Author: nicole.baumann

Sharon Van Etten – Are We There

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arewethere.lpoutRating: ★★★★½

Though Sharon Van Etten is on her fourth full-length debut, it wasn’t really until 2012’s release of Tramp that shot her dramatic and elegant sound into the limelight of the indie rock world. However, Tramp displayed a trip in a semi-folk rock direction, with some stand out tracks like “Magic Chords” and “Serpents” that put some rock-n-roll punch behind the already powerful lyrics of Etten. This time around Are We There seems to step back from this rockier style and lets the poignancies of the lyrics take center stage.

Though Are We There is far from devoid of the subtle soft rock that Sharon Van Etten and company always seem to bring to the table. Take “Your Love is Killing Me,” for example, as it is a perfect example of just what this songwriter is all about. The song opens with the delicacy you’ve been familiarized with, but slowly builds to this complex and arching aching beauty of a song. Some dark and violent imagery catches your ear as Sharon sings “break my legs so I won’t walk to you/cut my tongue so I can’t talk to you.” None of this, not even for a second, though vastly dramatic when removed from its context comes across as melodramatic or insincere. Rather, its musical accompaniment of ragtime-y piano, slow rolling drums, and distantly angled guitars generate a raw realness that is impossible to ignore. It pulls at your emotions and translates the emotional pain that is described in the song as it builds to its slow, orchestral climax.

While I highlight some tracks in this review, you should know that the worth of this release isn’t simply centered on these tracks, but rather all of the tracks; they intermingle and play upon each other without becoming redundant or running together. The distinction comes from the addition or subtraction of instruments while the songwriting runs deeply through the whole thing. I could go on about the beauty of each song, but you should discover that for yourselves.

The album closes with the beautiful and honest “Every Time the Sun Comes Up—” a single that, if you’ve been paying attention, should have already heard, but by no means does this attract from its beauty. It’s not as heavy as the other tracks, but on the catchy side and you’ll want to sing along with the bluesy vocals. The little bit of playful audio left in the mix at the very end of the Are We There seals the record with a personal kiss of lightness; a touch of a reminder that though Sharon Van Etten writes and records pretty somber tunes, she isn’t lost in the darkness. All in all the album comes across as the most intimate and impassioned record from this artist thus far, so go get lost in the sadness for a little while.

 

Kishi Bashi – Lighght

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kbashRating: ★★★½☆

The man behind the moniker of Kishi Bashi made his way into the indie world long before he started making is own tunes. He started off as a backing member to big names you’ll be familiar with, such as Of Montreal and Regina Spektor, which he supplied his violin skills to in the past. Now he has embarked out on his own to give you orchestral electro pop often marked by looping. Lighght is his second full-length effort, packed with different levels of detail to have you intrigued all the way through.

After a bit of flittering violin builds on the intro track, Kishi Bashi launches right into “Philosophize In It! Chemicalize With It!” that opens with more sweeping violin and plucking of the strings. He gives you a taste of the chorus, with its rowdy percussion and filled up with acoustic guitar strumming and epic and echoed lead vocals that display the range possible. It’s a party of a tune, giving you a chance to start the album in a dance-worthy fashion, but the song is not all just fun and games, the band breaks it down into a beautiful string bridge before they bring it all home for one final triumphantly catchy chorus. This folk-inspired pop tune turns into electro pop full on dance number on the “The Ballad of Mr. Steak,” which carries on the signature layered violin you’ve already been introduced to, but is also accompanied with drum machine beats and synthesizers. While the lyrics describe a pair of “star-crossed lovers,” one of which is a “grade A” steak. Silly, but also altogether catchy and booty-shaking.

A real treat that comes later on in the album is “Q&A,” which is a cute folksy number in which the delicacy of the vocals becomes apparent as you enjoy Kishi Bashi’s softer side. While the song is gentle and filled with some lyrics that would make anyone swoon, it is far from devoid of detailed craftsmanship, as the layering style begins simply and builds upon itself in an effortless way. The more you listen, the more you understand that even a song that sounds as easy as this one has many different layers and textures that go beyond just a man and a guitar, or violin.

Some may criticize Kishi Bashi for not being overwhelmingly serious and too youthful in his sound, but I think that is precisely what makes this record worth listening to. The folk and electronic elements seem to intermingle in light, airy sounds that are overall very palatable and as beautiful as they are fun. Sure, not every track is a perfect blend of serious and fun, but for the most part there’s a good bunch of songs for you to enjoy on Lighght.

