Joyce Manor - "All My Friends Are So Depressed"

Power-pop-punks Joyce Manor throw on their best The Smiths impersonation on the beguiling and catchy track "All My Friends Are So Depressed." It can be found on their fantastic new record I Used To Go To This Bar.

Alvvays - "Pressed"

 

I can't get enough of Alvvays' record Blue Rev. "Pressed" finds the band getting their The Smiths-ian jangle on. It's a catchy guitar rave-up.

Belle & Sebastian - "A Bit Of Previous"

Belle & Sebastian recently released their charming new record A Bit Of Previous. One would think a song with the album's title would be on the record, however, you would be most wrong. Anyhow, it's a lovely Smiths-esque jangle-pop track with Stuart Murdoch's trademark wry lyrics.

Happy 30th Anniversary: The Smiths - The Queen is Dead

One of the seminal albums of my teenage years turns 30 today. I have owned this album on pretty much all formats and have worn out several copies. I would say it makes me feel old that this record is 30, but listening to it now it still sounds youthful and fresh, and still speaks to my younger self.

Jam of the Day: Desperate Journalist - "Control"

Imagine if Siouxie Sioux fronted The Smiths.

30th Anniversary: The Smiths - The Smiths

Few bands hit the ground running with a nearly flawless, genre defining debut. The Smiths self-titled debut record was a breath of fresh air when it was released on February 20, 1984 and still continues to inspire and beguile.

Album Review: Merchandise - Children Of Desire

Merchandise
Children Of Desire
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Tampa trio Merchandise, comprised of multi-instrumentalists Carson Cox and David Vassalotti and Patrick Brady on bass, apparently have flitted around that city's underground hardcore, goth, and post-punk scenes for a while in other bands such as Neon Blud, Cult Ritual, and the Dry County. With their second LP Children of Desire, the band seems to have taken their various backgrounds and combined them into a much more fully realized beast. Strangely, this also creates the almost impossible task of trying to pigeon hole the band into any one genre. Stylistically, Children of Desire is all over the map, touching on a lot of their influences, from shoegaze, dream pop, 80s alt-rock, folk, and neo-psychedelia. It is a testament to the band's fortitude that they are able to blend all these disparate styles into such a compelling mix.

Starting off with the lovely "Thin Air," Cox's deep, evocative voice begins in almost a spiritual way, with floating electronics buoying the short intro track, before leaping into the jangly first single "Time." Drawing from the Smiths, Railway Children, The Sundays, and a whole host of other 80s alt-rock heroes, the track feels well-settled but completely of the now. The wistful air of the music goes well with the cynical nature of lyrics like "I took a lover just to kill some time."



But the album truly kicks into gear with the mesmerizing brilliance of the 10 minute "Become What You Are." A stately guitar track that builds from a steady beat and scrawling guitar chords into a fantastic mesh of guitars, organs, and forceful drums. The track is a beautiful testament to remaining true to one's self, Cox reflecting "The music started, I realized it was all a lie/ The guitars were running out/ Last year's punk," and crushed that someone doesn't believe in him with the lines "did you ever listen to my words/or did you just want to memorize the chords."



It is startling how easy the tracks flow through to one another even when they are of different styles. The almost shoegaze-trance of "Become What You Are," neatly segues into the industrial goth of "In Nightmare Room," which sounds like the perfect marriage of Sisters of Mercy's goth cool with Jesus and Mary Chain's brash attitude.



And the sweet piano ballad "Satellite" is the perfect refresher leading into the other 10 minute track "Roser Park." Although not as sublime as "Become What You Are," the track still closes the album on a high note, its celestial organs driving the reflective melancholy along before it drifts out into a haze of echoing, shoegazy guitars.



Children of Desire was such a wonderful discovery for me. Seeing a band capable of so much diversity while still remaining true to their individual sound and approach is a rarity these days, and makes me very hopeful for even greater things from this promising band.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Album Review: DIIV - Oshin

DIIV
Oshin
Rating: Grrrr

From humble beginnings as a bedroom pop project from Beach Fossil guitarist Zachary Cole Smith, DIIV (originally named Dive but changed because of a Belgian band with the same name) has since expanded to a full fledged band with 3 additional members. While there is similarity in sound with his full-time band (as well as peers Real Estate and The Drums), the nostalgia tinged quasi-surf rock they proffer is skewed more towards dream pop, emphasizing influences from acts like The Smiths, The Railway Children, Innocence Mission, and The Ocean Blue. There is a shimmering, light-on-water quality to the record which comports with Smith's quote that all the band members have water signs. The quartet's debut album Oshin is not going to win any awards for originality or for diversity, however, it transcends this limitation by being 13 tracks of pristine, dark-edged guitar pop, each song merging into the next to create one suite of tracks that sticks in the mind for a long time after the final track has faded.

