Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - "Not What You Wanted"
Their first release was an acceptable Jesus & Mary Chain inspired fuzzrock knockoff though since then its wandered more towards the Give Out But Don't Give Up era Primal Scream bluesrock goop. Their 4th album wanders back towards the J&MC vibe but really only satisfies on a few songs. This song has a bit of retro 60's pop vibe that will merit a spin.
Red Collar - "Stay"
Going for that punk meets AOR rock vibe that the Hold Steady farm, not as literate but just as catchy with harmonized backing vocals and guitar riffs aching to be early Joe Jackson Browne-ish. Not a Blue Nile cover (for those few who would be horrified if is was).
Brakes - "Beatific Visions"
The vocals give me Daniel Bejar flashbacks, with a nasally glam flow. Most of the songs are very happy punk in the Thermals vein but a few straight pop efforts creep into the mix, of which this is one. Jangly mid-tempo guitars with sonically tweaked (doubled?) vocals and plenty o' tambourine give it that mid-70's AM radio feel. BTW this is the UK band, not the US band with "the" in their name.
HelToro - "Bombaklot"
Local band with one of those expressive vocalists who sounds like he's half screaming the end of every line, sorta like early Elvis Costello but with a much deeper register (John Hiatt perhaps?). Musically it's maniacal rock that jumps and counterpunches in the same breath.
The Little Bicycles - "Tennessee"
Female pop-punk (actually I think the drummer is a guy) with equal parts sweetness and fire. This one is lower on the energy and higher on the melody as I prefer the pop side of things, it has almost a Scrawl-ish vibe. The rest of the (mostly faster) songs just didn't coalesce for me, likely a production issue.
The Narrator - "August 32nd"
Some rather nasal vocals mated with a layered musical approach - additional elements build upon each other as the song progresses until an orgasmic conclusion. A very early 90's rock vibe with pleasantly crisp guitars echoing an Arcwelder vibe.
Superdrag - "Comfortably Bummed"
A b-sides and rarities comp from these power-poppers sounding their most Canadian (don't be confused, they're from TN). There's usually a good reason why a song doesn't make the a-list and most of these display a weakness or two, on this one the bad pun title may have cost it. For fans only, though you could accurately say that about any of their records.
Goldrush - "The Story of the City"
Really liked their previous one which had a Flaming Lips meets grad school logic to it, lots of elements but nothing too freaky. Unfortunately it was largely ignored in our new rack, this one is likely to suffer the same fate though for better reasons as overall it's not as strong. A 2 minute tune that might make a good end of set filler.
The Basement - "Do You Think You're Moving On?"
The promo blurb plays up their Irishness and tries to forge sonic links to the Pogues. If anything this leadoff track succeeds due to how American it sounds, the pure 70's rock guitars mixed with bluesy keys and an effective banjo. The balance of the disc forces the vocal lilt upfront and doesn't let itself loose like this lovely little ditty. Where's Shea Storm when you need him?
The Race - "Ice Station"
Retro new wave with a chugging baseline providing a cold and dark sonic foundation for the highly syncopated drums and guitars plus a few menacing keyboard splashes. Accurately sounds like something that was the a-side of an unknown 7" dated 1981 and subsequently collected on a Hyped2Death comp. Enjoyed the dual vocal attack, the backing pops in at seemingly random moments to provide some pepper. The Chicago band, not the UK - played this 4/19/07 (Frank Viola's birthday!)
Echoboy - "Lovesick Antelopes"
Pretty much the only song on the new Echoboy worthy of foreground play, which is unfortunate as their last US release was fantastic retro-new wave dancepop. While a similar vibe is on display here the majority of it lacks vocals and add a few random sonic elements to place it more towards the IDM line. Nice stop-start pause 2/3 of the way through.
