+++MUSIC REVIEWS+++
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John O’Brien
Real Life
Self Released
The last couple of years have seen the Bay Area produce a staggering
number of great pop musicians –
Rogue Wave, Audio Outsend, Citizens Here and Abroad, Truxton (formerly
known as Hansi), just to name
a few. You can now add John O’Brien to that list, because this
is some of the best pop music I’ve heard all
year, be it in the Bay Area or beyond.
John O’Brien writes some of the catchiest songs you’ve never heard.
Although singer-songwriter oriented,
more often than not it comes accompanied with a full band. His
music, not unlike locals Rogue Wave, has a
quality that sounds both current and stuck in the early to mid-nineties
as well. Upon first listen, this record
sounded immediately familiar and comfortable to me, but at the
same time I can’t really name a single band
or other performer that he sounds like. Obvious influences would
probably be Matthew Sweet, Big Star, The
Beach Boysbut there is a country-ish tinge to John as well, reminiscent
to The Court and Spark or Jackson
Browne (sans the heavy amount of piano).
My only worry about this record is that it might get lost in the
shuffle, given the high density of popular and
prolific musicians in this area, and the fact that the record
is self released and has no one really pushing it.
But one thing is for certain, if you like pop music and you hear
this record, you’ll be doing voluntary PR work
amongst your friends for John O’Brien, wanting them all to hear
this great new record you just found. (MUSIC
SPORK)
Odiorne
Heavy Wish
File-13 Records
Jimy Chambers, of Mercury Rev fame, steps back in the spotlight
with his new band Odiorne…or at least as
much of a spotlight there might be when you’re releasing an album
on a small indie label. I guess comparisons
to the Rev are going to be the go-to, and it is somewhat reminiscent
of their middle period stuff – not as noisy
as the early work or as overly-dramatic as the more recent output.
What started out as a side-project is now
Chamber’s full-time thing, and while it’s not as good as his last
band it’s worth checking out if you dig this style
of music. Plus, he was involved with the amazing Rev album “Deserters’
Songs”, so he’s always got that going
for him. (SHREDDING
PAPER)
Of Montreal
The Sunlandic Twins
Polyvinyl Records
This newest, millionth release by Of Montreal has them mining the
same vein of gold that has made them what
they are, but with a new twist – added to their fractured pop is
a backbone of, well…disco beats would be how
I might best describe them. Seriously, I think you could throw a
number of tracks from this album on at a dance
club and there’s a good chance some booties would be shaking from
the grooves packed into this album. In
addition to the main disc, there is a “bonus” CD with four additional
songs, although it is unclear why they didn’t
just include these songs on the other disc and make it a single
CD to keep up with (maybe that’s why I’m not in
charge of such decisions). Good stuff all around, and not
a bad place to start if you are interested in discovering
the world of screwball/Elephant 6 pop that Of Montreal holds reign
over. (SLAP)
Oliver Future
S/T
Lilywhite Records
Something about Oliver Future’s music has “hit” written all over it
– it’s all just a matter of it being heard by the
right people at the right time. Personally, I’d welcome their
sounds to the airwaves – although radio has gotten
better over the last year or so, it’s still got a long way to go as
far as I’m concerned.
The key to their sound is how much it reminds me of Radiohead’s older
material; singer Noah Lit doesn’t really
sound like Thom Yorke, but the way he uses his voice becomes instantly
familiar upon the very first listen. The
music also has a similar quality to it, particularly in how the keys
are layered with the music and the way they
*don’t* use their guitars. That is, letting the lack of guitars from
time to time speak just as loudly as any riff you
could have played at that moment, a dub-like sensibility that often
pops up in the later work of Radiohead.
Ultimately though, Oliver Future never really come across as a blatant
rip-off of Radiohead and/or Yorke –
rather, they just seem like a group who’ve grown up with and heavily
influenced by their music and it just nat-
urally comes out this way when Oliver Future writes and records their
songs (speaking for myself, every bass
line I’ve ever come up with has unintentionally sounded like something
from Slint’s ‘Spiderland’, or maybe
that’s just wishful thinking on my part).
