by cwaleko

Cheap Time Returns With New Album

Two years after the release of their self titled debut album, the Tennessee-based garage rock band, Cheap Time are back with the release of their second, Fantastic Explanations (and Similar Situations). For those familiar with the original grunge/punk sound of the group’s original album, you are in for a surprise with its successor. While remaining true to their original kicks and beats, the band has collectively matured into the band we all hoped they would.

Fantastic Explanations (and Similar Situations) doesn’t only differ from the bands previous work in musical maturity, but the fashion that it was recorded is also very altered. While the band was finishing up recording the album ,their engineer suffered a mental breakdown and kicked the boys out of the studio by gunpoint. It wasn’t until months later that another engineer was hired to finish the job.

Despite this tragic experience, the band is currently on tour in Europe but US tour dates are on their way.

10.19.10

by ericphipps

No Age – ‘Everything In Between’

No Age’s second album for Sub Pop, Everything In Between, builds upon the mastery of their dirty clean sound which traces its antecedents through New York No Wave, Modern Noise, Dream Pop, Hardcore and the kind of adolescent punk which sprung from the ether in LA over the past decade.

Dean Spunt and Randy Randall are musicians using a solid combination of guitar and drum and effects, aiding the normalization of other recent break out two-piece acts such as Japanther, the late and much lamented Death From Above 1979, The Black Keys and Japandroids who use noise in less an abrasive manner than in service to the songs.

This is most apparent on Everything in Between with the excellent “Fever Dreaming” whose distressed and scorched wails are the amazing guitar noises that are half broken robot, half toy keyboard and half screech of tires. Yes, 150% awesome. That’s “Fever Dreaming.”

Though they step out of the expected mold time to time on this album such as with the quiet duet “Chem Trails”, these soft butterflies of chaos are not the songs that you’ll find yourself returning to or adding to party playlists.

Everything in Between isn’t quite a move forward or evolution of the sound No Age has been kicking down stairs since their first compilation Weirdo Rippers. Rather, it’s a lateral move from the excellent Nouns whose combination of minimalist compositions and maximum rock n’ roll got No Age the well-deserved recognition beyond the loft show set.

Frankly speaking, despite the missteps and seemingly out of place songs, Everything In Between contains strong contenders for your year-end Songs of the Year listings while those same growing pains don’t quite coalesce just yet for No Age over all. It’s tempting to hope that this is somewhat of a transitional album and that they are able to once more make the musical leap from the growth demonstrated in Weirdo Rippers to Nouns.

Make no mistake, Everything in Between demands your undivided attention and you would do well to grant it.

10.18.10

by tonyachin

Album Review: Crocodiles – “Sleep Forever”

Last year, duo Charles Rowell and Brandon Welchez caught the attention of many with the dark and druggy post-punk Summer of Hate and its less than subtle influences of The Jesus And Mary Chain. And while Crocodiles lean heavily upon these influences, almost mimicking them, their sophomore album, Sleep Forever, shows that their music is starting to form its own identity, becoming good enough to stand on its own.

With James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco producing this album, the layered instruments are bolder, complimenting the more developed, sharper song-writing of the San Diego band. The opener “Mirrors,” begins with slow and subtle beats, unfurling into an 80s-esque upbeat blend of psychadelic synths and echoing vocals. “Stoned To Death” follows by immediately jumping into a swampy, drum-heavy repitition of distorted riffs and distant vocals, later accompanied by an organ. “Hollow Hollow Eyes” is one of the better and funkier tracks, where the band’s heavier use of the organ helps to swing the song into a mesmerizing swirl of sound. Crocodiles explore their range of sound with the slower, romantic “Girl in Black” and the more poppy “Hearts of Love.” With the explosive sing-along chorus, accompanied by a tinkling glockenspiel, “Hearts of Love” might be the catchiest track on the album.

Sleep Forever is an improved extension of the smeary, gritty sound of 2009’s Summer of Hate. It’s eight tracks of louder, fuller and more concrete jangle noise pop. I would commend Crocodiles for their progress. Still, the album retains a similarity to the last–it’s enjoyable but certainly not revolutionary.

10.11.10

by ericphipps

Superchunk – “Majesty Shredding”

Superchunk, the near dormant pop-punk, bubble-gum, outsider band is BACK with their ninth studio album in twenty years and it’s just like they never left.

However, they did leave. Their last “full” album was 2001’s Here’s to Shutting Up and after that absence, Superchunk brings us a strong, hooky album that is unfortunately a decade too late, which may sound a bit unfair.

The past few years have seen a rise in other bands have taken that self-aware weirdo pop and run full tilt with it plainly building on what acts like Superchunk, Dinosaur Jr. and Pavement have done before.

The large issue is that these newer, younger bands have pushed forward and are able to offer experiences that are influenced by that kind of 1990s kick but are thankfully not slavishly devoted to it.

Everything about this album is just extraneous. There is no delight of the unexpected, there is no note not calculated based on time-tested, 90s, slightly-pop, slightly-punk “alternative” sound. If you love that sound, then you’re set. Hell, this is probably your favorite year ever with the return or return to form of so many 90s bands and you’re just reading this to confirm your opinion that this album totally rocks. If that’s the case, you probably already have this album.

