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October Reviews Artist of the Month: Bury Your Dead A good natured band wrapped in thumping terror that would terrorize the terrorists, and most any populous, Bury Your Dead unleash their heaviest and hardest record on their second full-length for Victory. In the world of heavy, tough-guy hardcore, Bury Your Dead have that certain something special that’s difficult to define but instantly recognizable when comparing movements to contemporaries. On 2004’s excellent Cover Your Tracks, the Massachusetts’ five-piece named songs after Tom Cruise movies; a rather odd event though it didn’t distract from the brain-rattling attack. This time vocalist Mat Bruso, guitarists Slim and Eric Ellis, drummer Mark Castillo, and bassist Bubble, uses fairy tales for song titles such as “House of Straw,” “Mirror, Mirror…,” and “The Poison Apple.” Yet, Beauty and the Breakdown is not recommended for kids; unless their parents have tattoos on their necks and ubiquitous spider webs on elbows. Recorded in Florida at Audiohammer Studios with Jason Suecof, Bury Your Dead seem to have picked up on the heavier metal side of the game while in the peninsula of utmost metal affection. Whatever the reason for the shift to a more metal side of the core, the results are superb across the record’s eleven songs. Beauty and the Breakdown begins on “House of Straw” with background shouting before merging into the hard throwdown riffs and beats that will follow through the rest of the record; which establishes Bury Your Dead as torchbearers to Hatebreed. One of the nice twists on “House of Straw” are the Snapcase-like guitars on the bridge, giving the song a stronger foundation. Bruso slams the line “take it back” into your throat as “A Glass Slipper” begins and soon verges into a non-ordinary sequence of segments illustrating the band’s talents. A compelling guitar riff/effect opens and rides the bottom of the terrific “The Poison Apple,” helping to add a slight melodic angle. The short “Twelfth Stroke of Midnight” is rather average tough guy by BYD standards, while “Trail of Crumbs” is also marginally forgettable. Looking for a way out and you come into contact with the machine gun guitars and super double-bass of “A Wishing Well” and “Let Down Your Hair.” The guitars, as both heavy chorus riff and more melodic chorus, lead the charge on “Mirror, Mirror…,” as the song devolves into a sort of odd electronic background breakdown before a final assault. Undertoned guitars begin “Second Star to the Right” while the chorus follows more old school hardcore shouting than a majority of the record’s tough guy presence. After the short instrumental noise on “The Enchanted Rose,” Beauty and the Breakdown ends on “House of Brick” and follows BYD’s m.o. but falls short of providing a final fireworks extravaganza. Beauty and the Breakdown is certainly frontloaded with stand out tracks, but the rest of the record holds promise for your ears. More importantly, you can easily trace out a musical progression in Bury Your Dead; and a progression that you don’t regret. One fully expects Victory to use one of the songs on Beauty and the Breakdown for the annual moshing/hardcore Santa videos.
A.M. Elevator This three-piece from Lexington, KY slings punk-edged pop rock songs across ten songs on their full-length debut. Like many local bands without strong production and recording support, A.M. Elevator sound incredibly thin and flat particularly with regard to the guitars. This instantly puts a damper on your enjoyment and makes you look askew. Yet, A.M. Elevator offer several numbers that transcend the recording and basic songwriting including the quirky, uptempo opener “Almost Lost,” “Connected,” and the moderately paced “Sign Off” with touches of Pixies in later stages.
Anterrabae Without loss of generality, Long Island’s Anterrabae play balls out metalcore that combines a myriad of sounds into a fairly cohesive project. Part NYHC & LIHC, part contemporary metalcore acts (e.g., Atreyu & Avenged Sevenfold), and part flowing metal, Anterrabae have the pieces to dominate the New York area heavy music scene. And one can clearly envision the band in that environment. But, taken versus the national scene, Anterrabae fall victim to the problem of difficulty in distinguishing one band over another. If you search closely for differentiation in And Our Heart…, though, you can find it. Take the opening number “Pink & Tender” – beginning quite ordinary, it moves riffage then to a breakdown of distant shouting gang vocals, and closes with a display of early day Converge riffs. If you are into more of the clean and screaming vocals, check out “I Lifted Her…,” “Shit Happens When You Party Naked,” and “Stay Moist.” Again, And Our Hear… has some stuff going on, it’ll just should be Anterrabae’s mission to separate themselves from the national pack.
