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November Reviews Artist of the Month: Dropkick Murphys Unlike most bands out there in the world, the Dropkick Murphys have become better and more famous with constant hard work – literally defining the Boston working-class ethos they sprung from. With Meanest of Times, their seventh record and first on own label Born & Bred Records, the Dropkick Murphys take the challenge of consistency and improvement to the next level with their Irish-flavored punk. This is something to behold. The unprecedented attention that DK has been receiving is all completely worth the fanfare, almost as if the band is one to be punched up with every single release of any sort. DK always seem to come back and knock you on your ass just when you begun to forget about how much they kick ass or begin to take them for granted. Besides from their collection of strong records on Hellcat/Epitaph, including The Gang’s All Here (1999), Blackout (2003), and The Warrior’s Code (2005), DK has been getting the most attention from their contributions to the Academy Award winning film The Departed and the Boston Red Sox. As many know, DK provided the 2004 World Series Red Sox their theme song and played at the series; as they did this year when Boston won. (Not to mention the band’s inclusion at the end of Fever Pitch). As even more people know, The Departed featured the DK’s “I’m Shipping Up to Boston.” On its own, “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” rocks balls and coupled with the film it is simply classic. With such success, DK started up Born & Bred Records to take more control of their music – with distribution through Warner. And with their notoriety, DK was able to get a stable of well-known Irish musicians to contribute some love, including Spider Stacy of the Pogues and Ronnie Drew of The Dubliners, which were recorded over in good ol’ Dublin; the rest of the record was recorded in Massachusetts. With Al Barr’s continually gravel vocals accompanied by vocal and instrumental help from Tim Brennan, Ken Casey, Matt Kelly, James Lynch, Marc Orrell, and Scruffy Wallace, DK cover nearly all bases and themes on The Meanest of Times. And not the least of which are themes of childhood, family, and the ups and downs of growing up. To remind people that the Dropkick Murphys are punk rock, The Meanest of Times kicks off on the all-out “Famous For Nothing” that brings up images of rowdy, drunken punk shows. A terrific way for launching an album and clearly stands out as one of the best, “Famous For Nothing” will have you hitting repeat. “God Willing” begins slower, but soon warms up to another fantastic punk anthem with the refrain of “God willing I’ll see you on the other side.” Banjo picking carries you through “The State of Massachusetts” a long live favorite of DK about child welfare taking a woman’s children away. A strong song, it does seem odd that DK selected “The State of Massachusetts” for their first single. “Tomorrow’s Industry” is four-on-the-floor ordinary punk, while “Echoes on ‘A’ Street” is a melodic rocker about the loyalty of family. A somewhat topical song, “Vices and Virtues” speaks to the various elements that destroy and kill young men – specifically, ‘whiskey, war, suicide, and guns” – all with hard-hitting punk. “Surrender” has a similar feel as “Echoes on ‘A’ Street,” and “(F)lannigan’s Ball” is the DK’s take on the traditional “Lannigan’s Ball” and the song that features Drew and Stacy. Before one of the more magical songs on The Meanest of Times, “Fairmont Hill,” comes the ordinary punk song “I’ll Begin Again” that thrives on a catchy chorus. The magic of “Fairmont Hill” is from the fact it is a take on the traditional Irish song “Spancil Hill”; one of my all time favorites, the type of song that brings chills to your spine even if it’s a ballad. The basic premise is of an American émigré in California dreaming about going back to Ireland, but here it is going back to Fairmount Hill in Boston. For folks who don’t know the original, “Fairmont Hill” might not resonate, but for those that do it will be in good taste. DK get things back on the punk track with “Loyal to No One” about a stubborn old bastard dying alone; like many an Irish old man? “Shattered” is balls out rock, while “Rude Awakenings” slowly meanders with bombastic rock without much a crescendo. DK take on another Irish traditional “Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya,” before closing out The Meanest of Times with “Never Forget.” “Never Forget” against ring the family bell along side a group vocals and unforgettable rock. That’s fifteen songs of traditional-flavored Irish punk all under one hood – spectacular! Simply, The Meanest of Times is an album you shouldn’t pass up on. With each record, The Dropkick Murphys set a new standard and pushes you even further to the wish of living in Boston.
A Verse Unsung When the Minneapolis-based A Verse Unsung kicks off with “I Live, I’ve Loved, I Lost,” on the Autumn EP your initial thought is one of testosterone-fueled man rock, but soon you are greeted more by heavy punk angles. This continues on the more direct “Give It Up,” the strong riffs on “Cali” (but throw out the light metal breakdown), and the so-so “My Wish Is For You.” The EP closes on the borderline retarded one-minute acoustic number “The Fall Pt. I” (which the one sheet jokingly considers a suggested track – has to be a joke, right?). A Verse Unsung have a strong foundation here for better things in the future.
