Manic Street Preachers - "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough"
This duet from the latest Manics CD is big big big. Big chorus, big production, yes it's arena sized! The last lp made some halfhearted overtures towards art while this one is pure spectacle all the way. So decide which version of the Manics you prefer, the rock stars or the artists. After all, they've pulled this trick off before. Played during an Aural Fixation fill-in on 7/28/07.
Simple Kid - "The Twentysomething"
This Yep Roc artist makes some basic overtures towards the twang quotient needed to be on the label, but prefers a late 60's psych template (think heavy bass, drumbreaks galore, tuneful like a glorious late model Beatles disaster) mixed with some Odelay period Beck. Here he attempts to craft an ambiguous anthem for a generation, singing about the speed of life behind a loping background about 40 years out of pace.
North Elementary - "Your Lights Are Turning"
Can't say this new ep capitalizes on the goodwill forged from their previous release. Instead it's a basic indie-rock playbook entry with out of tune instruments / vocals melded with a splash of bright jangle and muddy drums. Fights fitfully for tempo, any tempo at all.
Ghost House - "Traditional"
They sent us an ep and an lp at the same time to maximize the potential for exposure, I slightly preferred the urgent rock style of the ep to their Dismemberment Plan-lite lp. This one's a straight ahead emo tune disguising its influences behind heavy bass, fuzzy guitar and a chirpy organ. Doesn't come close to Les Savy Fav, but it's closer than the full-length.
The Brunettes - "Small Town Crew"
Charming boy/girl duo make the jump to Sub Pop and take a fall in the process. Their second lp had a woozily cute crew of twee pop tunes with simple slice-of-life subject matter(s) that reticently earned its goodwill. Unfortunately this time the male lead proudly flaunts his lack of vocal talent instead of following the female's more subdued tact. More unfortunately, they fall prey to the 'more extraneous instruments is better' trend, including an overly intrusive chorus on the opening cut. The titles suggest there might be something to embrace in the lyrics, but panning for gold here only brought up dust.
Bishop Allen - "Middle Management"
This album seems to be made up of cuts previously recorded for their monthly ep series last year. I don't begrudge that strategy, but unfortunately they harvested some mid-packers instead of selecting the best efforts. Perhaps the intent was for a more consistent tone, they can claim victory there. I'm more than happy to forgive 50% clinkers on an ambitious project, but can't decipher why they'd leave their best jewelry in the drawer for the full-length.
Little Wings - "Beep About"
Nice Soft Machine logo swipe on the cover of this slight new ep. Little Wings have never been known for their cohesiveness, but this one's even wispier than previous efforts. This song has a Simon Joyner-esque 70's drug-folk shamble to it and in the lyrics cleverly weaves in a myriad of definitions for the 'beep' in the title. Kudos to the drummer for holding the whole thing together. Spun on 7/26/07.
Grampall Jookabox - "Take Me From Diamond Head"
With a such a terrible band name they better deliver the goods, and earn some early goodwill with the whistling intro on this busker-level garage folk tune. Pretty much what you'd expect from the band name actually, a fair bit of earthy acoustics and hyper-howling backing vocals executed with energetic abandon and an intentional mispronounciation of "superfluous."
John Vanderslice - "The Parade"
While John's thematic crossword puzzle songwriting will always be beyond reproach in my book, musically I sometime have difficulty grasping his direction. Here he melds some vague yet compelling remembrances of (his?) youth with heavier than normal musical execution. Everything on the album is still delightful pop with wonderful splashes of piano and intricate backing vocals, but the production jacks up the bass and drums past the point of obscurity. The gentler tunes (of which this is a precious one) still work, but the balance of the album beats my ears beyond comprehension. Played this on 7/19/07.
The Information - "Armed Resistance"
Local band can't quite decide whether to go the commercial post/new new wave route or stick to punkier execution. Just like on their album the mix occasionally creates some Interpol-level gems, including this one with a synthtastically bursting chorus that earns its emotional power during the punchy verses. Designed for car stereos everywhere and destined to be a hit in Seattle, hopefully it gets utilized beyond the plane-jane mp3 submission we received here at WMBR.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Isis"
After the bland by-the-numbers smashing contained in their previous full-length this ep provides promise for the future. Played on 7/26/07, the majority of these cuts are imbued with the authentic punch and energy of the first ep (and lp) by keeping it (relatively) simple, stupid. Karen's voice soars and sprays lyrics with just enough consequence to convince you there's more importance than it deserves, which is quite a sweet spot if you ask my opinion. Keep the howling, keep the songs building to an orgasmic conclusion, and keep that streetcorner fashion look fashionable.
