Nine albums and close to 20 years in, Low are still going strong. There aren’t many bands that last so long, and even fewer that have done so much with so very little. As pioneers in the “slowcore” movement, they’ve essentially thrived in dark corners with little to no energy and the most minimal of arrangements. The constant torpor of what they do has left many a person bewildered, failing to find just what makes their songs so damn compelling. Outside of those times when you just want to be dragged down by some unhappy music, Low have kept themselves vital through strong songwriting and composition while throwing a couple curveballs into their trademark sound these last several years. 2002’s “Trust” was a push and pull affair as the band explored more expansive arrangements and the results of sharply building tension. Glossy producer Dave Fridmann was at the helm for the surprisingly noisy “The Great Destroyer” in 2005, as well as 2007’s “Drums and Guns”, which naturally placed emphasis on percussion and percussive elements. After a bit of a break, Low recruited pop producer Matt Beckley to helm their new album “C’mon”. Given that Beckley has worked with Katy Perry and Avril Lavigne among others, it’s an odd choice for the band to make, but if anybody can help them diversity their sound he probably can.
The fascinating thing is that “C’mon” is what could best be described as Low’s return to their roots. Contrary to that thought, this record isn’t a return to their slowcore days, but does have a far more traditional and normal feel for the band compared to their last few releases. There’s not some theme or sonic exploration, just Low doing what Low does best. They’ve also acquired a few new tricks over the course of their last few records, and rather than completely ignore what they did there, these things get incorporated into the overall sound. As such, “C’mon” is a fuller and richer record than most of the band’s previous releases, but still holding true to the very relaxed and relatively depressing vibe that’s their bread and butter. This album was recorded inside a church, and it carries the echoes and reverent beauty of the location. Call it the auditory equivalent of dimming sunlight streaming through stained glass windows. The thing is, though there are plenty of moments with gently plucked acoustic guitars or a touch of strings, you’re still held back at a distance, as if creating pure intimacy or warmth would ruin what the band is trying to accomplish. Given that’s been Low’s M.O. since their first album though, this is hardly new or unexpected. It can’t hurt to wish though.
One of the more exciting things about “C’mon” is the increase in upbeat melodies and lyrics. Normally listening to a Low record is like being dragged through the mud, and it’s never likely to put you in a good mood. Rather than outright dark though, there’s some uplift and more meditative stuff happening with the new album. The melody of opening track “Try to Sleep” is deceptive in its xylophone glimmer and positively lovely harmonies courtesy of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker. The lyrics tell the full story, with lines like, “You try to sleep/but then you never wake up”. Sounds lovely, but the words don’t match the tone. A better grasp of the band’s more optimistic outlook comes with “You See Everything”, for example when Parker sings, “On the shore, we recline/come on in, the water’s fine/so fine”. Some songs though, like “Majesty/Magic” and “Nightingale” are less lyric-heavy (or fail to make much sense) but carry a lighter, less dramatic flair about them. It’s by no means perfect, but functions more as a relief from the far heavier disposition of their more recent albums. For fans of their last couple efforts though, fear not, because there’s still plenty to drag you down and hold your mood in a steady brood. Sometimes it just feels right to have that sort of soundtrack when you’re depressed.
The cause of concern on “C’mon” is that it shows a band that appears to have no idea where it’s headed next. The subtle variations in style on the record showcase that challenge while remaining true to that classic Low sound. That’s another issue – after a couple albums of mixing things up in both a good and bad way, “C’mon” is almost a retreat back to familiar territory while also trying to incorporate some of the new tools they’ve developed since their early days. The good news is that if you liked Low before, chances are you’ll like Low now. By that same token, if you’ve found the band difficult before, you’ll have fewer issues with them now. That improvement in accessibility is about the only thing worth writing home about on this record. That is, outside of the generally serene beauty Low normally provides. There’s no clear indicator of exactly what Low can do to advance their sound back to a level where critical acclaim is waiting for them on their doorstep. Maybe after such a long time together and so many records, they’ve finally run out of fresh ideas and are content to hold fast on their current pathway. No matter how the band fares now and in the future though, they continue to deserve our respect – even if that doesn’t count for much these days.
Announcement! Record Store Day is this Saturday, April 16th! If you already digest vinyl records like they’re going out of style (wait…they’re not IN style right now?), I’m sure you already know this, but let’s say this is a reminder. For those that are unaware, today is the day around the world in which you’re encouraged to stop by your local record shop and purchase something. The idea that physical product in music is still worthwhile is important, and independent music retailers that much moreso. There are so many limited edition things being released in such small quantities that you’re best off showing up right at store open rather than waiting until later in the day. Better later in the day though then not at all, so please buy something, anything from your local record store on Saturday. Check out RecordStoreDay.com for more details. Pick Your Poison highlights for today include tracks from Garden, The Gift, OFF!, Shabazz Palaces, and Thao & Mirah.
