Category Archives: Album Reviews

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Young Prisms — Friends For Now: Album Review

By Snilch

Young Prisms
Friends for Now
Kanine Records

From the first notes, this is classic shoegazer:  dreamy, noisy, poppy, with bright patches amongst the clouds.  A slow build early on suggests that the darkening mood will bring the fury shortly.

But that never really happens.  Think a blander shade of Ride: the elements are all here, but either the heart or the killer instinct isn’t.  The songs soar, but they lack that “guts of a burglar” quality that would take this album from homage to brilliance.

And that heart has a definition musically:  it’s called “the rhythm section.”  More specifically, it’s the lack of drums and bass throughout.  When they come to the fore and provide some sonic separation (like on “Feel Fine”), you can hear this Young Prisms‘ tremendous potential; otherwise, it’s on the wrong side of the wrong My Bloody Valentine reference game (in other words, the “Isn’t Anything” side, as opposed to “Loveless”).

In the end, there are a lot of nice touches and reasons to love this band, but Friends for Now sounds like the work of a shoegazer cover band.  They’ve got the right musical influences for sure, but they need to find their own voice – this is a conglomeration of a lot of others – and more confidence in their obviously competent rhythm section.  If they put it all together, they will be brilliant.

Released on January 18, 2011

Track Listing

1. Friends for Now
2. If You Want to
3. Sugar
4. Eleni
5. In Your Room
6. All Day Holiday
7. Breathless
8. Feel Fine
9. If Don’t Get Much
10. Stay Awake

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Album Review: Dinosaur Bones — My Divider

By Jack Randall

Dinosaur Bones
My Divider
Dine Alone

At first listen, Dinosaur Bones’ My Divider can be summed up in one word—boring.  But then you realize there’s more there to it than what you garner from a casual listen.  Without drowning in complexity, Dinosaur Bones adds bricks to a subtle wall of sound to create something beyond pop rock.  Their music, like their name, is a skeletal framework on which one can picture flesh and skin.

On “Making Light” and “Sharks in the Sand” there is something almost Smiths-like in its approach.  A smoothly wallowing verse from vocalist Ben Fox sneaks up on you, and just as you’re about to say to yourself “heard it before” and move on, you’re struck by the way the vocals and music completely integrate with one another, ebbing and flowing in slowly churning musical swells.

A more charged “Bombs in the Night” picks things up before throwing you into the faster-yet “N.Y.E.”  “Hunters” is your last chance at rock as the album delves into softer, even more layered structures that require a little more concentration.

“Point of Pride” and “Royalty” are the more memorable tracks from the back end, standing out amongst the less flashy gems, but “Ice Hotels” manages a haunting familiarity.  The title track “My Divider” ends the album in a slow culmination of all sounds heard prior.

With their layered guitars, buttery vocals, and driving bass Dinosaur Bones have a lot going for them.  I would be more interested in a live show that would break up some of the potential monotony of the album, but if they keep this up they could easily shatter the music industry’s dreaded Sophomore Album Curse on a second outing.

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Album Review: The Dirtbombs — Party Store

By Jack Randall

The Dirtbombs
Party Store
In the Red Records

The Dirtbombs are one of the many reasons Detroit is the Rock City.  Led by Mick Collins, of the Gories fame, Party Store is a collection of past Detroit techno hits.  Interpreted for his garage punk outfit, these techno jams fit the band’s rhythm-centric style.

From the first cymbal smash, “Cosmic Cars” hooks you in to the concept.  Collins’ normally soulful voice is honed down to a fine monotone edge, creating the human vocalization of techno.  The sparse “Sharevari” churns with a repetitive guitar riff, that classic Detroit twang, as it plays tug-of-war with the lead. The song disappears into “Good Life,” arguably the poppiest selection on the album.  Repetitive but catchy, skipping ahead to “Alleys of Your Mind” is a refreshing dive back into some more explorative garage rock.

As much as you’ll want to skip “Bug in the Bassbin,” Collins achieves a stripped-down, disassembled techno song.  As with techno, there are long, drawn-out parts in this 21-plus minute creation best avoided, but then one would miss the screeching and brilliant guitar halfway in, and the frenetic drum kitting on back up.  After a long ride, you’re dropped off in “Jaguar” on an echoing guitar beat lingering over a subtly building drum layer.