Between the Buried and Me After pounding on our skulls with Alaska and The Silent Circus, North Carolina’s Between the Buried and Me drop this giant pile of dung in our laps. The Anatomy Of is a fourteen-track cover album of all types of metal and rock bands. And Between don’t really try to offer new renditions of these covers, but mostly play by the vest replications. With bands that come close to form to Buried, the results are manageable – for instance, the opener “Blackened” by Metallica (clearly the best track on the record), Sepultura’s “Territory,” and Faith No More’s “Malpractice.” On many of the other tracks, you better just get your revolver ready to shot yourself in the head, particularly given vocalist Tommy Rogers penchant for aping the original singers styles. The worst of the worst include Queen’s “Bicycle Race,” King Crimson’s “Three of a Perfect Pair,” Smashing Pumpkins’ “Geek USA,” Blind Melon’s “Change” (wtf?), and Counting Crows’ “Colorblind” (double wtf?). This record should be called The Anatomy of a Trainwreck.
Catch Twenty Two Just when you thought that the last nail has been driven into ska’s dead body, over the past year or so a number of former heavyweights are pushing its resurgence. The Sublime-styled reggae is still enjoyed by select groups, but much of the ska scene is marginalized. New Jersey’s Catch 22 celebrate their ten anniversary with a ska punk album revolving around the life of Leon Trotsky told through eleven songs in chronological order; an obvious direction for Catch 22 to take their song content. Even though up-picking guitars accompanied by horns remind me that one should never take too much of an interest in music fads, one has to hand it to Catch 22 in writing songs that emphasize the pop and the punk, and leave the traditional ska at home. I suppose starting with Keasbey Nights in 1997, Catch 22 had to be slightly different from the ska norm in order to survive on Victory. The songs where Catch 22 push the pop and catchiness over ska include the oddly-familiar “Party Song,” “The Decemberists,” and “Bad Party.” These are so poppy that you’ll forget or never catch on that this record is about Trotsky’s life.
Darker My Love Like labelmates Silversun Pickups..fjadsklfjlalllllllll..k. oh, I just fell asleep during the “Opening” to Darker My Love’s self-titled debut. Like labelmates Silversun Pickups, Darker My Love play moody fuzzed-out rock, but they take it to the next level with psychedelic guitar freakouts that suggest either too much acid or low energy marauding (so much so it’s amazing that the drummer is Andy Granelli from the Distillers). This, along with matching slow tempos, brings your pulse down and relaxes you like Xanax, thus potentially causing you to fall asleep. Due to this fact, Dangerbird should put a caution sticker on the record that reads something like ‘don’t listen to while driving as may cause spacing out.’ Seriously, though, if you like your psych rock drenched in fuzz then Darker My Love may be your ideal record.
Day of the Dead Although Day of the Dead play screaming hardcore close to the vest, one finds it hard to differentiate them any other hardcore band from the past twenty years. The wide use of guitars harmonics on songs like the opener “Forever Is Today” and “One More Cross to Bear,” and muting on the title track, are appreciated, but as you progress to the later half of the record the rehashing by this Portuguese outfit is just too much to deal with. Fans of the scene, keeping it alive, will enjoy A New Healing Process.
Death Is Not Glamorous At first glance you have no reason to invest your energy in Norway’s Death Is Not Glamorous’ five-song EP. When the punk vocals kick in on the opener “The Fallback” you think this is just another narrow-path punk band. Then something strange happens, something that plays to your sense of appealing punk. That something is Death dropping a melodic swing with rhythmic guitar solos that echoes the intensity and emotion of Lifetime – Effing A! Once you latch the Lifetime comparison to Death’s songs, you have just gotten a front row ticket to the EP. “Think You Can” goes too old school hardcore punk following “The Fallback,” but Death restore the melody on “Close Knit,” “Elephants,” and the closer “Assets.” One of the more amazing aspects of Death is that they’re not from NJ/NY/Mid-Atlantic area. Is it just that kids from Oslo are finally getting into the melodic punk of Lifetime? Regardless, check out this EP to hold you over until Lifetime’s new record comes out.
