Although Nate Kinsella, otherwise known as Birthmark, plays the majority of the instruments on all of his albums when he’s not filling in odds and ends for Joan Of Arc or drums for Make Believe, it’s difficult to view his LPs as solo efforts. Nate wrangles a multitude of noisemakers and he’s skilled at every one of them. Jumping into any point of his musical career shows it, such as when he’s rocking an off-kilter piano in JoA’s awesome “Questioning Ben Franklin’s Ghost”. He’s better described as a super-multi-instrumentalist. It is because of this that when it comes to his albums one can easily be fooled into thinking that a backing band is provided, or in his newest case Antibodies, an entire string section.

Listen to “Stuck”

The Pros:

As usual, Nate uses every bit of his arsenal to create the illusion of accompaniment. This time around, he actually worked with a string section to nail some essential bits on the record. So overall composition aside, Nate does not handle 100 percent of the instruments on Antibodies. Just 98.7 percent. The density created on each track gets so intensive at times that it harkens to another rogue musician’s work from a few years ago; Jim O’Rourke‘s The Visitor. Although Jim’s latest LP was sans-vocals, its focus over the course of its forty minute duration leapt from one landscape to another, thanks to the lush craftsmanship provided by O’Rourke and no one else. Kinsella similarly passes this feat of building a song one component at a turn to the point where it is unimaginable to think of these songs as soluble, (minus the relatively simple “Big Man”).

As the Kinsella family collective often does, Nate has dropped a compellingly lyrical bomb on his listeners. His words are casual yet gripping, and track by track, he seeps out confession through the cracks. What works best about these cathartic rhymes is the fact that he doesn’t indulge too far. Nothing gets overly dramatic, egocentric, or self-loathing; we aren’t staring into the soul of Nate Kinsella. That has never been his style, anyways. “Stuck” is instantly relatable to any cynic with half of a brain. A litany of insecurities can hit harder than doubling over in sorrow as most songwriters tend to; and with this, it feels like Nate has hit his lyrical mark.

The Cons:

For an album with only eight tunes, it may seem a tad heavy on the orchestral element present. About half of Antibodies carries a cello vibe, and the strings are always utilized for backing rather than blatant melody. This doesn’t result in songs sounding the same, but rather the string parts that inhabit them. They are easier to handle in small helpings like in the beginning of “Stuck”, but when thicker throngs appear in a song like “You Lighten Me Up”, they tend to feel more like a fixture instead of an instrument.

The Verdict:

Nate Kinsella’s Birthmark project’s latest release ranks as his most polished and professional to date. A relatively small offering, Antibodies covers excellent and associative emotional ground paired with both the acerbic bite and timid beauty that his instrumental palette allows.

Dana Buoy is really Dana Janssen of freak folk act Akron/Family in disguise. Well, not in disguise, but more so the solo epithet for the multi-instrumentalist. This is the same case as Paul Banks’ Julian Plenti branch off from Interpol, but more similar to Bradford Cox’s Atlas Sound project aside Deerhunter, because this music is much more electronic-oriented than the home outfit. Thank goodness that A/F is not on operation shutdown after the leave of core member Ryan Vanderhoof years ago. Now with Dana seeing the release of his debut album Summer Bodies, there’s even more reason to sweat over that prospect.

Listen to “Call To Be”

The Pros:

With this album, Dana transfers us from the familiar territory of woods and bayou that we’ve grown used to with A/F’s catalogue thus far and switches coasts on us. If the title isn’t enough of a clue, Summer Bodies is chock full of summery, beachside, meditative, electronic epics. Buoy pairs every song with wordy, calculated lyrics that would sound robotic if read off of pure paper.  Dana gives so much vibrance and feeling to all this verbosity, and providing the right fit seems an impressive feat the likes of solving a multi-thousand pieced jigsaw puzzle.

Buoy has openly referred to the music on this LP to be “tropicore.” You would be hard-pressed to think of this as the “core” of any genre specifically. There is absolutely an island-like feel to it at times, but this vehicle is comprised of many different parts. Synths are relied on heavily to create the overlying atmosphere while Dana makes sure to check in with the frequent tape loop or waning guitar line; both clear compliments of the Akron/Family influence that is no doubt present. Another attribute of the former project that did not get lost along the way was his soft spot for vocal harmonies. Countless tracks feature Dana’s lush pipes creating a wall of sound on their own; in fact, we are introduced to the world of Dana Buoy via these harmonies on the leading song “Anatomy Of Now”.

