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CD Review: Album

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Minimalism
Album? Minimalism FTW

Band: Girls
Label: True Panther
Release: 2009

1. “Lust For Life” – 9.2
2. “Laura” – 9.0
3. “Ghostmouth” – 8.9
4. “Goddamn” – 7.7
5. “Big Bad Mean Motherfucker” – 9.6
6. “Hellhole Ratrace” – 9.2
7. “Headache” – 9.0
8. “Summertime” – 8.6
9. “Lauren Marie” – 8.4
10. “Morning Light” – 8.9
11. “Curls” – 8.2
12. “Darling” – 8.2

Comments: Girls!!! Omg! The whole internet is buzzing about Girls! Or maybe just a few “indie” sites here and there. But are they really deserving of the hype? Singer Christopher Owens has a (unique) voice that causes me to deeply wonder whether it is musically fit or semi-annoying. The melodies are there. Pretty damn awesome! Anthem-esque at times, sunshine poppy at others. A bit more obscure than say the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and maybe a bit more older sounding, but structurally there are similar elements between the two bands. “Big Bad Mean Motherfucker” is one heck of a song, reminding me a bit of the lo-fi throwback elements of Wavves and Black Lips. The album’s throwback nature is sort of funny and maybe a bit superfluous…making it sound like a Weird Al original. There are some boring spots towards the end. Overall, this album will be memorable in some way at some point down the line. If they crank out more “Big Bad” tunes then I see a shitload of potential.

Grade: 8.7

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CD Review: Unmap

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Not a bad album, but hardly memorable.
Not a bad album, but hardly memorable.

Band: Volcano Choir
Label: Jagjaguwar
Release: September 22, 2009

1. “Husks and Shells” – 8.8
2. “Seeply Mouth” – 8.6
3. “Island, IS” – 9.0
4. “Dote” – 8.7
5. “And Gather” – 8.8
6. “Mbira In The Morass” – 8.2
7. “Cool Knowledge” – 7.5
8. “Still” – 8.9
9. “Youlogy” – 8.3

Description: (From Jagjaguwar)
Volcano Choir is an assembly of Wisconsinites Jon Mueller, Chris Rosenau, Jim Schoenecker, Daniel Spack, Justin Vernon, and Thomas Wincek. You might find these old friends also frequenting records and stages under different monikers, Collections of Colonies of Bees and Bon Iver. The collaboration predates the meteoric rise of Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver project, with original songwriting dating back to the summer of 2005, right around the time the Bees first toured with Vernon’s previous band DeYarmond Edison.

While entirely a studio record, the collection doesn’t suffer from the overburdens of a digital pile up or over-thinking. Rather it breathes and convulses in equal measure, radiating an inherent dynamism found only in the voluntary bondage of intimacy. With influences ranging from David Sylvian and Steve Reich to Mahalia Jackson and Tom Waits, it might be more accurate to say the group’s influence is music itself. You can hear it in the care and real love generously applied to each moment of Unmap. With the vibe of some intimate backwoods gospel, plus a spirit of patience and thoughtful repetition, the music of Volcano Choir is as dynamic as it is lovely.

Unmap ultimately came together over a weekend in November 2008 in Fall Creek, Wisconsin, at Justin and Nate Vernon’s recording studio. And while it is at its heart a record about the allure of being with people you need and making something with them, it is also a document created by musicians with rare gifts getting together to exorcise their ideas about beauty. This scaffolding of loops and off grid tempos for choral style vocals offers a state of continual surprise, call it unexpectation.

Unmap marks the debut full-length from Volcano Choir, the collaboration between Collections of Colonies of Bees and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver.

