Band: The Fresh & Onlys Release: 10/2010 Label: In The Red
1. “Summer of Love” – B+ 2. “Waterfall” – A- 3. “Until the End of Time” – B
4. “Tropical Island Sweet” – B+ 5. “All Shook Up” – A- 6. “Be My Hooker” – B- 7. “Fascinated” – B+ 8. “Plague of Frogs” – B-
9. “Who Needs a Man” – B
10. “Red Light Green Light” – C+
11. “I’m A Thief” – B
Comments: Initially, I’m feeling like I did the first few times I listened to Album. The music itself is fairly pop-sensible, but on the weird side of things. Play It Strange reminds me of The Shins at their most upbeat. Unfortunately, for me, I’m not feeling the psychedelia. This is too creepy of an album. Listening to this is like watching an old Western. There are some fascinating parts, but most of it is like Congratulations minus the pop factor. They are a good fit as opener for MGMT.
Comments: How did I not hear about this one? I don’t know! “LSD Saves” is a psychedelic (shocking for Harlem, I know!) rock and roller that sounds quite like a Brit invasion oldie or something. It’s quick and fun.. as driving fast on acid while getting your wing-wang squeezed. “Mood Ring” isn’t quite on the same level of “LSD,” but it’s vintage Harlem. You know? It’s cool.
1. “Laughing Hieroglyphic” – B
2. “3 Umbrellas” – B
3. “Oliver Twist” – B+ 4. “Glass Bottom Boat” – B- 5. “Ghost of Books” – B–
6. “Cemeteries” – B- 7. “Heads Hammock” – B+ 8. “Heather In The Hospital” – B+ 9. “Lucky 1” – B
Comments: Primary song-writer and founding member of Animal Collective, Avey Tare decided to give a go at a solo album. Right from the start, it is fairly obvious that the sound is retro to the direction that Merriweather Post Pavilion went in. The first two tracks are of the experimental variety while “Oliver Twist” is still pretty weird, yet danceable. Credit the drum beat on that one. The next two are old time AC sounding. So yeah if anyone, anyone at all, was expecting some kind of clean pop MPP sort of stuff, you will be disappointed! Fans of early work might be like “yo, this is pretty good” and people sympathetic to these creative voyages might just think “yeah, it’s okay.” If Deerhunter and Atlas Sound and so forth make “efficient ambiance” than Avey makes rather run of the mill ambiance. Your mind won’t be blown after listening to this. In the rare event that it does, you better find a new brain. Then again you might have been listening to this on some kind of psychedelic substance, so who am I to judge such a subjective experience? I’m calling out “Heads Hammock” as the best thing on here. So, yeah, Avey, good attempt, bro. Real solid effort. You did your thing and people should respect it.
Band: Wheels on Fire Release: 9/2010 Label: Kind Turkey Records
1. “Black Wave” – A 2. “Broken Up” – A 3. “Cherry Bomb” – A 4. “Go Give Yer Love Away” – B+
Comments: This 7″ is just another super fun garage pop nugget in a long line of 2000s/2010s era garage pop nuggets. I’m being constantly blown away by the sheer number of independent bands that are making catchy rock and roll music. It’s an amazing and great time to be a listener and reviewer of this stuff. “Black Wave” is an addictive primitive power-pop number. “Broken Up” has a sweet touch of organ and a flow that should put to shame whatever the hell is mainstream “pop rock” of today. “Cherry Bomb” is slower and bluesier. Good tune. “Go Give Yer Love” is even slower, but serves a solid closer to this fabulous 7″.
Grade: A- (92)
Wheels On Fire are on tour right now in the Netherlands and Germany! Word has it that they will be back in the U.S for a tour sometime soon.
