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Album Review: Stars – The Five Ghosts [Vagrant/Soft Revolution]

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On 06/22/2010

In album review, lollapalooza 2010, mp3, music

For anyone who hasn’t heard of Stars before, they’re the main band of Amy Millan, who is both a former full-time member of Broken Social Scene as well as a solo artist herself. In Stars, Millan has the added benefit of Torquil Campbell, a guy who more shares the spotlight than tries to steal it. This allows for plenty of back-and-forth singing and harmonizing, all while backed by friendly and often beautiful indie pop instrumentation. What escalated Stars’ popularity amongst the indie community was their 2005 album “Set Yourself on Fire”, a sharp and gorgeous record that featured smartly written songs and just the right degree of production to make the album sound small when it was anything but. Quietly anthemic is a great way to describe tracks like “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” and “Ageless Beauty”, two highlights on an album packed with them. A couple years later Stars would return again with “In Our Bedroom After the War”, which attempted to push their sound to the “next level” mostly by going big or going home. The compositions swelled in size, and suddenly this small band was playing second fiddle to huge orchestral movements and choruses as wide as Canada itself. For a band that had earned their reputation on the idea that big things come in small packages, many long-time fans had adverse reactions to that last album. After yet another sojourn into solo album territory, Millan returned to Stars a few months ago and they officially return this week with their fifth album, “The Five Ghosts”.

The good thing about Stars is that they seem to know that they screwed up with their last record. Whether that was a function of fans telling them so or simply poorer album sales, somewhere along the line they must have realized “In Our Bedroom After the War” wasn’t their best work. To try and get back the magic of “Set Yourself on Fire”, the band brought Tom McFall, who produced that album, back for “The Five Ghosts”. In a similar fashion to your average movie sequel, McFall’s efforts this time aren’t as effective this time around, and in some ways it’s almost like he forgot how to properly produce this band. Much of the new album sounds muddy and clumsily put together, with the vocals shoved to the forefront above all else. It takes away the power that many of these songs might have had otherwise, when you can barely tell there are strings in the background on a track like “Winter Bones” or the synths on “Fixed” get relegated to wallpaper rather than allowing them to shimmer and shake. You listen to these new songs and then go back to “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” to hear the swells of horns and strings and wonder exactly what happened to that band.

Of course some of the problems with “The Five Ghosts” rest on the band too, not just their producer. To their credit, Stars smartly pulled back on the bombastic anthems of their last album, but did they pull back too far? Even compared to the densely layered indie pop of “Set Yourself on Fire”, “The Five Ghosts” feels small. Perhaps that has a lot to do with the somber melodies that populate this new record. This is by far the darkest and most depressing Stars album to date, and the lack of peppy pop songs isn’t helping anyone. But in addition to the dark clouds overhead, many of the songs are similar to one another and relatively pedestrian as far as melodies are concerned. “Coffee house bland” seems to be the name of the game here, where the idea is to keep the sound broad and avoiding risk wherever possible. In other words, Stars aren’t taking any chances towards furthering their sound, and instead they’ve regressed worse than a former alcoholic picking up the bottle again. It’s tragic to hear a band that was once so fascinating and full of life come off as bland and practically neutered.

Believe it or not, there are some good things about “The Five Ghosts”. First off, none of the songs are terrible. There may not be any surprisingly great moments, but there aren’t any abhorrently bad ones either. And secondly, the Amy Millan-centered songs turn out the best in this case mostly due to her vocal performance. Her breathy vocal style lends itself well to the balladry many of these songs contain. Not only that, but she lends a fair deal of weight and emotion to these songs through her voice, something that hasn’t always come across in anything she’s done previously. So really though many of the songs may not be the best Stars have to offer, Millan’s star does particularly shine in this instance, while Torquil Campbell takes a little more of a backseat and lackadaisical approach to his singing than he normally does. Like the tone of the album though, your general impression of it might come off as somewhat gray. To put it another way, a good review quote for the album cover might be, “Eh, it’s alright.” So Stars won’t be making any new friends with this spirit-themed album. A couple highlights do come in the form of tracks like “Changes” and “I Died So I Could Haunt You”, but for the most part results are sketchy at best. Here’s to hoping that yet again Stars can keep their ears to the ground and find a fresher, more adventurous path to take next time around. If not, their visibility as a good Canadian indie pop band might just disappear like the spirits in their album title.

Stars – We Don’t Want Your Body

Buy “The Five Ghosts” from Amazon

Album Review: Foals – Total Life Forever [Sub Pop/Warner Bros/Transgressive]

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On 06/21/2010

In album review, mp3, music

For those living in Europe, the new Foals album “Total Life Forever” has been out for at least a month now. On U.S. shores, it arrived last week with surprisingly little attention paid to it. This after Foals built up a small storm of hype before the release of their 2008 debut album “Antidotes” and didn’t quite make good on the initial promise their couple singles seemed to display. When they did get it right, they did so with sheer energy and math rock-infused guitar work, punching up more hooks than you knew what to do with. Songs like “Mathletics”, “Balloons” and “Hummer” all hit as hard as they needed to and got people’s attention, but as with so many bands these days, that attention was quickly diverted. As suddenly as they had appeared, Foals again disappeared.

Though it should be, “Total Life Forever” is not the kick in the crotch that Foals so richly deserve. In this metaphor, “kick in the crotch” is intended to imply a good thing, insomuch that your full and undivided attention is given to anyone who does so (despite the pain it might cause). The root cause of this apparent lack of hype surrounding Foals these days might have something to do with the adjustment they’ve made to their sound compared to two years ago. Whether or not the public’s own tastes have changed (in two years? probably.) is up for debate as well. The highly energetic, almost danceable approach that the band took on their first album, complete with vocals that were more yelps than actual singing, have been all but eliminated on “Total Life Forever”. Instead of that, the record has primarily mid-tempo, occasionally spacey songs with tuneful singing. It’s a legitimate step forwards for a band that initially came off as fun and simplistic rather than smart and complicated. To put it another way, Foals have come a long way in two years to prove that they’re able-bodied and up to the challenge of holding down a long and hopefully lucrative career making music.

You notice things are different right from the very start of the album’s opening track “Blue Blood”. The tempo is slower than the quick speed punches that peppered the band’s debut, and frontman Yannis Philippakis proves he can do more with a vocal track than just shout random phrases. By the time the song crosses the 5 minute mark there’s an even fuller sense of surprise given that much of the first album featured songs that rarely ventured longer than 4 minutes. In fact, nearly half of the 11 songs on “Total Life Forever” actually make it beyond 5 minutes, and 3 of those songs even go 6 minutes or longer. Despite these surprisingly exorbitant track lengths, very little of the album feels stretched or boring. Plus, there’s a fair share of songs that maintain a normal length, and many of them could function as singles. “The Orient” and “Miami” are already two tracks that have been released as individual singles in Europe, but so has the brilliant “Spanish Sahara”, the longest song on the album which clocks in at around 7 minutes long. In all, these songs have a much looser and relaxed feel compared to the almost vacuum-packed tightness that dominated their earlier stuff. Whereas the “Antidotes” material attempted to ensure that not a second of music was wasted, by allowing the new songs to breathe a little bit more, we get a new side of the band and everything feels much more organic and natural. There are moments, in particular on the second half of the record, where some of the songs get a little too spaced out or lack a wholly compelling hook. If you are looking for hooks though, there are plenty to be found, though none grab you quite as firmly as they did on the last album. Considering the trade-off is a more mature album with legitimate singing and a strong emotional core, the end justifies the means.

