Palebear Archives

Category : Indie Rock

A Is Jump
Peeling Space

I had actually heard the entire My Ice-Fingered Ghost CD from A Is Jump long ago (quite cool name for a band, by the way. We ARE a playstation nation…) but I didn’t get a chance to write them up until now. Interesting, because this is actually my favorite band off Future Appletree, whose roster also includes the familiar Marlboro Chorus and Driver of The Year.

So now that I’ve gotten to listen to it I have to say that yep, all the reviews about the band are correct in saying that they’ve yanked a bit out of Great Brit and brought it back to the flatlands of the Midwest. These are great layered songs that often feature the singer’s strong falsetto ringing stridently over washes of guitar. The opening track, “Peeling Space”, has a really good up and down main guitar line that rings almost like XTC or Sugarplastic (one and the same, aren’t they) but less campy. The same type of instrumental walking lines appear on the excellent “Waited So Long” which sounds so familiar but I can’t place where I’ve heard the main melody before.

Continue reading “A Is Jump – Peeling Space” …

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

Albumen
Lake Desolation

The year is still mighty young, but I’ll go out on a limb and say the new Albumen record is one of the best of its “type” that I’ve listened to this year. “Type” is going to be difficult to pin down accurately, however, for their new album Lake Desolation. The songs are all over the map and underneath it, ranging from fine folk ramblings to disturbing electronic offerings to straightforward rock. Sort of like Earlimart lost somewhere in The Appalachians but with more keyboards.

I’m not gonna lie and say this won’t be a challenging album for many who are used to more straightforward neu-folk like Iron and Wine. This is folk that is RIPPED completely open. Often bathed in deep-well reverb and loads of strange blips and beeps, the songs refuse to sit still and play nice. I think this is why I dug the album so much.

Casual alternative listeners may be content to say that the singing often sounds remarkably like Michael Stipe with less of the whine (and more of the hair). However, for indie folks more in-the-know, let’s go with an initial impression of Bill Callahan (Smog) and David Berman (Silver Jews) with just the barest, barest inkling of Calvin Johnston’s (Beat Happening) bassoon-like mutterings at times.

Many of the songs are dynamic, containing quieter porch folk and that leads to forceful overdriven choruses and endings. “Circle Down” is a good example of that double-sided nature. “Silent Sunrise” is one of my favorite tracks on the album, a midtempo rocker with really infectious chords and melodies.

Continue reading “Albumen – Lake Desolation” …

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

Amateur Radio Operator
Sirens Of Titan

I don’t know if it was intended or not, but the first thing that I noticed about Amateur Radio Operator was their album name – Sirens of Titan. Hello title-of-a-Kurt Vonnegut book. Needless to say, I sort of sat on this album for several months – even though I really dig it. This seems to happen frequently. The more I like an album, the longer it takes to get it reviewed. I guess that goes against common sense, but hey – you get what you get.

Anyhow, I really like the deep, vast alt-country soundscapes created by the band. It’s VERY Band of Horses (yeah, that Band of Horses). But at times I like ARO even more because of they lean even more toward the sparse and moody, with cello and quieter moments giving the songs greater swim and less swing. The vocals definitely land them in the My Morning Jacket territory but the music can be more Norfolk and Western at times. Unlike others, I think I actually like the speedbumps here – it fits wonderfully with the overall mood. But of course they’re capable of rocking out as well.

According to the bio, they’re big fans of “entropic music” – the decay that hides alongside bigger made-for-radio choruses. I like that. Broken Household Appliance National Forest – here we come.

by Palebear | Comments Off

Aqueduct
Jaguar Commercial

A long time ago, I had been informed of the up-and-coming band Aqueduct by a web friend who lived in Oklahoma. Then a few days ago I came across some of their songs on the web and listened again. One song in particular seemed to stick out… it was Hardcore Days and Softcore Nights.

What struck me most about this song is that it seemed to be a cross mutation between the Folk Implosion and Rolling Stones “As Tears Go By”. Very weird indeed for starters, but not a bad song. Sort of the type that grows on you. Though, I didn’t like their other song Growing Up With GNR as much, I resolved to keep an ear out for them.

Continue reading “Aqueduct – Jaguar Commercial” …

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

Audible
Sunday Bell

I guess the first thing that struck me when hearing “Sunday Bell” from the band Audible was how much lead singer Mike Kennedy sounds like Blake Sennet (Rilo Kiley, The Elected). Now, I don’t put that much store in any powers of musical deduction, but after i got over the Sennet similarity I was thinking, man this sure sounds like good old school Matt Pond PA.

And sure enough, reading the bio for Audible we see that both Mike and bandmate Jim Kehoe were indeed in Matt Pond’s original lineup. Along with Mike’s girlfriend Kris Muller on bass and Mazarin’s Sean Byrne on drums, Audible continues that deliciously layered but wisely compact Philadelphia indie poprock sound blazed by MPPA, Bill Ricchini, and Mazarin.

Continue reading “Audible – Sunday Bell” …

by Bryan | 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 | Comments Off

Beltline
Welcome Nostalgia

Beltline is a Portland area band that offer up a heady mix of a number of styles including eclectic indie rock and more sparsely populated alt country music. They have succeeded in combing the cameradrie mindset of big band porch rockers like Lambchop with an edgier rock attitude that shines forth in their songs. Instruments like cello and vibraphone make a frequent appearance and add a lot of personality to the tracks. The band centers around the nice vocals of Rob Jones but includes a revolving crew of indie stalwarts from bands like The Decemberists.

Sample tracks from Beltline:
Bang / Head / Counter – Welcome, Nostalgia CD
The New Rules – Welcome, Nostalgia CD
Welcome, Nostalgia – Welcome, Nostalgia CD

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

Beulah
Silver Lining

The Target Commercial indie music parade continues with the band Beulah, one of my all time E6 faves. I always get so distracted by the music that I forget what the actual commercial features… in this case, I just remember in the beginning it’s a teacher drawing a bunch of things in crayon or chalk on a wall that he then walks through as a classroom.

But anyhow, the important thing is that it’s them all right – the song being played is “Silver Lining” off The Coast Is Never Clear. It’s got the trademark trumpet indie pop lines, simple guitar groove and splashing drums that make them such a great band.

You know – the crazy thing is that earlier I’d heard an Apples In Stereo track for Target too, but I completely forgot about it until I heard the Beulah one! I’ll have to post about that one later…

by Palebear | Comments Off

Bishop Allen
Corazon

I’ve been a periodic visitor to the wonderful MP3 blog Said The Gramophone for awhile now… there’s some great finds over there. This band was one of them (though I must admit I’ve seen the name Bishop Allen on another site previous to finally checking out their music).

New York’s Bishop Allen play joyous and honest indiepop. I think I’ve found a nearly worthy successor to the defunct Masters of the Hemisphere. Just maybe. The band has the same sort of spirit though they don’t sound exactly like the Masters.

The track from Bishop Allen’s new EP January is called “Corazon” and is a great mid-tempo pop song, perhaps a bit more mellow than some of their other tunes. It sometimes reminds me of Track Star or American Analog Set with a less mellow singer. Actually, a bit like Dios Malos also. There’s some tasty piano throughout the song. The way that the Justin’s vocals sort of slur uphill in the verses while the chorus resonates simply between just two chords is great. The best indiepop bands seem to be able to do that: take two chords and make two and a half minute epics out of them.

I listened to some of the other tracks from an earlier album and they were just as good, if a bit wordier. “Eve of Destruction”‘s verses don’t seem to have any breaths in them at all! “Busted Heart” reminds me of Isaac Brock or Doug Martsch fronting My Morning Jacket.

Not only is their music only available through their website (and on Itunes), but they are currently undergoing an amazingly ambitious project of releasing one EP every month this year! Completely insane, but I welcome the chance to sample more of these little poppity gems. Yes, “teach me your songs” indeedy…

Members:

Jack Delamitraux
Christian Owens
Justin Rice
Christian Rudder

Bishop Allen website

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 | Comments Off

Burning Idols
The Feeding Bird

This was a pretty interesting little EP called The Feeding Bird by the band Burning Idols that found its way into my inbox the other day. There is something strange and off-kiltre about the mixing of Patricia’s tinny and reverbed Slumber Party meets Madder Rose vocals in the opener “Siempre” with the more edgy, angular and punky musical accompaniment. And in the end I thought it worked quite well.

“Butterflies” has a more standard punky structure. But there’s those vocals again. This time, the guys contribute backup vocals. It’s really interesting… I don’t want to say that the singing lends an element of “twee” to the mix, but the interplay reminds me of Tullycraft, Butterglory, etc.

“Slow Dig” seems to capture the lazy-hazy cadence of Slanted era Pavement, with those shambling “do-do-do”s at the end really reminding me of them. There’s an old band called Star Ghost Dog that comes to mind sometimes, though Burning Idols are much looser than straight-up indiepop. In fact, the closer “Pretty Though” has enough sonic mayhem and machine-gun distortion to sound Sonic Youth-ish. A lovely and dynamic mix of indie rock tunes on this EP.

Band Members:

Patricia Gomes – guitar /vocals
Pablo Andres Lopes – bass
Eric R. Gumulak – drums / vocals

Available Tracks:

Siempre

Band Website:

www.burningidols.com/

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

Cassettes Won't Listen
Cut Your Hair

So I was driving back from the post office listening to KCRW (and I usually don’t because good ‘ol Nick sort of sucks extra hard in his choice of music in my opinion). But anyhow, all of the sudden I heard the familiar strains of “… hit me where it muzzles, hesitate you die…” but it was an electronica arcadepop sort of band playing it instead of Pavement. I decided to listen till the end, if only to see whether they’d sing “career” or “korea” (I couldn’t tell with them either).