Atreyu No matter what you think of Atreyu beforehand – in particular part of the screaming punk hardcore amalgam – Lead Sails Paper Anchor forces you to rethink a whole cadre of thoughts and beliefs on who Atreyu actually are. After a few records on indie heavyweight Victory Records, this is the SoCal band’s first record on Hollywood Records (a subsidiary of Interscope and Universal). Produced by John Feldman, Atreyu clearly took advantage of the studio time provided by Hollywood as the songs on Lead Sails Paper Anchor cross nearly every rock genre and at the end you are left with the singular impression of simply ROCK! Bursting away from the screaming metalcore peg of previous records, Atreyu now are simply a heavy rock band you can keep up with most. Of course, song eclecticism does almost necessarily leading to hit or misses on an album and such is the case here. The highlights include the mind-blowing opener “Doomsday” where super heavy riffs are meet with a melodic breakdown, “Falling Down,” “When Two Are One,” “Losing It,” “Slow Burn,” “Can’t Happen Here,” and the 80s cock rock tribute “Blow.” Atreyu close Lead Sails Paper Anchor with a spot on cover of Faith No More’s “Epic.” With this record, Atreyu have expanded their fan base and should live on for at least a few more years of brutal rock.
Circa Survive On Circa Survive’s second full-length, the Philly outfit flashes their maturity and skill level as they expand and enhance their atmospheric, prog-hinted melodic hardcore. Forming a few years back out of the ashes of This Day Forward and including former members of Saosin and Taken, Circa Survive possess the space rock sound that can equally fill a small club or a gigantic stadium. Some would say Circa Survive’s sound is akin to if the Mars Volta abandoning their acid trip ten-minute solos and wrote towards more standard song structures. On Letting Go moves consciously through twelve well-thought songs where Anthony Green’s light but powerful vocals ride on top of Colin Frangicetto and Brendan Erkstrom’s swirling guitars, Nick Beard’s bass, and the palpable smacks of Steve Clifford’s drumming. Solid through-and-through, highlights come from opener “Living Together,” “In the Morning and Amazing…,” “Travel Hymn,” and closer “Your Friends Are Gone.” Like their debut Juturna, the main knock on Circa Survive are the preponderance of songs that sound alike; you need to really know the record in order to quickly identify individual songs if put on random. Still, the overall Circa Survive package far excels other material out there.
Digby When you first hear the opening “New America” on Digby’s latest EP, all you can think about is not vomiting all over yourself from the hideous garbage coming forth. Yet, the Louisville four-piece provide some respite from the initial impression on the average indie pop number “Self Evaluation,” before resorting to the bad on the following three numbers. How this record is being partially released by Universal only speaks to the problems majors are having.
Eastern Conference Champions Featuring members from CKY and Laguardia, Eastern Conference Champions’ music stands wading somewhere between those two disparate acts. Much of this debut record finds ECC following moderate tempo, tight pop rock songs that take off of spacey rock and Radiohead. Like Laguardia, much of the comparison to Radiohead comes via Josh Ostrander’s vocals – but here the vocals are more strung out and pained like too much whiskey and cigarettes have been previously consumed. Sometimes Ostrander’s vocals are fitting and other times you wish death upon his person. While ECC are enjoyable as they progress through the twelve-song, fifty-minute Ameritown, there is little here to overwhelm you or make you dribble with excitement.
Encomiast This Boulder, CO outfit has been offering dark ambient, droning, mostly instrumentals for nearing a decade via six full-lengths, two EP’s, and requisite comps. On this six-song, hour-long affair, Encomiast go back to their earliest unreleased material and cherry-pick the long, lost, and forgotten. The dark and dreary here was original recorded in 1999 but was remixed by Encomiast in 2006. Ok as odd, creepy music for an installation or the soundtrack to your background music, you aren’t likely to be rocking your car stereo with this. If you like Encomiast’s other material or are drawn towards droning instrumentals, then this is for you
Every Avenue It is almost like Fearless Records has a minor league of pop punk bands where from time to time they bring up one or two to explode onto the scene and rock all the teenagers into overdrive. And such is the case with fun-loving pop punk outfit Every Avenue from Michigan. On the six-song EP AH!, Every Avenue simple rock out ordinary punk songs full of fun and catchiness. It is simple, direct, and enjoyable rock – exactly the way you want it. Look for a full-length on Fearless in the upcoming months.
