Been a while since I’ve posted on any kind of new music, huh? As I’m sitting here right now figuring out what to to write about, it almost feels completely foreign to me. That is, until I remembered something I meant to mention here a few months ago; An album that has been my go-to record of choice this summer: Summer Cats’Songs For Tuesdays.
Released in early July on the mighty Slumberland Records — who have been releasing some great albums this year — this debut record contains 13 of the finest pop songs you’ll hear this year. This Melbourne-based band have released a number of singles from smaller, but familiar labels you may have heard mentioned on here a few times like Cloudberry and WeePOP! so it’s great to finally hear this proper full-length.
It’s difficult to pinpoint a favorite, as you’ve got a number of fantastic songs to choose from, whether it be the newly recorded versions of past singles like “Wild Rice” and “Lonely Planet” to new faves like “Maybe Pile” and “In June”. All of which showcase the many different vocalists that join frontman Scott Stevens, who is easily one of the best vocalists in indiepop right now.
Some people I know seem to cower in fear when presented with a proper pop song, but I think it’s time to clear away any kind of apprehension or animosity and just embrace it! Turn up the volume and hit the dancefloor! Okay, maybe not on the dancefloor thing. Just give this one a listen, as I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
As I’m sure you’ve read on the TYS Twitter, PJ is in the midst of moving right now. So I’m here to pick up on his (and my own…mostly my own) slack. I’ve spent the week going through ‘09 releases that I’ve picked up since I’m reading everyone’s lists from half way through the year to get a better grasp on what would make my own list. I’ve made a few discoveries, weathered a few disappointments, but one album that has grabbed my attention since soon after its April 1st release and then kept it was Impossible Hair’s What Is the Secret of Impossible Hair?
This might be the sleeper album of the year, probably because most people outside of Baltimore and DC (and Europe where they recently toured) don’t know about it. But so rarely does a band with such memorable and catchy guitar riffs also have such an obviously strong rhythm section. Roman Kuebler (yes, the same Roman Kuebler of the Oranges Band)’s bass lines feature prominently in some of the album’s strongest tracks (like “Find It”). Sammy Ponzar’s drumming keeps the album running at a quick upbeat pace and provides one of the most interesting backdrops…a spaghetti western-like beat backing an otherwise new wave-inspired “X-ray Man.”
The band has gotten its fair share of Guided by Voices comparisons and understandably so. I mean, they open the album with a song called “Accidental Claustrophobes” for Pete’s sake and a lot of their songs are short and effective. However, they also borrow a few riffs from The Buzzcocks and the vocals of highly entertaining guitarist Joe Ryan(known to wear wigs and do ridiculous kick moves at live shows) recall Sloan. The vocal interplay that occasionally comes in between him and Jim Glass also add another level of enjoyment. Fans of power pop, lo-fi songwriting and amazing musicianship, take note: this may be the best album you hadn’t yet heard all year.
This is another prime example of completely missing out on an album, only to discover it through the Daily Graboid. While putting it together, I came across the song “Arrows” from Reverie Sound Revue, a lovely quintet out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Listening to it almost felt like embracing a sound that I had been missing for quite a while now. It’s that sophisticated brand of pop that draws immediate comparisons to a band like Ivy. While I’m listening to this, I just sit back and smile as the breezy melodies and smooth production permeate my ears with an air of indifference.
The band’s story is rather interesting as the they previously released an EP in 2003 before parting ways in 2004 to pursue other interests — which included a majority of the members earning various degrees — while vocalist Lisa Lobsinger spent time touring as a member of Broken Social Scene. It wasn’t until years later that the members decided to work on their long-awaited self-titled debut, which finally saw the light of day only a few weeks ago on June 23.
I’ve already listened to the entire album twice since picking it up last night, and it’s very satisfying from beginning to end. Mostly, due in part to Lobsinger’s subtle and understated vocals that provides me with this odd feeling of comfort and relaxation. Definitely worth giving this one a listen.
Older Wooden Shjips (i.e., by “old” I mean songs like ‘We ask you to ride’ from 2007) gives me the feeling of listening to a modern day psychedelic Doors clone. Their sound is always appealing, raw, and rocking. With their experimental sound taking some songs over 10 minutes, it is not necessarily for the short attention span. Their repetitive groove makes excellent traveling music or music to put on and do some work.
Their recent album Dos was released last month, with 5 songs totaling over 38 minutes. It offers a lot of the same style that their fans require with just a bit more volume and a harder push for rock. The rippin’ guitar of Ripley Johnson on the 11 minute “Down By The Sea” brings me back to some Mermen I used to listen to in the mid-nineties. Repetitive, creative, musical. Overall I think Dos is pretty good, however I do feel the stuff off of their 2007 self-titled release is still the best (check out ‘We ask you to ride’ below).