Not a bad cover, and it turns out the cover of “Cut Your Hair” is by a band called Cassettes Won’t Listen. Side note: have you noticed how many bands nowadays have the word “tapes” or “cassettes” in their names? Interesting, maybe we’ll see a resurgence of cassette tape decks (If you’re of the iPod era, you probably don’t know what I’m talking about. Incidentally, we should be having a feature on indie cassette tapes coming up one of these days).

Anyhow the synthesizers buzz twiggily and the drum machines plop quite well on this rendition of “Cut Your Hair”. Out on Dope Lotus Records now, Cassettes Won’t Listen is from New York although the four members are all originally from the San Fran area.

Here’s the track, off the Dope Lotus website:

Cut Your Hair (Pavement cover)

Selected Albums on Itunes:

Nobody’s Moving EP

by Bryan | Comments Off

Charmparticles
A/O

Some beautiful atmospheric music from a band called Charmparticles bubbled up to the surface on Soma the other day. The song they played was called “A/O”. I immediately went to check the website to see what samples they had.

This quartet hails from Portland, Oregon and specializes in the reverb driven, billowing type of rock that makes me think of newer bands like Doves and The Delgados as well as pleasantly reminding me of older ones like MBV, Autumns, and The Church.

Continue reading “Charmparticles – A/O” …

by Palebear | Comments Off

Chauchat
Upon Thousands

Out of about 25 CDs I just pulled out of the “queue” to see if they were worth reviewing, Chauchat was the only band left standing at the end. How’s that for an endorsement.

I haven’t yet figured out what it is exactly about a particular type of music that encourages me not to gravitate toward the recycle bin. I wasn’t this way before. It’s definitely not a certain style of music, more of a general feel to it.

I decided in my head that what I made of Chauchat was some sort of engaging blend of East River Pipe, Galaxie 50, My Bloody Valentine and Band of Horses. Maybe Sonic Youth on the louder passages. I thought I was so original (especially with the Galaxie 500 reference which is definitely there as early as the 2nd song on the album). Then I went to read the review on the website that noted Galaxie 500 and Sonic Youth and was little bummed – but hey, at least I was on target. Tyler’s singing style sort of reminds me of the guy from Clinic at times. Also there’s more than a touch of a 90s shoegaze thing hanging around in the background.

Like F.M. Cornog’s ability to translate simple tune and melody into a shimmering space of goodness, Tyler Whitney loads up song after song of excellent but restrained roughness. Bandmates Chris Clunk, Mike Musser and Erik Sahd help to create that broken, inner beauty that all great bands possess. They have the ability to manufacture sonic strength and levitation from musical aspects that would be fatal weaknesses in other bands. Really great stuff.

Listen:
Yoko Turns 71
Fight Obscurity

Visit:
Chauchat on Myspace
on Yer Bird

by Palebear | Comments Off

Chris Koza
Patterns

Got this nifty CD entitled “Patterns” from Minneapolis popsmith Chris Koza. When we say popsmith, I should probably say alterna-country-folk-popsmith. Sounds like I did a little more work coming up with that. But truthfully, he has a knack for making some great pop tunes. Granted, some of these songs lean right up against the edge of mainstream AOR. But they’re still some great songs here.

I note he’s been compared to a ton of different folks; for mine, let’s try Matt Pond P.A., Jon Brion, and M. Ward. The acoustic guitar songs are often introspective. Personally, I like more of the pop-rock stuff like “Midnight Rose” and less of the rootsy-rock harmonica songs like “Candle in the Dark”. His more mellow tracks like “Goldmine” do indeed remind me of Wilco as the press kit mentions.

Band Website:

www.chriskoza.com

by Palebear | Comments Off

Citizens Here And Abroad
Appearances

After hearing several tracks from Citizens Here And Abroad off of internet radio, I decided to write them up here. The group’s debut album is called Ghosts Of Tables And Chairs and the track I heard off the radio was Appearances.

The group mixes dream rock urgency with more playful indie rock along the lines of Rilo Kiley. I get good doses of Kim Deal coming through the speakers as well. I especially liked the guitar lines which are mostly clean repeated notes and the stepup in energy of the chorus which swims with delicious distortion.

Continue reading “Citizens Here And Abroad – Appearances” …

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
S/T

When a relatively unknown indie band gets a blog buzz on, it’s a difficult thing to suppress. I thought I was up on the cutting edge by finding this band, but I’ve since seen them featured in any number of music publications and even dropped by word of mouth by someone whose idea of “super indie” is the Arcade Fire. Last to the party, as usual.

This is delicious and pernicious indie pop that grabs a hold of the reins of your brain lobes and rides you down a somewhat 80s dayglow tinged road. “In This Home On Ice” will find you galloping along helplessly with the song’s shimmering guitars. There is little debate as to whether lead singer Alec Ounsworth sounds just a tad bit like David Byrne, but on this track he comes across more Elephant 6 – like, maybe Neutral Milk Hotel. He also sounds a bit like the Decemberists as well, but the music is less choppy waters and more tidal wave-like.

Continue reading “Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – In This Home On Ice” …

by Bryan | Comments Off

CSS
Cansei De Ser Sexy

Ok Brazil you didn’t win the World Cup but at least you gave us CSS. No, you HTML nerd, not Cascading Style Sheets! I mean the Brazillian boppity discoduck electro-splut Cansei de Ser Sexy, the latest band out on Subpop. Wow, they are as out there as any artsy band from Brazil can be.

Five gals, one guy. They actually sing in English instead of Portugese, reportedly because the native language “sounds too serious or beautiful”. Interesting. You might also be interested that “Cansei de Ser Sexy” was a quote from Beyonce which means “tired of being sexy”. Fun.

So what do they sound like? Here, I’ll take a stab: imagine The Go Team mixed with Ladytron with some funky 70s disco sounds thrown in for good measure. A couple of their songs sound similar to a favorite old band of mine Star Ghost Dog, but heavier on the synths and weirdness. Almost like a Brazillian version of Sissybar plus Blonde Redhead. Vocals could be Chan Marshall or Annie Hardy on speed.

Some of the songs sound like they’re completely thrown together at the last minute… there’s definitely a lo-fi type of high school cheerleading squad element. The word on the street implies that they got together without knowing how to play their instruments, but I don’t know how much the usual “amateur beginnings” to believe in press spinning like this. In any case, they’ve got a great fresh sound that you should check out.

Band Members:

Lovefoxxx (Luisa Matsushita) – vocals
Adriano Cintra – drums, guitar, vocals, production
Carolina Parra – guitar, drums
Ana Rezende – guitar, harmonica
Luiza Sá – guitar, drums, keys
Iracema Trevisan – bass

Available Tracks:

This Month, Day 10

Band Website:

www.canseidesersexy.com/

by Palebear | Comments Off

Cyanotype
Versus The World

The Shmat can’t quite decide if Cyanotype reminds him more of the Swirlies or of My Bloody Valentine or Yo La Tengo. Or all three mixed together in a blender-o-matic. Cyanotype is actually a pen name for Isaac Bear (which in itself sounds almost like a pen name).

Bear’s singing is somewhat monotonic, but that really seems to fit the music. His voice is at times similar to Lou Reed. The Shmat is not sure if that is a compliment, but he thinks it should be.

Continue reading “Cyanotype – Versus The World” …

by Shmat | Comments Off

Death To Anders
Fictitious Business

I’ve been trying to figure out this CD from Death to Anders. From the opening track, I thought at first it was going to be standard indie pop /rock with vocals that reminded me of Sugarplastic, Silver Scooter or maybe Oranger. But then “Ghost Rock” comes smashing in with distortion and strange chords – kinda Sonic Youth meets Possum Dixon and Weezer. The sound is alternately quirky, anthemic and then slightly atonal. The style is all over the map – hoedown countryish to shoegazer ballads to noisy freakouts. There’s another indie band that I can’t remember that sounds very close to this Silverlake band. This is their second album, it’s quite good. Or at least interesting. But I have to admit it’s going to take a few listens…

Visit:
Death To Anders website
Death To Anders Myspace

by Palebear | Comments Off

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

Earlimart
It's OK To Think About Ending

The other day I was idly flipping channels on the TV as we all do when I came to rest on Channel 11 (which is FOX Broadcasting is my neck of the woods). My finger was hovering over the remote button ready to move on when I recognized the soft strains of Aaron Espinoza’s voice coming through. The show was House MD and I’d never watched it before but I was sort of surprised to hear them play the Earlimart song “It’s OK To Think About Ending” off their awesome CD Tremble and Tremble.

I did some searching online and found that the episode in question is called “Role Model” (#17) and the song appeared right at the closing scene. So I was sort of lucky to catch it. Kind of cool, and fit the mood pretty well.

Continue reading “Earlimart – House MD Show” …

by Palebear | 10 Comments

Eisenhower Field Day
Let's Not Tell Lies

Funny, I nearly put this CD by Eisenhower Field Day aside after hearing the first few tracks of “Let’s Not Tell Lies”. I guess I just wasn’t in the mood for the music at the time.

Then, a half hour later I took another look at the press kit and saw that this disc also contains their older EP “Our Time In The Colonies”. On a whim, I put the CD back in and was immediately struck by how good the songs were. I’m not sure why that happened… later after returning to the earlier album I saw what they were going for. I do like a few of the newer tracks, but so far I seem to identify with the older ones more. Lucky for them, they put their old EP on here or else I probably wouldn’t have written about the CD at all!