“Tear the Club Up” fails to do what its namesake suggests, but not two minutes later one is in the midst of “謎 のミスタ-ナイソ (Detoroito Mix),” the most techno-sounding creation on the album, suitably at the tail end.  Random synth squalls over a careful bed of beats, there is nothing “garage” about it.

If you like this, their earlier all-original Horndog Fest from 1998 is a must-have, as well as their 2001 Motown and soul cover album Ultraglide in Black.  Party Store is definitely not the strongest outing for The Dirtbombs, but is a solid attempt at paying tribute to one of Detroit’s many incredible genres.  It’ll be interesting to see what Collins and his Dirtbombs pull off on their next original work.  Rock on, Detroit.

Released on February 1, 2011

Track List

1. Cosmic Cars
2. Sharevari
3. Good Life (Basement Roots Mix)
4. Strings of Life
5. Alleys Of Your Mind
6. Bug In The Bass Bin
7. Jaguar 1.
8. Tear The Club Up
9. 謎のミスタ-ナイソ(Detoroito Mix)

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Cold Cave — Cherish the Light Years: Album Review

By William Ruben Helms

Cold Cave
Cherish the Light Years
Matador Records

Cold Cave, the New York-based, synth pop outfit began as the solo project of Wesley Eisold, the former lead singer of several hard core groups including American Nightmare, Give Up the Ghost, Some Girls and XO Skeletons. And although Eisold is the primary creative force behind the act, Cold Cave has a regularly occurring cast of collaborators including Dominick Fernow of Prurient and Jennifer Clavin, the former lead singer of Mika Miko. But considering the reputations of each contributor’s previous work with their previous bands, Cold Cave may very well seem like a decided and unexplained musical left turn. Of course, it’s not surprising to come across indie rockers, punk rockers and metalheads experimenting with electronica and other genres – think of Transplants with Rancid’s Tim Armstrong and Blink 182’s Travis Barker; or even more famously, Damon Albarn with Gorillaz and others.

From the high energy buzzing and churning guitar chords of opening track, “The Great Pan is Dead,” to the slow-burning “Villains of the Moon,” Cold Cave’s latest, full-length effort is slickly produced and densely layered. On a good pair of headphones or pumped out on a stereo system, Cherish the Light Years stomps, buzzes, churns and struts about; however, on repeated listens, I’m afraid that despite how great the material sounds, you can’t beat the sense that it’s been done before . . . many times over. “Pacing Around the Church” with its keyboard and synth-laden hook is strangely reminiscent of a much more muscular version of The Killers’ Hot Fuss. “Confetti,” one of the best songs on the album sounds a helluva lot like New Order with a woman’s backing vocals. The Movement album for some reason came to mind. And for a strange but likeable addition on a track, I happen to love the horns on “Underworld USA.”

For a debut full-length album, Cherish the Light Years becomes increasingly frustrating with repeated listens. Certainly, for those listeners who are unfamiliar with the bands that may influence Cold Cave, this album may very well seem like a revelation; however, for more erudite listeners, it feels wearyingly unoriginal. It’s a shame because Eisold has a voice that demands attention but hopefully Eisold and company can break free of some of this particular project’s influences. Until then, they will probably be a footnote within this decade’s music.

Release Date April 5, 2011

Track Listing

1.    The Great Pan is Dead
2.    Pacing Around the Church
3.    Confetti
4.    Catacombs
5.    Underworld USA
6.    Icons of Summer
7.    Alchemy and You
8.    Burning Sage
9.    Villains of the Moon

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Youth Sounds — Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow: Album Review

By William Ruben Helms

Youth Sounds
Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow

You may remember that a couple of months ago, I reviewed the New Orleans-based quartet, Youth Sounds’ debut The Bit Parts EP, which was an elegantly simple album that managed to convey an ethereal fragility while reminding me a lot of Great Northern’s Trading Twilight for Daylight. So when I received a review copy of the band’s latest and now most recent effort Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow, I was curious as to how the band would continue to develop and refine their sound, especially in light of their impressive debut.

