Band: The Morning Benders Release: 3/2010 Label: Rough Trade
1. “Excuses” – B+ 2. “Promises” – B+ 3. “Wet Cement” – B- 4. “Cold War” – B 5. “Pleasure Sighs” – B 6. “Hand Me Downs” – B- 7. “Mason Jar” – C 8. “All Day Day Light” – B
9. “Stitches” – A- 10. “Sleepin’ In” – B
Comments: Let’s get some shit straight: bands from California are pretty fun. I’ve said it a bunch of times, but it’s refreshing for a kid in Boston to hear some warm weather music. Don’t get me wrong though, The Morning Benders put together just an okay record. My favorite is “Stitches” so try checking that one out.
Band: Waylon Thornton and the Heavy Hands Release: 1/2010 Label: White Moon Recordings
1. “Yours Truly” – A-
2. “Meet Me By The Garbage Can” – A 3.”I See Evil” – A 4.”Color TV” – A 5. “Walking With The Wicked” – A- 6. “I Slayed The Hydra” – B+ 7. “Men Don’t Cry” – A-
8. “Teenage Gluehead” – A
9. “Coca Cola Rock ‘N Roll” – A- 10. “Wolf Wagon” – B- 11. “The Man With The Golden Arm” – B+ 12. “Tuned Out” –A+
13. “Black Fur” – A- 14. “Manson Halloween” – N/A [Funny, though]
Comment: Ding Dong! First came Waylon Thornton then came the Ding Dongs, I know. As far as a point of reference go I’m thinking three parts Bloodshot Bill and two parts Mark Sultan on this one. Bill’s instrumentation and Mark’s singing. This psychobilly filled mother father was released on cassette! How 1995 of Waylon! The best song on here is “Tuned Out.” It’s a quickie, clocking in @ 1:38. Definitely give this crazy thing a listen if you are into Ding Dong kind of tomfoolery.
Band: High Places Release: 3/2010 Label: Thrill Jockey
1. “On Giving Up” – C+ 2. “She’s A Wild Horse” – B- 3. “The Channon” – C- 4. “Canada” – C 5. “Constant Winter” – B 6. “On a Hill in a Bed on a Road in a House – C
7. “Drift Slayer” – C
8. “The Most Beautiful Name” – C+ 9. “When It Comes” – B
Comments: I can’t believe I’m listening to the same High Places that I saw in concert back in July 2008! “On Giving Up” would make you think they are a electronic dance music duo from way back. The next song and beyond sort of proves that was just a one time deal. They are an experimental group after all. When Ben’s girl Mary doesn’t sing the result is kind of meh. When she does sing, the result can be anywhere from pretty good to pretty average. The dream/electro-pop of “Constant Winter” is where I think the band excels the most…in general in that style of music. “On A Hill” is pretty damn eclectic. “Put me down in the earth” sings Mary on the last track, which is, to no one’s surprise, about the end of life. High Places is a pretty tolerable experimental band for me and for that I applaud them.
Band: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Release: 3/2010 Label: Matador Records
1. “Mighty Sparrow” – A- 2. “Mourning In America” – C 3. “Ativan Eyes” – B 4. “Even Heroes Have To Die” – C- 5. “The Stick” – C- 6. “Bottled In Cork” – C- 7. “Woke Up Near Chelsea” – D 8. “One Polaroid A Day” – C- 9. “Where Was My Brain?” – B- 10. “Bartolomeo…” – C 11. “Tuberculoids Arrive…” – D+ 12. “Gimme The Wire” – C+
13. “Last Days” – B
Comments: I’m not entirely unfamiliar with Ted Leo. I mean, I’ve seen their name thrown around so much, but I never really listened to them. Not going to bullshit you people, but I always got the impression that this band played some kind of math rock. That was unwarranted and I couldn’t have been more wrong. It turns they are more of a post-punk or pop-punk outfit, somewhere between Louis XIV and Head Automatica. I have a spot in my heart for bands like this and I could tell pretty quickly that Ted Leo is going to be hit or miss personally. Not sure if the band intentionally ripped off Sonic Youth’s “Poison Arrow” with “Mighty Sparrow.” Obviously any well produced rip-off of Sonic Youth is going to sound pretty good. I guess listening to this band gives you hipster cred, because they dance on the line of what’s mainstream pop-punk and what’s not. Even attempts that are meant to be of the hardcore (not literally) “I don’t give a shit” variety of punk come off unnatural like in “The Stick.” All right Ted Leo, time to sign to Columbia. Enough of this shit, you posers. You make good bands signed to Matador look bad like the late Jay Reatard and Mission of Burma. Slightly kidding, but slightly not. The below average songs are really sucky and the decent songs are really decent. “Last Days” is a pretty good way to end a pretty ugly string of tracks.
1. “Keep Askin” – B 2. “Healing Hands” – B 3. “I Couldn’t Explain Why” – C 4. “Lifeline” – B- 5. “Off The Ground” – C+
6. “Jericho” – B- 7. “The Newspaper” – C 8. “A Father’s Son” – C+ 9. “Lifeline (Barefeet Version)” – B
10. “Keep Askin’ (Acoustic)” – B-
Comments: Cope. Yeah, that guy. The guy that Matt Hurton loves. The guy that lands three consecutive nights (Thu-Fri-Sat) at the Paradise Rock Club. The guy that realized major label releases are over-rated and releases an album all by himself on his own record label. Cope’s got a funky acoustic swagger that is a little more digestible than what you’ll get in the mainstream. Speaking of which, other than a plethora of TV spots, Cope remains relatively unknown to the public eye (besides his fairly large cult following). His songs are ripe for media picking because of their flexible usage potential and flow. I like what Cope is doing most of the time here, but it’s obviously just not my style. It’s not exactly what I’d consider depressing, but Cope’s heavy delivery has that component almost built in. He’s not afraid to experiment with tropical genres, hip-hop, and electro-pop.