Fionn Regan When you first step into The End of History by Fionn Regan you aren’t prepared to be dazzled by true feeling acoustic singer-songwriter contemporary folk pop. There are so many people out there trying to do what Regan accomplishes so magnificently on these twelve songs that indeed it is shocking. Generally, you here ‘acoustic singer-songwriter’ you need to accuse yourself to go vomit out a shoe, but here it is truly is glorious and suggests why so many aspire to be singer-songwriters. The Irish Regan parallels contemporaries like Ryan Adams, Conor Oberst, Sam Beam, and Sondre Lerche, and compares favorably to the classics like Dylan and Guthrie. Most importantly, Regan possess that magic that’s unknowable – like a presence, the right feeling, a sense of authenticity, etc. Whatever the ‘it’ is Regan makes the End of History an enjoyable romp. Among the songs that pique your interest and take you to the next level are opener “Be Good or Be Gone,” “The Underwood Typewriter,” the quirky “Put A Penny in the Slot,” the title track, “Hey Rabbit,” and closer “Bunker or Basement.” Fionn Regan is someone to keep an eye on for the next few years.
Fog When you read the term ‘avant-rock,’ typically only bad thoughts ride into you gullet and you prepare yourself for some new pile of junk; something along the lines of your expectations on presentation style of a Bush speech. And yet with Fog, the band is less ‘avant’ than eclectic, but with all serving a purpose of knocking some terrific and complex rock that appeals to your pop side. With such indie rock luminaries as Andrew Bird and Low adding submissions to the rock, the three-piece of Andrew Broder, Mark Erickson, and Tim Glenn offer a tight and superbly strong eleven-track fifty-one minute album. There are a number of ways to describe, or try to describe, Fog, but all of the songs have a cruising feel like they were designed to be played loud out of a speeding convertible. There are also elements of prog and glam simmering under the surface providing that extra nitro. Among the songs that stand out are the opener “We Will Have Vanished,” “Inflatable Ape pt. 3,” “I Have Been Wronged” that surprises you just when you think you’re let down, the uptempo jangly “The Last I Knew of You,” and the soft closer “What’s Up Freaks?”
Illuminea If you only tuned into the first song “In Retrospect” or possibly even the second song “Living in Sin,” you’d probably walk away from Illuminea thinking ill thoughts. But, hold on to listen until the third song “Homewrecker,” where Illuminea are actually a quirky, eclectic indie pop band and not some terrible pop act. “Homewrecker” is literally like Howard Hello took one of their poppier numbers and added compelling female vocals – a fantastic combination. Formerly maundering by the moniker Illumina – added the ‘e’ because it’s sexy – this eight-piece from Philly forces you to find the gem stones buried in the myriad of so-so-ness on the twelve-song Out of Our Mouths. Those that rise above include “Build Your Own,” “Sleep It Off,” the title track, and closer “I Can’t Wait.” Clearly Illuminea excel when the indie rock is put out in front on the pop instead of relying on the quasi-singer-songwriter junk (e.g., “To Lose You as a Friend,” “In Retrospect”) scattered around Out of Our Mouths.
Jimmy Eat World In many ways it is shocking that Jimmy Eat World are still successfully doing what they been doing for so many years; that their commercial melodic punk (an early variant of emo?) is still palpable following the crash of the pop punk wave in the late 90s-early 00s is astounding. Their staying power is testament to both their appeal and talent in the first place, and the band’s ability to adapt and mature without becoming unnecessarily eclectic. In their early years, Jimmy Eat World were associated and mingled in the melodic indie world performing and releasing material with bands like the uber-soft Mineral, Christie Front Drive, and Jejune. The band then moved between majors and minors before winding up on Interscope – via label consolidation – for their 2004 record Futures and now Chase This Light. Not returning to producer Mark Trombino or Gil Norton, the eleven-track Chase This Light was produced by the band with help from Chris Testa, John Fields, and executive producer (whatever that means) Butch Vig. Chase This Light kicks off in fine fashion with the first single “Big Casino” where fast guitars meet with strong lyrics, impressive vocals, and a super catchy chorus. Clearly, “Big Casino” is big time. The other ten songs don’t ring as true to you are still entertained by “Let It Happen” with Pixies-like breathy vocals, the heavily guest vocal filled “Electable (Give It Up),” the strong “Feeling Lucky,” “Here It Goes,” and “Firefight.” Somehow through it all, Jimmy Eat World has managed to stay above the fray and continue to rock their way.
Josh Small Josh Small offers a blend of Americana indie folk that merges a myriad of influences into one solid, though not necessarily enticing, package. Part of the Virginia collective that has lead a come back of punk guys gone folk, Small mirrors many but probably the best job he does it nearing the soft exploits of Sam Beam and Iron & Wine. In no other place do you find such parallels than in the opener “Come Down” and the more pop “Say Hello.” Other songs deviate towards more Appalachia, Southern banjo picking “Peek Out the Windows,” “Boozin Susan,” and closer “My Confessions” to the pop-inflected folk as on “Indiana,” “$5 in Hand,” and “Who’s Foolin’ You.” Josh Small seems like a good guy to kick back with and play some numbers, and in such settings he might be grand.
