Palebear Archives

Category : Dreamrock

Absinthe Glow
Contradictions

I cherrypicked this band off of 3hive… originally was drawn to the E. Smith comparisons. I gotta say from the track available on their site “Contradictions” the only similarities to him seem to be the straight 8 bar strumming with the guitar and perhaps the melody. It’s still a pretty good song… it seems to combine a bit of electronics a la Postal Service with more Beach Boys-ish sounds.

There’s actually another band that’s been doing a similar thing that you might be interested in if you like Absinthe Glow… Lost On Purpose. The vocals and song setup especially remind me of them. The songs have a background feel to them that’s a bit dreamy and slow, but the songs are more uptempo than most bands like that.

Tracks:

Contradictions

Label:

Wynona

Artist Website:

www.absintheglow.com

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

Airport Cathedral
Jetlag

I nearly missed listening to Airport Cathedral’s Jetlag album, but I’m really glad I got the opportunity. Reading the reviews about how lead singer Andy Fitts sounds a lot like David Bazan was enough to pique my interest. So does it sound like Pedro? It sure does, but in a damn good way.

The opening track, “Cure-Alls“, struck me as a cross between Pedro the Lion and Idaho’s Jeff Martin. The sometimes drawled but sincere vocals are a great match with the energetic yet enigmatic indie rock that the band plays. Fitts assembled quite a roster of contributing musicians to help him out on his debut, including Subpop’s Rosie Thomas, David Broecker (backing for John Vanderslice) and James Mendenhall (The Prom).

“TKO” definitely has Pedro The Lion’s phrasing hallmarks stamped all over it, but Fitts also sounds a bit like Earlimart’s Aaron Espinoza on this track and the next one, “The Tease“.

While pundits (like us) are quick to jump on the Bazan bandwagon when describing the music, Airport Cathedral is no one trick pop pony. There are some seriously well-constructed songs on the album. As you step through the songs one by one with no decrease in quality of craft, that fact becomes even more readily apparent. This musical strength of the later non-”suggested” tracks is an indicator that this is a band to keep an eye on. I’d put my money on bands that are able to deliver throughout an album, as opposed to massive one-hit wonders any day.

Artist Website:

www.airportcathedral.com/

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

Band of Horses
Cease To Begin

So how’s the new Band of Horses album Cease To Begin? Hm… here’s the thing. Band of Horses released Everything All The Time to a immense landslide of public acclaim, and it similarly blew my socks off from the moment I first heard it. There were the insta-hits “The Great Salt Lake” and “The Funeral” and nearly every other song on the album went into me like a shimmering tornado.

In other words, it was beautiful and try as I might, I couldn’t stop expecting something similar to happen with Cease to Begin. I think reviewing music, even as a part-time thing, tends to instill a bit of the jaded cynic in you. I expected rapid-fire, enthusiastic enjoyment immediately. I mean, I’m thrown so much music at once that it’s difficult to remember that some bands or albums take a little more time than others.

The thing is that there’s just no time - if I gave every band the time that I’m willing to give Band of Horses then I would be reviewing music 24 hours a day. And we all know where that leads…

Anyhow. Structurally, the music is intact - sweeping, dreamy and poignant rock. James Mercer meets My Morning Jacket meets Doug Martsch is still an apt comparison. Early on, the standouts for me were “Is There A Ghost”, “No Ones Gonna Love You”, and “Detlef Schrempf”. It’s not that the other songs are bad - I think they’re just going to need a little more time to percolate through my music-weary system. I also feel like this album seems a little too short - 10 songs clocking in at under 35 minutes.

But do I recommend it? Wholeheartedly. Beards and all.

Listen:
Is There A Ghost

On Itunes:
Everything All The Time (on Subpop)

Watch:
The Great Salt Lake (video)
The Funeral (video)

Visit:
Band of Horses website
Subpop website

by Palebear | No Comments

Band of Horses
Everything All The Time

Somtimes I really hate Pitchfork.

I’d gotten the new Band of Horses pre-release of Everything All The Time more than a month ago and it had taken up residence in the trusty Ipod. Slowly winning me over with their intoxicating blend of dreamy and orchestral horsey musings. Forget Brokeback Mountain’s cowboys, I’ll take this band of horses anyday. I’d come up with a perfect opening comparison for them and was just about ready to take on writing them up. Then, the other day I turn on Pitchfork and see the EXACT same comparison waiting there for me.

