensitive indie rockers’ ears. DM focus on acoustic-driven indie pop that likes to be promoted as Shins-esque but is hardly on the same plane of existence. It is unnerving the amount of attention that DM have been getting via magazines listing them as a ‘hot’ artist, playing with Morrissey and, of course, appearing on the OC. This is unnerving because they aren’t that good. None of the twelve songs on the self-titled record can be described as a ‘hit’ and most are just modest recreations of the past. Every song with a ‘hook’ (e.g., “I Want It All”) is so obvious and upfront, it crests near annoying. The push for Dios (Malos) may just be a grand conspiracy launched upon us by the powers that be.
Eagle*Seagull Trying to re-orientate the location of the continuingly strange indie rock influence of Nebraska – from Omaha to Lincoln (home of University of Nebraska) – comes the grandiose orchestrated self-titled affair from Eagle*Seagull. Headed by Eli Mardock, Eagle*Seagull comes across like a composite of numerous indie sounds – perhaps most directly a unique mixture of the cache of Sub Pop’s Canadian bands (e.g, Wolf Parade, Constantines) and Saddle Creek’s more chilled outfits. Yet, no band on either of those labels has much on ES. This eleven song self-titled debut opens on “Lock and Key” with six-plus minutes of low keys and Mardock’s depressed vocals doubled. For those into the depressives tip of rock, “Lock and Key” is a great find. Not to be pressed into this box, ES follow “Lock and Key” up with the up-tempo “Photograph,” that while again traversing six-minutes manages to keep things interesting. “Hello, Never” takes sometime to succeed, while “Death Could Be At the Door” brings the speed back down to a murmuring. After acoustic guitars on “Holy,” ES mirror the Good Life on “Your Beauty Is a Knife I Turn On My Throat.” While a strong number, the mixing of “Your Beauty…” is messed up as Mardock’s vocals are way to loud compared to the instrumentation. ES thrash their selves around for seven minutes on “It’s So Sexy” and a nice combo of keys and tempo great you on “Last Song,” which isn’t the last song. The last two songs are actually “Heal It/Feel It” and “Ballet or Art.” “Heal It/Feel It” is relatively odd compared to the other songs as ES move to more of a new wave attack that compares favorably to Ric Ocasek. “Ballet or Art” rumbles along quite similarly to the opener “Lock and Key,” again with Mardock’s agonizing vocals and keys. It is fairly amazing that more hasn’t been heard about this phenomenal act for Lincoln. That should all change quite soon.
Fielding Coming out of Long Beach, CA, the five-piece of Fielding utilize a near-perfect pop male-female combo vocal style that is always highly appealing. Up and running for only a couple of years, Fielding have made a name for themselves in the Southern Cal indie scene, including a couple of residencies, including most recently at the Silverlake Lounge. You might figure that a band that MTV has consistently used on a show like Dismissed might be annoyingly OC. Yet, Fielding’s exceptional song construction layers scores of pop on top of common but somehow unique progressions. But, again, the real story is how Fielding uses the combination of Eric B. and Beth B.’s vocals (proper last names only slow them down). Though not aggressively or excessively used, Fielding comes in with parallels to Helicopter Helicopter and the Forecast, and Eric’s vocals particularly come off like a pop version of Taking Back Sunday and Straylight Run. There is hardly an off number among this self-titled record’s ten songs and is well-worth your time, particularly if you dig the male-female vocal contrast. With a couple of big name opening slots, Fielding could do exceptionally well for themselves.
Orenda Fink Not to be outdone by her Azure Ray partner in crime Maria Taylor, Orenda Fink offers up her own debut solo record a couple months on the heels of Taylor. As with Taylor, Fink has enlisted the Saddle Creek ensemble to make her songs a realization. This includes producer and Now It’s Overhead frontman Andy LeMaster, her husband Todd Fink (formerly Baechle – you know the guy ripping your pants off from the Faint) and Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley). For Fink, though, Invisible Ones takes on spiritual aspect – not per say religious – that as she mentions comes from travels to places such as India, Cambodia and Haiti. Besides from altering her song topics, these travels also helped to shape the more eclectic sound of Invisible Ones vis-à-vis Azure Ray. This is most obviously demonstrated on “Les Invisibles,” which sweeps into majesty after a couple of minutes thanks to the vocal additions of Haitians Rozna Zila and Sandy M. Saint-Cyr of Troupe Macandal. I don’t know if a song like “Les Invisibles” can now be touted as ‘world music’ but we may as well. Zila and Saint-Cyr are also featured on the similar-minded closer “Animal” and the more straight forward “No Evolution.” Besides from these, one should take note of the haunting “Invisible Ones Guard the Gate” which goes to another level on the chorus, the rocker “Bloodline,” the Sinead O’Connor-esque “Miracle Worker” and other rocker “Dirty South” which gets a vocal boost from Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers. A tip for ‘listening’ to Invisible Ones is either to turn it up way loud or listen by headphones so to hear all of Fink’s whispering vocals. While Azure Ray takes their hiatus, pick up Orenda Fink’s debut and possible play it at the same time as Maria Taylor’s 11:11 and you have your new AR record.
