2009 March | Citizen Dick - a cleveland/brooklyn based music blog, new music reviews, live music reviews, fashion, art, and walrus pelts

Archive for March, 2009

Action Painters – Citizen Dick News Alert

Mar.31, 2009

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

I listened to a lot of Tupac today. The sun is shining (briefly) in Cleveland and it was a good day for “To Live and Die in LA” and “Picture Me Rollin.” Action Painters do not sound like Tupac, but at least you know where my head’s at. (Quick diversion: An east coast/west coast indie rock feud would at least be interesting to write about, right? Like Harlem Shakes and Blitzen Trapper have beef and write disparaging jangly pop tunes and/or battle folk songs about each other. (harmonica intro, blending into strummed chords on an acoustic) “You went to art school, I am a lumberjack, I think you’re a (falsetto) diiiick.” Yeah. That’s what we’re looking for this summer, a bit of drama to spice up the blogosphere. Just for the record, we love both those acts and don’t really want them to start a bi-coastal feud. Just joshing.)

(Back to business now) Brooklyn-based quartet, Action Painters had some studio time to burn in the advance of the release of their full-length debut , due sometime later this year. They recorded three tracks in a day and are offering them to internet users (for free) via their website. The songs pick up where their 2007 EP Chubby Dancer left off, blending high-energy, hook-laden rock with a hip sensibility and emotive vocal kick. We’ve included a song below to give you a taste if you’re new to the sound; “A Moment’s Peace” is indicative of much of the band’s work with it’s sneaky keyboard work, driving percussion and manic catchiness (the clangy guitar solo midway is also sweet). We’re stoked for the upcoming LP and the three tracks on Lay That Cable are both heightening our anticipation and (partially) sating our appetite. We don’t imagine that this will be the last time this year we’re writing about Action Painters.

“A Moment’s Peace” – Action Painters

Tags: Action Painters

Telekinesis – Telekinesis! – Citizen Dick Album Review

Filed Under: New Music

Mar.31, 2009

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

Merge Records hasn’t played all of their cards this year, and a sneaky ace in the hole is about to drop on April 7th. Seattle’s Michael Lerner, aka Telekinesis, is a one-man pop/rock wrecking ball that clearly has a finely tuned and impeccably mixed album ready to hit the shelves. As Merge celebrates its 20th anniversary, they’ve been anything but reserved and CD has had plenty of time to put our ears to Telekinesis!, the debut effort that stomps, rocks, and pops from start to finish with alarming vivacity and endearing charm.

Recorded and mixed with the aid of Chris Walla (Death Cab), some side notes regarding the creation of the album are probably worth mentioning in this review. Essentially, Lerner composed much of the album himself, playing nearly every instrument on the recording, which was done in a one-shot-deal mode. Each track was given the one day treatment and whatever was left at the end of the day is what stuck. Interestingly, as I’ll explore further, it’s the urgent nature of one take recording that lends itself nicely to the overall aura and sound of this impressive debut.

Even upon initial run through, Telekinesis unwraps a blender full of energy, and only the best classic pop and rock conventions splatter the sonic canvas with enriching color. Conventional late 60′s and 70′s pop/rock flashbacks haven’t sounded so crisp and modern in awhile, and hook-laden choruses and arrangements burst outward from top to bottom. The overall liveliness of the record takes off by track two, with “Coast of Carolina,” with its fuzzy undertone, crashing cymbals and uniquely dubbed-in vocal delivery. The tone is set early and the pace, although it spans multiple decades, doesn’t let up until the last few notes of the journey.

One uniquely significant aspect of the album is that it doesn’t really hit a sonic peak, but instead, to put it bluntly, is consistently good. Every track plugs way with gigantic rock hooks and warm, repetitive lyricism. ”Look into the East” is dreamy and comforting in its retro coolness. Lerner’s synthesizer flourishes throughout the song and its central three-chord riff pummels more than it lulls. Tracks like this remind us that, at its core, this is a rock record and that Lerner has created an album with a 60′s and 70′s backdrop while being careful not to overly exploit one aspect or genre. ”Tokyo” is bouncy and frenetic and it races directly into the earphones and won’t go away. As the third track in the record, it begins another motif that consistently peppers the album, namely repetitive choruses and lyricism. This repetition is recognizant of older genres from surf-rock and even a tinge of 70′s disco, believe it or not. This works to create tone, but as a listener, it sears great pop/rock choruses into your brain. When I clean the house, I’m humming Telekinesis. When I roll to the store, I’m singing Telekinesis. If I had a dog to walk, I’d be dancing to Telekinesis. It only takes two run-throughs to lodge this candy sound in deep.

As previously mentioned, not only one decade is covered here. ”Awkward Kisser” is a straight up malt-shop sipping summer 1950′s tune placed perfectly in the middle of the album. It hearkens back to summer flings and good times. Lerner keeps one foot in the nostalgia bin here. Other stylistic variations are included in tracks like “Foreign Room” which dominates, at first, with some minor chord acoustic strumming and intimately emotional lyrics. Some classic “oh-oh’s” climb upward until the track become a blistering frenetic rock song. Bass pounds in and a jumpy pop anthem unfolds. Much of the album does hit the nostalgic vein, and the lyrics span motifs of traveling to far off lands and attachment to the people we love. Since each track is recorded for us in one take, there’s an emotional sincerity and urgency of energy in each song. We really wish more bands did it this way, as it makes Telekinesis! simply sing.

I suppose it’s fitting that as Merge turns twenty, we get an album that could have been dropped during any point in those twenty prolific years and still garner success. Telekinesis! has us excited here at Citizen Dick. It’s not necessarily an album that breaks new ground, but two distinct things should get you off your ass to pre-order or buy this record on April 7th: Michael Lerner is an amazingly talented do-it-all musician, and probably more importantly, there’s not one ill-advised track on the entire record. Enjoy “I Saw Lightning,” the closing track of the album. We’re pretty confident this will be a record you won’t drop out of your rotation for a long, long while.

Telekinesis – I Saw Lightning

Pre-Order Telekinesis! at Insound

Tags: Merge Records, Telekinesis

Lazy Saturday – Addendum

Filed Under: General Interest

Mar.30, 2009

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

I’ll be honest. This is a trifle embarrassing. On Lazy Saturday, I described how stoked Kevin and I were to see The Twilight Sad and Mogwai in Buffalo on May 5th. Mrs. Citizen, scoping that post today, pointed out that I didn’t include a Twilight Sad track for the peoples. Ooof. My bust. The good news for you, dear reader, is that you get a little bit of Lazy Saturday flavor on a Monday. Even better, you get a quintessential slow builder; if you’ve had a rough day at the office or an unpleasant commute, crank the computer speakers, jump to the 1:30 mark and let the cathartic fuzz wash over you. You’ll feel better. (I sat in a stultifying meeting all day and it’s done the trick for me.) We’ve been on the internets for three months and this is our first major cock-up, so I’ll tally this one in the win column, even though this post is a bit of a retraction.

The track below is from the killer collection, Killed My Parents and Hit the Road, which features a sweet Smiths cover and a slew of rocking tracks. Even better, you can pick it up at insound. Even better than that, you can see The Twilight Sad somewhere close to you in the next few months. Enjoy.

“That Summer At Home, I Had Become the Invisible Boy” – The Twilight Sad

Tags: Lazy Saturday, The Twilight Sad

Circus Devils – Gringo – Citizen Dick Album Review

Filed Under: New Music

Mar.30, 2009

Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)

The critical community seems to lock in on specific characteristics of some artists with a high degree of uniformity. For some musicians, there’s a certain level of consistency across reviews of their work; people seem unable to write about them without mentioning the trait that seems to define the work. Nobody writes about Pete Doherty without mentioning that he’s a bit of a fuck-up. Nobody writes about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs without mentioning their incendiary live act. Nobody writes about TV on the Radio without insinuating that they’re significantly smarter than the rest of us. For Robert Pollard, the easy descriptor that everybody resorts to is that he’s uber-prolific. (I’m as guilty of that as anybody; when I reviewed the last Boston Spaceships album, I threw a paragraph at the number of records Pollard’s released in the last twelve months.) Maybe this analytical laziness has a legitimate base; maybe Pete Doherty’s records aren’t compelling without his battles with drugs and Yeah Yeah Yeah’s wouldn’t be worth writing about if she didn’t choke on a microphone now and again and TVOTR would suck if they didn’t read books or whatever. For Pollard, however, I’d argue that the prolific tag is, perhaps, misguided and reductive. If, say, 311 put out five albums a year, their output would be the only issue worth noting, as they’d probably just make the same record five times. For Pollard, however, the massive amount of material he pumps out is wildly diverse and consistently interesting. Barring his distinct voice, the new Circus Devils record sounds very little like the most recent Boston Spaceships record. Pollard has things to say and music to make. As listeners, we’re lucky that he makes as much of it as he does.

Circus Devils is the longest running Pollard project since the demise of Guided By Voices. Composed of Pollard and the multi-instrumental Tobias brothers, Todd and Tim, the Circus Devils’ previous six records have often been a repository for some of the farther-out, more experimental pieces in the Pollard catalog. (Check out “The Girls Will Make it Happen” from 2008′s Ataxia, via the Circus Devils website for a ten minutes of some lovely, spaced-out weirdness.) When Todd Tobias passed along a digital copy of Gringo to Citizen Dick world headquarters, he wrote that it was accessible and acoustic, “a first on both counts for Circus Devils.” Dude was right. There are a slew of tracks on Gringo that are insanely catchy. There’s still a dark undercurrent and the more straightforward rock edge of Boston Spaceships isn’t present, but songs like “Hot Water Wine” and “In Your Hour of Rescue” are “accesible” to the point of being damn near sing-a-longs. While listener-friendly, both still have an edge of the subversive to them, in the mid-song breakdown that leads into the dirge-like conclusion of the first and in the off-kilter multi-tracking of Pollard’s voice in the second. While those songs and others point to a more mainstream ethos, tracks like “Monky Head” and, to a lesser degree, “Ants” keep the weirdness intact. You’re not going to see Circus Devils on an NBC sitcom soon, but you could probably play a few of these at your company’s Christmas party without getting sideways looks.