Dirty on Purpose Soon after getting this debut album from Brooklyn’s Dirty on Purpose, I was in Chapel Hill for vaca and managed to catch the band with a short show. A litany of consequences led to this visual, which takes to long to explain, but what I took away from the show was two things: these guys are really good and the main lead singer Joseph Jurewicz soft vocals needed a little enlivening live. And these two main images are immediately played out on the opener “No Radio” and sets the tone for the following ten songs of soft space-rock that cross a wide range of influences. Jurewicz (also on guitar) is joined on Hallelujah Sirens by drummer/vocalist Doug Marvin, guitarist/vocalist, and DJ Boudreau on bass. By now, several months after the record’s release, you have probably run into one of Dirty on Purpose’s songs without knowing it. Foremost and most likely, is “Light Pollution” with its U2-like guitars (or for that matter Explosions-like guitars), harmonies and matching vocal play; the type of song that gets stuck in your cranium for days. Just hit repeat on “Light Pollution” to allow enough time for the song to settle in forever. But, it is not as if Dirty on Purpose only have one magic pony under their belt. Besides from “No Radio” and “Light Pollution,” “Your Summer Dress,” “Car No Driver,” and “Marfa Lights” fill you belly with glee. When you see Dirty on Purpose live forget about stage presence and just focus on the music.
The Draft When Hot Water Music broke up dreams were crushed and hopes were dashed. You can make a reasonable argument that HWM had lost the feeling of their early records and many of their later career records were too straight forward punk. Still, the end of relationships brings nostalgia to the fore. Well, now there is no reason to quite dreaming dreamers thanks to the Draft. The Draft are simply HWM minus 1. The one missing member of HWM from the Draft is guitarist/vocalist Chuck Ragan. With the Draft, bassist Jason Black, drummer George Rebelo, and vocalist/guitarist Chris Wollard are joined by guitarist Todd Rockhill. To not make and discuss the connection between HWM and the Draft’s would be an absurdity. As much as the members may believe it’s a new era, In a Million Pieces is a natural extension of HWM. For me, and probably many others, that is great. And the Draft set out that agenda immediately on the opener “New Eyes Open” that shares a common song structure with the past five years of HWM material. More importantly for the Draft, “New Eyes Open” is a strong song that will grab a new collection of converts, and thus a wise choice to kick off In a Million Pieces. They power through “Lo Zee Rose” and the continuation of gang vocals before offering the somewhat odd up-picking poppy “Let It Go.” The Draft bring back the day on the hard rocking “Alive or Dead” with a line that provides the album title and serves as one of the stronger numbers here. “Bordering” begins strangely and continues uneventfully, “Impossible” moves at deliberate speed, and the odd guitar tempo returns on “Wired.” “Not What I Wanna Do” and the smoking “Out of Tune” are highlights, but the group vocals on “All We Can Count On” create a questionable sound. In a Million Pieces closes on the average “Longshot” and the slow burner “The Tide Is Out;” not exactly an auspicious ending. Clearly, the Draft serve as Hot Water Music fans’ last refuge and In a Million Pieces is the first offering.
Everythingends The five-piece of everythingends almost pull off a coup on this self-released seven-song EP. The coup is to make you believe that you should keep listening, pay attention, and become interested in the band. If you only listen to the strong opening number “Gunfight,” you may be tricked. “Gunfight” shows everythingends as a melodic hardcore band with feeling that is solid though not entirely impressive. This is enough to get you interested. But, once you move onto the next song “Daylight Intervention,” the walls begin to crumble into a pile of post-grunge rock reminiscent of Wind-up releases without as much heaviness. “The Disagreement Pact” and “Sleeping With Candles Lit” try to shovel some of the pile out, but you come away with only a shrug.
Geisha Girls Geisha Girls is a So Cal band hailing from Orange County. Their debut LP, Disappearing Act, finds the band creating a sound somewhere between Agent Orange (nice!) and The Descendents, but minus all the political commentary those bands excelled at. Geisha Girls are content to mine the creative depths of existentialism instead and back it up with all the surf-fuzz guitars, clanging bass, and polyrhythm one could ask for. The overall effect works, due to the all-or-nothing feel of these songs. Geisha Girls sound like a band with something to lose. Listening to lyrics like “nerves can’t go off / unless you touch it / and we’ll be fucked / things that happen” in the song “Retaining Water” intimates that something important is at stake here—that everything does not come down to just sex, drugs and the rest. There’s humanity to Geisha Girls that’s disarming, sincere, and yes, punk. (- Andrew Pryor)
Homemade Knives This is one of those examples of don’t judge a record simply based on packaging and, here, introduction track. With cool packaging and art, and a lovely instrumental intro song, you get excited for the first song “The Ocean Drinks the Sun.” Instead, you’re smacked with Wil Loyal’s vocals that are generic southern singer-songwriter at best and have rather annoying inflection and cadence. The instruments that lie underneath the nine acoustic numbers here actually have something to offer, but Loyal’s vocals just crush the enjoyability. Even when guests appear, like on “Iron in the Fire,” Loyal still dirties the pool. One can envision a new vocalist performing on the same songs and it being completely superior.
