New Ringo Deathstarr

Ok, so if this isn't a sign of being a fan, I don't know what is- I'm posting this before I even have downloaded it- I'm currently refreshing my Itunes, but will download the new Ringo Deathstarr "Colour trip" as soon as I can. Ringo Deathstarr are some loud, and somewhat Punky shoegazers from Texas. I really enjoyed everything from them so far, so I'm expecting good things from what's being called their "debut record"- I'd consider their rather long EP from 2007 to be at least a mini LP. But, yes, I'm excited.

This is hilarious

The good people of Chunklet magazine posted this Video, and offered that the best joke wins. I think that's entirely redundant. The video is the joke.

Thrashcapades

I started out being into Hardcore thrash, and I still like that stuff. Very athletic, adrenalized music. So, I just made a mix CD for my car, made up of some relatively new thrash. In the spirit of thrash, here's a rundown of the bands on that mix. Obviously, none of this stuff is stellar, and none is terrible.
First up- the AC4. Dennis from the Refused clearly missed out that he wasn't in 7 seconds. Straight up hero worship. Then, Fresh Coats- A Train Wreck named Desire. More punk than thrash. Think of a more pop-punk version of Leatherface, mixed with some non-ska Rancid, and you're not far off. After that Shards. The most straightforward thrash on here. They could easily be a "middle of the bill" band at Fender's ballroom, circa 1984. Straight Los Angeles mid 80's thrash. Finally, Wolves & Thieves-11. Much more modern Thrash. Like the Bronx or Gallows, it's a mix of various Rocknroll influences, a hint of metal here, some Rockabilly there, some hardcore under it all. The end effect is like what you misremember after one of those 5 band hardcore matinees, where you can't remember who played what, you just remember that dude who took it hard when he got dropped in the pit, and how bad your nose hurts from connecting with this other guy's boot...

Geronimo!

I just downloaded it, and haven't had a chance to fully appreciate it, but Geronimo has a a free release over at Bandcamp, that will only be free for a day or so more, so you might want to move on it. Geronimo! play a kind of Indie rock/Stoner - like Built to Spill meets Dinosaur Jr, with some mogwai-ish tendancies. Worth a few moments of your life.

More Tunes

So, just some quick reviews, for stuff that I like, but aren’t quite as nice as stuff I’ve done bigger reviews on, in no particular order:
Autolux- Transit, Transit: Umm, have you heard Autolux? The last record was a kinda electro shoegazer type of record. Replace the gauzey distort-noise with more Sonic Youth-ish guitars in alternative tunings, and there you go, the new Autolux record. I like it, but only in a background Noise type way.
Colony-Colony: I’ll admit I don’t know much about the band, but I really like how it’s obvious that they’ll go wherever their muse goes. Parts sound neo-psychedelic, parts sound like experimental noise, parts sound like new Americana, like Wilco, and parts sound like Stoner/Sludge. Nothing is fully fleshed out, though, so it’s kinda like a jam/demo tape, but one you’ll enjoy.
Earwig- Gibson under Mountain: Damn fine power pop. Does it need to be more? Really, this is just that. You might hear some Americana here, some Punk there, but really, it’s power pop.
Nikoo-Friends and Family: I really, really like the Dutch music scene out of Utrecht. We’ve got former members of one of that scene’s better bands, The Very Sexuals, in this Noise-Pop band. So, of course I like it. How to describe it? Wow, tougher than I thought… Ummm… Uhhhh… it’s got some, uhhhh…. How’s this? It’s pop structure, with Exotica, Harmonium, shoegazer electronics, indie rock vocals, and Arcade Fire styled anthemic styled vocals. Like the Ruby Suns meet the Very Sexuals, meet the Comas, and they tweak the hell out of Arcade Fire, in the Raveonette’s studio…
Wye Oak- Civilian: A local pleasure. Hey, I like my friends, but I don’t know this couple, directly. I know their friends, though. Wye Oak, by now should be a known quality. In case they’re not, they play twisted atmospheric noise-folk, in the vein of Mazzy Star and Cowboy Junkies, but altogether modern.
There you go. Check them out.