Circus Devils’ website refers to Gringo as a song-cycle, detailing the life and times of the Gringo. This, to me, implies a narrative arc across the record, but it’s loosely defined. Many of the songs are sung in the first-person, so one could assume that most are from the point-of-view of the Gringo, but, as a listener, individual songs and lyrics jumped out at me more than a more cohesive story. If the Gringo has a story, it’s one that emerges from the record in the form of briefly glimpsed fragments and evocative moods. The decidedly upbeat “Before it Walks” has the narrator saying “I didn’t see nobody, I couldn’t finger anyone.” The minor-key stomp “Arizona Blacktop Company” describes a man who “calls himself Tex, but can’t have a drink with his boys” and the narrator in “In Your Hour of Rescue” declares that “I’m sober now, in my head.” Lyrics like this sketch a picture of a character with a shady past and an uncertain future, but it’s not as prescriptive as, say, Tommy. This also might vary from listener to listener. Kevin, for instance, is more likely to pick up on broad themes than I am (see his review of Benjy Ferree), but it’s a testament to the quality of the record that the songs stand up without requiring any connection amongst them. As a listener, I feel like there’s some grander meaning lurking beneath the surface, which is a compelling reason to re-listen.

The two songs below are indicative of the album’s ability to shift moods radically while maintaining a recognizable and consistent underlying sound. “Ships From Prison to Prison” is a contemplative, quiet acoustic ballad, seeming to focus lyrically on the mutable nature of existence. “Every Moment Flame On” is more anthemic, with a shuffling drum beat behind a shimmering, soaring chorus. This tonal shifting is all over the record, from the angry intensity of “Bad Baby Blue” to the zoned-out, near drone of “Stars on All Night.” While the acoustic guitar, as promised by Tobias, is omnipresent on the record there’s no stagnation or complacency. There are also some electrified moments which keep things fresh, notably the dirty, half funk riff of “The Gasoline Drinkers.” There’s enough sonic diversity here to keep listeners engaged, while hewing to a certain consistency of vibe.

We’re sure that Robert Pollard is going to have another album coming out soon. As long as he continues to produce high quality records, like Gringo, we’ll comment on them. Next time, I promise, I won’t say how many records he’s released or songs he’s written; I’m turning over a new leaf. In the meantime, snag this newest effort from Circus Devils when it drops on April 14th and soak in the rock genius of one of our favorite fellow Ohioans.

Grab Circus Devils at Insound.

“Ships From Prison to Prison” – Circus Devils

“Every Moment Flame On” – Circus Devils

Tags: Circus Devils, Happy Jack Rock Records

A Fistful of Lazy Saturday

Filed Under: General Interest

Mar.28, 2009

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

(Editor’s Note: You know the deal. It’s Lazy Saturday. Our definition of this content is evolving. The current iteration, carried over from last week, is an old picture that doesn’t make direct linear sense and three or four live tracks that stick to some sort of loosely defined theme. The picture above is of the first recorded “indie” band, The Black Tuba. They went to art school together and were united by a shared love of goofy facial hair and atonal sousaphone solos, just like many of the darlings of today’s scene. There are no extant recordings any of The Black Tuba’s records, but noted 1840s fanzine, The Omphalos Orates, essentially the Pitchfork of the 19th century, gave their debut a 9.7, so they must not have sucked.)

There are some great shows on the horizon for Clevelanders. On a day where the post doesn’t have “lazy” in the title, we’ll give you a more comprehensive list of things on the horizon, but for today, we wanted to highlight three upcoming gigs that we’re particularly excited about, working outwards both geographically from Cleveland and temporally from right now.

Andrew Bird will be at Cleveland’s Allen Theater on April 2. Mrs. Citizen and I will be in attendance and I will have a full report for you, faithful reader, on or around April 3. Given the staid nature of the venue, this will be one of the rare occasions when a Dick walks out of a show without a set list. (I will not be crawling through an orchestra pit to grab a piece of paper to prove my manhood to you, sadly.) If the Birdman does not play “Tables and Chairs,” however, I will abandon all decorum and rip my velvet covered seat out of the floor. If that happens, you’ll probably be reading my review in the local police blotter, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take. He’s all over the map this summer, including some dates with the Decemberists, so he’s probably coming close to your house. You should go.

“Tables and Chairs” – Andrew Bird, The Netherlands, 2005

Two of our favorite groups of Scots, Mogwai and The Twilight Sad, will be in Buffalo on May 5th. Kevin and I will be there, diligently documenting the evening (and, probably, going oan a pure mad whitey). To say that we’re excited to see two muscular acts, tearing through rocking material with both aplomb and aggression is an understatement. If you see us in Buffalo, take a wide berth; the combination of songs like “Cold Days in the Birdhouse” and a dozen pints might make us slightly more truculent than usual. These fellows are also criss-crossing the country, so be certain to check them out.

“You Don’t Know Jesus” – Mogwai, Germany, 2006

Mike Watt is playing three shows in California in April. None of the Dicks will be there. If you go, take a picture and shoot it our way. Hopefully, the inimitable Mr. Watt will decide to come somewhere close to Cleveland so that I can jam as econo as possible. Highlights of this particular version of all-time fave “Piss Bottle Man” include Watt saying that the song’s about his dad at the beginning and quoting Flavor Flav at the end. The background vocals get a little dicey, but it’s punk as hell, so deal with it.

“Piss Bottle Man” – Mike Watt, Chicago, 1995

Tags: Andrew Bird, Lazy Saturday, Mike Watt, Mogwai, The Twilight Sad

TGIF Hodge Podge – Busted Brackets + Lotus Plaza + So Many Dynamos + Badly Drawn Boy

Filed Under: General Interest, New Music, The Vault

Mar.27, 2009

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

Well, I think I can officially tear up my 2009 NCAA Tournament bracket. After last night’s games I have officially lost four of my Elite Eight teams, half of my Final Four, and my eventual national champion Memphis Tigers. Another year, another $20 down the drain that would have otherwise been spent on a few day’s worth of coffee and cigarettes. Luckily for all of us, what I lack in college basketball knowledge I more than make up for with my impeccable taste in music. It has been a blistering week of new music so far here at Citizen Dick headquarters, and today’s weekly TGIF entry is sure to keep the pace. We have a new Deerhunter side project, a freshly leaked track from a much-anticipated upcoming release, and a trip down memory lane with an indie rock legend, so sit back, read, listen, and enjoy. If your bracket is in as bad a shape as mine, hopefully these tunes will help you take your mind off of it, at least for a while.

For fans of Deerhunter who didn’t get their fill from the three projects they put forth last year, the announcement of the recently released Lotus Plaza album likely came as very pleasant news indeed. Entitled The Floodlight Collective, the debut solo effort from Deerhunter guitarist Lockett Pundt was released this past Tuesday from the purveyors of all things Deerhunter-related, Kranky Records. With Lotus Plaza, Pundt does not stray far from the formula that has been so successful for his primary band and singer Bradford Cox’s Atlas Sound project, yet at the same time manages to etch out a collection of ten tracks that are uniquely his own.

Drawing more heavily from Microcastle than from Cryptograms, The Floodlight Collective almost plays out as the warm and hazy yin to Atlas Sound’s stark and frigid yang. The album is dominated throughout with muddled vocals, quietly buzzing guitars, and minimalist percussion. The culmination is a true masterpiece of ambient atmospheric pop. Tracks like “Red Oak Way” and “Different Mirrors” are standout lo-fi classics, while others like “Quicksand” and “What Grows” flirt with surf rock and jazz influence, respectively. Balancing out these more straight forward tunes are more eclectic numbers like the slow-burning “Whiteout” and more experimental title track, while closer “A Threaded Needle” almost brings to mind an 80’s new wave influence. Overall this album is an absolute must-have for Deerhunter fans, and will also appeal to a lot of folks who are on the fence about Pundt’s primary band as well. With tracks that are complex enough to stand on their own yet effortless enough to serve as background music, The Floodlight Collective is destined to be a soundtrack for intimate house parties, lazy afternoon barbecues, and days spent lounging at the beach all summer long.

Lotus Plaza – “Red Oak Way”

But Lotus Plaza at Insound!

An album that all of us here at Citizen Dick have been eagerly awaiting is the third release from the St. Louis quartet So Many Dynamos, titled The Loud Wars. Originally slated for an April 7th release date on Vagrant Records, the band’s touring schedule has pushed that date back all the way until June 9th. No need to fret though, because earlier this week the band and their label threw us a bone by releasing the lead single, “New Bones”, to tide us over for a bit while we wait it out. The rollicking 5-minute dance punk anthem offers more than a glimpse of the album to come, showing hints of influence from pioneers of the genre such as Q and not U, The Faint, and The Rapture while breathing their own brand of fresh air into the formula. Guitars shimmying and synthesizers squealing, “New Bones” is destined to be a dance floor anthem in hipster bars across the country and should have you salivating for the rest of this gem of an album. Not to make you too jealous or anything, but I have had the pleasure of listening to the whole thing and can tell you first hand that it does not disappoint. We promise to bring you the type of full-on review that you have come to expect from us a bit closer to the release date, so prepare yourselves.

So Many Dynamos – “New Bones”

Pre-order or buy So Many Dynamos at Insound!

It’s hard to take an artist seriously when he performs the entire soundtrack to a Hugh Grant movie, unless that artist happens to be Damon Gough, better known as Badly Drawn Boy. Though at times Gough’s work can be polarizing, it is hard to deny the beauty of his 2000 debut album, The Hour of Bewilderbeast. Spanning genres from jazz to funk and everything in between, the album is ripe with catchy hooks and brilliant songwriting. The crowning jewel of the album in my mind is track number two, “Everybody’s Stalking”. I still remember the first time I heard this song as a senior in college, and after rediscovering it earlier this week it holds up as well today as it did nine years ago. Dark and expansive, it is undeniably catchy, well written, and touching: the kind of song that sticks with you for days after hearing it. Lyrics like “don’t wanna rain on your procession, only seeking your obsession” are equal parts haunting and beautiful and sum up the feelings the track evokes. With lo-fi keyboards, guitars, and vocals coming together seamlessly as a single melody, “Everybody’s Stalking” is a near perfect example of what a songwriter’s song should be.

Badly Drawn Boy – “Everybody’s Stalking”

Buy Badly Drawn Bot at Insound!