IV Thieves The rustic retro rocker, Nic Armstrong’s solo ‘Broken Mouth Blues’ EP raved of potential like an old guy in a pub telling everyone about the new Jimmy Greaves. A tour with Paul Weller, a backing band called The Thieves and a well-crafted debut album, seemed to be paving the way for Nic to act as a musical time machine and transport people to the blues rock playground of the 60s. While the industry’s cruel blows would bury those more mortal than Mr Armstrong, he merely chose to grab a shield of anonymity, base himself in Texas and crank up the guitars. IV Thieves helps Nic to charge forward with his cranked up blues rock and the added momentum of a full and forceful percussion drilled band, epitomised in the dowdy yet spirited opener ‘The Day Is A Downer’. A psychedelic slant to ‘Catastrophe’ draws out Armstrong’s fresh outlook and the troubled vocals pull you into the longing feel of this ebb and flow release of feelings. The dual vocal approach to ‘Chase Me Off/Out’, builds around a harrowing instrumental frame before Nic’s masterful yet worried tone takes over. This song, it seems, is most indicative of the band’s democratic song-writing approach that will litter the forthcoming album ‘If We Can’t Escape My Pretty….’ The full length looks set to justify Noel Gallagher’s lauding of the band… the smug bastard! (- David Adair)
Joan of Arc In a move to outflank other uber-productive indie bands (e.g., Sufjan Stevens), Joan of Arc offer another record this year. This time, though, the Chicago collective headed by Tim Kinsella has released a nineteen-track collection of rare, out-of-print, vinyl only, comp tracks, and Japanese bonus tracks partially as a gift for the outfit’s ten year anniversary. With songs stretching from the early years of Kinsella paralleling his time in Cap N’Jazz to the material from 2005, you get to see the many faces and hear the many members of Joan of Arc’s twisting and turning career. Those to particularly take note of include “Trial at Orleans” off the 1996 7” Method and Sentiment (Jade Tree), the acoustic cover of the Promise Ring’s “A Picture Postcard” from JT’s Post-Marked Stamp Series, the rambling “For a Half-Deaf Girl Named Echo,” the odd electro-sprinkled “You Say Tornado and I Say Tornado” from a split 12” with Bundini Brown (SixGunLover Records), and “Violencii or Violencum” from the double 7” The Association of Utopian Hologram Swallowers (Polyvinyl). Fans, or at least collectors, of Joan of Arc records will want this on their shelves.