Just saw that Denny’s commercial for a “festival” they’re calling Baconalia. It is a celebration of bacon, and includes a number of specialty dishes with bacon added to them. There’s even a bacon sundae with maple syrup. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE me some bacon, but there’s a certain point where it can border on obsessive. That’s not even mentioning how healthy all of this is. If you celebrated Baconalia every day with every meal, methinks you’d best be shopping for coffins in your spare time. Sigh, this is probably no worse than KFC’s Double Down sandwich though. One thing that’s sure to not send you to an early grave is Pick Your Poison. Despite having the word Poison in the title, the only harm these mp3s can do is to your ears. Last I checked, that wasn’t enough to kill you. Highlights today include tracks from I Was Totally Destroying It, The Shivers and TV Ghost. The Soundcloud section has a wealth of good stuff too, including songs from Locksley, Manchester Orchestra and Mick Harvey. Delta Maid’s cover of The Strokes’ “Under Cover of Darkness” is solid as well.
It’s Hump Day, and depressing though it may be to think we’re only halfway through this already long week, the positive news is that once we make it over the top it’s all downhill til the weekend. What’s just a little more surprising than that is how quickly we’re approaching the halfway point of April. It seems like just days ago the month was just underway and I was being duped on April Fools Day. Ah well, summer will be here soon enough. Pick Your Poison is pretty large in size and scope today. Thumbs up tracks come from Balkans, Golden Bloom, Miwa Gemini and Yuzima. There’s also a solid Sade track in the Soundcloud section too if you care to listen.
Noah Lennox may be able to see the future. A little record he released back in 2007 under the Panda Bear moniker called “Person Pitch” struck hard amongst those with a love of memorable 60s pop infused with a sharp dose of psychedelia. Think of Brian Wilson’s music with more of a dosed electronica edge. It was a record so dense and complex that many struggled to fully grasp what it was doing, and though the reaction was mostly bewilderment, there was a consensus it was brilliant. Thinking about it in the most practical way possible, one could easily imagine trends in music to eventually head in the exact direction that “Person Pitch” was already showing us, thereby providing us with a glimpse into not what was but what would be. Nobody caught up to that record in 2008 or most of 2009, but somewhere near the middle of that year the rumblings of a new musical subgenre that some called chillwave and others called glo-fi began to seep out into the general populace. Though not exactly the same, the sound bore some of the distinctive fingerprints of music Panda Bear had put out a couple years earlier. Not only that, but upon reconvening with his bandmates in Animal Collective, they subsequently released their miracle of an album “Merriweather Post Pavilion” and it became like anything Lennox touched was turning to gold. That sort of Midas power is either a blessing or a curse, depending on how you look at it. All that praise can be nice, but the pressure can build to the point of madness. Plenty of people were salivating at the mere thought of new Panda Bear material, and as soon as some began to trickle out in the form of sone 7 inch singles previewing a full length without a release date, they were swallowed up immediately and obsessed over. It should come as little surprise then that Lennox waited quite awhile before finally putting the finishing touches on his new long player “Tomboy”, and though he surely hoped some of that anticipation would dissipate, in all likelihood it would have remained just as fevered had he waited another 4 years.
Instead of feeding the beast with a new Panda Bear record that has loftier ambitions than the one before, “Tomboy” shoots for something closer to normal. All those samples and complicated melodies that made “Person Pitch” such a gripping listen have been stripped back in favor of a closer focus on actual instruments such as guitars and drums. What used to be lush pieces that teemed with the life of a fully formed sonic landscape have now been trimmed significantly to the barest of essentials. For the majority of the record, it’s an exercise in minimalism. Despite some of these more drastic changes, the new album is no less of a psychedelic trip down memory lane than last time. If you’re looking for an extended journey in the form of a longer cut a la “Bros”, you’ll be left just a bit disappointed with the more concise songs that are clearly separated from one another yet fail to offer a whole lot of distinction between them. Just because there are no clear highlights doesn’t mean the majority of the tracks are terrible or that the record as a whole is disappointing. It’s far from either of those points actually, as this album is more like a colorful and beautifully painted mural rather than a whitewashed wall of nothing. As one gigantic piece, it’s rather fascinating but difficult to know exactly how to give it a proper listen in individual chunks. Simply dropping in on a centrally located track like “Drone” can create an odd sensation, particularly with its spacious yet direct melody that thrives on only vocals and synths. Start from the beginning with “You Can Count On Me” and it’s just busy enough to build a bridge between old material and new. The progression from that into the title track and so forth comes across as nuanced and refined, more than most might realize. “Person Pitch” may have had those longer cuts to push you into sticking out the entire record, that if you would stay for 12 minutes you might as well stay for 40, but digesting all of “Tomboy” in one sitting reflects a similar mentality despite the bite-sized track lengths. It seems that Lennox is trying to do more with less on most every aspect of this record.