Tags: Badly Drawn Boy, Deerhunter, Kranky, Lotus Plaza, So Many Dynamos, TGIF Hodge Podge, Vagrant Records

Pontiak – Maker – Citizen Dick Album Review

Filed Under: New Music

Mar.26, 2009

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

My first experience with a Marshall stack amp involved the hefty task of lugging it up my buddy’s lofted barn steps with my right arm tightly wrapped around a case of Keystone. Inadvertently, we lost our footing and the amp toppled off the stairs about midway up, nearly crushing my buddy and breaking off part of the bannister. I wound up with a killer bruise on my left side and my pal hobbled away with a bum ankle as a result. Only two things made it through unscathed, my buddy’s tank-sized amplifier and my case of rat piss. I can’t remember how many nights growing up were spent with cheap beer, loud amplifiers and jamming on instruments we weren’t really good enough to use. Frayed and tangled guitar chords peppered the floorboards of our makeshift concert hall. If I could rummage some old photos of those days, we’d see the late 90′s culture in full array. Torn denim, flannels, and combat boots, all muddy from trouncing through my buddy’s torn up backyard near the barn. These are solid memories, and fortunately, iconic images most of our readership should readily identify with. I suppose a man needs to check for his testicles if he can’t identify with the shrieking coolness of do-it-yourself recordings. Inevitably, I envision those high school days whenever I hear a great rocked-out jam record. Flaws birthed from raw energy raise the hairs on my neck, and the imagery of a group of friends working beat up equipment until sunrise becomes a stark reality when albums like Pontiak’s Maker hit the shelves.

After listening to Pontiak’s third Thrill Jockey release, Maker, for the fourth time through, one thing is abundantly clear; this is not tea sipping music. The trio of brothers has been busy over the last 365, honing their sound and developing their own pseudo-live recording process. Lain, Jennings, and Van Carney hail from rural Virginia and all aspects of their musical roots and attachment to simpler things drench this album with personal emotion and raw rock-n-roll fury. Recorded in a 12×12 room with an actual dying amplifier, Maker is exactly what you would have heard in my buddy’s barn loft fifteen years ago, except these guys have loads of talent and know how to harness both their environment and artistic ability into something way more gratifying than high school keggers. Many tracks on the record were recorded in one, live take, and this all inclusive style is kicking me hard where it counts right now.

At its heart, Maker works with some monster guitar work, namely in the vein of mid-70′s Sabbath and Steppenwolf. “Laywayed” begins the journey with salutatory nods to early hard rock innovators while infusing all sorts of repressed tension in the vocal delivery. The cool thing here is it pounds my nostalgic nerve, drudging up sounds from my initial fandom of mainstream rock n’ roll. In the title track, 13:32 of sheer guitar evilness pulses through the speakers with angular shifts and tempo changes galore.

Another great feature of Pontiak’s work here is how rough it is; it’s obvious these guys have chosen to keep things simple, much the way they choose to camp rather than lodge while touring. The amplification flaws are present, but only add to the flavor, specifically in “Honey” where the central riff comes in with unbelievable levels of distortion and off-kilter, creeped out vocals. In a side note, since all three are brothers with similar voices, a nearly psycho-hypnotic vocal harmony is chillingly present in most tracks, simply adding to the layer of sludge and hard rock heraldry. “Wax Worship” is a track to listen to with a baseball bat and an enemy in mind, as the macabre oohs and ahhs angrily mesh with the spiraling psycho-digression and tempo changes.

In important nods to their psychedelic predecessors, Pontiak strews the album with some raucously noisy instrumental work. At these moments in the record, its obvious these guys love what they’re producing, and a wholly emotional tension erupts from the slightly flawed recording sound. When I say flawed, I use it in the brightest possible terms, as the flaws are merely added for coolness here purposely. “Blood Pride” gallops back and forth with crazy ass cymbal crashes and hard bluesy axe work, while “Heat Pleasure” digresses into complete chaos before dropping into more accessible ouevres. Reverbed feedback, fingers sliding on guitar strings, distortion buzz, and all the goodies of early rock n’ roll recordings are present.

When we used to set up shop back in that old barn, we envisioned ourselves to be rock stars. We all listened to old school Sabbath and tried our best to match up the modern grunge movement with those brooding songs of old. Make no mistake, Pontiak isn’t trying to recreate the wheel with this record, but the guitar work and echoing drawl of the album as a whole is, at many points, breathtaking. Be sure to get this on pre-order and enjoy the flashback, dudes.

Pontiak – “Laywayed”

Pre-order Pontiak’s Maker at Insound ASAP

Tags: Pontiak, Thrill Jockey

Headless Heroes – The Silence of Love – Citizen Dick Album Review

Filed Under: New Music

Mar.26, 2009

Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)

If you live somewhere other than the United States or Canada, you’ve probably already listened to the Headless Heroes. However, for our North American readers, May 19 is a day to circle, as that’s when you can grab a copy of Silence of Love, a top-drawer collection of covers featuring the piercingly lovely voice of Citizen Dick favorite Alela Diane. The band is a collection of musicians assembled by Eddie Bezalel expressly to record a collection of covers of his choosing. Interestingly, the album doesn’t sound a lot like Diane’s solo work. While she works, largely, in the folk idiom, producing acoustic driven nuggets of song-writing gold, this album features a more expansive sound. It’s not wildly divergent from her solo work (there aren’t any high energy dance tracks here), but it does incorporate a broader aural pallate. It’s a testament to Diane’s talent that she can perform at a high level with both her own folkier material and with a bunch of covers that feature a bigger sound. This kind of artistic flexibility implies good things for her future (and ours, as listeners).

The album, strangely, doesn’t play like a covers album either. The songs are, for the most part, intimidatingly obscure and/or manipulated and re-interpreted to a degree that they sound like originals. To the first point, you’re some kind of super-duper music snob if you even want to pretend that you’ve got any Vashti Bunyan albums on your shelf, so hearing Headless Heroes cover her (amazing) song “Here Before” isn’t going to be an experience that has a lot of sonic touchstones; this is probably going to be the case for songs from I am Kloot and Gentle Soul as well. Headless Heroes are likely to be the only band you’ve ever heard sing these songs and, because of this and the level of intelligence and talent they bring, they own them. To the second point, nobody has the brass or the lack of foresight to try and make “Just Like Honey” sound like the Jesus and Mary Chain. Why bother? That’s three minutes of perfection that’s impossible to top. When Headless Heroes cover that track, the fuzz is gone, replaced by a killer slide guitar and the brooding vocals are gone, replaced by Diane’s crystalline pipes. It’s still a cover, but it is distinctly unique from the original; rather than tackle a classic head on, Headless Heroes subvert the song enough that a non-attentive listener might not pick it out immediately as a re-imagined canonical track. (The video, below, has creepy peacocks, so if you’ve got some sort of bird phobia, tread carefully. Also, for those of you with the Jesus and Mary Chain original on the brain, the gender inversion of the vocals at the end is killer and may well be the best thing about the cover. Last item in this parenthetical, I promise: Full disclosure, this is the song on the album that’s stuck on repeat for me, so if I’ve spent too much time gushing over it, you’ll just have to deal with it.)

<a href="http://www.vimeo.com/3462590">http://www.vimeo.com/3462590</a>

That reworking motif works for a majority of the album, possibly because many of the songs aren’t immediately recognizable. The one spot where this approach falters a bit is on the cover of Daniel Johnston’s “True Love Will Find You in the End.” (I’m not certain that “falters” is the right word here, but it comes closest to hitting my feelings. I don’t want to sound pejorative; the song’s still a delight, but its tone strikes me as misplaced.) The original version of that song never played as hopefully to me as the Headless Heroes’ version does. When Johnston sang it, it sounded like the clarion call of defeat, his warbling voice in front of a spare and oddly, almost indefinably off acoustic guitar. His faltering delivery always focused on “the catch” not on the optimism, for me. That song makes me want to cry every time I hear it. It’s powerful and affecting. The Headless Heroes version is more technically astute and Diane crushes the vocals, but it sounds really sunshiny to me. Diane, as a vocalist, implies that you can step out into the light, where I’m not sure Johnston did. All this to say that it sounds weird to me. In a vacuum, you’d love the Headless Heroes version unconditionally, the shimmering guitar solo in the middle and the beauty of Diane’s voice guarantee that, but with the context of the original, it’s tough. Headless Heroes’ cover is below and the original is (or should be) in your ipod. You make the call. (We’d welcome some discussion on this issue in the comments. I’m willing to admit that I might be over-analyzing this.)

It’s been a big year already for cover albums. Phosphorescent’s To Willie, Condo Fucks’ Fuck Book and this Headless Heroes album all take others’ material and attempt to do something unique with it. I’d argue that this project is the most ambitioius and succesful. The To Wilie thing, while intriguing, never really gained a lot of traction here at Citizen Dick and the Condo Fucks album, while amazing and endearing (and catchy as hell), is a bit one-dimensional when placed next to The Silence of Love. Given the prowess of Diane, the quality of the covers chosen and the high degree of uniqueness of the covers themselves, this is clearly an album worth tracking down.

“True Love Will Find You In The End” – Headless Heroes

Tags: Alela Diane, Headless Heroes, Names

Hump Day Double Feature with Eulogies, Part 2 – Live @ Ronny’s Bar

Filed Under: Concert Venues, General Interest, Live Shows

Mar.25, 2009

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

Heading to Ronny’s tonight for the Eulogies show, I must admit I was a bit apprehensive having never been there before and basing my expectations on the less than favorable Yelp! reviews I had read. Needless to say, I was not all that surprised when I walked in. The main area of Ronny’s Bar is a strange mix of dive bar and grandma’s basement, complete with a strange odor, low ceilings, excessive wood paneling, and a variety of video poker machines lining the wall. Personally, I love a good dive bar so I took to the place right away and actually quite liked the joint. The “garage” portion where the “stage” is located, however, was a bit of a different story. As it turns out, Ronny’s Garage (the area that houses the live music) is quite literally an actual garage, but the “stage,” on the other hand, is quite far from anything resembling an actual stage. Which is to say that there really isn’t a stage at all, rather the band performs at ground level in the tiny, concrete-floored room with the fans basically standing as close to the performance area as they would like. Bear in mind that this isn’t a knock on the place at all, just a comment on how strange the setup is. I actually quite enjoyed it; I mean, it’s not every day that you get to see a great band perform in virtually the same setting as your friend’s band in high school that used to play Weezer covers at keg parties.

The show itself was actually, well, awesome for lack of a better word. There wasn’t much of a crowd, about 15 people including myself, so given that, the size of the room, and the proximity of the fans to the band it was an incredibly intimate environment. In most cases I would say it was like seeing a band play in your basement and mean it as a simile, but in this case I am saying it and meaning it quite literally. Perhaps even cooler than the setting was the way that Eulogies’ music comes to life when performed in a live setting, and particularly the way that frontman Peter Walker goes to town on the guitar. Songs that seemed mellow and soaring on the album suddenly become pulsing rockers thundering into your eardrums. Though the set was short, it was packed with highlights such as the incredible rendition of “How to Be Alone” running seamlessly into “Bad Connection,” the stunning closing combo of “This Fine Progression” and all-out rocking “Eyes on the Prize,” and the impromptu birthday poem (the same poem that Judge Smails reads in Caddyshack when he christens his “sloop”) that bassist Garrett Deloian read to guitarist Drew Phillips. Needless to say, I left wanting more and will be sure to catch them again next time they are in town.