At the Flicks

So, I just don't watch all that many movies as of the last six months. Maybe I'm burned out, maybe my DVD collection is too large, maybe my other entertainment options are too solid, or maybe it's because most movies suck.
Here's the thing- I can name you all the feature length movies I've seen since Christmas. Machete, Get Him to the Greek, and The Book of Eli. Done, that's it. This, despite having Netflix, on Demand, HBO, Cinemax, a blockbuster kiosk within walking distance, and no less than 10 theatres within 50 miles. Of those, I liked Machete, but only because I'm a Rodriguez FANATIC, like, unreasonably so. Get Him to the Greek? I kinda liked Almost Famous, and it's basically the same story, only robbed of any warmth, and stripped of any likable characters. Jason Segal can write a funny song, but I honestly would have preferred 90 minutes of Segal with a piano, playing the same songs. The Book of Eli was filmed digital, like how Rodriguez films, but clumsy about it. Furthermore, the "Twist" felt cheap, and unnecessary. Denzel did his best, and Gary Oldman chewed scenery, but you could tell they both had two words flashing in their minds, the whole time- "Mad Max", and whispered underneath, like a call and response- "Was a better movie".
So, if Movies just plain suck, what do I want? Here's what- I want movies to tell recognizably human stories, but told in a way to show me things I could not otherwise see. What I mean is that I don't want stories that involve motives, and actions that humans just don't have, but I do want to see people I don't know, places I haven't seen, doing things I cannot do. A good example is that I really liked The Fighter. Everyone in the movie was recognisable as a human being- no clowns, robots or aliens. However, I'm not a talented boxer, I'm not a crack addict, and I'm not from Boston, so these are people I cannot be, doing things I either cannot or would not do. See? Pretty simple, really. So, Get Him to the Greek features non-humans. As in, the Aldous Snow character has no motivations I can recognize. He's a cartoon rock monster. The other characters are so formless that I bet you cannot name them without help, or resorting to the actor's names. Ask your friends who've seen it, I bet they run into the same sort of trouble. See what I mean? Non humans.
Meanwhile, The Book Of Eli barely even names the characters. Then, it never gives any of them a recognizable motivation. The Protagonist is doing things he doesn't understand on direction from an inner voice I believe we're to take as being from God, while the Antagonist wants power, but already has power, and has better, shorter and more sure routes to power than the convoluted reasons given for him to be an antagonist. Because of this I cannot care about the people, and therefore the story becomes absurd, and it's just random images. Go on and tell me that you don't feel roughly the same about most movies as of late.
So, no, no links, no raves, no I haven't been talking about movies, even though I am fully aware of them. (Please- The King's Speech? That's a movie? No, it's not- it's a fashion show for the over 50 set who worship the BBC. Likewise? The Social Network? Again, not a movie. It's a self-congratulatory smirk for the under 40 set. Don't bother me with updates....)
Yeah, I might talk about music too much, but I think I'm already saying too much about movies.