Giant Drag We first heard the LA duo Annie Hardy and Micah Calabrese – aka Giant Drag – on last year’s Lemona EP for UK’s Wichita. While the EP was a solid offering, Giant Drag seemed to be missing enough hooks to get you entranced. Trying to take back America after being big in the UK, Giant Drag now offers us thirteen tracks of indie rock filled with walls of distorted guitars, simple rhythms and Hardy’s unique vocals. Well the vocals are unique in the sense that they parallel a slightly more hyper Mazzy Star or PJ Harvey, and the music contains a Jesus & Mary Chain collage. It is clear that Hardy and Giant Drag have come into their own with Hearts & Unicorns, but the most unfortunate aspect of the record is that the best song here was also the best song on the Lemona EP – which always sucks. That song is the dreamy “This Isn’t It,” which couples a near perfect combination of simple rock structures, great lyrics and a compelling hook. If every song on Hearts & Unicorns was of the same ilk, then this would be one of the best records of the year. Yet, Giant Drag appreciable take different routes in their rock, mixing tempos, sounds and moods. Many writers have made hay about Hardy over song titles like “YFLMD” (you fuck like my dad) and “You’re Full of Shit (check out my sweet riffs),” but I don’t know what the fuss is. So, besides from the phenom “This Isn’t It” what else is worth your time on Hearts & Unicorns? Among the champs includes “Kevin Is Gay,” “YFLMD,” “My Dick Sux” (or something of that effect) and “Smashing.” Giant Drag are certainly one of the ‘hot’ artists around right now, but that designation is often fragile.
Glitter Pals Indeed it awesome that this EP is the first for Lovepump United. Poughkeepsie, NY Glitter Pals features members for the mind-blowing dance-metal band Genghis Tron and on this short four-song EP, you do hear the parallels. Yet, Glitter Pals are more heavy rock spastic and song structure-orientated than the blistering Genghis Tron. Still you are assaulted by walls of distorted guitars, some low-grade screaming and nauseating during such assuming numbers as “Lovepump’s Birthday Song.” The only number that encroaches on Locust-style attack is the closer “Dig In,” but that one is stellar. Given everything involved here you also got to love the name Glitter Pals – as it is so not. The artwork on the EP is done by Montreal’s Seripop and is quirky 70s, but a better framework may be to work in like Care Bears or something. I can’t wait to get a more solid record and/or to catch Glitter Pals (along with Genghis Tron) live. Rock!
The Go! Team As one of the most hyped bands in the last year, The Go! Team unleashes thirteen tracks of crazed 70s funk, soul and pop cranked into a contemporary indie dance sampling framework on the UK Mercury Prize-nominated Thunder, Lightning, Strike. Fronted by Ian Parton, this Brighton, England six-piece sounds more naturally from a happy sunshine type place – like LA without all the bad – than the cloudy shores of the British Isles. After Parton had developed his craft on his own, he had to assemble an ensemble in order to play out live. He did so by enlisting Sam Dook (guitar, banjo, drums), Jamie Bell (bass), Chi (drummer), Silke (multi-instrumentalist) and lady MC Ninja – because you always need a lady, a MC and a ninja. Although most of the songs contain a thick, hodge-podge of a billion instruments and samples all to get you moving, songs that stand out feature gang, lo-fi vocals. The pure instrumentals (e.g., “Feelgood By Numbers,” “Get It Together,” “Junior Kickstart”) are nice affairs, but the vocals add more weight and childish joy to the sound. As such, highlights come from “Ladyflash,” the awesome “We Just Won’t Be Defeated,” “Bottle Rocket” and “Huddle Formation.” Now with the recognition and financial backing of a major label, it will be interesting to see whether Parton and co. maintain the lo-fi sound or go with something more grandiose.
Adam Gnade Up until now everything that’s come our way from Loud and Clear has been top-notch. Now there is large, decimating hole of junk that’s been through our way from Adam Gnade. Gnade reads barely audibly poetry over sometimes interesting indie rock murmurings. On the very margins there are veering comparisons to when Cap’N Jazz would go out to lunch, but they always followed up with compelling indie rock explosions. On headphones you can appreciate the music slightly more, but just playing Run Hide Retreat Surrender will cause you to inflect pain on the stereo or vice-versa.
Julie Gribble Drawing on influences of like-minded rock female singer-songwriters (e.g., Sheryl Crow), Julie Gribble offers ten songs of straight forward, radio friendly rock on So Typical. Gribble is certainly aided by an attractive appearance, but more importantly a powerful voice that sounds good in a variety of arenas. The downside to So Typical is that many tracks are so ordinary and common that they don’t do Gribble any favors. Very focused on repetitive verse-chorus-verse constructions, Gribble usually hooks on to a phrase – typically the song’s title – and just drills it into your head. Not a bad strategy, but it is glaring when the song doesn’t deliver. Numbers to take notice of include the opener “Little Bit Lonely,” the title track (save for the lame jamming), “So Obvious” and the pretty acoustic “One More For the Missing.” Gribble wrote or co-wrote all ten songs here, but she really needs to make it sound less studio musician and more inspirational.