Without a doubt, Foals could have made another energized math rock record in their sleep. It probably would have been enjoyable, but ultimately forgettable, similar to how their debut “Antidotes” failed to keep the spotlight focused on the band for more than a few months after its release. “Total Life Forever”, by contrast, is the smart move they needed to make to survive. Of course that’s likely to turn off fans of that first album who might be upset by the more languid pacing and decreased use of the staccato guitars that math rock is typically defined by. Hopefully you stick with Foals though, because the new record is the best thing they’ve done to date. It’s just a shame this album isn’t getting more attention, at least from what I’ve seen and heard these last couple months. While it doesn’t quite rank among the absolute best things 2010 has had to offer so far, it’s definitely close. Where Foals will head next with their sound is anybody’s guess, but for the moment they’re right where they need to be.

Foals – Spanish Sahara (Deadboy Remix)

Buy “Total Life Forever” from Amazon

Album Review: Viernes – Sinister Devices [Kanine]

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On 06/16/2010

In album review, BNM, mp3, music

The band Viernes is the Florida-based duo of Sean Moore and Alberto Hernandez. They’re two friends with musical inclinations who decided to get together every Friday and mess around with various sounds and sonic textures to see what they could create. Those weekly sessions, combined with a knowledge of rudimentary Spanish, should tell you exactly how they chose the name Viernes. As for the sound that emerged from those experiments, well, they make up the tracks you’ll find on their debut album “Sinister Devices”, which came out last week. Also a case of what’s-in-a-name, the album title, along with its white smoke with undertones of red cover should give you a relatively accurate idea of what mood you’ll come out of these recordings with.

As the glo-fi subgenre continues to make waves among hype peddlers most everywhere, the consistent movement towards electronica has inspired plenty of other types of music to incorporate computer-generated beats and sounds into their repertoire. One of the newer and fresher products to emerge from this of late is a movement being called electrogaze, or dreamhop. The basic idea is to use the dark, washed out guitars of shoegaze and combine them with dreamy electronic landscapes. As a natural cousin to all this, psychedelia also plays an important role in the sound, and if you like to listen to music while on “enhanced substances”, you might find electrogaze very much to your liking. But that most basically defines what Viernes is all about on “Sinister Devices”, crafting shimmering and ethereal melodies often mixed with vocal harmonies that have earned them comparisons to bands like Liars, The Radio Dept., Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective. The wealth of instruments they use across the album is impressive as well, because for all the odd electronic squelches and heavy My Bloody Valentine-esque guitars, the splashes of piano, xylophones, horns and a host of other musical devices are what turn these very good melodies into amazing ones. That, along with the way each track unfurls in an entirely unpredictable and challenging way is further testament to just how smart these guys really are as musicians. There may not be any hooks to officially speak of, given the album’s complete shunning of the traditional verse-chorus-verse structure, but a song like “Sinister Love”, where the same phrase gets repeated over and over again can be equally as compelling and memorable. You also get a couple flat-out instrumental tracks on the record, which serve less as stopgaps between singing and more as continuations of the hazy beauty established by those glorious harmonies. Put together in its entirety, “Sinister Devices” provides one album-length journey into lands of darkness and dreams. Wonderful only begins to describe it.

Some might see “Sinister Devices” as an unfocused and formless piece of wallpaper. The complaint is understandable, but those who argue it are either missing the point or tend to have a tough time with songs that lack obvious choruses. Each song works as a solid piece of music unto itself, but the real experience here is listening to the album front to back in one sitting. There are layers and hidden pieces that reveal themselves through time and patience, which is largely why the repeat value on this record is so high. From a purely lyrical perspective, most of the songs will feature a few words or phrases repeated throughout, so in some respects that lacks depth, but like Sleigh Bells does, the words don’t matter so much as the way they’re presented. Viernes says that their songs are about many things such as fear and tragedy or love and money. The lyrics don’t so much drive that point home, but the dreamy soundscapes do. And that’s the point – to let the instruments do the talking for you. It may not be the brightest and most upbeat album in the world, and it can certainly be challenging at times, but “Sinister Devices” more than earns its keep through dynamic and darkly beautiful compositions. Given the lack of press surrounding this album so far, it may be destined to become one of this year’s hidden gems. Don’t let it pass you by without at least stopping for a taste.

Viernes – Entire Empire
Viernes – Honest Parade

Buy “Sinister Devices” from Amazon

Album Review: Tokyo Police Club – Champ [Mom & Pop]

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On 06/15/2010

In album review, mp3, music

Tokyo Police Club is a band that really got their legs thanks to the proliferation of music blogs around the mid-00s. Their fast-paced and hook-filled indie pop with a punk edge was particularly easy to like, as were the couple of EPs they released prior to their debut album, 2008’s “Elephant Shell”. That debut full length record showed a remarkable progression for a band whose lighthearted and speedy melodies earned them a fairly rabid fan base early on. The songs may have still clocked in at under 3 minutes apiece for the most part, but the lyrics took on heavier topics and the tempos slowed a bit to accomodate that. There were also more intricate and carefully crafted melodies, which still had enough hooks in them to keep old fans satisfied while bringing in new ones. Still, pieces of “Elephant Shell” felt too restrained or coldly calculated, whereas their earlier EPs seemed to hold a “live fast and die young” mentality to them. That Tokyo Police Club are still around and making relevant music when you halfway expected them to be burned out or relegated to the pile of “formerly hyped” artists is something of a testament to their continued evolution and drive to prove their worth. Their second album “Champ” came out last week, and it’s something of a course correction from their last effort.

The first track on “Champ” is “Favourite Food”, and initially the most noticeable thing about it is that it’s almost 4 minutes long. That’s almost double the length of many of their older songs, and the slowed down tempo is a little different as well. Singer David Monks also seems to have gotten more emotionally gritty in his vocal performance. He sounds like the world has put him through lots of tragedy and now he’s singing tales about his experiences. Despite that initial impression, one of the better things about this new album is that TPC are loosening up again and removing some of that completely serious vibe that was all over much of “Elephant Shell”. Songs like “Favourite Colour” and “Breakneck Speed” wax nostalgic over the best (and worst) memories of earlier years, when you’d mess around, get into trouble and ask the most trivial of things to your friends. While none of the new songs have that raw punk energy that was so omnipresent on their earliest material, many of them are have a faster tempo than the stuff on the last album. There’s also hooks galore that’ll stick with you long after the record is over. First single “Wait Up (Boots of Danger)” is a fun little number that features a chorus of “Wooo”s that makes it understandably easy to sing along with. And while a song like “Not Sick” is actually a little slow for these guys, what it lacks in tempo it more than makes up for in Monks’ upbeat lyrics and vocal performance, taking the track and it’s bouncy synth melody from simply nice to heartfelt and joyous. It’s that sort of sheer moxy that separates Tokyo Police Club from their similar indie pop counterparts – with a turn of a phrase and a simiple vocal performance or harmony, a song can go from good to great.