Other than the Radiohead influence, you could also draw some parallels
to The Strokes or The Dandy Warhols,
although this link is only heard in a couple of songs. All in
all, not a bad beginning for these young lads; per-
haps with time they will gradually develop a more distinctive sound
that is all their own. Even if they don’t, the
place they are in now isn’t a bad place to reside either. (MUSIC SPORK)
The One AM Radio
On the Shore of the Wide World
Level Plane
Records
This is electronica music
in very much the same way that Dntel is – firmly implanted in the indie
rock scene but
having the basic make-up that you expect from more traditional electronica
artists. This short player seems to
be a collection of remixes from the likes of Daedelus, Alias, Caural,
and John Tejada among others. It’s a decent
listen, good background music at the very least, even if some of
the songs do run together. Hrishikesh Hirway, the
man behind One AM Radio, has a voice somewhat similar to Sam Beam
of Iron & Wine, and in fact most of this
material is so mellow if you replaced the electronic aspect with
acoustic guitars you’d probably think it was the
latest Iron & Wine release, a good quality for an album to have
as far as I’m concerned. (SHREDDING PAPER)
Oosterdok
Some Day We Will Part Forever
Brown House Records
“Boring, adult contemporary electronic music for people to drink
latte’s to” would have been this album’s title if I
had anything to do with it. One dude writing and performing
all of the music, and a girl-diva type to handle vocal
duties, I think I’ve seen this recipe before and it rarely works.
They compare themselves to Depeche Mode, Air,
Bjork and Ladytron…but I don’t really see any of it. Maybe the
music of Oosterdok is a little like the most boring
of Air’s output at best. (SHREDDING PAPER)
Operation S
S/T
Broken Rekkids
You can call it synth-punk, you can call it new-wave, you can really
call it whatever you want – but when the
music is this rad and the singer this hot, I call it awesome.
Featuring members of The No-Talents, this French
quintet shows you that you don’t have to understand the lyrics for
the music to be awesome (well, some of you
might understand the lyrics, but I don’t speak a lick of French
other than crepe and pompadour…). More than
anything they remind me of The Epoxies, with a bit of Siouxie Sioux
thrown in; a friend also noted a similarity to
Metal Urbain, who were one of the first punk bands to use synthesizers,
and also happened to be French.
Regardless of what they sound like, it all adds up to good fun not
only on their recorded materials but live as
well. Experiencing the sultry nature of lead singer Cecilia
is a must for any fan of super hot singers. It’s almost
enough to make a man want to give up his day job and follow the
band around in a van selling grilled cheese
sandwiches to pay for your entrance into the shows. (SLAP)
Oranger
New Comes and Goes
Eenie Meenie Records
Since I live in San Francisco and Oranger are a local group,
I’ve heard and seen this band multiple times over
the years…they would often be featured as openers for bands I
wanted to see, or they would have a track on a
mix-tape from a friend, etc. Honestly though, I’ve never
found them to be particularly exciting…so I was a little
apprehensive when I got this new release “New Comes and Goes”
- most likely I put on my best sarcastic voice
and exclaimed “oh boy, another overrated pop band” or something
along those lines. But here’s the catch - this
new album straight-up rules; from start to finish it is a power
pop onslaught that never lets up, and there’s not a
weak track in sight. They’ve received Cheap Trick comparisons
since their inception, but this album is the first
that really made me feel they had the hooks to hang in that neighborhood.
Featuring some new members
(currently or once of bands such as Overwhelming Colorfast, the
Posies and the Mother Hips), the fresh blood
has obviously rejuvenated the group for the better of, well if
not all mankind, at least for the better of me. To
use a twist on a cliché phrase, it looks like you can teach
an old dog new tricks…really catchy, rockin’ tricks.
(SLAP)
Ostinato
Left Too Far Behind
Soul Food Records
When this record first started playing, I got excited thinking it
was the second coming of Codeine. Well, it’s not
that good, but this group is definitely mining a similar territory
to Codeine and Rex in their mellower moments
and then rocking out like June of 44 when their blood gets to boiling.
And it is a decent listen, I can’t really
expect anyone to come out with an album as good as “The White Birch”
anyways. (SHREDDING
PAPER)
Output
We’re All Wired
Cube Records
Mostly cheesy electro-rock that had Junior Sanchez helping write
the songs and manning the boards. Output
sounds like everyone else who produces this kind of stuff for
the most part, the only track that really stood out
to me was “Step Away” which had a slight Devo-meets-The Cars
vibe. Outside of that, a pretty run-of-the-mill
bland EP of rock music with lots of keyboards. (SHREDDING PAPER)
Palaxy Tracks
Twelve Rooms
Peekaboo Records
This Austin-based group has put out one of the prettiest albums
I’ve heard all year, and you’d all be damn
fools if you didn’t try and find it. Upon first listen my thoughts
were “sounds like the vocals and hint of twang
from the Czars covering songs that sound like they were written
by David Bazan/Pedro the Lion, with a little
Appleseed Cast’s style-instrumentation”. Further listens have
only solidified this comparison in my brain. Well
worth checking out, almost certainly a top ten album of the year
for me. (SLAP)
Palomar
Palomar III: Revenge of Palomar
Self-Starter Foundation
Now that’s good pop music. On their third album, this quartet of New
Yorkers has created a fine slab of ear-
catching fare that manages to get stuck in your head after only one
listen. Combine Velocity Girl and Dressy
Bessy and you have an idea what they sound like, or maybe Henry’s Dress
but without all that fuzz. Not unlike
godheads Guided By Voices, Palomar don’t fuck around when it comes to
writing songs – 14 tracks in just
37 minutes makes for some short, sweet, compact pop. Leave them wanting
more, they say, and so they did.