This is a louder sort of melodic power pop/punk that they’re playing that really harkens back to early 90s indie rock. The band they most remind me of is Superchunk, I think it’s that Noah’s voice reminds me of Mac. I immediately loved “Don’t Throw Away” which is really catchy. The drums are being played really fast on nearly all the songs. “Exit 51″ is great as well, but my favorite track is definitely “On The Weekend”. (The guitar part on the song will remind some people of a Smashing Pumpkins track, but don’t let that fool you.) “Five After” has an off-kiltre sort of groove to it that reminds me of Dismemberment Plan and several other tracks have that same feel. For the newer album, I ended up liking “National Sunday Law” the most. I’ll probably have to go back and give the new stuff some more listening time later on.

Listen:
Exit 51
The Backs of My Arms
Two Pockets

On Itunes:
Let’s Not Tell Lies / Our Time In The Colonies

Visit:
Eisenhower Field Day website

by Palebear | Comments Off

Eulogies
S/T

Man, before I begin: do NOT go about making the U.S. Post Office workers angry at you if you care about receiving your mail. I dunno what happened, but it turns out they were “holding up” all my incoming mail. I didn’t issue a hold on it or anything. They just didn’t want to give it to me!

So today, when I went in, some kind soul at the Post Office probably realized the error made and I was literally swamped with packages dating back two months ago. Not that I was complaining about having the flood of CDs reduced to a trickle lately – it’s been difficult with the shoulder/back injuries to do much computering and reviewering. But anyway, whew glad they finally decided to give me my mail. OK- back to the review:

I have to admit that I didn’t care so much for Peter Walker‘s solo stuff. I’d gotten his Young Gravity CD earlier and just never got into it. The songs on that album seemed to have a lot of promise but just didn’t seem to grab me. I didn’t really feel the Wilco/Neil Young comparisons either.

However, Walker has a new band called Eulogies that DOES seem to add the missing musical puzzle pieces in the form of bandmates Chris Reynolds and Tim Hutton. With the addition of those guys, the songs sound nice and full and Walker’s voice nestles itself nicely into the music. At times, the songs remind me a little bit of labelmates Sea Wolf (minus the strings, of course).

Even though I know Walker is a sometimes folksy/mellow singer-songwriter, some of the best songs by Eulogies are the ones that have a driving beat like “Suicide” and “Under The Knife”. The bass on that latter song is pretty cool and reminds me of indie instrumental bands like El Ten Eleven and Scenic. Other tracks like the excellent “Can’t Relate” have hints of Grandaddy and Sparklehorse embedded deliciously in the mix. There is some serious goodness here – I’m going to have to go back and revisit Young Gravity just to make sure I wasn’t napping when that particular CD was dropped in my player.

Visit:
Eulogies website
Dangerbird

by Palebear | Comments Off

Francine
Silver Plated 606

I heard a track from Francine off of SOMA FM and instantly needed to find out more about the band. Wow, I really liked the two songs available for download off their most recent album 28 Plastic Blue Versions of Ending Without You. These guys are masters of the unexpected (but nevertheless delicious) left-turn chord change.

The first track is called Silver Plated 606 and the chorus really showcases their talent at this. I mean the chord changes are super interesting, but are so natural that it doesn’t feel like they’re “trying” to be complex or anything. If I could point to any one band that they remind me of on this song it would have to be Heatmiser (Elliott Smith and Sam Coomes of Quasi got their start from this band). The loping tub drums and the aforementioned chord changes really remind me of “The Fix Is In” off of Mic City Sons. Their use of slightly twangy guitar with that engaging drawl led me to think of some of the Dandy Warhols’ slower songs.

Continue reading “Francine – Silver Plated 606″ …

by Bryan | Comments Off

Giant Drag
Hearts and Unicorns

It was instant-like with Giant Drag for me. I’ve got a softy spot for bands with just a guy and a girl in the lineup. What always surprises me is the amount and power of the noise that is possible with a imple drums and guitar lineup. Oh sure, there’s overdubs. But still there’s a pretty powerful presence on their album “Hearts and Unicorns”.

The band is sort of like a reverse Quasi lineup; there’s Micah on drums and Annie on guitar and vocals. But they’re definitely more dreamy and less playful and self effacing than Quasi. Other duos that they resemble are Viva Voce, who are similar in hellraisin’ style but definitely more electronic, and Elk City who share a similar atmospheric vibe but tend toward more folkier moments.

There’s going to be some comparisons to shoegazers like My Bloody Valentine of course, what with the powerfully distorted guitars that swim throughout most of the songs. The song “Cordial Invitation” totally has those guitar bends and fogbank cloud of noise hovering underneath the music. But they mostly avoid MBV’s mid-treble emphasis and crackling broken distortion which is probably a good thing as far as radio play goes. The distortion is often more like, er, grungey. There, I said it… whew.

Continue reading “Giant Drag – Hearts and Unicorns” …

by Tyranosaur | 1 Comment

I told myself I wasn’t going to label Great Lake Swimmers as Band of Horses meets Norfolk and Western. But there’s a big difference between telling yourself that and having it obliterate any useful RIYL information running around in your head.

But truly, this is a great band that plays the dreamy and reverbed type of Alt-Country Americana Folk (er, Canadiana Folk) that Band of Horses is known for. They’re much more toned down, however – less of the anthemic indie rock feel. Great Lake Swimmers are from Toronto, and I’ve yet to hear a song of theirs that I haven’t liked – which means I should probably get on the ball and buy their CD(s). “Moving Pictures, Silent Films” is probably one of the most starkly beautiful songs that I’ve ever heard – so full of yearning and open spaces. It is unbelivably gorgeous and has been known to move many a Hockey-playin’ man to tears… Ok I made that up but you get the idea.

Listen:
Your Rocky Spine
Moving Pictures Silent Films
Song For The Angels

On Itunes:
Great Lake Swimmers
Ongiara
Bodies and Minds

Watch:
Bodies and Minds video

Visit:
Great Lake Swimmers website

by Palebear | Comments Off

Gregg Yeti And The Best Lights
Heart Palpitations...

If you’re wondering what’s with all the reviews on the same day, the way it works over here is that there’s a long, long, long, farking long queue of music. Every so often, I need to purge that queue so that I can reclaim space on my floor and in the closets. I haven’t done this in nearly 6 months. So there’s some “purging” afoot. I usually review about 10% of what I receive – the rest gets recycled or sent to the thrift. Yep, it has to be this way. Otherwise, I would be writing reviews in my sleep. Not that I’m doing that now.. Zzz =)

Back to reviewing – another CD that’s up my alley is Gregg Yeti & The Best Lights. A little dose of slacker-90s lo-fi-aesthetic pop is sometimes just what you need to get you out of the neu-Coldplay doldrums… OK, after I wrote that, I was thinking that I RIYL-ed a little hastily. It’s not slacker GBV-ish, not even close. There is, however, a sort of laid back feel to the songs and the voice.

Never mind that the long title (“Heart Palpitations of The Rich & Famous”) sure challenges my blog’s reformating prowess. There’s some great keeper tracks here – Gregg’s singing and the song structures are very Sebadoh-ish. Most of the songs aren’t aggro – they’re the more introspective ones. Maybe some New Pornographers in here as well? There’s also some even more mellow, dare I say shoe-gazeyness, going on in songs like “Colonize Your Eyes”. And “Building Houses” sounds almost like an Ida song.

Mr. Yeti enlists a few others to help out with singing and other duties, but for the most part he plays all the instruments. Out on Eskimo Kiss…

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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 | Comments Off

“KR” is going to get abbreviated in that fashion heretoforth because of his keyboard-tripping name that ties up my fingers whenever I try to type that. Besides the name, the eclectic Swede has been turning my ear upside down with his trippy songs that ride on classic 70s melodies and sounds (Stones, T Rex, Late Beatles, etc.). I’ve also heard him being referred to as a “Beck of Swedes” but that’s not exactly accurate.

So what is accurate? No idea. The songs on Sweet Bills are definitely more straight rock at times but there is just an overall weirdness that permeates all the songs. He’ll throw in weird samples every so often and mixes in electronic stuff and over-distorted drums. Lots of funky horns thrown in the mix. I think you just have to hear KR and decide for yourself.

Listen:
on Myspace

On Itunes:
Do You Want A Piece Of Me EP

Visit:
Kristoffer Ragnstam website

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Love as Laughter
Laughter's Fifth

Highly irreverent indie rock from Sam Jayne of Love as Laughter makes for some interesting listening. I’m usually not such a big fan of 70s or 80s classic rock influenced modern bands, and there have been quite a few to come out on Subpop in the last year. But I actually took a fancy to a few of the later tracks on the album such as Neil Young influenced “Every Midnight Song”. That song really got off the ground and started to rock out near the end.

Continue reading “Love as Laughter- Laughter’s Fifth” …

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

Love Is Chemicals
Claw Your Sweater

So you say that Weezer’s “Sweater Song” is the only one worth listening to? Then let me introduce you to the fantastic band Love Is Chemicals whose song “Claw Your Sweater” has been burning a hole in my ear for the past couple months now.

With it’s penchant for noisy distortion at times, you wouldn’t call this band straightforward poprock. But the delicious, anthemic chorus of “I know better than to claw your sweater with my crooked fingers how they creep you out” is amazingly catchy. The two bands that I feel Love Is Chemicals remind me of at times are Masters of the Hemisphere (in the vocals especially) and The Dismemberment Plan (for the crazier passages). With its wicked smart instrumentation and tasteful melodies, “Claw Your Sweater” is the delicious type of brainy bumblerock that indiebees will buzz about happily for hours.

The other songs on their self titled debut album are just as great… I like the fact that they are experimental but remain really conscious of the actual songs. Their music doesn’t descend into either God Speed Ye Black Indulgence but it’s challenging and arty enough to require a few listens to really get into. I don’t know too much else about this San Francisco based band, but their songs are definitely worth checking out when you get a chance.

by Palebear | Comments Off

M Coast
Say It In Slang

I woke up this morning and just realized how ASTRONOMICALLY behind I’ve fallen on getting new music posted on Palebear. We’re definitely not at a loss for new music… it’s coming out of my ears. Need to play catchup, so the reviews are going to come fast and short.

