Faronheit

For all of you that have been visiting this site for the last year but did not know it existed prior to that time, let me share with you the brief story of how faronheit.com came into existence. The original version of Faronheit was started in June 2006 and went for a strong 3.5 years on Blogger/Blogspot before Google (which owns Blogger/Blogspot) made the call to shut it down for reasons of multiple copyright infringements. The long and short of it is that aside from a few missteps in the earliest of early days, the site was operating 100% copyright infringement free for the final two years it was alive. That doesn’t mean the left hand always knew what the right hand was doing in terms of who was giving permission for what mp3s to use where and how Google wouldn’t even check to see if a post actually infringed on copyrights but instead just took the word of the party making the complaint. Anyways, after a fight to get all that writing and the extensive archives of the old Faronheit restored, I got no response nor access to said archives. So they’re gone, outside of the large and disorganized Word documents where I write and save all my entries before posting them online. But in the wake of the destruction of the old site came this new one, and we’re quickly approaching the 1 year anniversary of faronheit.com. If you’ve followed me over from the old site, thank you for being a long-time reader. If you’re new here, welcome, and I hope you enjoy the daily content. Why I’m talking about this today is that though my first post took a week or two to get going, I officially took over this dot com address on April 1, 2010. In other words, faronheit.com was officially established one year ago tomorrow. Happy pre-anniversary in that regard, and I’m equally pleased to announce that after deciding to take this site on a one year trial run, I’ve just re-upped it for two more. I am very much looking forward to what the future will bring for faronheit.com, and I hope you are too.

Now then. Pick Your Poison today. Highlights include tracks from Chicago’s own Cameron McGill & What Army, Pechenga, S.C.U.M., Son Lux, Tindersticks and Vanity Theft. And hey, in the Soundcloud section there’s a pretty great b-side from Yuck for your streaming pleasure.

The Big Crunch Theory – 26 Kids From the Suburb (What to Say?)
The Big Crunch Theory – Arrows (Juan McLean Remix)

Boogie Monster – Castle in the Clouds

Cameron McGil & What Army – Houdini

Datarock – California (Souldrop Remix)

Frida Sundemo – I Was Surrounded

John Legend ft. Kenton Dunson – Rolling in the Deep (Adele cover; Kenton Dunson Remix)

Pechenga – Gitaro

Saturday’s Kids – I Am A Runner

S.C.U.M. – Summon the Sound

Standing Shadows – We Are Everlasting

Son Lux – Rising

Tindersticks – Children’s Theme
Tindersticks – Opening
Tindersticks – The Black Mountain

Vanity Theft – Rattle Rattle

SOUNDCLOUD

Garage A Trois – Shooting Breaks

Les Nubians – Les Gens (People) ft. Blitz the Ambassador

The Muel – All Kinds Of Love

Yuck – Doctors In My Bed

Some of the greatest things about becoming successful are the opportunities that come your way as a result. Two years ago, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart earned themselves a huge wave of buzz thanks to their self-titled debut album. As you need to do when being the recipient of such praise, they followed their record with extensive touring and a couple of stopgap releases to keep everyone from forgetting about them. So an EP and a 7″ single later, POBPAH have readied their sophmore full length “Belong”, and this time things are different. They’re still signed to one of the more decidedly indie record labels around in Slumberland, but that doesn’t mean the record sounds that way. The ultra lo-fi haze that hung over their debut has been cleaned up significantly this time around courtesy of a 1-2 heavyweight combo of uber-producer Flood and uber-mixologist Alan Moulder. Those two are basically a dream team for the band, given their long history helping make some of their favorite records by some of their favorite bands – from My Bloody Valentine and Ride to The Smashing Pumpkins and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Together they’ve been responsible for more than a dozen classic records, and the hope is probably that “Belong” will wind up among them.