What many fail to realize is that Panda Bear’s attempt to take a lot of the same complex ideas and genre tropes from the last album and work them into “Tomboy” is in many ways more challenging than ever. To put it another way, he’s like the MacGyver of chillwave, trapped inside a room with limited utensils at his disposal and trying to break out without the assistance of the door key that’s actually in his back pocket. Call it the thrill of the chase or just the inclination to try and do something different from all the other acts these days trying to pull off a similar sound, the results are still remarkably effective. The sun bakes and waves crash all over “Surfer’s Hymn”. There’s a slight doo-wop 50s charm smeared across “Last Night at the Jetty” that also makes it one of the most accessible things Lennox has ever created. Meanwhile “Alsatian Darn” shimmers with some of the most gorgeous psych-pop moments on the entire album. The pairing of the two longest tracks on the record right near the end feels genuinely inspired as well, taking the easier, more accessible stuff out front and the expansive mental zone outs of “Friendship Bracelet” and “Afterburner” in the back. Then “Benfica” slides in at the end to sort of tie everything together, to the point where the last few seconds make a firm period at the end of a 50 minute sentence.
Why “Tomboy” isn’t the mindblowing adventure that “Person Pitch” was can primarily be chalked up to the ever-changing musical landscape. As “Person Pitch” was very much ahead of its time, the start of a revolution that has bred countless imitators, “Tomboy” is pretty firmly rooted in the present. Where could Lennox have realistically gone with this new record? The mind can’t fathom because most of us don’t know an inspired or fresh idea until we actually hear it. At the very least, it was admirable of him to try to differentiate himself from similar-sounding counterparts by scaling back the instrumentation and increasing the overall accessibility through hooks and less obtuse melodies. What this album does more than anything else though is continue to prove that Lennox remains one of the most brilliant minds making music today. Even when falling perfectly in line with where the hype cycle is at these days, he takes all these other punks to school and shows them a thing or two about how to make good music great. It’s that angelic voice, twisted in reverb. It’s the structure and the way every piece of every song feels vital even when it isn’t. Everyone attempting to make music like this should feel lucky to have such a great example of how it’s done right. As for the rest of us, we’re lucky just being given the opportunity to listen to it, and as often as our ears will allow.
Absolutely lovely set of songs in Pick Your Poison today. Right to the point, highlights include tracks from Bare Wires, Exlovers, Iceage, Milagres, The Sea and Cake, Secret Cities, and Title Tracks. In the Soundcloud section you’ll find a new song from Arctic Monkeys and a solid one from The Tambourines.
Let’s get this out of the way as fast as possible, because if you’ve not already heard about it, you’re going to hear about it ad nauseum for the next several months if you at all pay attention to the Foo Fighters. The stars are lining up for the band on their seventh long player “Wasting Light”, and if you’re nostalgic for the days of grunge or just the earliest of Foo records, this one’s supposed to be for you. Butch Vig, the uber-rock producer that made his name by sitting behind the boards for one of the greatest albums of all time, Nirvana’s “Nevermind”, teams up with Dave Grohl and company once again. That “company” additionally includes a guest appearance from former Nirvana guitarist Krist Noveselic and the full time return of guitarist Pat Smear to the fold (also a former member of Nirvana). The great Bob Mould of Husker Du and Sugar fame also contributes to the record, which was recorded in Dave Grohl’s garage using old school analog tape. All of these things should have you thinking of the 90s, because there’s little to nothing modern about how “Wasting Light” came together. Considering this year marks the 16th anniversary of the Foo Fighters, the band feels that now might be a good time to reflect on their past. Topping it all off is a documentary called “Back and Forth” that chronicles their wild history of touring places, rocking faces and destroying good graces. Wrap all these details up, put them in a box and throw a bow on it, because if you’re a Foo Fighters fan, this record is for you.
How much do you honestly recall about the last couple Foo Fighters albums? “The Pretender” was arguably their best single in awhile, off their last album “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace”, which aside from that song was one of the worst Foo records ever. Not counting the live and unplugged retrospective “Skin and Bones”, 2005’s double album “In Your Honor” tried to split off the band’s personality into two halves, one of which was the hard charging stadium rock band and the other being a group of soft spoken guys with a penchant for quiet ballads. Actually a better way to think of it is that since their self-titled debut in 1995, Foo Fighters have gotten progressively worse. While their popularity hasn’t waned much if at all, a fair amount of that support has been earned from a number of factors including the ability to crank out halfway decent singles, continued support on radio for their “classic” songs, and a highly dynamic live show. Others have theorized that much of the band’s power lies inside of Dave Grohl himself, and that his beard and oft-jovial sense of humor are key things that have kept them afloat for so long. Whatever it is, a large group of hardcore fans are always excited to hear about a new Foo record, in particular since “Wasting Light” is their first new one in four years.
