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September Reviews Artist of the Month: CSS For some reason or another – possible the impetus of the World Cup and trips – Brazil has gotten cooler and chicer over the past few months. And when the dynamo six-piece of Sao Paulo’s CSS launch such gems as “Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above,” you want to pack you bags and call Brasil your new home. Even if you only mildly enjoy electro dance punk, these eleven tracks of pure sexiness will get you moving, energized, and thrilled. Originally coming together in Sao Paulo in 2003 through art scenes and Internet music/art sites, CSS (whose name comes from the Beyonce Knowles’ quote ‘I’m tired of being sexy’) started out on the premise of exploring musical outlets for a group of people with little music ability. It’s all based on raw, visceral emotion and energy and less regard for smooth production and tight transitions. Consisting of Matsushita (a.k.a. Lovefoxx) on vocals, Carolina Parra on guitars/drums, Ana Rezende on guitars/harmonica, Luiza Sa on guitar/drums/keys, Iracema Trevisan on bass, and the lone male Adriano Cintra on drums/guitar/vocals, CSS first drew attention on the music site TramaVirtual, whic led to the site’s label releasing this self-titled affair in Brazil. Somehow, and with glorious results, Sub Pop is releasing CSS’ debut in the U.S., and basically everyone should be thrilled about that – save for theother labels that missed out. Uptight audiophiles aren’t going to like CSS – CSS is best reserved for earsplitting volume on the dance floor with sexy, art ladies moving to the beat. Even a close listen with headphones reveals the untightness in production of CSS, but such inspection is simply uncouth. Besides, the mostly awkwardly phrased and pronounced English is so cute. The record opens with the tremendous anti-theme song “CSS Suxxx” – where the gang chants with the name over and over again. And while you’re mulling over what to make of the band, “Patins” comes riding on the white horse of indie rock. Focused on jangly, catchy indie guitar “Patins” is one of the few songs to match Lovefoxx and Cintra in vocal sparing, which is odd since the outcome is glorious. A seamless transition moves you to the Peaches-esque “Alala,” where Lovefoxx spits lines to a heavy electro beat and sound. With a smidge of Portuguese inserted, “Alala” grabs you thanks to the utterance of the title twice after each line. So, you’ve transversed several different sounds from CSS and it’s still unclear their direction, and then the beyond hot, brilliant “Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above” smacks your ass. With the bassline and drumbeat starting then Lovefoxxx’s vocals and quirky synth line coming in, it is at this point that, first, you don’t care how to classify CSS and, second, you just want more. Far and away the best song here, it’s impossible to get tired of “Let’s Make Love” – it has the same viral indie potency as “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House,” but ten times better. Further, try getting lines like “Kiss me I’m drunk, don’t worry it’s true” out of your head. With a gruff entry, possibly as an ode to the song’s content, “Artbitch” is both a knock against the art scene and an acknowledgment of working within the inside. Before the ending lure, you get attacked with such great lines as “I have no portfolio and I only show where there’s free alcohol.” As the only real write-off track, you can skip past “Fuckoff Is Not the Only Thing You Have to Show” and move on to “Meeting Paris Hilton.” Used in the Latin American promo for The Simple Life, you wouldn’t first match the song’s title to the lyrics - but once you know, it all makes sense. Clinging to such lines as “I went to the bitch, the bitch was so hot/She came to me and said ‘do you like the bitch, bitch?’, the song is a slow sexy burner. “Off the Hook” moves back to a rock core and survives on the verse vocal cadence and the dancey, repetitive chorus. Circusey music introduces “Alcohol” and makes you nod your head side-to-side as Cintra and Lovefoxxx finally get back to vocal matching. “Music Is My Hot Hot Sex” title sounds better than it is and after it riddles an array of Portuguese off, the record closes on “This Month, Day 10.” Thumping bass, drums, guitars open “This Month, Day 10” before Lovefoxxx gets going and sticks the landing on the chorus of “I’ll be rude, I’ll be rude, I’ll be rude.” A wise choice for the closing number, “This Month, Day 10” encapsulates all the different sounds CSS has offered on the previous ten songs into one solid song. In the world of sexy electro dance-punk, CSS’ artfelt songs set them apart from literally every other group in the world. The raw ingenuity suggests both a terrible and magnificent path for CSS in the near future. Either the eclectic six-piece splits up prematurely to pursue other avenues or they stay together, land a perfect producer, and offer the best record ever heard. Hopefully the latter and like eating gelato, we’re all winners.