What a bummer. Anyhow, what I had thought was an immensely original comparison was that Band of Horses remind me of My Morning Jacket fronted by James Mercer of The Shins. Looking back on it, that wasn’t such an amazing intuition. This is exactly how they come across to me.

I guess you snooze you lose. We don’t have a staff of millions. But enough about us, what about the amazing Band of Horses? Well, they are amazing.

Like The Shins, their music goes for the gut, with grand, sweeping, bold-is-brilliant aural colors. The differences are that they venture frequently into the alt-country outback frequented by a band like Wilco. Also, every song on the album is extremely strong which is quite unlike Shins albums to me. With Shins, the hits are farther apart. With BOH it’s nearly non-stop.

Continue reading “Band of Horses - Everything All The Time” …

by Palebear | Comments Off

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Baby 81

You know, I’m not going to say that the new Black Rebel Motorcycle Club isn’t a good album as a whole. It’s just that I feel like I’ve outgrown this whole sound… I ate up B.R.M.C. in 2002, but since then we’ve had the Strokes, White Stripes, etc. and others pretty much duplicating that sound needlessly.

I do like a few tracks on the album, but for the most part this sounds exactly what you’d expect BRMC to sound like - and that’s sorta problematic for me. I mean, you can only go so far with this type of sound. It’s sort of funny that they sing: “Suicide IS easy… what happened to the revolution?”

They’ve always had a Velvet Underground and Dandy Warhols type of groove going, and that’s what you get with their new album Baby 81. I dunno, the songs are decent… I’m just finding it difficult today getting all excited about them.

by Palebear | No Comments

Celestial
Dream On

I keep messing up on Skipping Stones Records releases… for some reason we have reviewed very few of their albums, even though the majority are awesome releases. (I know we’ve missed talking about Dyrdin and The Charade, two great bands that they released stuff by). They’ve all spent some time on repeat in the playlist. So finally, here is one of their newest releases - Celestial’s “Dream On”.

It could be just coincidence, but this is another Swedish artist - Andreas Hagman is the brains behind this band. And you know how we like the Swedes. I don’t think it’d be going out on a limb to say that this album of great pop songs reminds me very much of The Field Mice, TBS, Galaxie 500, and East River Pipe… that’s for starters. Great swaths of dreamy pop melodies and reverbed, jangly electric guitars. The songs seem to neatly bridge the gap between shoegaze and twee - like a lot of the Sarah records which are said to be somewhat of an influence in the press bio.

There’s also a strange jangly undercurrent which reminds me of early REM at times. That feel doesn’t come up that often, but it’s there. Even after repeated listens, no one song on the album stands out as the best for me - all of them are keepers. If you liked your old school indie pop thick and dreamy, then you’ll like this album.

Listen:
Celestial on MySpace

Visit:
Celestial website
Skipping Stones Records website

by Palebear | 1 Comment

Citified
The Meeting After The Meeting

Lately, I have been really digging the album from Citified. Listening to “The Meeting After The Meeting” is like being in a shoegazer timewarp. Definitely channeling some good old Cure, Echo and the Bunnyman and The Church, this is one the best albums I’ve heard lately in this genre. Hey, the neu 80s are back with a vengeance so it’s no surprise that bands that sound like this are popping up left and right. Still, I think Citified does it really well - they get in a few more modern music knocks as well - I hear some Autumns in the mix, Mark Kozelek, maybe some Kingsbury Manx (interesting that the album was engineered by Jerry Kee). Swirling and nostalgically beautiful, this album is definitely a keeper.

Visit:
Citified Myspace
Eskimo Kiss website

by Palebear | No Comments

The Devics
Push The Heart

I’ve been gradually becoming assimilated into The Devics‘ mysterious musical world from listening to their CD repeatedly while driving around town. I didn’t know of this L.A. based band until now, though they’ve made a name for themselves over in Italy. The multi-cultural transplants Sara Lov and Dustin O’Halloran are the only members of this slightly quirky dreamrock band but they make up for their lack of numbers with the awesome songs on their new album Push The Heart.

There is a strange ghostly and glowing power running throughout the music, a push and pull of chord pairings which alternates in feeling between whimsical, broken-down cabaret clubs and a classical, almost courtesan setting. That last observation is no doubt validated by the fact that O’Halloran is an accomplished classical musician and composer and has released his own solo piano work to great reviews.

For those who need an overall description of what the music sounds like, imagine Chan Marshall fronting The Delgados. I’m also reminded of another great indie pop duo, Viva Voce, though i think The Devics are a bit more serious. They make really great music that is distinctive, evocative, and compositionally “complete”. A side note: they really seem to like the waltz structure for their songs.