(SHREDDING PAPER)
Pansy Division
Total Entertainment!
Alternative Tentacles
On what seems like their millionth release (but first for Alternative
Tentacles), Pansy Division brings more of the
same old stuff that you’re used to. For the most part, it’s pop music
along the lines of Cheap Trick, with a little punk-
pop edginess and gay themes. If you liked them before this doesn’t buck
the system, and likewise, if you’ve never
been into them before don’t look to this to change your mind. The highlight
of the disc is the song ‘Alpine Skiing’,
which doesn’t involve snow at all but rather having a guy on your left
and your right and grabbing the ‘poles’ if you
know what I meana pretty funny mental image if you really think about
it. (SHREDDING PAPER)
Parchman Farm
S/T EP
Jackpine Social Club
Although this EP is only a little north of twenty minutes, it
packs more rockin’ into it than most bands fail to
manage over an entire career. Think 70’s riff-rawk, stuff like
Black Sabbath and Cream and Black Oak
Arkansas and the almighty Blue Oyster Cult. The sound, the look
of the band, even the cover art…if you didn’t
know better you’d think this was some obscure treasure recently
unearthed and issued to the masses. Hope-
fully Wolfmother’s recent attempts to get the general public to
remember what rock-n-roll is will help these Bay
Area kids catch some of the glory, because they are more than
deserving. (SHREDDING PAPER)
Parker & Lily
The Low Lows
Warm
I’ve always had a soft spot for the pedal steel guitar, and this
album is chock full of it. Parker & Lily sound like
Damon & Naomi or Low or Sappington in their approach to minimal,
mellow rock music, but with a slight country
tinge. So perhaps an even better comparison would be My Morning Jacket
at their mellowest, like on that solo
Jim James disc that accompanied some copies of “At Dawn”. This is
a pretty damn good record, very relaxing…
makes me wish I was sitting in a field on a sunny day drifting off
into a nap, hoping a squirrel doesn’t crawl up my
pants leg or that birds don’t fly over and poop on me. Ah, nature.
(SHREDDING PAPER)
PCR
Carnivore
Post Colonial Records
All I could think of while I listened to this is that terrible
band Sublime that was popular a few years back before
the singer offed himself with smack. PCR doesn’t sound exactly
like them or anything, but there is a similar
“laid back reggae infused rock music” vibe to the group, and to
be quite honest it’s awful. Although I will say if
I had to choose between PCR and Sublime, PCR is much more palatable,
but I think I’ll take silence over either.
(SHREDDING PAPER)
Pernice Brothers
Yours, Mine & Ours
Ashmont Records
Pop music - there’s a lot of people out there playing it, but very
few doing it well. Joe Pernice, in his various
forms, has been crafting nearly perfect pop music since the mid-nineties.
He started out with the country tinged
Scud Mountain Boys, and moved on to release albums as the Pernice
Brothers, Chappaquiddick Skyline, and
a solo album; on top of that he’s a novelist as well. To top it
all off, not only does he write fabulous songs, but he
has one of the best voices in the business as far as I’m concerned.
The Pernice Brother’s newest album, ‘Yours,
Mine & Ours’, continues down the same path Pernice has been
following for a while, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix
it I say. The entire release is a sing-a-long masterpiece from beginning
to end, if I even make it to the end that
is – many, many times I’ve gotten stuck on the third track, ‘One
Foot in the Grave’, only to find myself listening to
that same song over and over. If you’re looking for a point of reference
for the Pernice Brothers, they remind me
of a cross between Teenage Fanclub and Elvis Costello, but they
really have their own thing going on that
doesn’t sound like either if those performers (although fans of
both would most likely enjoy this record). And
check’em out live too – as amazing as the records are, live is even
better. (SLAP)
Phaser
Sway
Phaser Music
If it wasn’t for reading the inside of the cd cover, I would have
sworn that these guys are from England. In reality,
they come from Washington DC, but they channel the sound and feel
of the British Isles very well. In particular,
they sound very much like the Verve, crossed with a little bit of
the sound Primal Scream had in the early nineties.