What I will say about Tomorrow… is that it continues Youth Sounds’ winning formula of uncannily stunning harmonies, relatively simple arrangements while combining the power, indie pop of Bit Parts’ “Strangers Would” and “What Is It Like.” Although the album is short – it feels as though its maybe 20-25 minutes long – the album does reveal itself over repeated plays in unexpected ways. Whereas their debut had beautiful moments that defied easy categorization, this album feels much more straightforward and a bit conventional. That ain’t a bad thing, if done correctly but on a certain level I kind of felt as though I wanted a little bit more of a challenge and a little bit more weirdly fragile beauty along with it. “You’ll Be The Death of Me” is perhaps the closest moment to that, thanks to Erika Mejia’s gorgeous, hushed vocals. “It’s Hell,” the album opener, has bit of an anthemic pull that the band hadn’t shown before. And as a whole, the material still manages to sound beautiful – on Tomorrow… the guitars routinely sound like chiming bells and they manage to add subconscious emphasis to the lyrics. And although the arrangements are simple, there’s a sense of the overall sound being subtly layered from several distinct parts.

Admittedly, Youth Sounds’ newest effort to me is a bit flawed – the material doesn’t feel as challenging as some of their debut EP’s songs.  But honestly saying that the material is conventional is about the worst thing I can say about this one, because where it works, it works. In what may very well be a year of rather disappointing releases, Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow is certainly one of the better albums I’ve come across this year.

Released on February 22, 2011

Track Listing

1. It’s Hell
2. Whatever Works
3. Foolish Love
4. You’ll Be The Death of Me
5. We’re No One

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Braids — Native Speaker: Album Review

By Jack Randall

Braids
Native Speaker
Flemish Eye/Kanine Records

Debut albums are like a first date.  You don’t know what to expect, if you’re lucky there’s sexual tension, and at the end of the night you hope you get a second chance.  Braid’s Native Speaker fits this formula perfectly.

The album opens with “Lemonade,” enough to perk interest.  The lyrics of sexual exploration in the suburbs while only wanting to love are set to a steadily rising and falling electronic ambiance which sets the tone for the rest of the album.  Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s vocals range from shrill pops to a velvety smoothness, which throughout the album ebb and flow rhythmically like the music.

“Plath Heart” could be called the most accessible song on the album, following a more typical song structure yet has the distinctively disassembled qualities that characterize much of Native Speaker’s other tracks.  On “Glass Deer” we hear Standell-Preston lash out vocally towards the end of what is initially a subtle ballad-like structure with a light percussive background.

Such duality is commonplace on the album, and is one of the band’s better traits.  Songs do not drag on into mediocrity, but change pace and tone.  Half of the tracks are over seven minutes, yet oftentimes don’t seem to be the same song from minute one as they are at minute eight.  The guitars, synth, percussion, and even the vocals are in constant motion, ebbing and flowing as they explore various terrains.

Animal Collective meets the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, bands like Braid keep my faith for the continued success of Montreal’s burgeoning post-rock scene.  A solid debut, my hope is that they can evolve and in a few year’s time produce their own Loveless, which I hold to be the Gold Standard for ambient exploratory rock.  In other words, I’d very much like a second date.

Release Date January 18, 2011

Track List

1. Lemonade
2. Plath Heart
3. Glass Deers
4. Native Speaker
5. Lammicken
6. Same Mum
7. Little Hand

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Art vs. Science — Magic Fountain EP: Album Review

By William Ruben Helms

Art vs. Science
Magic Fountain EP

The Sydney, Australia-based trio Art vs. Science can trace their history to one specific moment – the Daft Punk concert in 2007 that Dan McNamee (keyboards, guitars and vocals) attended with his two high school buddies and former bandmates Jim Finn (keyboard, guitar and vocals) and Dan Williams (drums and vocals) when McNamee perhaps inspired by the show, asked his two buddies to start up a dance-pop band. And as the origin story goes, the trio somehow managed to have a show booked – without having any specific, fully fleshed out songs.  Under pressure, they managed to quickly churn out 7 songs, 48 hours before their first set as Art vs. Science.