Johnny Lives! Johnny Lives! takes its name from front-man Johnny Dubowsky and hails from the same New York stomping grounds as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Strokes and Fountains of Wayne, which is to say that Johnny Lives! shares some of the qualities of these bands but with the addition of a glossy Brit-pop sheen. So far so good, right? Unfortunately Johnny Lives! is a band that sounds almost desperate to please, a band that has taken great pains to sound current. This is not Raw Power-era Iggy (as NME magazine would have you believe) but music to shop at Hollister by. Hell, you should probably be able to buy Get Steady at a Hollister near you, right now. Of course this begs one of life’s big questions: is that necessarily a bad thing? In the case of Johnny Lives! the answer is probably no. Despite Dubowsky’s claim that he’s inspired by Whitman and Proust (yeah, sure) Johnny Lives! take absolutely no risks as a band, catering to a ‘safe’ sound i.e., the tried and true i.e., the been there done that. A day late and a dollar short would have been a more fitting cliché for the song aptly titled “Cliché” where Dubowsky sings on the chorus: it’s a cliché / everything I say. But the music is solid, sometimes even quite nice, such as the touch of Pet Sounds-like backing vocals to the intro of “Lost My Mind”, and Dubowsky is a damned decent rock vocalist, always maintaining the distance of a sneer even on the balladic “Everybody’s Trying To Break You”. It’s just a shame that Johnny Lives! are content to stick with the formulaic. (- AP)
The Junior Varsity As part of Victory’s new venture into the world previously dominated solely by Rhino Records, this release is actually a massive repackaging of Illinois’ the Junior Varsity’s 2004 debut full-length. And when we say packed, it is packed! Besides from the eleven original songs, there are eight bonus songs of mostly demos and reconceptions, and a DVD of live material and tour stuff. The eleven songs that comprise the original The Great Compromise actually offer something better and more enticing than you’ll probably give the JV credit for. With a slightly tarnished production sound and a wide use of sweeping guitars, the JV musically come off like the second coming of early Get Up Kids. Yet, lead vocalist Asa Dawson never entirely lends his voice to the indie rock love (on the level of Jejune and GUKs) that should accompany the instruments, and seems to insist on pushing more pop punk flavor – witness “Left Foot Right Foot,” “Introduction…,” and “…(House Fire).” Dawson verges on the right mixture but doesn’t come as close as you want. These older indie rock touches make the Great Compromise certainly more desirable than their latest record Wide Eyed. The stuff on the DVD worth your time includes the lengthy meeting the band and the tour of their now HQ Jacksonville, IL. Unlike many bands’ bonus DVDs, this one actually makes you like the Junior Varsity more than just listening to the CD. This reissue is something Junior Varsity fans will love.
La Rocca First enticing us with the magical EP Sing Song Sung, the Irish rockers who now call LA home offer their debut full-length for your approval. La Rocca take the rock flavor of Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and the Rolling Stones and steamroll a pop element right into the center of their songs. Starting on “Sketches (20 Something Life),” which was also on the EP, La Rocca immediately gain your attention with bass rumbling from Simon Baillie, simple strong beats from Alan Redmond, Nick Haworth’s dancing keys, and the guitars and vocals of Bjorn Baillie. Baillie’s voice has a classic sound that conjures up images of grandeur accompanied by simple, well-executed song compositions. After the timeless “Sketches (20 Something Life),” that will become ingrained in your head,” La Rocca follow with the rhythm heavy “If You Need the Morning” that adds an exclamation point on the late breakdown full of bass and synths. Given the EP and the beginning to the Truth, you honestly feel you’ve found the truth among pop rock bands. This feeling wanes as you progress through the album, but not every song can be a hit single. Those that keep you riding high include “This Life,” the smoking “Sing Song Sung,” the strong “Eyes While Open,” and “Cats.” I have it under good authority from several LA rockers that La Rocca are heavy drinkers that can put you under the table; imagine that, Irish rockers that drink. Maybe you can challenge them on their next tour; though you may be so blissfully sublime after the show that you don’t need outside mood enhancers.
Ladyfinger (ne) Coming out of the indie rock HQ of Omaha, Saddle Creek has added another ‘one of their own’ bands to their roster in Ladyfinder (ne). That is, Ladyfinger (ne) is composed of four guys who live in Omaha and have offered previous skills to bands like Mayday, the Faint, and Solid Jackson. And yes, the (ne) is to differentiate them from the other Ladyfinger and does represent Nebraska. Since Heavy Hands is coming out on Saddle Creek you probably have a general sense of Ladyfinger’s sound. Somewhat yes, but it is more like Criteria smashed into early punk and dirty rock. Intense, grappling, and angular Ladyfinger go for the jugular on the opener “Smuggler” which begins lightly before moving into a classic post-punk shouting-singing chorus; and you are hooked to their distilled sound. The following nine songs fold out like “Smuggler” with heavy (often muted) guitar riffs, various enhancements, switches in tempo, and shifting sections to add spice. Tracks of note include “Cause of Shame,” “Don’t Lose Your Shadow,” “…Man, Woman…,” and “Who Believes Enough?” If you are fan of harder indie rock and post-punk then there is little chance you won’t like Ladyfinger (ne).