The change in The Pains of Being Pure at Heart is immediately noticeable from the very first notes of “Belong”, leading straight out of the gate with a broad, energetic and fun title track. Granted, POBPAH have always been those three things, just a little hazier and with a more “head down” mentality prior to now. Here not only are the guitars more polished, but so are Kip Berman’s vocals and the hook. This newer, fuller and more confident version of the band comes across like an announcement of purpose – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are going mainstream. Listen to the next two tracks on the album, “Heaven’s Gonna Happen Now” and the irrepressably catchy first single “Heart in Your Heartbreak” and those implied notions of going huge become that much more vivid. It also creates something of a debate amongst the independent music community about crossover acts and the consistent shunning of them. Embrace Kings of Leon when they put out “Youth and Young Manhood”, but patently reject them when “Sex On Fire” catapults them to fame and fortune. Just the use of the word “mainstream” has a taint to it, like bands that wear it are polluted with some sort of fungus. The thing about The Pains of Being Pure at Heart though, is that they’ve not yet reached the point of success on a massive scale. “Belong” sounds like it’s trying really hard to though, but before you have an adverse reaction to the thought, take under consideration that success on your own terms and from a tiny label such as Slumberland is an accomplishment thousands of bands can only dream of.

More importantly, the wealth of hooks and sheen on this record, translating to a super-easy-to-digest sound, only helps The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Instead of hindering their intentions, “Belong” finally feels like the first time they’re actually able to fully realize their sound. Underneath the haze and shy demeanor of their debut was this juggernaut, and now its legitimately exposed. Not only that, but the songwriting has improved this time around too. Instead of implying a number of things and leaving the listener to reach their own conclusions, we get direct references and things spelled out, though never to the point of treating us with kid gloves. These are songs that feel personal and upfront rather than colder and mysterious, and that’s a great thing. With that also comes the risk of running afoul by being too vanilla or alternatively too conceptually strident, and this record has only a couple of those moments. Everything else is above board and smartly written, in line with all the other elements at work here. The slower ballads like “Even in Dreams” and “Too Tough” particularly stand out lyric-wise, mostly due to their under-reliance on hooks to get their point across and the necessary drama to warrant toning down the upbeat charm that’s pretty much everywhere else.

Given that Flood and Alan Moulder (many times in tandem) were responsible for some of the best records of the 90s and since The Pains of Being Pure at Heart take many of their influences straight from that decade, the coming together of all these parties was divinely inspired. “Heaven’s Gonna Happen Now” comes across like a direct decendent of Ride, while closing cut “Strange” bears a strong resemblance to the more pop-friendly side of My Bloody Valentine. Slices of shoegaze mixed with slacker rock and heartbreak pop congeal to make for a very special record that’s wildly interesting and majorly successful. The real shame would be if this album didn’t score POBPAH the exact things they seem to be aiming for, which is tons of radio airplay, placement in commercials, and a devoted fanbase of millions. Prior to this they were just indie darlings, but here they’ve proven they can play in the same league with the big dogs and do it better than most of them to boot. So long as they don’t fall prey to the pitfalls that normally handicap great indie bands that blow up huge (sign to a major label, give in to “pressure” to change, show no love to their earliest fans, etc.), things will be a-ok. Otherwise, we might wind up living out the heartbreaking tale that is “Anne with an E”.

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart – Belong

Buy “Belong” from Amazon

Anybody keeping a close eye on Cobra Watch 2011? There’s a cobra that has escaped from its cage at the Bronx Zoo, and now nobody can find it. I just have this feeling like it’s going to show up somewhere really awesome while scaring someone half to death. Let’s just hope nobody winds up seriously injured or dead. Okay, on to business. Pick Your Poison today is packed with mp3s for your listening pleasure. I’m happy to recommend tracks from Boris, Gauntlet Hair, No Surrender (ft. Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio), STRFKR, Sundelles, and The Unthanks. Also, for you electronica fans, be sure to check out the Trentemøller track in the Soundcloud section.

