Tom Gabel has made his fame as the voice behind americana-punks, Against Me; this time he decides to step outside his typical arena for a solo affair. His stellar performance at Fun Fun Fun Fest this year with the Revival Tour led us to check out his latest solo release.
“I Can’t See You, But I Know You’re There” opens the album, and it’s a pleasant enough song. The straining vocals known with Against Me fans is still pretty evident,and the entire song revolves around loose acoustic guitar, with the focus resonating with the lyrics, which appear to discuss the loss of a dear friend.
He follows this up with “Anna is a Stool Pigeon.” This is the acoustic guitar work that one would expect from Tom, and its definitely more reminiscent of his performance at Fun x 3. It’s got some harmonica accompaniment, and overall it’s taking a more country approach, though the lyrical content is a little bit lacking. He continues in this vain for the most part, though there is a misstep in the middle.
“Random Hearts” is a song that recalls the most recent effort of his main band, New Wave. It’s electric guitar work and percussion samples don’t come across with the usual sincerity that is associated with a Tom Gabel song. Sure, the album offers you an acoustic version, but the version here definitely sticks with you; the case is the same with a song like “Amputations,” where the electric guitar just doesn’t seem to benefit his style at all, although the lyrical content here is definitely one younger crowds could get behind.
That being said, the album does have one of the better songs he’s written, “Conceptual Paths.” Sure, there are some minor drum samples in the background, but the strumming of his acoustic guitar recalls those special moments he is capable of creating. It’s easily the strongest song on the record.
All in all this is a decent offering from one of punk’s great voices. It would be nice to seem take a few more leaps towards a direct country approach, but that’s probably just wishful thinking. One can’t be too disappointed to have this set of songs to add to their collection.
After a sun filled, chilly and wild weekend at FFF Festival, ATH is ready to bring you some of our favorite things that went down during the two day event. Obviously the best way to do that is through our recurring Friday Top 5 series. Follow the jump to read our top things about last weekends FFF Festival.
ATH photographer Jonathon Edwards took some fancy pictures this past weekend at Fun Fun Fun Fest, and we tried to compile a few photos of each of our favorite acts. If you like what you see, say hello to Jonathon on Myspace. Follow the jump to check out all the hot shots.
After …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead’s rowdy set at Funx3 Fest this weekend, ATH had the opportunity to speak with band members Conrad Keely, Jason Reece & Kevin Allen. The Austin-based guys tell us why two drummers are really necessary, what we can expect from their new LP, and how music in Austin has changed over the years. Follow the jump for the full interview. (more…)
A lot has been made in the past few years about the ridiculous onslaught of sweet tunes that are coming from Dengue Fever. Earlier this year, they rocked everyone over at Club Deville. Tonight, they are the sepcial guest at the Fun Fun Fun Fest pre-party over at the Mohawk. We thought you should know!
We here at ATH are getting really pumped about this weekend’s Fun Fun Fun Festival. But, as we all know, it’s difficult to figure out who to see when there are so many bands playing. You have time conflicts, you don’t know who some of the bands are and you wonder who will put on the best show? Well, our Friday Top 5 is a compilation of bands that ATH is excited to see. Hopefully this helps you make some decisions before you head out to the festival. We’ve also got some MP3s you can stream for each band in the list, so fire up the ATH Radio and enjoy.
Instead of creating seperate posts about the good things going down with Fun Fest this weekend, we’re just gonna give it all to ya at once. For a full list of after parties and oficial pre-festival shows, have a look at the fancy flier attached to this post. If you want some help making decisions, we’d recommend parking yourself at Mohawk Friday-Sunday night. The venue features Brothers & Sisters on Friday night, a White Denim CD release party Saturday night, and Girl in a Coma to close things out Sunday night. To make it even more enticing, every show is either free or half price with your Fun Fest wrist band.
Oklahoma boys Colourmusic will be playing a free instore at Waterloo Records this Thursday afternoon at 5pm. I guess you could call this a teaser for the band’s full blown set at Fun Fest this weekend. It’s also probably well known that we enjoy this band’s music and never miss their shows. The free beer Waterloo provides should make the decision to head out even easier.
Justin Rice of Brooklyn based Bishop Allen recently took the time to chat with ATH about their upcoming stop in Austin for Fun Fun Fun Fest. Topics covered include their upcoming album, their roles in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and the 12 EP’s they released in 2006. We offer up the full interview and a little something to take with you after the jump.
Before things really got started during Saturday’s ACL Festival events, we got together with Josh, Toto, and Yvonne of the Octopus Project at Austin Java to ask them a few questions about their band (including the upcoming Fun Fun Fun Fest). You can read the interview in its entirety after the jump.
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