Just Surrender By now, on their second full-length We’re In Like Sin, the once fledging Myspace band Just Surrender are full-fledge punk stars. Riding the Internet notoriety and their debut record If These Streets Could Talk, NY’s Just Surrender take Taking Back Sunday’s basic melodic punk formula and add their own bits and pieces to the gaggle. This is no more obvious then in the opening song “Body Language and Bad Habits,” which rocks you hard and is catchy as all get out – and sounds just like TBS. But, Just Surrender’s shifting sounds are demonstrated immediately on follower “So Close/So Alive,” where Evy Potter teams up with the boys on vocals for the softer rocker. And by the third song “If I Wanted…” you pretty much know that Just Surrender are going to easily satisfy your catchy requirement from melodic punk and anything on top is going to be just gravy. Other songs to keep an ear to are “I Said it Before,” “You’d Be in Great Shape…” where Colin Ross and Chad Gannon offer vocal help, and the super pop “Your Life and Mine.” Surprisingly, only one of the two softer acoustic songs makes me want to vomit. This isn’t genius songwriting here, folks. It is just good feeling (emotional) punk.
Kinski Admittedly, Kinski’s previous albums of instrumental psychedelic rock epics didn’t do me good for whatever reason. It used to all sound like a jambled mess of rock laid down between acid trips with very little rhyme or reason. Whether it is me or it is the progression of Kinski, Down Below It’s Chaos is a mind-blowingly hot record. With a more pristine guitar rock focus than wall of sound – witness the uber-super “Passwords & Alcohol” that actually has vocals (and in an early grunge Sub Pop cadence) – to me Down Below It’s Chaos makes for the psychedelic version of Explosions in the Sky; though that’s probably a bad comparison for both bands. Possibly my love for this record came from blasting it on the highways in a new car with too much horsepower on the way to work. Other tracks to rock your balls sideways include “Boy, Was I Mad!,” the mellow “Plan, Steal, Drive,” and opener “Crybaby Blowout.” The slow moving, dirty closer “Silent Biker Type” reminds me of why I wasn’t originally down on Kinski. Likewise, if Kinski wasn’t your thing kicking off, but you’re down on instrumental rock, then Down Below It’s Chaos may be for you.
Michael Harrison
Mono As the title denotes, this record is a collection of hard to find releases by the glorious Japanese instrumental band Mono. The four-piece from Tokyo have consistently offered inspired, magical soundscapes that rival Explosions in the Sky but with their own intricate sound waves. Besides from several full-lengths, not the least of which is the mind-blowing 2004 album Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky…, Mono have released a number of splits, EPs, and singles in their history. Gone starts on the powerful “Finlandia” an eight-minute powerhouse who on its own establishes Mono as one of the world’s best. The longer and more moody “Black Woods” follows – both “Finlandia” and “Black Woods” were originally released in 2000 on Forty-4 Records. The story length “Yearning” is from a split with Pelican co-released by TRL and Hydra Head in 2005, and is the first of Mono’s work with uber-producer Steve Albini. The next two songs “Memorie dal Futuro” and “Due foglia, una candela: il soffio del Vento” are much soft offerings for the Cameron Crowe-commissioned Memorie dal Futuro 10. There’s a high probability you’ve heard the soothing “Since I’ve Been Waiting For You,” featured on TRL’s 2005 comp Thankful. The final four songs come from TRL’s long running Travels in Constants series. Different bands have used different strategies to make their series available to a wider audience after the specialty run. Here, Mono collects “Gone,” “Black Rain,” “Rainbow,” and “Little Boy (1945-Future)” into a combination of softer and harder numbers. Not of small measure, much of Mono’s music sounds exactly like the several month-old HBO documentary on the nuclear attacks on Japan in WWII, though it isn’t the same; though one must assume some relevance given “Little Boy (1945-Future)”?
Mt. St. Helens On Chicago-based Mt. St. Helens third album, the band opens up and expands on their moderate-tempo complicated guitar-driven indie rock. Their first release on Two Thumbs Down, MSH rock out with a helping of keys impersonating strings and a strong dose of guitar rock. As you progress through the ten-track album, it is quickly evident that MSH excel with the slower numbers as demonstrated on star opener “The Time of Low Volume,” the superb “Seething Is Believing,” and “The Drink.” The quicker songs present MSH only as a pedestrian act. Good moments lie in the ferns of Of Others and Mt. St. Helens should be focusing more on the atmospheric than the poppy.