Relaxing, yes. Flat out beach-like/tropical, not exactly. Buoy’s mindset in writing these tunes was goaded along by time spent at the ocean, without argument. So, from what you may have heard, do not let the description skew your view. Evoking this particular mood differs from musical style itself. Allow Summer Bodies to take you to that sunny, utopian place, but remember that while the overall tone appears much more sanguine than his usual work, elements are slipped in ever-so-slightly that harken back to A/F. “Futures Part” is serene in every sense of the word and marches to a simple yet pounding drum beat that could easily have been steam coming off of Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free. “Delicate Suitor” is as epic in scope as “Lumen” from Akron/Family, but with cheer in place of mystique.

The Cons:

As a whole, this album is really solid, but it can tend to be misleading at times. One of the disappointing instances here occurs during its interlude of sorts; “Untitled 1″, consisting of saxophone lines from a tape recorder tricks you into thinking that someone just popped in Music Has The Right To Children. It has that field recording quality to it and the potential to erupt into a venture that is more electronic than anything appearing prior, but alas, it simmers. The general pacing could have been modified just a bit to attain a greater consistency, but this is a mere suggestion. Summer Bodies starts off with five singalong, scintillating numbers, and the second half features the sleepier side of things that crawls to a hush by the album’s end. Critically thinking, Dana could have evened things out by scrambling the tracks, but some may defer that the transition from pep to nap works towards its cohesiveness.

The Verdict:

Regardless, it’s all pretty beautiful. Akron/Family have made pitch-perfect freak folk jams for years ranging from mellow (Akron/Family) to wildly erratic (Love Is Simple). Saying that any A/F fan would immediately warm up to Dana Janssen’s solo work is a fallacy, although it wouldn’t be that difficult. Summer Bodies leaves out any weirdness found in his group effort’s work and trades it in for kumbaya-esque campfire winners of all shapes and sizes.

Marriages is a band that stems from Red Sparowes, consisting of 60% of Red Sparowes: Emma Ruth Rundle (vocals, guitar), Greg Burns (bass, synth), and Dave Clifford (drums). Kitsune, the Japanese word for fox, is a classic legend where the kitsune can become a human and have wisdom and power as they have more tails. On top of this, kitsune also lives extremely close to humans and normally is seen playing tricks or stirring up trouble among people.

With all of that in mind, I went into the album hoping for a sort of power struggle feel. On top of that, I was really interested to find out about Rundle’s vocals, since word on the street said she had some pretty killer pipes. And of course, seeing the differences that make Marriages not just Red Sparowes with vocals would be something of note.

Listen to the entire thing below!

The Pros

I feel like I’m always stressing seamless albums — no breaks or filler, meant to be listened to from the first track all the way through the last — and I get that from Kitsune. The album itself is no slouch in time, clocking in just under 30-minutes, but feels much shorter. It’s not the pace of the band either, as the majority of songs range in that head-bobbing 100-140 BPM range. The only thing I can think of was how smooth the entire album plays, with the planned song transitions bringing a sort of live set feel to the entire album.

There are some glaring similarities between Marriages and Red Sparowes. For one, the entire tone just feels like that heavy, dark Red Sparowes-esque post rock. That’s not a bad thing by any means however, and is elaborated on with the introduction of vocals. The song structuring is still progressive in nature, with parts of songs being repeated maybe twice at most. The weird descriptor I may use is “catchy”. By no means do I mean poppy or even upbeat, but rather instantly memorable. “Ride In My Place” has this extremely hummable bass line that I would assume everyone to get stuck in their head after a listen. A handful of tracks from Kitsune has that quality: getting stuck in your head, which is something that Red Sparowes never really tried to expand upon. Catchy doom is frankly more appealing to me.

Rundle’s vocals are definitely fire. She sings generally in a lower chamber but has flares of her range like in the track “Ten Tiny Fingers”. Most of the lyrical accompaniment is more ethereal than it is singer-songwriter-y. This style is completely more fitting to the entire package of Marriages as a band, and would have been fairly awkward to hear Rundle have any more emphasis vocally as it would have taken away from the aura of the album. Her guitar work goes without saying — fantastic. With her as the only guitarist in the crew it’s easy to see why she was a great addition to Red Sparowes. Red Sparowes in general aren’t necessarily known for being a cast of shredders, but Rundle definitely has some awesome showcasing of guitar work on Kitsune. In the same vein, Burns’ bass work is pretty spectacular in its own right. However, there are flashes of brilliance throughout Burns’ bass work on Red Sparowes. Hearing him shred it up, like on “White Shape”, is welcomed but not necessarily surprising. Clifford’s drum work falls in the same arena as Burns’ bass work: welcomed and expected.