The opener “Lie To Me” is a soft piano arpeggio waltz showcasing Lov’s breathy vocals that does indeed remind me of the Delgados. “Secret Message To You” harnesses a manual typewriter as a beatbox. Sure, it’s been done before but I’m not sure if I ever heard it fit a song so well. Along with tiny bells in the background and a revolving chromatic scale outro, this one was really fun. With “Songs For A Sleeping Girl” comes O’Halloran’s first vocal contribution and it’s certainly significant. All of the sudden, the music gains a more standard folk rock feel but the true treat is the doubling of Lov’s vocals over his. The song reminds me a bit of Mojave 3 or Low at times.

Continue reading “Devics - Push The Heart” …

by Palebear | Comments Off

Ghost of the Russian Empire
With Fiercest Demolition

This is a stunning debut EP that immediately made me sit up and take notice. Your gut reaction may be to peg Ghost of the Russian Empire as a federation of Muscovites who love playing Radiohead-influenced music. Instead, the quartet hails from the “frigid tundra of central Texas” and I’d say that their music reminds me more of several 80s shoegazer bands like MBV, Ride, and Lush with vocals that sound like Aaron Espinoza of Earlimart. Doves and The Delgados might be other touchpoint comparisons.

Certain songs like “Nov 2070″ have the sort of thumping darkness and distant chill that Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Dandy Warhols love to traffic in. There is a deep enveloping haze that permeates their music, with a driving beat behind all of it. A futuristic indie-rock soundtrack to Philip K. Dick or William Gibson. This is much better than many of the Interpol-ish bands coming out of England and Europe.

Ok, I have to admit that “Psychomedicated” DOES remind me an awful lot of Thom Yorke. But I’ll take this kind of homage any day of the week over bands that just copy Radiohead outright. “With Fiercest Demolition” is a delicious EP filled with great, swirling songs that you shouldn’t miss listening to.

Band Members:
Mike Plata - drums, percussion
Ruben Anchondo - guitar/bass
Jason Pike - guitar/bass
Brandon Whitten - guitar/vocal

Band Website:

www.ghostoftherussianempire.com

by Palebear | Comments Off

Great Northern
Trading Twilight for Daylight

Boy, I’d been meaning to make a post about Great Northern for quite awhile now after getting their latest album “Trading Twilight for Daylight”. The CD’s been on my favorites list in Itunes for quite awhile now, but as with all things with Palebear it’s just taken so long to write them up. I’m pretty sure they’ve gotten their fair share of good press though, so this entry is nothing more than a footnote about their music.

Hailing from the famous Ship collective in my neck of the woods (Grandaddy and Earlimar count themselves as members of that collective), they make some of the greatest dreamrock that I’ve heard since the Delgados. And actually, the first track “Our Bleeding Hearts” was SO like the Delgados that I did a double take. I think it was the delicate bells in the background, the dreamy atmosphere that slowly lopes along like a wolf, and the great vocals from Rachel Stolte.

Their dramatic songs definitely reminds me a bit of other Silverlake bands like Giant Drag and Silversun Pickups. I also felt a little Viva Voce sneaking in there perhaps. The structure of other songs like “Telling Lies” sound like they were written by Aaron Espinoza or Elliott Smith. The hits on the album are pretty much non-stop, at least I felt that way. They put together some really amazing music in this album that’s all about setting up a distinct dreamy mood - it’s like swimming through songs. Really great stuff - I don’t think the album is officially out yet, I believe mid-May is when you should be able to get your hands on it.

Listen:
The Middle
Great Northern on Myspace

Watch:
Great Northern SXSW 2007
Great Northern playing “Babies” live at Liquid Generation

Visit:
Great Northern website

by Palebear | No Comments

Helio Sequence
Keep Your Eyes Ahead

These guys know how to snack. Look at the photo below: doughnuts, cookies and milk perfectly and strategically placed. Does that ordered and harmonious tablesetting signify anything about their newest album Keep Your Eyes Ahead. Surely, and deliciously.

That’s not to say that The Helio Sequence’s music is wooden and fixed in any way. But I think that their songs have benefitted a bit from structure and order. The former album I heard, Love and Distance, had moments of brilliant pop and rock embedded in occasionally meandering electronic forays. The songs on this album just seem more concentrated and focused. If you think that I ripped that idea off from the official bio, you’re wrong - but it’s nice that we’re all on the same page there. Apparently, that is exactly the conclusion that Brandon Summers, who is one half of the duo that also includes Benjamin Weikel, came to after nearly losing his singing voice permanently. He opted to do some soul-searching, and I think the music benefits from it.