It’s only appropriate that “Wasting Light” should start with a track called “Bridge Burning”, as if the Foo Fighters are admitting they’ve destroyed a lot of relationships with their fans by turning out a lot of crap the last 10 years. Of course that’s not REALLY what they’re saying, but it could be interpreted that way. Instead, with some machine gun percussion and killer power chords, Grohl comes out of the gate spitting fire. “These are my famous last WOOOORDS/My number’s up, bridges will BUUUUUURN!”, he screams in the most visceral way possible. Somewhere in the first verse he also makes mention of the “king of second chances”, and by the time the addictive and hard-hitting chorus comes around a second time, you pretty much want to give the guy exactly that. Of course if we’ve learned one thing from the past couple Foo Fighters albums, it’s to never get too invested too early because they really like to front-load things. First single “Rope” comes next and continues to hold strong with that sharp as nails guitar attack and a chorus that’ll stick with you. Funny once again are the number of lyrical parallels to the band being in peril and needing fans to throw them a rope to save them. Again, that’s not the genuine meaning, but interpretation should be 9/10ths of the law. Because they can’t all be super high energy stadium rockers, “Dear Rosemary” tapers off that pace just a little, coming in as a head-bopping mid-tempo catch-all with Bob Mould popping up in a support role. Mould’s call-and-response portion of the song with Grohl marks one of the best parts of the track, which legitimately sounds like something Husker Du might put out, with a structure that’s interestingly similar to The Raconteurs’ “Steady As She Goes”. At this point, Foo fighters haven’t strung together three songs this strong since the start of 1999’s “There Is Nothing Left to Lose”, and with it brings a cautious layer of optimism that maybe this whole “returning to their roots” thing isn’t entirely bullshit.
If you’ve seen the official music video for the track “White Limo”, in which Lemmy from Motorhead drives the band around in the titular vehicle, then you know what a kinetic scream-fest it is. Throw some megaphone-like filter on Grohl’s voice and stir the mosh pit to a frenzy, because this might be the most aggressive and metal thing Foo Fighters have ever done. It’d be more expected as part of one of Grohl’s side projects Probot or Them Crooked Vultures, but it’s a whole lot of fun as part of “Wasting Light”. The streak of excellence has to stop somewhere though, and “Arlandria” is where the quality shows a noticeable dip. Listen to enough Foo Fighters songs, particularly from the last two albums, and you definitely notice the difference between what’s vital and what’s pedestrian. “Arlandria” is in the latter category, despite its energy and quiet-loud dynamic. The same could be said about “These Days”, notable for the way it plays things off like a ballad but still features an explosive chorus that’s clearly intended to power up the weaker sauce everyplace else. That was a trick employed a number of times on “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace”, and we know full well it didn’t work then either. It may not carry the same punch as the first handful of tracks, but “Back & Forth” does make the most of the very little actually going on in it. “Now show a little backbone why don’t you”, Grohl growls just before striking up a pleasantly strident chorus filtered with engaging harmonies. Well, the band was showing some backbone, but they seem quick to self-sabotage and fall back into old patterns on a whim. What makes “A Matter of Time” one of the more important tracks on the record is how it both spits in the face of convention yet simultaneously embraces it. Yeah, that strident and catchy chorus still hits over and over again until you submit to it, but initially getting there and in between the bag gets far more mixed thanks to some extended verses and general false alarms. It’s not revolutionary by any means, but it is more complicated compared to the other parts of the band’s catalogue.
After the hard-hitting first part of “Wasting Light” and the mixed bag in the middle, the good news is that the tail end of the record brings things around full circle and offers something of a redemption to the band. “I Should Have Known” is the Krist Noveselic guesting track, and it’s about the closest thing you’ll get to a full ballad on the entire record. Given that it’s a song about the sudden death of a friend and with all the Nirvana connections, it’d be easy to assume the track is about Kurt Cobain. Grohl said that when he was writing the song Kurt didn’t really enter his mind until much later in the process, because he intended it as a tribute to another friend of his. That friend, a former roadie for Foo Fighters, died of a drug overdose. That doesn’t make the track any less meaningful or sad, and the lyrics can apply to just about anyone that has lost a close friend. The grand, sweeping strings do tend to recall some of the more obtuse, grandiose stuff on the last couple Foo albums, but they’re used in a much more subtle manner this time, which helps in just the right ways. For a finale, you can’t get a much more perfect song than “Walk”. The way the end of the record is structured is reminiscent of a movie plot wherein the main character nobly sacrifices himself for the greater good. The hero dies and leaves everyone torn to pieces, but once his death has passed, there is a peace and sunshine across the land. The future has never looked brighter now that the conflict has been resolved, and so we can “learn to walk again” as the lyrics suggest. Not only that, but Grohl is so ecstatic about life, that he screams, “I’m on my knees/I never wanna die/I’m dancin’ on my grave/I’m runnin through the fire/forever, whatever, I never wanna die” with such passion that you can’t help but believe him. This is triumph. This is the fist-pumping anthem that leaves you feeling like a million bucks. This record ends not with a whimper, but with a legitimate BANG.