For me, “White Shape” was my favorite track on the album. However, it should be stated again: this isn’t playlist fodder. It’s best experienced from the first track to the last.

The Cons

I was hoping for something more experimental, honestly. Strange timings, strange quirky instruments, possibly even something more upbeat. I didn’t get that. The album itself definitely takes on its own character, but doesn’t really show the range of where Marriages could go. It’s heavy, it’s dark, it’s basically Red Sparowes with vocals, but what else is it? Or can it be anything else?

“Part The Dark Again” gave me the most Red Sparowes vibe out of the songs. All the other songs felt different from Red Sparowes to me… felt like Marriages. “Part The Dark Again” didn’t. I got the vibe of “Red Sparowes B-side with vocals”. That’s definitely not what I wanted from this album. But that basically goes with the first con I stated: there may not be much separating Marriages from Red Sparowes. This obviously plays into their comfortability and strengths but is also a fairly conservative play.

The Verdict

This album has been a mainstay on my player since I got it. I personally love this kind of music. However, taking a step back and seeing the bigger picture is a bit harder. There are seemingly more similarities than there are differences between Red Sparowes and Marriages, which can be a bit polarizing. On one hand, the people who love Red Sparowes and that general sound and feel will fall in love with Marriages pretty easily. On the other hand, the fans of Red Sparowes who have heard about this new side project they put together called Marriages may be going into it expecting something different than what Red Sparowes has to offer. Essentially, the nuances that make Marriages different from Red Sparowes are more subtle than they are blatant, even with vocals included.

Marriages’ Kitsune is probably one of my favorite albums of the year, next to another Sargent House Records release with Good Old War‘s Come Back As Rain. The dark and at times dreamy vibe is something I’d be interested in seeing live from these guys.

I’ve been listening to Hurt since 2007 when I was going to college in Southern California. I had Vol.1 spinning constantly with “Rapture” testing the levels of my car speakers. After they released, “Goodbye to the Machine”, there was a long hiatus with no music in sight. Then, in 2012, they reappeared and announced “The Crux” – an aptly named record that toys with your feelings.

Wet Your Whistle

Pros

“So When” opens the album with a short piano ballad followed by the abrasive roar of J. Loren. Power chords pound away as Loren pops in and out with tender mercy and terrifying ferocity. Guitar solos tear through the grumble and a piano solo ends the track. “Eden” follows a similar sound, but with a more cryptic melody. Loren screams “But it’s the only time that Eden wasn’t far away/that believing wasn’t hard for me because I found you near.” The lyrical content is a similar mixture of their previous work. Half of it is a wrestle with god and the latter deals with deep-seated emotional issues surrounding (what would appear to be) the biggest bitch in the world and infanticide from Vol. 1. Scattered screams boom at the end and merge into my favorite track on the album. “Links & Waves” begins with clean electric guitar and a mild piano and Loren rips in with a verse/chorus that rattles you: “My life if yours because you’re mine. So we waited by the shore for the wave we’ve been looking for – to lie awake at night and make love – touch me, the way you touch me made me alive.” Every lyric evoked complete and total passion and vulnerability. As chills shot through my entire body I started to wonder how they could be so sadistic by making it only a minute long, but some things are more memorable if they leave you wanting more. “Sally Slips” follows the similar sound Hurt is known for. The southern brass knuckle of rock attacks with a persistence that is striking. Tracks like “Caught in the Rain” keep the album at a certain level of “somber” while maintaining a definite trajectory as their single “How We End Up Alone” soon follows to bring us back to familiar back-breaking melody. Then, wait for “Numbers” to tear you apart with a vicious elevated chorus.

Cons

If you don’t like Southern rock or music that packs an emotional punch, Hurt my be a little on the heavy side. This isn’t a con – I just needed something to take up space in this area. Buy the CD!

Verdict

Hurt always finds a way into the consciousness of the listener and evokes a certain level of emotion. They are such passionate musicians that it is a contagious sound even when it is produced in a studio. While the album is riddled with fierceness, there is a subtle amount of love and pain that you recognize only when it sneaks up on you. This is another really solid release from one of the best rock groups around. I’ll be seeing them in San Francisco this Wednesday and will give a brief live review of what I see. To be honest, I think they are going to set Hotel Utah on fire. Even if you don’t end up buying this album, check out “Links & Waves” for the 1:16 experience. Expect a small live review when I see them in 2 days. If you’re available, join me for a beer and great music.