The Amusements – The Trip

Boris – Riot Sugar

Campaign – Old Haunts

Canblaster – Clockworks

Eilen Jewell – Queen of the Minor Key

Five Eight – Ode to Massachusetts

The Friend – New Berlin Wall

Gauntlet Hair – I Was Thinking

Grey Granite x Bob G. Barker – All Hate

Howe Gelb – 4 Door Maverick

No Surrender – Silver Hall (ft. Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio)

STRFKR – Death As A Fetish

Sundelles – Can’t Win

Typhoon – CPR/Claws Pt. 2

The Unthanks – Queen of Hearts

SOUNDCLOUD

The Heartbreaks – Jealous, Don’t You Know

Trentemøller – Shades Of Marble (Trentemøller Remix)

Yasmin – Finish Line ft. Wretch32

We’re rapidly nearing the end of March, and that can only be a good thing. Not that March is a bad month. On the contrary, it’s a rather good one, what with all the debauchery that St. Patrick’s Day tends to bring around. But really it’s more a sign that spring is finally arriving, though April does tend to be a very rain-filled month. If only we had that fictional month of Smarch. Of course they don’t say “Lousy Smarch weather” for nothing. That there is what you’d call an “insider” reference, and if you don’t get it, look up Smarch Weather on YouTube. Pick Your Poison highlights today include tracks from CALLmeKAT, Diego Garcia (formerly of the band Elefant), Fucked Up, Holy Ghost!, Jason Forrest, Ladybug Transistor and Sun Araw. GREAT set of songs today.

Cain Marko – At Sea in St. Paul

CALLmeKAT – My Sea

Code Pie – North Side City View

Diego Garcia – You Were Never There
Diego Garcia – Stay

El Obo – Vrgn Evl

The Felts – Seventeen
The Felts – Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode cover)

Fucked Up – The Other Shoe

Ghost Bunny – Mechanical Animals

Holy Ghost! – Wait and See

Jason Forrest – Raunchy

Ladybug Transistor – Clutching Stems

Led to Sea – Is This the Last Time

The Morose Project – Funk Two)

Paper Crows – Fingertips (Acoustic)

Said the Whale – B.C. Orienteering
Said the Whale – Camilo (The Magician)

Sun Araw – Deep Cover

SOUNDCLOUD

Mechanical Bride – Colour Of Fire

Pony Pony Run Run – Hey You

Upon announcing their impending return nearly a year ago, Godspeed You! Black Emperor laid out a plan that essentially involved touring around the world from December through the end of March and nothing more beyond that. They would not be considering any offers for interviews nor would they be booking any more tour dates beyond the pre-determined countries and cities until they had some serious time to think about it. Well, the band has done exactly as they said they would, save for the couple of Canadian tour dates that were added for the end of April. Those Canadian dates are all that’s left, save for the final U.S. date in Detroit this evening. But for the past three nights, GYBE has established a sold out residency in Chicago, playing at the historic Metro twice and The Vic Theatre last night. If you know anybody that attended all three of those Chicago shows, or multiple dates in a row in another city, you might want to check on them to make sure they’re okay. Seeing this band live puts a tremendous physical and mental strain on a person, and to do so over and over again can destroy the unprepared.

The stage setup is rather simple and unassuming upon looking at it with the lights up, but that’s kind of the point, as the focus is not to be directed towards the band members. Instead, when the lights do dim and the band members begin to emerge one by one on stage, they’re moving in the shadows and remain so for the duration of the show. Only minimal overhead lighting allows for them to see their instruments and one another as needed. The main visual part of the performance, nearly as important as the audio portion, is plastered onto a large screen behind the band via multiple film projectors. During the quieter moments, if you were standing in the right place, you could hear the clicking of the film and the whirring of the projectors as they presented stimulating and thought-provoking images as a companion to the songs. Speaking of quieter moments though, at a Godspeed You! Black Emperor show it is essential to show the utmost respect for the performance and hold your tongue for the duration and only applaud during the transitions between songs. Apparently some people at The Vic did not get that message, because between the two guys standing in front of me that insisted on talking much of the time and the drunk girl that kept yelling things at the band whenever the room fell silent, there were a few times when it was easy to get pulled out of the musical trance and back to the reality of being trapped in a large room with some idiots. As is their way, the band never actually uttered a word the entire time they were on stage, allowing their instrumental compositions and their visual counterparts do all the speaking for them.