Grade: 8.5

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CD Review: Almighty Defenders

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Band: Almighty Defenders
Label: Vice Records
Release: September 22, 2009

1. “All My Loving” – 9.7
2. “The Ghost With The Most” – 9.9
3. “Bow Down and Die” – 9.8
4. “Cone of Light” – 10
5. “Jihad Blues” – 9.4
6. “30  Second Air Blast” – 8.3
7. “Death Cult Soup n’ Salad” – 8.1
8. “I’m Coming Home” – 9.8
9. “Over the Horizon” – 9.5
10. “She Came Before Me” – 9.6
11. “The Great Defender” – 9.8

Comments: There are top shelf amazing songs on this album. And then there others that are a shelf below those. Unfortunately for a good half of these songs, they sound better live than on record. On “The Ghost With The Most” the lyrics work great with the rhythm…makes you wonder how the eff this was made in a four day framework. All of the singers on this work of art use their vocal skills in a highly appropriate fashion. For instance what would “Bow Down and Die” be without Cole’s voice on the verses? What would “Cone of Light” be without Mark Sultan? Speaking of “Cone of  Light”…it’s a masterpiece! It’s fast paced garage-gospel…reminiscent of early King Khan and BBQ Show minus the gospel. “Jihad Blues” is (at least partially) a commentary on 9/11 and Muslim extremism. “Just give me a one way ticket and a box cutter” screams a voice. Even the instrumental “30 Second Air Blast” is strangely okay. “Death Cult…” is just a more fucked up continuation of the previous song. More fucked up is better. The album as a whole would be better without these two filler tracks. “I’m Coming Home” is a catchy and swampy cover of a Mighty Hannibal song. The screams of “That’s all right” during “She Came Before Me” sound so so ancient. A great song to sing lead for my man Jared Swilley. “The Great Defender” is just a preacher doing his thang dubbed over a constant bass/drum part. Will we look back on this album years from now and say this was a revolutionary album?  Probably not. Not every year does a concept come out like this one. The whole Almighty Defenders shtick continues to amaze me and will for a while.

Grade: 9.4

Listen to the stream here. Then pre-order or buy the album!

Music

CD Review: Now We Can See

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Band: The Thermals
Label: Kill Rockstars
Release: 2009

1. “When I Died” – 8.7
2. “We Were Sick” – 8.9
3. “I Let It Go” – 8.2
4. “Now We Can See” – 9.1
5. “At the Bottom of the Sea” – 8.5
6. “When We Were Alive” – 8.4
7. “I Called Out Your Name” – 8.1
8. “When I Was Afraid” – 8.3
9. “Liquid In, Liquid Out” – 7.1
10. “How We Fade” – 8.0
11. “You Dissolve” – 8.3

Comments: The Thermals is a band that I really really wanted to see when they came to the Middle East Downstairs on May 7th. I had to weigh my priorities…King Khan and the Shrines or The Thermals? I chose KK and the Shrines without much hesitation. My acquaintance with the The Thermals is from their song “Passing Feeling” featured on the video game MLB 2k7. Just a side note: the MLB 2k7 soundtrack was instrumental in forming my current day music tastes. In addition to The Thermals, other great songs came from the likes of Editors, Walkmen, Bishop Allen, Tapes N’ Tapes, The Stooges, and Death From Above 1979. Back to this album…it’s safe. Less post-punk than what I’ve heard in the past from them and more pop-punk. I’ve never had a problem with decent pop-punk and for the majority of the album, it is exactly that!  In the end I’m not sure if the change in sound has anything to do with their switch from Sub Pop to Kill Rock Star.

Grade: 8.3

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CD Review: Earthly Delights

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Name: Lightning Bolt
Label: Load Records
Release: 2009

1. “Sound Guardians” – 8.5
2. “Nation of Boar” – 7.2
3. “Colossus” – 7.5
4. “The Sublime Freak” – 8.4
5. “Flooded Chamber” – 6.7
6. “Funny Farm” – 8.3
7. “Rain On Lake I’m Swimming In” – 8.9
8. “S.O.S” – 7.0
9. “Transmissionary” – 7.7