Mercury Rev What better way to open the parade of musical empiricism and mood setting vocal projection, spanning 15 years by the Jonathan "Dingus" Donahue led expansionists than with the theatrical vocal gripped, atmospheric groove rider of ‘Diamonds’? Despite being from last year’s return to form album ‘The Secret Migration’ it is, in essence, the Rev’s signature tune, featuring everything that they have held dear throughout their career of critic defying consistency. This sits comfortably with the proceeding ‘Everlasting Arm’, released twelve years ago and is a swooning carnival of catchy and longing pop at its freshest and it is very relevant today, having probably been a big reference point for the likes of The Polyphonic Spree and The Magic Numbers. Hardcore fans will no doubt rejoice in the inclusion of a number that was arguably former vocalist David Baker’s finest hour. Not long after this song hit the public domain, he parted company with the band, but they are not ones to gloss over their troubles. The piano prowess that has been a hallmark of the Mercury Rev right from the start, is celebrated in ‘Goddess On A Highway’ and the relaxing sound oasis of ‘The Dark Is Rising’. It is the end of the 1st CD that shows the mind-expanding nature of the musical evergreens, with the Sonic Youth style atmospheric building concealed in ‘Empire State (Son House In Excelsis)’ and the lush lullaby of ‘A Drop In Time’, we are reminded of the multitude of musical _expression that we have been blessed with. Disc 2 is more an exposure of the range of influences that have guided Mercury Rev. Naturally, the cover of Elton John’s ‘I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier’ and The Beatles ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’ stand out. ‘So There’ (as read by Robert Creeley) is a fitting inclusion of one of their spoken word forays. Fifteen years, eh? Their sound and impact hasn’t age one bit. (- DA)
Miss Violetta Beauregarde Prepare to be assaulted and violated by Miss Violetta Beauregarde’s electronics-bursting art noise; or what the one sheet calls grind-pop (one of the better subgenre names in awhile). MVB literally does sound like Kid606 manned the boards, Genghis Tron or the Locust provided the instruments, while MVB used all necessary vocal powers and range to instill every human emotion on one disc. Odi Profanum Vulga Et Arceo (Latin for I hate the common people and I spurn them) is a sonic comet with highlights from the opener “Flanger When You Die,” “Try to Misunderstand This One,” the heavy thumping of the short “I’m Wolverine and You’re a Walrus…,” “We Had a Riot…,” and the quirky “The Unbearable Lightness of a Farm Tractor” among the sixteen tracks. Magic!
Nights Like These Coming out of Memphis, the five-piece of Nights Like These play something you wouldn’t necessarily expect from the gutters of Beale Street: grinding technical metalcore; though many on Beale Street wouldn’t necessarily be looking for this either. On their debut full-length, the five-piece of Nights Like These smash their way through eleven songs of pain often revolving around themes of losing faith in things in the world, not inevitably religion. And as they pound and thrash something becomes immediately evident – the guitar work of Derren Saucier and Matt Qualls is the only thing making The Faithless interesting. Yet, even the guitars are often in a distortion level that dirties the sound too much. Couple that Billy Bottom’s minimally entrancing cookie monster growls and you get a sound that holds together on its own but isn’t all that enticing. Possibly a thorough cleaning that maintains Nights Like These’s heaviness is in order.
The North Atlantic Wires in the Walls almost has the pedigree to completely explain the gorgeous angular indie rock that typically one hears murmuring from Omaha, Chicago, NYC, DC, and college towns of the south. Founded seven years back in Michigan and then a relocation to the sunny side of San Diego, the North Atlantic have had a typically history for bands’ with members in college with hiatuses here and there, magic inbetween, and dreams often unfulfilled. Except, here, the North Atlantic have reconnected in order to bring their indie rock prowess to the fore. That’s probably wasn’t too hard given that Jason (vocals/guitars) and Cullen Hendrix (drums) are brothers; and are joined by Jason Richards on bass. The first sentence above reflects the fact that Wires was actually recorded in 2003 and had a small run print; if you roll back that date a bit, you have the North Atlantic’s sonic contemporaries in their prime. Even though I typically hate reissues by a bigger label, the North Atlantic and this record have been completely overlooked by the populace to the detriment of all. By keeping an even keel, the North Atlantic keep you locked in and focused as they kick off Wires on the attacking “The Lotus Eater.” With solid numbers throughout, a handful have you hitting repeat including the opener, the excellent “Drunk Under Electrics” which moves at catchiness before breaking down into bridge twinkles, “The Man Who Saved Your Ass,” the most memorable “Scientist Girl” that is written as a classic indie song (though with some questionable lyrics), the synth-molested “Bottom of this Town,” and the Cursive-esque “Street Sweepers.” We should all be thankful that the North Atlantic didn’t hang it up for good.