Honeyhander As one of the few Providence bands to come forth in the past years and not sound spastically esoteric, the five-piece of Honeyhander lay down their own skewed vision of what new wave rock should be. Traveling in the RISD circles, Honeyhander landed with SAF for their debut EP Woolly Mannerisms. Much of material on the EP dances around an intersection of noise and straight up new wave; and in so doing rounds out a fairly enjoyable picture. For instance, if Honeyhander were to employ a ‘real’ singer, they could easily do the more mainstream thing as illustrated on such songs as “Porcelain Veneers.” But the lurching, distant and whining vocals that do run across the music holds a mystique to the band. What is clear about Woolly Mannerisms is that if Honeyhander decide to stay the course and not go more obscure, they could be force as they increasingly improve.
Hoods While Sacramento’s Hoods latest record is called The King Is Dead, they clearly want it to be known that the King is Fucking Dead. This ten-track, twenty-minute onslaught serves more as an acknowledgment that Hoods are still ready to throw down with the best of them after all these years. Featuring Mike Hood on guitar and as the core cohesive unit, Hoods have been releasing records for over a decade including their last two on Victory. More importantly, Mike Hood has a set up a base in Sacramento to help upcoming bands and others in their hardcore scene. And thus in some respects Hoods is their house band. What is most striking about The King Is Dead, their first on Eulogy, is how much better and rawer it is than their previous record on Victory Pray for Death. Pray for Death was a bit boring, but The King Is Dead attacks you with the vengeance of an 18 year-old. And even though this record will not be mistaken for innovative song structures, it will put a smile on your face that the old guys can still fuck shit up like they did when they were kids.
(intheclear) It is admittedly pretty damn hard to get passed the incredibly bad EP name and album art. It is literally like a retarded ten year-old came up with this stuff. The band itself treads tired heavy rock sounds that are so trampled on, you become bored within a minute. You seriously may slit your wrists to the fourth number “Love, Chinese Style.” I’m in pain.
Koufax It has admittedly been a number of years since I’ve heard new Koufax material. But their early stuff enamored me to these folks - particularly their self-titled EP on Doghouse and first full-length It Had To Do With Love for Vagrant (via Heroes & Villains). Yet, the indie rock piano jam that once was has been replaced by a faux-theatrical political-themed (read: Iraq, Bush) affair on Hard Times Are In Fashion. Lyrically this often comes off as crap in that the words are squeezed into sounds that just don’t mesh. Could the change be a Get Up Kids’ result with the inclusion into the outfit of Ryan and Rob Pope? Probably not, but interesting thoughts. Not every song on Hard Times is of this ilk, but the ones that are standout like a sore thumb. Ones that cause pain in the testicular region include “Back and Forth,” “Blind Faith” and “Colour Us Canadian.” Otherwise, the songs illustrate solidly designed sections and strong playing particularly when Robert Suchan is minimizing his flailing vocals. Though it has been some time, Koufax have always been an interesting live show and worth checking out.
The Like The young ladies of the Like started out mostly as a musical curiosity. Three high schoolers from Los Angeles playing pleasing pop rock that most couldn’t believe they had devised nor could play live. Yet, the Like focused their efforts on the LA indie scene and self-released three EPs in their early years entitled I Like the Like, …And the Like, Like It Or Not. After the Like graduated from high school in 2004, Geffen picked them up and quickly put them on tour. Although the dubiously named Z Berg heads the Like on vocals and guitars, drummer/vocalist Tennessee Thomas and bassist/vocalist Charlotte Froom were the initial catalyst for the band. Regardless, the power and potency of the thirteen songs on Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking? comes from Berg’s rich and pleasantly throaty vocals. Without loss of generality, you could characterize Berg as a more rocker version of Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley – though not as awesome. The Like may have started as a curiosity, and probably will continue for some time, but they earn every accolade that they receive. Nearly every song on Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking? feels like you are being wrapped in a warm blanket of joy – of course ignoring some of the less joyful actual lyrics. One defect of the record, though, is that there aren’t enough songs that are memorable enough to be drawn back. You enjoy the record and like having it rolling in the background, but there is a relative dearth of songs that you’d want to show off to your friends. Still, your head gets moving to the brilliant “Bridge to Nowhere,” “Under the Paving Stones,” the opener “June Gloom” and exceptional “The One.” The Like should be around for some time to come, so they can only get better from here.
Limbeck This phenomenal alt-country pop four-piece first demolished our ears at Exoduster a couple of years back with their stellar full-length Hi, Everything’s Great. In fact, we were so pumped that we went and bought the super sexy flip-book postcard version just to have a full-art copy. The boys are back with another ‘on the road’ record with Let Me Come Home. Save for the pop dreaminess that crosses the speakers, there is a very little chance that you’d suspect that Limbeck hail from the O.C. With songs flushed with alt-country rhythms, you are likely to finger something like Oklahoma, Tennessee or Kentucky. At the same time, bands from those locales rarely have such a sunshine-loving feel to their music. The voice of Limbeck is guitarist Robb MacLean, who looks uncannly like Billy Corgan, but comes across in both person and vocals as much cooler and chill. As a frontman, and joined by his cohorts, MacLean really carries the songs. The second immediately impressionable aspect of Limbeck is the simple, yet memorable guitar work of Patrick Carrie. Carrie’s guitar twang and shakes are what defines the alt-country sound of Limbeck. Holding the rhythm front down are the well-framed drums of Matt Stephens and the heads up bass of Justin Entsminger. After striking out on an indefinitely long tour in support of Hi, Everything’s Great, where Limbeck tried to develop a new set of road adventures and create a new set of postcards, the band headed in to the studio with Ed Ackerson and Gary Louris in Minneapolis. It certainly helped that Louris is from the Jayhawks, though this record is a bit more Beach Boy pop than what the Jayhawks ever offered. The end product is thirteen songs that clearly travel the route staked out on Hi, Everything’s Great, but exist with clearly attention to consistency across the tracks. That is, Hi, Everything’s Great has its brilliant moments, but Let Me Come Home has at least the same amount of stellar numbers but the drop offs aren’t as severe. This is something you come to expect from a tremendous band as they grow, mature and become better. The short and the quick of Let Me Come Home is if you enjoyed Hi, Everything’s Great then you are going to love of this latest from the boys of Limbeck. As has been established throughout this review, Limbeck are a band that lives on the road. Most bands live on the road it is true. Yet, Limbeck absolutely brings it when they play and you can’t ignore that they are having a great time and are enveloping you to do the same.