Patton Oswalt If Patton Oswalt was really searching for material, he could easily pick up on Rodney Dangerfield’s routine that he gets no respect. Oswalt is a voice and face that many people know, but his name? His name is one that most people would say ‘don’t know him.’ Hear here: Oswalt has been in a crapload of movies (including Magnolia and Blade: Trinity), done a ton of stuff on Comedy Central, on The King of Queens for nine seasons, done voice work for all sorts of cartoons including SpongeBob, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, all sorts of video games including Grand Theft Auto, as well as being the voice of Remy in Ratatouille. On top of it, Oswalt does comedy writing for films. Not a bad resume; but people still have no idea who he is. On Werewolves and Lollipops, Oswalt provides a CD of material from a couple of dates in Austin, TX during late 2006 and a DVD with some extra material and an earlier show in Athens, GA. As Oswalt coolly notes, the Athens show has a bunch of jokes in early form before he busts them out in more polished, slick form in Austin. With hardly a bad segment in the bunch highlights come from his crashing the Batman Begins opening in London; you’re only allowed 20 birthdays; Bush and Cheney are the equivalent of the Dukes of Hazard; Oswalt’s alternate Earth; the tremendous segment on Oswalt taking Physics of Poets in college; killing George Lucas before he made the Star Wars prequels; college towns that are hip with such awesome lines as ‘you mean you can’t pay for sandwiches with a song?’; Oswalt going to high end restaurants fronted by crazy head chefs; and that there are no red states and blue states because everyone loves Cirque du Soleil – and that the show is clearly the gayest thing ever. Given the awesomeness of Werewolves and Lollipops it is surprising that since its July release it hasn’t taken over the charts in the way that Dane Cook did. It may be that Oswalt appeals to the liberal, educated, and quirky side of America, instead of Cook’s wild, heavily physical comedy geared towards the less-thinking college student. Both are funny, but Oswalt has the ability to hit on all cylinders, making you think about real stuff while laughing hysterically.
People Without loss of generality, People are a band that makes me wish I was deaf. Featuring the stochastic free-form jazz drumming of Kevin Shea and the guitar and vocal crooning of Mary Halvorson, Misbegotten Man could have been written, recorded, and mix in a weekend. Although a whole genre/sub-genre of noise-jazz exists, so it is not like People are out on their own, the main difference is that some of those acts are actually quality musicians. Another candidate for the US government’s torture program!
Robbers on High Street Considering some of the more powerful songs on the eleven-song Grand Animals, it is relatively shocking that Robbers on High Street decide to open on the completely average “Across Your Knee.” Given the success of this NYC trio, who ape British wave bands like the Kinks on their debut album Tree City, this decision is almost like a challenge to take in the whole album and not just a smoking opening single. Both a good and bad idea. Channeling other notable 60 and 70s Brit rock acts, the Robbers offer more satiable appetizers like the slow-paced “The Fatalist,” the piano ballad “The Ramp,” the rocker “Married Young,” and the mover “You Don’t Stand a Chance.” Grand Animals possesses a set of strong offerings that will keep Robbers on High Street in decent company, but the band’s progression isn’t exactly exponential.
Ruins In so many ways, Ruins are the equivalent of a wet dream for Mike Patton. Every time I hear them, all I can think of is Patton wishing he was them. The spastic noise jazz and shouting rhythmic vocals of Ruins are almost too awesome for words; something that you simply must hear for yourself. Refusal Fossil is sort of a reissue/special edition of early Ruins’ material; most of the songs were recorded on simple 4 and 8 track equipment from 1995-1997. This twenty-five song collection also includes special guests joining Yoshida Tatsuya and Sasaki Hisashi for some live recording action. With a headphone listen most of Refusal Fossil finds the recording equipment shivering at the deep explosions. But, still the insanity of it all is enjoyable.
Ryan Adams & the Cardinals A big deal was made out of the fact that Ryan Adams recently released the phenomenal full-length Easy Tiger, which was a deviation from Adams releasing twenty records a year. Instead, the emphasis was on how Adams took his time and thought through the excellent to compose Easy Tiger; and how awesome it was. And with that in mind, Adams is back with the EP Follow the Lights with his backing band fully in the title. The seven-song EP includes three studio originals, a cover of “Down In a Hole,” the Cardinals’ version of “This Is It,” and two live studio recordings of “If I Am a Stranger” and “Dear John” co-written by Norah Jones. The EP is very contemporary Americana rock and survives a strong set of songs – though nothing blitzes you like “Two” or “Halloweenhead” from Easy Tiger. Unlike much of Adams releases over the past few years, more casual fans, who came around with Easy Tiger, will also enjoy Follow the Lights.
Safe as Houses On Safe as Houses six-song EP How It Feels to be Erased, the Orange County, NY, four-piece rock out to melodic indie rock drizzled with a thick layer of pop. Not as studio polished and clean as some major label acts, but just as instrument rich, Safe as Houses have the chops to make a least a fleeting splash on the music world. Their moderate tempo rock has all the feel good moments that youngsters and parents love, but also a decently complicated song structure that doesn’t sound like they’re going through the motions to be super pop. An excellent demonstration of their skill is found “Minutes and Miles” where Safe as Houses mix between soft and moderate moments, and you actually find a couple of guitar harmonics. Other enticing moments come from opener “In All Honesty” and the middle-later half of “I Don’t Believe in Beatles;” but for the love of God avoid the closing acoustic version of “In All Honesty.” With some support and effort, Safe as Houses have the potential to be a significant act.