Jack White, drummer/singer for blues-rock band The Dead Weather, has stated that the band is recording the last few songs on their second record and that he will begin mixing the record within the next week or so and that to expect the album in April. White has stated that the first single off the record will be called “Blue Blood Blues.” He has described the somewhat new sound as “bluesier and heavier than we ever thought we could be.” The Dead Weather consists of Jack White(drums), Dean Fertita(guitar), Jack Lawrence(bass) and Alison Mosshart(vocals). I don’t know about you but as a full blown worshipper and believer in the Church of Jack, I am really pumped for this record.
1. “Solitary Gun” – A- 2. “Good Morning (The Future) – A- 3. “Sleepwalker” – A- 4. “Stars and Stripes”- B 5. “Permalight” – B- 6. “Fear Itself” – C 7. “Right With You” – B 8. “We Will Make a Song Destroy” – B
9. “I’ll Never Leave You” – B+ 10. “Per Anger” – C+ 11. “You Have Boarded” – B- 12. “All That Remains” – B
Comments: My initial impression of this record is Built to Spill meets Shout Out Louds. “Solitary Gun” evokes good memories of Descended Like Vultures material. There are some nice synths on “Good Morning” reminding me this time of a band Peter Bjorn and John. It’s sort of hilarious how Zack Rogue sounds like he’s from Gothenburg not Oakland. I’m not impressed that the band kind of transitions to a quasi pop-punk sound in the middle of the album after staying true to its folk-rock roots in the beginning. I guess the band kind of ran out of good concepts. “All That Remains” is pretty good, but ZAP the power is unplugged and the album is done with. Good job, guys.
1. “Zebra” – A 2. “Silver Soul” – A 3. “Norway” – A 4. “Walk In The Park” – A+ 5. “Used To Be” – A 6. “Lover of Mine” – A- 7. “Better Times” – A 8. “10 Mile Stereo” – A+ 9. “Real Love” – A 10. “Take Care” – A+
Comment: The original CD Review for this album was kind of fucked up as I judged the album based on three characteristics (which were basically the same) instead of how I’ve been doing it with regard to every other album review. As a result, I was more of a hard-ass with this album than with any other other. “Zebra” exhibits the sexiness of Victoria Legrand’s voice and features one of the best chorus hooks I’ve heard all year. With all do respect, Alex Scally deserves credit for his enticing (poor word choice) guitar play. Got to love the “ha ha ha!” in “Norway” considering my crush executes it perfectly. Again, to mention the brilliance of choruses, I am deeply affected by “Walk In The Park.” I can’t see why the mainstream wouldn’t be attracted to it. It’s not Lady Gaga or Ke$ha, so it doesn’t have that sucker electro-pop style (try dream-pop, which has never been “accessible”) that’s been the opiate of the music masses for the past few years. When Legrand sings “any day now” on “Used To Be” that’s just a major turning point from a good rating to a great one. Overall, this is a very ethereal release that requires multiple listens to appreciate the complete beauty.
Band: Motion City Soundtrack Release: 1/10 Label: Columbia
1. “Worker Bee” – C 2. “A Lifeless Ordinary” – B- 3. “Her Words Destroyed My Planet” – C- 4. “Disappear” – C 5. “Delirium” – C- 6. “History Lesson” – C+ 7. “Stand Too Close” – C+ 8. “Pulp Fiction” – C 9. “@!#?@!” – C- 10. “Hysteria” – D+ 11. “Skin and Bones” – C+ 12. “The Weakends” – C
Comments: My initiation with MCS came in 2006 when I first heard “Everything Is Alright” on MLB 06 The Show and to be honest I had forgotten about the band entirely until the other night when a kind girl brought them up. Not going to lie I did dig that song. This was back when the band was independent (they signed to Columbia for this record after previously being on Epitaph), but that doesn’t really matter anyway. “Everything” was pretty much pure pop-punk, but not really the obnoxious kind that I find myself often rolling my eyeballs at, more in the vain of Head Automatica than Fall Out Boy or whatever other boring fucks exist in that genre. Also, not going to lie, I didn’t really have a good vibe about this release. No, not because it’s the band’s first album since selling out, but because I only liked them because of one song. Okay so the real talk, the real deal is that this is pretty solid, but nothing special. I can see it appeal to a variety of sensibilities including those termbros who might be fearful of the production quality on this. This shit is clean as fuck, but I guess it veers off to sometimes experimental patterns. It’s a guilty pleasure. I don’t want to admit liking this shit, but it’s sort of hard to bad mouth it (even though it’s mostly cheesy and pretentious and all that good stuff that “rocker” girls like) like I want to. One thing I can’t do is refer to their earlier work and say they sacrificed their sound or what have you. Can’t do that. Another bit of perspective: what’s up with the lone standing bass line/vocals turning into full on explosions? Is that an exclusive pop-punk formula? The quirkiness kind of kills this for me. What was all right in the beginning is a bit old news by the end.
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 