Brief Live Review Follow-Up

I went to Hotel Utah with a good friend of mine and metal head, Dustin. He had never heard of Hurt before, but was down to have some beer and see a show in the city. I have terrible luck in San Francisco (I’ve mentioned this in the past). As a result, we find the best parking spot in front of the doors of Hotel Utah, but my I.D. is put into question by the man at the door. “This, my friend isn’t a real I.D.” he said. “You bet your sweet ass it’s a real I.D., sir. You can call the police if you need to confirm.” I was not going to miss this show because the bouncer wasn’t familiar with CA’s new I.D. cards — Fast forward a few minutes of banter and he gets it checked out by someone else who confirms that “It is real”. I shaved for the ladies, but regretted not keeping a little gristle for the show. That was a pain in the ass.

We sat on the top balcony and overlooked the opener and, eventually, Hurt when they came on stage. As requested by J., nobody had their phones out recording the set and being obnoxious. Believe it or not, there are some people who still value the raw, personal experience of playing music in a small venue and don’t like it being slathered on YouTube for others to gaze at casually. I stand behind this 100% and I’m glad J. said it outright.

The all-acoustic show began and made everyone freeze in position once the first track was over. From the metal head next to me, to the casual listeners standing in the background, everyone knew that this was no joke. Folks, I’ve seen a lot of shows in my life, but never have I experienced something as enjoyable and powerful as Hurt’s set at Hotel Utah. Each song, including a cover of “Wicked Games” was executed with passion and a love for music that a lot of bands forget about when they hop on a tour bus. It was mind-blowing.

Halfway through the show my friend Dustin asked me, “Hey man, have a cigarette with me outside”. I thought, “That’s funny, I don’t smoke.” I didn’t realize that what he was really saying was, “The band is hanging out right here, you should go be a fan boy for a few.” The guys in the band were all great, down to earth people. They let me throw out my fanboyism about being really helped by their music when I went away to college in ’07. Long story short, I really enjoyed talking with the guys from Hurt and it solidified the belief I already held about why they were putting on such an unforgettable show – there was a passion for music that came out of every pore.

What I can say post-show is that while I don’t have any pictures, videos, etc. to share, I recommend you take a trip out to see these guys play if you’re able. I’m nominating “The Crux” for Album of the Year in 2012 for 402 Productions as well. The more I listen, the more impressed I am.

On a brief side note, make sure you exit out of the side door at Hotel Utah. “Doves and a mango” await those who venture. (Copyright J. Loren Quote of the Night)

Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein are only about half right; the dream of the nineties is not only alive in Portland, but in the United Kingdom as well. Evans The Death is the name of this five-piece group, and they are brand new. As new as can be, really. This release, their self-titled full length, is the debut of the band. Other than that, their isn’t too much to say on their behalf, given the lack of a history and all. So, get ingratiated…

Listen to Evans The Death

The Pros:

I swear, there’s been a common thread among the past few albums I’ve reviewed here regarding bands that reach back and pull from the ’90s as if it were yesterday. Evans The Death’s debut LP sounds like Babes In Toyland equipped with a set of Joey Santiago and Black Francis at guitars. What is notable here among other revivalists of the sort is that this album has received the precise production to make it appear to be a product of that decade. Nothing too flashy is involved, the instrumentation is evened out well, and any pedaled effects on guitar or filters on Katherine Whitaker’s vocals are raised ever so noticeably.

Katherine is one hell of a songstress, and will remain the most dazzling impression made on Evans The Death. Any hook that graces your ears in all twelve of these tracks can lend their thanks to Whitaker’s shaky, meaningful croon. Her deliverance and wording of lyrics once again hit the nail on the head for nostalgia of two decades past. Dishing out refrains like “There’s no pretty way to tell a lie” offers a glimpse into that long forgotten method of blunt poetry that bands like Tiger Trap or Pixies used to cry out at loud levels. This whole ’90s mask is a great attribute to their overall ability, but the attention does not stray from the fact that this is a collective of some well-seasoned musicians who are even more capable at songwriting. The “vintage” blanket is hard to not take into consideration as it is so prevalent, but if its inclusion is necessary, then think of ETD as Veruca Salt with a slew of great songs instead of just one.

The Cons:

While there’s a lot to love in the lyricism, there’s also a lot to face-palm at. Nothing is ever outright groan-worthy, but at times it can be deserving of a slight cringe; most easily comparable to Bernard Sumner’s lowest moments on Low-Life, (no pun intended). Words that seem cleverly rhymed initially like “precarious” and “hilarious” used in any context really pushes the envelope just a tad, and it’s a shame that they didn’t catch things like that during practices. Thankfully, much like most of the words to “Sooner Than You Think” from Low-Life, they cannot take away from the music itself in this instance.