The Autumn Offering Embrace the Gutter arrives with massive promise thanks to the Autumn Offering’s previous record, the immaculate Revelations of the Unsung (which was recently reissued by Victory). While the eleven-track Embrace the Gutter thrashes your head with due diligence, it doesn’t sufficiently pack the skull crushing powers we dreamed of. Coming from the increasingly strange state of Florida, where dichotomies, contradictions, and purely bizarre events are commonplace, the Autumn Offering initially took their musical frustrations on the turn of the millennium pop punk wave as high schoolers. With a ton of source material, the band perfected their metal skills, but mostly traveled in the metalcore scene and signed with Jasta’s Stillborn Records. On Victory, the Autumn Offering serves as the label’s most straight-up band. This comes courtesy of the guitar solo worshiping that is consistently driven by Tommy Church and Matt Johnson. With Dennis Miller leading the vocal charge (not the actor/comedian/schmuck), and Sean Robbins on bass and Nick Geylon on drums, the Autumn Offering steer their new material through a narrower metal channel. That is, Revelations of the Unsung included stronger elements of Southern rock riffs and the classic lame metal ballad breakdowns, which are mostly gone on Embrace. We can do without the ballads (even though the closer “The Final Cut” hints at it), but the Southern rock add such a choice piece to their sound. Still, you can find solace on the title track, the excellently composed “Ghost,” “One Last Thrill,” and the uber hard-hitting “Walk the Line.”
The Broken Family Band This close knit Cambridgeshire quartet is extending their ambitions. They proffer a Johnny Cash oiled country/Americana grinder of a single that picks up pace a la Cracker, to deliver forceful dual vocals and first date nerve tackling lyrics to expand their net. ‘Your Like A Woman’ is the opening song from their ranging third album ‘Balls’. In a neat touch, a glimpse of their fuzzy guitar led past is included by the inclusion of ‘Gavin’s Dead’, taken from the 2004 full-length ‘Jesus Songs’ and a horn solo helps the chilling effect projected by the tale, clandestinely told by Steve Adams. New song ‘Poor Little Thing’ skips playfully alongside another modern band Aberfeldy, to bring a summery folk styled accompaniment that shrouds a woe begotten tale, concluding a fresh offering. (- David Adair)
Brothers and Sisters When Austin’s Brothers and Sisters open their self-titled debut on the Neil Young-drenched “New Life,” you’re unsure of what’s in store for you as you progress through the next eleven songs. Even if the Neil Young pop of “New Life” isn’t your thing, you quickly realize that this is some good shit. Indeed. Your hesitancy melts away as the eight-piece leads you through their version of alt-country, indie dreams starting on the amazing “One Night” with a chorus that superglues to your brain. That’s right, eight-piece. Coming from all around the country, Daniel Wilson, James Olsen, Dave Morgan, Greg McArthur, Will and Lily Courtney, and Marie Butcher only came together in 2005 but have soared through the Austin scene and rightfully so. While Brothers and Sisters can’t top the aforementioned “One Night,” you are still treated to the slow walking “Sunday Living,” the haunting “Without You,” the Young-esque “Old Age,” the Beach Boys pop chorus of “Lost and Found,” and the achy “Old Love Letters.” This is one of the more exciting finds so far in this year’s morass.
Brown Shoe As one of the seemingly rarer and rarer occurrences in the music, Brown Shoe is considerably better than their moniker, album art, and self-released record would initially have you believe. Wearing ambient Brit rock and slight jam band influences on their sleeve, the four-piece from northern California offer several stellar numbers across the twelve here. Most obviously, after the short intro track “Good Morning” comes the incredible “Traveling.” With drums leading the way and angelic guitars merging in before the rest of the band soars off, “Traveling” is the sort song that should get Brown Shoe signed to a major. Also, it’s a song that should traipse across your radio. While Brown Shoe can’t continue this magic for the entire record, they’re far from a one-hit wonder. Other songs that take the spotlight include “Northern Lights,” “Analog,” and “Coquettish Cokehead.” Brown Shoe is a band you will hear a lot from; though they may have to change their name first.
Casket Architects Sounding closer to the San Diego spazz scene than something from New York, the three-piece of Casket Architects hit you with a quick twelve songs over eighteen minutes. Featuring bassist Evan Scholman, drummer Annie Terror, and guitarist/vocalist Mike Shaw, Casket Architects don’t tread on wild, balls-out noise but instead take a directed thrashy hardcore punk sound mixed with electronic enhancements. Sometimes sounding like a more punk Genghis Tron, Dance on the Death Nerve begins wisely on “Turbine Vaccine” before moving into space riff heavy “Casket Architecture.” These two opening numbers set the tone for the rest of the record. Skipping around some junk, tracks to take note of include “Deftwitch,” the title track, and “Behold the Armatron.” Casket Architects have the flair of an early 80s noise punk band afforded with all the accoutrements of contemporary instruments.
Comfortable for You As a very uncommon affair, the six-song EP My Entire Life is a Lie was recorded after San Diego’s Comfortable for You decided to break up. Typically labels are unwilling to pay for recording, producing, production, promotion, etc., for a band in this situation; unless they’re like the Beatles or something. Either way, these six songs are the send off to Comfortable for You’s four year career. After the angry opening of “Brian Wilson’s Mountain Thrash-Gnar,” Comfortable for You settle down into their melodic angular post-hardcore for the rest of the EP – and helps propel highlights like “Fucking Jacko” and “Sonny Jim.” A good time all around, My Entire Life is probably best suited for Comfortable fans that dream of another day for the band.