There is a certain sincerity to Phaser’s music, something that has
gone missing from much of the ego-driven
schlock that has come from across the ocean in the last few years.
A couple of the tracks, including the title
selection ‘Sway,’ employ the use of gospel-like backup vocals that
add an extra element to the music and further
reinforce my notion that this is good stuff. Check it out
for yourself, as they have some MP3s up at mp3.com, just
search on their name. What have you got to lose? (SLAP)
Phosphorescent
The Weight of Flight
Warm Records
I’ve been waiting ages for something in the neo-folk/alt-country genre
to come along that wowed me as much
as Iron & Wine when he broke on the scene a couple of years back
(and for the record, I’ve been wearing that
new Iron & Wine CD out, it’s amazing). Well by god, I think I’ve
finally found it in Phosphorescent, an Athens,
GA group put together and led by Matthew Houck. It somehow manages to
sound like Will Oldham, Neutral
Milk Hotel, Okkervil River, and even some of Chris Mill’s early work
all at the same time, and still managing to
sound quite original. Without a doubt, Houck’s voice is one of the most
beautiful and engaging I’ve heard in
quite some time – and trust me, I’ve hear a lot of damn voices, not
even counting the ones in my head. This
wins the award for “best record out of nowhere” from me, and I’ll be
hunting down their debut “A Hundred Times
or More” post-haste. (SHREDDING PAPER)
The Pipettes
We Are The Pipettes
Memphis Industries
- 6.5 out of 10 -
Is this album the start of a new trend of 60’s girl group-inspired
music or a one-off novelty rock album that will
be forgotten in six months? After listening to the debut
album of this set of English popsters I’m still not sure
of the answer, but I do know it sounds mighty good to me right
now. This fact is probably helped along by how
much I’ve been enjoying the Rhino Records box set “One Kiss Can
Lead To Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost
& Found”, so this release caught me at just the right time.
You’ve got a cute trio of ladies in matching vintage
outfits, singing and dancing in unison to songs with titles such
as “Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me” and “It Hurts
To See You Dance So Well” – what’s not to love? Any fan of cute
pop songs would do well to at least give this
a chance. And buy that Rhino box set while you are at it
if you want a dose of the real deal – a touch pricy, but
worth every cent. (SLAP)
Pitty Sing
S/T
Or Music
New Wave rules! How come no one else has thought to try and rehash
this much-maligned genre? The
possibilities are endless! I’m getting in on this on the ground floor,
before it gets huge…huge I say!!! So, yeah,
this is more 80’s rehash…if you like OMD, Erasure, or anything that
sounds like it would have fit on one of
those “Brat Pack” films, you’ll probably be happy with this, but
you’ve probably already surmised that I didn’t
go for it. It has radio friendly written all over it, so don’t be
surprised if this starts getting airplay all of the
sudden…which is probably what the band is shooting for. Eh, it’s
better than having to hear Hillary Duff or
Ashlee Simpson I guess. (SHREDDING PAPER)
The Planet The/Point Line Plane
Split EP
Mountastic Records
The Planet The and Point Line Plane are two great and relatively new
bands out of Portland who fuse a million
styles of music together into a beautiful, noisy mess. The Planet
The seem to come across as two different
bands within the span of their four songs on this short player - the
first half reminds me a lot of Devo or the Ex-
Models, sort of new wave and art-damaged sounding stuff. Then the
second half of their songs come across as
being somewhat influenced by krautrock, heavy on the keyboards and vocal
effects. Point Line Plane are a little
more straight forward, combining the musical elements of bands such as
Trans Am or Man...or Astroman?, and
adding onto that vocals that would be at home on some hardcore records.
No guitar in this band, just keyboards
and drums, but they manage to make it rock out more than most bands with
multiple guitarists. This record is
cheap, short, and infectious, making you want to play it over and over.
And don’t forget to check either of them
out live if they come to your town, they both put on a damn fine show.