I’ve been trying to figure out M Coast (AKA Marshmallow Coast) for awhile now ever since I got their album in the mail. The first song, “Sailing Around The World” = Stereolab or Broadcast. The second song, “Out of the Water” = Folk Implosion. The third song, “One Fine Day” = Masters of the Hemisphere plus, uh Free Design? Does that give you a general picture? I hope so, because that’s all you’re going to get to go on from me.

Seriously though, this is another super excellent indie pop album that just slipped through the cracks. Oh, and by the way this is an E6 collective band so that explains the “sounds like Masters” comment.

Listen:
On Myspace

Visit:
Marshmallow Coast website
Marshmallow Coast website

by Palebear | 3 Comments

Map
Think Like An Owner

I’ve got quite a few CDs by the band Map, including 2 EPs “Secrets of the Highway” and “Eastern Skies, Western Eyes” and this full length album “Think Like an Owner”. I always sort of pegged them as shoegaze, but this album seems to feel quite a bit different. There’s a bit of retro 80s feel to the songs and many of the tracks appear darker in tone.

Josh Dooley leads the quartet Map with his slightly angular harmonies. The musicians are excellent at attaining a dreamy blend of slightly distorted guitar and splashy drums. But the slower songs on the album (like “Girl”) are surprisingly tender and show the band is capable of slower poppy stuff too.

Continue reading “Map – Think Like An Owner” …

by Bryan | Comments Off

Matt Pond PA
Emblems

Yes, I know that Matt Pond PA’s Emblems album is actually from 2004, but I just got a chance to pick it up at Amoeba the other day. Excellent, strongly constructed songs like his earlier work, such as the Measure CD which is where I originally heard about him. To be honest, the slightly weird name (does PA stand for “public address”?) was what first caught my eye in a music magazine. I believe it was an article in Magnet Magazine. But the interesting mix of straightforward rock, alt-country and a bit of folk along with his engaging lyrics was what kept me coming back for more.

Continue reading “Matt Pond PA – Emblems” …

by Palebear | 2 Comments

Whoah. Just looking at their promo pics, dese guys know how to live it up. I thought MGMT might be some ska-metal band from their abbreviation, but thankfully they’re not. Oh, the name. It’s pronounced “Management”. I think.

The music – very, very trippy. Like David Bowie singing Mercury Rev plus Polyphonic Spree. I actually have no idea what to make of them because I was so expecting a metal band to blast at me when I put the CD in. Wacky, full orchestral production, electronica meets modern glam prog-rock. At times they even channel disco. They’re opening for Of Montreal which I guess makes a bit of sense, although MGMT are no E-6ers. That should be an interesting billing.

Visit:
MGMT Myspace
Cantora Records website

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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 | Comments Off

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

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Mission of Burma
2wice

In honor of the new Mission of Burma album “The Obliterati” out, please listen to the single “2wice” from the Matador website. Initial feeling-outs of the latest release from this legendary punk band are pretty cool… same energy-bomb density and urgency. But this is like decades later. The trio seem to have worn awfully well over the years. Well, “worn” is probably the wrong word to use here; their sound is as fresh as back in the day, with frenetic drum hits and bass lines and raw slashing guitars that meld together in a powerful and melodic song.

Band Members:

Roger Miller
Clint Conley
Peter Prescott

Albums on Itunes:

Vs.
Signals Calls and Marches
ONoffON
The Obliterati

Band Website:

www.obliterati.net/

by Palebear | 1 Comment

Mon Frere
Blood, Sweat and Swords

Never let an album cover pre-influence your opinion of a band. These words should be enscribed on a stone tablet and hung over every prospective music reviewers desk. I’m often guilty of this sin, and the Mon Frere album was no exception. I mean just look at the cover. Swords with skulls through them… hmm, can you say either supergoth or blast-plaster metal?

Indeed. The band is nothing like that and they’ve even provided a handy genre categorization for me which is Powerhouse Electro Dance Rock. Oh, another rule for the stone tablet mentioned above: Never let the first song of an album influence your overall perception of the band. I listened to the first track (“Y.M.M.W.D.S.B”) and was all, like, Mates of State! But after that first song, they start to live more up to their genre.

I will give Nouela some props in that she has some crazy amazing pipes. She belts that stuff out. However, the music tends more toward synthyish new wave and electro-rock like No Doubt. (Occasionally, I hear something that reminds me of Rainer Maria, but it’s mostly a fleeting hint.) Her voice fits the music style superbly and the songs are fairly catchy, but just isn’t my cup of tea. Right now, anyway.

There is a bit of a campy or even loungey aspect to some of their tracks. The guitar is often nicely choppy and chunky, like on “Let It Bleed”, “Big Shot” or “Drain”. For “Bulliton” can you say Barracuda? Hehe. They even slow it down a bit on songs like “Leaving Town” which sort of reminds me of a Devics song?

Bratty and brash, I think most of these tracks would fit pretty well next to your synth-pop stuff. Just don’t let your mom see the cover.

Band Members:

Kyle Swisher – Guitar
Nouela Johnston – Vocals, Keys
Dustin McGhie – Drums

Albums on Itunes:

Blood Sweat and Swords
Real Vampires EP

Available Tracks:

Drain

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

Nada Surf
The Weight Is A Gift

A long time ago, in a music galaxy far away, there was a great band called Nada Surf whose spectacular rise from humble garageband to MTV rotation regular culminated in the band’s abrupt dismissal by disgruntled biggiewigs at Elektra Records. Or so it’s been said. They then promptly vanished from the indie music scene. More than seven years later, the band released another album (Let Go) to pretty good reviews and fast foward to today where they’ve got a pretty good following and now reside on one of our favorite indie labels, Barsuk Records.

Though a long time may have passed (band years are like dog years; so you could say Nada Surf has been kicking around for 70 years in those terms) they still write some of the best straightforward indie powerpop tunes this side of Matthew Sweet. Their latest album is called “The Weight Is A Gift” and it certainly is a gift in its instantly likeable and hummable pop tunes.

Continue reading “Nada Surf – The Weight Is A Gift” …

by Bryan | Comments Off

Norfolk & Western
The Gilded Age

I have to admit that I’ve needed to keep the new Norfolk & Western album The Gilded Age percolating in my Itunes “To Review” playlist for quite awhile before taking a stab at giving it a review.

You see, I’ve been a huge fan of theirs (the band revolves around Adam Seltzer and Rachel Blumberg) and have been following their work since 2003 or so. The general feel to their music is, well, it is often “hushed” and introspective (small wonder they’re on the Hush label). And I LOVE this kind of stuff, and the band has never disappointed. They take porch rock and imbue it with all sorts of instruments like banjo, pedal steel, and strings. Long before the Decemberists hit it bigger with their carnival-like atmospherics, N&W were the band who filled that niche for me.

But with their latest album they completely deconstruct the folky notions that I’ve had about their music. And not surprisingly, it ends up working due to their musicianship and songwriting capabilities. I mean, the first song is called “Porch Destruction”. What do YOU think that’s about? They’ve definitely upped the rawer and distorted side of their music, though I’d argue that they’ve had that potential all along. I always felt they were more of a band with the dynamics of say Low, Red House Painters or Lambchop than straightahead folk music anyhow.

Interestingly, the music for “Porch Destruction” really reminds me of an old Sparklehorse song. And despite its name, the real fireworks don’t start until nearly halfway into the song and it’s tempered by strings and xylophone. The title track “A Gilded Age” starts out right away with distorted and delayed guitar fighting it out with a funny little banjo line.

“Watch The Days Slowly Fade” may be the track on the album that sounded the most different to me. The chords and melody remind me of Neil Young plus Matt Pond PA. This one really rocks out at times which was cool. The sound collage “There Are No Places Left For Us” is classic Norfolk and Western … it’s an instrumental intermission that’s almost like a creepy Russian radio broadcast.

Continue reading “Norfolk and Western – The Gilded Age” …

by Bryan | Comments Off

Oranger
Crones

I heard some tracks from Oranger the other day, and I was wondering where I’d heard their name and songs before. A quick look online showed that not only were they the support band for Pavement in the late nineties, but also a stint opening for Elliott Smith in Europe.

Which is pretty amazing, because I don’t get the feel of either of those artists in Oranger’s music. Well, maybe they’re similar to Malkmus in the way the singing is a bit offhand, and the hooks could be a bit like Heatmmiser at times. They play some pretty fast and furious indie pop that is extremely hooky. Deliciously hooky. I’d say that they often remind me of the Austin band Subset in their repeating guitar lines and the setup of the choruses with the drums coming in.

Their song Crones is a great track that really does sound like a Subset track, maybe geared more toward Fountains of Wayne in fullness though. This is off their 2005 album called New Comes And Goes.

Continue reading “Oranger – Crones” …

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

The Pixies
Velouria

Now, I haven’t actually seen this commercial that features The Pixies song Velouria. Why? Because it had only been broadcast in the UK this year. That’s quite unfortunate because I would have taken The Pixies over the recent so-called punk or “emo” choices of commercial makers in the U.S. Come on you pilgrim, it’s the Pixies – ground zero for a thousand billion fascinated punks and musical imitators everywhere.

Velouria is off of their awsome Bossanova album which a lot of people have noted sounds quite different from their other albums such as Surfer Rosa and Come On Pilgrim. It’s like they’ve collected all the mayhem and roughness of their other work and distilled it into a refined dark punk album that has a really angry sheen to it. Less raw, but nevertheless engaging in a grim way.