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The Black Keys – Turn Blue

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bkRating: ★★★☆☆

What is left to say about The Black Keys that you probably don’t already know? Their last release, El Camino continued to propel them further into the limelight that Brothers brought on. After thirteen years, these two gentlemen have seven studio releases under their belt and Turn Blue marks for their eighth. With that kind of catalogue comes high expectations that this band has seemed to demolish in the past, but can they do it again?

“Weight of Love,” seems to open with an unsteady answer to that question, as the duo starts very slowly, easing into their way into the song in a bit of a psychedelic style to match the album artwork. Once they’ve meandered around for a while, they get to the track and Dan Auerbach’s harsh vocals push their way gently into the mix. It’s a soft and gentle open, which, for this record is an indication of a step back from the rip-roaring tunes that the band has made popular.

While you may be under the impression that the title of the record, Turn Blue, refers to a shift deeper into the bluesy sound that they’ve revived in their own fashion, but to me, I hear this title referring to the downtrodden lyrics and slightly beaten down feeling in the overall sound mix. Whereas past tunes seemed to be on the offensive, taking on a commanding, rock-n-roll sound, even the faster paced numbers don’t pack quite the punch that you’re used to, though this isn’t a bad direction all the time for the band. Take “Fever” for example, one of the snappier numbers on the album—the main sound comes from a synth riff and bass line that will have you getting down with the band, but it’s not the rocking that you’ve come to know. Same goes with “10 Lovers” a little later on; it’s a “down and out” track, but sometimes those are fun to jam along with.

Turn Blue, albeit a little long, has some tracks that you want to listen to in your car with the windows down and the sound turned all the way up as you drive through the countryside or even sit in traffic—it’s more of the commiserating feeling you get when you listen rather than the content. While I don’t know how many new fans this album will gain the longstanding duo, it’s got songs you’ll be skipping around to, though I’m not sure it will be enough for some old fans of The Black Keys.

La Sera – Hour Of The Dawn

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LaSera_LP3Rating: ★★★½☆

It’s been a while since Katy Goodman stepped away from Vivian Girls and out on her own with La Sera. Her last full-length effort, See The Light, came out roughly two years ago and showed a lot of growth for the band and their sound. Now they’re back with album number three, which seems like an overall step in the edgier direction; the jangly pop is now straight rock and roll, harkening back to the original direction that La Sera began with.

“Losing To The Dark,” is the cold open for the album, with squalling feedback entering your ears first and foremost. This changes to some guttural sounding guitar and rapid percussion that gives the song a constant driving beat. Then Katy joins in with her sultry du-wop esque vocals and tops the song off. This track is a nice little introduction whose lingering guitars drive you to charge ahead into the album.What seems to be pretty commonplace now for Goodman and company is crafting catchy songs that adhere to the lo-fi and feminine vocal rock. “Fall in Place” is no exception to this, and the percussion on this song will have you tapping along to the beat and rocking out to the surfy guitars making their way through the percussion.

While song length isn’t necessarily an indication of merit, when you listen to the album, you can definitely get a taste of the different texture that the transitioning lengths of songs gives to the album. Whereas some albums of this genre come across as a little sloppy in that most of the songs are of equal length and get a little lost in the shuffle, La Sera have obviously put a little extra in time and effort into the timing of the album.

At the end of the album you feel fairly satisfied with the level of rock intricate guitar patterns that pervade most songs. While I have found some new catchy tunes to have a place in my listening rotation, it’s easy to get a little weighted down by them at instances in the album. The vocals and the guitars blend together in these instances to become a little too angular. However, this doesn’t completely weigh down Hour Of The Dawn, which has some great tracks to stumble upon.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Days of Abandon

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PrintRating: ★★★★★

For around five years now, if you were to ask me to recommend you a band that consistently doles out intriguing and effervescent lo-fi pop and rock that also makes you shake a tail feather, I would not hesitate to direct you to The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Their first two records were stunning displays of all of the qualities that I just listed, the first of which still makes its way into my listening catalogue on a regular basis. This time around Kip Berman and company have cleaned up the overall mix and have refined their sound and are set on adding a new emotive quality on Days of Abandon.