While the ultimate success or failure of Tokyo Police Club’s debut “Elephant Shell” was largely based on heightened expectations from the band’s early EPs, “Champ” no longer has such pressure to deal with. With nobody exactly sure where the band would go on their new album, what they delivered on was a continued evolution of their sound. Such a move was absolutely necessary, and it keeps the band relevant amid a large collection of other bands looking to capitalize on something similar. For a group that makes music this compelling, it still begs the question as to why they’ve not yet achieved a larger scale, more mainstream success by this point in time. Tokyo Police Club have proven they’re up to the challenge, and though they may not be the most inventive or original band out there, that their songs stand out due to smaller things like vocal performances or lyrics or simple hooks. “Champ” is one of their best arguments in favor of that, and it’s definitely worth listening to if intelligent indie pop is something you actively enjoy. It’s certainly good enough to keep your interest in this band for at least another couple years, just to see what they’ll pull out of their collective sleeves next.

Tokyo Police Club – Wait Up (Boots of Danger) (via Pitchfork)

Buy “Champ” from Amazon

Album Review: Here We Go Magic – Pigeons [Secretly Canadian]

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On 06/09/2010

In album review, mp3, music

When Luke Temple first started to work on this new project he called Here We Go Magic, it was just him alone in a recording studio, writing and crafting the songs which eventually came together to form last year’s self-titled debut. The sound, given that Temple was by himself with only a looping pedal for a friend, was decidedly lo-fi and very folk-pop with a world beat/noise pop edge to it. Don’t you dare call that a bad thing, because when it results in songs as good as “Fangela” and “Tunnelvision”, you come to acknowledge Temple as the smart songwriter that he truly is. Well, in order to take these songs on tour and perform them with any sort of reasonable accuracy, Temple brought four of his friends on board, and they’ve stuck around to the point where they’re now full-fledged members of the band and contributing their collective skills towards a new Here We Go Magic album. That new album is titled “Pigeons” and it’s available for you to pick up starting this week.

Despite signing to Secretly Canadian and most likely having a bigger recording budget, the first noticeable thing about “Pigeons” is how well it maintains the cheaper, lo-fi vibe the debut had. None of these songs are too smooth or overproduced, and given the style they’re working in, that’s a good thing. It’d be untrue to the established spirit and vibe of the songs to make them come through with crystal clarity. But considering that Here We Go Magic is now a five-piece band, there is a marked increase in the overall fullness of sound, along with a stylistic shift to accomodate for that. With its odd combination of drum machine, dominating bass and messy keyboards, “Hibernation” is something of an odd choice as the opening track, but it works in the weirdest and best way possible. Where this beefed up version of the band really gets going though is on first single “Collector”, which a beautifully composed piece of guitar pop that’s light as air and has the great potential to stick in your head for days on end. “Casual”‘s use of synths and acoustic guitar makes for surprisingly effective balladry, primarily invoking the very relaxed vibe of its title. With its decidedly psychedelic vibe replete with a small backing choir, portions of “Surprise” are working from the book of Pink Floyd, and there’s a lot the song gets right. It does feel like there’s something just barely missing, but the song is still about as effective as it needs to be. “Bottom Feeder” attempts to move in an alt-country direction, and Temple’s vocals anchor it down as he attempts his best Neil Young. The thing about it is that for an album that’s been highly interesting up until that point, this straightforward, Plain Jane track has the variety but not creativity this record needs. By looping a guitar and bass line and singing over it, “Moon” returns to the psychedelia established two tracks earlier, and makes you wonder exactly why it wasn’t sandwiched next to “Surprise” rather than separated by the clunky and unimportant “Bottom Feeder”. Other than that, the bouncy “Old World United” boasts some strong keyboard work, and “F.F.A.P.” proves that Temple can give an emotionally arresting vocal performance in the quiet spaces between the prog-riddled guitars. For the freak folk inside all of us, the record’s last two tracks “Vegetable or Native” and “Herbie I Love You, Now I Know” are both very percussion-heavy and make use of plenty of non-drum instruments to keep the beat. It seems a little odd to end your album on an instrumental after everything else has had lyrics, but given how well the last couple songs blend with one another, you could just regard “Herbie…” as an extension of the track before it.

Perhaps surprisingly, “Pigeons” feels less like a step forwards for Here We Go Magic and more like a re-evaluation of what was already there. There is certainly a constant between the self-titled debut and the new album with the psychedelic pop bent, but given the much fuller and occasionally richer sound that the additional members now bring to the fold, it sounds almost like the work of an entirely different band. It’s enough to make you wonder how the performance of a sparse old song like “Fangela” has changed now that there are more people to play around with it. The best decision you can probably make is to view “Pigeons” as the start of something brand new for Here We Go Magic. Whereas they were once a caterpillar, they’ve now evolved into a butterfly. Considering this could be the album – and “Collector” could be the song – that catapults this band into indie stardom, such a metaphor is that much more apt. Viewing “Pigeons” completely on its own and without any history involved, it is a generally solid and exciting record. There are a couple small missteps, adding some flaws to an otherwise pristine shine, but the majority of the album works like gangbusters. Pick up a copy if it sounds like your sort of thing.

Here We Go Magic – Collector

Buy “Pigeons” from Secretly Canadian

Album Review: Against Me! – White Crosses [Sire]

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On 06/08/2010

In album review, music

Against Me! made the jump to major record label Sire in 2007. It was then that they released their album “New Wave”, which caught the attention of a whole new fan base and earned critical acclaim from just about everyone who reviewed it (including myself). It was clear at the time that Against Me! was a punk band with heart and a workmanlike ethos that put them in league to become stadium-sized giants as perhaps a new generation’s Bruce Springsteen. “New Wave” signaled an advancement not only for the band, but for punk rock in general, with a movement towards earnest and smartly composed songs that went beyond your traditional 3-chord, verse-chorus-verse structure. These were songs about tough times and tough people, just trying to earn a buck in a frustrated America that had lost its way. Though the recession hadn’t yet hit, somehow the songs still felt like they spoke to the mood of not only the country but the world in general, weary and trying to scrape by. The songs themselves weren’t raw and dirty punk tunes, but rather smooth anthems to ignite the disenfranchised. It was also the album that alienated much of the band’s early fans, who felt they were trading in their hardcore roots to sell out and go “mainstream”. If those fans had any hope that Against Me! would return to their rough-edged beginnings, all hope is now completely dashed with the release of their new album “White Crosses” this week.

Apparently Against Me! liked the raves and increased fan base that “New Wave” provided them, which is why “White Crosses” feels cut from a similar cloth. There’s still a strong Springsteen-leaning base, and as far as anthems go, you could do a whole lot worse than the opening title track followed by first single “I Was A Teenage Anarchist”. Both are energized, big songs that can play really well with big crowds. Lots of devil horns and jumping around, even if they are far less rebellious and tough-sounding than most of the older Against Me! material. After those first two tracks though, things start to get a little scary. Opening with some light piano (?!) and developing into a chorus that feels like it’s ripping off Springsteen’s “Born to Run” almost directly, “Because of the Shame” is so light and friendly I almost feel like they took the meaning of its title literally. That being said, it’s still surprisingly enjoyable and memorable, so hopefully the softer nature of the song doesn’t turn you off too much. The thing is, this easy and breezy version of the band sticks around for the majority of “White Crosses”, pulling them even farther in the opposite direction from their early stuff than ever before. The middle of the album is peppered with ballads that primarily require Tom Gabel to actually sing rather than scream his moral outrage, and at some point Against Me! begins to sound like they’re handicapping themselves. The song “Ache With Me” is a simplistic acoustic ballad complete with vocal harmonies and a backing symphony, and that girl you know who likes Switchfoot or Lifehouse will like this too. Or maybe it’s just a product of getting older and wanting to create songs that aren’t so hotly charged in both tempo and lyrics. Speaking of lyrics, Gabel may have run out of meaningful things to say, as cliches and big themes are what he sings about all over the album. Politics, once a very hot topic for the band, are all but absent across the album, replaced by personal stories of childhood, romance and the calmer realities of today. The choruses are especially hurt by this, but really they work to the band’s advantage when it comes to having crowds sing along with them. Even if you haven’t heard a single song on this new album, if they play the new stuff live you should be able to join in on the hooks after the first time through.