Damone The core of Damone is simply kick ass rock. But, how you get to that point winds through everything from punk to glam metal to cock rock to power pop rock – and basically every point in-between. On their debut for Island, and second full-length, the Boston four-piece manages to meld all these different sounds into an impressive display of American rock. Leading the charge are the vocals and guitar of Noelle, along with lead guitarist Mike Woods, bassist Dustin Hengst, and drummer Vazquez. The band’s eclectic nature is on full display across twelve songs on Out Here All Night, as often songs nod significantly in one direction or the other. There are the punk assaults (opener “Now Is the Time,” “Tonight” and “Get Up and Go”), the flying glam (“Outta My Way”), the heavier rock/metal (“Out Here All Night”), and the uber catchy pop (“Stabbed in the Heart,” “When You Live” and “On Your Speakers”). The latter three pop songs come off as a bit artificial compared to the rest; as if a record label in the past or present wanted pop singles. Still, as long as you can get past Noelle sounding like a sweet, whispy pop artist on the first bit of “Stabbed in the Heart,” you can fully enjoy the impressive catchy power rock that comes later. If Damone are able to add the energy and magic live, they are a band on a massive upswing.
Darling New Neighbors Darling New Neighbors’ debut full-length Every Day is Saturday Night is classic, simple southern college town indie rock. And while Austin isn’t exactly a town, you can imagine the three-piece of Elizabeth Jackson, Amy Moreland, and Reid Faist sitting around strumming guitars on the porch while avoiding mosquitoes. With a rustic indie feel and an extensive use of instruments, including accordion, ukulele, xylophone, and mandolin, the downside to Every Night is how the songs sound so unsure. Almost like DNN aren’t really comfortable playing them – they haven’t been lived in long enough or at least not conceived to be lived in. Still, if I was hanging in Austin and saw DNN playing I would stop on in.
Drag the River The first time I heard It’s Crazy and the opening song “Leavin’ in the Morning” I was driving through Tennessee’s Appalachia. You probably couldn’t conjure up a better way to first be exposed to the country-western rock of Drag the River. And while you may figure a band that presents such an image to be swigging whiskey in a Smokey Mountain shack or in a Nashville dive, the composition of Drag the River is a polar opposite. In fact, from afar you’d think that such a collection of artists that is Drag the River would be playing some type of sophomoric punk. The reasons are obvious. Formed in the mid-90s as a side project for Chad Price of All and Jon Snodgrass of Armchair Martian, Drag the River’s lineup now includes JJ Nobody of the Nobodys, Dave Barker of Pinhead Circus and Love Me Destroyer, and Spacey Casey of Hot Rod Circuit. Regardless of Drag the River’s pedigree, you can’t deny the attractiveness of the thirteen songs on It’s Crazy. Reflecting the band’s and member’s history, It’s Crazy was actually recorded song-by-song in different locales around the country. Again, starting off on the slow, short acoustic burner “Leavin’ in the Morning,” you are treated to the heavy pedal steel on “Tired & Fired,” the sweet rocker “Me & Joe Drove Out to California…” (a song that Limbeck would kill for), “Amazing G.,” and “Cousins.” For some odd reason, the last track is actually the entire record on a continuous run – great for parties? Good times.
Edison Glass Edison Glass (the hypothetical collaboration of Thomas Alva Edison and composer Phillip Glass) is a four-piece rock band from Long Island. They’re debut A Burn or a Shiver finds the group cranking out big hook rock songs ready for mainstream consumption; think Bloc Party but diluted with elements of The Vines. In truth, there are elements of a whole patchwork of influences here, which isn’t a bad thing. Vocalist Joshua Silverberg can muster plenty of vocal presence but this is pretty much negated whenever his persona veers off into angst overdrive (unfortunately, this is most every song). Produced by Brad Wood (Sunny Day Real Estate, Smashing Pumpkins), everything on A Burn or a Shiver sounds BIG: guitars are crisp and biting, and the rhythm section is tightly syncopated with lots of start-stop, loping beats that keep the songs from lulling. In fact, much of the album is smartly kept up- tempo and only rarely becomes mired in ballads, such as the trite “You Mean The world For Me.” Far more interesting are songs like “Forever” that opens with a reworked version the riff from “Hazy Shade Of Winter” before launching into a hyper ska-inflected verse, or the densely layered guitars and drum breaks on “The River”. (- Andrew Pryor)
Greg Graffin Though some may not know the name Greg Graffin, everyone knows his band Bad Religion. As the lead singer of the seminal west coast punk band, Graffin has made scores of political flavored high tempo records in the past. So, it may strike some as odd, strange, and peculiar for Graffin to strike out on his own with a traditional folk record. Not folk like Bob Dylan, but 18th and 19th century Americana folk. As Graffin tells it, this is music he grew up with and remembers well. With the help of Stephen Carroll, Greg Smith, and Jason Tait, all members of the Weakerthans, along with old-time musicians Joe Wack, Chris Berry, and David Bragger, Graffin moves through eight traditional covers and three original songs. The three new ones include the strong opener “Don’t Be Afraid to Run,” the title track, and the excellent “The Watchmakers Dial.” What becomes immediately evident is that Graffin’s voice on his own songs sounds close to acoustic Bad Religion, while on the covers Graffin reverts to a more stereotypical folk voice. Even though there is a clear distinction it doesn’t cause a significant rift in the album’s consistency. Traditional songs are traditional because of a reason, but check out Graffin’s efforts on “Highway,” his duet with Jolie Holland on “Talk About Suffering,” “California Cotton Fields,” and “Little Sadie.” As a simply side project, Cold as the Clay is about as good as it gets.