Frog Eyes - "Stockades"
OK, after the relative success of the Swan Lake pairing with Dan Bejar I thought I'd approach the new Frog Eyes with open ears, perhaps even allowing myself to be swayed by the In Your Face Brian Glidewells of the world. However this bang-on-a-piano and yelp over the mandolins tune was the most promising thing I could find on the album, and it wasn't all that promising truth be told.
Guppies - "I Just Want"
This LA band sent us a five song ep with minimal packaging. If produced properly I'd probably adore this release, but the set-up-the-mics-and-play vibe puts the off-key vocals too front-and-center and distances the glistening play-one-note-and-change-the-chord guitars. Appreciated the spoken word part in the middle as well as the sped up pace about 2/3 of the way through. Played it on 4/19/07.
Calvin Johnson & the Sons of the Soil - "Love Travels Faster"
Sounds like a recorded-live-in-one-take one off with a band that includes Adam Forkner. My favorite Calvin tunes are when he gets expressive, fluctuating that note downward just a bit to extract a tinge of regret. This one lopes along like a hot summer day road trip but is just as lovely as the inevitable stop for ice cream.
Craig Markel - "Reverse"
I've always had a soft spot for this former frontman of New Sweet Breath, his previous solo albums have had some of the finest white-indie-rocker-doing-70's-soul moments since Ian Svenonius, except Graig does the smooth sexy sounds of soul not the white cherry version. This album hearkens to a different time though, with a sedate Sunny Day Real Estate vibe complete with glacial pacing. It feels almost underwritten to me, the songs flow finely but never coalesce.
Azeda Booth - "Dead Girls"
Glitchy electro-pop spurts and sputters with some heavily modified female vocals occasionally bursting through the background. Some blissfully lovely but overly busy banging and clanging drew me to reserve this, though on 2nd thought it probably won't get spun.
Hem - "Fire Thief (live)"
From a double CD compilation of live songs courtesy of WUAG. Ah remember the halcyon days of the Pipeline comp? In any case I barely recognized 1/3 of the bands so likely it's mostly local content, of course I went for the sweetest voice this side of early 90's Lucinda as my keeper.
Page France and the Family Telephone - "Beggar's Table Legs"
Really enjoyed the previous Page France lp with its man-and-a-microphone folk-pop vibe that fit comfortably between the Sufjans and Bonnie Billys of the world. So who are the Family Telephone and what do they add to the proceedings? Some horns, some chimes, some backing vocals ... at least as far as I can tell. In my mind they get in the way, it feels like Page cut some demos then sent them off for the additional elements to be pasted in rather than everyone getting together to create a song. Ah well, there's still some lightness amongst the sweetener.
No River City - "Two Sad Horses"
Country rock played as straight as a North Dakota highway, the type of thing that will equally be ignored by the likes of the Saturday morning block and the weekday morning block and it's too rock for the country and too country for the rock.
Tarwater - "A Marriage In Belmont"
I often struggle to find even one song to reserve on a Tarwater release, either the spoken-but-sorta-sung vocals get in the way or the electronic backing gets a bit too busy for me. The same case applies here, if they recruited David J (for example) to add vocals to these tunes it would have just enough competence to find my ear as the beats are tastefully restrained enough on this one song to keep my attention.
Karl Blau - "SKY"
Pacific Northwest luminary pops up in many a band from that fertile area. The album is called Dance Positive but I have a difficult time visualizing anyone hopping along to these kitchen sink tunes. This one at least finds a relatively consistent beat but continues the disparate sounds of occasionally tickled guitars, monotone vocals and a handful of other blown or plucked instruments that each provide plenty of space for their compatriots to chime in.
Slaraffenland - "Watch Out"
Copenhagen based band that struggles to get their songs to clock in at under 5 minutes. Just an observation, mind you. It takes awhile for this one to find its energy, if they had sliced off the first three minutes of noodling and gotten to the fiery wall of guitars and tasteful horns earlier it may have rated a spin. Perhaps I'll make a BoC-thurs edit for y'all.
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