Should we pity the lyric-less? They live a hard life. They are cast aside too often for those searching for the right words. Not that the listeners are truly to blame, searching for words is so common an occurrence that most people forget they do it. Or, in the case of lyricists, they provide little to no actual clarity around 75% of the time (ballpark guess), maybe more. Sure, I made up that statistic. It seems true, right? Listeners get so caught up in what someone says, they too often forget how little need be said. I can’t ever really know if Bells had that intention in mind when they wrote/recorded There Are Crashes, but it seems like they did.
Continue reading ‘Bells: There Are Crashes EP’
Bias is a strange thing. I try to avoid reviewing bands I’m biased about if I listen to the album enough or not. However, I feel like Superchunk’s Majesty Shredding is being dismissed as a refurbished version of the past. Of course, this style of criticism is to be expected. Listening to a veteran band and looking for something new is boring for a reviewer. We crave that fresh blood. Why really consider an album like Majesty Shredding? Who cares about Superchunk when there are new bands rehashing the sound?
It is astounding. After asking the rhetorical questions, the album is so easy to review. It’s terrific. Each song is a calculated sound smear with meaningful-yet-intently-vague lyrics. The guitars play off of each other like they always have, the drums, bass and vocals are still sharp but there’s something new and fresh about the production that doesn’t hearken to the past. It might be that production value is different after nearly a decade, sure, but I am not so quick to dismiss the fact that Superchunk has an apex in this album. Not a refresh button or a new way to record, or a attitudinal resurgence. Chalking this up to a nine year layoff or some ghostly-yet-omnipresent “refresh” seems like a cop out. Continue reading ‘Superchunk: Majesty Shredding’
Stream the new EP for free. Or download it for cheap. Then disagree with this statement:
This EP is fucking good.
Maybe you’re not an “instrumental music” person. Maybe you’re having a bad day. Maybe your dog is eating toilet paper while you are asleep. Hell, I barely know you, but I want to believe you love this EP immediately. You see, I want to respect you: as a person, as a music lover. And Bells’ debut is one of those records where I draw lines. This is only the first listen and I am already drawing lines. LINES I TELL YOU LINES.
In any event, expect a full and glowing review quite soon. Then, maybe we can talk about my judgmental nature. But not now. I got some listening to do.
Every time Superchunk puts out an album, an angel gets his/her wings. “Water Wings” pun not intentional. Seriously, though, I am excited about this album. So excited, in fact, that I listened to it on my shitty computer speakers rather than putting it on my ipod (which was not nearby). I just had to have it, and it seems worth it. Superchunk’s umpteenth release sounds like a damned fine one and just in time for the annual fall angst. Get excited.
I’m pumped. Why am I pumped? Because this album rules. And it makes me want to rule even harder than I already rule. Remember that scene in The Wrestler when Tomei and Rourke are all “The 90s sucked,” and “They didn’t make ‘em like they used to?” Well, screw them. We make ‘em just fine and we did then too. This album proves it. Rock and roll didn’t die because everything frivolous died, rock and roll just lives in a new frivolity. Anyway, back to the point: this album rules. I doubt anything will change in 9 more listens.
Quite like this year’s spectacular (and unfortunately as of yet not fully reviewed) School Of Seven Bells’ release, Glasser’s Ring pushes all the right electronica buttons. Easy to digest, perfectly nondescript when necessary and noise-exact at its best, it is an exercise in fruitful movement and pitch. Often, the chances they take are easy, but every now and again they shatter their easygoing facade with songs like “Mirrorage” or opener “Apply.” With a beautiful sense of structure, these songs use the remarkable female voice more backbeat than I’ve been hearing in the rest of the album, but it is possible I’ve not heard them at my best. As I continue to listen to Ring, I might find more rewards.
Knut destroys. Wonder is the new Knut album. Therein, it also destroys. Wait, if Knut destroys, and this is a creation of Knut, is Wonder therein a destructive force by proxy? Or is it allowed to breathe on its own and be destructive? Is proxy relative to the Knut-ish whole or a creation of force? What is force? Who are we if we are not Knut? We are but simple humans caught in the metallic whirlwind that is Wonder. And so it shall be: we cannot attain Knut, though we can own it.
Here’s the deal: 5 years ago, Knut was a band, then I assume there weren’t for awhile. They were out in Switzerland, and due to my limited knowledge of the area, I assume they were kicking asses and devoting their time to neutral stances on world politics. And doing cool-dude shit. I assume they did some drinking and drugs and laughed at the poor, lifeless souls using metal as a brand name rather than a conquest portal. Then, in 2009, they decided they’d had enough, rose from the dusted pavements of their metropolis to reign down significant riffage and power upon us. And, in return, we cower and kneel before their power, as we should.
Continue reading ‘Knut: Wonder’
I don’t know how to recommend this album to people. Is it a pop record? Is it a rock record? Is it dancey and fun? Is it a serious record? Who are Tokyo Police Club, exactly? I so eagerly anticipated this album’s release, I tweeted that it would be one of the most-hyped albums this year. I believed it would be their breakout– the album that launched them into pop-rock iconography. Then, I was removed from the world upon it’s release. In an internet-less haze, I’ve not heard word one about how the album has done or what people think of it. Even friends who love the band have moved on to rant and/or rave about new, exciting albums. And I’m stuck in the (month-long) past, still plugging along with one of the better records to come out this year. Continue reading ‘Tokyo Police Club: Champ’
The evils of classic rock are laid out beautifully on the radio: long guitar solos, brash body worship, clueless love lyrics that equate to unintelligent, formless limerick lines and dude-centric bullshit littering the American Dream. Sure, I like some classic rock, but for every Tom Petty there’s a .38 Special and for every early Chicago, there’s, well, a late Chicago. I struggle to find intellectual balance in classic rock. One part of me just wants to rock out and bang my head for metal health, the other wants to analyze this thing that’s called radar love. The middle ground, for me, lies within the beast itself: meaning. Is there a purpose to the rambling and rollicking? Why is this solo here? Are these lyrics really worth the time to sing them? Continue reading ‘Phosphorescent: Here’s to Taking It Easy’
The second album from School of Seven Bells has me excited. Coming on July 13th, it might not be a summer anthem, but it will mark my discontent quite nicely. “Windstorm,” the starter to the album and the single, might the best song they’ve written in their short career. Alpinisms had the unique problem of topheaviness– I like the first three songs so much I never really gave the rest of the album enough of a chance. The sharper, bigger movements and sweeping tones of Disconnected from Desire continue throughout, though, and I am certainly impressed.
Expect a full review close to the release date or sooner. I’m liking this enough to put it at the top of the reviewing heap. You can stream “Windstorm” here. I think it is one of the best songs I’ve heard this year.