The Human Value Right from the fuzzy bass led wanderings of ‘Give Me’, this trio of musical liberators from the West Coast, led by the provocative pitch of vocalist Turu, immediately erects a solid foundation from which to project their carpe diem message. This is off-set by a slower and mournful offering ‘You Want Him’, built from the grinding bass of Hiram, it squeezes into the skirt of PJ Harvey to project feelings of longing and bemusement to an eerily ambient musical base. Previous projects such as Kittens For Christian (Hiram) and The Send Effect (Turu), has laid the foundation for this expansive new wave and raw rocking outfit. A snappy and salacious vocal to and fro between Turu and Hiram in ‘Somebody’, almost eclipses the effect of The Kills regarding this approach, as the chemistry can be felt on record. It must be quite a hair raising number when performed live? Tripping guitars and buzzing bass-lines help the positive ‘Won’t Be Long’, to gush out a message of endurance, patience and self-confidence. The vocals take on a sure, but calming stance and the musical backdrop adds some grit to complete the life enhancing parade. The number lingers out of a dark and brooding shadow that is cast over the majority of this daring debut, something that is encapsulated in the haunting ‘She’, wrapping the enigma of young femmes in a riddle. There is spontaneity to the songs and the feelings projected through them, as the range of Turu and Hiram allows them to explore a range of issues and forms of musical _expression, as they use the thrusting percussion of Lynnae Hitchcock to add force to the mood grappling array. The Human Value adds a bit a depth and reflection to modern music. This is going to make the allies out of the music lover who wants more than meaningless rhythm and a catchy chorus from their hobby. (- DA)
Inca Ore Eva Saelen’s project, Inca Ore, offers its own special take on the Tzadik-noise genre armed with such non-instruments as pots, pans, and chains. Recorded in a secluded cabin off the Oregon Coast, The Birds In The Bushes finds Eva collaborating with multi-instrumentalist Lemon Bear as the two improvise some truly varied and at times unnerving sound-collages. While the sounds of water reverberating in a pan struck with a blunt object coupled by the sound of something like a jaw harp starts the album off in conventional Zorn country, Inca Ore quickly depart into more unfamiliar and original aural territory. “Blue Train” features child-like spoken vocals, campfire acoustic guitar and some kind of pan flute. What makes this interesting is the manner in which the individual pieces collide into, and conflict with, one another. What is typically thought of as soothing is transformed by Inca Ore into tension. This tension ebbs and rises in unexpected ways and yet has logic to it. On “1950s Beatnik Poetry” Inca Ore venture into musique concrète, mixing their gamelan inspired beatnik percussion with more childish chanting and a dervish of back-masked sound that hovers menacingly somewhere in between the two. Good stuff.
Chris Koza Chris Koza is a singer-songwriter who performs super sensitive singer-songwriter type songs. There’s the requisite acoustic guitars, brushed drums, maybe a little harmonic, some tambourine – you get the picture. As indifferent as all this sounds, Chris Koza is not an unlikable personality. The lyrics are on the smart side, if somewhat loquacious (there’s something about this genre where more words is somehow perceived as being better), and the music is suitably textured and never obtrusive to the songs. In fact at times these songs are simply quiet. It’s this ‘quietness’ of Patterns that is one of its strongest qualities, but this quietness can at times go too far, leaving some songs almost subdued. The only real problem with Chris Koza is that although he’s a likable enough front man, he’s not a very interesting one either. There’s a lot about Patterns that wants so badly to be a folksy derivative of Woodface-era Crowded House and this makes for an extremely limited canvass for Koza to compose on. Sure, “Four Seasons in One Day” was great, but here it’s hard not to feel like we’re just getting twelve lesser variations of one great song. (- AP)
The Lovekill Thank God that bands like the Lovekill are still punching out splendidly crafted, catchy post-punk. The four-piece of the Lovekill – Chris Rager, Jonah Bayer, Carla Cherry, Craig Ramsey – are actually oddly situated in Cleveland to produce this distinctive northeastern corridor/Chicago-area sound. Yet, when you peel under the cover just a tad, you uncover the information that connects all the dots. First and generally less monumental is that These Moments Are Momentum is being released on Thursday’s Geoff Rickly’s label Astro Magnetics (along with Alex Saavedra and Marc Debiak), which is firmly situated in New Jersey. Second and this time the most important, the current heavyweight champion of uber-brilliant post-punk/hardcore guitar riffs produced and contributed to the record – Stephen Pedersen (Criteria, ex-White Octave, ex-Cursive). Even though the Lovekill are entirely their own beast, Pedersen’s hand has molested everything here, including providing legal representation for the Loverkill (Pedersen is a lawyer by trade). Recording in both Pedersen basement in Omaha and Presto! Studios under the deft hand of AJ Mogis, and thus a thick Saddle Creek connection, the ten songs on These Moments are rife with the best guitar-driven post-punk seen in 2006. You’re first introduced to the urgency of the opener “Palms and Gin” with frantic guitars and Rager’s distinctive yelling/shouting vocals. A strong enticement indeed, but the best comes on the follower “The Refrain of the AM.” Beginning ordinary enough, “The Refrain of the AM” slides into a perfectly orchestrated screaming high guitars and vocals, and draws you in as a devoted follower. Pedersen’s love probably is ripest on “The Refrain of the AM.” The similar-minded “Sleepover” follows with more breakdowns, while you have to wait to the end third of “Heart Wires” to feel the magic. “Complicated Sighs” draws you in with Sonic Youthy guitars, but leaves them behind for more ordinary fare. These Moments Are Momentum closes on the brilliant “Years,” and its near perfect building guitar section a minute in, and the wildly shifting “Land Time.” Several songs simply hold down the fort for the Lovekill including “Ride On, Miner,” the title track, and “Nothing Yet.” The Lovekill and Pedersen together – a match made in heaven.