1. “When Tomorrow Comes” – B
2. “Everyone Knows” – A-
3. “I’d Rather Be Alone” – B
4. “Throwing It All Away” – C+ 5. “Down the Tube” – B+ 6. “Showboat” – C- 7. “Miss Apparent” – C+ 8. “June Child” – C- 9. “Woodland Drive” – A- 10. “Lazy Days” – B 11. “Approximately Nowhere” – B 12. “Waiting Too Long” – C+
Comments: Young Jeffrey Novak had a ball on Cheap Time, the self-titled debut release of…Cheap Time! He and his boys created a pretty solid record of garage pop slingers that I thoroughly enjoyed. At his songwriting peak, he is just as awesome as former label-mates Black Lips and Jay Reatard. It’s unfortunately that really none of that great songwriting can be found on this record. Fantastic Explanations is a relaxed vacation on a island where everything is not all about speed. This approach isn’t as winning as I had hoped, but there is a decent moment or two to be listened to on here. Take the lazy “Everyone Knows,” which is simply a disgusted Jeffrey rambling over a hooky garage/grunge riff. The Ramones-esque “Woodland Drive” is a nice listen as well. Besides those songs there aren’t a whole lot of goodies.
Band: Kings of Leon Label: RCA Release: 10/2010 1. “The End” – B
2. “Radioactive” – B+
3. “Pyro” – C
4. “Mary” – C+
5. “The Face” – C 6. “The Immortals” – C 7. “Back Down South” – B
8. “Beach Side” – C+ 9. “No Money” – B+
10. “Pony Up” – C-
11. “Birthday” – C-
12. “Mi Amigo” – C-
13. “Pickup Truck” – C+
Comments: Kings of Leon are a pretty polarizing bunch. For starters, they’ve never been “indie” — a terrible label to begin with, but even worse when people use it on a band that’s been signed with major label giant RCA since the get-go. Glad I’ve got that out of the way. They’ve been derided as “boring arena rock,” but they make “good music” compared to one Justin Beiber. Original fans seem (on the Internet, anyway) a dime a dozen, but have the Kings really compromised anything in the last six or seven years? Debut “Red Morning Light” was (still is) typical southern pop-rock. The next year’s Aha Shake Heartbreak had a bunch of the same kinds of songs — fun (oh no, not that!) well produced guitar-oriented anthems. Like I was trying to say, they never really came in “indie” and went downhill to “pop” from there. There was never that kind of transition. Somewhere along the line we are left with 2008’s Only by the Night. I liked Only by the Night. Not a whole lot, but the instrumentation was minimal, yet affective. When I first heard Kings of Leon being played on the radio — you know “Sex on Fire” (a bit more like their southern-y stuff of the past) and the huge “Use Somebody” which was (and still is) well overplayed but it undeniably has a catchy progression and pleasing guitar work. Two years have past and now Kings of Leon have brought us Come Around Sundown. Right from the get-go with “The End,” I’ve noticed they’ve haven’t changed. Surprise! It’s a pretty good song…incorporating the typical elements of post 2000s clean southern/garage pop-rock. “Radioactive,” the album’s lead single, is sing-a-long material…something like their arena friends U2 have been accustomed to making over the years. Keep in mind I don’t know much about U2, but it’s all about the “big” landscape of the song…potentially “bigger” than “Use Somebody.” If you want to go to sleep, listen to “Pyro.” Even though it has a sizable build-up, it’s boring. “Mary” is bland. Pretty awesome guitar solo, but otherwise bland. Looks like they really hit a poor streak because “The Face” is the same damn fodder! The thing that sort of keeps Kings of Leon somewhat sane in times of distress are their bridges and outros. Not saying they are good, but they can really make an awful song turn into something manageable. “The Immortals” is pretty average. It doesn’t suck, but it’s almost like they’ve done somewhat of the same variation for the past three songs. “Back Down South” seems like an honest descent into southern music. The noisiest song on the record goes to “No Money.” A little more of that direction couldn’t really hurt the band. OH YEAH IT COULD. So yeah, this album is pretty terrible, but it’s not that terrible. I’ve listened to some terrible records this year, but it does have a few trick ponies that act as saving graces.