Given Eulogies’ furious tour schedule, it’s likely they will be coming to a town near you soon. I suggest making your way out and catching their set for yourselves; you will not be disappointed:

3/25 – Ferndale, MI, USA @ Magic Bag*

3/27 – Pittsburgh, PA, USA @ Thunderbird Café*

3/28 – Arlington, VA, USA @ IOTA Club & Café*

3/29 – Baltimore, MD, USA @ Metro Gallery*

3/31 – New York, New York @ Piano’s

4/2 – Brooklyn, NY @ Union Hall**

4/4 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern**

4/6 – St. Louis, MO, USA @ The Firebird**

4/7 – Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge**

4/8 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge**

5/1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Bell House***

5/2 – Albany, NY @ Valentines***

5/4 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom***

5/5 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s***

5/7 – Washington D.C. @ Black Cat***

5/8 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Diesel***

5/9 – Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop***

5/10 – Columbus, OH @ Skully’s***

5/11 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick***

5/12 – Chicago, IL @ Lakeshore Theater***

5/14 – Colombus, MO @ Blue Note***

5/16 – Denton, TX @ Hailey’s***

5/17 – Houston, TX @ The Warehouse***

5/18 – Austin, TX @ Parish***

5/22 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah***

5/23 – Echo Park, Ca @ Echoplex***

5/24 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent***

5/26 – Portland, OR @ Douglas Fir Lounge***

5/27 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile Café***

* = w/Middle Distance Runner
** = w/Bad Veins
*** = w/The Dears

And in case any of you forgot, Citizen Dick ALWAYS gets the setlist:

And because we love you, here is another mp3 from The Homespun Sessions:

Eulogies – “The Fight I’ve Come to Like” (Homespun Sessions)

Tags: Chicago, Dangerbird Records, Eulogies, Live Shows, Ronny's Bar

Hump Day Double Feature with Eulogies, Part 1 – Here Anonymous

Filed Under: General Interest, New Music

Mar.24, 2009

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

(Editor’s note: As the title suggests, we’re going to be dedicating the entire day today here at Citizen Dick to Eulogies. First up in Part 1 is a review of their upcoming album, Here Anonymous, which will be released on April 7th on Dangerbird Records. Part 2, to be posted later today, will be a recap of their live show from last night at Ronny’s Bar in Chicago, so you have that to look forward to later to help get you through the afternoon.)

If you’ve been paying attention to the blogosphere in regards to indie music lately, you have probably caught some of the buzz leading up to the release of Eulogies’ upcoming album, Here Anonymous. Starting a couple of weeks ago, the band’s singer, Peter Walker, has been randomly releasing tracks from an acoustic teaser EP called The Homespun Sessions as a preview to their new LP coming out on April 7th on Dangerbird. The EP features five songs, all of which will be present on the band’s full-length, recorded solo-acoustic style in Walker’s own home/bedroom. The first three tracks have already been circulating for a bit, including my personal favorite “This Fine Progression,” with the next two expected sometime before the official release of Here Anonymous. In case you haven’t caught any of these yet, check out the mp3 of “This Fine Progression” below:

Eulogies – “This Fine Progression” (Homespun Sessions)

The tracks from The Homespun Sessions lay down a great foundation for what to expect from Here Anonymous, with most songs focusing heavily on Walker’s soothing vocals and allowing the spacey melodies to blend in without taking over. Compared to the band’s previous album, 2007’s self-titled debut, this new material is far more accomplished musically and in many ways more uplifting to listen to. The thing to keep in mind here is that, although predominately slow and emotional, Here Anonymous is not what I would consider a melancholy or depressing album; this is something I consider to be a true achievement.

The album starts off with a trio of spacey pop gems, the type of songs that allow Eulogies to truly shine and show their strength. “Day to Day,” Eyes on the Prize,” and “Bad Connections” are the types of songs that make you wonder what it would sound like if Mercury Rev were to make an album of Americana tunes; each one is spanning and spacey yet maintains a mellow, straightforward down-to-earth vibe. The album then takes a bit of a left turn for the almost folky “Two Can Play,” featuring Nikki Monninger from Silversun Pickups joining Walker on vocals. From there the album starts to pick up some pace, with the group of tracks from “To Be Alone” through “Darker Place” providing a handful of moments where you feel the band is just on the precipice of completely rocking out just before they pull in the reins and show a hint of restraint. “Goodbye” and “The Fight I’ve Come to Like” slow things back down again before they embark on “”Stranger Calliope”, perhaps the most experimental track on the album, and close out with another standard Eulogies track in “Is There Anyone Here.”

All in all, the album is remarkably consistent and very listenable. It flows well and there is virtually no filler material, so you can easily just throw it on and let it play without the need to skip a track here or there. As I mentioned, the album drops on April 7th. But you can tide yourself over until then with “Two Can Play”:

Eulogies – “Two Can Play”

Buy Eulogies at Insound!

Tags: Dangerbird Records, Eulogies

Fever Ray – Fever Ray – Citizen Dick Album Review

Filed Under: New Music

Mar.24, 2009

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

While performing for years as The Knife, the Swedish duo of Karin Dreijer Anderson and Olof Dreijer spanned multiple sounds while experimenting with angular and semi-accessible electronic-based auras. Numerous awards overseas and a widespread notoriety for mysterious aloofness left audiences with very little to chew on for the past few years. Both Olof and Karin, essentially, focused on separate projects since the release and overwhelming success of Silent Shout, and this break, in our minds, has left Karin as the moneymaker of the duo. In addition to laying down vocals on Royksopp’s new album, she has created a wistful, if not sometimes gothic, cocoon of sound with Fever Ray, her first full length since putting The Knife on pause.

The first thing that pops out on this LP is how accessible it is. Brutally morphed vocals and dark, mystic electronics don’t immediately strike a listener as pop-like, but it’s hard to ignore how catchy the Fever Ray songs are. Grand synthesizers, lofty and arching vocals and well-placed diving percussion all form into a blanket of juxtaposing qualities; on one hand this is a record in full ambient control, namely in tracks like “If I Had a Heart” and “Dry and Dusty” where grim and spooky tenderness outweighs the vocal delivery. On the other hand, Karin keeps one foot firmly planted in pop sensibility. ”Keep the Streets Empty for Me” is still at its heart a folk tune, despite drum machine electronics and overriding synth sludge. The Knife had the ability to span multiple genres, as have many Swedish acts of recent note. Fever Ray is no different in this regard, and if anything, its polish and focus on gothic macabre is a notch above all the rest.

There’s a chill to nearly every track on this record, isolating the listener in alarmingly dark ambience. “Coconut” begins with echoing percussion that sounds like the ghost coming up the stairs and bleeds into wispy blips and whistles; I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be thinking of witchcraft and Wiccan philosophy, but nonetheless the track makes me wander into Pagan wavelengths. Upon first listen, I said to my colleague, Brian, “This is like Gregorian monks meet Blondie.” Of course, this was a trite oversight, but even upon multiple listens, it’s hard to miss the obvious influence of creepy crawly things. ”When I Grow Up” plays out like a bone rattling narrative even though the lyrics are inherently positive. This seems to be the nature of most of the record; accessible lyrics and typical pop modalities are splashed against an eerie backdrop. Within these finely defined parameters, there is not one bad track on this record. She’s damn good, and she’s confident enough to step outside the box to prove it. Most of the tracks are sweeping, but it peaks particularly with “Concrete Walls” a brooding statement midway through the album with police siren electronics and vocals that sound straight from a dashboard-melted cassette tape.

It may be the simple answer to pawn this effort off as experimental and ambient, but after a few listens, this is a problematic way to do it. Karin Deijer’s new found artistic vision with Fever Ray is sophisticated and steps above the already successful modes of The Knife. This is well worth the purchase today, as the record is sure to be on everyone’s shelves ready to enjoy. Watch the youtube clips and enjoy “Concrete Walls.” Open your minds and ears to this surreal landscape. This will hit a ton of year-end lists, and along with Silent Shout, the Deijer clan has had an overwhelmingly successful decade.

“Concrete Walls” – Fever Ray

Buy Fever Ray on Insound now!

Tags: Fever Ray, Mute Records

Obits – I Blame You – Citizen Dick Album Review

Filed Under: General Interest, New Music

Mar.24, 2009

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

As I’ve previously stated in other album reviews, I’m always a sucker for a straightforward rock-n-roll album. There are so many styles in the indie world that at times it’s refreshing to get an album that’s easy to grasp on first listen. Sub Pop has done an excellent job in this regard in 2009. Handsome Furs, Vetiver, and now Obits have all created albums that aren’t difficult to understand, but are entirely pleasing in tone and construction. Like a fistful of steel, I Blame You begins fully throttled and ends just as angrily. You’re not going to be scratching your head at its mystery, but then again, nobody ever said that was the goal.

Rick Froberg (Hot Snakes) and Sohrab Habibion (Edsel) envisioned Obits for exactly what it is on this Sub Pop debut, an amalgam of only the most delicious rock and roll influences and a fork to the ribs of indie-rock pretension. When the live demos of the supergroup began surfacing in late 2006, references to Creedence, among many others, were probably prematurely tagged. Upon repeat listens of I Blame You, pasting references isn’t an easy task because of the conventions at play. Surf, Motown, punk, and blues aren’t identifiably one band’s creation. Instead, what’s significant in reviewing is the vibe that’s created by sticking to things that work. This record is an ass-kicker, and it strives to be nothing but that.

