Category: Reviews

The History of Apple Pie – Feel Something

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appsRating: ★★★½☆

If you haven’t heard of London’s The History of Apple Pie, you probably shouldn’t beat yourself up about it, as they only released their debut album, Out of View, last year. The unintentional product of singer Stephanie Minh and guitarist Jerome Watson messing around with a guitar and a computer in a bedroom gave them their start. With an added touch of a drummer they found on the Internet, who magically came along with a bassist and another guitarist, they got their start. Now they’re back a year later to try and expand on their shimmery indie pop with Feel Something. Can they go beyond the glimmer and dole out a sophomore release that hits deep?

They kick things off with “Come Undone,” which has this undercurrent of electric guitar that runs through the whole song—be it in the background as that shiny, clean sound, or in the center of things with a little bit of added twang It’s not a bad first number, but the superstar song that simply steals the show for me is third up on the record, “Keep Wondering,” which is that kind of track that you’ll want to play on repeat all day, and maybe all week. It opens with a sort of preview for the number, as if you’re hearing the band rocking out in the other room, thirty seconds go by and you finally decide to open that closed door and there is the band at their finest, the jangly lead guitar knocking you off your feet with waves of striking sound, reinforced by the tambourine-heavy percussion and the crash of cymbals like waves off fresh ocean spray. If this wasn’t enough, then Minh steps in with her honeyed vocals that seem to float atop the mix with their airy quality. Altogether, this creates an easy listening song that also cuts through with a little rock in that guitar—simply a great track.

There are some other pretty killer songs on this record: I like the little simmering number “Puzzles,” which lets the group sink into a bit more of a sultry number. The guitar on this song has a bit of snarl on it as it loops through the tune, giving the band the most bite possible with their sugary sound. Just when you thought that the track was already a step in a different direction, then it kicks into a whole new level towards the end, capitalizing on the build they’ve made and making this track go from good to great.

Feel Something isn’t really a step in any direction away from The History of Apple Pie’s first album, but in a fair number of instances on this sophomore record, I’m all right with that. I’ve found some number tracks to add to the genre of glossy and sunny jangle pop, and maybe you can too.

Purling Hiss – Weirdon

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homepage_large.635a11a9Rating: ★★★★☆

It seems like the genre of weirdo rock and roll is one that’s up-and-coming and is perhaps the trend of the present and the near future. Whether it be twisted in different angles with subgenres like psychedelic, garage rock, or lighter jangly pop, it is all the rage lately to be slightly off kilter and less straight edged. Purling Hiss have been doing this for years, but just how weird is Weirdon?

Turns out its not so freaky and more-so just plain good, albeit those things aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. “Forcefield of Solitude” kicks the album off with the squall of some feedback before Purling Hiss lays down some psychedelically gritty guitars and far-away percussion to combine for this almost anthem-esque opening to the song as well as the record. Soon the vocals join the mix and offer some more grit, as Mike Polizze provides his hollow and yet somehow simultaneously engaging pipes. Though immediately striking, the track becomes absolutely swoon-worthy whenever it gets to the chorus, and you just want to sing along with the group…but wait, what’s that you hear? Handclaps? What’s better than handclaps? Nothing.

The first few tracks are a little deceptive, as Weirdon is not all straightedge garage rock either; oddly enough the more eclectic numbers in my opinion are the mellower tunes like “Reptili-A-Genda” and “Running Through My Dreams.” On both of these numbers, the emptier nature of the tracks allow for the guitar parts to stand out as extra twangy and almost sour sounding. “Running Through My Dreams,” makes this work very well for itself, and Polizze steps it down on his vocals, almost whispering you the words in the delicacy of the song. It’s a beautiful number that provides a large contrast between the more jarring and heavier numbers that surround it—solid track placement.

Though airing on the side of a little more straightforward garage rock than weird for the most part, Weirdon is clearly an album with a range; there’s jangle, fuzzy vocals, great cutting guitar licks and a balance and delicate imbalance of all those things. There’s a lot to love here, so get to listening.

 

So Cow – The Long Con

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so cowRating: ★★★½☆

We’ve posted a bit lately on Irish act, So Cow, but in case you missed those blurbs, and still haven’t heard of this group, here’s the scoop. They started out back in 2005 as the solo project of front man Brian Kelly, and then evolved into a three-piece outfit that’s put out four LP’s up to date. Back in July the band signed with Goner Records to put out The Long Con, which makes for their fifth full-length record of DIY guitar and lyric-central indie rock.