(SLAP)
Playmaker
Arizona (CD Single)
Pale Fox Records
Lately I’ve been a sucker for Brittish pop music, even some of the more
recent stuff like Monster Movie, South, or
Doves. Playmaker is not good British pop music. While the music has some
decent qualities at times, the vocals
make me want to Van Gogh my ears. It’s not that it’s a bad voice in a tone
deaf sense, far from it; technically speak-
ing, Paul Burns has a fine voice, he just chooses to sing in an overwrought,
boringly emotional style. It ends up
sounding like a higher pitched Creed backed by Oasis. On the upside, this
is the bands first single so it can really
only go uphill from here. Here’s to hoping the singer can take it down
a notch or two before they decide to release
anything else. (SHREDDING PAPER)
Pleasurecraft
Lost Patterns
Pleasurecraft Music
Pleasurecraft play 80’s inspired electronic-pop music that in it’s
best moments reminds me a bit of the Magnetic
Fields and at it’s worst is like bad dentist office music. But mostly
it is somewhere inbetween, pretty inoffensive
and ineffective at the same time but not bad really. Fans of the
Postal Service and their ilk might enjoy this.
(SHREDDING PAPER)
Point Line Plane
S/T
Xeroid Records/Sincere Brutality
I think if you were to look up the term “spazz rock” in the dictionary
there’s a good chance that you’ll see a photo
of Point Line Plane in there. This duo is nothing but drums and
keyboards, but it seems to take up an enormous
amount of musical space anyways. If you can imagine mixing hardcore,
gothic carnival music, lots of keyboards,
screaming, and a whole lot of freaking out, you’re still not quite
to what these guys sound like but you’re getting
close. I know that sounds like a real mess, but I find this record
to be extremely enjoyable to listen to…somehow
all of that mayhem combines into something very musically interesting.
Go to http://www.pointlineplane.net/ and
find out for yourself. Oh yeah, it should also be noted that they
are damn near an unstoppable force live. (SLAP)
Point Line Plane
Smoke Signals
Skin Graft Records
Not to be all “when I was a kid things were better blah blah blah”,
but I really liked the old Point Line Plane
stuff a lot better. Now I dunno if it was adding a third member or
just “growth” as an artist, but something is
missing from this newest release. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still decent,
just not balls-out awesome like the
older material (especially that split release with The Planet The
that I bought off of them a couple years back
at a show). In a lot of ways, this just sounds like a new Liars record,
and I like the Liars, but it just wasn’t what
I was hoping for I guess. Too much production is one of the biggest
problems, these cats were one of the
few bands that actually sound better the dirtier it is. Great album
art though. (SHREDDING
PAPER)
Robert Pollard
From a Compound Eye
Merge Records
Robert Pollard releasing a solo record isn’t generally that big
of a deal - the man seems to be responsible in
one way or another for about 30 records a year…even a diehard
fan like myself can’t keep up. But this is his
first solo outing since officially disbanding Guided by Voices,
so everyone is paying more attention and there
is probably a bit more pressure to deliver. Luckily for
all of us, “From a Compound Eye” delivers like a classic
GBV album - specifically, it reminds me a lot of a combination
of “Vampire on Titus” and some of Pollard’s
cleaner pop sensibilities that have developed during the band‘s
last few releases. The British Invasion-style
hooks are all still there, as catchy as almost anything he has
written - outside of the two albums of pure
perfection, “alien Lanes” and “Bee Thousand” of course - those
will never be topped. Long-time fans will
certainly be overjoyed with this record, and even those fans who
only buy the occasional album by anything
Pollard-related should make the effort to check this one out.
(SLAP)
Porter Harp
Drinking Season
Strangler Lewis
They cover ‘Old Man’ by Neil Young, which is fitting since at their best
they sound like a Neil Young/Built to Spill hybrid,
and that’s a fair amount of the time. Unfortunately, they also have moments
of Bob Segar and the Silver Bullet Band,
which, despite what some of my friends think, is not a good thing to sound
like. I suppose it’s particularly interesting,
maybe only to me though, that the album was produced by Phil Ek after
I had already decided it had a Built to Spill
quality to it. Coincidence? I think not. It should also be noted that
Porter Harp is actually a man and not a band, but he
assembled an all star band to back him, including members (either former
or current) of Built to Spill, The Delusions,
The Walkabouts, and more. Worth checking out for the non-Bob Segar influenced
songs, unless you like Bob Segar
(SHREDDING PAPER)
The Postal Service
Give Up
Subpop
Most of the time, super groups don’t work(remember Contraband?)
- this is the odd exception, and it works
quite well. Primarily made up of Jimmy Tamborello(Strictly
Ballroom, Dntel, sometimes helps out with Beach-
wood Sparks) and Ben Gibbard(Death Cab for Cutie, All-Time Quarterback),
The Postal Service got their
name from the way the band assembled their songs, by sending bits
and pieces to each other through the
mail and having the other add their part to the music. Back
and forth it went, until a song popped out (or
possibly they couldn’t afford any more stamps, whichever came first,
but this second part is just a guess).