Marjorie Fair It is rather easy to be seduced by Marjorie Fair and Self Help Serenade. What with the gorgeously pretty album art, the mellow pop wet dreams, high end promotion and supportive write ups in such rags as the New York Times, how could you resist. But what does become clear fairly quickly is that you have to have a keen interest in Marjorie Fair’s sound – something that nears Coldplay, the Beatles and Slayer (just kidding) – to be really down on the band. In a rather confusing story, Marjorie Fair is headed up by Evan Slamka and is rounded out by Dain Luscombe on keys, Scott Lord on bass and Mike DeLise on drums. The confusing part comes from Slamka previously being in Parlour (is that the same as the Temporary Residence band? (if so Marjorie is much different)) and that Self Help Serenade was released oversees last year. It is one of those deals where different labels release the record in different places at different times. Either way Marjorie Fair is set up to take on the American market with recklessly attacks of fury placed in a lovely box of joy. The short of Self Help Serenade is that many songs languish as slow pieces of pop that leaves little to hold onto to but provides soothing background music. Still attention should be given to the terrific and memorable “Empty Room,” “How Can You Laugh” and “Stand In The World.” Marjorie Fair are a hot, hip outfit right now, but the test comes in their lasting power.
New England Roses Although New England Roses features JD Samson from Le Tigre, along with Sarah Shapiro and Brendan Fowler, this debut full-length is marginally listenable. Face Time With Son took reportedly three years to finally get out as the members played in their main gigs, but the twelve songs sound closer to a weekend recording. New England Roses go for that indie art school musical esotericism that veers toward good, but often falls flat because of inside jokes. A couple of songs are worth your effort including “All For the Night,” the end of the Dave Matthews’ cover “Dancing Nancies” and partially “Love Song.” Others will make you reach for the yak bucket as exemplified by “Confidence.” New England Roses hints at what good things they are capable of, but Face Time With Son is just a pile.
The Outside If nothing else is to be said about Northern New Jersey’s the Outside, the band presents a tremendously designed albeit cardboard promo package that at least gives the appearance of a hardworking outfit. Thankfully that is not the only thing to be said about the Outside. Enjoying the fact that every time I see the Outside I think of the awesome movie the Outsiders, the band plays on the hard rock, punk tip that is brought out in voice by the female vocals. When the goth-type vocals are put to the wayside on this five-song EP, the Outside really shines. Witness the indie breakdown on “Luminous Veil” or the entirety of “The Perfect Way I Lost You” where pop is in session. On other songs like “Stoop to Kiss” and the majority of “Milky Way,” the Outside seem torn in playing heavy rock; their lack of ingenuity and skill makes these heavy sections sound generic. Indeed, the heavy sets up the slight, but they need to be re-imagined to have a blistering effect. As their second EP, the Outside offer a strong effort, something that should get them noticed and propelled forward.
Panic Division Not to be confused with the Panic or Pansy Division, San Antonio’s Panic Division offers eleven tracks of melodic mid-tempo punk on their debut for the Militia Group. After self-releasing two records and working to survive in the rather minimal San Antonio scene, Panic Division’s match with TMG is nearly ideal as their sound may be characterized as standard TMG. That is, accepting, melodic and pleasing punk that appeals to a wide swath of listeners, but isn’t likely to make Panic Division stand out. But, Panic Division do have a few things going for them. One is that their lead singer’s name is Colton Holliday, which is just awesome. Holliday’s vocals aren’t as awesome, but are solid, strong and what you should expect. One of the other highpoints is that between Holliday’s and Daniel Stanush’s guitars, Panic Division uses U2-like guitar effects that straddle and echo out riffs. This may come from the band’s initial inclination as an instrumental band. Some songs such as the opener are strong, but for the Panic Division to make a lasting impression they need to move beyond the common pop song.