A first major nod to this record is its consistency of sound. The guitar dueling barrage emerges quickly in the album’s opener, “Widow of My Dreams” and hits fast and hard for the duration. There is the easy mode of review to focus on the emphasis of straightforward power chords, but this is too simple. The guitar work is tightly compacted and well-arranged. Froberg and Habibion weave fills and string breaking strumming throughout. ”Fake Kinkade” incorporates a galloping rhythm in a true rock-n-roll vein, dating back to its bluesy ancestry. Stomping guitar fills and a great chorus tell us, once again, that this isn’t tricky. With Obits, you’re going to get a fastball down the pipe. They’re only asking you to swing away without baggage. Pitchfork’s recent review of the record was less than raving, and it proves, yet again, that some folks simply don’t get it. If an album strives to be a straight rock record and achieves it well, how can it get a knock of a review? I suppose this is what is immediately endearing about the album. They’re not attempting to break new ground stylistically; they are fusing things that work and doing it beautifully. It only takes one listen to “Talking to the Dog” with it’s punchy rhythm and belted out vocals to get a sense of this. It’s rock candy in its raw form; sometimes we need a little of this, and it’s dangerous to focus on emerging sounds with a deaf ear toward modes that have and will always work.

There is very little filler on the record, primarily because each track takes its own bite from the dinner plate. Many of the tracks, as previously mentioned, center around the hard power chords and bluesy guitar fills, but each have slight variations to set them apart. ”Lilies in the Street” has a country twang buried somewhere in the distortion and amp crushing loudness. The looping and repetitive bass lines are crisp and intense, dropping into a heartwarming hook and chorus. Greg Simpson’s bass work is omnipresent throughout the 42 minutes, as in “Two-Headed Coin” where the plucky bass strings set tone and remind us that this is a conglomeration of talented and established artists. Hand-shakers, pounding drums, and accessibly driven riffs are all over the place in “SUD,” where the album hits its peak and emotional vocals match up with the sound. The title track is a blistering 1:08 of instrumental foggy fuzz, and well worth the few bucks you’ll shell out today as the album is released.

I always find myself gravitating back to things that work. I can handle experimental music, electronic, singer/songwriter, and just about any genre put in front of me. However, when I think back to my upbringing, it’s the crunchy blues-based rock-n-roll that always catches my ear. I’m not one to pretentiously soap box and pretend that crickets chirping and a guy scratching his nails on a chalkboard is some new revelation in music. They can have it. I’ll keep plugging along enjoying music that hits my vicarious wish to live the sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll lifestyle. I Blame You is a fun blast of sound from artists who know what they’re doing and have proven it in the past. Let’s not get carried away with obnoxiously deaf ears to certifiably successful sounds and enjoy this one. I’ve already worn the edges searching for a weak spot. I’ve decided not to worry about it, and something tells me this is exactly the way I’m supposed to listen to this one.

Buy I Blame You today at Insound

Obits – “Pine On”

Tags: Obits, Sub Pop

Beep Beep – Enchanted Islands – Citizen Dick Album Review

Filed Under: New Music

Mar.23, 2009

Rating: 9.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Beep Beep’s new album, Enchanted Islands, is an often confusing amalgam of a vast array of styles and ideas. It can be a disorienting forty two minutes. The record features acid rock freakouts, funk beats, strange instrumental left-turns (I pretty sure that that they use David Carradine’s flute from Kill Bill on one track), some jarringly tuneful moments and the world’s most unsettling falsetto. Given the complexity of the album and, presumably, the band itself, Saddle Creek’s biographical sketch of Beep Beep is worth quoting at length to kick this review off. The bands principal members Eric Ray and Christopher Terry are referred to as, respectively, striving to “find resonance with his bodiless spirit” and “mourning the slow, sacrificial burning of his creative being.” The album is described as both a “disturbingly emasculated masterpiece” and “a bewitched fantasia for the mysticized and genetically mutated Galapagos islands.” Yeah. It’s that kind of record.

The album roars out of the gate with a vaguely out of key guitar riff that’s eventually echoed by that falsetto mentioned earlier. The song is called “I See You,” is only 55 seconds long, opens with the strangled lyric “hello, children,” closes with an angrily rattled tambourine and seems to announce to the listener that we’ve traveled off the edge of the map; strange things are afoot, buckle your seat belts. It’s probably important to note here that the principal reason the album is so disorienting is because of its refusal to fit into a box. If the whole album sounded like “I See You” or “Mermaid Struggle,” that would be pretty easy to understand. That stuttering guitar sound and high-pitched vocal, while certainly out on the experimental edges, certainly isn’t something that a certain strain of music listener would find all that strange. It’s the number of tropes that Beep Beep subvert that makes this album unique. “Mermaid Struggle” with it’s trebly modernity, moves right into “Secrets From the Well” (both of which are available for your listening pleasure below). The chasm between those two songs is mammoth. There’s some carry-over in the guitar sound, but the latter track is almost a subversion of a funk song, with it’s dance floor beat and electronic drum intro. Just when you wrap your brain around that, the next song draws heavily on the country idiom. Later on, “Baby Shoes” could almost be a Lionel Richie song (if Lionel had gone to art school). Yeah. It’s that kind of record.

There’s some far-out lyrical content on Enchanted Islands, much of which made me chuckle before scratching my chin and seriously contemplating my position in the universe. Emblematic of that approach is the opening line of “The Whispering Waves”: “How do you know when a starfish is dead? They’re always cold when you touch them.” The song goes on to say that a seashell told the narrator that he doesn’t have to forgive someone, presumably a jilted lover. It’s about our relationship with nature, right? Or the immutable passage of time? He’s on the beach right? Is the beach in his mind? Starfish are regenerative, that’s probably important here, right? And so on. Those little koan-like lyrics are all over the place on the album. In “Wooden Nickels,” which features two vocalists trading lines, you get this one: first singer: “If I see your body floating down the river” second singer:” Please don’t pull me ashore. Let me float. Let me sink.” This exchange is in front of bouncing piano music and is followed by an upbeat saxophone solo. It’s both startling lyrically and wildly out of sync with the music. Is this tongue in cheek? Is it a cry for help? What’s happening? Yeah. It’s that kind of record.

While I’ve tried to make the argument that Enchanted Islands is wildly unpredictable, that might, in reality, make it predictable (to draw on a line from our namesake’s film, “maybe your thing is that you don’t have a thing.”). In that sense, it’s the kind of record that rewards re-listening. When you know that Beep Beep is going to throw you a curve ball, the album starts to fit together; it’s not necessarily cohesive, but the iconoclastic streak of the album is something which improves with attention. The album enters the world on March 24 and the band is criss-crossing these United States over the next few months in support of it. Grab a copy and check out a live show. Just make certain that your conception of the world is stable before you hit play; Beep Beep might throw you off your moorings if you’re not mentally prepared.

“Mermaid Struggle” -Beep Beep

“Secrets From The Well” – Beep Beep

Snag Beep Beep from insound.

Tags: Beep Beep, Saddle Creek

Great Lake Swimmers – Lost Channels – Citizen Dick Album Review

Filed Under: New Music

Mar.23, 2009

Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)

The first song on the new Great Lake Swimmers album bristles with orchestral rock energy; it’s a swirl of stringed instruments, a shuffling, brushed drum sound and an archetypal half-quiet male voice. There’s certainly an air of some of R.E.M.’s pre-Monster material here, but that might be my own bias towards attributing all mandolins to Peter Buck’s influence. The first cut on the album, “Palmistry,” was my first exposure to Great Lake Swimmers (this is their fourth album, but I didn’t write for a blog for the first three, so they escaped my attention), but it offers perfect insight into what the band is doing. It’s the kind of first track that’s like a firm handshake at an interview, revealing the band and the album as worthy of attention and consideration. The album proceeds in the vein that the first track presages; it’s chock full of acoustic indie rock that both soothes and energizes. It’s not a loud record in any sense, but it’s also not at all somnolent. Not to overstate, but it has the same feel that an REM song like “Don’t Go Back to Rockville” does, haunting but upbeat while maintaining a certain seriousness without being stodgy. (That’s a highly specific niche, but I think it works. That’s also the last R.E.M. reference I’ll make, I promise.)

There’s a lot to like on Lost Channels (including the album cover, which is the kind of thing that invites over-analysis), but the album really shines in the middle section; songs three through eight on the album comprise the best stretch of material on a record I’ve listened to this year. They are songs that offer different visions of what folk-inspired music can do and they’re all top-notch. For me, the album tails off just a shad after “Still” (more on that later), but that six song stretch is the absolute truth. “Pulling on a Line” the third song on the album, and the one that signals the beginning of the serious business, is catchy as hell; the band’s creative force and singer, Tony Dekker, sounds stellar on this track, his warm voice nestling into that mellowly swinging sound perfectly, intoning the killer chorus: “I’m just pulling on a line, but sometimes it pulls on me.” (If you’re not singing along in your car when he’s in that chorus, you’re off my Christmas card list.) After that energetic sing-along, the band slows things down a ton for the spare and beautiful “Concrete Heart.” It’s another song that jumps out, but here, instead of upbeat folk swing, it’s for the intensely understated instrumentation. In the previous track, Dekker is in the middle of a fairly traditional acoustic sound and his voice kind of meshes with the music. On “Concrete Heart,” it’s just an acoustic guitar, an occasional kettle drum noise, an almost impressionistic piano solo in the middle of the song and a violin; the emotional tenor of the song is perfectly reflected in the sound. When Dekker hits some of the crushing lyrics, a voice joins in the background, just throwing in a little more emphasis. It’s a forceful display that Great Lake Swimmers can slow things way down and still be successful; I’d argue that it’s far easier to pull of a song like “Pulling on a Line”; it’s hard to screw up that kind of classical Americana. But, if you don’t have the fastball on a song like “Concrete Heart,” where there’s no shuffle to bail you out, it can be a train wreck. “She Comes to Me in Dreams” keeps things rolling with one of the few electric guitars on the record, chugging out a rockier sound, which is a nice shift in tone. “The Chorus in the Underground” is damn near a bluegrass song and it is a complete toe-tapper.

Two more songs lead up to the conclusion of the six song blockbuster that, for me, is the album’s absolute highlight. “Still” is a jaw-dropping display of song-writing. It’s the album’s most simply arranged song, with an acoustic guitar laying down three (I think) chords and a bass playing three notes behind that. There’s nothing tricky, nothing fancy, just a repetitive beat behind Dekker’s voice. The lyrics are what make the song and the instrumentation serves to highlight them; it’s almost as if the band knew that they’d done something really clever with the words and opted to remove all of the acoustic trapping and just let them shine. This was a good call. Each line opens with the phrase, “I’m still,” but Dekker manages to make that mean all of the things that it can throughout the course of the song. To a degree it’s like good rap music, in that it shows how clever the dude who wrote the words is. The best bit is clearly, “I’m still an arrow unshot, fixed in a bow, I’m still, I’m still.” It implies both a cessation of forward movement, a willingness to take action and a continuous state. Absolutely bad ass. If I ever run for president, this will be my campaign’s theme song (even though the band is Canadian).