Should you decide to buy “White Crosses”, the deluxe edition may be the way to go. There are four bonus tracks on that version, and by and at least two of them are better than majority of the regular album. At the very least,.a song like “Bob Dylan Dream” is interesting because it incorporates the lo-fi recording style and trademark harmonica of Dylan himself, while Gabel talks about what his life might be like were he friends with the man. Perhaps the most telling and best of the bonus tracks though is “One By One”, which is an angry punk song closest to what the band used to do. There’s a part in which Gabel says, “Where do we go from here/when the rebels lose the spirit of rebellion?/You’ve got nowhere left to go”. More than likely he wasn’t speaking about himself or his band, but the music on “White Crosses” seems to suggest otherwise. It’s the sound of a band kicking its past to the curb in favor of a future in which they play big stadiums and make a somewhat decent buck to support their families. Everybody in the band is right around 30 years old, and while that’s still a very young age by most standards, the body just doesn’t keep up as well when you’re leaving blood and sweat all over the stage each night. That, and with age you grow wiser and that rebellious spirit you once had may seem like a foolish choice now. Whatever the reason, Against Me! have continued to mellow, even moreso than on “New Wave” to pander to their newer, larger fan base that came along with that last record. “White Crosses” is easy to listen to, and largely forgettable. It starts off with a healthy bang but quickly descends into something blander and mediocre. Those who’ve discovered the band through “New Wave” and haven’t really investigated their back catalogue might still find plenty to like with this new album, but everyone else might want to beware for there’s much lighter fare ahead.

Buy “White Crosses” from Amazon

Album Review: Suckers – Wild Smile [Frenchkiss]

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On 06/07/2010

In album review, mp3, music

The Brooklyn band Suckers is in the right place at the right time. Aside from calling New York their home, as so many breakout bands have done lately, Suckers also wear their influences proudly on their sleeves. And they don’t model their sound after crappy bands. One listen to the band’s 2009 self-titled EP would point bring to mind David Bowie or Modest Mouse, and maybe even a little bit of Animal Collective. In other words, Suckers aren’t playing around. After signing to Frenchkiss Records following that debut EP, they’re finally out with their first full length album this week, titled “Wild Smile”.

What “Wild Smile” has to offer you is a clever little game where you try and pick out what a particular song sounds similar to. Sometimes it’s as simple as “Black Sheep”, which is like TV on the Radio if they were a louder, brasher psych-pop band. Other times it’s as challenging as the 6-minute album opener “Save Your Love for Me”, which moves from a pre-“Moon and Antarctica” Modest Mouse vibe to a mid-80s David Bowie and into classic Prince with lead vocalist Quinn Walker adopting a falsetto that he nails but makes you question if it’s a smart move. You know the phrase “there’s a fine line between clever and stupid”? Sometimes across this album it feels like that applies to Suckers. The falsetto makes a couple other appearances on the album, and each time it feels just a little out of place despite its overall strength. If you’ve got it, flaunt it I guess. Vocals aside, there’s more than a few 80s synth-pop baiting tunes on the album, but there’s also a severe psychedelic angle the band tries to take for a few tracks, and that’s closer cousins with an Animal Collective, MGMT or Yeasayer. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that Yeasayer’s own Anand Wilder produced “Wild Smile”, along with the band’s debut EP. The vocal harmonies and occasional tribal drumming are where Wilder’s push is apparent, and that’s not always a bad thing.

The problem with “Wild Smile” is in its execution. The sequencing of the album is very precise to evoke certain moods and play to the strength of certain possible singles, but despite doing the best they can, the record simply does not flow. Chances are no matter what order the tracks were in, it still wouldn’t flow properly. There’s too much sonic disparagement across the wide range of influences this band is pushing. In other words, they’re trying to play to multiple genres and influences at the same time, and what results is an unfocused and slightly frustrating record. When you go from the chant along Modest Mouse-ian single “It Gets Your Body Movin'” to a light Afropop Vampire Weekend-y song like “Martha” to the synth-laden Walkmen-esque “King of Snakes”, there are some disconnects along the way. That, plus while you’re looking for all the different influences on these songs, you come to the realization that while these songs are compelling and generally engaging to listen to, they’re not as good as the actual source material Suckers are drawing from.

That said, “Wild Smile” is by no means a bad album. In fact, it’s quite good. Taken song by song, single by single, there’s plenty to like and plenty that will stick in your head for days and possibly weeks. Suckers know how to write a compelling melody and hooks, and ignoring their garden’s variety of influences or the occasional odd falsetto, you could easily find this among the better things released recently. They do try and pull off some challenging melodies, and for the most part succeed, even if it turns out slightly weaker than some of the artists they’re trying to pay homage to. Keeping in mind that this is their full length debut, Suckers are setting themselves up for a potentially great career ahead. Now if only they’d make a firm decision on their musical style and stick with it for more than a couple tracks.

Suckers – It Gets Your Body Movin’ (EP Version)

Buy “Wild Smile” from Amazon

Album Review: Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles (II) [Fiction/Last Gang/Universal Motown]

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On 06/03/2010

In album review, BNM, music

Crystal Castles is a duo that’s immensely difficult to like. They go out of their way to make divisive and challenging electronica music, and as a result many of their choices are blatantly uncommercial and tough to sit through. It’s not quite on the level of listening to somebody get stabbed to death on tape, but many of the songs do have frayed, jagged edges and attempt to violate your ears before asking permission to do so. Disturbing as that might sound, and you can get that feeling just listening to it, there’s also a strange brilliance to it pushing on you demanding that it not be ignored. They seem interested in taking things to the next level sonically, and across their two albums, they seem to have succeeded. That success has come at a cost though, and the blame primarily lies on Crystal Castles themselves. In support of their debut self-titled album, there were a few incidents at shows where singer Alice Glass or other touring members got into physical altercations with security guards, venue staff or fans. Their anger management issues earned them a fair share of detractors, but they were essentially doing what they do in their music, which means not taking shit from anybody.

Almost as if inviting you to be confused, Crystal Castles have chosen to make their second album self-titled after their first one already was. To avoid confusion, just be aware that the new album features a young girl standing in a graveyard. That cover very much hints at what the music associated with it sounds like. A number of the tracks are haunting and scary, with a fair amount of menace hovering over the entire record. Compared to their debut record, what’s lost is a fair amount of the brash in-your-face punk aesthetic, traded in for something decidedly more cohesive and ambient. The move in that direction is a smart one, as the chiptune, 8-bit lo-fi electro compositions that littered their first album are now seen as something of a lynchpin introduction to the genre of music so many are called glo-fi or chillwave or whatever. Crystal Castles could very well have followed up with a similar sounding album, but that would have meant continuing to play along with a sonic style that has become one of the hottest trends in music today. Ethan Kath and Alice Glass prefer to always be forward-thinking, and they prove their mettle with the new album. The 8-bit compositions are still present, but not nearly as much as before, and the jekyll and hyde approach of feedback-laden guitar songs placed next to more quieter material has almost entirely disappeared as well. In fact, outside of the opening track “Fainting Spells” and closer “I Am Made of Chalk”, much of the rest of the album is surprisingly easy to take in and embrace as dance floor fodder. That might give some reason to pause and consider whether Crystal Castles have gone soft, but there are just enough fucked up elements in most every track to capture your imagination and create something that’s just uncommercial enough to give you a moment of pause.