Continue reading “Pixies – Wannadoo Commercial” …

by Bryan | Comments Off

Radars To The Sky
S/T EP

Coming at ya – a fantastico, energetic little EP by Radars To The Sky, of which ex-Avelar singer Andrew Spitser is a member. Some of us had written once about his Franklin Bruno vs. Doug Martsch vocal similarities, and a little bit of that has carried over to the new sound. But you might also want to plug yourself in some XTC, Pixies, Yatsura Urusei (listen to the 3rd and 4th song on the EP), and Neutral Milk Hotel for comparisons. Interestingly, having heard Avelar several years ago I really think that Andrew’s singing style fits much better in today’s landscape of strident folk-to-a-yelp singers… in that sense maybe it was a bit of a precursor before its time? Maybe.

The hit on the EP is definitely going to be “Long Walk Home” which should spend some well-earned time on more than a few bloggers playlists. This is where the strength of the band really comes out in the following ways: great curvy pop melodies, male/female vocal tradeoffs, driving bassline/drums and BELLS! I likes the bells. Not to downplay the other songs (“Home For The Holidays” is a understated standout track) but I think if they can leverage this particular type of track onto a full length album, they’re gonna have some real success.

It also appears they are a local L.A. band – meaning I really need to get out more.

Visit and Listen:
Radars To The Sky on Myspace

Read More:
Floating Away
Passion of the Weiss
Inflight at Night

by Palebear | 1 Comment

Randi Russo
Shout Like A Lady

I surprised myself taking a shine to this album by Randi Russo (incidentally, I’m having a devil of a time trying to make my brain spit out “Randi” instead of “Rene”). “Shout Like A Lady” surprised me by sounding a whole lot less mainstream than I thought it would. There are going to be some obligatory comparisons to Liz Phair, although Randi isn’t her splitting image or anything. The attitude is similar, though the sound is much difference.

Some Naysayer, a little Kim Gordon, maybe echoes of PJ Harvey. Lots of rough and bruised vocals over what appears to be standard folk-rock at first. But I liked the drony quality of a few of the tracks like “Dead Horse, Live Ground” which makes it a bit different than some of the other stuff I get sent. “Ceiling Fire” has a nice, lazy drawl to the music and sounds almost like a Red House Painters song. Other tracks throw in a little more honky-tonk blues, and for the most part I could do without those. But there’s some very worthwhile tracks on the album if you like any of the artists I mentioned.

Listen:
Randi Russo on Myspace

On Itunes:
Shout Like A Lady
Solar Bipolar

Visit:
Randi Russo’s website

by Palebear | Comments Off

Sam Roberts
Chemical City

You know, I could probably have said something like Sam Roberts = “updated version of The Band” and be done with this review. I felt a little guilty about that, especially since that similarity is mentioned twice in his band’s bio. And anyhow, it’s not entirely accurate. The Canadian indie rocker has definitely more to his music than just a rehash of 60s jams. At his best, he comes across like Wilco, Supergrass or Dios Malos on more than a few songs.

Subpop’s new alt-country rock heroes Band of Horses might also get a mention or two. Where the music threatens to derail him is when it meanders like garishly, overdone Pink Floyd. Roberts has a strong voice which surely deserves better company. Granted, for the most part the music is pretty good and energetic indie pop. Interestingly, one song “Mystified, Heavy” totally reminded me of Elliott Smith, at least in the beginnning. Pretty cool.

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

Sea Ray
Revelry

I have the unfortunate habit of getting into a band right when they are either on a bit of a hiatus or right after they have broken up (like Masters of The Hemisphere, godamnit). When I went to the Sea Ray website it looked like they’d called it quits last year. Too bad, because I really liked that track Revelry off of their album Stars At Noon that I think was released back in 2003. Dreamy, melodic rock punctuated by cello and Farfisa(?) organ and propelled with driving force by excellent drums. The band started up in 1997 and there were six members: Anne Brewster (cello), Colin Brooks (drums), I-Huei Go (bass), Jeff Sheinkopf (keyboards), Jordan Warner (vocals, guitar), and Greg Zinman (guitar). I think I’ve actually heard this band’s name before bandied about at some show before, though I’d never heard their music until now. They’ve shared the stage with a HUGE number of indie luminaries.

Continue reading “Sea Ray – Revelry” …

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

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 | Comments Off

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

Sonic Youth
Rather Ripped

The confession with Sonic Youth is that the first album I ever got was “Dirty”. I worked backwards from that album through Goo, Daydream Nation, Sister and Evol. But actually, I think Sonic Youth is one of the few seminal bands where you might be better off starting from the most recent albums and going backwards, especially if you’re not used to their artsy noisepunk approach.

So anyway, I’ve been listening to a promo advance of their latest album “Rather Ripped” on and off for a couple months now. And I think this might be as good as any entry point for someone looking to see what they’re all about.

I actually don’t have any of their most recent stuff (Sonic Nurse, Murray Street) so I can’t say what the latest Sonic trend has been. However, if it’s been anything like Rather Ripped, then it just shows how nicely their punk has aged along with them like fine wine (well as much you can expect for slightly aging punkrockers).

It’s become even more balanced while keeping their elliptical tunings / chord changes and rapid fire strumming /drumming intact. The vocal duties are pretty equally split between Kim and Thurston, with the occasional Lee song popping up.

I like to compare the distribution of songs on their albums to road trips. You’ve got your slight speed bumps (#4 Sleepin’ Around, #6 Jams Run Free, #8 Turquoise Boy) but at least they’re not immense potholes in this case. You’ve got your crowd pleasing, long stretches of highway with scenery (#2 “Incinerate”, #5 “What A Waste”). And there’s the requisite sleepy time songs, where you’re driving at night with everyone else asleep (#3 “Do You Believe In Rapture” and #9 “Lights Out”). Finally, there’s at least one impulsive but epic side trip which is track #11 “Pink Steam”, though it’s a bit short for a Sonic Youth epic at under 7 minutes.

Do I mean to say that they’ve become formulaic? Not at all. But balance is here to stay with Sonic Youth (with allowances for occasional noisy and experimental albums like SYR 1-4).

By the way, they are streaming the entire album here, though I don’t know how long that’ll remain up on the site.

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

Speaker Speaker
We Won't March

Once in a great (great) while I feel the need to speed up my usual slowcore, acoustic guitar loving brain. In that case I usually reach for jumpy stuff like PB&J or Masters of the Hemisphere. But Speaker Speaker might also do for those times as well. Frenetic, fast paced slamdance indie rock is the name of the game for the Seattle based band on their We Won’t March EP.

They’re like a nosebleed on overdrive, coming down hard on you like The Thermals with extra snarls, a little Mission of Burma, a little old school 90s punk grunge. The emo moments don’t please me as much, but you can’t ignore their enthusiasm. The better moments are when they soar rather than scream. I sort of wish they were a little more melodic and less rawk. Still, they’ll give you a punky earful – have a listen.

Listen:
Speaker Speaker on Myspace

Visit:
Speaker Speaker website

by Palebear | Comments Off

Spraydog
Karate Summer Camp

I rather like this album we got in from Spraydog the other day. The band hails from Newcastle upon Tyne but there are some connections to the U.S. (they released off the familiar Kittridge label earlier). Really soaring and powerful indie rock songs on the album – there’s that definite hint of off-kilter guitar chords that will lead you down the path of Sonic Youth. The simultaneous boy-girl vocals, however, remind me of indie pop bands like Butterglory or Imperial Teen but with a definite rock edge. Listening to them is like being in a bit of a timewarp back to the early 90s, when this type of sound ruled the indie roost. But this is definitely my type of sound – immediate, shoegazey, a bit noisy and with great melodies.

Listen:
Spraydog Myspace

Visit:
Spraydog website

by Palebear | Comments Off

Stephen Malkmus
Phantasies

A few weeks ago I was absolutely flabbergasted while typing something on the computer to hear the opening words of a Stephen Malkmus song on the TV that was on in the background. “Wake up early in Karakatu, Alaska / We put our masks on to welcome the dawn” isn’t the sort of lyrics that the average commercial will contain so I looked up immediately to watch it.

It was a commercial for a 13 hour sale at Sears that was playing on ESPN2 of all places. I can’t believe that they would choose the second song “Phantasies” out of all of them from his older self-titled album. Way to go Sears. Since then, I’ve seen the commercial about 4 or 5 times on other stations like CBS and Food Network.

Continue reading “Stephen Malkmus – Sears Commercial” …

by Bryan | 1 Comment

Struggle In The Hive
S/T

Struggle In The Hive is a collaboration between members of two record labels – Future Appletree and Radical Turf. I have to admit that Future Appletree releases are sort of hit and miss for me. For the most part, I understand where their artists are coming from and appreciate the indie CDs. But I don’t listen to all of them on a regular basis.

However, SITH (great Star Wars tie-in when you abbreviate them) is actually quite good, a mellow indie pop album of mostly acoustic guitar driven numbers. (Interestingly, B. Patric is in Marlboro Chorus which is one of my least favorite Appletree releases – but his contributions in this particular collaboration are great) Because of the lighter approach with the songs, they often sound like a mini Reindeer Section, albeit a little less lush. The RIYL points toward Kings Of Convenience but I hear more of a Pedro the Lion feel or The Negro Problem, especially on the track “Hold Your Breath”.

Actually, when B. Patric (or is it Nigel – I’m not sure who’s singing the majority of the lead) sings in a low crawl it almost sounds like Hayden, Mark Kozelek or the singer from the Merge band Spent. There are some great tracks on this self titled album regardless of who you think they sound like.