Mabus When Mabus opens up Cheers, To Doomsday Gloom with the first minute of “One’s Nosedive Is Another’s Parade,” you simply think they’re another grinding heavy music band. But, over the next minute, Mabus transform themselves and offers the first inkling of their true nature – a jazz metal act. This becomes more evident on the following number “Don’t Mind If I Do” as the four-piece from the Hudson Valley move across Converge guitars, grind thumping, and breaks it down with a jazz session. The party continues in such manner over the next six songs, with the only major fumble being the actual jazzy song “Swingin’ In Saterlee Grove” where the use of a sax makes you want to kill yourself. Even with this misstep, Mabus demolishes the negative image with the thrashing follower “The Hangman’s Trampy Daughter, Truth.” Mabus is a strong outfit to be on the lookout for.
Model One As the latest EP from Chicago’s Model One’s crusade of four EPs instead of one full-length, Rooms again presents a set of mellow, well-constructed rock songs that calm your pulse; though you wish it would make it rush. You think that all from the past may be forgiven on the opening “The Room Slows Down,” which utilizes an excellent bass line, slight spacey guitar effects, and a thumping bass. Among the four songs on the previous EP and the six on this EP, “The Room Slows Down” is by far the best, and should receive college radio play. Unfortunately, the rest of Rooms EP doesn’t really follow up on the strong opener. Model One is mildly successful on the dance-fueled “Valentine (Dance All Night)” and the closer “Beautiful Eyes” is solid, but in general there is slippage. Certainly better than the previous EP, maybe the next will be even better.
The Needles Rasping rock with rhythm, lyrical bite and a swirling keyboard element sees the sinister, turning life upside down opener, ‘Let You Down’ and the murkily catchy ‘Under The City’, transporting you to a dingy underground venue and the year is 1975. Before we are brought forward in time for The Cribs and Supergrass skirting ‘Girl I Used To Know’, seeing Dave Dixon’s vocals taking on a calming, yet grittily authoritative pitch. Already it is impossible not to be tempted to put this foray into the category of one of the freshest and most sincere albums of the year so far. It is a debut album to boot, helping to render the disappointment of Razorlight’s recent lack of adventure, as distant a memory as England’s World Cup campaign. A sound similar to Kiss crashing a Ramones gig gushes through first portion of the album that utilises the full, spindling bass virtuosity of Paul Curtiss, most noticeably propelling the provocative ‘Devil At Your Door’ and the pleading previous single ‘Dianne’, with the latter mentioned instrumentally applauding Muse. Feeling and emotion are never far away from a The Needles song, giving them a genuine and emotive edge. The Aberdeen quartet finds the time to put a loving arm around The Byrds and The Stands by embracing the country rock genre with the album highlight, the lyrically cutting, instrumentally winding and roving ‘Poison Ivy’. This signals a change in pace in the album, as pop craftsmanship is deployed to slow the journey down via ‘Up Against The Wall’. The inter-song cohesion that is displayed without exception illuminates a band of true understanding and the fact that they have been together since the late 1990’s, has evidently facilitated this understanding, rather than straining the relations as oft happens with bands battling that are through. The big sounding ‘Delivery Day’ possesses that hounding, combined vocal approach that represented The Coral at their most potent. The slow ballad of ‘In The Morning’ provides for a reflective and tingling conclusion, something that is quite fitting, as in years to come The Needles will reflect on this debut with pride and fulfilment. (- DA)
Osaka Popstar Osaka Popstar is a super-group of sorts, comprised of punk veterans John Cafiero, Marky Ramone, Jerry Only (Misfits), Dez Cadena (Black Flag), and Ivan Julian (Richard Hell). Fronted by long-time Misfits collaborator Cafiero, Osaka Popstar is better than it has any right to be considering its bold subtitle - And the American Legends of Punk. This is due mostly to the fact that Osaka Popstar absolutely does not take itself seriously (subtitle not withstanding). With songs devoted to popular anime, “Astro Boy” and “Sailor Moon”, and even a cover of “Man of Constant Sorrow” (yeah, that’s right), this album keeps things silly most of the time, silly but never dull. All but the last three songs are covers, including “There Once Was a Christmas That Almost Wasn’t” (the title theme from an obscure TV movie of the same name) complete with sleigh bells and the ‘fore mentioned theme for “Sailor Moon” (yes!) which would be right at home on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. Also included is a DVD containing videos for “Wicked World” (directed by cult animator Mari-Chan) and “Insects”, not to mention a nifty manga inspired booklet. (- AP)