Comments: Here is a case of a band that I’ve heard a shit load about, but never really sat down and gave a meaningful listen. LB’s “noise rock” tag is appealing, but for me that “noise rock” must make some kind of sense in order to be listenable. LB has a two man set-up: a drummer and bass guitarist. Formerly in the band was a man now called Soft Circle. Yes, that guy. These days he plays loopy experimental stuff by himself (drums, guitar, vocals). Believe it or not the only things he did in Lightning Bolt (which he lasted in for all of three days…kidding) was sing and play guitar. Anyway…let me not side track too much. Getting into this album, my thoughts are kind of scattered. I conjure up a lot of elements upon listening: heavy metal, screamo, extreme noise-punk (there Brian Gibson that’s three words not two)…just to name a few. Maybe I’m just not ready for this kind of stuff. Or maybe it’s LB perfecting their image of being “loud and aggressive.”  I see a lot of great bass guitar riffs and random drum beats, but I don’t see a lot of structure. Is that what we call “art rock” nowadays? Even the best sounding tracks just barely squeak by as decent. Am I listening to noise or music? Is there a difference at all? I can tolerate noise, which is why I give some of these tracks higher grades than they probably deserve — at least from a critical perspective.

Grade: 7.8

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CD Review: Vapours (Islands)

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Band: Islands
Label: ANTI
Release: 2009

1. “Switched On” – 9.0
2. “No You Don’t” – 8.8
3. “Vapours” – 9.4
4. “Devout” – 8.3
5. “Disarming the Car Bomb” – 8.9
6. “Tender Torture” – 8.5
7. “Shining” – 8.2
8. “On Foreigner” – 8.5
9. “Heartbeat” – 7.9
10. “The Drums” – 7.3
11. “EOL” – 7.6
12. “Everything Is Under Control” – 8.0

Comments: Technically Islands are sell outs because they signed to ANTI-, a sister label of Epitaph, after they released their first album Return to the Sea in 2006 on Equator (the record label of Lovely Feathers). Anyway, I’m not too familiar with Islands besides their song “Rough Gem,” which is truly a gem! The “indie-pop” world has been buzzing over it for the past couple of years. I looked at this album with only that one song in mind. This album screams Vampire Weekend in the sense that there is some extra musical ingredient that turns away mainstream pop listeners YET draws in hordes of so called “indie” listeners. There are a few songs that are a combination of Handsome Furs and Backstreet Boys…the result being something average as fuck. The middle/end of the album contain great examples of the album mentioned.

Grade: 8.4

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MPP + 200 Mill. Thousand Revisited

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This is just to assign grades to individual songs on these albums, that as of September 13 are in the running for album of the year. When it comes down to it, MPP is not a perfect album. I feel like that just by slapping the “10” designation on it, justice isn’t done. It’s been my thing, at least for the majority of 2009, to grade an album based on songs only. This system doesn’t work too well and doesn’t take much into account. I’ll be changing it (most likely) in 2010. But for now:

Merriweather Post Pavillion (Animal Collective)
1. “Guy’s Eyes” – 9.5
2. “In The Flowers” – 9.8
3. “My Girls” – 10.0
4. “Also Frightened” – 9.8
5. “Summertime Clothes” – 10.0
6. “Daily Routine” – 9.6
7. “Bluish” – 9.9
8. “Taste” – 9.8
9. “Lion in a Coma” – 9.8
10. “No More Runnin'” – 9.7
11. “Brothersport” – 10.0

Grade: 9.7
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200 Million Thousand (Black Lips)
1. “Take My Heart” – 9.4
2. “Drugs” – 9.8
3. “Starting Over” – 9.9
4. “Let It Grow” – 9.2
5. “Trapped in a Basement” – 9.6
6. “Short Fuse” – 9.8
7. “I’ll Be With You” – 9.7
8. “Big Black Baby Jesus of Today” – 9.3
9. “Again and Again” – 9.7
10. “Old Man” – 9.6
11. “The Drop I Hold” – 9.4
12. “Body Combat” – 9.4
13. “Elijah” – 9.7
14. “I Saw God” – 9.6
15. “Meltdown” (Hidden) – 9.8