These boys also got a little help in the additional vocals department
from Jenny Lewis(Rilo Kiley) and Jen
Wood, to help sweeten out the sound. Like I said, the result
is magnificent, a beautiful mesh of electronic
beats and bumps, synthesized bits that sound like they were taken
from the original Nintendo, and an
occasional flash of organic instruments such as the guitar all add
up to the first really great indie-pop master-
piece of the year, and it’s certain to make it onto my year-end
best of list. (SLAP)
Proof
S/T
Pigeon English
I was quite excited that I got this disc to review, as I was just on
the cusp of buying it for myself anyways. See,
Proof features a couple of dudes from one of my all-time favorite bands
that no one ever really listened to
outside of central North Carolina – Cole. Now Cole has been gone for
a while now I suppose, so I’ll have to
make do with Proof; and while I don’t instantly love it as much, it
still makes for a pretty good substitute. The
group sounds like a mix of their former band with a bit of June of 44/Shipping
News “mathiness”, and a little
Appleseed Cast thrown in as well (especially on the vocals). I fine
debut from a band I hope sticks around longer
than its predecessor, or at least plays out more often. (SHREDDING PAPER)
Random Touch
The Elegance of Falling
Roadnoise Productions
I had a friend in college who loved this sort of avant/prog/free
jazz business, and I could never understand what
the appeal was. Years later, as I look back, I’d like to say I
understand what the draw is now but that fact of the
matter is it still dumbfounds me as to why anyone listens to this
stuff. I guess not everyone needs a hook, and
they are ok with listening to albums with songs that contain bongos
and keyboard flutes. I’m guessing though if
you’ve ever bought and enjoyed any albums off of John Zorn’s Tzadik
label you might like this. (SHREDDING
PAPER)
The Real McKenzies
Pissed Tae Th’ Gills: A Drunken Live Tribute to Robbie Burns DVD
Music Video Distributors
That title pretty much says it all – it was a tribute to Robbie
Burns, and good lord did it ever seem drunk. Filmed
in Vancouver, which I believe to be the band’s hometown (or at least
home province), this is the DVD accom-
paniment to the already released CD by the same name. The disc includes
sixteen tracks all told, some originals
and some traditional Scottish songs. The sound is good, the filming
adequate, the crowd raucous, and the band
quite tipsy…it looks like it was a fun time. The disc also includes
a music video and some interview footage that
includes the band going around making people eat haggis. I love
Scotland, and bagpipes, but you have to draw
the line somewhere…(SHREDDING PAPER)
The Red Thread
Tension Pins
Badman Recording Co.
San Francisco’s The Red Thread have that great sound that sounds both
original and instantly recognizable on your very first listen; and the
warmth and intimacy of their sophomore
release makes it feel as if they are sitting in your living room, playing
these songs just for you. Founded by Jason
Lakis (formerly of another great and under-appreciated band, Half-Film),
The Red Thread’s music has been
described as many things – southwest rock being the most alt-country
common. And although there are elements
of both of these genres in their music, neither really captures the true
sound coming from the band, nor do they
account for just how amazing Jason Lakis’ soothing voice is. Let’s just
say, if you like The Byrds, Calexico, Red
House Painters, Uncle Tupelo and all of the off shoots, Mojave 3, etc.,
then you’ll probably enjoy what The Red
Thread has to offer. If you go their label’s website you can download
some tracks and see for yourself: http://www.badmanrecordingco.com/downloads/
(FYI: I’d also recommend checking out Hayden, My Morning Jacket, Pleasant
Grove, and most any other performer
on that label if you like this type of music; they do great work over
there) (SLAP)
Replicator
You are Under Surveillance
Substandard Records
As cheesy as it sounds, sometimes when I’m listening to Replicator
the thought pops into my brain – this is
the sound of breaking shit. It just seems like the perfect
soundtrack for a good, old-fashioned freak out. His-
torically, this Oakland, California trio has drawn a lot of comparisons,
praise and criticism for sounding a lot
like Shellac, and it was mostly justifiable; but this sophomore
LP (they’ve also released an EP between the
two full lengths) finds the band very much coming into their own
sound. Sure, the Shellac comparison is still
there, but their current output is much darker and more frantic
than anything that Albini & company have ever
produced. Personally, I also hear a good chunk of Brainiac
and Jesus Lizard buried in there as well, and
nearly every song is rounded out with any number of oddball samples
(one song in particular samples a
recording of wank-off metalhead Yngwie Malmsteen freaking out on
an airline flight, something that was
floating around the internet for a while about a year back and was
good for quite a few laughs). Do yourself
a favor and check out the audio samples at www.replicator5000.com
if you’re so inclined. (SLAP)
Rhythm of Black Lines
Human Hand, Animal Band
Gold Standard
This band is bit too wankery for my tastes; and not wankery in the
“Neil Peart is god” kind of way, but in
the “Syd Barrett is my hero and I really like psychedelic drugs” way.