One of the most fascinating things about Godspeed You! Black Emperor in general is just how they take the elements of traditional post-rock and turn them in many respects on their head. The way the violin and cello create this often sad symphonic side works in tandem with the ever-building guitar melodies until it all crescendos into a massive wave of punishing heavy metal is unparalleled today and a big reason why GYBE is such a revered collective. On its own, the band’s catalogue is best digested by yourself with headphones on and a dimly lit room free of distractions. Establishing the right atmosphere is key to opening your mind to the possibilities each track explores. Severe emotional states are also common when listening to the band, as one song may push your eyes to well up with tears and another might have you fearing for your own life. That’s a big part of the mental toll the music can take on you, and matched with the visual aspect of their live performance it gains even more power. The black and white footage of desolate country roads and empty buildings make you feel lonely even in a room filled with people. Billowing smoke and raging house fires help showcase the scary power that nature can play in our lives, though it may also have you wondering how you might be able to get out of the venue were a similar emergency suddenly emerge. Pages of the book “The Anatomy of Melancholy” slide past on one side of the screen, while on the other grainy strips of film are burnt, laying to waste captured images somebody undoubtedly hoped would remain permanent. No, the GYBE live show is not an exercise in fun or optimism, but then again neither is your average symphony or opera. The sweeping drama of it all and the way we relate to the elements at play determine what we get out of the experience.

The physical toll a Godspeed You! Black Emperor show has on you is also a comination of things. The most robust moments in any individual song can give your eardrums a heavy shaking both via headphones and at a concert venue, but when seen live that shaking hits your whole body. You get pummeled by a wall of sheer noise that only gets worse the closer in proximity you are to the stage. Adding to that is the general difficulty of standing in the same place for 2+ hours while experiencing this. In an ideal situation, GYBE would be playing in seated theatres or churches with pews. The Vic does have a couple of small seated sections, but everything else is standing room only, which is how most experienced the show on Monday night. I stood the entire time and by about mid-way through the set needed to lean on a railing next to me out of concern that I might collapse, the physical and mental exhaustion finally overtaking me. It may sound like an overreaction, but a number of people around me walked away at various points to seek out potential seats in a balcony area. The good news is that everybody seemed to weather the storm okay, though that’s not to say many weren’t shaken. And in the midst of the simply mesmerizing set, there was still a lot of excitement over both the general experience as well as hearing GYBE “classics” like “Gathering Storm”, “Sleep” and “World Police and Friendly Fire”. It was a night most if not everyone will not soon forget, a testament to the raw power of this band and the indelible mark their records have left on people that have heard them. If you’ve already seen them live, you understand what I’m talking about. If not, there’s but a few dates left for you to experience this before the band’s future once again falls into jeopardy. For the rest, live recordings and YouTube videos will have to suffice, of which many do a solid job showing off exactly what you missed. Godspeed You! Black Emperor start all of their shows with the song “Hope Drone”, during which the titular word “Hope” is projected onto the screen behind the band members as they each emerge onto the stage. As the show wraps up and things descend into white noise and visual static, and we walk away barely on our own two feet, that hope somehow still remains. Let’s try as hard as we can to keep it alive for as long as possible, that Godspeed will continue beyond their current expiration date of April 2011.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Yanqui U.X.O.

Buy “Yanqui U.X.O.” from Constellation Records
Buy “Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada” from Constellation Records
Buy “F#A#∞” from Concstellation Records

If you’re on board with some NCAA Basketball aka March Madness right now, I hope your bracket is doing okay. The final four is pretty awkward this year, but would we really have it any other way? Also, what does VCU even stand for? Ah well, best of luck to all the teams playing this weekend. Pick Your Poison today is isn’t broken down into a bracket, but these songs are competing for your attention. Things I can recommend today include tracks from The Belle Brigade, Broken Gold, and Sleepy Vikings. You can also download a full album from the Chicago band Drop Electric, so that’s nice. In the Soundcloud section you’ll want to give tracks from O’Death and Panda Bear a listen if you haven’t already.