The Verdict:

Evans The Death is a cool debut. There is much to look forward to in this band. They have crafted some fine pop music here that lasts just the right amount of time for you to settle into, and then it’s on to another rocking, catchy number that packs bite. Hats off.

Listen While You Read

Meet the Artist

Technically speaking this is the freshman release for American Gospel. In reality the man behind the curtain that is American Gospel has been involved in several well-received released. Gregg Dellaroca has been performing for several years. Most recently his group, The Republic of Wolves, has gained an underground following. Two of his fellow wolves make appearance on his solo release. Add that in with a whole host of other guest appearances the album could have easily been released under the name “Gregg and All His Friends”.

The Album as a Whole

To be completely honest I had very high expectations for this album because I thoroughly enjoyed Dellaroca’s work on The Republic of Wolves’ albums. Before receiving a copy of the album to review I had heard track embedded above, Hunting Boar. While I appreciated it for what it is, a good song, it could have easily just been a track on the next TRoW album. I had hoped to hear a something different and unique that makes the album worthy of existing as a separate entity. Despite this mild disappointment I was determined to give the album a fair shake. So here it is.

This album is fantastic (subtle, i know). While my previous comments are true of Hunting Boar and a few other tracks on the album, the record as whole flows so well that I don’t see how it could have been any other way. Some of the similarities in sound I’m sure can also be attributed to Dellaroca’s involvement in the production aspects of the music. Tall Tales Vol. is simultaneously eclectic and cohesive. I didn’t notice one underlying theme or overarching story in the album but it does come across as an experience. I recommend giving it your first listen in a situation where you can give it 41 minutes and 35 seconds of uninterrupted time. This is not a ride that you want miss out on.

Track by Track

The album opener, “I Know”, make it perfectly clear that American Gospel is a different beast. You can’t help but smile when the horns section makes its appearance. It’s an uptempo anthem showcase’s the incredible talent that is contained in this album.

Track 2 immediately drops the mood into a much more somber lo-fi experience. “Bayonet” almost feels like a song of mourning. It manages to create a sense of rise and fall without breaking character with the mood it establishes with it’s stripped down opening.

The tempo picks back up with “The Hanged Man”. The character in Dellaroca’s vocals finally start to show in this track.

“Say” once again introduces a new style the album. A fairly simple pop piano melody opens the track backed by synth beat. The album swells with Modest Mouse-esque choruses.

The aforementioned “Hunting Boar” growls and brings in the eerie ambiance you might expect from a member of TRoW.

With “The Woods” American Gospel earns its name. Sara Pope sings along with Dellarocca to a strip down acoustic accompaniment in this old southern gospel inspired track. The only disappointing element is that it only clocks in at 44 seconds. It feels almost like an opener for track 7.

“The Falling Feeling” brings back a strong showing from the horns section. The vocals are honest and pleading and occasionally backed by the kind of gang vocals that never fail to bring a smile to my face.

“Better Off” from start to finish plays out like a mid-90′s alt rock hit. The dirty distortion of the guitars matched with Dellaroca pushing his voice to growl leaves me reminiscing about when it was cool to like the Toadies.

“Forget Not Yet” offers the perfect counterbalance to the grunge of “Better Off”. It’s the kind of track that makes you want to close your eyes and “feel” along with the singer. Stephanie Tolino provides haunting vocals in reply to Dellaroca’s pleading loneliness.

Just when you think American Gospel has shown all of it’s cards “I’ll Never Let You Go” rolls around. The first few lines made me double-check my playlist to make sure I hadn’t somehow switched over to some unreleased Oasis track. Those similarities quickly give way to a synthy beat and slightly vocoded vocals. This is not a sound I expected to hear on this album. Just when you get comfortable with your new surroundings something amazing happens… Kenny G (or as the credits read Jon Degen) walks in and plays a saxophone solo. The sax playing oozes with so much charm that it’s impossible not to love this otherwise misplaced track.

“World Lines” strips the sound of American Gospel back to the basics. It almost seems like it was arranged cleanse your pallet for the album’s closer.

“Geronimo” closes out the album with eerily ambient folk track that gently brings your ride to it’s an end. But not before piling on another helping horns, group vocals, and Dellaroca’s charmingly unique vocals.

The Pros

The album is a charmingly eclectic display of talent. The lyrics and vocals are refreshingly honest and original. AND IT HAS A SAXOPHONE SOLO. Gregg Dellaroca has created something he can truly be proud of.