Opening track “Art Smock” is perhaps the softest song that this band has brought to our ears thus far. It’s got this Belle & Sebastian like delicacy, complete with a couplet style rhyme scheme that plays on the quietness and provides a melancholic and nostalgic spirit to it. This beautiful start transitions into the spunky and altogether sunny single of “Simple and Sure,” which will have you dancing along to the to the jangly guitars and airy punches of “ohs” and “ahs.” This back-to-back combination kicks the album off with the right balance of reserve and spunk while also introducing you to the band’s new approach to their lo-fi pop. Later on you have one of my favorite tracks that this group has put out and definitely one of the gems that showcase the light sound they’re bringing to the table in “Masokissed.” You’re greeted by some rapid handclaps that lead straight into the infectious sound of angular guitars that cut straight through the airy sounding percussion and groovy bass line. Then Kip’s quick vocals jump in and start to spin a tale filled with word play as the instrumentation gives you sunshine in a song and it is essentially a track like you would hear of their self titled debut, but in this new style.

As I’ve stated before, what seems to be new this go-round is a gentle quality in the sound, which is promoted by not only the instrumentation, but also in the vocals. The presence of feminine vocals are increased, taking the lead off Kip’s hands for a few tracks and also providing a more prominent place in the mix as backing vocals. Late hitter, “Life After Life,” showcases these extra sugary vocals, especially with Kip offering his whispery tone to the backing vocals. On this track, those angular guitars are balanced with what sounds like horn parts popping in the background, making a perfect blend of sound as you get a song about a past love whose instrumentation exudes brightness and whose lyrics preach a fairly sad sentiment. Then the group closes things out softly and artfully as they brought you into this record with “The Asp at My Chest.” Kip whispers to you poetically about the endless haunting of a love lost that seems to be the pervasive theme of the album and then plays you out with majestically sweeping horns; like a day with perfect weather, this album gives out the soft opens and closes of sunrise and sunset with the brightness of the noon sun in the middle.

Yet again, this band has put out another record that has me reminiscent of their old sound, but also happy to be listening to their subtly ever-changing approach. Days of Abandon is a triumph for fans of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart while simultaneously giving new listeners a taste of what they’ve been missing. I have been spinning this record regularly for the past few weeks and will be for a while to come and really, you should be too.

PAWS – Youth Culture Forever

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pawsRating: ★★★½☆

October of 2012 saw PAWS‘ first full-length release in the form of Cokefloat! Which helped to bring the energy and exciting dynamics of their live performances into the ears of fans and soon to be fans. Two years later they are back with Youth Culture Forever, filled with ups and downs, robust and reserve. One moment it seems to be tamed, next the group launches back in full force, giving you a taste of the power that this group of gentlemen packs behind their punch. This sophomore record delves into a campy and raw rendition of garage rock, complete with some great tracks you won’t want to miss.

The group starts out seemingly soft on “Erreur Humaine” with some simple echoed vocals and electric guitar plucking, but if you’ve heard anything from this group before, you should know this mellow quality won’t last long and soon the quiet is replaced with raging guitars and amped up vocals. This off and on quality continues through the rest of this track, with the band giving you melancholic reserve and then robust growling chorus.’ Such a song is not complete without some bleak lyrics that portray the author as highly conflicted—you get the choral tag of “one should never go back/fuck with the past,” and later on: “I’m sorry I said I hate you.” This simultaneous feeling of disdain to change what’s already happened and regret for the past are perfectly in tune with the sentiment that the album’s title preaches.

Second up is “Tongues,” which seems to dabble down a surf-rock alley for a little bit and reminds me a lot of some of the tunes put out by Surfer Blood. The band doles out some rolling and deep drums as well as some jangly guitar parts that work together to give it that beachy feel, all while staying pretty fixed in the rock genre. The album then continues in a somewhat similar and yet different manner. This trio gives you highs and lows, be it within an individual track or from song to song. Most of the twelve tracks are pretty short and range a little in style, giving you the opportunity to find some songs to rock with and others to maybe not revisit.

   PAWS don’t take themselves too seriously and I don’t think we are meant to take this album in that light; after all, the name for this album apparently originates from the children’s cartoon, Adventure Time. However, if you listen closely, there are some gems of songs that do garage rock justice on Youth Culture Forever and promote a youthful, some may call, punk rock, lifestyle through coming to terms with human emotions like jealously and rage. Rock on.