Out of Vogue

I'm out of the loop, I know that because there was a time when I was in the loop. I ran a radio station, wrote for magazines, ran a sound system company, DJ'ed and played in a band. Hard to get more in the loop than that, right? Oh, and I freelanced as a cameraman, not to mention, got a comfortable 9 to 5 working for colleges and even an Ex President. Yes, very much in the loop. But, all that's behind me, abandoned from the mid 1990's. Now, I do this blog, I work a fairly straight job, I raise a kid, I play with my cats, I live in the Exurbs, well out of the loop. The reasons are a big mix of personal, philosophical and political- and far too messy to explain, here. However, it means that like some bizarre twilight zone episode of a castaway on a deserted island, strange bits of my former life wash up on me from time to time. Sometimes,I'll get a catalog. Other times, an invitation to a promotional event. Sometimes, a job offer. Usually, though, it'll be a promo CD, or a PR kit.It leads to some dissonances-wearing hipster J brand skinny black jeans to go to a tractor pull, and talking to a national figure on the cell phone, while trying to order an apple crisp from the Roy Rogers. I haven't reviewed a whole lot from that strange driftwood from another life. Most of it is crap, and not worth a mention. A few weeks ago, I suspect somebody screwed up at play it again Sam, and I got a package sent to a PO Box that I still have, and some of that stuff got forwarded to where I live now. I told you- it's very odd, how these things happen. Most of that stuff was basically known quantities but there was a CD that was completely unknown to me. The name of the band was very vaguely familiar, but I could honestly say I didn't know them, and was intrigued primarily by two factors- the painting on the cover ( a big Fauvist/ pointillist/impressionist painted face) and the production team- Flood and Alan Moulder. For those who wouldn't know- Flood and Moulder, back in the late 1980's and early 1990's were the best producers/mixers/engineers going. After listening to it, I cannot explain how I slept on this band before now except to say that I really am out of the loop. Unlike what I first thought- this is no debut from a british supergroup made up of pre-grunge all stars- this is a second LP from a New York band with Indie aesthetics that are firmly retro, but my missed impression should speak volumes. So, the band name is "The Pains of Being Pure at Heart", and the CD is called "Belong"- at first I thought it was the other way around. It sounds like a playlist from 120 minutes, circa 1989, mashed up, and played by a somewhat more energetic version of Belle and Sebastian. In other words, it completely speaks to the last time I was in the loop. The folks at Spin, Pitchfork, AV Club, Drowned in Sound, Rolling Stone, and so on- in other words, everyone in the loop, really likes it, and loves this band. I like it, but all I can think about when I hear it is that it really doesn't seem to matter if I'm in the loop or not because the loop is exactly that- a loop. They circle each other, again and again, looking very, very busy- but they're just going around and around, never changing all that much.

Overblown

Some groups or artists get popular and it's easy to understand why it happens: a combination of marketing ploys, and crowd pleasing hooks, and whomp, there it is. Most of the time, it's a bit more obscure, and of those times, it's usually obscure to some, but not all. I chalk it up to a more targeted attack on certain demographics, and if you're not one of them, you'll never understand. Sometimes, there's a surprise, but such surprises are usually fleeting. This is why pop culture tends to be seen as "greasy kids stuff" and "fluff" and ephemera- the resonance of a deeply shared communication has very little place in such by-rote transactions. It's supposed to be different for the Alterna- Indie- Artsy- or Adult contemporary folks; you'll note the irony that I can name the demographics instantly, and easily. Sorry if you haven't heard it before, but it's all the same- We are all teenyboppers, in the modern marketplace of culture. It doesn't matter if you're talking about Yo Yo Ma, Radiohead, Katie Perry, Alan Jackson or Dimmu Borgir, it's all a commercial transaction based upon the same combination of hooks, advertising and identity.
So, jaded as I am, cynical as I am, I still enjoy wading in to the pop culture morass, and I'm enthusiastic about it. Much like Greek mystery plays, I already know the story, but I enjoy the telling, because the way it goes has individual pleasures for me. However, I'm awake, and self-aware, and I know when there's something amiss. Such is the case with the Joy Formidable. Something about their "small town girl makes good" story seems a bit too mythic, and fits a bit too hand-in-glove with the secondary "girls just wanna have fun" byline about tiny welsh girls making big guitar rackets. You mean to tell me, in this age of Internet connectedness, that some little welsh girl isn't canny enough, nor informed enough to make the connections between English Twee pop, Shoegazer revivalism, and Post-metal noisiness on her own, and just came about that sound like some kind of primativist? I doubt it. You mean to tell me that a world-traveller is just some introvert, smitten with the majesty of her native land? Yeah, right- tell me another one, Polly, you're not rid of me. Hell, even the Wiki page reads like Ad copy. I give them 2 albums, tops, before the story wears thin.
However, like i said, I'm an enthusiast, and I'm a fan of their symphonically lush and loud indie pop, so i have an idea for them- Justin Broaderick. The thought came to me whilst listening to the new version of "Whirring" on the new release "The Big Roar"- the drums share an obvious connection with early Jesu, as do a lot of the guitar/electronic tones. ( You want a nutshell description of their sound? Siouxsie Sue meets Jesu, to play Lush songs. There you go, you got it) Here's the narrative twist- get Broaderick to produce the next record. Go very minimal and goth on a lot of the aesthetics. Think mid-period Godflesh meets This mortal Coil. Do a bunch of Hip-hop inspired remixes ( clearly they're hurting for new material- the two standout tracks are the same two standout tracks from the prior mini album, one even recycled twice from their first single). Maybe get some collaborations going, though that might be pushing it. Besides getting exposure with a new potential demographic, you can exploit the whole naif goes to the big city, gets burned and bitter narrative, and then go back and do another record of lush and lively pop songs- a "return to form"- only "older and wiser". That'll give you about a five record career, which would be respectable, and sure to garner you a lifelong career in the business of one form or another.
In the meantime, for us listeners taking this new release as it is, here's my advice- listen to it. It might very well be the only record you'll ever need by them, but it's a good listen. It has some very pretty parts, and some real thunder, and it's not just pablum. I think it's much more worthwhile than last year's mini-album which was decent, but a bit perfunctory, and overshadowed by hype surrounding it. The standout tracks, as always are Austere and Whirring, which could also be a description of their drum sound, but the guitars are mixed with electronics, and effected, and multi-tracked to a symphonic extreme- like Broaderick is noted for doing- but with a more oceanic, more sweet tone than even Jesu produces- giving it a very lush, and dreamy feel, like the louder Shoegazer bands. To return to my cynical tone- the music basically covers the aesthetics of folks into modern Alt-Rock who predate Grunge, like me.