Pretty Flowers Pretty Flowers is a New York garage/punk band with the requisite thrift store wardrobe and the ‘I’m-so-bored’ singing to match—geez, is it so uncool to be enthusiastic about the whole singing thing? OK, so that’s a rhetorical question, but by the last song of this three track EP, Dead Flowers do manage to muster up some enthusiasm. But then even “I’ve Got Your Love” never really gets enough speed to actually take flight. One gets the sense that Dead Flowers would be a great band to see at the local bar (drinking PBR or Stag) while just hanging out, that maybe they’re even a decent band to dance to (you could dance to the songs on the EP at least) but that they’re not necessarily something you would find yourself enjoying out of that context. Perhaps Dead Flowers is a band that needs context to work. It could be the context of a mix on your iPod or the context of the drunken live energy of a show. However, listening to this EP in the cold clinical conditions of the lab here at Exoduster HQ (in an undisclosed location) deprives these Dead Flowers of the necessary photosynthesis needed for rocking out. (- AP)
The Replacements The Replacements were the quintessential early and mid 80s college radio band; a band that helped define what ‘college radio’ meant and what indie rock would become. Yet, many younger folks only know the Replacements via references to contemporary bands and RIYLs. So, in pure Rhino fashion, we have this twenty-song collection to remind people how awesome the Replacements are and introduce them to a new generation; plus the band adds two new songs – “Message to the Boys” and “Pool & Dive.” With Paul Westerberg at the helm and filled out by Bob and Tommy Stinson, Chris Mars, and later Slim Dunlap, the Replacements had the unique ability to have uber-indie cred at the same time appealing to all pop rock fans. For someone like me, who grew up during the middle to end of the Replacements career the first set of the songs are a relative shock. The collection is chronologically order with songs cherry-picked from their albums and EPs. For instance, the opener “Takin a Ride” sounds closer to a Black Flag number than what the Replacements would eventually become. After a set of similarly constructed songs – “Shiftless When Idle,” “Kids Don’t Follow,” “Color Me Impressed,” “Within Your Reach” – the pop really begins to ooze forth on “I Will Dare” with its Cure-like cadence from Let It Be. After the scratchy “Answering Machine” comes the mopey “Unsatisfied” and the acoustic stretched “Here Comes a Regular,” followed by a string of winners. With the sweetly catchy “Kiss Me on the Bus” from Tim, the Replacements offer their new smoothly produced sound – and it’s grand! This is followed by the riff-driven “Bastards of Young” and the classic drunk “Left of the Dial,” both on Tim. Even with these all-star tracks, you can’t really top “Alex Chilton” as a Replacements’ pop anthem. Accompanying “Alex Chilton” here from their Please To Meet Me is the slow acoustic burner “Skyway” and the ‘other’ rocker, the thickly-produced “Can’t Hardly Wait.” “Achin’ To Be” and the tremendous “I’ll Be You” from Don’t Tell a Soul, and “Merry Go Round” from the Replacements’ last record All Shook Down round out the previously released material. With John Freese on drums, the two new songs “Message to the Boys” and “Pool & Dive” rock out in the later day Replacements’ fashion, but amazingly has the same intensity and energy as their material from twenty years ago. For those wishing to reminisce or catch up, this collection is perfect.
Rise Against On Rise Against’s second major label release, and fourth full-length overall, the Chicago-based outfit continue their onslaught of political punk songs refreshing wrapped in catchy aggression. From their initial beginnings from dissolved Chicago punk bands, their two Fat Wreck albums and 2004’s Siren Song of the Counter Culture, countless tours, and now The Sufferer & the Witness, Rise Against has only seemed to get better, tighter, and more respected. Of course, being an aggressive punk band on a major label has its pitfalls amongst the scene, but Rise Against has mostly insulated themselves from criticism by simply continuing to play terrific music. The Sufferer has the terse and concise intensity you desire just spread across an immaculately recorded set of songs. The Geffen promotion machine has already bombarded you with the exceptional “Ready to Fall,” but the Sufferer is a solid record through and through, with little reliance on one-trick ponies. Opener “Chamber the Cartridge” does a superb job of setting the stage for the next twelve songs with a catchy chorus, while the follower “Injection” literally injects you with an adrenaline shot and picks up perks from a quasi-tripping tempo breakdown. Further, “Under the Knife” comes at you with a now familiar chorus; “The Approaching Curve” wraps soft melody over a traditional punk song technique of distorted background talking that launches into a chorus; while “Behind Closed Doors,” “Drones,” “Worth Dying For,” and the fabulous closer “Survive” are a set of hard-hitting and memorable numbers. Clearly, The Sufferer & the Witness is one of the top punk records of 2006.