“You need more…” are the first lyrics that you will hear from album opener and lead single, Love Etc. and by the time you get to the end of this album’s 11 tracks you do indeed feel like you need more…more of this pop music goodness to grace the ears and dance floors of the world.
Yes (out 4/21 on Astralwerks) is the 10th studio album from this brilliant pop duo that have become a dance/pop staple since finding chart success with West End Girls, back in 1984. Since then, the Pet Shop Boys have sold over 30 million records and they just recently received the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award at the Brits this year. You may have lost touch with them here and there along the way, but they have never really stopped producing quality music for the masses and this new offering is a prime example of that. Yes was produced by Xenomania and features input from Johnny Marr and some beautiful string arrangements from Owen Pallet as well.
Album highlights include the aforementioned Love Etc., which just last week peeked at #2 on the Billboard Single’s Sales chart. Track 2 and eventual single All Over the World features Tchaikovsky in the writing credits, listen to find out why and Mr. Marr shows up to contribute some harmonica on the next track, Beautiful People. A couple of the other more danceable songs on the album, Did You See Me Coming? (slated to be the 2nd single from the album, features Marr on guitar) and More Than a Dream, merely serve as a chariot to deliver us to the glorious destination that is song # 9, Pandemonium. If you have to check out one track first, let it be this one as the Boys have pulled out all of the stops and come up with one of the best songs of their career. Chaos never sounded so good! The album rounds out with another song that could easily be a single, The Way It Used To Be and Legacy, an album closer for all time, that brings it home in an uplifting, reflective manner (grandly featuring the London Metropolitan Orchestra).
There is also a special 2-disc edition of them album that features dub versions of many of the album tracks remixed by Xenomania, as well as a new song with Philip Oakey called This Used to Be the Future, which is great enough to be a single in it’s own right.
So, in closing, this album may not be for everyone as I’m sure that many of you like your indie pop with more of the former and less of the later, but if you have followed this band in the past and are looking for something refreshing and danceable along with some heartfelt meaning thrown in for good measure, this could be for you. A special “thank you” should go out to Depeche Mode, for this week also sees the steaming pie of a release that is Sounds of the Universe, making this offering from the Pet Shop Boys sound even better in the realm of the dance/pop world. (Hey, look at that, I killed two reviews with one stone.)
Thanks for reading all and for indulging me in my Pet Shop Boys/fanboy excursion, I really appreciate it…happy listening!
As PJ mentioned in the Sunday Shuffle, he’s not making it down to SXSW for the third year in a row. That is no longer the case. While he continues to collect his thoughts and thank yous (and I retract any comments that I made about him being lame), I’ll let you know about the one and only place where you’re guaranteed to find me during the week, and that’s the second annual DC Does TX Party. We’re at Friends Bar on Wednesday the 18th and I’m basically going to copy the top ten reasons from our Facebook events page on why you should go. Other than to say hi to me (and PJ for as long as he decides to stay at that particular event.)
1) Because now that you’ve seen their claymation alter egos, you’ll know what Middle Distance Runner looks like in person. At 2:50pm.[Tripwire]
2) Friends Bar is right on 6th Street..we’re not making you cab out towards the University this year and your drunk ass can stumble nicely to the other parties once we’re through pwning you.[Friends Bar]
3) Because we already got a mention in the Washington Post.[Washington Post]
4) Because Carol Bui does percussion…with her body. No seriously, she puts on a large clinky belt and belly dances when she’s not playing the guitar and it looks and sounds awesome (so come see it, already.)
5) Because we have two Pitchfork high scorers playing back to back. Deleted Scenes (8.0,[Pitchfork]) at 1:20pm and Carol Bui (7.8,[Pitchfork]) at 2:00pm.
6) Because we love These United States more than Pitchfork does, anyway. So do Daytrotter, NPR, and the bazillion artists who played with them on their tour last year. And they’re closing the show at 4:30pm. [Daytrotter]
7) Because even though Laura Burhenn had to cancel on us at the last minute, we’ve got a special guest to open the show. You’ll have to come out to see who it is! (It’s a guy named Jamieson Clem, by the way.)
8 ) Val just might be drunk as a skunk before US Royalty even takes the stage at 3:40pm. But the rest of you will enjoy them. Spin did. [Spin]
9) Because you all know that Aaron Leitko is a damn fine writer. Did you also know that he’s playing bass with Carol Bui? (FYI, Aaron Leitko is one of my favorite local/Pitchfork writers. He makes my output look like crap.)
10) Because the rest of the country needs the occasional reminder that DC still breeds good bands in an era of post-Dischord dominance.
Hello All! My name is Dave and I have a music problem. I can’t stop listening to music, finding new music, reading about music, etc. My online moniker is oZriic (anyone know where that name came from?) and I usually post on my music blog SidVision. My blog has become more of just a place for personal notes and song sharing for friends / family at this point, so it is pretty cool that PJ has given me another outlet for posting (especially a site that gets a lot more readers). Thanks PJ!