For me, the album evokes warm days back in college in the late 80s, driving with friends along deserted back roads with the windows down, letting the pulse of those previously mentioned bands be our guide, never quite knowing where we would end up, or what we would do. When time seemed limitless and we all felt infallible. From the opening chords you are transported immediately into their self-contained world, with "(Druun)," acting as a roadmap and introduction to the record, the cavernous beats and shimmering waves of guitars folding in on you. Which leads right into the mesmerizing "Past Lives," which uses a melancholy palate of guitars over a driving beat, with Smith's forlorn vocals touching on themes of loss and regret: "I was your home and you locked yourself outside/And run with your ghosts/Back to a place you'd already known."



For the most part, throughout the record the emotions and themes are carried more by the meoldies and not the lyrics. When the songs have lyrics, the vocals are usually pushed back into the mix and become another musical element. Usually the lyrics are impressionistic snippets that blur in and out of focus, allowing you brief glimpses of meaning, which is always open to interpretation. There are frequent allusions to death, regret, and being haunted by or running from one's past. On "Sometime" the echoing guitars and crisp beats are underlined by Smith whispering lines like "Sometimes your birth is just a part of your death,"



while guitars wail and crash over the thundering "Oshin (Subsume)" with its half-chanted "oshin crash/salt makes blood/red with clay/black with mud,"



and a chugging bassline and beats propel the intensely paranoid and frantic "Doused,"
Smith's voice getting more and more agitated as he sings "you've gone too far/your urge to run away is back/and we all know."



While there is a tendency to feel like a lot of the songs bleed together, and frequently I will admit that I can't tell some of the tracks apart from each other, looking at the record as a whole it is not so much a weakness as it is just an overall aesthetic that colors the tracks. This is not to say that there are not some stylistic differences on the album. "Air Conditioning" trades the glossy shimmer for a more Krautrock inspired strut,



"How Long Have You Known," climbs into bed with a Spiritualized-esque drone,



as closing track "Home" is like a soft lullaby to sleep, the keyboards washing over quietly echoing guitars, Smith intoning "you'll never have a home until you go home," which sums up sort of the grand theme of the record that running away from the past and your problems just creates more issues.

Oshin is a gorgeously produced record whose tracks feel lived in, as if they have been part of your life forever. Once again, I was transported back to those free-flowing days when time seemed to slow, the open road was ahead, and you hadn't lived enough to have a past.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Album Review - Violens: True

Violens
True
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Amoral, the debut album from Violens suffered perhaps from a surfeit of ideas and sounds, as if the band had too many influences and directions. As a result, the album, while still a favorite of mine, can sound disjointed and too varied. Hopping from Beatlesque pop to shoegaze anthems, with side trips through jangly guitar pop, post punk, new wave, and a hundred other styles (sometimes within the same song), Amoral was a whiplash listen, but one that kept you coming back for more, finding something new each time. In prepping their follow up, it appears the band declined to go for the same approach, choosing a more unified musical direction. Specifically, it seems they've been listening only to albums from The Smiths, James, The Railway Children, and The Ocean Blue. Each track is a swirl of jangly guitars and driving rhythms. While this makes for a smoother listen, it rather serves to negate what made the band interesting in the first place, that everything but the kitchen sink feel.

While overall I am not thrilled with this more focused direction, there are still some great singles on True that make the album worth checking out. Lush opener "Totally True" merges pristine ringing guitars with whispered vocals and harmonies, gradually working the song up in to a frenzy.



"Through The Window" charges over a driving beat, delicate percussion, and gently echoing guitars.



"Der Microarc" has a light jauntiness and pulsing bassline, interrupted every so often by slashes of guitars.



"All Night Low" throws it to the wall with an intense, almost hardcore backbeat and frenetic guitars.



Washes of organ enliven "Watch The Streams" as the guitars intertwine through the breathy vocals.



The problem I have with True is not there are any bad songs on the record, but mainly there is a lack of diversity or daring here. The songs on Amoral seemed to always be trying something different. It might not work all the time, but there was a level of risk taking that was notable. Here, there are just 12 very solid tracks that, while sometimes sublime, like "Totally True" or "Through The Window," are mostly somewhat average. They basically have the same elements: solid backbeat, jangly guitars, and whispered vocals. Indeed, one of my strongest complaints is that the vocals here rarely sound distinct at all, opting to be a hair above a whisper. While this adds to the dreaminess and ethereal quality of the record, it does make a lot of the songs sound very similar. This similarity over the course of these tracks makes the experience cohesive, but doesn't really make you want to jump back into the record again and again. True is a solid sophomore release, but sometimes solid can be very faint praise.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Super Morrissey Brothers

Not that the world was clamoring for an 8-Bit version of The Smiths' classic "This Charming Man," but now that it is here, one wonders why it took so long.