The Pathways Throughout the course of the thirteen tracks on Boat of Confidence, my favor for the Pathways moves from anger to enjoyment to annoyed and back all around again. These shifting feelings occur due to the Pathways’ movement from stellar quirky guitar pop to annoying shreds of randomness and everything inbetween. It may come from the Pathways outfront parallel to Pavement, but in a less brilliant manner. Whether Pavement defined the jangly indie pop sound or if they were just the best is an irrelevant discussion since now any band in this sound gets compared to Pavement. The Pathways are one of the best Pavement-like bands to come around in awhile, but it is hard to challenge a master. Yet, when the Pathways are on, hitting their harmonies and going for memorable catchy pop with wise nerd twists that are endearing and you can fully get behind them. When they are way off on holding notes or just rambling on a tangent, you wish them a quick Mortal Combat death. Interestingly, Boat of Confidence seems to split nearly down the middle with reference to these two worlds. Eye and ear-gouging songs come via “Just Like a River,” “Stunning Capture,” “Miserable In Coat + Tie” and the curiously Kermit the Frog vocals on “7 Types of Ambiguity.” Those we are smitten with include “Kid Gloves on the Packet-Boat,” “Party’s Over,” “Inner-Altar” and the closer “Productivity.” If the Pathways can flush away some of the junk on Boat of Confidence in the future, they could be a major force.
Pinetop Seven To say that Chicago’s Pinetop Seven’s fifth record and first for Empryean is epic is an absolute understatement. Even though Pinetop Seven has a history of glorious endeavors, utilizing The Parapluie Ensemble to create the string realizations across the album’s thirteen songs is special. That history includes squeezing and merging the disparate nature of American music – the folds, crimples, steals – and mixing it into something that fits foremost in the indie rock tradition. Besides from the vast number of influences, Pinetop Seven has also used a vast number of employees including members of Bright Eyes, Wilco and Rilo Kiley. This makes sense since something so heroic and mildly abstruse is hard to keep solidified as a cohesive unit. Through it all songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist Darren Richard serves as the anchor point for Pinetop Seven. The most compelling aspect of Richard’s work is his amazing vocals that sound like 70s gold – an indie version of James Taylor. Beyond Richard, John Peeler, Nate Walcott, Melissa Bach and a host of others lend their multi-instrumental talents to The Night’s Bloom. It’s rather difficult to concisely describe Pinetop Seven’s sound save for mentioning a cross-hatch of the Decemberists, Bright Eyes and pure Americana. Among the highlights include “Easy Company,” “Fringe,” “Born Among the Born Again,” “His Aging Miss Idaho” and “Witness.” Of note, The Night’s Bloom also comes as a double-LP that includes three extra songs “Hurry Home Dark Cloud,” “Sleepless” and “Where the Road Runneth Out.” Given the long and drawn-out episodes, The Night’s Bloom takes several listens to bloom and grow on you after a cursory interest listen. Take the plunge and let it spin you to another place.
Popstar Assassins One must be pretty affront to pick a moniker of Popstar Assassins. You could easily read into a variety of meanings and connotations to such a name – both good and bad. Lead by Tim Thomas and Cale Hoopes, Popstar Assassins aim for an indie pop sound, but generally get tripped up into just a wall of guitars (in a bad way). The badness often comes via the weak vocals (witness the note-holding attempt during “Close My Eyes”), but that is only part of the story. The more important part is that the eleven songs are just really boring. The music is tight and ‘correct,’ but there is little to hold on to. Add to that the clearly home recorded guitars that move between tinny and undistinguishable layers and you wind up with a blah record. One has to take further issue with one sheet promoting as sounding like the Shins, Rogue Wave or the Wrens. At best, Popstar Assassins are your favorite local band from a really small college town, but to compare them to such heavyweights is like saying I’m as smart as Einstein or can basketball as well as Michael Jordan.
Renee Heartfelt It must be restated that Renee Heartfelt is a fantabolous band name – regardless of the content herein. After last year’s debut EP Magdalene, something less than inspiring, the members of Renee Heartfelt (which include exers from Give Up the Ghost and Striking Distance) seem to have taken upon a new quest to deliver the post-hardcore version of U2. With spacy, simple and distant guitar rhythmic guitar solos, Renee Heartfelt trample on some impressible paths when they are hitting on all cylinders. But when a spark misses or a cog comes undone, RH unravel to a simple post-hardcore sound. Conveniently for both the band and listener, RH provide the best song on Death of the Ghost on the first real song “Gratitude, (for).” “Gratitude, (for)” is draped in U2 soundscapes combined with a clunking bass underneath and honest vocals on top. Yet, you as easily catch the band’s fault on the follower “(is) Forgiven,” which sounds exactly like an average rehashing of Quicksand and NYC brethren. But let’s focus on the good, which comes from “Misanthropes’” Breakfast Club vibe of “Control” and “(the) Death of the Ghost.” Without question Renee Heartfelt is a considerably better band than was demonstrated on Magdalene, so let’s hope the upward trajectory continues.
Ringworm There are two main things to be remembered from Ringworm’s 2001 Birth Is Pain. The first is that the lead singer of Ringworm is named Human Furnace and the second is that they hailed from Cleveland (a logical location for this sort of hardcore, but a relative paltry number of widely known bands). Those two facts remained with me through the past four years every time I heard Ringworm mentioned. The other thing that is clear from Justice Replaced By Revenge is Ringworm has unleashed an uber-improved collection of songs for the uninitiated. Initially formed in the early 90s under the sheath of metal and hardcore crossovers like Integrity, Ringworm splintered in the mid-late 90s and then got back together for Birth Is Pain. The inbetween time found members playing in Integrity and Terror, and Human Furnace opening a series of tattoo parlors (naturally). While a strong return, Justice Replace By Revenge clear tops that record. Besides from the usual vocal intensity of Human Furnace, the thirteen tracks also smack with an underlying parallel to metal kings Pantera. This is not to say that Ringworm is attacking with machine gun precision, but the guitars and drum combo is nearing that sound considerably more than generic hardcore riffs and beats. If you throw out the lame ass instrumental “Whisky Drunk” and focus on songs like the self-titled opener, “Day of Truth,” “Thrive” and “Ghosts of the Past,” then you have a solid toughguy hardcore album. To see how Ringworm can still be brutalizing instruments and vocal chords fifteen years later, check them out with wildmen Converge in late Fall.