The Cons

If you don’t like The Republic of Wolves you won’t like a few tracks on this Album. At times the vocal production doesn’t seem to perfectly match stylistically with each song.

Verdict

In case your a member of the TL:DR; crowd let me make myself clear. I loved this album. I’m personally a vinyl junky so I’ll hold off purchasing until then. For the rest of you guys I recommend pre-ordering the album today. It’ll be out May 15th.

Ty Segall is a man of many talents and faces. He sings, he rocks the guitar, he produces (most topically, he turned knobs for Heavy Cream‘s upcoming Super Treatment album which I’ll be covering pretty soon), and he lends his title to countless bands other than his namesake project. Last year, his album Goodbye Bread earned a lot of praise, and 2012 has so much Segall material planned for it that I’m sure we’ll be seeing more magic happen. As for now, musical artist White Fence has teamed up with the man to release Hair.

Listen to “Time”

The Pros:

“One… two… three… four…” and then, havoc. This bunch raises hell in that familiar and always-refreshing style of rehashed, old school garage rock. The drums are always blaring and clipping out of one speaker, quite similar to the sound on The Soft Bulletin or The Brown Album, which gives it a great retro feel, as if the album was just dug out of your cool uncle’s basement. Retro is really the one word to describe Hair. Segall, Tim Presley, and gang all do their best to take heavy Stooges riffs and inject drugs and hippie poetry into them.

By the time you hit “Crybaby,” easily the album’s best cut, you’ll have a clear picture of what this crew set out to accomplish. The hoarse wail that kicks off this song represents everything worth analyzing, which really isn’t much. This band loves to shred and pound around, making noise with an innocuous and fun purpose. Feedback-laden solos paint this town like ketchup on a hot dog, and no matter what, the bass always comes off as quiet and reserved. Even when equipped with a fuzz effect on the closer “Tongues,” it gets boosted to a mere futuristic telephone-dialing tone, and it works. I guess somebody has to maintain a sort of decorum around here.

Homage comes in two forms: one obviously stemming from this unit’s influence of acts such as the Stooges, MC5, and glam rockers; and the other being a slyly direct tribute to classic riffs straight from the repertoires of these influences. Once “Time” clashes into its louder, rockier second half, they play into it using a near-identical lick from the beginning of the end of Black Sabbath‘s “Under The Sun/Every Day Comes And Goes”. A little while later, “Easy Rider” features a bridge that mimics Nirvana‘s “About A Girl”. Reference is easy to point out here, and it’s done in a loving fashion. Consider it similar to Butthole Surfers‘ song “Sweat Loaf,” except Hair was definitely made with less drugs. Definitely.

The Cons:

Don’t be so quick to hail this LP as the seminal modern garage record of its time. This must be addressed due to the incredible hype Hair has received. Absolutely, this “supergroup” has cranked out a nasty pack of grungy side-splitters, but please keep in mind that there are many other bands bearing just as much importance to the genre. Although more focused and less scattered, this is only a step above Uncle Bad Touch‘s self-titled debut of last year. In The Red records manages a slew of releases each year that kick out jams as gnarly and scratchy as this. All I’m saying is, don’t get lost in the moment due to a bigger name.

The Verdict:

Ty Segall & White Fence have produced some damn fine garagedelia, and the LP is as wonderfully messy as the title itself. If you seek smoke-enshrouded, noisy flower-punk, then get your hands on this. But – make sure you hold on to your pants as well, because the year is young and albums are in the future for both acts at hand. So, is this the start of a banner year for Presley and Segall, or their zenith? Stay tuned, and rock out to Hair.

Years ago, after seeing Built To Spill live in concert, I got to know their opening act, the superb Fauxbois, after the show. The band rocked, and they were a bunch of nice folks. Being Idaho natives, I remembered frontman Brian Mayer making several references to how cool and awesome of a band Finn Riggins is. They had toured and played many shows together, and if Fauxbois gave them a thumbs up, I had to check them out as well. This Boise trio belongs to the Tender Loving Empire record label, and 2009′s Vs. Wilderness is more reason to get into these guys (and girl). Their music is a blend of scuzzy keyboards, distorted and stressed out guitars, and danceable percussion. For this year’s Record Store Day, the group has released their EP Benchwarmers.

Listen to “Benchwarmers”

The Pros:

Please, listen to the embedded track, and introduce yourself to one of the most listenable songs of the year. “Benchwarmers” is irresistibly catchy. Armed with a drum beat that resembles an Adult Swim bump and a killer bass synth line, Lisa Simpson (not the cartoon character) plays the bard in an free-verse poem that paints a picture of what can be inferred as cool-as-hell kids from years past wearing Converse All-Stars, headbands, and cutoff jeans just hanging on the bleachers. It’s either reminiscing about their time in junior high, or a tongue-in-cheek knock on hipster havens Brooklyn and Portland. Whichever it is, it’s damn good.

