Band: Thee Oh Sees Release: April 28, 2009 Label: In The Red Records
1. “Enemy Destruct” – 9.4
2. “Ruby Go Home” – 8.9
3. “Meat Step Lively” – 9.2 4. “A Flag In The Court” – 8.3 5. “The Turn Around” – 7.5 6. “Can You See?” – 8.6 7. “Rainbow” – 9.4
8. “Go Meet The Seed” – 9.3 9. “I Can’t Get No” – 8.9 10. “Soda St. #1” – 8.6 11. “Destroyed Fortress Reappers” – 9.2 12. “Peanut Butter Oven” – 9.0
Comments: Pursuing a recommendation from No Bunny drummer Billy, I decided to give this esteemed album a listen. Reminds me to some degree of the kind of rock that good old Chuck Berry was spitting out in his day, though this is dirtier and more prone to experiment. So I can see why this band has been influential to the emerging “coaster” garage scene that includes No Bunny and company. But at a few points throughout, I feel like there are too many layers of different instruments that distort the main rhythm and vocals, making the listening experience a sort of pain in the ass. At a few points, I hear a simplicity reminiscent of Jay Reatard lyrically and musically. It’s the kind of garage-y music that I can’t call awesome, but that I can give a pretty decent amount of respect to. A band I probably won’t make an exaggerated effort to go see, but might if they are playing alongside another good band.
Band: Alec Ounsworth Label: Anti- Release: October 20, 2009
1. “Modern Girl” – 8.3 2. “Bones in the Grave” – 7.9 3. “Holy, Holy, Holy Moses” – 9.2 4. “That Is Not My Home” – 9.5 5. “Idiots in the Rain” – 8.2 6. “South Philadelphia” – 8.4 7. “What Fun.” – 8.2 8. “Me And You Watson” – 7.8
9. “Obscene Queen Bee #2” – 9.4 10. “When You’ve No Eyes” – 9.0
Comments: Flashy Python > Alec Ounsworth. How can an alter-ego of a man be better than the man himself? It’s possible and evident on this album. There seems to be a lot more dispiriting nooks and crannies on Mo Beauty; a greater dichotomy of styles than on Skin and Bones. The quasi-minimalism that reigns on tracks like “Obscene Queen Bee #2,” “That Is Not My Home,” and “Holy, Holy, Holy Moses” is Ounsworth at his best. For such a highly anticipated album, I am disappointed.
That doesn’t involve Alex Ounsworth! Shocking…I know. I dig receiving updates via e-mail from these side projects of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Thanks to an update in September, I was informed of Flashy Python. His LP turned out to be one of my favorites. Ounsworth is also releasing another solo album on October 20. I’m really looking forward to that! Now, we have Uninhabitable Mansions. The group is made up of the likes of Robbie and Tyler from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Annie Hart from Au Revoir Simone, Doug Marvin from Dirty on Purpose, and Chris Diken from Radical Dads. Their album Nature Is a Taker is available now for digital purchase! They are also playing at TT The Bears @ 11 PM on October 25 for 10 singles.
1. “The Speed Is Deceiving” – 10
2. “Big Kick” – 9.7 3. “Do You Have A Strategy” – 9.8
4. “Midnight Topography” – 9.6 5. “Maps Not Accurate” – 9.9 6. “The Brain Is A Slow Wave” – 9.7 7. “Static State” – 9.6 8. “This Drift” – 9.9 9. “Ex-Explorers” – 9.9 10. “We Already Know” – 9.9
Comments: This album is very Pains of Being Pure at Heart sounding. It’s, in fact, becoming status quo to use Pains as a reference point for bands of this “throwback-pop” sound. What really does it for Uninhabitable Mansions are two things in particular: vocals (lead and backing) and keyboards. That’s not to downplay the good old gui-tar, which is the principal instrument in “Midnight Topography.” Lyrics, which CLYHYS and its well-received side projects like Alec Ounsworth and Flashy Python have always been masters at, are just as beautiful as you could imagine. “Only you could make me believe your masterful eyes which you pass off as business as usual…it’s just just just society’s way,” a voice speaks on “Maps Not Accurate” in a tone only a teeny notch above a whisper. Tracks like “The Speed Is Deceiving” and “The Brain Is A Slow Wave” are mind-blowing. On many occasions I conjured up sounds of Galaxie 500 — an awesome slow-core band to be compared to. If you have an hour or so of boredom, just play these songs. Sit back and relax. If you fall asleep, that’s fine. I don’t think I’ve felt as much of an emotional connection to any band as I have with UM. And I’ve only known them for an hour. This is the album I’ve been waiting to hear all year.