Scars of Tomorrow Out of the burgeoning Southern California metalcore scene, the five-piece of Scars of Tomorrow offer up their latest assault and second for Victory on The Horror of Realization. After two records on Thorp and the mildly successful Rope Tied to the Trigger, Scars of Tomorrow have been working the scene hoping to get pulled along skyward by local brethren like Atreyu – lead singer of Atreyu Alex Varkatzas sings on “The Hidden Grudge.” With more attention to heavy, brutal guitars, The Horror of Realization features a machine-gun style metalcore that merges on melodic at moments but mostly passes over catchy areas. When Scars of Tomorrow go for the more melodic Shai Hulud-type sound, there appeal takes off. Such is the cases on “The Hidden Grudge,” “The Marks of Time” and “This Autumns Bleeding.” When the band simply follows the common low speed grind that uncomfortable echoes Korn and the like, you get turned off. If Scars of Tomorrow were to mix that heavy grind with flashes of brutal soloing it may gloss over such annoying thoughts. Unquestionably, though, The Horror of Realization leaves a larger impression on you than Rope Tied to the Trigger. For those looking for a more heavy SoCal metalcore sound then Scars of Tomorrow are your band.
Silver Sunshine San Diego’s Silver Sunshine first got serious notice on last year’s self-titled debut record and now they have followed that up with a cascading-improving five-song EP. Schooled and focused on pop psychedelia, Silver Sunshine offer up the 60s pop rock harmonies and thumping bass a la Beatles and then rip it up open with acid-laced guitar solos. While their debut had songs that either sounded as too pop or too strung out, the five on A Small Pocket of Pure Sunshine bring the two worlds together with impressive results. You should go no further than “Waiting For the Sun” to satisfy your craving for pop and psychedelia. On “She’s the Reason” Silver Sunshine introduce an organ to fill out the song, and while they treat it is as a pace-making rhythm role, it suggests they could benefit from further use in the future. Though it may not be their intended market, Silver Sunshine are a perfect stoner band and possibly more importantly a band that appeals across rock generations.
Solea The first mailing that we received of this second release by Solea was cracked clear across and so we requested a follow up. And shit, are we glad that we did. Featuring former members of indie punk heavyweights Texas Is the Reason, Samiam, Knapsack and Sensefield, Solea blast through eleven songs of melodic punk and post-hardcore done the right way. While it is clear that Solea draw on the members’ past work, in particular with respect to Texas and Sensefield, this record illustrates a clearer pop direction. It is as if those bands went dormant, woke up and sprinkled pop to their sound. On songs such as “Frankie Machine,” you undoubtedly see the connection to mid-late 90s uptempo post-hardcore (not unlike Greyarea). Among the songs to look for include the mind-blowing opener “Apotheke,” “Underneath It All,” “Frankie Machine,” “I’m Waiting” and “Shuffle.” Some of have tried such a poppy switch, likely under the guise of appealing to wider audiences, and just turned out sounding like crap. Solea pulls it off and hopefully will continue to pull it off in even greater ways in the future. Solea have already toured with like-minded bands such as Alkaline Trio and Thursday, so look for more big time tours to come.
Straylight Run Nearly like the title to this six-song EP, I was warned or cautioned or made aware of the fact that Prepare To Be Wrong was very different from 2004’s debut record. Unlike many bands that shift away from their opening and defining sound, the change by Long Island’s Straylight Run is exceedingly welcomed. Formed a couple of years back by John Nolan, the guy I like to call ‘the skinny-headed guy from Taking Back Sunday,’ the band is rounded out by sister Michelle Nolan, Shaun Cooper and Will Noon. After rocking the world with debut album and opening for various heavyweights, Straylight Run began working on this EP in the summer of 2005 with the idea of filling out their sound and taking non-obvious directions away from their piano-laden indie pop. The results are phenomenal as the band laces electronics, drum loops and mellow compositions into terrific pop songs. You don’t get a true sense of the positive on the more esoteric opener “I Don’t Want This Anymore,” where Michelle’s vocals are angelified and electronics rule. But you begin to see the true effect on the follower “It Never Gets Easier” and the “Later That Year” which contains a simple, repetitive line of ‘we did the math and it wasn’t worth it after all’ that gets stuck in your head. “A Slow Descent” is more theatrical as the Nolans sing together for a majority of the song and picks up when John plays the dominant role about a third in. Though dribbling, “A Slow Descent” is one of the more powerful songs on the EP. “Hands In the Sky (Big Shot)” reaches back to more of the electronic production and takes a compelling turn when half-way through pumping bass and drums and Nolan’s background shouting makes you think you are about to bust a move. After this unique offering, the EP formally ends with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “With God On Our Side” which features Jeff DaRosa on vocals. The EP in my hands at least also includes three of the best songs from Straylight Run’s debut, “Existentialism on Prom Night,” “The Tension and the Terror” and “Your Name Here (Sunrise Highway).” Although “Existentialism on Prom Night” got ridiculous attention, you should take a second look at the awesome chorus on “The Tension and the Terror.” Little doubt that if you enjoyed Straylight Run’s debut record and then you’ll love Prepare to be Wrong. Look for more big things from this band in the near future.