Silversun Pickups There are only so many places in the world where the moody fuzz pop of the Silversun Pickups could grow and flourish. And, yes, SP are from LA. After last year’s EP, Pikul, the outfit is back for eleven-tracks on their debut full-length for Dangerbird. Helping the four-piece to manufacture the tight, smooth pop is Dave Cooley’s deft hand tying melody with fuzz. Carnavas opens with delight on “Melatonin” where SP establish their sound and what to expect on the next ten songs. And that’s part of the problem on Carnavas – songs that are close matches on length, tone, feel, and warmth. Delightful, indeed, it’s easy to get lost as to what song is what even as the band tries some differentiation. Still, and besides from “Melatonin,” several songs are endearing including the tremendous “Little Lover’s So Polite,” the solid “Lazy Eye,” the wanderess opening to “Dream of Tempo” that traipses into Billy Corgan structure, and the closer “Common Reactor.” There is little question that Silversun Pickups flourish as a LA-based rock band; there is just a question about whether all folks will be receptive to the love.
Sound Team Self-production by major label artists is rarer than walking into an indie bar/club and not hearing the Arctic Monkeys, within ten minutes of getting through the door these days. Therefore, it is refreshing to know that the mood, tone and vibes proffered on this eleven track rove though mood country are genuinely chosen by the outfit themselves and are worked out with an authentic DIY ethos. The quick firing atmospheric jaunt of ‘Get Out’ and the foundation laying, yearning vocal inclusive, synthesiser sliding, long ride of ‘Born To Please’, illuminates an ability to explore music and to reflect in different manners. The general vibe given off here is one akin to Sonic Youth being delved into by Kraftwerk and Spoon, as vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Matt Oliver, renders his voice and his instruments as malleable as Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion. He transforms his vocals and instrumental prowess to mingle in with the requisite mood and feeling of each song. The electro stomping with a rustic sixties guitar line inclusive ‘TV Torso’, would form the crux of any stoner anthems compilation. Weighing in at the six minute mark, the sparse, but worldly-wise vocals of Matt are polished neatly by his younger brother and synth-cajoler, Michael. Ever ones for contrast, this Austin born six strong troupe follow this up with one of their rockiest offerings ‘Back In Town’, featuring the most aching vocals they can muster. The abstract indie of ‘Shattered Glass’ makes powerful emotion out of ebbing and flowing, bass led instrumentals and hearty narrative singing to project feels of redemption. Sound Team come across as a band who would be mesmerizing in a live setting and that is certainly the reputation they have been building up, but this is also an offering you can lose yourself in at home or even in work. (- DA)
V/A One initially thinks that they see too many of these sampler comps in the ether, and then you realize that Hopeless/Sub City only does this every other year – thus they are now drawing on thirteen years of material. Granted this may only make a small dent on the wave of comps, but there is a bit more integrity. Volume 6 includes two CDs – the first with current bands and newer material, and the second with past greats – and a DVD featuring 28 videos from the labels’ history. I generally think that Hopeless/SC has gone a bit astray with recent signings and releases – an odd combination of emo pop and off rock – and so the first disc doesn’t rev one up much. However, it is promising that one of the labels’ newest additions The Human Abstract unleash metal fury on “Crossing the Rubicon.” Disc two is the stuff of legend including songs from Dillinger Four, 88 Fingers Louie, the Queers, the Weakerthans, Thrice, Atom & His Package, Mike Park, and Avenged Sevenfold. For those unfamiliar with the mid to late 90s Hopeless material, this disc is an excellent introduction. Neatly assembled in blocks of videos, the DVD’s highlights include the Weakerthans “Watermark” and “Diagnosis,” Mike Park’s “Asian Prodigy,” the amazing fan-intense video for “Unholy Confessions” from Avenged Sevenfold, and Scared of Chaka’s fun punk on “All My Friends are Ghosts.” Overall a solid collection filler.
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