Band: Dum Dum Girls Release: 3/2010 Label: Sub Pop
1. “It Only Takes One Night” – A+
2. “Bhang, Bhang, I’m A Burnout” – A 3. “Oh Mein Me” – A- 4. “Jail La La” – A 5. “Rest Of Our Lives” – A+ 6. “Yours Alone” – A- 7. “Blank Girl” – A- 8. “I Will Be” – B+ 9. “Lines Her Eyes” – A- 10. “Everybody’s Out” – A 11. “Baby Don’t Go” – B+
Comments: Dum Dum Girls! Yes! I like how last.fm puts it: “neither lo-fi nor too polished.” If you are looking for a quick hit, something to immediately latch you onto the group, I’d recommend “Jail La La,” the first single to go with this record. I’m already getting candidate for song of the year vibes. County jail sucks. “Someone tell my baby/Or else he won’t go out and save me” sings Dee Dee on the chorus. Literally, a great pop song that won’t get amazing treatment because it’s a bit lo-fi. Dum Dum Girls have been labeled a “buzz band” and I guess after opening for King Khan and BBQ Show and (soon to be) Girls, that’s kind of reasonable. For me, I knew the group had talent a long time ago; all of these songs solidify that. Definitely, definitely, definitely, DON’T just listen to this one and say to yourself this is pretty good and then never listen to it again. I usually do that with some decent records, but please something for me and get through this multiple times. The drums alone should have you hooked if nothing else.
1. “Rocket” – B- 2. “Believer” – C- 3. “Alive” – B- 4. “Dreaming” – C 5. “Head First” – C- 6. “Hunt” – D+ 7. “Shiny and Warm” – B- 8. “I Wanna Life” – C+ 9. “Voicething” – D
Comments: The synthesizer is a funny little instrument. It seems like it’s an easy way to make anything sound listenable. It’s funny to see how much “synthpop” is different, yet sort of similar to synthpunk . I guess the difference is that a majority of the songs from this band seem like creative variations of other songs. There are only so many progressions and approaches that a band can make in songs like these. That kind of bugs me, listening to this record as a whole. I guess if you like repetition and electronica, you’ll like this.
Band: The Fresh & Onlys Label: Captured Tracks Release: 3/2010
1. “Diamond in the Dark” – B 2. “Dreaming is Easy” – B+ 3. “You’re Known To Wander” – A- 4. “August in My Mind” – A 5. “Garbage Collector” – B+ 6. “Save Your Soul” – B+
Comments: Girls. Girls. A little Vivian, a little Dum, and a little plain old Girls. I like the psychedelic/surf sound of The Fresh & Onlys. Credit to them for staying fresh in a climate where music just ain’t as fresh as it used to be. They are too chill to be considered straight up garage or punk or what have you, but they draw from the lighter aspects of those genres. It’s cool.
1. “Dead I” – A-
2. “Hipster Grandma” – B
3. “Local Band” – B
Comments: “Hardcore punk” that your average non-hardcore punk might like. Prerequisites: an admiration for punk, garage, noise, and lo-fi. I find the three chord verse in “Dead I” to be engaging and jamming. Good tune. “Hipster Grandma” is sped up and pretty decent. What else is expected in 1 minute and 22 seconds? All of this shit has been done before by better bands, but it’s nice for a little flashback.
1. “Odessa” – B+ 2. “Sun” – C+ 3. “Kaili” – B+
4. “Found Out” – B 5. “Bowls” – C
6. “Leave House” – B 7. “Hannibal” – B+ 8. “Lalibela” – B 9. “Jamelia” – C+
Comments: Caribou is a pretty cool dude. He puts beats together nicely. From the get-go, this was a different kind of experience for me. I knew two Caribou songs and they were great background music…nothing really over the top. Chill, basically. It turns out, most of this record IS just great background music. Less chaotic and more dreamy, but still background music. Anyway, Caribou’s got mathematical credibility (a Ph.D. from Imperial College in London)…take that “math rock” people. He’s got psychedelic credibility (stage name comes from something thought of while on an acid trip), too. Credibility doesn’t matter, though. We are talking music. Electronic music. I feel like Caribou needs some more pounding bass. That might not be his thing per se, but it’d make for a more exciting listen.
Comments: Good beats/average rap. That’s approximately what this record amounts to. This isn’t a traditional rap record…obviously. Lou Reed singing over a hip-hop beat? Fail. So even if “Gorillaz are real,” they are still a pretty laughable band. Getting somewhat big names to feature on tracks doesn’t prove to positively affect the record. The theme of the record is pretty lame, something you would expect from a fictional cartoon band. Miracle Johan did “To Binge” better on his Hawaiian mix released a few years ago. At the end of the day, this is a pretty unspectacular record in the grand scheme of 2010 releases. It will be forgotten. It’s already been forgotten.
Band: Portugal. The Man Release: 3/2010 Label: Equal Vision
1. “The Dead Dog” – B 2. “Break” – B- 3. “60 Years” – B+ 4. “All My People” – A- 5. “1000 Years” – A 6. “Fantastic Pace” – A- 7. “The Pushers Party” – B+ 8. “Do What We Do” – B 9. “Just A Fool” – B- 10. “Some Men” – B 11. “When The War Ends” – B+
Comments: This band was a fresh discovery for me last summer. I very favorably reviewed their 2009 LP TheSatanic Satanist. That was a unique record for me… definitely plenty psychedelic, but plenty pop as well. The beauty of this band is that it’s really hard to say that they are this or they are that. Given the title alone, you’d probably think this was a hip-hop record. There is, without a doubt, influence coming from hip-hop and neo-soul on a lot of Portugal. The Man’s tunes. That’s why I don’t mind throwing out a band like Outkast for comparison purposes. I guess I’ll even name drop Cold War Kids for a track like “Fantastic Pace.” I don’t have many complaints about this album, but I’d probably say top to bottom I prefer Satanist.
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 