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Atlas Sound, Best Of 2011, Black Lips, Mikal Cronin, Music, The Beets, Ty Segall

Best Of 2011 – Glen’s Favorite Albums

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1. Black Lips – Arabia Mountain – My excitement for this album grew steadily once the news came out that they were working on one in early 2010. The original release date set for “when school gets back in” was pushed back once Ronson joined as co-producer. As we all know by now, the band had a delightful time working with him. So it’s no coincidence that Arabia is filled with some of the catchiest songs I’ve heard in a while. The sound production is not as muddy and psychedelic as the band’s previous effort 200 Million Thousand; instead, it’s clean and clear. The songs themselves cross the kind of rock and roll terrain that the Lips have always found themselves in, including but not limited to: clangy, jangly, country, punk. This stuff is addicting (for people with an ear for it like me) and tough to remove from the record player. I guess that’s a quality that the best album of the year should possess. 


2. Ty Segall – Goodbye Bread – This is another one that I was counting the days until release. Ty’s last record Melted received an ‘honorable mention’ in my Best of 2010, but would have comfortably cracked the Top 5 if I redid my list a few months later. Goodbye Bread was a quintessential summer listen and still holds the test of time as this part of the country is freezing over. The thing that Ty does so well (and has always done so well) is arranging his songs. There’s optimal fuzz, hard-pounding drums, and a lingering bass line in nearly every song at some point and a lot of it is unexpected and fresh. I love the opening of “You Make the Sun Fry,” and the ever so crunchy chorus in “My Head Explodes,” in particular. Goodbye Bread affirms Ty’s status as one of the most talented song writers in modern rock and roll. At the least, it goes to show that noisy relatively straight-forward garage isn’t all the dude is about. 


3. Atlas Sound – Parallax – Last year (as I just said above) I made the folly of overlooking some records. Another one of them was Halcyon Digest. Sure, it was among my Top 10, but I didn’t really appreciate as much in 2010 as I should have. With Parallax, I gave it several listens before reviewing it and over the course of listening the real beauty of it really came out. It’s mainly a light affair with several streaks of brilliance that some could dub ‘experimental’ or ‘odd’, but to me is just as pop as anything typically labeled that. Bradford knows catchy better than most. The by product of this is a mass of songs that are inspirational and healing. 


4. The Beets – Let The Poison Out – The Beets are one of those bands that I regret not getting more into earlier on in my KLYAM career. After seeing them open for No Age at Wellesley College back in April 2009, I failed to do significant follow up research. Well, now I’d say I’m fairly well versed on the Beets; all the credit to them for infectious releases and superb live performances. Let The Poison Out works so well because it’s just so hard to not be hooked on the Beets raw rock, pop, n’ roll . It makes me want to start pounding on some drums while blasting it loudly. “Doing As I Do” and “I Think I Might Have Built A Horse” are sing-alongs like none other. 


5. Mikal Cronin – Mikal Cronin – You can tell this guy has spent some quality time hanging around Ty Segall. Not to say he hasn’t spent quality time with other musicians. The Moonhearts are nice. Well anyway, this album really captivated me as it fits in perfectly on a scale of Ty and Thee Oh Sees. Like those folks’ records, Mikal Cronin is quite instantaneously hooky (with like two exceptions, but those are still real good). Picking favorites is a challenge. I love “Situation” a great deal, because right from the get-go it is extremely fun. The San Fran rock ‘n roll region had quite a 2011.

Honorable Mentions

Shannon and the Clams – Sleep Talk
The Orwells – Remember When
Thee Oh Sees – Castlemania
Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Natural Child – 1971
Mark Sultan – Whatever I Want
The Hussy – Cement Tomb Mind Control
Davila 666 – Tan Bajo

Music, reviews, Ty Segall

An Early Take On Ty Segall’s “Goodbye Bread”

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Flat out, Ty Segall deserves the attention and praise that he’s recently been receiving. He went from being an underground obscurity to being a household rock ‘n roll name among those who pay attention to this kind of stuff in a couple years worth of time. He’s only 23, the age before Jay Reatard was Jay Reatard and the age 3/4 of the Black Lips were when they began approaching the brink of abounding ‘indie’ fame. As a solo artist, Goodbye Bread is his fourth full-length, impressive enough. He found the time to go to college as well! Melted was my introduction to the man; I’m not going to sit here and pretend to have known him since Lemons days. I’m sure many of his new fans can say the same. At any rate, Melted was one of the more exciting rock ‘n roll LPs I had heard in 2010. I was an instant fan of the intense, in-your-face, sad fuzz that encompassed most of the thing. Whereas Melted got heavy at any given moment in time, Goodbye Bread as a whole is a slower work, defined not only by occasional spurts that surely recall previous Ty, but by more fleshed out songwriting. Opening song “Goodbye Bread” has been kicking around for about a year. It’s amazing. Right when those drums kick in, damn, son. Also, right when that guitar solo kicks in, damn, son. Ty knows how to craft a song right. The calmness of “Goodbye Bread” is contrasted by the appropriately titled “California Commercial,” a terse, waggish pounding: “Come to California, stay inside your house” it begins. Maybe someone listening to “California Commercial” will want to stay inside a “Comfortable Home,” a place to settle down. “You Make The Sun Fry” is Goodbye Bread‘s “Caesar,” a steady fast song with a wealth of catchy instrumentation and a noice rhythm. “I Can’t Feel It” is a mid-ranger and also the first 7″ to be released in conjunction with this record. It moves quite well and has one of those splits at the end which I am a sucker for. Exactly the kind of stuff you want to end the first side of a record you’re listening to. The psychedelic, bass-heavy “My Head Explodes” may be the most well-written tune on here. I said that about “Goodbye Bread,” didn’t I? This one can take a co- position with that one. “In time I am a melody. A front for you and all to see” is just one line of many from that. The meaning? I’m not so sure. “The Floor” opens up with a near country tinged freak-out and moves along a bit like its predecessor. “Where Your Mind Goes” reminds me of — and this is a weird one — Arctic Monkeys material. Minus the Brit accents and Add In layers of fuzz unthinkable to our friends over seas. Good stuff. “I Am With You” is the longest song on the album and it sure feels it. Every now and then it’s just nice to listen to Ty wail. And there’s wailing to be had through and through, it can be a little jovial at times –> “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride”. It’s a parting slow song, reminiscent of “Goodbye Bread.” From initial listens, I can surely say this is something grand. It’s a different animal than Melted and why shouldn’t it be! Oh no…oh yeah!