Almost Free – Really Don’t Know About You

The Belle Brigade – Sweet Louise

Broken Bricks – Pop Songs

Broken Gold – Ambulance Faces

The Bynars – How Does It Feel to Be in Love

Drop Electric – Finding Color in the Ashes  (full album download, follow link)

Kanye West – Touch the Sky (Heroes of the Party Remix)

Rain Over St. Ambrose – DG Gold Paint

Sleepy Vikings – Calm

Trench Party – Vacation

Volkova Sisters – Last Song of the Dying Fly

SOUNDCLOUD

The Daydream Club – The Record Shop

I’m not a Band – Little Sparks (Feat. Distord Trakz Feat. TEef)

Nostalgia 77 – Simmerdown

O’Death – Alamar

Panda Bear – The Preakness

Peter Bjorn and John are a curious trio. With the rise of bands out of Sweden making dynamic indie pop songs in English, their record “Writer’s Block” stood out amongst the fray and garnished a single that broke into the big time and was universally hailed by the music criterati. That song was “Young Folks” and the intense whisle-bound hook along with a guest vocal performance from Victoria Bergsman helped to seal off its brilliance and give the boys a little leeway when it came time for a follow-up. They took the opportunity and ran with it, the product of which was the all-instrumental “Seaside Rock”. As you might expect, not many people paid attention to it because there was no chance it’d yield another “Young Folks”. Around the same time, primary lyricist and vocalist Peter Morén put out his first solo album, which was full of quiet folk songs that didn’t win him any favors either. Peter Bjorn and John returned to vocals and pop music with 2008′s “Living Thing”, though they went very dark and percussion-heavy rather than lighter and catchier. For one reason or another they also seemed to feel like maybe dropping a whole bunch of f-bombs in the hook of a song would charm people, though it didn’t seem to be a problem for Cee-Lo Green last year. So five years and a host of failed experiments later, the guys seem to be making a much more conscious effort to reclaim the spotlight with their new record “Gimme Some”. In this case, it’d seem the titular “Some” is fame, fortune and hits.

“You can’t can’t count on the second try/the second try is such a comedown”, Morén sings on “Gimme Some”‘s first single “Second Chance”, which is practically modeled after the band’s subsequent failure when attempting to sustain their success. Ironically, it’s also Peter Bjorn and John’s strongest song since “Writer’s Block”, with a strong enough hook that it’s already earned some prominent commercial placement. It’s one of a few tracks with just the right spunk to break them out of their self-imposed funk. “Breaker Breaker” is pretty well charming too, with some fuzzed out guitars and a smattering of punk rock attitude. That same furious attack is also applied to “Black Book” and “Lies”, both of which show up later in the record and give it a much-deserved spike of fun and energy. “Lies” in particular is irresistably catchy and well-constructed to the point where it legitimately feels like one of Peter Bjorn and John’s best. Again, it’s no “Young Folks”, but most bands don’t even get one of those kinds of incredible songs, let alone two (unless that band is The Beatles). Even when they’re not playing the quick and catchy game, the hefty percussion, complete with handclaps and a descending guitar line makes a song like “Eyes” worthwhile and enjoyable. Whenever the band is able to develop a song into a solid groove that’s not necessarily fast but interesting and then sustains it for an extended period of time, it tends to pay off in spades. The final minute of “Eyes” is one of those moments, though the most exceptional example comes courtesy of the 5.5 minute closing track “I Know You Don’t Love Me”. The song may not have the chutzpah of a supreme PB&J like “Up Against the Wall”, but it’s probably their most engaging long form track since. There’s not really any better way to close out the record.

The start of the record is a different story. Coming out of the gate strong is important for many bands, but apparently not Peter Bjorn and John. “Tomorrow Has to Wait” can only muster up a mid-tempo pace amid a martial drum beat as Morén sings about a day so wonderful you want to postpone the next one. The hook is merely okay, as is the song, and you get the impression it might have functioned better were it positioned later in the record. The boys try to go a little calypso on “Dig A Little Deeper”, with a fun-in-the-sun guitar jangle and backing “oh-oh”‘s. All that’s really missing from the song are some steel drums, though the use of bongos pretty much handles that nicely. The track is interesting and fun to say the least, a little different from what we might otherwise expect, which is also what the song is coincidentally about. Their intentions may have been to throw a little spice into the record, but when you pair it with exceptionally weak lyrics (“all art has been contemporary”???) it doesn’t help things. Also, while it might be very light and a little silly, it’s also just a tiny bit cheesy and bland overall – ultimately a risk not worth taking. Other parts of the record are simply bland an ineffective, courtesy of tracks like “May Seem Macabre” (which can’t seem to decide if it is or isn’t macabre) and “(Don’t Let Them) Cool Off” (which does stay hot but sounds like it could have been written by any number of bands).