In their native Australia, the band gained wider recognition by winning local radio station Triple J’s Splendour (we’re spelling it the British/Australian/Canadian way here) in the Grass Unearthed, competition. “Flippers” and “Hollywood,” two of the songs which appear on the Stateside EP, Magic Fountain received plays on Triple J’s rotation with “Flippers” hitting their top 100 of 2008. And from there, the trio received tons of recognition including the “Breakthrough New Independent Artist” and “Best Independent Dance Album,” back in 2009, if I’m not mistaken.

Now, nearly three years after the release of their first Australian EP, the Magic Fountain EP may very well be North America’s introduction to the trio. And what I’ll say early on about the EP is that it’s fun to listen to – ridiculous, obnoxious, childish, thoughtless fun. The intro to the title track, “Magic Mountain” somehow reminded me of the introduction of the Chemical Brothers track, “Come With Us” off their Come With Us but as though Fred Schneider of the B52’s were singing in front of One Day as a Lion, the side project of Zach de la Rocha and Jon Theodore – in other words, buzzing, droning keyboards but with danceable backbeats. “Parlez Vous Francais,” is one of the silliest songs I’ve heard this year, complete with basic French phrases shouted in unison like a bunch of schoolchildren on a sugar high. It’s ridiculous, obnoxious and strangely catchy, much like the Electric Six – think of the E6’s I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me From Being the Master. Two of the stupidest songs on the album are by far the most infectious. I’m still singing the chorus to “Flippers” and “Parlez Vous Francais” days after I’ve played the album on my iPod.

Although fun, Art vs. Science’s work on this EP is guilty of being frivolous and almost too ironic (yes, that’s possible) – to the point of being difficult to ever take seriously. Worst yet is how familiar the material seems. Sadly, there isn’t much on their Stateside debut that doesn’t sound immediately remind you as someone else that you’ve probably listened to at some point before. Indeed, part of it is from the fact that some of the material here is three years old but the main thing is that it just isn’t that original. But hopefully their full length album, which will drop in Australia in the next few days will improve on their current material.

Release Date (US): March 11, 2011

Track Listing

1.    Magic Fountain
2.    Friend in the Field
3.    Flippers
4.    Parlez Vous Francais?
5.    Hollywood

Cut Copy — Zonoscope: Album Review

By William Ruben Helms

Cut Copy
Zonoscope
Modular Recordings

Indie rock superstars and critical darlings, Cut Copy started from some rather humble beginnings – the creative project of Melbourne, Australia-based DJ and graphic designed Dan Whitford in 2001. As a solo project, Whitford released the single “1981” and an EP titled, I Thought of Numbers before he recruited bandmates Tim Hoey, Mitchell Scott and their original drummer, Bennett Foddy in 2003. As a quartet they released their first full-length album

By 2004, they released their first full-length album, Bright Like Neon Love, which garnered a lot of attention as they started their first international tour in 2005, playing gigs with bands such as Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party and Daft Punk.  2008 marked the release of In Ghost Colours. Pitchfork, which is known to be particularly tough – and well, snarky – considered the album, their fourth best of 2008; Metacritic, the website that assigns a normalized rating out of 100 from reviews of mainstream critics, ranked the album pretty well, giving it a 79. All well and good, if (and only if) you care about what critics have to say. At the end of the day, it’s about what a song, an album or a particular artist’s work makes you feel and think – and how a song or an album can manage to define you and your life.

I doubt many of you reading this would say that there wasn’t a song or an album that became an intimate part of your life, and that comforted you in a time of need or reminded you of a loved one. Although I got into In Ghost Colours late last year, it’s an album that immediately resonated with me on several levels and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since. Simply put, it’s full of the sweaty energy of rock shows in basements and of nightclubs, of restless, youthful energy, and the ecstasy of being hopelessly, madly, desperately in love. Musically, the album sprints by quicker than you think but the arrangements are densely layered and on repeated listens reveals something different every single time.