Patent Pending If nothing else, Patent Pending proves that there is still an audience for sophomoric pop punk in age when punk has turned in every direction and mood possible but back to simple. After a heavy run of self-promotion and releases around their HQ on Long Island over the past few years, Patent Pending signed with NJ’s We Put Out Records for their third record. Likely without their own intense initiative and the explosion of the area’s punk scene (e.g., Taking Back Sunday, Thursday, etc.), Patent Pending might have wallowed as a local band forever. And if you enjoy simple pop punk, Patent Pending is about as good as it gets these days; that might not be saying much. On the twelve-track Save Each Other, Patent Pending keeps you satiated when they stay away from extended numbers and ska influences. For instance, if I was to just play you the four-plus minute “Decemberween” with its ska horns inclusions, you would wish for my death. “Cheer Up Emo Kid” might also get you the Rushdie treatment. Thankfully, Patent Pending mostly stays away from such transgressions. Songs to take note of include the smoking opener “Los Angeles” (a rehashed older number), the kitschy “Lights Out in Mississippi,” “Old and Out of Tune,” and “Sleep Well My Angel.” If Patent Pending can keep up their energy, you’ll probably hear more from them over the next few years.
Paul Minor These days Paul Minor is best known as one of the leading figures of the Austin music scene through his bands but also his production work and the SIMS Foundation. This ten-song solo project, with help from Jeff Johnston, Conrad Choucroun, Matt Hubbard, Gary Newcomb, and Elana James, illustrates an eclectic array of sounds all centered around the classic American singer-songwriter ideal. This is both a blessing and a curse for Minor. For instance, the opener “Made to Be Broken” sounds completely like an old Dylan rip off, but then Minor also offers strong numbers in the indie pop “Raincoat Song” and the drawn out “The Truth Is.” Shadow Figure forces you to jump around looking for the good and ducking the bad.
Peter Bjorn And John Ever played that game in your local indie joint, whereby you have to come up with the strangest and the most mesmerizing collaboration that could happen betwixt different acts? Well a blend of Belle & Sebastian and Sonic Youth must be in any top three. Well, this expansive outfit have produced a song that means you don’t have to imagine what such a merging of sonic and summery sounds would produce. For the A-side, a whistling stroll makes for a playful feel and a yearning male and female vocal to and fro, helps the band cover the topic of loyalty in a silk blanket. An ambient/folk B-side, ‘Ancient Curse’ casts an eerie shadow over matters with the aid of a hauntingly hollow percussive element and low key vocals help to complete the mystic feel. ‘Writers Block’, the third album from this sojourning Swedish outfit, is released on the 14/08/06 and there is enough here to tempt you into taking on this adventure without leaving your home, well if you buy it on the net that is. (- DA)
Phelan Sheppard The musical journey that has been interwoven intricately between the two mainstays Kieron Phelan and David Sheppard includes three previous albums and has resulted in this calming and adventurous outlet, seeing them reach the nadir of their weaving craftsmanship. Phelan Sheppard produce winding and far reaching sounds with a brass and wind base, to set off on a journey of discovery that eclipses what Bell Orchestre (an offshoot featuring members of Arcade Fire) has recently achieved. ‘Broken In The Wrong Places’ has a marching feel helped along by hollow percussive jabs and would make the perfect soundtrack to a nostalgic movie set in the countryside. It rises slowly like a giant from a pit and then wanders off in different directions, thanks to a throbbing moog and relaxing percussive jangles. This album is the result of a lengthy period of collaboration betwixt Phelan and Sheppard and you can tell that their previous experiences, such as their first project at high school; a mod revival outfit with a Bowie feel has been an integral part of their journey, helping them to focus on their song-building structure. The vocals are sparse on this album, but when used they tend to be used in a lush instrumental capacity. Ines Naranjo’s crystal, choral vocals skim along the top of a winding violin led arrangement in ‘Weaving Song’ and it picks the six minute plus song up and leads it merrily on its way. Josh Hillman plays a lead role in binding the songs together with his strolling violin or viola element depending on the song, as the ‘Collapsing Cat’ illustrates and gives off a vibe similar to Heritage Orchestra grappling instrumentally with Breaks Co-op. ‘The Plastagenet Whore’ stands out in the middle, for its impressionistic, spacey feel with a cosmopolitan aspect applied by the dreamy Japanese style vocals. The climatic ‘Parachute Seeds’ shows a sharper and punchier edge, with the two and a half minute number rising quickly and to shuddering effect, thus livening up the chilled mood that has been projected so far. Fuzzy digitalizing is juxtaposed with a trickling element to make the lively and captivating ‘Water Clock’. Phelan Sheppard is continuing to grow musically and this tight collaboration is standing firm against the harsh winds of the trends of our modern music industry. (- DA)