The full story with “Gimme Some” is that Peter Bjorn and John have made a recovery. Granted, it’s not nearly a full recovery, but they’ve created a record that will guarantee their longevity for at least two more, even if those turn out to be more crappy experiments. They’ve got a fair chance to score at least one more hit single, on which they’ve already made more headway than they have in years, and even besides that a few songs that are just generally good for their live shows. This is a far cry from “Writer’s Block”, but it’s also a significant step back in the right direction after the absolute mess that was “Living Thing”. Either PB&J have taken their time thinking about how to make this all right, or they’ve fallen on the sword and forced their own hands into a sonic direction they wanted to give up on a few years ago but are now only returning to with the hopes of cashing in. Whatever the reason, “Gimme Some” will indeed get them some as claimed, ranging from everything just mentioned to both popularity and unpopularity. At its simplest, those that have been sticking with the band through thick and thin know all too well what they’re capable of, though it’s been a string of consistent disappointment since then and up until now we’ve been left with only little bit of light remaining at the end of the tunnel. Now that things are getting brighter once more, maybe next time there will be a reason to break out the sunglasses.

Buy “Gimme Some” from Amazon

For a Friday, today’s assortment of mp3s in Pick Your Poison is really strong. I’ve got a number of songs to stamp my personal thumbs up on. Those include tracks by The High Llamas, Parallels, Soviet Soviet, Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth), White Denim, The Windupdeads and YACHT. Also in the Soundcloud section there’s some great songs from Blank Dogs and Bauhaus’ Peter Murphy.

Baby Baby – Fire

Brass Bed – Miniature Day Parade

GDC – Leur heure
GDC – Haut contre bas

The High Llamas – Fly Baby Fly

Kina Grannis – White Winter Hymnal (Fleet Foxes cover)

The Morning Birds – I’m On Fire (Bruce Springsteen cover)

Parallels – Salome

radioseven – Stellar Cartographer I
radioseven – Stellar Cartographer II

Soviet Soviet – Lokomotiv

Thurston Moore – Benediction

White Denim – Anvil Everything

The Windupdeads – Don’t Let Go

YACHT – Dystopia (The Earth Is On Fire)

SOUNDCLOUD

Blank Dogs – Slow Room!

MIGHT – Continental Breakfast

Peter Murphy – I Spit Roses

William Fitzsimmons – Let You Break (featuring Julia Stone)

Every now and then I like to remind everyone exactly what the point of Pick Your Poison is, especially for any new people visiting the site. What I do with each daily edition of Pick Your Poison is unload my inbox of mp3s and set it on your doorstep. If a neighbor took a bunch of his stuff, put it in a box, and handed it to you with the instructions to take what you wanted, would you do it? Sometimes there’s crap in there that’s pretty unappealing, but with the bad also comes the great. You may find things you never knew existed before or meet the next great band. Perhaps your favorite band has a new song up for download that you weren’t aware of before, and maybe that’ll be here too. So explore, discover and have some fun with these songs. What I can recommend from today’s batch are tracks from Hosannas, Lohio and Vessels. The Architecture In Helsinki remix of Cut Copy’s “Need You Now” is really great as well.

Crimea X – Varvara

Cut Copy – Need You Now (Architecture In Helsinki Version)

Fan Modine – The EMI Song (Smile For Me) (Alex Chilton cover)
Fan Modine – Julu Road

Foot Patrol – Mudslide

Hosannas – Obsolete People

Jeff Beam – People Places

Lohio – Adelai

Man the Change – Rambo vs. Bas Rutten (1v1)

Robin Bacior – Man Before Me

Vessels – Recur

SOUNDCLOUD

Jessica 6 – White Horse (Todd Terry remix)