Alternative

Quicksand, of course, brings us to Walter Schreifels. He's got a new record out in Rivals Schools called "Pedals". This is a release that probably wasn't supposed to be, and most folks are writing it off as a kind of coda to his career, released 10 years too late. I don't blame them- his career has been pretty spotty, in terms of new records out, and continuity. However that all seems like background noise to me- the guy is younger than me, and most of his releases are "classics" to me. That is- there are only two Quicksand records, and now, two Rival Schools releases- all four are simply awesome. So, since 1993, that's 4 great records. In the same time, Radiohead has released 4 songs that I would listen to, and people drown themselves in praise of radiohead. Since 1993, Rage against the Machine have put out 1 double record that I'd put on the same level, and they burned out. Since 1993, Pearl Jam have released no music I like. Get the idea? I'd prefer 1 great song to a mountain of garbage I don't want to hear. ( Hence, Radiohead is OK by me, because those four songs are really worthwhile) I also don't rule out the possibility that Schreifels could make another fantastic record after this.
So, taken on its own, Pedals ( the new release) is definitely on its own. It occupies a space between Shoegaze, posthardcore, Punk and Indie Rock ( you'll note all are genres I'm prone to like). By that I mean it's densely layered washes of woozy and concrete guitars, buoyed down by syncopated beats and solid choruses. At the same time, unlike a lot of other 'unclassifiable' rock music, it sounds coherent- it's not like listening to two records at once, and hoping they'll mash up. Shreifels, instead, reminds me of Bob Mould at his best- like Mould, his influences are audible, but the result is unique and revelatory. It sounds like "Alt Rock' is new and relevant again- I know that's an illusion- because it's definitely rock, but it's not rock you've heard before, and it's vibrant and alive in a way that top 40 pop will never be. I recognize that it may not play well in the Art House, nor is hard and abrasive enough for the Pit. There is enough melody and Pop structure in the songs that I'm sure some would find this a bit too mild, and enough grit and angularity that most would find it too wild- hence my re-animation of the term Alt Rock, as opposed to 'grunge', "post hardcore' or whatever the more modern term might be. There is no fad or fashion to this. It doesn't reference stuff that was popular the first time around, and certainly won't be mainstream mutated like this ( ever notice how the folks that will blast something that references subcultural stuff from 5 years ago are the same folks who'll laud stuff that references things that were really popular 15 years ago? For example- they'll say that something that references the Cave In is tired, but if it references Deee Lite, they're all over it). At the same time, it's not hyperliterate, ultrachallenging hipster intellectual music- so it doesn't cover the anti-fashion fads, either. It's not heartland rock, but it is anthemic. It's smart, it's soulful, it's just a little challenging, and it's tasty enough that you don't have to "develop" a taste for it. Blast it loud, even the acoustic parts, and shout along to a chorus or two, and you might just feel an energy that you knew was lacking in your life.
If you are a fan of something that has the volume and power of hardcore punk Rock, but couched in terms that divorce it from rote examinations of forms crystallized more than 20 years ago, Shreifels has it.