They sometimes kinda like fellow Subpop labelmates Rogue Wave, but Helio Sequence’s sound is a bit more ethereal and dreamy. Not cavernous reverb, but quite a bit. The synthesizer stuff is still there, but it’s very controlled. Instead of a distraction, it’s tasty flavoring - like the sprinkles on that doughnut. My favorite track on the album comes in past the halfway mark and is the title track. Bouncy, driving and melodic, “Keep Your Eyes Ahead” is sure to win over new fans with its power pop and slightly disco driven beat.

As a complete changeup, “Shed Your Love” is a lovely acoustic ballad, and is sure to get some face-time on teen angst OC type shows. Reminds me a bit of James for some reason. The plaintive country folk-singer song “Broken Afternoon” and the hoe-down of “No Regrets” is even more of a departure - dare I say it sounds like they’re taking a try at sounding like Dylan? Or maybe M. Ward? I know they’re no stranger to shades of country (the previous album had that”Harmonica Song”), but this is quite different - and I really like the new avenues they’re exploring..

by Palebear | No Comments

Metal Hearts
Socialize

Metal Hearts are another band that I originally found from tracks being played on SomaFM (Indiepoprocks is one the most awesome online radio feeds around).

I don’t know too much about the band other than they are a Baltimore based duo comprised of Anar Badalov and Flora Wolpert-Checknoff and they are pretty young (very early 20s?). Anar also bears a striking resemblance to Ashton Kutcher in the press photo - but we won’t go there.

The music is a mix of moody, down-tempo American Analog Set, DCFC (especially on “Foothills”) and bits of Viva Voce. I really like the hushed vocals on the tracks I heard. The feel might be a little too minimalistic or sparse for some, but I think it really makes the songs shine nicely.

Socialize
Foothills

Socialize

Metal Hearts website
Metal Hearts on Suicide Squeeze Records

by Palebear | No Comments

Midnight Movies
Lion The Girl

You know, I have to say I was guilty of judging a book by its cover. The name Midnight Movies just sounds like a band I wouldn’t be into - like ugh, Ska, or something. It turns out that they’ve got a cool modern sound mixed with a tinge of 80s - but they’re definitely more along the darker rock or dreamrock scheme of things. No Ska here.

Their sound reminds me a bit of Clinic and Blonde Redhead (who they’re touring with) though the vocals are sort of Nico plus Stereolab. Funny, on the slower areas of the songs I also hear Madder Rose? The music can come across a bit detached or distant at times, though that’s definitely on purpose. They also bear a resemblance in style to the great Silversun Pickups, and I believe they’re also a local band right here in my backyard.

I was sent their new release “Lion the Girl” the other day and I have to say it’s one of the stronger albums I’ve received this year. It ain’t going to replace Loney, Dear as the front runner, but it’s pretty high up there. And it’s a totally different sound - rocking all tomorrow’s parties in every way.

Listen:
Midnight Movies on Myspace

On Itunes:
Midnight Movies

Watch:
Patient Eye
Persimmon Tree

Visit:
Midnight Movies website

by Palebear | No Comments

Minipop
A New Hope

So I magically came across this band called Minipop - or to put it more accurately I was sent their CD. Quite delicious, girl-fronted, heavy dreampop for your listening pleasure. I thought I’d heard of them somewhere before but I’m not sure. There’s just so many band names floating around in my head these days. The gal singing sounds a little familiar - I just can’t place it, a little like Dolores O’Riordan - NOT. No, not like that. Scratch that thought permanently from your head. Maybe more like The Devics?

Music-wise, anything from Autumns to Map to Delgados would be a good enough guess. I sorta feel like they’ve got a mainstream-ish thing going - not necessarily a bad thing, but the songs are pretty polished and well produced. Some big fat delicious distortionverb going on all over the place. I like this stuff… oh unfortunately at press time, they are redesigning your site. So you’ll have to be content w/ their MyDisgrace page…

Listen:
On Myspace

Visit:
Band website

by Palebear | No Comments

Monarch
If Children

I’m going to start off this review by saying that I almost NEVER agree to receive a CD when a particular band emails me to tell me about their latest and greatest. Here is the reason why - unwanted obligation. I know I’m never obligated to write a review from a submission (well, tell that to the bands that call my phone number at home…), but for solicited CDs, I just feel obligated to do it. And since it takes me a long, long, long (long) time to write these things up, I feel bad about it. It’s even worse for “friend” bands, those that I don’t like. So long ago, I learned that the least contact possible is the best.