Band Members:

B. Patric – guitar, cello, voice, drums, piano, bass
Nigel Jeffrey – guitar, piano, voice

Available Tracks:

Summer Nights
Angela

Band Website:

Struggle In The Hive

by Palebear | Comments Off

Sudden Ensemble
Life In A Birdcage

Initial Thoughts on Sudden Ensemble‘s album “Life In A Birdcage”:

1. Slightly atonal indie rock is “interesting” at 8:30am in the morning.
2. “Beautiful Shape” is a shambling beautiful shape.
3. “Combustion Blues” is an earful!
4. Robert Pollard vs. Sudden Ensemble in a barfight: not sure who would win yet.
5. I bet this album could get good airplay on KXLU.
6. I like their haircuts.

Despite the fact that I’ve been listening to more mellow stuff lately, I took a shine to this release for its sheer audacity and gritty lo fi texture. Imagine Beat Happening or Will from Imperial Teen singing over Guided By Voices or early Sebadoh (Jason’s) tracks. Some of the stuff is rather bluesy, but in a good way. You’re also going to think this is weirdness – but certain songs really remind me of Apples in Stereo. Or Sissybar. Especially that last track. I dunno why. Wait, actually that one reminds me of a Sonic Youth song. I can’t decide.

My favorite song so far is the rockin’ “Bonfire” but others are just as good and, er, “challenging”. The CD definitely has moments where it veers toward the experimental. Fair warning to all. But I have to say that after the morning coffee kicked in, this was a pretty fun listen. Ah yes, that peaceful uneasy feeling…

Visit:
Sudden Ensemble website
Name website

by Palebear | 1 Comment

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 | Comments Off

The Femurs offer up a frenetic style of acoustic indie rock with punk rock count-em-off stylings like the Ramones. At least that’s what it’ll seem like on the surface – however they’re much less distorted (actually, no distortion), which is where I guess the Violent Femmes comparison comes from. The track offered on the SXSW site is “Not Giving Up” is really energetic and a little big wiggy with the superfast acoustic guitar line underneath that sounds almost like a spaghetti western played by Dick Dale. Fun songs from this Seattle based band.

Playing At:
SXSW Friday March 16 11:00 p.m.
at Whisky Bar

Listen:
Not Giving Up

Visit:
Femurs on Myspace

by Palebear | Comments Off

More SXSW stuff . Flailing around randomly through the gi-normous amount of MP3 previews, The Zincs grabbed hold of my ear and refused to let go. Some great pop/rock songs here. A creamy sound, slightly downtempo mellow, like Luna, Kingsbury Manx or the less crazy Wilco tracks. No rocket science – just pure good melody with a bit of drone. Interestingly, singer James Elkington has a pretty deep voice that is a nice sharp contrast with this type of music – think Tindersticks, Mark Eitzel, Stephen Merritt, David Gedge, Dave Berman.

They’re a Chicago, IL band and so it makes sense that Tortoise’s John McEntire recorded their latest album, Black Pompadour. Also might explain the slight nod to the post-mod instrumental feel that some of the tracks contain.

Playing At:
SXSW Saturday March 17 11:30 p.m.
at Uncle Flirty’s Loft

Listen:
Head East Kaspar
Beautiful Lawyers

Visit:
The Zincs website

by Palebear | Comments Off

The Bruises
Connected

It’s simplistic to just say that San Francisco’s The Bruises remind me of the Donnas and of Sleater-Kinney. But, it’s Xmas Eve and I’m just trying to reduce the CD “stack” for the new year. So there you go – I guess it’s better than nothing hey?

Really, there are some pretty decent grrl-punk pop songs in here that I hope to get into next year. But time is short – so rock on, Aja and Jen. I’ll catch up to you later.

Visit:
The Bruises website

by Palebear | Comments Off

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 | Comments Off

The Dead Science
Drrrty Magneto

I think the one word that may sum up The Dead Science’s music may be: “creepy”. Their name is pretty descriptive of their sound. The songs seem to slither up behind you in a strange way like shambling indie zombies. Lead singer Sam Micken’s voice can be likened to Stuart Staples from the Tindersticks, except that Sam’s voice has been washed bone clean and bare of any low end. At times, he can also sound like Thom Yorke from some of the Radiohead tracks that get into the falsetto range.

As far as the music goes, it often floats by in a drugged, skeletonized waltz time. It’s like an indie rock Halloween soundtrack. The Bischoff brothers lay down the slightly schizo rhythm section, with Jherek contributing oozing on his acoustic stand-up bass and Korum tapping out quirky percussion beats, often relegating the timing to speedy snare rolls that are more jazzy than anything else.

Although many of the tracks I listened to were slower, “Drrrty Magneto” has a quicker feel to it, though nevertheless it still mutters along with a sinister feel. There is a sort of carnival darkness to the music that’s a bit like Nick Cave, though not as campy. Their label, Absolutely Kosher, is sort of known for more off-kiltre music like this as far as I can remember… Jim Yoshii Pileup and Xiu Xiu are the two bands on the label that come to mind.

This isn’t music to dance happily to, but more like stuff you might see goth kids swaying to in underground clubs. Still, it’s got a strange dark charm to it.

Members:

Jherek Bischoff – bass, voice
Korum Bischoff – drums
Sam Mickens – guitar, voice

The Dead Science website

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

The Decemberists
The Crane Wife

To say that The Decemberists’ new album The Crane Wife is a departure from their previous album is an understatement of huge proportions. If Picaresque was an ambitious, carnival-driven masterpiece, just you wait until you get your ears wrapped around the latest tracks. In addition to his usual pitchman storyteling shtick it’s as if Meloy has simultaneously plugged into the mindspace of more classic rock bands like Yes and Neil Young. That’s just for starters.

These 10 songs include two “song cycles” that top the 10 minute mark: The Crane Wife and The Island. In usual Decemberists fashion, the first song cycle is based upon older literature – namely an old Japanese folk tale called The Crane Wife (see the Wikipedia entry for more info).

Though some might argue that the the transformation from musical oddity to full-fledged superstar indie rock band happened with the last album, The Crane Wife leaves no doubt that the Decemberists have truly arrived.They completely shrug off all of the Neutral Milk Hotel comparisons and the songs really seem to have matured. The initial impression is that the songs are more lush and full, and often much louder.

“The Island” cycle starts off with the total classic rock vibe intro of “Come and See” (I’m almost afraid to say – Steve Miller?) but soon morphs into Neil Young. That then leads into the prog-rock keyboard machinations of “The Landlord’s Daughter”. Whoah. But “You’ll Not Feel The Drowning” ends the cycle more thoughtfully with mellow acoustic guitar arpeggios.

Continue reading “The Decemberists – The Crane Wife” …

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

The Duke Spirit
Neptune

As an example of how far behind I’ve gotten, this disc by The Duke Spirit came out in April and I’m just getting to it now at the end of June. Oh well. I’ve been contemplating taking a long break until the end of the year. If I do, I’ll put up a notice on the submission page so that bands that send in their CDs will know they’ll have a long(er) wait ahead.

Back to the music – the album Neptune by The Duke Spirit has sort of struck me as a cross between Silversun Pickups, Chan Marshall, and Midnight Movies. Energetic, slightly dancey rock with a female singer with awesome pipes. That’s about all I’ve got for you right now – the band has been around for quite awhile with a good number of releases but this is the first I’ve heard of them.

by Palebear | Comments Off

The Films
EP

Hey The Film guys…what is with the red dots all over your faces? I know you can’t be camera shy…

Anyhow, picked up this little EP of 3 songs by the band The Films (not to be confused with The Film Stills, of course). Their influences are listed like: Elvis Costello, Zombies, Pixies and Elliott Smith. I hear a tinge of the first, a tinier tinge of the second, none of the third and zilch of ES in their music whcih is mostly louder indie rock music with a fairly good beat. Well, I’d assume that maybe a reviewer heard the waltz-time and chord changes of the first song “That Kind of Day” and automatically assumed that maybe there was a connection to Elliott Smith’s Waltz No. 2 or something. A pretty nice song still.

As far as vocals go, The Films remind me more of The Decemberists or The Strokes on the other two tracks “Black Shoes” and “Come On”. The midrange filtered treatment on the guitars in particular reminds me of The Strokes. “Come On” is actually a pretty cool track: simple, unadorned indie rock with a melody or two to boot. I don’t think they’re breaking any new waves with the music, but you gotta like their energy.

by Palebear | 2 Comments

The High Water Marks
Polar

Hi there. I just spent about 40 minutes looking for a photo of the cover of the new High Water Marks CD “Polar” for this review. Hint to bands: please put up a high res image of your front cover BEFORE you send out yer stuff. The reason is I am so darn lazy to connect my scanner up and import the image. Thanks muchly (and yes, they had a smaller image on HHBTM but I need a 130×130 image for all the reviews, and yes I’m obsessive compulsive like that in that I absolutely have to have a perfect sized image and hate upsampling).

But anyhow, whew, now I’m glad I actually wrote about that because I swore to myself that I wouldn’t start off this post with the phrase “The High Water Marks earn high marks…” because I was sure that someone else had used it (or would think to use it). But yeah, they do earn high marks for all the songs on their latest poppy and tuneful release. There are really excellent songs here – definite sounds like E6, maybe Beulah or Apples. I feel they’re a little more straightforward forward and less twee-ish, though.

According to their bio, I’m not supposed to call them an indie “supergroup” of any sorts. But darn, when you know that members hail from Apples In Stereo, Palermo and Oranger it all starts to make sense. And this definitely dovetails nicely with the used copy of Oranger’s “New Comes and Goes” release I picked up the other day. Energetic, head-bopping stuff out on HHBTM that is getting its own temporary playlist slot on my Ipod for now.

Listen:
on Myspace

On Itunes:
Songs About The Ocean

Visit:
The High Water Marks website
HHBTM website

by Palebear | Comments Off

The Higher Elevations
Who's Sleeping

Currently wading through stacks of CD submissions backdated to over six months ago… but here’s something interesting. Anyone remember Cassette Tapes? Or were you born after that particular phase of recorded music… Anyhow, Alessandro from the excellent Best Kept Secret in Italy keeps the tradition strong by releasing honest to goodness cassette tapes, a few of which made it to our door earlier.