The opener is really the outlier of this EP, as its bubble-gum blowing pop goes home for the night once straight rockers follow like “Plural” and “Big News”. Anyone familiar with Finn Riggins knows that their adrenaline is their greatest virtue and it plays well into their music. Flow is more noticeable than ever on Benchwarmers, due to its length of five songs. The group starts of relatively timid with the deceptively sweet titular track, then moves on to much more aggressive territory with the instrumental refrains in “Plural” and the punk rock chantings in “Big News” and “Arrow”.

For a three-piece act, Finn Riggins make a hell of a lot of noise; more than many larger bands. Often, it’s a sprawl of keyboards, drums, and any other fuzz they can manage to muster. “Parkour,” the closer, is a quintessential tune for any fan. Whereas “Benchwarmers” works so well as an introductory piece, this song feels like a warm goodbye to a long month of bittersweetness that turned out beautiful in the end. Cameron Bouiss’s drum set is practically set ablaze from the sheer passion by the EP’s close. Altogether, they raise an enormous amount of racket, and each new set of noises is more innocently ungraceful than the last.

The Cons:

This record’s middle three tracks don’t hold too much of a candle to “Benchwarmers” and “Parkour”. That isn’t to say that those tracks are unenjoyable, in fact, they are expertly-crafted indie rockers. “Arrow” is the strongest out of these, but all in all, this doesn’t seem like a fault of the band’s. Personally, it is my belief that the two highlights of Benchwarmers just happen to be perfect. It could be that this middle section gets shorted on shrift only because those aforementioned songs are too flawless. Nothing to be ashamed of, Finn Riggins.

The Verdict:

The wait has paid off, and FR has continued their streak of excellence from Vs. Wilderness. This is without a doubt the best EP I’ve had the privilege of listening to all year. When Record Store Day hits tomorrow, be aware that this EP is one to get your hands on.

The first time I heard Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s, back in 2006 on their debut The Dust of Retreat, I was hooked. The second time I heard them, I was indifferent. The third time, I was not even sure that the band I was listening to was the same one that I had enjoyed way back when. Each time out, Margot (Richard Edwards and co.) come at their music from a different angle. This is nowhere more evident than on Rot Gut, Domestic, their recently-released foray into territory previously left to bands like The Hold Steady and Ike Reilly Assassination.

Watch the Video for “Prozac Rock”

The Pros

Rot Gut, Domestic rocks, and that’s not something I thought I would ever write about Margot, a group whose roots are more orchestral indie pop than anything else. Rot Gut, Domestic has a coarse, grainy sound, like a layer of wet sand ground into a Van Gogh– in a good way. There are still softer moments (“A Journalist Falls in Love with Death Row Inmate 16” and “Christ”, most notably) but these are made all the more memorable by the juxtaposition between sonic poles.

The album is also really well paced, and each of the 12 tracks brings a new surprise. “Books About Trains” sounds like Led Zeppelin via Neva Dinova. “Shannon” has a lyrical brutality that Dethklok would envy: “I wanna have your babies, and take your last name / But I’m probably gonna just get drunk, Shannon,” with that name all but spat at the listener, while  Emily Watkins, whose vocal contributions album-wide are excellent, shrieks “That doesn’t work!” over the chorus, adding a creepy dimension to an already great song.

The Cons

With the reverb turned up and the focus put on guitar instead of, say, glockenspiel, some of the charm of old tracks like “A Sea Shanty of Sorts” and “A Children Crusade on Acid” is lost. But as saccharine tinkle-pop via The Boy Least Likely To or Freelance Whales loses traction in the indie scene and Black Keys and Cold War Kids take over (and sign to majors in the process) this is probably ultimately a smart move on Margot’s part.

The Verdict

Of course, Margot could make me look like an ass and show up in two years with a math rock album played solely on children’s piano and wind chimes– they’re that kind of band, and their horizons are boundless. This time around I was very pleasantly surprised, but next time around: who knows?

The openers for Explosions in the Sky at The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco on April 16th and 17th were not announced prior to tickets being on sale. And, to be honest, it seems that Zammuto had no idea until around a month after the show was announced. Only a handful of people were privy to Nick Zammuto’s post-The Books crew opening — me not being one of them. So the surprise to end up finding out that it truly was half of The Books in a new suit was pretty amazing.