Well, I made an exception for Monarch because I listened to their songs and just knew that I had to get the CD. It doesn’t hurt that they’re from the Baltimore area (AGAIN) - lately I’ve been noticing that a lot of music coming from that region is right up my alley. In any case, their new album “If Children” (yes, the one that I agreed to receive in the mail) is pretty fantastic. It’s going to be very hard to put a finger on the style of music they play, but if you really had to push me for it, it’s a delicious combination of folksy pop and late 90s shoegaze tendencies. Like a handful of surprising nuts from a peculiar trail mix, but what a handful it is.

Oh, one other thing. This is the duo of Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner but you can’t tell it from the music. It sounds great, and quite full at times. The overall mood and structural tendencies remind me of anyone from Viva Voce, Matt Pond PA, Cat Power, Radar Bros. and Rilo Kiley. I could go on and on naming bands. Great mix of dynamics and musical moments on the CD.

But anyway, a big apology to them for not posting this for several months. They deserve your time, have a listen to the songs…

Listen:
Warning
Regret
Family Glue

Watch:
Monarch - Family Glue (Live @ Golden West Cafe)

Visit:
Monarch website

by Palebear | No Comments

Owen
Bad News

All right. Time to get back into it. The music that is. For awhile, I’d been interested in picking up some of Mike Kinsella’s (drummer from Joan of Arc) stuff. In particular, his American Football endeavor because the few tracks I heard reminded me so much of American Analog Set.

I completely forgot about it. But I was reminded to plop American Football onto my Amazon wishlist again after hearing something from Kinsella’s other current vehicle “Owen”. (Side note: “Owen” seems to be an immensly popular name to choose for bands - I recall getting a couple different Owen CDs for review back in the day).

Anyhow, if this beautiful opening track “Bad News” is indicative of the quality of the rest of the album, I guess I’ll add Owen onto the list as well. It’s very hushed with acoustic guitar and piano, simple melodies and Kinsella’s mellow voice - again very much reminding me of Andrew Kenny. It’s split into two halves, the first part is very American Analog Set while the second is something of a throwback to Blue Guitar era Red House Painters, especially those acoustic guitar triplets.

by Palebear | No Comments

Private Eleanor
Sweethearting

Godamn this band is really good. We’d earlier written up Private Eleanor on the basis of their great 2005 release No Straight Lines which came in through the inbox by way of Austin Stahl. This new album Sweethearting may top that one. The same influences and RIYLs are in effect here. Topping the list of bands they sound like is American Analog Set. It mostly has to do with the softserve, creamy feel to the mid-tempo pop that Private Eleanor plays and the hushed vocals, but the frequent use of xylophone doesn’t hurt as well. I don’t want to get stuck pigeon-holing the band as Amanset part 2; but they’re one of my favorite bands so it’s difficult not to throw that type of compliment their way when it’s deserved. Actually, in some instances, PE’s songs sound even prettier and more delicate than Amanset.

“Weeds” is an amazing track that sounds like a Chris Isaak song played by Amanset. There’s a sort of spectral feel to a lot of the songs - like being in a waking dream while watching a show. The earlier album was compared a bit to the twin towers of E. Smith and N. Drake, but I seem to hear a lot less of that on Sweethearting. I also can’t remember if Marian Glebes (who adds those bells and other percussion) sang that much on No Straight Lines, but in any case her similarly hushed accompanying vocals and harmonies are very welcome on these newer songs. I still get a Red House Painters vibe, especially on the quieter parts of songs like “Consider The Archer.” And that Posies vocal similarity still rings true every so often.

Man, the Baltimore-based Beechfields label, who also released the amazing Seldon Plan are definitely on my list of favorite collectives right now. They just can’t seem to do wrong at the moment.

Listen:
Vladimir and Gabriel
A Better Way To Run
Richmond

Visit:
Private Eleanor website

by Palebear | No Comments

Sea Wolf
Get to the River ...

I have to keep reminding myself never to judge a band based on anything before hearing their music or seeing them play live. Sometimes it’s best to even listen to them blind. In this case, I’m talking about the amazing band Sea Wolf who I saw play the Echoplex kickoff show this past Thursday along with The Parsons Red Heads, Watson Twins and Earlimart.