This one is by The Higher Elevations, a Swedish band who actually have a newer CD release out I believe called “Always The Same”. This cassette tape “Who’s Sleeping” is also quite good though. More mainstream folks are going to name The Strokes among the influences, but imagine Nothing Painted Blue singing over Interpol styled riffs. That’s more what they remind me of.

The tape has a good mix of rockin’ songs and more acoustic stuff, demos and outtakes. One of the more interesting tracks is “In The Night” which features none other than Richard Lloyd (of Television) doing some guest lead guitar.

There aren’t too many sound files available from this tape, but you can listen to an acoustic version of “There Is A Town”, as well as a song called “Fiction” from another EP:

There Is A Town
Fiction

The Higher Elevations website

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

The Invisible Cities
Watertown

I keep hearing awesome songs from The Invisible Cities on SomaFM; this must be the 10th time or something a song of theirs has come on, not that I’m complaining. They often play this slow and majestic type of indie pop tinged with shoegaze and beautiful vocals. The instrumentation on the slower songs remind me of the empty skyshimmer of Idaho and old Red House Painters, while the faster indie pop sounds a bit like That Dog, Pixies or the criminally overlooked Star Ghost Dog. What’s nice about The Invisible Cities is they are able to transcend that single genre tag on their album pretty easily (though I might have tagged them as shoegaze from a few selected tracks if I hadn’t went and listened to some of the others).

The track I hear the most is “Synaptic Gap” from their debut full-length album Watertown an amazing dreamy piece that features Sadie’s vocals drawn out like sheets flapping in the breeze.

Continue reading “The Invisible Cities – Watertown” …

by Palebear | Comments Off

The Jessica Fletchers
Summer Holiday & Me

Some delicious and bouncy tracks come to us from The Jessica Fletchers. And despite (or perhaps because of) the similarities in their standout 60s grinder track Summer Holiday & Me to a certain Kinks song, I feel the need to keep rewinding the tape and playing the song over and over. They really strut their chords on this track.

There is no bio on their site that I could find, but I found them through 3hive who says that they are actually from Norway. The band is made up of Thomas Innstø (lead vocal, guitar), Rune Somdal (guitar, vocal, percussion), Andreas Mastrup (bass, vocal), Jan Henning Sørensen (drums), Mats Innstø (rhodes/organ, vocal, percussion). I guess all the funny looking O’s in the names should have been a giveaway…

Continue reading “The Jessica Fletchers – Summer Holiday And Me” …

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

The Jim Yoshii Pileup
Silver Sparkler

If, like me, the first thing you wonder about The Jim Yoshii Pileup is how come they have that name when none of them is named Jim Yoshii (or let alone Jim) then prepare NOT to find the answer out here. I’ll just stick with figuring out the music thank you very much.

I’ve known about this band for a little while, I think I first heard them on Soma FM. They play their own brand of slightly mutated indie rock. I thought I actually remembered some of their other tracks being more experimental as far as atmospherics go. So I was a bit surprised that the track made available for download off their new album Picks Us Apart is actually quite smooth and and much more straighforward indie rock. It’s also damn catchy.

Continue reading “The Jim Yoshii Pileup – Silver Sparkler” …

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

The Like Young
For Money Or Love

I’ve been a fan of the super-energetic poppypunk of The Like Young ever since I was passed the “Looked Up” Plus Four EP off Kittridge Records. (“You Can’t Get It Back” is a serious pop anthem on that record).

What’s that? You say there’s another band called The Like that I might be getting them confused with? Not so… and in fact IMHO The Like seem a bit overrated. Give me The Like Young anyday over them.

To make matters even more confusing, the married musical couple of Amanda and Joe Ziemba (remember the band Wolfie? That was them) have just been signed to Polyvinyl Record Co. who are home to another, slightly more famous married duo… Mates of State. Though the Mates are pretty cool, they never really knocked my socks off… I always thought their songs were a bit jarring. The Like Young, however, have been regulars in our CD players for some time and provide that winning combination of un-pop punk smarts with really good pop songwriting.

Anyhow, they are coming out with an album called Last Secrets on Polyvinyl in the spring but until then you can get a taste of what’s to come by listening to their track “For Money Or Love”. By the way, apologies that the thumbnail above is NOT the album cover but just a pic of them. I’ll change it out when the album comes out.

Brash and bratty vocal melodies by mop-topped Joe are wrapped in Amanda’s cooling vocal harmonies and the whole thing is rolled unceremoniously up in head-bobbin’, chugworthy punk rock. Imagine mid-period Sleater-Kinney with a guy on lead, or Quasi with much less acrobatics and keyboards. There’s also a throwback to the simpler pop-punk times of Weezer, The Rentals, even X at times.

This is a band that you just gotta root for. One reason for that is unlike some bands that have a tough exterior shell around their music, all the tough and crazy problems that The Like Young have survived through both as a musicians and as a couple are laid out bare in their songs. And according to the website, their next album is going to have even more of that heart-sleeve angst. They’ve truly lived through this. I mean, that one song is called “For Money Or Love” which pretty much says it all. Powerful, catchy stuff.

Members:

Joe Ziemba – guitar, vocals
Amanda Ziemba – drums, vocals

Albums available on Itunes:

“Looked Up” Plus Four (Kittridge 2002)
Art Contest (Parasol 2003)
So Serious (Parasol 2004)

The Like Young website

by Bryan | Comments Off

The Republic Tigers
Keep Color

This is another CD that’s been kicking around in my player for a few months. I’ve been trying to “figure them out”, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that this is the wrong direction. But you know what, I’ve no time for wrong directions. So here is a blurb I found directly from Filter:

“Actually Sounds Like: Catchy Postal Service beats combined with whimsical Shins like singing create an all together unique listening experience.”

Hmm… so I don’t think that’s especially accurate. Maybe the Shins reference, but definitely not Postal Service. I actually think it sounds more Air or Mercury Rev at times. If they’re having as hard a time as me describing the music, something’s wrong. I still like quite a few of the songs and I feel like it’s going to be one of those “grow on you albums.” But so far nothing about them has completely knocked my socks off. Decent stuff, though.

by Palebear | Comments Off

The Seldon Plan
Making Circles

I found out about this totally amazing indie poprock band called The Seldon Plan the other day. Well, I wish I could say I’m the first to discover them but they’ve been reviewed in any number of online and print magazines already. Still, what a great find. The Baltimore, MD quartet plays energetic and powerful pop that has an immediate catchiness but includes enough melodic quirks to make their music really shine.

It’s interesting that they are called The SeldoN Plan instead of The SeldoM Plan. My brain keeps want to say Seldom, hehe.

When I first put their album Making Circles on, I thought immediately of Nada Surf, and then looked at their one sheet and saw that band was in the “Sounds Like” list already. Well, I would certainly say that if you liked Nada Surf you should give Seldon Plan a shot. As I listened to the album I found a number of resemblances to the great Texas band Subset with a bit of Teenage Fanclub-iness thrown in for good measure. I would say that The Posies might be another music reference point.

Standout tracks include the power-pop overtures of the opener “A Rhyming Dictionary” and the DeathCab-like title track “Making Circles”. They are also capable of slower tracks filled with no less tension like “Top Left Corner” and “Holding Patterns Are Slow”. With such awesome hooks, musical tightness and great melodies I wouldn’t be surprised if they became the next buzz band on the O.C….

The Seldon Plan website is at: www.theseldonplan.com

by Tyranosaur | 4 Comments

The Shins
Wincing The Night Away

A funny thing happened to me on the way to the post office box the other day. I got the new Shins release Wincing The Night Away in the mail… I guess it’s not such a FUNNY thing, but I’d thought that with all the lack of coverage at Palebear that I’d been booted off their promo list. It seems like every other blog (and their mom) had this release already. Good to know I’m still on the list, albeit at low priority. =)

Anyhow, too much has probably been written about the new record. I’ve surreptitiously been avoiding reading about it. You probably just want to know: is it worth picking up. The answer so far, in the 10 listens since I received it, is generally Yes. I can hear the Shinfanatics yelling at me now.

I guess it just didn’t grab me as hard as Inverted World or Chutes did right away. Sure, you’ve got your anthemic hits like “Phantom Limb” and “Turn On Me” which will always elevate them high in indie hearts. But it took a full 5 listens to get into many of the other songs. The quirkiness which has always been their strong suit is definitely still there. But in my opinion it’s often overly squandered on the louder material. “Sleeping Lessons” contains an interesting Air-like arpeggio mapped onto a double time snare-fest worthy of the Interpol or the White Stripes. “Australia” bounces along quite nicely, but “Pam Berry” is basically just a gratuitous Dick Dale Pulp Fiction surf line. “Sea Legs” sounds like a Beck outtake, while “Girl Sailor” is also an outtake but of the Belle and Sebastian variety.

Continue reading “The Shins – Wincing The Night Away” …

by Palebear | Comments Off

The Stalking Horses
This Is Your Signal

I have two words for you: Bettie Serveert. Indeed, I’d only recently looked up that group which was one of my fave bands of the 90s and found that they were still making music. So when I put in The Stalking Horses CD I thought that maybe for some reason I’d accidentally gotten a Bettie Serveert album mixed up with it. Sarah Pinsker reminds me so much of Carol Van Dijk, of course minus the Dutch inflections.

However, when the second song “Push On” kicks in, its clear that there are other musical ideas afoot. I definitely do hear the damaged post-punk reference to Afghan Whigs in the music, though the everything isn’t as over the top as Greg Dulli and company can get. The underlying music is more rootsy than punk. I have to confess I’m not such a big fan of “roots-rock in the heartland” type music, however indie it is… in fact if it weren’t for the Bettie resemblance this might have been a CD I’d have passed on. However, listening to the CD a couple times the whole thing started to grow on me.