By and large, 2011 is probably going to be remembered as the year rock made a serious comeback. Not only is the crop of new indie artists trying good and hard to revive the boom of the 90s, but the mainstream is embracing such notions as well. Foo Fighters are currently in the right position at the right time, and their new record “Wasting Light” is just the sort of kick in the teeth this resurgence needs. There are multiple ways to look at this though, and not all of them feature rose-colored glasses. One easy argument is that this record is an act of desperation, with Foo Fighters calling in favors and “the big guns” to help restore a flailing career. The antithesis to that point suggests that maybe the band cares less about churning out quality records so long as the stadiums stay filled and the merchandise keeps selling. Neither of those points is likely correct. In what’s truth but could be bad or good depending on your viewpoint, “Wasting Light” is not really anything new from the Foo Fighters. They’ve had the same sound and been turning out virtually the same record since the very beginning. Yeah, you know a Foo Fighters song when you hear it, and it’d be equally nice to hear them try and go completely off grid experimental, but that’s sort of what side projects are for. Additionally, the band probably considered their acoustic adventures and their symphony-heavy songs on more recent albums to be “experimental” no matter how commonplace they might otherwise seem to you and me. Listen to a record like “The Colour and the Shape” and then “Wasting Light” and it’s simple to point out the hard-driving guitars and massive choruses are cut from the same cloth. For those of us that regard those early Foo records as their classics and most vital though, in so many respects this is the first time in a long time that the band sounds like they want to recapture that spark they lost 10 or more years ago. This is by no means a perfect record, especially with the sagging middle portion, but it’s not completely off-base to put it in the same category with those first three essentials. And so, marketing ploy or not, desperate attempt to regain favor or not, “Wasting Light” still deserves your time, attention and maybe a few of your hard-earned dollars. Just remember to exercise your rock hand before turning this thing up, because you’ll get cramps if you hold up those devil horns for too long.
Anyone seen the movie “Sucker Punch”? No? Well, you and millions of others have all avoided going, but I sat through it over the weekend out of my admiration for director Zack Snyder among other things. One of the more interesting aspects about the film is that a number of scenes (in particular the first 15 minutes) function basically as long-form music videos, though most of the songs are covers. Emiliana Torrini does Jefferson Airplane, Alison Mosshart of the Kills/Dead Weather and Carla Azar of Autolux do The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows”, and actors Carla Gugino and Oscar Isaac do Roxy Music’s “Love Is the Drug”. That’s just part of the soundtrack. The movie was more…eeehhh. The original songs would have been better, but still, it’s pretty dope. You can hear “Sucker Punch” star Emily Browning take on the Eurhythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” in the Soundcloud section below. Other highlights include songs from ANR, Chad Van Gaalen, Fabian, The Head and the Heart, Jookabox, The Sundelles and The Wombats. Two more covers, one by Benjamin Francis Leftwich and the other by The Submarines are also great selections from the Soundcloud section.
Now feels like as good of a time as any to check in with UNKLE. James Lavelle has stuck with the project longer than anyone thought he would, in particular after all the personnel changes that have occurred over the years. From its humble beginnings with DFA’s Tim Goldsworthy to the supreme reign of Richard File, those guys each contributed their own unique angles on UNKLE’s typically dark electronic landscapes. With File jumping ship after 2007’s “War Stories”, early reports speculated that Lavelle was going to turn in his dance card, but Pablo Clements would step into File’s shoes a short time later and keep everything going strong. Stronger than ever before it turns out, because in the past 5 years there’s been twice as much material from Lavelle than there was in the previous 10 years. 2008’s “End Titles…Stories for Film” was a slightly different UNKLE record, reliant on atmosphere and soundtrack-like pieces (as the title suggests) rather than the typical guest stars. Last year’s “Where Did the Night Fall” was a return to more standard fare, bringing in another array of vocalists that ranged from The Black Angels to Katrina Ford and Mark Lanegan. Now nearly a full year later, UNKLE is putting out a deluxe edition of that album, packaged with some extra material like instrumentals and new songs. For those that already own the record and don’t want to buy it again in a more expensive form, the “Only the Lonely” EP is one solution to get most of those extras separately. And though they are intended as companion pieces, one need not own or have heard the last album to appreciate the EP. In fact, it might just be better that way.
It’s natural to think that maybe the whole point of the “Only the Lonely” EP is to squeeze a little more blood from the same sessions that yielded “Where Did the Night Fall”. That’s something UNKLE could very well have done, and if you get the new deluxe edition of the record there’s plenty of outtakes and b-sides to whet your whistle should you be a completist. This EP though is far better than a simple set of tracks that couldn’t find a place elsewhere. You don’t get Nick Cave to provide a guest vocal and NOT use him, so it’s more than reasonable to assume that most if not all of the five tracks on this EP have been recorded in the last year. Cave’s track “Money and Run” commences the brooding immediately, as as tradition for any UNKLE release. One gets the impression that Lavelle has not seen actual sunshine in a long time. Then again, the same could be said for Cave, and the two would seem to make for an inspired pairing. It works out pretty much as planned, as Cave gives the tale of criminal activity and evildoers all the gusto it requires, matched by an instrumental soundscape of scuffed up guitars and tired drums. Great though it may be, it doesn’t quite stand up to a lot of Cave’s other work with Grinderman and the Bad Seeds and such. Yet it champions over virtually every other track on the EP and holds a place somewhere around UNKLE’s 10 best tracks to date. Liela Moss of The Duke Spirit throws her vocal chords behind “The Dog Is Black” next, and the gothic atmosphere blends supremely well with her sultry voice. Two tracks in and very little to complain about, save for some weak lyrics that only become a problem if you focus on them with the utmost intention of dissection.