Frankie Rose: Interstellar - Album Review

Frankie Rose
Interstellar
Rating: Grrrr

Frankie Rose, a Brooklyn singer/songwriter, is formerly associated with acclaimed acts Crystal Stilts, Dum Dum Girls, and the Vivian Girls, and has released one solo record under the name Frankie Rose and the Outs (unheard by me) and is now performing solely under her own name, Frankie Rose. Her first album titled Interstellar lives up to its title quite well, featuring ten tracks of lush, gorgeous, and catchy synth/dream pop which supports Rose's charmingly drifting vocals. The production on Interstellar has a dense, open quality of such records like The Cure's Disintegration, with lots of cavernous synths and drum programming, but also has a post-punk quality to it as well, with some brittle, ringing guitars and influences of acts like Magazine, Public Image Ltd., Echo and Bunnymen, and practically any artist on the 80s 4AD roster. The album is both expansive and intimate at the same time, filling wide spaces but also providing the listener with plenty of introspective, headphones-like moments.

The switch to using her own name shows that Rose is no longer content to work solely as a background player, or part of some trumped up band. The title and first track, "Interstellar," doesn't pull punches. Twinkling synths rise from a mist, her vocal upfront and direct, erupting into a shoegazey swirl of pounding drums, synths, and guitars.



"Know Me" practically borrows the drum programming from The Cure's "Close To Me," but instead of being of childlike wonder, the track is a spiky, guitar-driven romp about the power of words to hurt but not allowing them to.



The lovely multi-tracked vocals and spongy bass synths of "Gospel/Grace" flit over bouncy drums, spiky guitars, and washes of synths.



A brittle phalanx of guitars, tight bassline, and whiplash percussion drive the beat driven "Night Swim."



While the edgy atmospherics complements the icy guitars and chugging rhythm section of "Moon In My Mind," Rose's voice recalling the gauzy vocals of Lush. While I loved the darker, beat driven moments on the album, there are plenty of quieter moments on Interstellar. "Pair of Wings" is a lovely, almost ambient track, with some lovely lyrics about taking a chance again after being hurt.

"All that I want is
a pair of wings to fly
into the blue of
the wide open sky

Show me your scars
I'll show you mine
perched out of the city
on a pair of power lines"



Final track "The Fall" includes a lovely counterpoint between the guitars and a lovely cello part, and in combination with her densely tracked vocals could stand easily alongside the best tracks on a This Mortal Coil record. While "Apples for the Sun" features a haunting piano and organ drone underneath a heavily reverbed multi-track vocal.

Interstellar is a record to get lost in and to hibernate with. Its charms, while immediate, are many, and each subsequent listen brings you deeper into its bottomless pool. It's a lovely record for a cold winter day, or driving down a lonely highway. The music is so evocative and transportive, it acclimates to any setting. It is a phenomenal step forward, and in a direction I want to see her go further down.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Cut Off Your Hands: Hollow

Cut Off Your Hands
Hollow
Rating: Grrrr

Back in the 80s and early 90s, Sunday nights were always set aside for 120 Minutes on MTV (yes, back in the day when 90% of their programming was still videos. This was well before the Internet and easy access to music that was not Top 40. Back then, our only sources were publications, college radio stations, record stores, word of mouth, and the beloved 120 Minutes. Without that show it is unlikely I would have heard of half the bands that are now part and parcel of my being. Until developing my taste in electronic music, the music that interested me the most was from guitar-based bands like The Smiths, Chameleons, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Railway Children, House of Love, Kitchens of Distinction, R.E.M., and The Church. Loved all the ringing/chiming guitars and driving beats associated with these bands and voraciously sought out similar bands. As my taste in music has evolved and changed over the years, I still hold a fondness for simple, guitar driven bands who have a good ear for melody. New Zealand quartet Cut Off Your Hands could easily have held a second hour slot on 120 Minutes, their songs evoking those bands listed above; reverentially but not slavishly. There is a lovely energy to their songs, the guitars chiming and clear, with a dreamy backing section. Their previous album (produced by ex-Suede member Bernard Butler and Smiths producer Stephen Street) found them leaning too heavily on Britpop and post-punk angst of bands like Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, and Maximo Park.

With Hollow, they have not completely forsaken those roots, but have focused more on melody instead of just pure energy this time. First single "Fooling No One" is a perfect mix of the two styles, rushing out the gate in a blur of drums and acoustic guitars and yelping vocals before settling into a jangly groove reminiscent of The Church in their earlier, more minimalist style.