Suicide City This five-song EP illustrates a fantastic potential for Suicide City’s playing a major role in heavy music. Yet, the shifting musical directions often make you wish that Suicide City would just stick to one sound and stop testing the waters. Fronted on vocals by Karl Bernholtz and filled out by Billy Graziadei on guitars/vocals, Jennifer Arroyo on bass/vocals, AJ Marchetta on guitars and Danny Lamagna on drums, Suicide City cross the worlds of quasi-neu-metal, hardcore and punk on the fives songs of Not My Year. Every person has their own preferences, but for me Suicide City are best when they turn up the speed and walk a hardcore line. The numbers include the balls opener “Fuck Your Dreams” where the tempo is quick and hard-hitting, the follower “Give Me Your Pity” that includes a tight hardcore riff and the closer “Diemonds.” The other two songs “Undone” and “Marching Backwords” come off too much like POD, etc. Fans of that sound will likely eat it up, but too many mellow metal breakdowns for my taste. With extensive hookups and contacts from their previous outfits, it is surprising the Suicide City are not on a major heavy music label. That should change shortly.
Therina Bella When Therina Bella (aka Catherina Ann Borges) is on, she is fucking on! At other times on Waiting For A Ghost you are questioning what the hell is going on. Inspired to write this record and refocus herself on music after her father’s death, Waiting For A Ghost wisps along like an indie Mazzy Starr or Sarah McCaughlin. When Bella goes for the sad, haunting sounds and vocals like Mazzy Starr, she is brilliant and you are simply glad to hear the songs. When Bella moves towards more of a singer-songwriter mode, the songs often come off as ordinary and common (e.g., “Forever,” “Waiting” and “Deep Breath”). Helped by David Dragov and Joseph Beford on the recording, highlights come from the opener “Escape,” the poppy “52904,” the oddly electro “Terrible Girl” and the wonderful closer “Goodnight.” If Thernia Bella can channel more of the sad, detached vocals with more catchy rhythms then she would easily be on another level.
Rosie Thomas On her third full-length for Sub Pop, singer-songwriter Rosie Thomas pushes herself outside of her comfort zone establishing a richer album but also a strangled attack on your sanity. With little doubt, Thomas has gorgeous vocals and extreme talent. Yet, you need to really enjoy her female singer-songwriter filled with strings and pianos approach to enjoy If Songs Could Be Held. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. Thomas generally moves between two dominant modes. The first is an acoustic guitar attack that is found on such numbers as the opener “Since You’ve Been Around,” “Let It Be Me” and “Clear As A Bell.” Though Thomas often sounds quite Nashville in this sound, it is the highly preferable style. The second mode is a sheepish parallel to Sarah McCaughlin piano belting vomiting. There is no worse offense than the second song “Pretty Dress,” where you find yourself wishing a hideous death on Thomas; well not death actually. Other, less egregious, examples include “It Don’t Matter To the Sun,” “Guess It May” and “Time Goes Away.” Again, if this kind of music is what gets you off then you are going to love Rosie Thomas’ latest. Others may instead run for the hills.
Thor You probably didn’t think that Thor (aka Jon Mikl Thor) would have a DVD. Or a DVD that only chronicled Thor’s first ten years as an entertainer. Well, here it is and it is strange to say the least. For those who aren’t privy to previous writings, Thor is a complete entertainer who started out as a champion body builder and then entered into a music power cock rock image as well as an actor. The best part of the DVD is that you get to see Thor in his prime as an odd, muscle bound dude with the energy of a little of kid. I particularly like when he shows off the package in clips such as a 1976 Merv Griffin spot. Other clips that bring at least a giggle to your face include the use of the same set and everything for several early videos, the super weird Uncle Floyd show from 1982, the random Chevy truck for Long Island and the great 1985 video for “Knock ‘Em Down.” All in all, the whole DVD is unquestionably like Spinal Tap coming to life. While you will get a chuckle from most of it, some who grew up during this time may resort back to their teenage years with fondness.
Tokyo Rose On their sophomore effort for SideCho, New Jersey’s pop-punk quartet Tokyo Rose try to mess with the tried and true formula and wind up wandering around the fort a bit too much. The band readily admits that on their debut Reinventing a Lost Art they drew from exemplar bands they were in parallel to – like Jimmy Eat World – but now they tried to branch out and take in more influences. This is typically a good strategy, but sometimes if you aren’t brilliant (or careful) it can backfire. It is not like Tokyo Rose are trying to reinvent themselves; they are just trying to broaden their sound from a stereotypical melodic punk band. Straight up rockers like the opener “Spectacle,” “Goodbye Almond Eyes,” “A Reason to Come Home Again” satisfy the palette and even the moderate tempo title track offers treasures. But you are also violated by “The Tin Man Gets His Heart,” “The Hard Eight” (which the one-sheet inexplicably primes) and the absolutely dreadful closer “Meghan Again.” Likely if you were a fan of Reinventing a Lost Art, you will find plenty to satisfy yourselves here, but still some of the changes may be disheartening.