I mentioned that the album drops off a bit after “Still,” but that just might indicate how strong the middle section is. I’d argue that the lyrical content gets a titch lazy and hackneyed in some of the later tracks. (“River’s Edge” is the biggest offender here, but I’ll let you come to your own conclusions.) There’s also a weird little intermission in the middle of the album called “Singer Castle Bells” that is just a minute or so of, as the title implies, bells. It’s an odd flourish that probably has a reason for inclusion, but it struck me as unnescasary and possibly a bit self-serving. None of that matters in the broader scheme. Even the comparatively weak songs have merit; the band is too talented to include any complete clunkers. For me, it’s tough to live up to songs like “Still” and “Pulling on a Line.” In July, once those are getting a little worn in the rotation, I’ll probably be higher on the album’s close.

Lost Channels is a record you need to listen to. Pick it up when it’s released on March 31 and clear thirty minutes for that middle section. Drop the needle on “Pulling on a Line” and soak it all in. Word on the street is that Great Lake Swimmers pack a mighty wallop live as well, so pick out your beard, throw on a vest and check them out.

“Pulling on a Line” – Great Lake Swimmers

Grab Great Lake Swimmers at insound.

Tags: Great Lake Swimmers, Nettwerk

Lazy Saturday – SXSW Edition

Filed Under: General Interest

Mar.21, 2009

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

(Editor’s note: Live tracks last Saturday seemed like a winner, so we’re going with it again this week. It’s being considered for inclusion as a regular feature, so if you’ve got strong feelings one way or the other, let us know in the comments. Also, that’s a photograph of Edwin Webb up there; he likes cigars and hates all of you. There is no reason for the inclusion of that particular photograph other than it’s the weekend and I was too lazy to hunt down pictures of the four artists included in the post. If you can’t remember what Lee “Scratch” Perry looks like, you can use an encyclopedia or something to find out; I’m not always going to be here holding you hand when you need something.)

Diamond Jim very eloquently described our feelings about SXSW yesterday. In an effort to palliate our yearning ache, we’re going to do the next best thing: listen to tremendous performances from SXSWs past; we spent a few ticks with the internets and dug up the following four gems from some of our favorite artists, all of which were recorded at SXSW. If you, dear reader, are three sentences into this post on Saturday morning, we’re going to assume that you’re not in Austin either. Don’t worry. Do what we’re doing and try to convince yourself that nobody’s going to hear anything as amazing as these four tracks over the weekend. Enjoy.

This was one of my favorite tracks on Post-War and this version puts a slightly different spin on it. On the record, it plays, I’d argue, as a kind of sarcastic comment on the qualifications of authority figures; to a degree, the song is a jibe at those who pretend to know more than the rest of us. This live version, much quieter and possessing a certain reverence, takes the humor out, presenting a colder vision of what it means to have questions. I’m not sure which version I prefer, but listening to these two sing together is a complete treat.

“Chinese Translation” – M. Ward and Jim James – SXSW 2008

Kevin’s going to holler at me a bit for putting this next one up; Lee “Scratch” Perry in specific and dub in general don’t quite fit in with our modus operandi, but I don’t care at all. Lee is the coolest cat ever, especially because he doesn’t want to hear some smart-ass college kid play a farfisa and bitch about his girlfriend or whatever. Yeah!

“Secret Laboratory” – Lee “Scratch” Perry and Dub is a Weapon – SXSW 2007

Ryan Adams and I don’t always see eye-to-eye, kind of like Cyndi Lauper and Captain Lou Albano. I cannot, however, deny that the dude brings a lot to the table. “Enemy Fire” always make me want to put on some tight jeans and sneer at stuff (that’s an endorsement, by the way); bonus points for the top-notch slide work in this version.

“Enemy Fire” – Ryan Adams -SXSW 2001

Just soak this last one in.

“LA” – Elliot Smith – SXSW 2000

If you’re looking for a more recent SXSW fix, NPR has a killer page of dedicated coverage, including recordings of concerts from this year’s event (most notably, The Decemberists’ Hazards of Love, live, in order, which ought to be required listening for all of you (We’re going to get around to commenting on that album here someday, we promise.)).

Tags: Edwin Ward, Elliot Smith, Jim James, Lazy Saturday, Lee "Scratch" Perry, M. Ward, Ryan Adams

TGIF Hodge Podge – Mazes + Swan Lake + Architecture in Helsinki

Filed Under: General Interest, New Music, The Vault

Mar.20, 2009

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

Well, it’s official: we really, REALLY wish we were in Austin at SXSW right now. Sure we’re having a great time here in the Midwest listening to records and everything, but at the same time it breaks our hearts knowing that we are missing out on quite possibly the greatest event of the year for music geeks such as ourselves. Between keeping up with all of the updates on Twitter and the other blogs, we almost feel as though we are there in spirit, but somehow that doesn’t quite cut it. Unfortunately Citizen Dick was no more than a glimmer in our eyes around the time we would have needed to be planning our travels and applying for credentials, which means we will have to wait until next year to make our pilgrimage to the land of all-day rock shows and BBQ joints. In the meantime we are going to keep plugging away with the reviews, bringing you the best new music we can find and looking forward to CMJ in October.

Up first today is Mazes, a local Chicago trio featuring Edward Anderson and Caroline Donovan of 1900s (another stellar Chicago band) along with friend Charles D’Autremont. I honestly love this record so much I almost don’t even know where to begin. I found these guys while playing around on eMusic earlier this week (as you may have noticed by now, I spend a lot of my free time doing this) and was hooked after listening to just a few of the 30 second clips. Obviously I downloaded the full album immediately, and it took only a single listen for it to instantly jump to the front of my list of best releases of 2009 thus far. A culmination of numerous sessions over several years, this self-titled debut album is an absolute masterpiece from start to finish. And given that some tracks were laid down in a matter of hours while others are the product of years of tinkering, it is absolutely incredible how cohesive and perfect the finished product truly is.

The Mazes sound is predominantly low-fi Americana with a 70’s AM gold vibe to it. It is the kind of music that suits itself so perfectly to listening on vinyl that I find it somewhat tragic that I have been listening to mp3’s. I imagine myself listening on a dusty turntable on a Sunday morning from the comfort of my log cabin while reading a newspaper with a cup of coffee and whiskey. Yes, this is the kind of music that takes you to another place in your mind and makes you feel all sorts of warm and fuzzy inside. And though the tracks sometimes shift between folk, country, and psychedelic, they all share an amazing balance of polish flaw; somehow finding perfection through imperfection time and time again. At its heart, the album is everything music should be and nothing that it should not. The songwriting is incredible and it is complimented beautifully by the array of instruments and harmonies strewn across each of the 11 tracks. Songs like the hypnotic “Cat State Comity”, the folky “Face Down on Forest Roads,” and the rich and delicate “I Have Laid in the Darkness of Doubt” are absolute gems. Top to bottom, this is timeless music that will sound as great in 30 years as it does today and likely would have 30 years ago. I really don’t know what else to say other than this is by far the best album I have heard this year and I very strongly suggest that you go out and buy it.

Mazes – “I Have Laid in the Darkeness of Doubt”

Buy Mazes at Insound

Next up in the grab bag is a Canadian super-group of sorts, Swan Lake, comprised of Daniel Bejar (Destroyer, New Pornographers), Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown) and Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes). Now Before I go any further, I have to make a bit of a confession: when I first listened to this record I had no idea who was in the band, I only knew that it was good. This is an incredible oversight on my part for a few reasons, the first of which being that when I looked through my older mp3’s from a few years ago I realized that I actually own their debut album, 2006’s Beast Moans. The second reason being that my initial thought was that they sounded an awful lot like a cross between Wolf Parade and Destroyer. So as you might imagine I felt like an idiot and a genius at the same time when I finally realized that Bejar and Krug were the masterminds behind the group.

Getting to the music itself, I think it’s fair to say that the album plays out exactly as a Bejar/Krug/Mercer collaboration should. Its both eclectic and genius, and the vocals are unique and powerful. After going back and listening to their Beast Moans, Enemy Mine (available 3/24 on Jagjaguwar) is far more cohesive and structured. Nearly gone is the wild dissonance and it has been replaced with layered melodies and intricate nuance, making Enemy Mine far more of a collaborative endeavor between the three artists. But with such distinct voices taking the lead on different tracks, it’s easy to pick out who is who. In some ways, it’s almost like listening to a mix tape that alternates between Destroyer and Wolf Parade tracks. Not a bad thing, and if anything it is a testament to how well the three musicians have come together to create a complete and full sound. For your listening pleasure, check out “Spider,” which is very clearly a dark and introspective Daniel Bejar tune, but be aware that to really appreciate the album you will want to purchase it and listen to the whole thing.

Swan Lake – “Spider”

Buy Swan Lake at Insound

For this week’s vault entry, we will be visiting out third continent of the day: Australia. No, today’s featured band is not Men at Work nor is it Midnight Oil (though “Beds Are Burning” was an outstanding track). Hell, it’s not even Silverchair or AC/DC. Nope, today’s band is Architecture in Helsinki and the track is “Maybe You Can Owe Me,” from their breakthrough 2005 album In Case We Die. For me, this track sums up everything that is great about indie pop music. It’s expansive and dreamy, and although the melody and structure are incredibly intricate and delicate it exudes an air of fun without pretense. This song made it onto almost every mix CD I made in 2005 (which was a lot), and after listening to it again today there is a good chance it will find its way onto a few mixes again this year as well. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Architecture in Helsinki – “Maybe You Can Owe Me”

Buy Architecture in Helsinki at Insound

Tags: Architecture in Helsinki, Jagjaguwar, Mazes, Parasol, Swan Lake, SXSW, TGIF Hodge Podge

Kinetic Stereokids – Kid Moves – Citizen Dick Album Review

Filed Under: New Music

Mar.19, 2009

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

Kinetic Stereokids are from Flint, which kind of makes them our geographical cousins; for the people on the edges of the map, the folks in the middle kind of blend together; the lady who skinned the bunnies in Roger & Me could have just as easily been from Collinwood. I’d argue that midwesterners in general have a bit of the magpie in them; we’ll collect things more readily than snobby easterners or laid back west-coasters. Kinetic Stereokids typify that approach, grabbing ideas and sounds from all over the aural map and jamming them together to create a unique and cacophonous sound. The result is a quality record, which offers frequent surprises and a heap of diversity.