One of UNKLE’s biggest faults has always been trying to pack too much into a singular record, and as a result completely sandbagging the entire thing by being too weighty for too long. A shorter EP then seems like a great way to study if Lavelle and company can fare any better by moving briskly. The centerpiece of the “Only the Lonely” EP is the instrumental title track, and after two strong opening cuts this is where weakness begins to show its face. Not much happens in the track, which is exactly what you want to avoid on a track without vocals and lyrics. Thankfully the last two cuts redeem that soggy midsection with solid performances from Gavin Clark (“Wash the Love Away”) and Sleepy Sun’s Rachel Fannan (“Sunday Song”). Unlike the Cave and Moss songs though, these backloaded tracks deserve to be placed exactly where they are, trailing everything else courtesy of their sheer normalcy. If you’ve listened to enough UNKLE then you’re more or less aware of their standard operating procedure, of which these last two songs hold to hard and fast. The positive is that normal for UNKLE is almost always better than you expect, so those songs balance things out relatively well. The issue is that on an EP where you only have 5 songs, the hope is that every one of them is exceptional. For the “Only the Lonely” EP, that’s just a slight bit more than half true. Still, in this bite-sized chunk of music, a lot of past pitfalls have been avoided, leaving you with the tease that just maybe Lavelle and his wealth of co-conspirators can actually escape from their nearly forgotten hole if they buckle down and focus their energies just a little bit more. Or maybe Lavelle can just convince Thom Yorke to come back for another guest vocal.
Friday is here once again, and with it comes another fun-filled weekend. Hope you’ve got a lot of great things planned, all of them not involving Rebecca Black. The hype has died down, thankfully, but if that hook still permeates your ear around this time of the week, maybe Pick Your Poison can help erase it from your memory. Recommended tracks today are from Anni Rossi (covering Rihanna), The Glass Canoe, Ryan Driver and Times New Viking. Morgan Kibby of M83 is White Sea, and her remix of The Naked and Famous track “Young Blood” is quite good as well.
It’s amazing to think that The Raveonettes have been around for 10 years now. It seems like just yesterday they were strutting around, clad in all black, dishing out throwback guitar rock songs while purposely challenging themselves in new and interesting ways. Their debut EP “Whip It On” was a study in minimalism and restraint, with every song being recorded using only three chords and only in the key of B-flat minor. As one cannot survive very long by holding onto those restrictions, for their first full length they broke out of that mold and into a vast mixture of darker elements out of the 50s thru 80s. They became oft-compared to The Jesus and Mary Chain, though the earlier their material the less that becomes true. Their most recent two records, 2008’s “Lust Lust Lust” and 2009’s “In and Out of Control”, were supercharged with fuzzed out shoegaze guitars and sheer walls of noise that still tended to breed hooks and plenty of intrinsic darkness. The real question is whether you can actively remember those records. The duo of Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo have been releasing music so often and under a consistently similar style that it’s been drawing ever-closer to auditory wallpaper. The main reason why is because those records weren’t exactly pinnacles of brilliance, nor did they bend to the wills of more popular styles at the time. Like clockwork though, because it’s been a year and a half since we had any new Raveonettes material, they’re back again with their fifth album “Raven in the Grave”.
The first track on “Raven in the Grave” is titled “Recharge & Revolt”, and it does almost exactly that. It’s still plenty dark – nobody was expecting The Raveonettes to lighten up – but it also has an energy and an unconventional way about it that feels just a little more refreshing than usual. Yes, it utilizes their classic shoegaze sound, but shortly after the guitars begin to build, synths enter the picture and form a surprising curveball. The Raveonettes have been known to use a synth or two on occasion, but never as heavily or predominantly as they’re used here. It gives the song a much more 80s vibe that permeates a number of other parts of the record too, diversifying the band’s sound just barely enough to make it more thrilling than it has been in years. For tracks one through four, Wagner and Foo make it seem like they’re crafting themselves a masterpiece. In particular, “Forget That You’re Young” makes for one of the best Raveonettes songs ever, with its ample hook and overall sweetness that sends streams of light through the general blackness surrounding it.