I was going to the show to see Earlimart, but I’d gotten an advance of the Sea Wolf CD as well. However, I didn’t even listen to it beforehand - one of my favorite things to do back when it was actually possible to be surprised by music (early 90s) was to take a chance and buy a CD or go to a show without knowing anything about the band. Kinda like forcing yourself not to know anything about a movie before going to see it. I decided to do this with Sea Wolf and I’m so glad I did. The reason is because the band is headed up by Alex Church of Irving, and his band mate Alex Burrows is also in the lineup. The thing is - I can’t stand Irving! So, if I’d read they were in Sea Wolf maybe I would have made up my mind already about the band.

Instead, at the show we were treated to an amazing, dynamic performance by Sea Wolf (everyone else was good too, but if Earlimart didn’t come out with guns blazing, I would have said that Sea Wolf stole the show from them). At the heart of the band are Church’s quirky but extremely moody compositions that seem to swim with the tide rather than against it. Melodic acoustic guitar and beautiful string accompaniments make all the difference. The rest of the rhythm section is locked in sweetly as well.

There are only 5 songs on the EP and they played all of them at the show. They differ, with some being slower and others more forceful, but all have a really dreamy quality to them.
“You’re A Wolf” is the crowd favorite, but mine is the driving and drony “I Made A Resolution.” As far as bands they sound like, I’d say take the Decemberists plus Arcade Fire, mix in a little Dirty Three for string dynamics, some old nods to the Velvet Underground and its ilk, and then add some Great Northern for atmosphere (the latter is a gimme, since members of that band are in the live lineup).

This band completely blew me away with their performance. Hopefully, I’ll get to see them again soon. They’re actually touring with Silversun Pickups. I already missed Sea Wolf playing with Sloan at the Troubadour, and apparently they are playing one date with Elk City! What a show that would be. (On a side note: I gotta say there is a very incestuous Silverlake scene thingy going on… or maybe I just haven’t really noticed it until now since I’ve been so out of it. But it’s all good - I like nearly all the related bands.)

Listen:
You’re A Wolf
The Garden That You Planted
Sea Wolf Myspace

Watch:
You’re A Wolf - Video

Visit:
Sea Wolf website

by Palebear | No Comments

Snow Patrol
Eyes Open

Somehow or another, a review copy of the new Snow Patrol CD found its way to me awhile back. I didn’t put it on immediately and by the time I did (a few days ago) the CD “Eyes Open” had already been released, robbing me of the chance to brag about an album I had listened to that not too many others had (you mp3pirates out there don’t count).

Well, the thing is that I didn’t know a thing about them, except that they’ve experienced a pretty big swing in popularity. I have no idea if it’s “popularity a la DCFC” (who they resemble at times in their songs) but anyhow, the music IS quite mainstream sounding. At least for Palebear standards. Perhaps this is why they feel need to name drop Sufjan Stevens in the 2nd track “Hands Open” (”Put Sufjan Stevens on / And we’ll play your favorite song.”)

You know what though? I surprised myself by liking the album… I don’t know if that spells danger for my indie music lovin’ soul. Snow Patrol reminds me a bit of Coldplay with the sensibility of both Nada Surf and the melodical grace of Doves. Their more rockin’ tracks are very catchy indeed and even have the chugging and driving beat of a band like The Dandy Warhols.

A few of the more mellow songs are pretty interesting too, such as “You Could Be Happy” which features very pretty bells in the background. “Set Fire To The Third Bar” has an interesting combination of female vocals with Gary Lightbody’s ever-affable singing.

Sufjan Stevens they are not, though. You need to go into this album thinking you’re getting something more mainstream than any of the Barusk bands, but commercial sounding (and better) than say Weezer or U2. I think Coldplay is a good reference point, and I’ll even go as far to say that I definitely like them better.

Albums on Itunes:

Final Straw
Eyes Open
When It’s All Over We Still Have to Clear Up
Songs for Polarbears

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

Surrounded
In Comfort's Tight Clothes

This isn’t the album cover for Surrounded’s upcoming release, but actually a Deep Elm Records release from 2003 called “Safety In Numbers”. Still, I wanted to post about them because I recently received a three song demo for the upcoming release and it was totally amazing.

Imagine the more structured “Vivadixie…”-era Sparklehorse songs and you’ve got a good idea of Surrounded’s shimmering, intimate rock songs. The first track off the sample disc was “In Comfort’s Tight Clothes” and it’s almost too close to Mark Linkous material for comfort. The Swedish band (oh yes, we do like bands from Sweden and yes, the country should be known for more than just winning the Olympic gold in hockey) creates a very dreamy soundscape to house Marten Rydell’s whispery vocals. Truly amazing song there.