There’s a lot happening on the new Kinetic Stereokids album Kid Moves. This is probably most apparent on the tenth track, “Twisted Thoughts.” The song opens with, essentially, the same voice from The Beastie Boys’ “Body Movin’”(and The Smiths’ “Rubber Ring” and The White Stripes’ “Little Acorns” and…). You know the one, the creepy, semi-monotone older white person saying something like “one to the left” or “you are sleeping” or “when problems overwhelm us.” Here, it’s “Relax your mouth and jaw (jaw), arms (arms)…” That dude cuts out as an acoustic guitar stats laying down chords in front of a soloing electric, before a break beat kicks in and some half-rapping/half singing keys the beginning of the song proper. It’s a song that’s draws from a wide array of influences, from Beck (this might be a bit lazy, in that Beck hasn’t really half-rapped in a while, but I’m going for the Beck of my youth, the crazy one that rhymed “cocaine nose job” and “folksinger slob”) to the high-gods of 70s rock (I refuse to invoke Pink Floyd here, but it did cross my mind) to Sebadoh (low-fi fuzz, folks). On the first listen, it’s distracting: the creepy dude takes away from the electric guitar which doesn’t mesh with the beat, which overpowers the vocals and so on. I felt like there was a great song under there, but it was buried beneath pile of bells, whistles, and other assorted sonic bric-a-brac. The second time through (and the third) the song made much more sense. You’ve got to shut off some of those regulatory functions and just soak it in. Creepy dude heightens the vibe of the vocals. The guitar solo shreds in the mellowest way possible. The vocals are perfectly situated. This encapsulates Kid Moves; there’s a lot going on and it doesn’t always make sense, but if you give it a second to settle in, it works. If you get analytical on it, it’s tough to sort out why it works, but it does.

Within the chaos, Kinetic Stereokids seem to have two broad gears. There’s a freaky, experimental side and a side yearning for widespread affection. The two tracks below typify this dichotomous approach; “Free Money” is raucous and distracted, pushing that fuzzed out drum loop to the fore, playing up the gap between the two guitar sounds and, in general, pushing a lot of different buttons. This side of the album is, for the most part, where the gems are. It’s a band doing something new with old parts. “Planes With Teeth” is the song where this approach is most fully realized; it’s a brooding, meandering seven-minute epic with all sorts of strange flourishes and temporal and tonal shifts. It kicks ass. The second track below, “Have a Nice Day” shows the more restrained side of Kinetic Stereokids. The harsher among us would argue that it’s a play for some sort of mainstream success, but I’m more inclined to see it as simply the obverse of the weirder material; it’s kind of impressive that the band can pull off the more idiosyncratic stuff next to the more traditional guitar driven indie rock stuff. The album’s closer, “Strategic Manuevers” is the zenith of the laid-back half of the record; it’s quality mellow balladry.

One of the other nice touches on the album is Kinetic Stereokids complete lack of self-seriousness. “Strategic Manuevers” opens with one of the band members saying, “Are we rolling? We are in fact rolling.” This is on a song with the repeated (and incredibly mopey) lyric “abort mission,” so it’s good to have that balanced out with some audible studio banter. This happens a lot on the album; listen to the last three seconds of “Have a Nice Day” for another clear example of goofing around. It’s unclear how much of this easy-going attitude is affected, but it serves to ground Kid Moves a bit, reminding the listener that the often complex, collage like arrangements are the product of human hands. It gives an organic feel to some of the highly proficient instrumental work, the twin high points of which are the guitar solos on “Cancer” and “Proper Ettiquette.” They absolutely shred and are better for the laid back vibe the album pushes.

This is an album that you’re going to need to sit with for a minute. Let it all soak in. Hit replay on “Convalescent Feelings” a couple of times (that one is a doozy). Kinetic Stereokids are tapping into the right references and emerging, for the most part, with something gleaming and new. For my fellow midwestereners, it’s like a bird feeder made out of beer cans hanging from the porch of a dilapidated duplex. You know the one.

“Free Money” – Kinetic Stereokids

“Have a Nice Day” – Kinetic Stereokids

Get Kinetic Stereokids at insound.

Tags: Kinetic Stereokids, Overdraft Recordings

The Non-Commissioned Officers – Make-Out With Violence – Citizen Dick Album Review

Filed Under: General Interest, New Music

Mar.18, 2009

Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Editor’s Note: This film is screening Saturday night at SXSW, and if you know someone down there, highly recommend it. The soundtrack is killer, as you’ll soon read.

Way back in the day, say 2000 years ago, our great storytellers strapped on the lyre, invoked the muses for inspiration, and sprang into the rigorous and sweat dropping task of presenting epic narratives. Days at a time were consumed with repetitive cadences and suspense-filled oration. A verbose man needs words to conquer an audience, and my wordiness is extremely harnessed here. Set up the fire, my brethren, and I’ll hearken back to the days of Homer in a flash, embracing the charge to convey to you the largeness of the peculiarly rare release that’s about to hit on March 24th.

A mysterious email popped into my inbox a few days ago with the heading “Free Download: a CD I paid $2000 for, including 106 to Brian Eno.” The back-story surrounding this monstrous 44 song soundtrack is worth at least one curious visit to their myspace page to download the 5-song teaser EP, Let’s Get Awesome. The Non-Commissioned Officers are made up of assembled parts, all coming together many years ago to create the soundtrack for a, then fledgling, indie film entitled Make-Out with Violence.

Apparently in 2006, a rare CDR containing 11 initial tracks had been popping up in various locations around Nashville and numerous attempts at locating, and eventually signing The Non-Commissioned Officers, inevitably failed. The off-and-on nature of the band, along with very few live appearances, forced many to simply abandon efforts to locate them; essentially, they didn’t really even exist.

The financier of the upcoming March 24th release went on to say that he, luckily, was able to see a rare show in NY, which ended appropriately with an Eno cover of “St. Elmo’s Fire” sung by none other than than composers Jordan and Eric Lehning’s mother. On the haunches of this one live performance, and the snaky score of the burned 11 song teaser CD, he was able to locate and maintain a fragmented contact with the band members throughout the lengthy process of putting both the album and film into place. After three years of jamming to those eleven tracks over and over again, and upon hearing the film had finally been completed, he chose to make an investment by dropping his hard earned cash to see this album released into the ether.

Fortunately for us, they really did and do exist, and the laborious endeavor surrounding the creation of this movie score has dropped a wonderfully epic and dreamy collection of anthemic tunes on us. The band lost a drummer during the course of its creation, drained their life savings to see it through, and no doubt meticulously drafted and redrafted this sweeping opus that, we believe, will only grow in relevance as time has its way.

The quintessential requirement when evaluating something of this volume is to hearken back to classic soundtrack albums to find the consistent well those compositions drew from. Two immediates come to mind in Rocky Horror and Pulp Fiction, and the easily discernible current that runs through those is the sonic attachment to American cinematic origins. Moviegoers easily connect to the conceptual images of drive-ins, Peggy Sue, and poodle skirts. One walk-through of the album roundly bursts this centrally important motif into listeners’ ears. The real gift in late March, however, is when the few in-the-know listeners will get to hear how this sucker transcends cliched and stereotypical soundtrack conventions to also create a completely viable and stand alone indie pop/rock album full of modern experimentation. This album reads more like a grand epic narrative; it’s warm yet extravagant, ambitious as hell. The tracks range from bouncy brit-pop to sludgy indie fuzz and back again numerous times, leaving very few genres under-explored and launching it way past traditional soundtrack ethos.

The first major stylistic wave that leaps from the speakers is how beautifully the Lehning brothers have blended those classic soundtrack staples with modern and exquisite instrumental experimentation. Tracks like “Sidewalk” and “Titles/Creekbed” begin Disk One with a dreary electronic sludge that separates this from a typical soundtrack vibe. The Lehning’s have many things going on here, dangling synthesizers underneath plucky riffs and delicate percussion. The opening five or six tracks are blanketed in mystery and darkness without sacrificing accessibility. Disk Two also rambles along on the same chord, with tracks like “Eat a Rat” spitting out dissonant orchestral haymakers and brilliant ambient sounds. The tone is set early and often; listeners will take Peggy Sue to the drive-in, but will be forced to make out in a titanium spaceship.

To expand into the second arena, I must preface that I love to hate the 80′s, as do many of us. Many, many musical standards still work from this awkward time period, but the overt embellishment of poppy nonsense just doesn’t sell records. Luckily, the Lehning brothers have harnessed all the good. In addition to the instrumental musical chairs embedded in the arrangements, there is also an undeniably consistent root in 1980′s pop coolness. This soundtrack makes it completely feasible to merge all of the dripping coolness of the early Cure records with the jumpy hooks of Sixteen Candles. “Frozen Tongue” begins with a minimalist percussion ensemble straight from The Head on the Door and the dreamy delivery in the vocals shoots listeners right back to 1985. Catchy anthems pepper this album everywhere from top to bottom, “You Don’t Even Know Her” being the most obvious drum machine and retro-synthesized blast from the past. Throughout this listening journey, it’s readily obvious the Lehning brothers have successfully blended multiple genres together into something that’s identifiable and rich; without even seeing the film, it’s probably safe to assume it plays like one big music video.

To place this into its proper modern context, there are some amazing rock songs in true indie fashion. “Cinderella” and “Gentleman of Fortune” are fuzzy and stomping songs that pound in the same vein that many “blast from the past” indie darlings do. Acid-folk, jazz, and even brushes with country are present. “Bury That” is a heartwarming folk arrangement nestled nicely in between several more experimental tunes. It’s extremely difficult to locate a direct angle to review such a large and aurally pleasing canvas The Non-Commissioned Officers have in store for you. Nearly every genre is melted together here, but not one song feels ripped off. References and track-by-track explanations are futile with this, although I’m trying my best. What’s crucial to understand is that the cathartic aura is created by 44 absolutely catchy and kick-ass tracks. Each song, despite genre or influence, bleeds into the next, making this more of a large-scale composition than a mixtape. The best way to fully grasp this is to listen to it individually without visual stimuli attached. If it hits you like it does us, the film will absolutely be on your shelves this Spring, even if you have to get it bootlegged.

As this movie screens this week at SXSW, we’re certain that hipster movie geeks will walk out of the theater scratching their heads and humming songs from a band they’ve never heard of. If only they could avert their attention up here to our humble music blog, they’d see where it all originated and understand those songs don’t have to die after the film’s zombie-kissing plot-lines are long forgotten. The Non-Commissioned Officers have a real masterpiece here. I’d have imagined that our friend that sent the initial email would have had enough of the record already, spinning those initial eleven tracks over and over for three straight years; something must have jarred something loose in order for him to drop the 2K to see this thing into production. We’re certainly in agreement, and hopefully lots of folks will hear it soon, too. The five-track teaser EP is available for free download by clicking below. Also, enjoy the two we’ve put up. There will only be a few of these physical copies floating around at the end of the month, so get on this one early.