Scenes From a Movie The compellingly monikered Scenes From a Movie kick things off in fast and straight forward form on opener “Just Ask Us”; a forward moving rocker where you feel that the band is about as honest as it gets. Even though this West Virginia-based five-piece rock out pop-punk songs and are all around 20, their sound is seriously more mature than you might expect. Is it derivative pop punk? Yes. Does it contain the standard guitar sounds and sections matched with catchy choruses? Yes. Does it all sound like the rest? No. Instead, Scenes From are carried to a positive degree by Tony Bush’s powerful and intense vocals matched with pure rock guitars. As the band pounds through the eleven songs on The Pulse, your faith is restored that young pop punk bands can offer interesting songs that are familiar and simulating at the same time. Scenes From a Movie are definitely a band to be on the watch for.
Schoolyard Heroes One of the best things about Schoolyard Heroes is that they’re not Gym Class Heroes; the latter makes me want to tear my eyes out. That’s sort of a joke – at least about the comparison. Out of the Northwest, Schoolyard Heroes are led by female goth-punk vocalist Ryann Donnelly who rips out magnanimous throat to the other three members’ hard horror punk. Paralleling previous efforts, SH are actually a terrific band to enjoy during the scary Halloween days. Yet, as you move through the eleven-song Abominations, their first on Stolen Transmission, you can’t shake the idea of SH as simply a less goth, goth punk band; generally, that’s a bad thing. In this respect, SH may make some serious headway with their songs attached to various visuals displays; most obviously “Plastic Surgery Hall of Fame” and its refrain of ‘you’re so pretty and you’re so dead’ being used in a soundtrack to a zombie movie. If you want to remove the scary from you life, you might want to keep Abominations off your stereo.
Straylight Run After fulfilling contractual terms with Victory – through their terrific self-titled debut full-length and 2005’s EP Prepare to be Wrong (that was clearly designed to finish their deal) – Long Island’s Straylight Run now releases their second full-length The Needles the Space with Universal Republic Records. By now most people are aware of Straylight Run’s lineage, but… 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 (also previously in TBS), and Will Noon. The thirteen-track The Needles The Space features a move back to the piano-laden indie pop songs that dominated their debut; and away from more the esoteric material on the EP. In fact, Straylight Run is more of a pop band than ever before and past ties to the melodic punk of TBS have been effectively severed. Not that the rock is entirely devoid from The Needles The Space, it is that the emphasis has clearly shifted to pop anthems. Among the highlights are the familiar “The Miracle that Never Came,” “Soon We’ll Be Living in the Future,” “Who Will Save Us Now,” and “Take It to Manhattan.” Towards the end, Straylight Run devolve into super disparate, slow piano ballads, which tends to cause a fissure in your ears. A strong record, Straylight Run doesn’t execute on the promise they’ve previously illustrated.
Tegan and Sara The music press has been crapping in their pants for Tegan and Sara’s latest record The Con. Just because Tegan and Sara are lesbian twins who are indie rock darlings, regardless of their music, is substance enough to draw in tongue waggers. So is there actually magic behind the curtain of curiosity? Indeed there is, but you have to look for it. At heart, Tegan and Sara (Quinn) play short indie pop songs that vary on their catchiness, all along to moderately grating vocals of Sara; akin to a female Claudio Sanchez from Coheed and Cambria fronting an indie rock band. The end story is that when Tegan and Sara are hitting on all catchy cylinders, they are nearly unstoppable indie fun; when they miss a hook or two, they are merely treading water. To begin to talk about the magical catchy moments, one must start with the sixth song “Back in your Head.” The fun hook kicks off the song and next you are greeted by the mildly annoying vocals of Sara that carry the song to the mind-imprinting chorus of “I’m not unfaithful, but I’ll stray.” Yet, it is exactly the annoying vocals that when played over and over again become entirely endearing and entrancing. Among other songs that hit you after several repeat listens are “Relief Next to Me,” the title-track, the blip-blipping of “Are You Ten Years Ago,” the rocker “Hop a Plane,” and “Burn Your Life Down.” You may be highly skeptical on first listen of the Con, like myself, but it give a few spins and see whether it grows on you.
The Arrivals As another raw, smart punk band floating on the surface or just underneath of the Chicago punk scene, the Arrivals rock out fourteen strong-if-not-exceptional numbers on Marvels of Industry. It may be just our relocation to St. Louis, but it seems we’ve been privy to a never-ending stream of punk bands flooding out of the Chicago area – some good, some bad, some great. The Arrivals clearly fall in the good categorization with their combination of catchy sections, hard sounds, and raw throaty vocals from Isaac Thotz. Among the highlights on Marvels of Industry include the compelling “Quiet American,” hard opener “I’m Sorry for Saying I’m Sorry” (done that before), “Fat of the Land,” and closer “The Joke.”