Papercuts – Life Among the Savages

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Life-Among-The-SavagesRating: ★★★★½

We here at ATH have had a pretty long and public love affair with the eerie bedroom quiet hazy style of Jason Quever and the Papercuts. But really, can you blame us? His outfit, on their sixth full album, seems to exemplify the cliché of getting better with age and so our love has been fed graciously. This go-round, the band takes a softer, more anthemic route, departing from their less subtle hits from 2011’s Fading Parade. The result is a gorgeous manifestation of songs that ebb and flow effortlessly into and out of the genres of pop and rock and somewhat ‘jam,’ all bathed in the soft glow of an intimate atmosphere that somehow comes with every Papercuts record.

The album opens with “Still Knocking At The Door,” that presents the newfound campy twist to band’s sound. Bouncy piano offers a contrast to the perfectly breathy vocals of Quever, generating a track that sounds sunny on the surface, but then you take another listen and begin to focus in on the lyrics, and they’re “not as happy as [they] might seem;” the passion in the vocals begins to bleed through with every choral hook. It’s a killer first track to a record, but before you dwell here for too long, the band has another doozy up next on “New Body,” which resonates the loudest, in my opinion after an initial listen through of the album. It starts out with a groovy amount of soft percussion, layers of synth-organ sounds, and of course, Quever’s chilling vocals. While slow, this number is still danceable and soon you’ll be singing along as well. The track progresses, slowly gaining traction and building, and just when you think it can’t get any better, Quever bursts into a chorus and is suddenly accompanied by string sounds that just push it over into the next, almost spiritual, level.

I could go on and into each individual song, as all nine are worthy of praise and affection, but I’d rather you go on and discover your own favorites from the record and give you the low down on the general style. There’s a mix of the continuation of the bouncing piano that you encountered earlier, as well as the strings that found their way into the earlier songs. What also follows are aspects that continue to contribute to the overall sweeping and glowing tone of the album. On “Afterlife Blues,” Quever is at his best with lyrics that are constantly searching for meaning  while simultaneously telling a story and you end the song with gang vocals of soft and swaying “la-la-la’s,” that understatedly carries you off into the jam genre.

In short, Life Among The Savages has been in pretty constant rotation for the few weeks that it has been in my possession. It’s a dreamy thirty seven minutes of lo-fi goodness whose haunting melodies will push itself to the front of your mind long after you finish listening, with the perfect combination of tracks that immediately grab your attention and beg to be repeated and those that take a bit to really sink into your listening psyche. It’s in the running for my favorite album that’s been released so far this year, and I dare you to find out why. In all seriousness, go get your hands on it; you won’t be sorry you did.

New Track From Christopher Owens

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girlsThat’s right, former Girls frontman Christopher Owens is at it again, and while no official word is out on a follow up to his first solo record that came out last year, he has posted this new track “Stephen” up on his SoundCloud page for us to enjoy. As Owens said, “it’s unlike anything [he’s] done before,” and once you press play you’ll know just what he means. There’s still, of course, his soft spoken voice of reserved power, but it is accompanied by a lot of gospel elements that give the track a ton of drama. Towards the end you also get some guitar that gives it some bite. Have a listen and see if you like this new side of Owens.

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Stream The New Andrew Jackson Jihad Album Now

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AJJ Oh you’ve never heard of the punk folk stylings of Phoenix’s Andrew Jackson Jihad? Well, lucky for you their upcoming fifth album, Christmas Island, slated to come out May 6th, is streaming for your convenience over at the A.V Club. Sounds like the band has re-imagined their sound a bit with these new tracks, delving back a bit to get innovative again: so far, I especially like the ragtimey piano parts that jump out immediately. These gents, in addition to launching this new album, are about to embark on a monster tour, which begins at our very own Red 7 on June 2nd. So scoot on over and have a listen, fall in love, and get ready to jam with them come June.

New Rocker from Tigers Jaw

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TJLast year, things looked pretty bleak for Scranton, PA’s Tigers Jaw, when a large portion of the band decided to call it quits. However, this didn’t stop the founding members from rebooting the band and coming back with more ‘kick-you-in-the-face,’ but in a good way, rock’ n ‘ roll. This new track, “Slow Come On,” has got great alternative rock, post-punk driving guitar and elevated vocals of Ben Walsh all throughout, complete with minute details that keep you hooked. Their fourth full length LP, Charmer will be out via Run For Cover Records on June 3rd, which you can also pre-order here, so get excited.

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