If you are not already a fan, this album may convince you to check out their previous works, but it’s not an essential release and will most likely be forgotten this time next year.

Majesty Shredding is a solid album recalling a particular sound in a particular time and your tolerance for that kind of music will inform your patience for the album.

10.08.10

by tonyachin

Album Review: Belle and Sebastian – Write About Love

Belle and Sebastian’s forthcoming album, Write About Love, is a collection of good songs. Nothing more. Nothing less. And nothing to get excited about. It’s their eighth studio album, and it’s just what you would expect from the indie-pop Scots. I could never get into Belle and Sebastian, and I really wish I could. I wish I could love them like so many people do. The only thing I love about them is their ability to successfully incorporate a recorder (as in, the woodwind instrument we learned “Hot Cross Buns” on in fifth grade) into a pretty great song (“The Boy With the Arab Strap”).

Despite my general indiffernce toward Belle and Sebastian, I listened to Write About Love with open ears and an open mind. And after a good listen or two, I am, regretfully, still not a fan. I emerged from the 43 minutes of of easy-going pop melodies with the same conclusion: Belle and Sebastian makes music I might enjoy listening to, but would never actively choose to listen to.

Listening to the album is definitely a pleasant experience. Much of it is well-crafted, mild-mannered upbeat tunes. For example, the album opener “I Didn’t See It Coming,” a calm and charming pop lullaby with sweet vocals over friendly music. It sounds like staring out of a window on a rainy day. “Come On Sister” is a more lively, synth-heavy tune, followed by the slower, sadder “Calculating Bimbo.” I could go on and probably have similar things to say about the rest of the songs, but there are two in particular worth mentioning. “Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prohpet John” (which features Norah Jones) is slow, beautiful and completely out of place. The adult contemporary singer adds lovely vocals over Stuart Murdoch’s modest murmurs, creating quite an interesting contrast. It’s sad and pretty, but doesn’t seem to belong on the album. “Write About Love” however, definitely belongs on the album (as it should, since it’s the title track). Actress Carey Mulligan’s vocals are well-suited for a Belle and Sebastian song. Her smooth and understated declaration “I hate my job/I’m working way too much” creates the song’s too-true-to-be-cliché, catchy hook. It’s an alluring contribution to one of the better tracks on the album.

I wish I could say that this album changed my mind about Belle and Sebastian. However, my feelings remain unaltered. The album seems to pick up where the last left off. The songs are typical and safe. They’re good, but not great. If someone were to play the album, I would hardly object. I might even hum along. But ask me what I want to listen to, and this album would be far from my mind.

10.06.10

by ericphipps

Women – ‘Public Strain’

There is a sensation in Women’s second album, Public Strain, like there is something lurking beneath the surface. Beneath the noise and strained guitars, there lies a melody or purpose that shoves the music forward with the thick treacle of production acting as not just an affectation, but as a limiter of the songs which have been meticulously crafted by the Canadian four-piece.

Each song sounds like some weird, combined kind of languid heroin high as might have been produced by some 1960s band operating in the orbit of acts like Velvet Underground, whose drugs of choice were opiates, as opposed to psychedelic and modern shoegaze-worshiping bedroom projects. The album is detached to a detriment, like listening to music being played next door. The band keeps its distance from the listener; which is unfortunate, because the breathy delivery of the vocalist makes you wish you were beside him and able to see the beauty in the decay around you.

Public Strain opens weakly. “Can’t You See”, “Heat Distraction” and “Narrow With The Hall” are no match for the latter half of the album. “Can’t You see” gives you a bass line and a plaintive chorus which cries “can’t you see” like a spurned lover with an overabundance of production that produces a bed of noise that coats the song like an oppressive fog, diminishing the listener’s visibility. “Heat Distraction” starts off a bit better, mutating, perhaps even evolving as the song continues, yet whatever distraction the song provides is not present when “Narrow With The Hall” immediately makes you recall the opening track’s familiar noise and distance.

“Penal Colony” and “Bells” are where the depth of the album really begins to manifest. Soft but not demure, the distance is accentuated with calm melodic guitars given a near choral quality whose verdant blanket of guitar carries over to the whole of “Bells”, making these two tracks everything which the first three are not. Here, the arrangements are endearing and lull you to a near dreamlike state of comfort and security.

“China Steps” leads off the second side of the album and it is probably the strongest single song on the album, as guitars and bass bounce back and forth from one another complimenting and antagonizing each other’s parts.

It’s here on the second side where the instrumentation really shines as the band opens up, moving away from the dead-voiced goth-gaze vocalizations as the album gains speed and energy, as much amphetamine-fueled and paranoia-filled as opposed to the previous side’s codeine, vodka mixers which slowed your heart to a stop.

Public Strain is a good album whose unfortunate tendencies at the start prevent it from escaping a nebulous sort of rating. It’s somewhat unique in that it doesn’t sound like other similar purveyors working in similar genres. Women’s ability to mix moods and themes as well as the antonymic, baroque and bare hopefully spells a long future for them as a band.