After the massive success of In Ghost Colours among critics and fans, Dan Whitford spent months working on rough synth and vocal skeletal versions of songs with the idea of reworking and revising the band’s sound. Whitford has been quoted as saying that the band wanted to go for a more tribal sound, inspired by visions of a tropical jungle. What you’ll immediately recognize on Zonoscope is that many of the songs feel stripped down to pulsating bass, shimmering snyth lines and more four on the floor tempos – much like early 80s disco pop. It should be no surprise that the synth line in “Take Me Over” may sound a little bit like the synth lines off Madonna’s first album – think of a song like “Holiday” and you’ll see what I mean. Or how much “Pharaohs and Pyramids” and “Blink and You’ll Miss a Revolution” sound incredibly like Yaz. “Sun God” the longest song on the album is yet another certified club banger. Seriously, play these songs on a decent set of earphones or through a good stereo set up – the songs thump and bang to life. “Strange Nostalgia for the Future” and “This Is All We Got” both sound as though they could have possibly been on Colours as it sticks to mostly guitar, bass, drums and synths for floating, psychedelic effect.

However, as great as it sounds, Zonoscope suffers from several glaring weaknesses. I don’t think Whitford could ever go down as one of the best lyricists of our generation but some of the lyrics on this effort just sound incredibly dumb and fall flat. The material on the album just didn’t immediately capture me the first time like their previous effort, and I think it’s because it’s sounds too much like the 80s New Wave and pop music that inspired the band to make music in the first place. There are songs I really dig on the album and in fact, Zonoscope is a good album – the sad thing is that it’s not a great album. In my mind it’s one of the better albums I’ve heard in a fairly disappointing year of releases but I can’t say that it’s the best album I’ve heard this year.

Release Date February 8, 2011

Track Listing

1.    Need You Now
2.    Take Me Over
3.    Where I’m Going
4.    Pharaohs and Pyramids
5.    Blink and You’ll Miss a Revolution
6.    Strange Nostalgia for the Future
7.    This Is All We’ve Got
8.    Alisa
9.    Hanging Onto Every Heartbeat
10.    Corner of the Sky
11.    Sun God

Idlewild — Post Electric Blues: Album Review

By Snilch

Idlewild
Post Electric Blues
Cooking Vinyl

Most artists prefer to release a greatest hits compilation when they’re trying to resuscitate their career (see Pink, 2011), when they’re definitely never releasing anything ever again (see Led Zeppelin, 1990), or when they’re hit in the face with the cold reality that their cash-grab days are pretty much over (see Ratt, 1991).

For Idlewild, their compilation release in 2007 fell into none of the above categories.  They had literally just released the excellent Make Another World (and actually included some of those songs on the greatest hits album), and had no plans to break up, go on hiatus, or even take a break from recording.  Odd timing.

The other thing about the album after a greatest hits album:  there’s sometimes a “hangover” effect.  A “greatest hits” usually indicates the period to the end of the sentence – it’s what you release when you’re done with that period of your life, and you move on.  Or you become Yes and release a few new greatest hits albums or box set every decade.  (I count 30 compilation albums/box sets since 1975.  I own at least 4.  Not that I’m bitter.)

Back to Post Electric:  it does suffer a bit from that hangover, but overall it’s a very pleasant and listenable album.  “Readers & Writers,” “City Hall,” “Dreams of Nothing,” and especially “All Over the Town” are all decent songs, but there’s no “No Emotion,” “In Competition for the Worst Time,” or even “A Little Discourage” that just blows you away. There’s a bit more organ, strings and piano added to the usual indie guitar-rock pop they put forth.

Overall, it’s more restrained, contemplative, and subdued than I’d expect.  There’s nothing wrong with this album at all, and it’s definitely an above average release; Idlewild has simply established a higher ceiling than this.  It’s one of those albums you listen to after declaring it a “failure,” and then recognize how well constructed and thought out the songs really are; then you listen to it after calling it a “success,” and then realize that the presentation is slightly sterile and overall it’s good but not great.  To its credit – it does pop a lot more on vinyl than it does on mp3/CD listens.

In the end, this album will be satisfying for long-time fans and for many first-time listeners, but it will not necessarily be something that I keep going back to. Well, the electronic version at least.  I’ll throw on the vinyl from time to time in between listening to the latest Yes compilations and yelling at my Jon Anderson poster.

Released in the U.S. on October 12, 2010

Track List

1. Younger Than America
2. Readers & Writers
3. City Hall
4. (The Night) Will Bring You Back to Life
5. Dreams of Nothing
6. Take Me Back to the Islands
7. Post Electric
8. All Over the Town
9. To Be Forgetton
10. Circles in Stars
11. Take Me Back in Time