1. “Year of the Ox” – 9.5 2. “Enjoy Your Rabbit” – 8.7 3. “Year of the Monkey” – 9.2 4. “Year of the Tiger” – 9.5 5. “Year of the Dragon” – 9.6 6. “Year of the Snake” – 9.3 7. “Year of the Horse” – 9.2 8. “Year of the Sheep” – 8.6 9. “Year of the Rat” – 9.0 10. “Year of the Rooster” – 9.4 11. “Year of the Dog” – 9.5 12. “Year of the Boar” – 9.4 13. “Year of the Lord” – 9.6
Comments: I was never much of a classical guy. I’m still not much of a classical guy. I can’t analyze classical music for shit, but I’ll say this: there are a lot of musical spasms. Fast/slow/fast/sloow/sloooow/slooow/FAST/FAST/FAST. And these spasms really make the music stand out. The music seems to be partially influenced by traditional schools of thought, but overall this album seems most likely to fall under the “experimental” category. When it comes down to it, this is a brilliant work of art. It’s not everyday that I take time out of my mainly rock diet to listen to this kind of music. I probably should.
Comments: A very eclectic band drawing influence from what seems like a myriad of styles, from hard rock to experimental to pop. In that, I feel a very strong sense of overload. There isn’t much consistency on this album, at least in the first eight songs. One minute can be light, up-beat outsider music while the next can be heavy screamo. This kind of uncertainty and unexpectedness turns me away from what potentially could be very good music. Some website allocated the title “Best Album of 2009” to Clues and I’m wondering how that could possibly be. There are some really quality tracks on here (the last three!), but there are some really really average ones too. If the first eight tracks were more like the last three, Clues would really be on to something.
Band:Built To Spill Label: Warner Bros. Release: October 6, 2009
1. “Aisle 13” –9.3 2. “Hindsight” – 9.1 3. “Nowhere Lullaby” – 8.3 4. “Good Ol’ Boredom” – 8.6 5. “Life’s A Dream” – 9.1 6. “Oh Yeah” – 9.2 7. “Pat” – 9.4 8. “Done” – 8.9
9. “Planting Seeds” – 9.5 10. “Things Fall Apart”– 9.6 11. “Tomorrow” – 9.7
Comments: I don’t think BTS will ever fail at putting out an interesting “indie rock” song. That’s sad because for a band that’s been signed to a major label for the past 15 years, critics seem to find “indie rock” the only suitable label. The label “indie rock” doesn’t tell us much, but for BTS it sort of does. BTS does not play the kind of rock music that you would “expect” a major label band to put out, though this area is becoming increasingly grayer with bands like The Strokes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs (just to name a few) keeping a major distance from big acts like The Fray and Lady Gaga. BTS is thoroughly underground sounding, with Doug Martsch’s strange voice and the band’s broad country-rock instrumentation. Lengthy guitar solos reign throughout this album and typically have since the band formed nearly eighteen years ago. That leads one to question whether there are any other elements to BTS or this album in particular that stand out. By most standards, the songs on this album aren’t that catchy…with few exceptions like the hard-rock influenced “Pat,” a song almost too fast for this record. When it comes down it, I’m impressed by this album. I’m not going to be constantly listening to it, but there are enough tracks worthy of second looks. Like “Things Fall Apart” that has horns! Good addition. “Tomorrow” will probably go down in the same category as BTS earlier classics like “Strange,” “The Plan,” “I Would Hurt A Fly,” and “Car.”
Grade: 9.2
Built To Spill is playing three nights at the Middle East Downstairs starting October 9. My recommendation? October 11 when Pretty and Nice will be opening alongside Disco Doom.
Band: Editors Label: Kitchenware Records Release: October 12, 2009
1. “In This Light and On This Evening” – 9.4 2. “Bricks and Mortar” – 9.5 3. “Papillon” – 10 4. “You Don’t Know Love” – 9.6 5. “The Big Exit” – 9.5 6. “The Boxer” – 9.8 7. “Like Treasure” – 9.7 8. “Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool” – 9.8 9. “Walk The Fleet Road” – 9.6
Comments: I’ve been anticipating this album in what seems like forever. Editors aren’t my 8th favorite band for shits and giggles! Their brand of post-punk/dark-wave has always struck a chord with me. Things get 20X darker on this album, though. Goodbye sweet melodies and accessible pop guitar riffs, and hello destructive drum patterns and rave-esque forces. Goodbye to the electric guitar (synthesizer/drum only). Immediately, I realize a lyrical theme: Tom seems to question the role of God. In the opening track and then on “Papillon,” Tom says “Darlin…if there really was a God here he would have raised a hand by now.” Is he talking about God being here on earth or God’s presence in general? I guess that’s up to us to decide. The first five tracks are purely robotic, almost dance numbers. “The Boxer” sounds more compatible with Editor’s past work, but fittingly there is a new raw layer of synths. Editors do the same thing that Animal Collective did with Merriweather Post Pavillion and that’s revolutionize a genre. Animal Collective changed the way we look at psychedelic pop. Editors have changed the way we should look at atmospheric modern day post-punk. Only top albums have this quality and that’s what this is…a top album. HOLD ON A SECOND GLEN. I must have been feeling good when I wrote this. It’s awesome, but not that awesome damnit.
Comments: There isn’t much to say about this album. It’s a lot of what Mission of Burma fans love above Mission of Burma. If you don’t love Mission of Burma, you are going to probably write this album off as meh-verage old guy punk rock. There is some really really catchy, drill Sargent drumming and blistering noisy guitar especially in the last five songs.
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Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 