The Brunettes If you have never heard the Brunettes before it admittedly takes a few spins truly to get into them. But with several consecutive exposures you soon fall under the Brunettes’ fun indie pop love barge spell. This Auckland, New Zealand duo of Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield offer nine songs of joy on their debut full-length for Sub Pop; after getting noticed opening for the Postal Service among others. The cutesy vocal playing of Bree and Mansfield matched with the eclectic music brings to mind Belle & Sebastian crossed with the quirkiness of the Fiery Furnaces. When Mansfield plays off 50s vocal coyness, Bree switches between various tones, and the catchiness excels, the whole endeavor becomes sheer brilliance. In no better place is this seen then in the mind-blowing “Her Hairagami Set,” which moves between a 50s pop drenched version of that song during the beach scene in the Karate Kid and a darker new wave chorus. Not every song on Structures & Cosmetics is as stunning as “Her Hairagami Set,” and some fall flat (e.g., “Credit Card Mail Order”), but you bop around to opener the slow crescendoed “Brunettes Against Bubblegum Youth,” the ridiculously cute “Stereo (Mono Mono)” where mono channels are played to max effect, the quirky pop song “If You Were Alien,” and the acoustic “Small Town Crew.” Although the Brunettes are a duo at their core, they employ a gaggle of touring musicians in order to provide a fully concentrated show. Everything screams awesomeness!
The Cape May At initial glance, Calgary’s the Cape May are not very enticing or brilliant. Yet, the organic, eclectic low-key songs of Glass Mountain Roads provide unintended moments of interest and reflection. Produced by Steve Albini and artwork by countryman Chad VanGaalen, the eleven-songs roll in on moody wave after wave. Again, nothing is going to shock you and blow your mind on first listen, but repeated plays as background music unveils compelling offerings in such numbers as “Mari,” “Desert House,” and opener “Spring Fight to the Land of Fire.” Fans of dirgy, dense indie rock will love the Cape May.
The Challenger Deep On their debut EP (actually more like a demo), San Diego’s The Challenger Deep do the post-hardcore rock replete with angular DC guitars, stop-starts, and anguished shout singing. None of the songs on the EP are going to blow you away, but there is no-stop action across the five songs with some serious guitar work to keep you intrigued. Highlights on the EP clearly are the opening two “Historian” and “Convent Station,” though the other three hold the fort. If nothing else the EP should be able to get a label to take a flyer on The Challenger Deep.
The Junior Varsity More than ever Victory Records now has at least two bands on their roster that come off like parallels to Alkaline Trio: Bayside and The Junior Varsity. Even though the JV sound even more like the melodic punk of AT, the sound is considerably more enjoyable than their debut for Victory: Wide Eyed. Wide Eyed simply found the JV as another melodic punk band that you could group into a bunch and never figure out who is who. Ironically, the JV’s debut full-length The Great Compromise (which was re-released by Victory) found the band in better indie rock company; sounding like raw, early Get Up Kids. On the twelve-song Cinematographic, the five-piece from Springfield, Illinois are anchored by the melodic vocals of Asa Dawson and matching guitar work from Andy Wildrick and Sergio Coronado. You also get a set of solid songs including opener “I Went Blind,” “St. Louis,” “The Sky!,” and closer “Under the Radar.” The Junior Varsity are on a positive progression and expect good things from them in the near future.
The Menzingers With their debut album on the newly resurgent punk label Go-Kart, Scranton’s the Menzingers offer up a basket full of raw of political punk songs in the vein of Against Me! and Anti-Flag but with less polish (and thus possibly the Frenetics are a good parallel). At times terrifically strong and high-powered, the Menzingers also try too hard to differentiate their sound by adding unnecessary sections – such as an affinity for sporadic up-picking ska guitar riffs. Clearly, the four-piece excel at the balls-out, attack punk, kicking shit out of the way like the Dillinger Four. Among the better examples of such sorties include the brilliant title track, opener “Alpha Kappa Fall Off a Balcony” (which I believe is rendition of everyone’s favorite Tappa Kegga Brew), and “Even For An Eggshell” if you throw out the line ‘something’s rotten in the state of Denmark.’ Hopefully, the Menzingers will be around for a few more years to create some more sonic destruction.
The Velocet
Two Loons for Tea On this Seattle duo’s third full-length, Two Loons for Tea continue the sultry vocals and mellow dark music that has characterized past endeavors and manifested comparisons to acts like Portishead and Massic Attack. Unlike those acts, Two Loons push more towards the annoying angel of things, and seems only enjoyed in the best possible scenarios; that is, the environment and mood for listening needs to be perfect. What truly pushes Two Loons to the annoying level is Sarah Scott’s overdone vocals; the ham prize has been awarded. In the dark moments, you can stand Nine Lucid Dreams (though there are twelve songs), but when pop is introduced (e.g., “Monkey”) you just want a quick death.