Not only is the music very much in the Sparklehorse vein, but the imagery in the sprase yet evocative lyrics really reminds me of Linkous too, especially on “Bolder Acrobat.” Still, there is something very different about them and the music that I can’t quite put my finger on.

“Terra Firma Legion Farewells” is a beautifully hushed tune containing keyboards or strings reminiscient of Mercury Rev or Air, with an AM radio broadcrast in the background. The song later expands to include drums and chiming guitars before fading out quietly.

When I first heard these songs I sorta forgot about the 35 CDs in line in front of them for review and jumped them up to the top of the stack. So, you can imagine I’m going to be keeping an eye out for their full release which is happening ? For now, you can visit the site and listen to tracks off of their older album.

Members:

Marten Rydell - vocals, guitar
Marcus Knutsson - guitar
Erik Edwardsson - drums
Tom Malmros - bass

Albums available on Itunes:

Safety In Numbers (Deep Elm 2003)

Artist Website:

www.surrounded.se

by Palebear | Comments Off

You must have heard already that the official schedule for SXSW is out. And of course, I’ll probably be doing the same thing nearly every music blog and their mom is doing: not going, but posting “reviews” about the bands that are going to be playing.

Here’s an easy one to start: I wonder how many people will NOT start out talking about Brighton, MA by saying, well duh why’d they name themselves that if they’re from Chicago? Yeah.

But nothing matters anyhow but the music, right? Which in this case is pretty shoe-gazey and standard indie-rockey, at least from their sample track on the SXSW site. It might strike you as a bit mainstream, in a U2 sort of way, especially with the driving bass/drumsand chiming guitar. And singer Matthew Kerstei’s pipes. But the way that “Bet You Never Thought” is set up also reminds me of a NZ band called Garageland. Not bad… if their album turns out to even more dreamrock and less conventional then I’d be more willing to give it a spin.

Listen:
Be You Never Thought

Visit:
Brighton, MA website
Brighton, MA on Myspace

by Palebear | No Comments

The Cape May
Glass Mountain Roads

Here’s another great album that got lost in the shuffle. The Cape May gives you a moody soundtrack of not-quite-post rock that calls to mind the subdued angst in Pedro the Lion and Bedhead matched with some of the complexity of the artsy Chicago rock scene and the more complex denizens on Touch and Go. Oh, and by the way they’re yet another Canadian band - seem to see a lot of good bands from Canada that play this type of music.

The focus is on dreamy soundscapes and musical textures rather than bang-em-out 4 minute pop gems. Needless to say, it might take a few listens to get really comfortable with the album. However, their occasional Built to Spill prog-like excursions don’t leave you with the uncomfortable feeling that they’re out to try to prove some musical theory. I find that happens sometimes with bands that play this type of music.

The experimental stuff is heavily tempered by a layering of instruments like various strings, accordian, keyboard and theremin. The acoustic leanings of the band sort of remind me of Norfolk and Western at times. Vocally, I hear the aforementioned David Bazan along with something like Thom Yorke plus maybe Jason Molina. This is a solid, interesting CD that earned its place in my CD collection the hard way through repeated listening.

Listen:
Spring Flight to the Land of Fire
Copper Tied

On Itunes:
Glass Mountain Roads

Visit:
The Cape May website
Flemish Eye website

by Palebear | No Comments

The Harpeth Trace
Man And The Cousin

There used to be a band called Boxing that the Shmat had reviewed on his site awhiles back, but at this particular point in time he can’t seem to find that CD. It could also have something to do with wiggy confusion over all the bands that have “Box” in the name that have been reviewed such as: Boxborough, Boxing Rebellion, Box Underscore, The Boxer Program, etc etc…

But anyway, Josh from Boxing sent the Shmat this nice little EP called Man and The Cousin which is from his new band The Harpeth Trace. The overall sound of the songs tends toward the dreamy, creepy and darkly carnivalesque, but Josh’s voice is not your typical dream-folk rocker’s. There’s a bit of a gravelly smoker’s tinge to these songs, like Dylan or Will Oldham singing Red House Painters songs that the Shmat liked.

The music is sparse, spare and undeniably minor, sometimes sounding like echoey Dirty Three or Songs:Ohia. The feel also reminds the Shmat sometimes of a great band from Denton called Shiny Around The Edges as well as a bunch of the artists from Hush or Keep Recordings.