One of the most exciting things about any individual Crystal Castles song is to hear exactly what has been done to Alice Glass’s vocals. On opener “Fainting Spells” she moves close to chipmunk territory by increasing the pitch and speed of her singing. She’s completely indecipherable and screaming mindlessly on the guitar-heavy “Doe Deer”, which with its lo-fi leanings is probably the closest sonic match to something from Crystal Castles’ debut album. Given that the distorted synth in that song is pulled from an old unreleased song, it makes more sense why it’d sound like their earlier stuff. “Year of Silence” foregoes Glass’s vocals to sample a line from Sigur Ros’ “Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur” – to good effect. On “Violent Dreams”, Glass takes her vocals into the extremely deep and booming male voice range, to the point where her singing is reminiscent of Karin Dreijer’s on a number of songs by The Knife and Fever Ray. “Not In Love” works the vocal angle between computerized singing and employing Auto-Tune, and it’s far more interesting than you might expect. But the most fascinating few tracks are when the vocals act as background fodder for the other instruments and not vice versa. “Birds” and “Intimate” both shove Glass’s vocals so far back in the mix that her words are completely indecipherable, and everything else sounds louder and up front. When “I Am Made of Chalk” arrives to close out the album, you’re left questioning whether the song has vocals at all. What it sounds like is somebody trying to sing you a song while they’re underwater and you’re above the surface, only they’re drowning in a digital sea. It’s an immensely strange way to end an overall strange album, but so oddly appropriate at the exact same time.

Fans of the first Crystal Castles album might find themselves having a hard time dealing with the slight shift in sonic direction for this sophmore effort. What the new album lacks in harsh, cutting moments it more than makes up for with stronger overall compositions and thematic solidarity. On top of it, they’re still trying to push the envelope and try new things to advance the state of electronica as we know it. They’re succeeding too, and even those who were turned off by the first album or their controversial live show might consider giving this duo a second chance. Those who’ve completely ignored Crystal Castles up to this point might also be wise to give them a try. Here’s a group, controversial though they might be, that has clearly shown after two albums that they more than know what they’re doing. Like The Knife’s “Silent Shout”, the second Crystal Castles album is a dark and moody masterpiece that will more than likely spawn a host of imitators in the coming years. If you’re willing to give it a fair shot, it might just wind up one of your favorite albums of the year. I know it’s one of mine.

Buy “Crystal Castles” (II) from Amazon
Buy it from iTunes

Album Review: The Futureheads – The Chaos [Nul/Dovecote]

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On 06/01/2010

In album review, mp3, music

Around the grand year of 2004, there was a sharp influx of British bands making waves on U.S. shores. Call it a mini or secondary British invasion, but with bands such as Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party leading the way with stellar debut albums, this “angular” movement quickly gained momentum. As we saw in the years that followed, that momentum quickly petered out thanks to poorly crafted sophmore albums and the ever-changing tastes of music fans. The Futureheads were part of this group of British bands, and while they may not have gotten quite the press that some of their counterparts did, their self-titled debut album was nothing to scoff at. In certain circles, primarily critical ones, The Futureheads were a beloved band whose energetic punk style and effortless vocal harmonies made them unique and fun. That their most talked about moment to date is their cover of Kate Bush’s “Hounds of Love” is something of a testament to how quickly their star rose and faded, even if their second album 2006’s “News & Tributes” wasn’t bad. That record was a bit slower and broader than their debut, and fans responded with timidity and indifference. The band’s last record “This Is Not The World” took an even further step away from the unique sound of their debut in favor of going as broad and pop friendly as possible. It was a gambit that failed admirably, and though they may not have faded into obscurity as a result of it, the album definitely didn’t do them any favors. With their new album “The Chaos”, The Futureheads seem to be looking to turn things around and get back to basics.

The most noticeable thing about “The Chaos” on first listen is that the songs are faster, leaner and more experimental than most of their past two albums combined. That’s apparent right from the get-go, when the opening song and title track counts you down with a “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Let’s Go!” and proceeds to speed through 4 minutes with a vigor The Futureheads haven’t done in awhile. “Struck Dumb” fares even better as it incorporates more of the band’s trademark harmonies and witty lyrics while also keeping you slightly off balance and wondering where the next left turn will be. Unfortunately the 2.5 minutes of “Heartbeat Song” come next, and the more tempered and radio-friendly side of the band rears its ugly head once again. The song’s not terrible, but it’s probably the weakest thing that this album has to offer. One of the more exciting tracks comes in the form of “The Connector”, which functions much like a carefully crafted circuit that gets hit with a shout’s worth of vocal harmoniy every few seconds. It makes for one of the more memorable and exciting Futureheads songs to date. Where a song like “I Can Do That” goes wrong is by combining some fast-paced guitar chords with a chorus that repeats the song’s title over and over again. It’s eerily reminiscent of the Kaiser Chiefs, and this band is better than that. A solid guitar solo and halfway decent verses help but don’t completely pull the track out of the gutter. The same goes for “Sun Goes Down”, though the final minute of the song which descends into fuzzed out madness complete with screaming is a welcome twist. Much of the rest of “The Chaos” is classic first album Futureheads, replete with energy, bursts of great harmonies, and curveballs when it comes to song structure. They have an uncanny ability to throw you for a loop and then wrap up a song just as you’re starting to get your bearings straight. If this album has one clear standout highlight, you’ve got to wait until the very end to hear it. The first 40 seconds of “Jupiter” are done completely a capella before guitars come in and bring an odd energy to the song only made odder by the harmonies that develop out of the verses as if the band’s been struck by ADD momentarily. There’s a breakdown at the end of the song where everything comes to a stop and you’re left with just a slow, quiet vocal, but things burst to life once again for one last slap through the chorus before shutting down completely. That, combined with the 90 seconds of pure a capella that serves as a hidden track make up the most brilliant 6 minutes The Futureheads have given us to date. It’s exciting, unpredictable stuff that’s energized and thrilling and gives a clearer picture as to what smart direction the band could move towards next.

Don’t call it a comeback just yet, though The Futureheads never really left in the first place, but “The Chaos” provides a clear reminder of exactly why this band got noticed in the first place. It may be a return to form, and in fact some might view it as the band trying to reclaim their past, but what this record really has to offer is both the acknowledgment by the band that they’re now fully aware of where their strengths lie, and also a few ideas of where they could head in the future. For fans of the band that felt let down by the past couple albums because they didn’t live up to the promise of the first one, now might be a good time to have another look at The Futureheads. They’re not quite operating at the absolutely brilliant level of their debut as there are some shades of the last two records still hanging about, but it’s a remarkable show of strength by a band that many had abandoned after the broader and simpler material just wasn’t their fancy. Should you be new to this party and have yet to discover what The Futureheads are offering, now seems as good of a time as any to get on board with these guys and their manic punk sensibilities. “The Chaos” is a fun record almost all the way through, and the title provides much truth in advertising as well. Invest yourself in a copy of it should you be so inclined.