Nervous Patterns - "Not Living In A Modern World"
Speaking of simple, just take a mondo-distorted guitar and viciously yelped vocals repetitively working the same lyrics between rapid fire chorus/verse and I'm happy. The punk-garage energy and overdriven organ of Dirtnap type quality is fiercely on display.
Simian Mobile Disco - "State Of Things"
If it has a beat and harkens back to Daft Punk of ten years hence odds are I'll find a reason to reserve it on one of these comps. Which means it's well-paced boopy electronic fun intended to fill-up the dancefloors but still sorely in need of a remix due to one too many breaks in the action. Call it self-sabotage, Simian Mobile Disco are smart enough to know how to make us pay twice for a very similar serving.
The Tuss - "Rushup I Bank 12"
Highly kinetic electronics with glitchy drumbeats so infected with ADD that they can't keep the same beat for more than 10 seconds. While they hop, skip and drop expect just about every other synthesized sound imaginable from shoegazery splashes to insect scrapes and warbly tones. Supposedly hip-hop inspired, I'd hate to hand any MC the responsibility to flow with this fractured fury.
Digitata - "Bangin J.A."
One of those songs that sound good on first spin, but about halfway through playing it on 7/28/07 I began to regret my decision. Not that it's overly offensive, it just tries to carry about 30 seconds of pleasure 4 minutes too long. The female lead struggles with forays into unwanted blues-infused over-emoting behind some fine drumming and decently simple synths that try a bit too hard to take center stage as the song progresses. J.A. = Jessica Alba?
Bola - "Halyloola"
A laid back carousel of delicately hand-crafted beats bobs and weaves with some heavily tweaked vocals occasionally making the mix. Definite concert report material, as it's too repetitive to really earn foreground status but still decisively deserves some airtime.
Lowlife - "Hollow Gut"
Another re-issue gift from our friends at LTM of this mid-80s Scottish band which deftly balanced pure Bauhaus goth delerium with their poppier period instincts. The vocals are note-perfect low (especially when doubled) and the superb synth splash delightfully accentuates fabulously hollow drumming and chugging bass guitar. While neither of the Lowlife collections are even 50% winners, the standouts honestly earn that overused forgotten classic tag.
A Sunny Day In Glasgow - "Laughter (Victims)"
Tour only-ep that at first I thought was a live show set to CD-R only to realize these sound more like demo takes or altered versions of songs on their previous releases. Or it could be all-new, I could hardly tell behind the delicious feedback from America's lastest darling in the shoegazer revival. If you're gonna do it do it right, and they take it to heart. Maybe it's that 1st hand-crafted ep they sent us, repackaged and expanded?
Low In The Sky - "Dialogue With A Shadow"
This was our concert report music on 7/19/07. Unlike the Bola this omninous instrumental effort deserves a foreground spin in the near future, as their slippery concoctions keep me guessing about which pace or instrument is just around the bend. Thudding drums mix with a rucksack full of instruments either plucked, blown or flanged. However, they smartly resist the urge to stir them all into the same pot, instead letting each alternately add their own flavor to the broth before stepping aside for another whipped cream delight.
Hope In Ghosts - "Something Is Going To Land Here Any Minute"
While I don't mean to insult the foreground vocalist who shows up on several of this record's tracks, he comfortably should shut off the mike and leave the driving to his partners. An occasionally vague hidden line or two is fine, mind you. In deference to accuracy please note the band takes the smart route by leaving a wide majority of the songs unadorned, instead focusing on a potent flow of instrumental rock with a minor in math.
Johnny Irion - "Short Leash"
Better than the new Ryan Adams, though I suppose that's faint praise in this setting. Played on 7/26/07. Johnny has a slightly nasal execution but uses the female backing vocalists well to cover up any high notes that might waver beyond his reach. Otherwise I can't rank it anywhere near Ryan's best efforts, but a hungry man like myself will gladly accept any saltines you might have to offer.
No comments:
Post a Comment