Speaking of blackness, after building up a healthy dose of momentum and positive buzz, the middle of the record is like a huge black hole of suck. “Summer Moon” and “Let Me on Out” are two songs that appear to wonder aimlessly without any real purpose other than to slow things down to a proverbial crawl across the desert without any food or water. It’s not the tempo of the track that’s the real problem, though it doesn’t help, but rather the near total disregard for anything resembling a fascinating melody. The Raveonettes have done slower songs without such a struggle before, and while you can keep your fingers crossed that maybe the lyrics will be a saving grace, words have never been the band’s strong suit. What’s interesting is how after getting dragged through the mud for a couple tracks, “Ignite” relights the fire underneath the duo and does a fairly successful job of wiping away the damage that was just done. Either that, or it just feels like a huge relief after such a morbid punishment. From that point forwards though, the rest of the album isn’t immensely great but not nearly bad either. “Evil Seeds” feels like vintage Raveonettes, a track they could do in their sleep but also equal parts comfort and ferocity. Closing ballad “My Time’s Up” actually does hold the proof that this band can do good stuff even in slower motion. It’s a satisfying end to the record, and leaves you wondering exactly where the plot went wrong for that handful of minutes in the midsection.
As if the album title, cover and past efforts by The Raveonettes hadn’t told you already, “Raven in the Grave” is not upbeat or happy in really any way. It holds a strong fascination with death and loss, but when you envelop the listener with that much noise then happiness and sunshine are really off the table. Despite some strong moments and a couple of sonic innovations, this record isn’t the one to quite put this band back on the right track to critical esteem and an extended fan base. The good news for Wagner and Foo is that those aren’t necessarily the requirements to get noticed at the moment. See, they’re lucky because upbeat pop and rock are on their way out at the moment and darkness is making a big comeback. That means all purveyors of said darkness are ripe for attention once more. By sticking to a same or similar sound for such a long period of time, the trends have swung back in their direction. If they’re going to take hold, now’s as good of a time as any to do so. It just would have been nice had “Raven in the Grave” turned out just a little better. Still, it provides a healthy blueprint the duo can work on fully evolving to that next level, and assuming they keep churning out material at a pace of a new record every 1-2 years, any lofty goals they might be hanging onto will hopefully still be easily obtainable.
No time to waste, it’s Thursday and that means it’s best to get while the gettin’s good. I have no idea what that means. Pick Your Poison is quite exceptional today, in my humble opinion. Lots of good songs, most notably from Atari Teenage Riot, Baby Teardrops, Damon and Naomi, Julian Lynch, Poly Styrene and They Might Be Giants. No lack of good songs. Check them all out.
So before I forget, and because it’s really cool, let me tell all of you Chicago readers about a great FREE show happening tomorrow night. Our good friends over at Vice, in association with VitaminWater, are putting on an UNCAPPED show tomorrow night (Thursday, April 7th) at Viaduct (3111 North Western Avenue). Show starts at 9PM and features a lineup that’s been curated by Black Lips. Mannequin Men, Lover! and Hollows will all be playing sets, all for FREE so long as you RSVP. You need to be 21+ to attend, primarily because there will also be free alcoholic beverages. You won’t find a much better deal in town, and if you’re looking for a way to kick off your weekend early, definitely check this show out. Again, you need to RSVP to get in, so go here and do so. Here’s a couple mp3s to get your interest peaked: Mannequin Men – Boys Mannequin Men – Grapefruit Lover! – No More Reasons
Outside of that, here’s the rundown of today’s Pick Your Poison. Highlights include tracks from Apparat, Chicago’s own Company of Thieves, The Olympic Symphonium, and Telepathique. There’s also an interesting collaboration between Graham Coxon, Paloma Faith and Bill Ryder-Jones that’s part of a Converse series. In the Soundcloud section you’ll find a new solo track from Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, which is pretty good.
Remember when the 80s received a much-heralded comeback thanks to The Killers and a host of other synth-heavy pop/rock bands? The first year or two it was a great revival of a genre that many in a younger generation had never had the chance to fully experience before. But just like digging around a box filled with the toys your parents had when they were growing up, you’ll dig around and find some great stuff but after a brief while drop those for something newer and cooler. This is the cycle of music we’re living with these days, where trends come and go with the passing of the wind, and your only real responsibility is to try and keep up. So the 80s revival came and went, and the bands that helped to propogate it either changed their sound or died off like the proverbial dinosaurs they were. Still, the argument stands that good music is always good no matter the genre or time period, meaning that some band could well try and pull off a 50s revival and succeed purely on their own volition. Cold Cave isn’t quite going to do that, but instead they’re crushing hard on the 80s in the best and most respectful way possible. Unlike, say, Chromeo, who exploit every 80s cliche imaginable, Cold Cave are looking to actually rival some fo their synth-pop heroes, from New Order to Tears For Fears and The Cure. Their 2009 debut album “Love Comes Close” had a very lo-fi, minimalist 80s vibe to it, perhaps because that was the best they could do with the materials they had. Flush with some money thanks to lending a couple songs out to TV commercials the last couple years, their new record “Cherish the Light Years” shimmers, sparkles and explodes with all of the sheen that the 80s had to offer.