When Saints Go Machine – Pinned

Yes, The Mountain Goats have finally reached lucky album number 13 in their discography. John Darnielle started the project in 1991, making this the 20th anniversary of the band, so by all counts with the numbers at play this could either be a very good thing or a very bad one. The album is titled “All Eternals Deck”, and it marks a couple of interesting changes for the band. Now on their third record as an official three-piece, The Mountain Goats have jumped record labels from 4AD to Merge, and peppered their studio sessions with a wide variety of producers. Darnielle has long admitted to an extreme love of death metal, and it was announced that uber-metal producer Erik Rutan, also of the bands Morbid Angel and Hate Eternal, would be behind the boards for a handful of tracks. That handful amounted to four of the (again) lucky 13 songs on the album, and if you were expecting heavy electric guitars and some gutteral screaming as a total change of pace for the band, it would have been interesting had they actually gone that direction. Apparently Darnielle hasn’t yet perfected the metal vocals. As much as a change of pace and style might have been nice, there are those satisfied with the way things currently are, with Darnielle and his cohorts Peter Hughes and Jon Wurster making intriguing and introspective folk rock. So guess what? “All Eternals Deck” is more of that.

If you’ve ever seen the movies “Near Dark” or “From Dusk Til Dawn”, you’ll recognize the plot of “All Eternals Deck”‘s opening cut “Damn These Vampires”. The main character is saddling up in the Old West, where apparently vampires have run amok and he’s been cursed with their “gift” of immortality, having been bitten. Audibly speaking, the song rolls along much like the dusty open plains, complete with somber piano, sedate acoustic guitars and just the light twittering of drums. The track is also a good microcosm of the record itself, though nothing else quite sticks in the realm of “Twilight” fan fiction. The focus is typically dark though, much like the pitch black album cover, and there are supernatural/spiritual elements at work for much of it. After the last Mountain Goats record “The Life of the World to Come” was Biblically strident and wholly conceptual, “All Eternals Deck” is a welcome respite from those constraints even as Darnielle continues to make references to religion. “Prowl Great Cain” is something of an ode to the first ever murderer in the Bible, attempting to dive into his mindset after being marked by God for murdering his brother. “Sometimes a great wave of forgetfulness rises up and blesses me/and other times the sickness howls and I despair of any remedy/And I feel guilty that I can’t feel ashamed,” Darnielle sings amid a dual guitar, high energy melody that defies the subject matter.

When not writing songs about murderers in the Bible, “For Charles Bronson” takes on the Hollywood legend and perennial badass star of classics such as the “Death Wish” series and “The Dirty Dozen”. The guy was known for “killing” people on camera, though the song itself tries to grasp how he handled his personal life. “Hit the gym each night/stay cool and seldom speak/keep the heart of a champion/let them never see you’re weak”, sounds about right for a guy that was so often confused with the characters he played that the actual lines between fantasy and reality were often blurred. There is a fascination with celebrity that permeates “All Eternals Deck” as well, from Judy Garland getting abused by a movie studio on “The Autopsy Garland” to slyly referencing the cult classic “The Warriors” on “High Hawk Season” to the totally obvious closing song “Liza Forever Minnelli”. What’s interesting is that even if those with “high artistic pursuits” are right in suggesting that pop culture’s obsession with celebrity is one of society’s biggest problems, Darnielle’s white hot wordplay turns that trash into gold. These aren’t songs about sex tape scandals or rampant drug use, but rather the perils of fame and the constant reminder that beyond the silver screen are real people with the same built in feelings that we all have.

Elsewhere on the album, Darnielle covers that age old topic of relationships, both romantic and non-romantic. “Sourdoire Valley Song” takes almost the opposite view of the fame concept by soliciting empathy for those with the belief they will have no impact on the world. If there’s one song that comes closest to actually “going metal” on the album, “Estate Sale Sign” provides the energy and the acid tongue. Replace the vigorously strummed acoustic guitars with electrics and you’ll have a loud and brash punk rock song. Darnielle also gives a tour-de-force vocal to match the heartbroken lyrics. The song is about how we divide things up after a relationship ends, along with the extreme bitterness we can have towards our exes. Beyond those many topics buried throughout this record, there are a couple of small moments that are cause to pay attention at a more instrumental level. “Age of Kings” makes for a pretty gorgeous song with the slow and deliberately subdued violins. Meanwhile “Outer Scorpion Squadron” winds up being the most complex track on the entire record, with a full orchestra sweeping in for an interesting change of pace. Other than those couple standouts, everything else is a combination of acoustic and light electric guitar, piano, and just enough drums to give you an idea of the beat.

