Family obligations and the seasonal dry spell in summer releases have conspired to keep me away from the normal updates, and will continue to do so through the end of July. Still, I can at least offer up some thoughts on the latest group of entries into the station.

Pissed Jeans - "Secret Admirer"
I'm probably one of the few eagerly awaiting the revival of the AmRep sound ... that sludgy pre-grunge style of rock favored by bands like The Cows and Jesus Lizard and Tad. Pissed Jeans come as close to that target as any band has in the past 10 years or so, and while their punch is certainly as potent their songwriting lacks the inventiveness and black humour of their progenitors. If you're starving I suppose anything tastes good, and this certainly did when I spun it on 6/28.

Boo And Boo Too - "Everyday I Saw You In Egypt"
These guys get a bonus point for their very prominent use of sax, unfortunately an underutilized instrument in rock music today. The lead singer has been studying his Rock*a*Teens (we're talking about the band that was on Merge) records as he flaunts a very similar style of screaming and elongating his final syllables. Musically the sound isn't dissimilar, though of course nobody can replicate the Rock*a*Teens guitar tone, as least not without a huge wad of duct tape. The sound is rock and the pace is brisk and muscular, spun it on 6/28.

Filthybird - "The Gospel of Truth (As Judas Told It To Me)"
Loping mid-tempo song with lo-tech keyboards that accurately accentuate the yearning vocals. Can't tell if they're occasionally doubled or if an eeriely similar backing vocalist is joining in, either way the effect if uplifting. Her tone is similar to Frida Hyvonen, sort of a gulping sound with great harmony.

Hans Appelqvist - "Freckenages Spa"
This sample-based artist builds collages of mostly organic instruments with a few beats thrown in the mix. The backbone of this particular tune is built with delicate piano and cheap percussive sounds, adding in some unexpected bursts of unidentifiable noise and subtle strings. Very engaging and inventive.

Erik Enocksson - "Thru Thick Night"
Faux-folkish artist, or whatever the official slang word the press is using to categorize the efforts of the Devendras of the music world. A delicate Sufjan style acoustic guitar combines with bells and hushed wordless vocals to create a fitfully uplifting track.

Ping - "Dying on a Strange Day"
Whether they know it or not these gents drank heavily from the chalice of more recent Ween releases before recording this schizophrenic album. Name a 70's genre or style and Ping probably made an attempt to incorporate it into one of their songs, with mostly wearying results. The attempts at humour are a little too earnest for me as well, I'm pretty sure the next great 70's pastiche band will not come from Oslo.

Mod Fun - "I Fell"
A bit of serendipity here as their name came up on the cubbyhole feature 6.28, about the same time their new release dropped into the station. Half the new release is new, half are re-recordings of older songs. This is one of the latter, the subject matter has a strong resemblance to a certian Buzzcocks song but is more actual than theoretical. The only mod facet of this band is in the vocals, otherwise the sound is straight late 70's pop-punk.

Whistle Jacket - "Your Cheatin' Heart May Cheat (But It Tells The Truth)"
This Boston pop band sounds more ragged this time around. While the recording is still lo-fi, they've lost their punch from the previous release and ended up with a rather flat tone that accentuates nothing. Therefore the detail and charm of these tunes are mostly lost, perhaps it comes through better in a live setting.

Bottom of the Hudson - "Bee Hive"
With this release it feels like Bottom of the Hudson have entered their Mag Earwhig phase, where the recording quality increases at the expense of spontaneity. The whole record feels a bit self-conscious, as if the band more studiously attempted to cop the style of Robert Pollard and ended up drowning some of the inherent joy in the process.

Aaron Ross - "Elevator Blues"
The more standard length tunes of 4 minutes or less consistently annoyed me, mostly due to the singer's consistently flat and whiny note. Yet I was never tempted to push the FWD button during this 8 minute long tune which admittedly displays some of the same faults. Perhaps it's because of the much more restrained build to this song, as Ross doesn't venture beyond his limited range until more than 3 minutes into the tune. At that point the addition of some freakish percussion adds earned power to the pace. Plus, its length makes it feel more like a journey of self-realization than a marathon of patience, sort of like a Love Chronicles for a new century sans the love. Perhaps its more natural progenitor would be California One / Youth And Beauty Brigade, a day after the bliss of wanderlust has worn away.