Not a bad album by any means, just
way too much of that. I sorta get the feeling that while I’m listening
to this and not seeing the point, there’s
a lot of folks out there who would really, really like it. I have a
feeling that both the band and their fans like
a lot of music that could be described as “prog-fusion” and they’ve
taken some jazz theory classes at the
local college. (SHREDDING
PAPER)
The Robot Ate Me
On Vacation
Kill Rock Stars
Let me get this off of my chest to start – while thematically I can understand
the desire for an artist to put this on two
discs, it still drives me batty that the whole album is barely 40 minutes
long but it is on 2 CDs…it’s like a double EP
album or something, completely retarded. That said - the music
is actually pretty damn fantastic. I have been a fan
of The Robot Ate Me for since I heard the first record “They Ate Themselves”,
and as great as that debut was it
pales in comparison to this record. The kitchen sink instrumentation
will get this band compared to any number of
Elephant 6 groups, the melancholy and despair will make you think of
Grandaddy, and the overall sound probably
fits best with the Microphones, but it doesn’t really sound like any
of those bands mentioned. The first disc is the
quirky kid brother, full of references to genocide and Hitler and god
knows what else…the whole thing sounds as
if the singer of The Robot Ate Me were being backed by an Optigon (which
may be the case as he lives in the
same town, San Diego, where Optigonally Yours is from). The second disc
is a much more heartbreaking and
personal outing, with less screwball instrumentation and more heart-on-sleeves
musicianship (minus the obvious
“emo”ness that sort of description draws up). I highly recommend this
record, one of the best things I’ve heard all
year. (SLAP)
The Robot Ate Me
They Ate Themselves
Swim Slowly Records
It is releases like this one that really makes me glad that I get to
write CD reviews. I get a fair amount of CDs of
stuff I already know and like, but there’s something imminently more
exciting when you get a CD by a band you’ve
never heard of and it actually turns out to be pretty good. Or in the
case of The Robot Ate Me (TRAM), it turns out
to not just be good but amazing.
TRAT are a group of youngsters from San Diego that play some delightfully
beautiful music. Try to imagine the
amazing Microphones album ‘The Glow pt. 2’ as run through a Wayne Coyne/Flaming
Lips filter, with occasional
tinges that will have you thinking of Neutral Milk Hotel and Of Montreal.
These four lads play a wide assortment of
instruments in their songs – horns, moog, violin, power tools, accordion,
toy instruments, along with the normal
drums/bass/guitar/keys/vocals; but instead of falling into the trap that
so many young bands fall into of trying to jam
everything in there at once, they practice restraint, possibly realizing
why a saying like ‘less is more’ is so popular.
Some songs can be both upbeat and depressing at the same time; other
tracks are almost ambient in nature, but
you never forget that they are there.
For a debut album, this release is nearly perfect. Most veteran bands
can’t even come close to this kind of origin-
ality and inventiveness, so it’s especially impressive that it came out
of a bunch of Southern Californians in their
early twenties. There’s no doubt the talent is here – it’s just a matter
of whether or not people actually get a chance
to hear it. You can go to their website at www.therobotatethemselves.com
and download some songs from their
album, and purchase it if you like what you hearand I would imagine
a lot of people will like it plenty.
(MUSIC SPORK)
Rogue Wave
Out of the Shadow
Responsive Recordings
There’s a certain type of sound captured in Rogue Wave’s music that
I’m having a really hard time
wrapping my vocabulary around. My best effort would be to say that
a lot of their songs remind me of some
early to mid-nineties radio pop – Buffalo Tom, Teenage Fanclub, Gin
Blossoms, Toad the Wet Sprocket,
Dillon Fence, The Connells – but I don’t think that really does the
band justice. They certainly don’t sound
like a throwback to that era, yet they seem to capture a similar mood
in their music and a knack for same
type of pop sensibilities. There’s even a certain element to their
music that reminds me of eighties stalwarts
like R.E.M. and later, non-punk Replacements, but I’m afraid that pigeon-holes
their sound too much too.
Occasionally, their rhythm section follows odd time signatures not
unlike a mellower version of Thingy or
Heavy Vegetable, and some of the more upbeat tracks remind me of Elliott
Smith’s side project Heatmiser.