They have other songs like “Still Be Here” that are a bit more varied and mellow, almost alt-country like if that phrase still means anything nowadays. A bit of an Americana-rock feel to other tracks. For some reason I also hear the echoes of a 90s band called Madder Rose. This is another worthwhile release from The Beechfields label.

Listen:
This Is Your Signal
Everything Bounces

Visit:
The Stalking Horses website
The Stalking Horses Myspace

by Palebear | Comments Off

The Transport Assembly
Improbable Songs

If you have an aversion to atonal mathy-rock, I can guarantee that you won’t like this album by The Transport Assembly. I REALLY liked it, however. It has a trippy, twiggy, twisted feel to the songs. I’m not surprised to see a Jim Yoshii Pileup connection. Other bands brought to mind are Deerhoof, XiuXiu, etc. Maybe Sonic Youth a bit. The singing is kinda Elephant 6-ish though, which makes it even better for me. I am trying to pry it loose from my CD player but it will not come unstuck. Delicious, dangerous and dissonant fun.

by Palebear | Comments Off

The Val Papadins
No One Wants To Move The Piano

I’m trying to decide if the Val Papadins put me in more of a “smoky jazz nightclub lounge” type of mood or a “backwater deserted Mojave Desert road” type of mood. I’m sorta leaning toward the latter feeling, even though the vocals on the CD are definitely going for that Walkman / Waits battered and bruised vibe. I don’t know too much about the band except that they are from Northern Cal, I believe the Sonoma area? If that’s indeed their origins, it would make sense that their music sounds the way it does. I drove through that area twice and except for the wine-seeking tourists, it’s a sleepy, slightly lonesome town – just perfect to make music like this.

As far as band comparisons go, it’s a bit difficult to put a finger on it – but the Walkmen comparison is fair. For me, I actually like the music which is ominous and uneasy, but not so much that it makes you feel like heading for the hills. There is something very unsettling about this band that made me leave the CD in the player – kind of like how you end up picking up a sketchy hitchhiker that you probably shouldn’t have.

On certain songs the singing sounds almost like Frank Black, but not as screechy. The additional instrumentation includes piano, mandolin, ebow, accordian (or melodica?) and definitely contributes to the slightly creepy atmosphere. Many songs have a sort of faster folk, south-western or alt-country feel to them.

Listen:
The Val Papadins on Myspace

On Itunes:
No One Wants To Move The Piano

Visit:
Val Papadins website

by Palebear | Comments Off

Tramplini
Hallo, Mazie!

I don’t normally get to many CDs sent from Latvia. Oh, heck with it – I haven’t EVER gotten a CD from Latvia. The lady at the post office was like, you have friends there? I’ve given up trying to explain to them that everyone and their mom will send CDs from any number of countries – they just don’t get why people send me stuff.

Since I haven’t gotten any other music from Latvia, I don’t have anything to compare Tramplini to. (And by the way, you are going to forgive me in advance if I omit some of the punctuation on any of the titles and stuff, because everything’s in Latvian?) But it doesn’t matter what country this CD/EP is from. “Hallo, Mazie” is, how do you say, Amazieng. Haha.. ahaha.

Really, it is. In fact, it’s one of the best releases I’ve gotten from bands so far this summer, not counting the obvious bigger indie ones. The sound would fit right in with some of the best smaller indie pop bands in the States. According to their Myspace, they formed in 1997 and this their second EP. Some of the comparisons might be to Luna, Viva Voce, Yum-Yum, Yo La Tengo, Amanset, Imperial Teen, and Joy Zipper. The list could go on too… I just hear so many different bands that I like in their style, which is a delicious sort of slo-core meets indie pop.

The EP starts off with the laid back and lazy pop gem “Pargajiens”. I love the use of keyboards and the tiny bells in the background. I don’t understand a word of what they’re saying, and it simply doesn’t matter at all. That might be a good indicator of how good the band is. I’m sure it would add to the songs to know the words they’re singing, but unlike many bands who sing in languages I don’t understand, I’m able to enjoy it for the music.

One of my favorite tracks is “Tas Pats” which completely switches gears by adding distortion and drone. It sounds a bit like Yo La Tengo’s cover of Little Honda plus a Viva Voce song plus a bit of My Bloody Valentine. I like the understated vocals on this one, as well as the trumpet squeals and keyboard in the middle section. That one middle part is pretty much as experimental as they get, however.

A lot of times they do remind me of Luna, and the song “Sobizness” is a perfect example. This could be taken right out of Luna’s “Penthouse” album. Great vibrato on the electric guitar, a mellow beat, simple chords and understated vocals. So nice. “Rudeni” has a beautifully chiming drone going on with vocals that really remind me of Yum-Yum while the music might be a Masters of the Hemisphere song.

“Millenia” is an instrumental piece with a loping sort of groove that might be part of a Tristeza album. As a bonus, there’s a video for “Tas Pats” on the EP, though you can also find that on Gootube. I dunno if I’ve done described in justice how good the songs are, you’ll have to listen to them yourself. But for me, I have not been able to stop listening to their songs for a few weeks now.

Listen:
MP3 snippets
Tramplini Myspace

Watch:
Tas Pats on Gootube

Visit:
Tramplini website

Buy it at:
Tonevendor

by Palebear | Comments Off

Viva Voce
Alive With Pleasure

If you like the other married (or divorced) dynamic duos Arcade Fire or Quasi, there’s a pretty good chance you will dig Viva Voce. Beautiful and engaging quirk rock that sounds semi-filtered through Jason Lytle’s or Aaron Espinoza’s eyes.

On their latest LP The Heat Can Melt Your Brain Anita and Kevin Robinson carefully construct catchy melodies and inject a tipsiness into their tunes by utilizing an arsenal of musical weapons. Ranging from vibraphone and kazoo to celeste and simple handclaps, their instrumentation choices are top notch. The flavor is eccentric and edgy, aurally exciting, and liable to make you jiggle around uncontrollably in a spastic way. Yeah, that good.

Continue reading “Viva Voce – Alive With Pleasure” …

by Bryan | Comments Off

Wavering Saints
Collusion

We’ve heard the Strike Date 12″ record from the Wavering Saints before and found it quite pleasant as far as quirky indie rock goes. I’m not even going to mention the “other” famous indie band from Stockton because that might draw too-obvious comparisons.

I will say that there is a bit of a mystery surrounding the band who releases music on Central District Records. There is little info to be had on them through the website… they are certainly letting the music speak for itself. The latest EP they’ve put out is the Collusion CD EP and it continues nicely where Strike Date left off. It’s strange that the songs have a slightly lo-fi and buzzy sound to them, yet sound so much more expansive and spacious than the typical bedroom boombox band. I don’t want to say the songs are “epics” in any sense, but the way are structured just feels bigger or something.

“Subtle Believers” kicks thing off with a great rocker that motors along like a Yo La Tengo song but with vocals by Mike Kinsella. “Strike Date” (interestingly, I don’t think this song was on the actual Strike Date 12″??) mellows out with slower guitar that reminds me of some good old school Freed Weed era Sebadoh. “Homeless Teeth Transportation” turns into delicious noise rock.

Continue reading “Wavering Saints – Collusion” …

by Palebear | Comments Off

Weather
Calling Up My Bad Side

Someone lent me a CD by the band Weather who play pretty much your garden variety Travis meets the OC brand of modern rock. I would definitely have thought about a name change, though, especially since shortly before signing with Cake Records (distributed by a subsidiary of Sony / BMG) they actually changed up half the lineup of the band. Because “Weather” is such a common word and people are apt to get you confused with The Weather Report.
…

The title track, “Calling Up My Bad Side”, is actually a pretty strong tune with lead singer Sean’s voice smoothly transitioning from falsetto to normal throughout. Hints of moody shoegaze lurk around the corners of snappy drum hits and a decent melody. They do indeed remind me of Travis or Coldplay though I don’t hear any of the much mentioned Cure reference in the music.

Continue reading “Weather – Calling Up My Bad Side” …

by Palebear | Comments Off

World Leader Pretend
Punches

I must say that I knew nothing of the band World Leader Pretend even before I received their most recent CD “Punches”. And the funny thing is that I feel like I know even LESS about the band after listening through it a couple times. Let me tell you that this band and their music is just completely wild. If ever there was a case of multiple personalities in a band, this is it.

Even more strange is that the CD is released on a major label -Warner to be exact. I’m not sure how that happened, but good for World Leader Pretend I guess! Their songs are just so off-kiltre and wacky at times. I don’t mean that they are totally goofing off. It’s just that the style of the songs change with a frequency that’s likely to make your head spin. I think that Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse, Warner is pretty much content to just let them run with whatever ideas they have… at least for the time being.

Strangely, I find that lead singer Keith Ferguson reminds me the most of … BONO. Yes, Bono of all people. I saw a few others had noticed this similarity too. Can’t remember the last time I mentioned Bono in a review…

Continue reading “World Leader Pretend – Punches” …

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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

Yo La Tengo
Pass The Hatchet...

Almost forgot, there’s a new Yo La Tengo track from their upcoming long, long ass named album “I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass”. It’s up on the Matador site, I think for awhile now but I had forgotten to download it. The song is called “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind”. Whew, if you are a fan of their 13 minute crazy distortion jams with James thumping away on the same bassline for what seems like hours on end (and yes, I am) you are going to like this one. Ira sings, when he’s not destroying the air with his ghee-tar. A lovely track, nearly as drone-rockin’ as old school Painful. Here ye go:

Pass The Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind – Yo La Tengo

by Bryan | Comments Off