Ryan Adams - "Everybody Knows"
Mark me in the negative column of the critical ledger for the new Ryan Adams album. It was difficult to find even one song that had some sort of spontaneous passion, which in my mind is Ryan's greatest gift. Even then, listening to this songs multiple times does little to build further appreciation, another missed Ryan hallmark. Theoretically repeated exposure should shoot this up the personal charts like other Ryan releases, instead it just slides off the opposite end of the scale.

Two Gallants - "Lady"
Speaking of artists who have that uncanny ability to earn my ardor with bracingly passionate efforts (in song that is), the Two Gallants are good for at least one jaw-dropping moment per release. Since this one is from an ep I'll give them a mulligan. It has a looser acoustic feel and the lyrics aren't quite as vivid as previous efforts. This tune still packed enough punch to earn a spin on 7/5, even with its 5+ minute length.

Suzanne Vega - "Zephyr & I"
Her last attempt to capture the super-polished AAA chick-flick soundtrack market failed unenthusiastically, the only fault in her impeccable catalog. I'll blame that one on the label, or at least the production of Rupert Hine. You can toss away any hesitancy when approaching this new record, as the production tone encased here is more akin to Days of Open Hand. Expect a somewhat cool and restrained but still clever and catchy effort that will reward multiple listens. Suzanne's music is a longtime bedfellow from back in my high school days, and it's pleasing to have her back in peak form. Played this song on 6/21.

Fionn Regan - "Back Water Child"
The hype from across the Atlantic has attempted to place Regan into the hallowed ranks of luminaries like Ryan Adams. His voice has a trill (or accent?) that seems forced to my ears and sours me on most of his simply constructed compositions. This is the most ornately decorated tune on the record, with lovely backing female vocals, subtle strings and even a piano playing along. These extra elements most likely allow me to forgive those other stylistic faults, at least for 3 minutes or so.

Damiak - "Faificun"
Used for concert report music on 6/28. Damiak (not DMAIC) meld electronics with dramatic rock stylings, a recipe not unlike Tristeza but with more reasonable song lengths. Just when you think they've fallen into a pleasant airport soundtrack groove they'll bust out some off-tempo clattering or cacophony to shake up the works.

Astral - "Transmitter"
Mix in some early 90's shoegazer guitar style with late 80's goth-rock execution and you'll likely get something from this new Astral ep. It comes complete with very hollow production on the drums, splashy shimmering guitars, a darkly omnipresent bassline, and growling vocals as it aims for that early to mid 80's Cure feeling. Played on 7/4.

Zibra Zibra - "Arcade Catastrophe"
As self-consciously retro as a casio-pop band can get these days, it quickly states its intentions upfront by namedropping the year 1984 and setting in motion a plotline cribbed from the Emilio Estevez segment of Nightmares. Needless to say, the album is completely inconsequential but reasonably executed nonetheless.

Digitalism - "Digitalism in Cairo"
This one is a case of expectations versus execution, or being pleased with what you get rather than hoping for something more. Before I stabbed the play button I was hoping for a revival of the energy and unpredictability of the early Daft Punk albums, a high standard indeed. Idealism comes close to fulfilling that promise, but eventually weakens due to its repetitiveness. Still, it's the best dance record of the year, not the equal of Vitalic's OK Cowboy but still a volume-knob cranker nonetheless. This particular song cadges an appropriate sample from The Cure's "Fire In Cairo" which earned it a spin on 6/28.

Chromeo - "Momma's Boy"
Anyone jonesing for the sonic imprint of early 80's synthetic funk or electro-soul are probably already well familiar with the charms of Chromeo from their effective first effort. This follow-up doesn't contain the same level of clever humour but comes close enough. Another disappointment is the replacement of fantastic instrumentals with skits featuring the musicians. All in all devotees should still be pleased with the effort, it was enough to warrant a spin on 6/28.

Spoon - "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb"
Strange that the latest Spoon feels half-baked considering how long it took them to follow up their breakthrough lp Gimme Fiction. Only this song, spun on 6/21, comes close to achieving the addictive powerpop style of the previous release.

Uncut - "Chain Fight"
Very dissapointing new release for these Canadian post-punkers, who so accurately replicated the early 80's sound on their debut disc. Here they've swappede energy and urgency for a bloated sonic treatment, as if they added layer upon layer of wax but forgot to polish.

Arks - "Maginot"
Speaking of post-punk we'll close out this edition with another entry into the revival. At least there some punch here though I was fooled into spinning this particular song on 6/28 before realizing it had not earned its reputation when compared to other tracks on the disc. Oh well ...