The bottom line – I’ve been listening to this record for over a month
now, and I’m still really enjoying it. It
seems like that’s been harder and harder to say over the last couple
of years – I hear a lot of bands I enjoy
for a couple of weeks, and then I file their CD away and forget all
about them. I think it’s the same intangible
quality that makes Rogue Wave hard to describe, that also makes them
interesting to listen to. Sometimes
I get the notion that the best bands are those whose influences you
can’t really pin point exactly, and this is
one of them. This is great first release, and I’ll certainly be keeping
my eyes open for more out of them in the
future (and if you’re in the Bay Area, check them out live – they play
out fairly often and enjoyable to boot).
Oh yeah, you can listen to some of their tracks at their website –
www.roguewavemusic.com .
(MUSIC SPORK)
The Rosebuds
Birds Make Good Neighbors
Merge Records
The triangle of North Carolina has a long history of producing
quality pop music, from The dBs to Dillon Fence to
Superchunk and now The Rosebuds are putting the topic to task.
This Raleigh-based husband and wife duo (with
a little help from their friends) craft a brand of pop music that
sounds like a throwback to the era of the Smiths,
XTC and the like. "Bird Make Good Neighbors" is their sophmore
release, but you wouldn't know that from just
listening to the music - it is poignant and polished and mature
in a way most bands and musicians aim for their
entire careers. Some of the bombast from their first release
may be gone but it has been replaced with a far
better craft; Ivan's Morrissey-like vocals are as spot on as ever,
and Kelly even steps to the microphone to lend a
hand on the best track of the album "Leaves Do Fall" - a classic
duet in the mold of any one of those Kris
Kristofferson-and-(insert any one pf the multiple female leads
here) outings from the 70's. This album may fly
under a lot of the tastemakers' radar, but that doesn't keep it
from being one of the best albums of the year. (SLAP)
Josh Rouse
Nashville
Ryko
This is soft rock for the current generation, chamber pop at
its finest. Does it make me old that I really like this?
Gah, who cares, good music is good music. It probably won’t
be donning anyone’s skate parts anytime soon, put
it’s a great disc to throw on at the end of a long day to unwind
to. Josh Rouse has always been a fantastic song-
writer, and it seems that with each release these talents are
magnified more and more. I would be hard pressed
to compare this to anyone in particular, as it sounds like no
one and everyone at the same time; you could boil the
songs down into particulars – this track sounds like Bread, this
one The Smiths, there’s a bit of Lambchop on this
song…but the overall picture is that of a confident songcrafter
forging his own way. More than anything this album
is a grower, it seeps into your brain slowly and then a few weeks
later you find yourself listening to it all the time…
that’s my favorite kind of album. (SLAP)
Royal City
Alone at the Microphone
Rough Trade
A decent alt-country-ish slab of music from this crew of Canadians. I enjoyed,
but wasn’t blown away, by their previous
release ‘At Rush Hour the Cars’, and I feel the same about this album.
Both are somewhat forgettable, but when you’re
actually listening to them you like it well enough. The new album has a
bit more backbone to it from a rock point of view
though – where the first was almost marked by it’s lack of music it was
so delicate, this release finds the sound much
more fleshed out in that ‘this is a band and not just one dude’ kind of
way. They often get compared to Neil Young, but
maybe that’s just because of the similar nationality – the music sounds
quite different to me. I can’t even really think of
any specific bands to point to, but more of an overall feeling; a very
mellow vibe, making me think of lazy Sunday after-
noons looking at the rain through the window, reading a good magazine.
Just like the magazine, Royal City might not
stay with you too long, but you enjoy it while it lasts. (SHREDDING PAPER)
The Rum Diary
Poisons That save Lives
Substandard
The Rum Diary are a peculiar type of bird – although located so close
to the Bay Area of California, they keep them-
selves pretty entrenched in the small town life that they know and love
instead of escaping to the big city like most
folks seem to do. More than likely, it’s this exact type of thinking
that probably keeps their music so fresh and in-
spiring. What they sound like to me is a heady brew of Three Mile
Pilot rock; smart, atmospheric emo of The
Appleseed Cast; and the mellow math-rockiness of Dianogah – three great
bands, and as far as I’m concerned, if
you’re drawing comparisons to them then you’re on the right track. An
engaging live act as well, The Rum Diary
includes what is probably way more instruments than their tour van is
happy toting around and no how to utilize them
into their engaging sound. This one is definitely a keeper. (SHREDDING PAPER)