Anyway, on to a group that I have been listening to a lot lately. . . Little Joy is a smooth tasting side-project of the Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti, along with Rodrigo Amarante of Brazilian indie band ‘Los Hermanos’, and Binki Shapiro providing soft sweet vocals on a few songs (like the incredible “Unattainable”). These guys have a likable, retro, Latin-flavored sound. As I listen, I can’t help but daydream about sipping cool summer drinks while relaxing in a comfy hammock.
Their self-titled debut album came out at the end of last year and seems to be slowly picking up momentum. Chill out and listen to “The Next Time Around” and “No One’s Better Sake”. Let me know what you think.
Sometimes an album doesn’t exactly have it all together, yet it’s OK. The Marches’4 AM is the New Midnight is one of those albums. It’s short. It’s a mess. At times, it leaves you confused. However, for every down there’s an up, and in the end the album has plenty to cheer about and promises even more for the future of this band. Their sound is the kind that makes you want to use the the “unclassifiable” genre tag, but if I had to describe it, I would call it MoTown-jazz-hip-hop-indie-rock-electronica. The Marches are unique, and perhaps still trying to complete find their sound, but this album is definitely promising. I’m sticking this band on my watch list, and maybe you will too after a listen.
So, who here likes Pavement? Yeah? Really? No way! You and about a gazillion other people, a large fraction of whom have put out records in the past two decades. Hell, occasionally one of those half gazillion bands even do a half decent job of recreating/paying homage to that lo-fi rock brilliance from time to time. Durham, NC’s Hammer No More the Fingers is one of those bands.
Instrumentally, Hammer No More the Fingers don’t deviate too far from the signature sound on their self-titled release. The bass is nice and prominent and the riffs are achingly familiar and just raucous enough. The vocals however, sound just slightly more polished, and at times recalling some early Weezer, like on poppier tune “Black Harmony.” Most importantly, unlike some bands that trip over all the Pavement in their sound (including some bands that my friends have been in…sorry, guys), Hammer No More the Fingers remind me why I continually listened to Slanted & Enchanted in college. It’s a very fine line between appreciating homage and wanting to bang my head against a wall while screaming, “Be original!” Hammer No More the Fingers recognize this and have songs that are cleverly written enough to stay on the impressive side of that line. Granted, I’m not the most hardline Pavement fan out there, so perhaps you disagree, but they still have my kudos. Well done, guys.
As i’ve come to continue listening to more of Richard Hawley’s latest offering Lady’s Bridge, the more ashamed I feel that i’ve never given a listen to any of his entire back catalogue of records. In fact, my first encounter with the newest record was short-lived, as I glanced over it without even breaking a sweat. It wasn’t until I listened to the elegant pop sounds of “Tonight the Streets Are Ours,” that I realized the breadth of talent that encompasses this man. It’s beautifully layered strings and keys that shimmer over the crooner-like vocals of Hawley that presents a classic, yet fresh sound that you just don’t hear too often anymore.
Reading through Hawley’s history was almost like going through a timeline that briefly touches on some of the finer moments of Britpop; with time spent as a guitarist Pulp and The Longpigs, to contributing with the likes of Beth Orton and Robbie Williams and an interesting audition at one point to be a guitarist in Morrissey’s live band. One would expect after reading that, that his would be heavily influenced by Britpop. Maybe a bit yes, but this album’s finer moments come from a style that incorporates and leans more towards rockabilly and folk-rock. Like I said previously, he’s a classic crooner, with some of the most unabashedly romantic songs you could ever listen to. His vocals remind me most of Neil Hannon – frontman of The Divine Comedy – but with a much lighter baritone and a bit more accessible in comparison.
In closing, Lady’s Bridge is a solid effort; an album that makes me long to hear this kind of music more often. This is Hawley’s love note to his hometown of Sheffield, England, and a beautiful one at that. I’m definitely looking forward to listening to his previous albums now.
was released last month, with 5 songs totaling over 38 minutes. It offers a lot of the same style that their fans require with just a bit more volume and a harder push for rock. The rippin’ guitar of Ripley Johnson on the 11 minute “Down By The Sea” brings me back to some 
“You need more…” are the first lyrics that you will hear from album opener and lead single, Love Etc. and by the time you get to the end of this album’s 11 tracks you do indeed feel like you need more…more of this pop music goodness to grace the ears and dance floors of the world.
As PJ mentioned in the Sunday Shuffle, he’s not making it down to SXSW for the third year in a row. That is no longer the case. While he continues to collect his thoughts and thank yous (and I retract any comments that I made about him being lame), I’ll let you know about the one and only place where you’re guaranteed to find me during the week, and that’s the second annual DC Does TX Party. We’re at Friends Bar on Wednesday the 18th and I’m basically going to copy the top ten reasons from our Facebook events page on why you should go. Other than to say hi to me (and PJ for as long as he decides to stay at that particular event.)
Entries (RSS)