After so many records, The Mountain Goats have become a band less about forward momentum and innovation and more about consistency. John Darnielle and the boys have taken the band to the place it needs to go and stay without really a dip in quality. The lyrics are the key, and Darnielle holds fast in his ability to very actively engage the listener with stories and emotional moments. The variety of topics addressed on “All Eternals Deck” is refreshing compared to the religious themes of “The Life of the World to Come” and “Heretic Pride” (to a degree). Prior to that you had the relationship-destroyed “Get Lonely”, which was an emotionally bare Darnielle solo record, so basically it’s been a few years since The Mountain Goats have released a non-concept album. That was just what the doctor ordered apparently, along with the support of multiple producers – even one that has a long-standing heavy metal background. And as dark as it goes, there are plenty of lighter, more carefree moments to try and balance that out, which is kind of nice. This may very well be the best Mountain Goats record since “The Sunset Tree”, and that’s saying something. In this particular case, it most certainly seems that 13 really is their lucky number.

Preorder “All Eternals Deck” from Amazon

Lots of really great musical guests on the late night shows lately. From The Pains of Being Pure at Heart to The Strokes to Friendly Fires among others – if you’re not watching, you’re missing out. Not only might you get a great viral video-inspiring performance like the one Odd Future put on a couple months ago, but watching that stuff also can introduce you to new artists or new songs by said artists. And hey, that’s also what Pick Your Poison is for. Today’s top-tier picks include tracks from Bill Callahan, Cattle Drums, Hospital Ships (which has members of Shearwater), I Was Totally Destroying It, and Les Blanks.

Amores Vigilantes – You Can’t Live Forever in Paradise on Earth (Without Me)
Amores Vigilantes – I Love You More Than You Love Me

Bill Callahan – Baby’s Breath

Cattle Drums – Sluts and Coconuts

Francois Peglau – One Minute to Midnight

Guitaro – Chateau 100

Hospital Ships – Love or Death

How to Dress Well – You Hold the Water (Lord Boyd Remix)

I Was Totally Destroying It – Regulators

J. Stalin, Hell Rell, Lord Geez – Make It Look Good

Les Blanks – Straw Man

Rubblebucket – Silly Fathers

Siriusmo – Mosaik

Yuzima – Fur

SOUNDCLOUD

Cosmo Jarvis – Sure As Hell Not Jesus

Strangers – In Chaos (Paper Crows Remix)

The Temper Trap – Resurrection (Hermanos Inglesos Remix)

Timber Timbre – Black Water

Pick Your Poison has a lot of good stuff in it today, and I don’t have much time to wax poetic about it. Highlights include songs from Atari Teenage Riot, Chicago band Haberdashery, The People’s Temple, Ringo Deathstarr and Wolf Ram Heart. In the Soundcloud section you’ll also find good tracks from The Chemical Brothers, Fleet Foxes and Hot Chip remixing Shit Robot.

Atari Teenage Riot – Blood in My Eyes

Brothers of End – Stare at the Sun  (ZIP)

Dikta – Thank You
Dikta – Breaking the Waves

Fukkk Offf – Brain Rock (Body Language Remix)

Haberdashery – Fall Into My Arms

Jon Fratelli – Santo Domingo (The Knocks Remix)

The People’s Temple – Sons of Stone

Peter & Kerry – The Summer House Song

Pinto – I Need You to Know

Ringo Deathstarr – So High

Wolf Ram Heart – Humming Doves

SOUNDCLOUD

Ant Brooks – Ocho

The Chemical Brothers – The Devil Is In The Beats

Fleet Foxes – Battery Kinzie

Seven Saturdays – True Romance (Teen Daze Remix)

Shit Robot – Losing My Patience (Hot Chip Remix)