“Cottontail” combines angular guitar chords with a falsetto that occasionaly reminded the Shmat of My Morning Jacket. “A Letter To The Room” is arguably the most upbeat of the songs. Fair warning - if you don’t like slower music, you might be falling asleep. The title track is a porch rock waltz that sounds like a Simon and Garfunkel’s Scarborough Fair filtered through dirty leaves and Southern trees. “Ghost and You Know It” could be a Mazzy Star outtake. At least the music could be, with its slow drumbeat, oozing bass and restless guitar in the background. Very evocative songs.

Members:

Rob Poynter - drums, percussion
Barry Poage - bass guitar
Josh Kasselman - guitar, vocals

The Harpeth Trace website

by Shmat | Comments Off

The New Year
Disease

Hm… so this is the new year. And to bite a DCFC lyric or two… I don’t feel any different.

Well, maybe a bit different. I feel like writing about music more now that the CRAZY REVIEWING MONKEY PRESSURE is off my back…

Back to talking about the new year. I somehow or another missed getting any CDs from the band The New Year which is amazing since I was a huge fan of Bedhead and saw them in shows many times (believe they opened for Yo La Tengo, or was it Red House Painters at the Alligator Lounge). After 1998 when they split up, I just somehow lost interest.

The Kadane Bros. new outfit isn’t such a new outfit after all, but it’s new enough for me. And if you’re expecting something other than the extremely dynamic, slowcore moody music that Bedhead was known for, prepare for disappointment. I love their new stuff, however. Same tinge of darkness, same emotion (before “emo” was something to cringe about).

The latest album they put out was in 2004 and is called “The End Is Near” which isn’t a very auspicious title for a band called The New Year. Anyway, the song I heard from them that I liked was called Disease and you can watch the video for it on the Touch and Go site.

by Palebear | No Comments

The Zephyrs
Bright Yellow Flowers...

I’ve been a fan of The Zephyrs for awhile now, having heard so many of their tracks on SomaFM. But I never got around visiting the website until recently.

The Scotland-based band creates dreamy soundscapes that range from Mojave 3 to Spirtualized to Low and Dirty Three.

They don’t have too many full songs for download but they do have a full length video for the song “So Called Beau” which mainly looks like pastiches from old home movies of waterfalls and the woods. The song I kept hearing on Soma was the beautiful slow-jam slide guitar driven “Galicia” which for some reason reminds me of a track off Beck’s Sea Change. Some really nice songs here for fans of shoegazey plus acoustic stuff.

Listen:

Lacuna Head (Live)
Galicia (Preview)
Dancing Shoes (Preview)

Watch:

So Called Beau

Visit:

The Zephyrs website

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Wax and Wane
Winter

I feel uneasy. That’s the mood that Baltimore’s Wax & Wane puts me in. I got a copy of their Winter CD and its spent a good amount of time in my Itunes playlist so far. Word is that they’re channeling Broken Social Scene.

I guess that could be correct, but the truth is they are channeling a TON of stuff here. There is a lot of moody strings haunting the tracks which definitely adds to the strange uneasy feeling they put you in. This seems to be another one of those great collective-type groups (Reindeer Section, New Pornographers - although there are only 5 members listed) where everyone plays “Various Instruments”. The other instruments range from horns and piano to what sounds like handmade bells.

Lead vocals switch from male to female nicely. Other RIYLs might include Low and Norfolk and Western. Uh, a little American Football perhaps? Anyhow, I dig the organic songs, dig the pretty melodies, and dig the overall folksy mood. Beautiful stuff.

Listen:
Wax and Wane on Myspace

Visit:
Valiant Death Records

by Palebear | No Comments

Semi-hot off the presses, here’s a new track from Yo La Tengo off of their upcoming album “I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass”. Their penchant for long album titles continues, and I sort of feel this is a combination of the previous “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out” and “I Can Heart The Heart Beating As One”. Interesting, they have the “beating” theme going again.

The song itself is called “Beanbag Chair” and is another one of their campier pop tracks. This one actually features copious piano riffs and even some trumpet. Ira sings lead, and I actually liked this one a lot (as opposed to much of Summer Sun).

Anyhows, no I did NOT get an advance copy of the album yet (whine, whine… but maybe it’s still too early yet? Hope, hope…) so I’ll just have to wait until September 12, 2006 like the rest of the world. Interestingly, it comes out a week earlier in Europe??

by Palebear | Comments Off