The Futureheads – Struck Dumb

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P.S. – The Futureheads are currently on a short U.S. tour. If you’re able, go see them live!

The Futureheads U.S. Tour Dates:
June 2 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
June 3 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
June 4 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
June 5 – Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwells
June 7 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
June 8 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
June 10 – Toronto, ONT @ Mod Club
June 11 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
June 12 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall

Album Review: Karen Elson – The Ghost Who Walks [XL/Third Man]

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On 05/27/2010

In album review, mp3, music

The unmistakable truth, and what will get the absolute most attention when talking about Karen Elson is that she’s married to the brilliant Jack White. Would she be releasing her debut solo album “The Ghost Who Walks” this week were White not involved? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve the musical success that’s already coming her way. Elson is also a model, and considering looking pretty is her full time job there’s plenty more people who will probably think she’s got little to no discerning talent otherwise. Well, that might be generalizing a bit too much. What many probably won’t hear or read is that Elson also has a healthy background in music. She plays guitar skillfully and has been a part of two bands: the Cabaret group Citizens Band and also a garage punk band called Mildred and the Mice. Those two projects are quite stylistically different from one another, and so it makes you wonder exactly what a Karen Elson solo record would sound like. Well, after playing a few songs she wrote for her husband, he insisted that she make an album and set about putting that in motion. White recruited many of his friends to help out, and he took care of the percussion work, as he does in The Dead Weather. The result is Elson’s solo debut “The Ghost Who Walks”, which is available now.

Stylistically speaking, “The Ghost Who Walks” might best be classified as an alt-country record. That’s not completely accurate though, as there are a number of songs done in a more traditional folk or American roots sound that tends to work in a dramatic and sweeping (but still cohesive) fashion. The opening title track is a darkly tinged murder ballad that’s made hauntingly beautiful by the addition of electric piano. That electric piano pops up again on a couple other tracks, as does everything from a fiddle to a steel pedal guitar to an accordion and a theremin. In fact, much of the album sounds great and is very well put together, most likely a product of Jack White producing the album and bringing in other talents to help flesh these songs out properly. The more sparsely constructed acoustic-dominant tracks like “Lunasa” and “The Last Laugh” serve as better showcases for Elson’s talents both vocally and instrumentally. Her darkly haunting vocal performance is enchanting for much of the record, even if it’s not nearly as strong as some of her contemporaries like Neko Case or Hope Sandoval. Where the record really runs into problems is when it comes to memorability. Gorgeous though they might be, in particular the final three tracks, none of the songs really stick with you once they’re over. After repeated listens, many of the tracks even start to blend together, and with little to no compelling hooks to latch onto, the whole thing becomes one formless blob. That lack of distinction is what turns a potentially great album into a merely good one. Still, this album does make it clear that Elson is a good enough musician to deserve a record deal, though one does wonder how strong of an album she might make if left only to her own devices. Maybe her husband will be too busy with his 10 million other side projects to help her out the next time around. Then we’ll see how far her talents really reach.

Karen Elson – The Ghost Who Walks

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Album Review: Beach Fossils – Beach Fossils [Captured Tracks]

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On 05/26/2010

In album review, mp3, music

As everyone is salivating for the warm months of summer that are right within our reach, the hunt also begins for the singular album that best translates such a wonderful season into audio form. The ideal summer record is light, fun and breezy – something you can listen to while laying out by the pool or on the sands of a nearby beach. Typically a search of this sort takes time, though many are content enough to find themselves a hit single on the radio and simply play that over the next few months. For those a little more invested though, the band Beach Fossils might be a good place to start. Their self-titled debut album came out this week and it’s filled with exactly the sort of things that make these next few months so great.

Beach Fossils started out in 2009 as the solo project of Dustin Payseur, who quickly recruited a couple other guys to help him out not only in the live shows, but to provide much needed additional guitar parts, drums and vocal harmonies to his relatively sparse songs. The band was in place and armed with a record’s worth of songs when they entered the studio, so there’s no confusion with the thought that Payseur might have done everything entirely on his own. The songs are still very thinly constructed, but that’s not intended to suggest they’re weak, but rather light on overall instruments. Many of the tracks on the album are built around a single, cleanly picked electric guitar, a bass that follows along nicely, and drums that generally stay out of the way. There are no chords, nor are there many songs that offer anything in the way of a traditional verse-chorus-verse structure. The guitars often establish a melody and then repeat it in an almost looped fashion for the entirety of a song while Payseur’s reverb-soaked vocals create the real melody. The guy’s not exactly the best singer in the world, and neither are his band mates who are often featured doubling up his vocals or providing (one assumes) purposely messy harmonies. The songwriting is also just a little bit lazy, not offering much beyond the stories and emotions the song titles might suggest. There’s very little deeper meaning to be found here, but keep in mind that’s also the point.

What Beach Fossils achieve on their debut is something memorable and enjoyable you don’t have to think about too much. Whether it’s the constantly repeating guitar loops or the creative vocal style, there’s a high likelihood of at least a song or two getting stuck in your head for awhile. Most of the album is just light and breezy though, and while that may not make it one of the best albums of the year, what it lacks in sheer brilliance it more than makes up for in easily digestible, fun melodies. You can turn this on and not have a care in the world. Its lo-fi leanings and hot weather vibe are eerily reminiscent of the band Real Estate (who they’ve toured with before), but pay close enough attention at times and you’ll hear occasional bits that are very New Order-esque as well. “Beach Fossils” could very well be your summer record, and as we prepare for Memorial Day weekend, put this album on as you’re firing up the grill and see what it does for you.

Beach Fossils – Youth

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Album Review: Stone Temple Pilots – Stone Temple Pilots [Atlantic]

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On 05/25/2010

In album review, music

Let’s not sugar-coat or try to fool ourselves here: the main reason for Stone Temple Pilots’ existence thus far has been drugs. The drugs have come to define them, or at the very least singer Scott Weiland, who has been notoriously in and out of rehab for the better part of the last 20 years. Amid all the use of illicit substances though, STP gained notoriety in the 90s for writing a few great classic rock-inspired albums that just so happened to fit in quite well with the discordant grunge atmosphere at the time. That they lasted as long as they did before finally breaking up in 2002 is a little surprising given their troubled and tempramental history, but they were also smart enough to realize that they were all better together than they were apart. Further evidence of this came after that inital break-up, when Weiland graduated to mediocre supergroup Velvet Revolver and the DeLeo brothers went on to form the bland Army of Anyone with Filter’s Richard Patrick. After both projects became tedious and unproductive, Stone Temple Pilots reunited in 2008 for some touring and presumably to cash in on their legacy. The reunion train had long been rolling on a number of other notable bands from the 90s, and given how financially lucrative that was for them, STP could hardly be blamed for wanting theirs.

The thing about that first reunion tour was that despite Weiland and the rest of the band behaving themselves and staying away from drugs, things were still shaky both inside the band and in their relationship with fans. Early reports were that the band looked sluggish and bored on stage, and that Weiland’s vocals were sub-par compared to years ago. Add this to Weiland’s insistence that he continue to work on and complete his solo record “Happy in Galoshes” before even considering new STP material, and nobody was really happy. There was also plenty of record label drama, with Atlantic claiming the band still owed them albums on their contract. The band disagreed and wanted to release any new music on their own, but a lawsuit left them stuck with Atlantic who they’re now much more “comfortable” working with. Nobody ever said that STP didn’t do things with the maximum amount of drama. Anyways, after a 10-month recording process in which the DeLeo brothers wrote and recorded all the guitar parts before Weiland started piecing together lyrics and vocals, a new album was finally completed and released this week. Their sixth record and either a rebirth or a grand finale, the band chose to creatively name it “Stone Temple Pilots”.