The Books needs no introduction I feel, as I can recall many early college years with my dear friend Sebastian Vermette in his room or dark room blasting The Lemon of Pink. What was most impressive about The Books was their ability to translate their unique style into a visual show live, with quirky and charming word play and visual stimuli that accented the songs remarkably well. Zammuto (comprised of brothers Nick and Mikey, drummer Sean Dixon, and The Books contributor Gene Back on keys/guitar) also brought a visual aspect to their abstract and experimental music that also was both quirky and charming, but also hilarious at times with features from old Zammuto family home movies and pin-point editing jobs for obscure how-to videos.

The live show was very fun, and made me fall in love with whatever band was on stage. Having no knowledge that Zammuto was the company performing the act gave me a real crisp edge for this review, as I don’t have to reach back into my past memories of The Books and comparing Zammuto to something else. Rather, I was more interested to see how well their latest self-titled album, released April 3rd, translated to the stage. Or I guess… how their stage show reflected their latest album.

You can stream the entire album below!

The Pros

The thing that was stood out live and on the album was the vocals. For some, and for me for my first few seconds, the vocals won’t be a very strong plus. On the album, the glitchy and effect-ladened vocals seem like a language for robots. However, being able to see Nick Zammuto perform this live sort of sends a bias towards those who have experienced the live show first — the recreation of the vocals from the album to the stage becomes something of technical expertise and less of an Imogen Heap rip. When the effects aren’t blasting, Nick Zammuto does have quite the voice, showing that the effects may be over the top but not because he’s trying to hide himself vocally. Rather, it becomes a nice way to loose yourself in the music entirely.

The album is built upon many instruments, seemingly, with guitars being constant in most orchestration. At times, the bloops and bleeps from a chime or random percussion instrument gives this endless feeling of instruments being pulled out of the closet and strummed or hit once then thrown back whence it came. The unpredictable swirl of music Zammuto builds is harder to dissect, instrument-by-instrument, as the many instruments aside from vocals and guitar share only in a handful of what makes up the entire pie, so to speak. On the album, it’s hard to speak to the strengths of one instrument of another as they all sort of share the same amount of the responsibility in creating the Zammuto sound. Live, however, the drumming from Sean Dixon was definitely noteworthy. That man is a machine. Which is sort of a dichotomy between album and live, as the drumming on the album doesn’t sound particularly spectacular or intricate. However, once can imagine this is by design. The strange feeling I get when listening to this and seeing how it was played out came with the thoughts of how can they piece together all of this and make it sound anywhere near as good? I suppose my actual question was how can they take everything they just did on stage and make it wow me on an album? That design, of having a hard perception of how the action of this music comes about, seems fairly difficult to create. I do believe Zammuto strived for that sort of confusion though. Every piece of this band live was outstanding. The album shows another layer of Zammuto that is equally impressive.

The Cons

The thing some new listeners who didn’t come in through The Books may be challenged with is trying to figure out what the hell Zammuto is. In short, that’s exactly what they want. But the aurally simplistic tones (which are actually subtly complex and not “simple”) may lead itself to aurally unchallenging. In the realm of glitch and experimental, I feel that part of the attraction is the challenge to figure out what the hell is going — whether that is due to technical performance or the actual sound up of the music. In the case of Zammuto, it’s easy to listen to and sounds like some airy jam band with too many effects. I mean… for many people who aren’t coming into Zammuto from The Books or from the “glitch-aficionado” arena, something easy to listen to that sounds like a weird jam band is actually… pretty… appealing.

Another con is that their album does not do their live show justice at all. I would almost want this album released with the video accompaniment, like The Books’ Playall DVD — a mainstay on Sebastian’s projector whenever we had a party at his place. But even then, the visuals do not help “solve the mystery” of how it all comes together live. That truly is a treat to be seen. And although this con isn’t much about the album at all, nor is it really a con, Zammuto live is a must see.

With that, maybe the con is that the live show touches on bases that the album doesn’t. There is a true sense of killer musicianship on that stage but on the album it seems buried under the wall of music. Either medium is fine, but almost is dual-purpose. Maybe what I’m getting at is that there is a loose connection I feel between the album and the stage, although both are amazing in their own rights.

The Verdict

Listen to this album. It’s been on replay for me for the past four hours. Seriously. The flow of the album matches my California winter and early spring exactly. I don’t really know what the hell that last sentence was suppose to mean either. I know that you aren’t really suppose to over-think this album, and rightfully so. Enjoy it for what it sounds like and try not to be a d-bag like me and dissect it. It’s good and I would recommend it to you. That should have been the review in the first place.