Grade: 9.6

Music

CD Review: A Brief History of Love

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Band: The Big Pink
Label: Rough Trade
Release: 2009

1. “Crystal Visions” – 9.5
2. “Too Young To Love” – 9.2
3. “Dominos” – 9.4
4. “Love in Vain” – 8.7
5. “At War With The Sun” – 8.9
6. “Velvet” – 9.7
7. “Golden Pendulum” – 9.2
8. “Frisk” – 8.8
9. “A Brief History of Love” – 9.5
10. “Tonight” – 9.3
11. “Count Backwards From Ten” – 9.4

Comment: I’m not sure how I actually came in contact with this band or this record. I found it just today in My Library. It’s due out on Tuesday? This situation confuses me. I’m pretty sure this band is from the UK. They sound darkish noise-punk/shit gaze. What I mean is the music is loud, distorted, lot of shit going on at one time, etc. You can’t really groove, but rather nod your head slowly. If I had to compare The Big Pink to some modern day bands I would compare them to The Morning After Girls and The Warlocks. Louder though. Add a drum machine, too. I hear some Humbug-era Arctic Monkeys too, but much much louder is The Big Pink. This CD is highly impressionable yet I question whether it has any lasting appeal. In certain areas (the green tracks!), this is really really catchy!

Final Grade: 9.2

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CD Review: Here We Go Magic

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Band: Here We Go Magic
Release: 2009

1. “Only Pieces” – 8.2
2. “Fangela” – 8.7
3. “Ahab” –8.3
4. “Tunnelvision” – 9.2
5. “Ghost List” – 8.3
6. “I Just Want To See You Underwater” – 8.4
7. “Babyohbabyijustcantstanditanymore” – 6.4
8. “Nat’s Alien” – 7.2
9. “Everything’s Big” – 8.9

Comments: Freak folk can, on any given day, be a genre of its own. Here We Go Magic escape what is traditional folk and produce songs that embody major elements of modern epoch psych-folk (slightly think Grizzly Bear) YET still maintain a strangely post-punk sound (in some areas), which is similar to the Walkmen, if only the Walkmen took acid. The sort of problem, if you want to call it that, is that if Animal Collective made these songs they’d be better. Music snobbery right there. Anyway, songs that are completely instrumentals of thunder and ocean waves can, in fact, be decent. And then there are songs that are completely instrumentals of alien noises that can, in fact, be awfully obnoxious. Could I stand watching this band two nights in a row for thirty minutes or more? Yes. Maybe I will grow more of an appreciation of them. Maybe I won’t and I’ll just make it through because I know that one of my favorite bands of all time will follow.

Final Grade: 8.2

Here We Go Magic open along with the Dig for the Walkmen on September 18 and 19 at the Middle East Downstairs.

Music

CD Review: Everything Goes Wrong

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Band: Vivian Girls
Label: In The Red Records
Release: 2009

1. “Walking Alone At Night” – 9.0
2. “I Have No Fun” – 9.3
3. “Can’t Get Over You” – 9.1
4. “The Desert” – 9.6
5. “Tension” – 9.0
6. “Survival” – 9.5
7. “The End” – 9.4
8. “When I’m Gone” – 9.2
9. “Out For The Sun” – 9.5
10. “I’m Not Asleep” – 9.7
11. “Double Vision” – 9.6
12. “You’re My Guy” – 9.3
13. “Before I Start To Cry” – 9.7

Comment: The Vivian Girls are comparable to Jay Reatard, if Jay was female and noisier/punker. Well, kind of. The VG’s simple song structure and composition is something that’s becoming more and more common in garage and noise punk. VGs are more polished than their counterparts Mika Miko, though perhaps not as distinctively catchy. This album will go down as extremely note-worthy in looking back at ’09.

Final Grade: 9.4

* Green = My Favorite Tracks