Bubble gum indie concealing a sinister touch dances around, striking out with the combination of a touch of Phil Spector, Madonna, Regina Spektor and current upstarts The Grates to introduce a character we all know; ‘Judy’. The Pippettes follow up on the top 40 success of salacious ‘Pull Shapes’ with a freewheeling expose` of modern life and one of its trying characters. The trailing and steamy vocal trail of Gwenno Saunders leads the colourfully tunefully parade containing whistling guitars and also tag along lingering memories of summer. The Pipettes attempts playfully seduce you into their way of veiling life’s troubles. Can they avoid the ever lingering pitfall of momentary attention and can the attention of the ever wandering modern audience? They’ve given it a bash. (- DA)
Pony Up Pony Up is an all girl indie rock band out of Montreal. Make Love to the Judges With Your Eyes is the bands debut full-length since forming on New Year’s Eve 2002. Composed of songs that blend pop hooks with ‘confessional lyricism’, MLTTJWYE is a fairly safe, even conventional album. Recorded by Howard Ian Bilerman (The Arcade Fire) and engineer Brian Paulson (Beck, Wilco), MLTTJWYE wears its slick pedigree proudly. While everything sounds good here, especially the pristine piano on songs like album opener “Dance For Me” and “The Best Offence”, the album’s Achilles’ heel is it’s lackluster vocals. While two of the girls in Pony Up share vocal duties, neither of them have enough authority to elevate the uninteresting lyrics and flat melodies. Where as MLTTJWYE’s musicianship is solid, the style of singing Pony Up deliver won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. If you like listening to indie girls who sound too bored to be bothered, then add a+ to the above grade. (- AP)
Robots and Empire NY’s Robots and Empire are after the right sound on the nine-song Cast Shadows on Dragons, but the final product is a dullard. The four-piece bashes at low-end stoner rock with a cleaner nod to Sabbath, but the combo of uninspiring vocals, ordinary guitar work, and no bowel shaking thumping halts the progress. A real sore point though is the vocals. Not like stoner rock is known for having excellent vocals, but Robots and Empire go for the shouting 80s cock metal sound with serious detrimental effect. Robots and Empire may be more rumbling in person than on disc.
Sleepaway Although emo is a dirty word in contemporary rock parlance, Sleepaway is quintessential emo. Coming out of Buffalo, a place better known for working class hardcore and metal (even producer Doug White used to play in Fledging Death), the uber-young Sleepaway swim through ten songs that will make teenage girls swoon and parents calmly nod along. The five-piece parallels the wealth of other recent acts (e.g., Rookie of the Year) to grow out of the waves of Jimmy Eat World, the Get Up Kids, the All-American Rejects, but for some latent reason Sleepaway isn’t as mind-numbingly boring. It might be a slight nod to melodic 90s rock and having White behind the board. Some of the melodies stick in your head for bad reasons (the Rejects-like “Best Unspoken” and the annoying vocal inflection on “From My Bed to Yours”), still songs like “Nice Shoes, Hollywood!,” “Something of a Saturday,” and the closer “Sorry I Never Bought You a Car or Took You to Vegas” hold their own. With tons of time to perfect their skill, Sleepaway has a bright pop future.
The Sounds of Animals Fighting While Lover, The Lord Has Left Us… doesn’t exactly sound like animals fighting, it’s pretty damn close. The fourteen-track record from the anonymous ‘supergroup’ features a wide amalgam of sounds that it’s impossible to characterize it, and, thus, the moniker is apt. On this second record, the first being Tiger & the Duke, TSOAF uses the skills of eight animals – three new – to create the sometimes cool, sometimes fucked sounds. Unless you’re on the inside or you have an amazingly precise ear for picking up indie band members, the mystery swoons as to who is exactly doing what. Multiple websites present a similar story, but the members don’t exactly lineup. For sure, the Sounds of Animals Fighting consists of members from RX Bandits, Finch, and Chiodos, and is anchored by Rich Balling. Indeed organic, the songs were mostly remotely created with the Nightingale and the Walrus coordinating the offerings. The songs to take note of include “Skullflower” one of the most normally arranged featuring epic vocals, the slight electronics follower “My Horse Must Lose,” the rocker “Horses in the Sky,” the epic ten-minute minimalist “This Heat,” and the ambient “The Heretic.” While some mystery is nice for supergroups, the confusing set of folks and the non-alignment of song titles makes for an increasingly frustrating set of facts; maybe so to match the music.