The Tossers While it is nearly impossible for me to not completely fawn over traditional Irish punk bands (and it pains me not to), this latest from the Tossers doesn’t satisfy your dreams and hopes for goosebumps moments. Out of Chicago and traveling this line for over twelve years, the seven-piece of the Tossers travel in two separate entities on The Valley. The first immediately greets you on the opening set of songs (e.g., “Goodmornin’ Da” and “A Criminal of Me”), where the Tossers blast uptempo traditionalist-flavored songs with a punk flare and gets your blood pumping. At which point you are crapping your pants in glee and visions of drunken dancing like fools follow forth. However, when the Tossers turn to a string of slow-tempo ballads and keep playing them, you begin to get restless. The first inclination comes in the form of “Late,” which is fine on its own and you allow for a momentarily pause in the excitement. Yet, “Late” is followed by the more annoying “Out On the Road,” and after the bit of reprieve from the standup “I’ve Pursued Nothing,” the slide continues on “Drinking In the Day,” “Phoenix Park,” and basically until the end. It is clear that either the Tossers should have done a better job sequencing the record or included more uptempo songs. I’ve heard through various sources that the Tossers put on a tremendous live show, but I can’t imagine that they give much attention to the ballads; as the ballads probably serve as break moments for the band and crowd and not a substantial portion of the show. It is nonetheless cool that Victory has put out such a different type of record and give them crazy kudos.
Unknown Instructors Even though Unknown Instructors includes some heavyweights of the early and mid punk movement, the beat poetry set to punky free-form jazz leaves a lot to be desired. Featuring the poetry and direction of Dan McGuire, Unknown Instructors are filled out by Mike Watt (Minutemen), George Hurley (Minutemen), Joe Baiza (Saccharine Trust, Universal Congress Of) and Jack Brewer (Saccharine Trust). Obviously such a collection of influence is special. Recording in one four-hour session at Karma Studio in San Pedro, CA, Unknown Instructors completely improvised the music while McGuire added poetry on top. With almost of an hour of this assault, you really have to be a fan of beat poetry and accompanying punk jazz to get into Unknown Instructors’ The Way Things Work. I suppose if you took everything super seriously and dissected the words, and actually enjoyed poetry, than this record would be fun. Otherwise, I’d pass.
Chad Van Gaalen Armed with a pretty princess album design, Calgary’s Chad Van Gaalen provides sixteen tracks of assorted indie pop on his debut for Sub Pop. Though a newbie for Sub Pop, Van Gaalen has been freezing his hands off busking and rocking clubs across Canadian cities for nearly a decade. Given that he lives in Calgary, Van Gaalen spends much more time than average at home recording his various treatises. And to say that Van Gaalen is prolific is an understatement. Although we can’t assess the quality of songs, Van Gaalen admits to recording hundreds of songs over the years; and often just burning some cds to pass out to friends. Infiniheart is actually being re-released by Sub Pop after an initial winter 2004 release. Through Van Gaalen’s persistence at just doing his own thing, he finally got picked up by Sub Pop after a couple other indies were interested (e.g., Secretly Canadian). The collection of sixteen songs on Infiniheart definitely illustrates an artist playing with his influences and writing pieces that don’t fit one sound or another. As such, you are likely to find one song you love and the next you are like ‘peace out.’ For me, this is certainly as the case as standouts come in strong on the brilliant opener “Clinically Dead,” which also is similar to the Shins, “After the Afterlife,” “Blood Machine,” “Echo Train,” “Red Blood,” “1000 Pound Eyelids” and the closer “Traffic.” I can imagine kids at New England private college lapping Chad Van Gaalen up. Infiniheart is a great (inter)national release and we are dreaming of a follow-up that will be a tightly packaged love affair.
With Honor
Zenith This record found its way into my hands from the most unlikely of sources. I suppose the 83-year old woman that lives next door would be even more unlikely, but a copy of Zenith’s three-song effort Evilution came via my dad’s trip to Denmark. Now given my last name some people joke that I’m related to John Fogerty, but alas that is false and my dad isn’t a rocker. On top of that, Zenith blast a heavy end amalgam of metal that echoes 80s riff metal, death metal and grind – something my dad would never come across. This three song CD is actually like an early teaser demo that is now going to be released as a full-length with the slightly altered title Zenith – the Album. Not expecting much, when the opening riffs of “Give Me ‘Till Tomorrow” opened, I was pleasantly surprised that Zenith is for real with gang vocals intercepted by screams which eventually lead to a Faith No More/Danzig breakdown. I know several who would get giddy off that shift. The second number “1-2-3 Imprisoned For Life” begins as grind and then moves into 80s metal with Biohazard nods that continues for seven-plus-minutes. This CD ends on “What Da Ya Want” that after a couple minutes of machine-gunning moves to a grind and a slightly annoying manly vocals display. Although it is not clear to me the situation, I can’t imagine why Zenith doesn’t have a sweet deal with a major metal label. You are now forewarned.
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