It’s either a sly nod to their past or an eerie coincidence that the first new Stone Temple Pilots single in 10 years is titled “Between the Lines” and has a chorus with the line “even when we used to take drugs”. Weiland has gone on record claiming that the song is not personal or autobiographical in the least, but considering the song’s title and his checkered past, let’s agree to disagree on that one. It is a propulsive and engaging song though, the kind that STP used to be known for in their heyday. Of course times and music have changed so much these last several years that it can never be as brilliant as it once was, but given that the band has built their reputation by trying to imitate the greats like Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith, their sound has been backwards leaning all along. Unlike their past records though, the band has been far more forthcoming when discussing what influences played parts in the compositions of their songs. Dean DeLeo has confessed to attempting to match wits with Aerosmith’s “Same Old Song and Dance” for the track “Huckleberry Crumble”, and if you listen to both tracks carefully you’ll notice they’re structurally the same though they may employ different notes and chords. One of the most invigorating and interesting tracks on the first half of the album is “Hickory Dichotomy”, which adds a little bit of a country influence to the sound, with some slide guitar work done in the vein of Jimmy Page. “Cinnamon” is one of the poppiest songs that STP has ever written, almost pulling off a Kinks vibe with a heavy bass line that’s eerily reminiscent of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”.

While STP do tend to wear their influences on their sleeves, over their five albums they did develop something of a signature sound, and that’s well on display for much of the second half of the record. It’s almost as if they got tired of trying to mix it up and decided to just go into automatic mode for awhile. You listen to a song like “Bagman” and think that not only have you heard the band do it before, but after its over you struggle just a little to remember what it sounded like. Outside of a great vocal performance from Weiland, “Peacoat” fails to impress as well as they continue to clutch to familiar straws. One of the second half highlights comes in the form of “Fast As I Can”, which gives off a “country music on speed” vibe that’s matched well with a chorus that positively soars. “First Kiss On Mars” is interesting for how much of it sounds like a bland ballad, but closer attention reveals not only science fiction-themed lyrics but Weiland apparently doing his best David Bowie impersonation…which is surprisingly decent. A soft and somewhat beautiful ballad “Maver” closes out the record, and while it makes good use of a piano, the harmonized vocals in the chorus betray the rest of the track and turn it from harmless to a poor imitation of Night Ranger’s “Sister Christian”. On the whole the song’s not bad, but that chorus can be just a touch bothersome.

When considering “Stone Temple Pilots” and where it stands amid the band’s legacy, this is probably the best thing they’ve released since 1996’s “Tiny Music…Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop”. “Their best album in 15 years” might read as a good quote for the cover, but considering how poor their prior two albums “Shangri-La Dee Da” and “No. 4” were, that’s actually not saying a whole lot. But it is a sign of positive momentum that the band does more good than bad on this record, and were it to actually be their last they’d be going out on a more positive note than where they were when the originally broke up. Whether or not this reunion is more constructed around money than anything else, you can be sure that STP are in a better place now than they have been in awhile. Hopefully that’s a product of staying off drugs and just growing up in general. Or maybe they’ve all come to realize that they’re far more talented musicians and are able to push each other harder when they’re working together rather than apart. As they’ve grown together, so have their fans, which makes you wonder exactly how successful Stone Temple Pilots might be in this renewed run. Once the glory haze of nostalgia wears off and people go back to caring about the newer, younger and hipper bands, who’s going to be left spending their time and money on STP? Time will tell on that one, but for the moment, Scott Weiland and the DeLeo brothers are back and proving they still know how to write compelling rock songs for the masses.

Buy “Stone Temple Pilots” from Amazon

Album Review: LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening [Virgin/Parlophone/DFA]

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On 05/20/2010

In album review, BNM, music

Expectations can be a tricky thing. Whether you’re talking about a star athlete, a band or simply your co-workers and family, the more familiar we get with a person, the easier it is to place expectations on them and anticipate they’ll be met. When that guy in your office went ahead and made back-up copies of all those important files just to make sure they were safe in the event of a catastrophic disaster, it creates an expectation. When Michael Jordan would hit that game-winning shot at the last second, that created expectations. They don’t always work out – that co-worker I just mentioned might get busted sleeping at his desk a week later – but when somebody does perform in line with however much we expect of them, there’s a certain pleasure we can take from the results. In the case of LCD Soundsystem, expectations are high. James Murphy, the singular man with the plan behind the moniker, has released two albums worth of dance music with indie rock pastiche so far, and both are critically acclaimed and beloved by those who have heard them. The last official LCD Soundsystem album, 2007’s “Sound of Silver”, was so highly regarded it not only wound up atop many publications’ “best of the year” lists, but it also tended to place quite well in the “best of the decade” lists. Crafting an equally compelling follow-up to that album has to be a near impossible task, but as Murphy has already shown us, near impossible is what he does best.

“This Is Happening” is largely cut from the same thematic cloth that “Sound of Silver” was. Murphy may craft a number of intense dancefloor beats, but lyrically speaking he’s an intense realist, choosing to make his subject matter about some of the sadder things in life, be it losing touch with your friends or ending a romantic relationship. The words may betray the tempo, but that’s part of the brilliance LCD Soundsystem brings to the table. It’s also something that many great artists have done before, in particular Brian Eno on many of his records. Of course Murphy isn’t always deadly serious, as on the first single “Drunk Girls”, which lampoons the differences between the genders when both have had too much alcohol. And though it may essentially be an angry rant against sell out, major label artists, there’s also plenty of humor to be found in “You Wanted a Hit” (which, coincidentally, clocks in at over 9 minutes long and has 0 chances of becoming a hit). Perhaps my favorite line on the entire album though comes from the funny but eventually darkly-themed “Pow Pow”, where Murphy exclaims “Eat it Michael Musto/You’re no Bruce Vilanch”. For those who don’t know, Michael Musto is a writer for the Village Voice, Bruce Vilanch is a comedy writer best known for scripting award show presenter banter. Murphy and Musto are in a pseudo-feud after Musto called Murphy a douchebag for “pulling a Kanye” (twice) at an awards show. So there’s some insider info on the insult.

When it comes to the really serious stuff though, “This Is Happening” tends to focus on romantic issues. “I Can Change” finds Murphy waxing poetic about how we’ll sometimes make personality adjustments to make a relationship work, while at the same time calling love a “murderer” and a “curse” and “an open book to a verse of your bad poetry”. The somber “Somebody’s Calling Me” is about the desire for a relationship with a girl, but all the lines of communication are shut down. The excellent and highly emotional “All I Want” laments a break up, with Murphy acknowledging his sorry state and begging her to come back by saying “All I want is your pity/And all I want are your bitter tears”. Nothing quite packs the same resonance as “Sound of Silver”‘s big moment “All My Friends”, but there’s plenty of relatable and highly effective highlights across this album too.