V/A It’s kinda hard to evaluate a companion audio disc for the absurdly popularity game series Guitar Hero – here, obviously, a companion for the new third version. Among the notables for the new game, as has been demonstrated in numerous venues, are the real rock stars doing motion capture and adding unique content – the most noteworthy being Slash. Among the eleven songs included on this disc are Slash’s intro track, the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Cherub Rock” which still sounds rocking, Queens of the Stone Age “3’s and 7’s,” “Miss Murder” by AFI, Velvet Revolver’s “Slither,” “Kool Thing” from noise gods Sonic Youth, the true classic rocker “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour, Nick Zinner Remix of Marilyn Manson’s “Putting Holes in Happiness,” Flyleaf’s “Tina,” Rise Against’s “Prayer of the Refugee,” and Steve Ouimette’s “Devil Went Down to Georgia.” Among the set the only track that really doesn’t fit into a rock guitar game is the Manson remix. The devotees may flock to this simply to get the downloadable 3 song combo of AFI, Flyleaf, and Manson.
V/A This extensive eighteen-track soundtrack serves Ethan Hawke’s The Hottest State in as an Americana contemporary folk manner as possible. All of the songs were written by Jesse Harris – Norah Jones partner in crime – and are performed by a gaggle of hip musicians. Among the highlights in this endeavor are Rocha on the opener “Ya No Te Veria Mas,” Willie Nelson on “Always Seem To Get Things Wrong” with Jones on piano, Bright Eyes on the superb “Big Old House” (a song strong enough to buy the soundtrack or at least the iTunes single), the Black Keys on “If You Ever Slip,” Jones on “World of Trouble,” and Jesse Harris on his “One Day the Dam Will Break.” Unlike most soundtracks, the Hottest State provides all original material and thus a presents a tempting buy for fans of the performers.
V/A This is the double-disc soundtrack for the new Dylan biopic I’m Not There. Directed by Todd Haynes and featuring a cast of various Dylans including Heath Ledger and Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There is supposed to be a spectacular show. This soundtrack is if nothing else overwhelming and rich in its inclusions of both songs and bands. Disc One features more electric Dylan covers, while the second disc focuses more on acoustic Dylan, but you find good moments throughout both. Sixteen covers greet you on Disc One with Eddie Vedder & the Million Dollar Bashers (the collective of Steve Shelley, Tony Garnier, John Medeski, Tom Verlaine, Lee Ranaldo, Smokey Hormel, and Nels Cline) kicking it off with “All Along the Watchtower.” Sonic Youth keeps things going with “I’m Not There” and the music continues to roll with Stephen Malkmus & MDB covering “Ballad of a Thin Man,” Cat Power absolute rocking “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again,” Iron & Wine & Calexico on “Dark Eyes” which sounds very much like a song off of Beam’s new record, the quirky “Highway 61 Revisited” covered by Karen O & MDB, Mason Jennings on “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,” and Willie Nelson & Calexico on “Senor (Tales of Yankee Power).” While Disc One is strong, for my money Disc Two is where the magic is at; you easily get down to any one of the covers. Mira Billotte begins Disc Two (a complete eighteen songs) on the strong “As I Went Out One Morning” and other notables follow in short order with the extended Sufjan Stevens’ cover of “Ring Them Bells,” Charlotte Gainsbourg & Calexico on “Just Like a Woman,” Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova covering “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere,” The Black Keys’ distorted, dirty swamp blues cover of “The Wicked Messenger,” naturally Mason Jennings’ cover of “The Times They Are Changin’,” Malkus & MDB on “Maggie’s Farm,” and Antony & the Johnsons covering “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” in the only way that they could - oddly. The second disc ends with Dylan and the Band rocking out the original “I’m Not Here.” Even if you never see the film I’m Not There this soundtrack is beyond worth picking up.
V/A Although I just have a twelve-song sampler of the four-disc set, the Heavy Metal Box is a massively inclusive catalog of metal’s genesis to 80s metal – or more technically from 1968 to 1991. And thus you have tons of items from the heyday of metal towards and veering on the cock metal to thrash metal. How this seventy-song collection was created must have been absurdly difficult – specifically, after the obvious how and what to include? For instance, why use Black Sabbath’s “Neon Knights” instead of one of the many others? And why does Metallica and Iron Maiden get two songs? Still, if you are an old school metal fan this box is probably an ideal gift for someone to give you. Among the notables included are three mentioned above, Slayer, Pantera, Alice Cooper, Megadeth, Judas Priest, KISS, Sepultura, Motorhead,….
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