Rapper: Lil Wayne Release: 10/2010 Label: Young Money
1. “Gonorrhea” – B 2. “Hold Up” – C+ 3. “With You” – A- 4. “I Am Not A Being Human” – C- 5. “I’m Single” – C+ 6. “What’s Wrong With Them” – B+ 7. “Right Above It” – A 8. “Popular” – B- 9. “That Ain’t Me” – B- 10. “Bill Gates” – B
Comments: Lil Wayne is an interesting fellow. He has an adoration of playing around with words. He particularly utilizes metaphor and simile. His rhymes range from cheesy Weezy to fairly intelligent and thoughtful. Beats have never really been a focal point for Weezy, especially on non-singles. He almost can’t be taken seriously, nor can his guest rappers, but some how they always end up with something called a song. It’s striking. On the R&B slow jam “With You,” we get a good sense of what Wayne is capable of in terms of sensible writing. He effectively tells a romantic story without much effort. What I’m saying is “With You” doesn’t sound forced or random. “Tonight it’s moonlight and candles and shit.” That’s all. It’s so Human Being. Imitating Beastie Boys rock-rap style isn’t Weezy’s thing. He made a terrible rock-esque album earlier this year, didn’t he? Let Wayne shine. He doesn’t need power beats or abrasive guitars. I was expecting Nicki Minaj to rap not sing a chorus on her feature in “What’s Wrong,” but I must say she doesn’t do that bad of a job. Wayne’s verses are solid. “Right Above It” was the first single (featuring Drake) from this record and contains the record’s most distinguishable beat/chorus. It deserves all the accolades it has/is getting. I didn’t expect much out of this relatively short LP. There are high points and other points that just seem to exist without much fanfare.
Band: Cum Stain Release: 6/2010 Label: Burger Records
1. “Bachelor’s Life” – A+ 2. “Broke My Dick” – A
3. “No Hearts/Big Mean Maniac” – A- 4. “Just A Kid” – A+ 5. “Vicdumb” – A- 6. “Slip It Off Slip It In” – A- 7. “Smoker” – B+
8. “I Want It Now” – A
9. SuckHer4U” – A
10. “Jack Shack” – A
11. “Cum Stain” – A+
Comments: Just when I thought I heard the ‘last of the libertines’ so to speak, I hear this. Cum Stain. Whether the composers of Cum Stain realized it or not, they boldly described bachelor life from start to finish. Literally. When push comes to shove, the narrator is just another “cum stain on your rug.” This man is a heavy drinker, a heavy smoker, and a passionate lover. Except, he doesn’t actually love you or want to. Well, he wants to, but he figures that’s just a waste of time. He just wants to do it and get it over with. On “Bachelor’s Life” we learn a little bit about the dude. Every hour he “masturbates” and “just sits around and watch cartoons.” On a more positive note, he stocks whiskey and rum. “Broke My Dick” is pretty self-explanatory, but the narrator offers an alternative like none other: “slap you in the face while it’s limp.” Might as well do something, right? In a proto-hardcore punk, let me tell you what’s up kind of way, the narrator reiterates on “No Hearts/Big Mean Maniac” that he has no heart and that he is a maniac. The guy is straight nuts. Fuck, he even invented his own fetish: throwing manure in the faces of grade school children. So, just a quick recap. The dude is in his 20s, but he’s purely “just a kid.” He exemplifies that word, but puts an added spin on in it. I’m not really sure what he’s going for on “Vicdumb.” It seems like he is necessarily stating the obvious. Anything anyone does to you makes you a mere vicdumb. Perhaps the “dumb” instead of “tum” allows him to get away with whatever he wants. You’re the dumb-ass, not me for screwing you and then leaving. Vicdumb. “Slip It Off/Slip It In” is probably the maniac’s fantasies after a long day at the beach. Oh yeah, and everything you learned about smoking is all a bunch of shit. Smoking is for winners and the more the better. Another thing: impulse control? This guy has none and doesn’t care. If you can’t give him what he wants (as he says on the apropos “I Want It Now”), then he’ll go find it. Peace! It seems as if maybe there was a possibility for a relationship at one time (“SuckHer4U”), but he just couldn’t commit to anything more than casual. “Jack Shack” tells of a ride down to a “Gentleman’s Spa” where no (sleazy truck driver) knows your name. I must say, this is one of the best stories I’ve ever heard. The lyrics aren’t genius or intricate in any regard, but the narrative comes across very clearly. The music is incredibly lo-fi garage pop (similar to Nobunny circa Love Visions). It makes you think, too. Is this your average single guy with a job or an unemployed psychopath who has never had any women in his life?
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 