The first Furze track on “OTD†is a track that sounds as it is being sped up, instead of being played at its normal speed. This track, “A Life About My Sabbathâ€, is able to stick around for four and a half minutes. However, this track would normally be about five or six minutes if played normal. Inidivudals still have no clue where Furze is going to go with future…
The first act that Furthest From The Star reminds me of is A Static Lullaby. The guitars work at a level well above the rest of the track, while the vocals of the band seem to have more to do with acts like Nickelback than anything. Overcome has a much more nuanced sound than Glass Breaking but it does not even come near to the whining of acts liker Simple…
Wisconsin art rockers Laarks is just the type of band the trendy indie critics at Pitchfork drool over: a warble-y voiced lead singer, prominent use of synthesizers, and a strong affinity for Death Cab for Cutie songs. I don’t write for Pitchfork, so I can be honest and tell you there’s very little to get excited about over the band’s debut An Exaltation of Laarks.
Take It Back is an intense band, and from the beginning of their latest album, “Atrocitiesâ€, it is clue that they will blow your socks off. The stages are set with the introductory track, “The Beginning. Nothingâ€, which gradually comes to speed after some important musical footwork. “New Empire†works on every level, whether it be through the intricate and break-neck drums or the impassioned singing that glides above it.…
Um, okay… Full Scale is a mixture of Insane Clown Posse and Chevelle, more rap-rock than anything that has came out since Kid Rock. The guitar riffs that open up “Empty Texas†are iconic and deliberate; there is no room for finesse when the band lays down lines that will smash a listener over the head. Chances are that tracks like “Empty Texas†will be put on “annoying†rotation: you…
I was a little shy about wanting to review this disc when I first got it in, ad “Don’t Forget†does a lot to assuage any of the fears I might have had. The vocals on the track are immediately reminiscent of Warren Zevon, while the guitar work smacks of both Santana and Zevon’s studio guitars, making for a very-seventies sounding track to start out this disc. Full Moon Revue…
Singles are always the hardest thing to review, and it was with great trepidation that I actually put this disc into the player. Immediately noticeable is the fact that the masterful hand of Rick Chudacoff (Allison Kraus) has made this track into something that is something easily accessible regardless of musical outbringing. The track starts out with a country-twinge, but really moves into a sort of classic (but contemporary) rock…
The drumming that opens up “Breakthrough†gives the disc an awesome brand of chaos that is lessened by the inclusion of horns, but not completely removed from the track. What results is something that has a high amount of energy and will get individuals off of their duffs and onto the dance floor. The track may be over six minutes long, but the frantic energy that is present ensures that…
The Fugue is a band that moves between noise and drone with ease. The thing with “Mysterious Animals†is that the four tracks on this EP are really not in any sense distinct tracks from each other. Rather, they feel to be different movements of the same concert. Tracks like “Rumble Bee†and “Molasses The Animal†just enlighten listeners to different sections of The Fugue; each use very angular guitars…
Are Fucked Up some of the same art-punk jerkoffs that steered the revolutionary punk message away to something more diffuse and easier to swallow (look up acts like The Talking Heads and Blondie for that)? Their previous exploits on vinyl (creating liner notes that are purposefully illegible and using random symbols) seem to point toward that, but what is actually on disc is something that is great, to say the…
“Long and Hard†starts off “Diary of a Stone Romanticâ€, and paints Ferona Vei as a band that follows the emo song that has taken over the world in the last few years, but also paints the band as an act that does not always fall into the slow and morose songs of their predecessors (The Early November, for example). The high-energy opening of “Long and Hard†will get individuals’…
For the bulk of his career, Jason Yates spent most of his time hidden behind a Hammond B3 organ. But as his self-titled sophomore record shows, he actually belongs in front of the mic. Lying somewhere between jam band rocker and Americana singer songwriter, Yates writes heartfelt rock without skimping on the funk.
Very few artists try to do the double album in one package deal. The obvious comparison I can make is Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, but there is little in the way of rock musicians that have tried to do the same thing that are coming to mind right now. Matthew Friedberger is the indie wunderkind that is behind acts like The Fiery Furnaces, so one should expect that this album should…
The two styles that are distinct to Freshkills’ sound on “Creeps and Lovers†hit listeners from the opening of the title track. This means that the styles that Freshkills brings to this disc clash and struggle for dominance from the opening bell; there is an early-eighties Talking Heads meets goth (The Cure, Joy Division) type of sound in the vocals and some of the guitars that goes toe to toe…
Moving into different influences and vocal styles, “Where We Live†sounds more like a Flogging Molly song than anything, as the lead singer sounds like a pirate (Arrrrr) and the guitar has that same sharp sound as some of the lines during the FM disc. By far, the band’s anthem is on this disc in “Free Chase Peterseimâ€. For those of you not in the know, Chase Peterseim is a…
Starting off the disc with a slightly-hackneyed ska-punk guitar line, The Freedom Fries rapidly move beyond that roadblock to make a pop-punk gem in “SBCâ€, which owes more to the California 90’s punk school that anything. The arrangements during “SBC†are different enough too cause people to listen that much more intently to the disc, as they are drug in by the harmonica, the interesting drum beats, or the polished…
Free Diamonds are one of many different types of spazz-dance acts out on the market, one of a genre that includes acts as diverse as Fanny Pack, Electric Six, and Gravy Train. However, there seems to be more of an noise (The Locust, Neon Hunk) influence shown by Free Diamonds. “The List of Everyone†mixes the B-52s, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Devo with a Jets To Brazil meets…
Paula Frazer has been around the music scene for a long period of time. “Now It’s Time†marks eir seventh foray into popular music, and this time spent honing eir sound really shows on each of the disc’s 11 cuts. “August’s Song†starts off the disc, and shows off Frazer’s vocal skills. This is not to say that the rest of Tarnation stands back in the rafters, but rather occupies…
With a sound that starts off “Leave The Sad Things Behind†that really mixes Juice Newton, Petula Clark and Stevie Nicks, Paula Frazer makes a timeless piece of pop that is only made better by the emotive backdrop that surrounds eir. The really nice thing about the dynamic on “Leave The Sad Things Behind†is that Frazer knows exactly when to step back from the microphone and allow the instrumentation…
Jazz standards. Lets see what I could be less well versed in. Christian Zydeco Music? Naked albino yodeling? Actually, I’ve taken a survey course in jazz, and while I can’t say that I am familiar with any of these tracks besides “Maiden Voyageâ€, each track sounds as expertly played and recorded as some of the originals must have been. While each of these tracks have considerably longer run times than…