The Non-Commissioned Officers – “Just North”

The Non-Commissioned Officers – “Frozen Tongue”

Click here to go to the Make-Out with Violence homepage to snag the 5-song EP

Tags: Make-Out with Violence, Non-Commissioned Officers, Soundtrack

Superdrag – Industry Giants – Citizen Dick Album Review

Filed Under: New Music

Mar.17, 2009

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

There were only five things that I listened to in my car in 1996: REM’s Document, the soundtrack to Repo Man, the first Violent Femmes album, Led Zeppelin II (all on cassette tape) and 107.9, WENZ, The End; if you were in the passenger seat, those were your options, unless you brought your own tapes. The thing in there that identifies me as a Clevelander is The End. In my formative music listening years (let’s say seventh grade through high school graduation, just to ballpark it), it was Cleveland’s only alternative radio station (other than the college radio that was way cooler than I was), providing a glimpse into the world outside of “China Grove.” An afternoon drive with The End would bring you Smashing Pumpkins, Everclear, Nirvana and the like (all little audio revolutions for me, albeit on different scales). While The End gave me all the new music I needed, it also informed my understanding of records I was too young to get when they came out; my cassette collection (Zeppelin excluded) was largely a product of The End’s stellar Flashback Brunch program. In short, a large part of who I am as a music fan is a result of 107.9; it was a quiet tragedy when they switched over to urban music (it’s now Z 107.9, Cleveland’s place for blazin’ hip-hop and R&B, which is okay, but doesn’t give me The Smiths). This is a long way to go to introduce a record review, but you almost certainly remember Superdrag fitting right in between the fresh Breeders single and “Train in Vain,” on whatever local alternative station you were listening to in the 90s, right? “Sucked Out” is one of the classic singles of the alternative boom, cramming a lot of the crucial ideas into two and a half minutes. Good news: Superdrag is still pumping out music that’s going make you remember (and miss) 120 Minutes.

Superdrag spent a few years in the wilderness and Industry Giants is their first batch of new material since 2002′s Last Call for Vitriol. They’ve not lost their fastball over the break. The album roars out of the gates with “Slow to Anger,” which features the slightly fuzzed, crunchy power chords, arena ready verse/chorus/verse structure and half-pissed/half-ennui laden lyrical content that typified much of the alternative rock of my youth. It’s a formula Superdrag return to often on the album; they’re not blazing new territory, but I’m not complaining. (I’m the guy who’s already got tickets for Roger Clyne’s May gig at the Beachland, so I’m never going to step on alt-revivalism.)

While there’s certainly a lot of overlap with Superdrag’s back catalog (and that of their peers), there’s also a certain jaded edge to many of the tracks. The cynicism here sounds like it’s been earned by years of toil, where the cynicism of a track like “Sucked Out” sounds like the product of too many days in prep school. The difference between “you’re rocking to the next big thing” (from “Sucked Out”) and “we come from a nation that eats its young” (from Industry Giants’ “Five Minutes Ahead of the Chaos) seems pretty vast. The Superdrag you remember was a rookie third baseman, breaking into the bigs with a heap of promise; the 21st century Superdrag is a grizzled veteran, not afraid to come in with the spikes high.

There are several songs that jump out on the album. “Ready to Go” stands out as one of the sunshinier cuts, with a gleaming guitar line and a sing-along chorus that’s distinct from the growlier material on the record. Of the songs that stomp a little harder, “Aspartame” distinguishes itself with a near reggae breakdown in the middle; it’s a cool touch that breaks up the record a bit, an astute left turn that keeps things interesting. It’s also a song that shows a good bit of social consciousness (“I want peace and safety for the kids in Kandahar”), which is certainly commendable. Overall, however, it’s the consistency of Superdrag’s music that’s appealing here; there aren’t any tracks that fail, which is a hard feat to pull off. (What percentage of your record collection has at least one song you automatically skip? 70? 80?).

Superdrag is all over SXSW this week, charging back into the consciousness of the both the critical and receptive communities. For sheer throwback credibility, it’s a welcome resurgence. Superdrag have changed over time, but they’re still largely the band that you loved. If your car stereo sounded anything like mine in the last millennium, this is an album worth picking up.

“Filthy & Afraid” – Superdrag

Snag Superdrag at insound.

Tags: Superdrag

its a buffalo – Don’t Be Scared – Citizen Dick Album Review

Filed Under: New Music

Mar.16, 2009

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

I struggle to understand the long-reaching influence of Tom Petty. Granted, I enjoyed Petty in my formative years just as much as everyone else did, but “Refugee” didn’t make me want to pick up a Telecaster and start writing mediocre songs. (Somebody had to buy all of the records that dude sold; you’ve got a copy of Into the Great Wide Open just like the rest of us. Don’t try to pretend you don’t. I have the decency to be mildly ashamed of it, but I’m not going to deny Tom’s existence in my life.) Don’t Be Scared, the debut from Manchester, England’s its a buffalo (no capitals, no apostrophe, more on that later) bears the thumbprint of a wide array of influences, but Tom Petty’s jumps out of the speakers in the stellar and anthemic “Outlines,” the best homage to “American Girl” I’ve heard in a good while. (To clarify, everyone rips off “American Girl” at some point. I’ll go to the grave arguing that The Strokes should have been paying royalties for “Last Night.”) While “Outlines” is the most obvious touchstone, this English quartet are taking the best bits of American music and jamming them together in an entertaining and impressive pastiche.

There are a few quirks about its a buffalo to get out of the way before diving into closer discussion of the album itself. The principal thing is the exclusion of the apostrophe in the band’s name. I’m cool with neglecting capital letters (e.b. white is my homeboy, after all), but the elimination of the apostrophe is a slight which is difficult for me to overlook. “its a buffalo” is clearly non-grammatical; “its buffalo” would work, but the manner of construction the band went with clearly requires the apostrophe. I’m a total dork about this stuff. Unclear pronouns, dangling modifiers, over-used adverbs and the like all make my skin crawl. All this to say that its a buffalo started out in the hole with me. The record is good enough to get me to see past my prescriptive biases, which is saying a lot. Secondly, these fellows don’t appear to have last names. I’m not sure if this is because England did away with last names (I’m horrid with geography and such) or if I was just unable to turn up their last names on the internet. This strikes me as a plus, giving the band a bit of hipster cool, allowing for exchanges like the following: “Who are you?” “I’m Nigel, I’m in a band. Piss off.” No last names needed there.

While a significant portion of the record features jangly, trebly guitars reminiscent of the towheaded fellow mentioned earlier, there’s a certain amount of punk rock sneer and swagger across many of the songs as well, which is most noticeable in the vocals. Ben and Steve both play guitar and sing, often crafting sweet call and response vocals which recall both The Clash (not being blasphemous here, just saying that there are two dudes singing and that’s the most obvious example of another place that worked) and, strangely, Run-DMC. The backing vocal has an emotionally strained quality that gives the listener the sense that the band cares about the words, while the interplay of the two voices hints at an “It’s Tricky”-esque synergy. It’s one of the album’s more endearing touches and is particulalrly highlighed in both the verses and chorus of “Somewhere in Range.” That track’s indicative of the general vibe of the album, almost perfectly encapsulated by the first “whoo” at the two-minute mark. The other most obvious punk touch is the backing vocals in “Climb Climb,” comprised of a shouted, emphatic “climb, climb, climb.” If you don’t hear echos of classic punk there, you’re deaf.

There are ten tracks on Don’t Be Scared, clocking in at a brisk 33 minutes; its a buffalo get in, develop an idea and get out. There’s no self-serving fifteen-minute instrumental track here. It’s all tight and focused. This highlights the quality of the songs. For the most part, they’re direct rock songs , but they’re well written and interesting. (That Tom Petty thing at the front might be truer than I’d like to admit.) It’s the kind of album that doesn’t have highlights, per se. It’s a collection of remarkably consistent tracks; it’s tough to grab a favorite. That said, it’s worth mentioning a few tracks of particular note. “Divorce Song” integrates a cool bell sound that punctuates the slightly less frenetic pace of the track, which features lyrics which are clearly spiteful, but difficult to decode. “Bang! On the Seafront” devloves into a power-chord fest about two-thirds of the way through, providing the toe-tappingest moment on the record. The celebratory back and forth of “Run and Hide” (Run! Hide! Run! Hide!) to close the album out is killer. “Outlines” is insanely catchy; it’s three-minutes of mildly subverted classic rock that is nearly impossible not to love.

its a buffalo is an easy to understand rock record; we’ve been lobbing some difficult records at you of late, things that squelch the elemental joy of music-making for a more cerebral bent, sacrificing Pan for Athena, if you want to get all mythical with it. There’s room on your shelf for both. Sometimes, you need to think, sometimes you want to take off the t-tops and cruise around town. its a buffalo is available today, right in time for warmer weather. Grab it (this one isn’t on insound yet, so the record label might be your best bet) and turn the volume up.

“Somewhere in Range” – its a buffalo

Score its a buffalo from their record label.

Tags: akoustic anarkhy, its a buffalo

Archive for March, 2009

Action Painters – Citizen Dick News Alert

Telekinesis – Telekinesis! – Citizen Dick Album Review

Lazy Saturday – Addendum

Circus Devils – Gringo – Citizen Dick Album Review

A Fistful of Lazy Saturday

TGIF Hodge Podge – Busted Brackets + Lotus Plaza + So Many Dynamos + Badly Drawn Boy

Pontiak – Maker – Citizen Dick Album Review

Headless Heroes – The Silence of Love – Citizen Dick Album Review

Hump Day Double Feature with Eulogies, Part 2 – Live @ Ronny’s Bar

Hump Day Double Feature with Eulogies, Part 1 – Here Anonymous

Fever Ray – Fever Ray – Citizen Dick Album Review

Obits – I Blame You – Citizen Dick Album Review

Beep Beep – Enchanted Islands – Citizen Dick Album Review

Great Lake Swimmers – Lost Channels – Citizen Dick Album Review

Lazy Saturday – SXSW Edition

TGIF Hodge Podge – Mazes + Swan Lake + Architecture in Helsinki

Kinetic Stereokids – Kid Moves – Citizen Dick Album Review

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