There is a lovely mix of styles on Hollow that keep the band from sounding too one note or too indebted to one influence. From the Smithsian opener "You Should Do Better" with its shuffling drum and intricately ringing guitars and warbling, over-the-top vocal,



to the guitar rave-ups "Hollowed Out" and "Down and Out" that sound like the direction Echo and the Bunnymen should have taken before descending into bloat and excess,

Cut Off Your Hands - Hollowed Out by ology

or more gentle tracks like "Nausea" that capture that era of music so well:



But even though the album is not incredibly innovative from a style standpoint, there are moments of interesting juxtaposition, like the charming song "All It Takes" with its lovely Railway Children jangle mixed in with some odd Haircut 100 sounding background yelps and chirpy keyboards.



Hollow is not an album that announces itself as the next big thing or that is revolutionary, it is simply a good guitar, pop album. While I do have an affinity for bands that push the boundaries of what is pop music, there is something to be said sometimes for a band that just puts out a well-crafted album of just great songs. Hollow is record that reveals its charms subtly, but sticks with you for days.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Viva Brother: Famous First Words

Viva Brother
Famous First Words
Rating: Jeez Lady

The UK is well-known for acts that are all swagger and attitude, throwing quotes around that would bury most people. I don't mind attitude when the bands have the music to back it up; like The Smiths, Blur, Pulp, and Suede. It is where a bad is all attitude and no substance that I take issue. Latest UK buzz band Viva Brother flew out of the gate, proclaiming themselves the "best band in the world," snagging Smiths producer Stephen Street for production duties on their debut, and stating that they were there to rescue guitar music. Debut album Famous First Words is surely not going to be remembered as the album that jump starts the music world. The album clearly finds the band as a comfortable facsimile of better bands, notably Oasis (in their early prime), Suede, and significantly Blur. It is all arena-ready, hook heavy, everything turned up to 10 rock and roll, that is brilliant in its banality, yet utterly forgettable once it runs through its 10 songs.

I will start with the good stuff first. First single and what got them their record deal in the first place "Darling Buds of May," is Blur/Oasis swagger, goofy sing-a-long chorus, and chiming guitars. Based on this song alone, I can understand why they were sought out; had the album been like this song, a little more quirky and less blueprinted, it would have made for a more compelling listen.



"False Alarm" is another Oasis-like track that has a little more bite to it, with a killer chorus.



But too often, Viva Brother coast on auto-pilot, coming across as a mere cover band of their influences. "Electric Daydream" is an almost laughable rote reworking of "Champagne Supernova."



And most of the other songs are just serviceable guitar pop, so bland and impeccably boring as to become the equivalent of aural wallpaper. "New Year's Day" is a perfect example. There is nothing particularly bad about the song, it has just been done over and over again, and much better.



The first half of the album is a blur (no pun intended) of the same song structure that is dizzying, and difficult sometimes to tell when one song had ended and the next one began. After the third over-the-top chorus, I was almost beaten into submission. "Still Here," "David" and "High Street Low Lives" feel like an assembly line set of songs.

Viva Brother frustrate me because clearly they know how to play music, and on paper they have all the right goods to be a great band. Unfortunately, they don't do more than do high production karaoke of better, more important bands. Less slavish adherence to sounding like others would benefit this band better in the future. For now though, they are destined to be just another band hyped to death and then thrown in the dustbin.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day One - Your Favorite Song

Day One: Your Favorite Song
The Smiths
"There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"

Favorite song is a little difficult to come up with, as I have far too many songs I love I could never ever say that one was definitively my favorite song. I guess this is more of a if-I-absolutely-have-to-pick-one it would be The Smiths "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out."

In 1986, while everyone else in my class was listening to Bon Jovi and all the other hair metal bands, I was searching far and wide in the barren wilds of Savannah, Georgia for the college radio music I only was able to hear on frequent trips to Athens, Georgia to see UGA football games with my parents. It was the MTV show 120 Minutes that provided the only oasis in the desert of crap music I was forced to endure, and it was this video that drew me into the song.

I'd already loved The Smiths from their debut and Meat Is Murder, and countless singles, but The Queen Is Dead was the album that stuck with me the most. The simple and melodic "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" still captivates me to this day. The lyrics expertly straddle the line between maudlin and over-the-top, never going too far over one edge or the other, transcending to sublime. The delicate cry of the strings perfectly intertwines with the chiming guitars. Being an "arty" kid stuck in a small town growing up was the perfect backdrop for what The Smiths wrote about and stood for, and this song will always bring me back to those days when the only thing laying before you was an endless sea of possibilities.