Sine is Fine, but Sludge is thicker.

I can only take so much math. I was a split major in college- one major was a science (Electrical Engineering) and one a liberal Art ( English Lit)- so I can hang with more math than your average Artsy fartsy type, but I have my limitations. Higher level calculus blows my mind, and trigonometry nearly killed me. The same goes for stuff that colloquially gets called "Math"; I can take Meshuggah, but Dillinger Escape plan is too much, I can take Shellac, but Circus Lupus leaves me behind. The issue is that I really like the math that I like, and so people assume that I like all Math, when I just am enthusiastic about some.
So, when I say that my favorite United Sons of Toil release is this newest one- " When the Revolution Comes, Everything will be Beautiful", a fair assumption would be that they're still straight Math rock, when that's neither the case, nor the reason I like it. I actually like the points at which it deviates from Math- there are touches of Sludge Metal, and dance Punk in there- and mixing that with Midwestern Math Rock interests me more than if they'd gone the way of the Flying Luttenbachers. I would say that the math influences are getting closer to Shellac than Jesus Lizard, on this one, while the structural complexity seems closer to Report Suspicious Activity, and other J Robbins-fueled Emo Punk than to Don Cabellero. I think that might be due to some sub-or un- conscious bleedover from their Joy Division project ( my thought is this- J Robbins, John Reis{ Drive Like Jehu}, Jim Wall {Kerosene 454} and others have talked about Joy Division as an influence, while later Emo, and Math derives more from other sources) but regardless of source, i'm a much bigger fan of say, Arcwelder or Honor Role than I am of Dazzling Killmen or Shipping News. ( Getting Dizzy, yet?).
Let's dispense with the labels, then, and use analogies- the sound that USOT have is more like Vic Bondi's and J Robbin's and the Hobson brothers ( I'm hearing a fair amount of Killdozer. What's up with Madison?) mixed with greg Ginn's and Kirk Fisher's than anything else. I'm hearing the politics of Report Suspicious Activity mixed with Killdozer, and the beats of Polvo- played at Amphetamine Reptile volume. Heck, I'm even hearing some Helmut dynamics. As a matter of fact, the band mentions Touch and Go records, and they'd be a somewhat ill-fit to that roster, but I think they'd have been perfectly at home on Am Rep, at least musically. I can see them playing with Unsane and godheadSilo, at some Student Union, somewhere, sometime in the 1990's. The band cites Unwound, and I can see that, but you'd have to beat Unwound up, then train them to box to get the sound tough enough.
I will admit, it starts a bit slowly for me. Songs like "Alcoholism in the Former Soviet Republics" call back to the last record, which was very good, but a known quantity at this point- it's all Squall and release. Also, the more noisy production is sometimes a great choice, and other times obscuring. However, from the keening start of "Sword of Damocles" until the last note of "State Sponsored Terrorism" it's some superlative dissonant complex post-hardcore/Math/Sludge/skronk, on par with Quicksand- and more on why Quicksand is a favorite in later posts...