What makes “This Is Happening” a truly great record is that James Murphy makes it crystal clear that he’s working as hard as possible to try and top himself yet again. Though he doesn’t completely succeed, that he comes extremely close is nothing short of admirable. Where other artists might use the opportunity to take a few chances and try something experimental or simply forego putting up as much of an effort, Murphy refuses to take such success with ease and candor. The drive to consistently make strides forward in the face of immense pressure and opposition is the mark of a true champion. What this new album lacks in an expansion of the overall LCD Soundsystem sound, it more than makes up for with stronger writing and vocal performances from Murphy. And of course if words and emotions aren’t your thing, there’s also plenty of classic beats to keep you happy on the dancefloor. In a year already filled with excellent albums, chalk up another great one from LCD Soundsystem. We’re less than halfway done with 2010, but mark your calendars and anticipate hearing much more about “This Is Happening” when year-end listmaking season comes around.

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Album Review: Band of Horses – Infinite Arms [Columbia]

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On 05/19/2010

In album review, music

Band of Horses have gone on record claiming that their new album “Infinite Arms” is a “game-changer” for them. What’s really changed about the group is the lineup. Several band members have come and go over the past two albums, and the only constant connecting the three records at this point is frontman Ben Bridwell. They are currently a five-piece ensemble, and “Infinite Arms” marks the first time these guys have fully collaborated in the writing and composition of the songs. This change in how they do business is also somewhat evident in their sound, as having a full band means fuller sounding songs on the whole, along with the addition of some intense vocal harmonies. If you were expecting some real curveballs like a shift in style, chances are you’ll be disappointed. Of course if you liked what Band of Horses were doing before you might be disappointed anyways.

On their first two albums, Band of Horses found a way to take an unoriginal sound and make it all their own. They were skating the thin line between traditional indie rock and alt-country, coming from the same angle that bands like Wilco and My Morning Jacket have succeeded at before them. What broke Band of Horses away from the pack were two things – a strong ear for invigorating and fun hooks along with the intense and distinctive vocal performance of Ben Bridwell. “Infinite Arms” is unfortunately missing both those elements. Listening to the album is closer to taking a sleeping pill with all the slow acoustic-driven songs. They’re taking a decidedly stronger alt-country angle here than they ever have before, and the couple songs (“Compliments”, “NW Apt.”) that feel like they could have found a stylistic home on the previous two Band of Horses albums feel whitewashed and flat rather than brimming with fun and soaring possibility. A few songs legitimately sound like the entire band was chained to their instruments and told they couldn’t leave the studio until the songs were finished. Following on that same beat, while Ben Bridwell is still the unequivocal leader of the group, his vocals are far more contained and less dominant than they have been in the past. There aren’t any choruses that allow him to stretch his singing wings and soar above everything else. That’s largely due to the subdued nature of the album, not lending itself as well to such expansiveness. Add in these new vocal harmonies, and Bridwell’s signature voice gets lost in the mix more often. The loss of his singular vocal presence at points can be just a little upsetting, but the harmonies actually do far more good than harm in the end.

The experience of listening to “Infinite Arms” can best be equated to watching a beauty pageant. Everything looks and sounds very well put together, and the record does contain some of the band’s most gorgeous songs to date. The problem comes when you try and look beyond that superficial beauty and try to find something deeper. The lyrics won’t help you any, because the generalized platitudes Bridwell has always written (and often covered up by an enthusiastic or unique singing of said lines) are still there, but with fewer acrobatics to distract you from their emptiness. Everything also feels like it’s covered in some sort of glossy sheen that may preserve it in time but lacks the emotional continence to give the accurate impression the band members believe in what they’re doing. Given that Band of Horses have made the leap from indie powerhouse Sub Pop to the major label dens of Columbia, a loss of distinction and the pressure to come through with a money-making hit sort of come with the territory. With “Infinite Arms” they’re submitting to at least one of those two caveats as they tend to sound like any number of country and alt-country bands making music today. Whether or not the album spawns a legitimate hit remains to be seen. The thing is, outside of this new album, all indicators suggested that Band of Horses deserved every shred of success they had gotten. The music world was supposed to be a better place once these guys finally hit the big time. Instead, it feels like they broke down and are now functioning with a chip on their shoulders. The album might be titled “Infinite Arms”, but despite its attempted warm embrace, those arms don’t stretch nearly far enough anymore.

Download “Laredo” for free from Amazon MP3

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Album Review: The Black Keys – Brothers [Nonesuch]

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On 05/18/2010

In album review, lollapalooza 2010, music

We are quickly approaching the 10 year anniversary of the birth of The Black Keys as a band, and during that time they’ve been remarkably productive. The duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have together released 6 albums if you include their new one “Brothers”, and that’s coming off a year-long break from the band where both guys went off and did their own things. Auerbach released a solo album that was basically another Black Keys record in disguise, while Carney got together with a group of fellow percussionists and created the beat-centric band Drummer. Back from their brief separation, despite essentially working the entire time, The Black Keys are returning a refreshed and reinvigorated band looking to reclaim the loose and fun blues revivalist sound that made their first few records so compelling.

With their 2008 album “Attack & Release”,. Auerbach and Carney practically admitted their sound had grown stale after four albums, so they hired Danger Mouse to shake things up a little bit and bring some of that edge back. The experiment wasn’t an unmitigated failure by most standards, and it did take the band away from their heavy blues influences for a moment to incorporate some psychedelic elements. Danger Mouse isn’t helping out with “Brothers”, but The Black Keys haven’t entirely forgotten a few of the tricks they learned from him. They continue to incorporate some hazy, drug-fueled bits on this new record, though the overall sound is far more easygoing and old school than anything else. Auerbach continues to stir up some seriously fierce guitar work while Carney’s rhythms remain some of the best around these days. The small innovations they have made for “Brothers” include an increased reliance on organ and piano, as well as the incorporation of harpsichord for “Too Afraid To Love You”. Auerbach also breaks out a brand new secret weapon in the form of a falsetto that he’s apparently been hiding all this time, which is surprisingly strong and compelling. It adds a new dimension to songs like “Everlasting Light” and “The Only One”. Where that really shines though is on their cover of Jerry Butler’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”, which becomes nearly indistinguishable from the original. They were smart to avoid trying to make the song their own or improving upon it, as you don’t mess with perfection. And that the song passes by and fits in so perfectly with the rest of the album is just another sign of how The Black Keys aren’t so much ripping off past records but instead making music that’s of no particular time and place – it sounds good in any era.

The real tragedy with “Brothers”, if you can call it a tragedy, is that it once again shows that The Black Keys aren’t exactly interested in taking many chances. If you pick up any Black Keys album, there are certain markers you expect them to hit, and they almost always do. Their fuzzed out, swampy blues sound has carried them across these 6 records and they don’t appear to want to do a whole lot to change that. Given that most of those albums have turned out quite well though makes their lack of ambition more respectable, because you don’t always need to mess with success. “Brothers” may not be the best record The Black Keys have ever done, but it is more of a return to form after their last couple albums took much darker and more serious tones. Hell, if the cover art announcing “This is an album by The Black Keys. The name of this album is Brothers.” doesn’t make you crack at least a little bit of a smile, perhaps the music video for “Next Girl” which features Frank the Dinosaur puppet will. The album thankfully maintains that looser and goofier vibe and is better for it. For those familiar with previous Black Keys albums, “Brothers” won’t change your opinion of them either way, but it just might attract some new fans to the fold. That’s about all they can ask for this far along in their careers, though you have to start wondering exactly when the bottom is going to drop out on these guys and they become just another band settling for being average rather than continuing to try and expand upon what they’ve already done.

Buy “Brothers” from Amazon

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