V/A This expansive double-disc release serves as a celebratory ten-year anniversary party for Seattle’s Suicide Squeeze Records. The record walks you chronologically through Suicide Squeeze’s catalog and winds up with a parade of unreleased material on the second disc. That catalog early on focused on releasing 7”s, singles, and EPs of some of the indie world major players – including Modest Mouse, Elliott Smith, and the Black Heart Procession. Later, and particularly today, Suicide Squeeze began toting around an impressive roster of their own. And between the one-offs and reoccurring friends, they are all here. On the first disc, highlights come courtesy of Modest Mouse’s “A Life of Artic Sounds” from their 1996 7” of the same name, Elliott Smith’s amazing “Division Day” from his 1997 7”, the unreleased “Cycle Suitor” from Pennsy’s Electric Workhorses Songs, “Dirty Business” from the Constantines out-of-print EP The Modern Sinner Nervous Man, the live version of “Yearnin’” from the Black Keys, “Sleeping Diagonally” from the collaboration of Iron and Wine and Six Parts Seven, and “2014” from the Unicorns 2004 7”. Again, with a high density of unreleased tracks, second disc faves include the unreleased demo of “Baby Boy” from Crystal Skulls, Six Parts Seven’s unreleased single “Afternoon Bed,” the unreleased “Jean Bapiste” by Metal Hearts, Chin Up Chin Up’s unreleased “Trophy’s for Hire,” Earlimart’s “Caruthers Boy,” and Russian Circles’ unreleased “Upper Ninety.” For a quick but thorough education on Suicide Squeeze, this anniversary release is terrific.
Valient Thorr Over the past couple of years, Valient Thorr has managed to squeeze themselves into an odd niche market that allows them to fit comfortably with rock, punk, hardcore, and metal bands and fans. This is likely due to the band’s classic rock core that echoes Thin Lizzy and glam acts mixed with contemporary punk and metal tinges. This combines for twelve tracks of hard hitting rock on Legend of the World; songs that are dominated by constant heavy guitar riffs and solos and Valient Himself’s powerful presence. While Valient Thorr’s rock pounds your skull, the lyrics may have you reaching for the stop button. Unapologetic political, it is not the lyrics’ content that pushes you; it is their awkwardness in the songs. Valient Thorr tries to fit near-rambling political diatribes into bombastic rock numbers, and thus, the band sacrifices great rock songs for staying on message. And at the end of the day, rock fans are the losers.
Vanna In many respects, Massachusetts-based Vanna melodic metalcore sounds more like a Victory band than most on Epitaph’s roster. And that may have been the tipping point for label head Brett Gurewitz to the sign the band after less than a year of its existence. The five-piece of Nick Lambert, Evan Pharmakis, Brandon David, Shawn Marquis, and Chris Preece choose a wise path on the EP’s six songs. Instead of flowing and riding one heavy sound, Vanna mixes and matches all types of punk, hardcore, and metal, sometimes with grand effect while other times leaving something missing. Those that get you off the couch include the opener “A Dead Language for a Dying Lady,” “I Am the Wind, You Are the Feather,” and the closer “She’s a Real Battleaxe.” The only significant fault on The Search Party is Vanna’s odd decision to include sporadic cookie monster vocals that seem wildly out-of-place – straight up screaming does the trick instead.
Voxtrot Voxtrot are a Texas quintet that has patently been experimenting, by overdubbing Stuart Murdoch’s vocals on The Smiths’ tracks to entertain themselves down on the ranch. The title track is an apt display of their colourful vocal range propounded by singer, Ramesh Srivastava whose style contrasts with the murky guitars and steadfast, percussion clatter. ‘Fast Asleep’ is where this EP builds in a pleading nature from a quirky, ambient intro to make reaching the catchy indie groove a worthwhile journey. In order to stay around in the competitive vulture pen of modern music, you need to be able to craft a snappy and proud pop pearl. ‘Rise Up In The Dirt’ achieves this feat with ease and more than a modicum of sincerity, as Srivastava’s vocals drop a little in pace to hover around soothingly. A strolling keyboard and chugging drum beat leads the way into a flighty final fling ‘Soft & Warm’, to bear out the life grappling nature of this thoughtful outfit. This five track foray could almost tag onto the end of debut EP ‘Raised By Wolves’, to make for a colourful and lyrically troubled debut album with interludes of feel-good pop, but they are obviously saving something for that endeavour! (- DA)
Whirlwind Heat Whirlwind Heat desperately goes for the hipster chic, simple, bass-driven rock on the twelve-track Types of Wood. The problem is that with the basic foundation and the overly repetitive lyrics, Whirlwind Heat sound closer to being marginally competent musicians; the type that are too cool to actually be concerned with learning how to play. Save for a couple of bumps from “Reagan” and “Slugger,” Types of Wood simply gets worse and worse as you progress through the songs. Whirlwind Heat have taken the mantra “keep it simple, stupid” too far.
YouInSeries Initially catching your interest across the internet for having an annoyingly arranged name, the five-piece from Las Vegas rock out ten melodic post-hardcore songs on their Equal Vision debut. Founded in 2003 and now just out of high school, YouInSeries have digested the contemporary scene of melodic punk and hardcore extremely well in crafting their own sound. And that comes back to both bite them and help them simultaneously. All ten songs have that familiar melodic hardcore sound aided by slightly more spacey guitars which allows you to fall into an easy effort listen immediately. The downside is that YouInSeries sound too close to the current swath of like-minded bands. Their differentiation point comes thanks to formidable guitar work (in the same realm as Circa Survive) from Logan Lanning and Chris Davila, but you need to do a bit of work to listen for it past the stagnant tempo from song to song. YouInSeries are solid outfit who should be around for some time to come, but one just wishes for a bit more to hang to.
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