For those not familiar with Cold Cave, it’s the brainchild of Wes Eisold, former frontman for a couple of hardcore punk bands that includes Some Girls and Give Up the Ghost. Originally starting as a solo project a few years ago, he brought in a few people to help him realize his sonic vision, which was to craft synth-heavy pop with dark industrial undertones, much like many of his musical heroes from the 80s UK music scene. A big boost to the project came when former Xiu Xiu member Caralee McElroy got on board, adding a fascinating female vocal counterpoint to Eisold’s deep but emotionally complex croon. She only stuck around for about a year though, long enough to become a formidable presence in the band with her contributions to “Love Comes Close” and the subsequent tour supporting it. Former Mika Miko frontwoman Jennifer Clavin is her non-technical replacement, in that she handles McElroy’s vocal parts but does not sing on any of “Cherish the Light Years”. Instead, Eisold has fully taken the reins back as frontman, boosted by better production values and increased confidence and strength gained while touring in support of the first album. Looking at their situation from afar, there seemed to be good reason to worry that Cold Cave might not have that same magic once again with the lineup change. The lesson to learn here is to never count Wes Eisold out, because when life gives you oranges instead of lemons, you shut down your lemonade stand and start an orange juice one.
The very instant that “Cherish the Light Years” starts with “The Great Pan Is Dead”, you are completely bombarded with noise. The guitars are already turned up to 11 and raging as if you’re walking in on them mid-stride. It’s an auditory shock to the system not unlike the feeling you get when jumping into an ice cold swimming pool. As hard and harsh as that noise might be initially, once your ears become acclimated to it, the synths come soaring in mixed with a sprinkling of bells that are the sonic equivalent of stars strewn across the night sky. This is Cold Cave the stadium conqueror, a far cry from the meeker, more traditional approach the last record had. Eisold is clearly sold on that pattern of thinking too, as his vocals hit with that same vigor and ferocity needed to compete against all that’s going on around him. It’s an exciting start to an album that doesn’t get much less thrilling as you go, scoring body blow after body blow through sheer bombast and walls of noise. Cold Cave becomes New Order at the height of their popularity. They channel Suede one moment, The Cure the next and The Walker Brothers after that. All at once it preys on your nostalgia while simultaneously wowing you that a contemporary band can pull off that sound with equal parts conviction and perfection. The small tragedy is that for such expansive and addictive synth pop, it’s not going to get the popular support it needs to actually be played in stadiums and other massive venues around the world. Tracks like “Pacing Around the Church”, “Catacombs” and “Icons of Summer” have the gusto and hooks to be radio hits but sadly will never be because they’re not “contemporary”. It functions on a lot of the same principles that M83’s “Saturdays=Youth” exposed with its John Hughes-inspired manifesto, and will likely be treated the same way – respected only by those that can truly appreciate a classic for a classic.
“Cherish the Light Years” is not quite a perfect record, but by that same token it’s nice to know there’s some real humanity in Cold Cave. The pepper spray of horns on “Alchemy Around You” makes it stand out from the rest of the record just a little bit, and while the dash of variety is appreciated, it pulls you out of the singular track everything else is on. You wanted to take a straight shot down the highway, but construction has shut down part of it, so there’s a brief detour that adds 5 minutes to your trip. Despite the track being a small distraction though, it’s no less fascinating than anything else on the album and is yet another cut with “potential single” written all over it. One of the other issues this record has is the sheer force of it all. Nine tracks and 40 minutes really takes it out of you when there’s barely any slowing down. The race to the finish line leaves you exhausted before quite reaching the excellent closer “Villains of the Moon”, something that becomes all the more noticeable if you listen to these songs separately away from the contextual whole of the record. The mixing, too, has some issues because everything is thrust at such a high level competing for your attention. Sometimes it comes across like staring at a wall of TVs set to different channels but at the same volume. There’s only so much you can absorb and while one part of a particular song might appeal to you more than another, everything is whitewashed so any subtleties or nuances fail to exist. Those little bits are often what make the best songs continually rewarding, with the discovery of new elements that have been quietly buried beneath the main melody. So yes, “Cherish the Light Years” is a gothic new wave sledgehammer, forcibly spraying the guts of the 80s all over you whether you like it or not. The great news is there’s a whole lot to like, and even love. If this were 1984, Cold Cave would have just made a name for themselves. In our current musical landscape, they just earned themselves a load of stock as the question looms large as to if anyone else will buy it and drive that price upwards.
Anybody an avid baseball fan? The regular season is just getting started, and I don’t know about you, but I’m exceptionally happy about it. I’m not quite ready to give up on the NBA and NHL just yet, but baseball is always a comfort. Keeps the mind off the thought that there probably won’t be any NFL this season. Ah, sports talk in an mp3 post. The pairing does not go well together. Tops of the Pick Your Poison heap today include tracks from The Disappearing Act, James Irwin and Rosebuds. There’s also a pretty great new jam from Sonny and the Sunsets available to stream in the Soundcloud section.