They begin the album right off with their funky, off-kilter rock with a single “Barry Richardson,” which kicks in immediately with electric guitar that squalls and around the vocals and drums. This, along with the vocals from Kelly gives out a very meandering-post-punk vibe, but then the song manifests itself into a different animal for the chorus. Here, we see a switch to the straightforward chorus as the group joins him to repeat the title characters name. This switch is interesting because it creates a fairly large distinction between the off-kilter opening to the song and the more direct and harsh sound of the chorus. So Cow traverses this fine line for the majority of the album, constantly switching between the quirky and straightforward.

Another track that really draws on this concept is “Guess Who’s Dead,” which has a drum beat that’s all serious business, while the guitar juts out at angles at the end of lines to begin. Again, the chorus gives out a more direct notion of indie-post-punk with the grit of a tinge of metal on the guitar. All the while, Kelly’s lyrics are the very opposite of serious, discussing the going-ons of people around town; the balance here is what’s so intriguing about the sound that So Cow is all about.

My biggest qualm, albeit still fairly small, with The Long Con is that it seems to stretch on just a few songs too long. If you look at each individual song, track-by-track, you can see that this band really pulls off some interesting takes on indie-rock via their style, but it is difficult for a collection as long as this to hold your steady attention for the duration of a forty five minute long album. The last song kind of fizzles out when it comes to the energy of the record, leaving you on a slightly flat note; it makes you question the organization of the album and the incorporation of some of the tracks.

That being said, The Long Con, minus a few minutes, is a quirky and enticing album. Fans of the band will enjoy the twang of not only the lyricism that Kelly brings to the table, but also of the more direct pieces of rock-n-roll.

 

 

Allah Las – Worship The Sun

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worship-lpRating: ★★★☆☆

I say this with little to no sarcasm—there hasn’t been an influx of retro American rock these days—I mean there’s a plethora of garage and surf rock, but not much of what helped inspire this genre. So when it comes to bands like Allah Las, I’m a little soft, but granted, there’s something infectious about their sound, as if it’s a straight blast from the past; akin to that perfect vintage collectable you find tucked away in some mom and pop store. Though old fashioned in style, Worship The Sun has just enough jangle to keep up with today’s genres.

“De Vida Voz” begins as a subtle and soft introduction to the album, with plenty of gang vocals and jingle-jangle to float anyone’s boat, though the very opening part allude to a deeper, rockier side to the band and album that will be revealed later. The whole number sounds like a glazed over desert rock tune—the guitars play off each other in a campy mix, while the gang vocals blend together with the guitars in a nasal ethereal kind of vibe. It’s the perfect kind of song that you want as its still somehow stiflingly hot in the last (who am I kidding, this is Texas) September slump of the summer.

There are quite a few tracks to listen to on this album, so if you aren’t careful, you just might miss some of the good ones. In the third position, “Artifact” is a hauntingly western rock song, which creeps along for longer than most of the tracks here, and oddly enough it has the kind of build that most of the other songs don’t lead up to. You get Miles Michaud on lead vocals through a thick glaze of reverb and fuzz, while the music forms a kind of storytelling mode. Though it comes across as a story in the instrumentation, Michaud’s vocals have a different idea and you can hear the build within it as he circles round for the last time, singing, “it goes on and on and on…” You get the feeling like this song, or style of song, though done well by the group, has been around for a while.

While the overall style on Worship The Sun is really worth your time, the album feels a bit like it could have used some revision. There isn’t a track that’s bad per-se, but a little more precision in the tracks selected, or variation, would have given this record the appeal it lacks when you reach its end and the tracks have all blurred together in one American rock haze.

 

Film Review – Tomato Republic

big-tomatoRating: ★★★½☆

Synopsis

Can a flamboyant restaurant owner and a young African American male really challenge the good ol’ boy incumbent for the mayoral seat in the Pineywoods town of Jacksonville, Texas?

Use Your Words

Tomato Republic is one of my diamond in the rough finds of the year.  A well put together documentary at its core, you’ll also find yourself emotionally invested in every character of the film.  Maybe it’s my East Texas roots that draw me into the drama of small town politics, but I think almost anyone would find something to enjoy here.  Men drinking endless cups of coffee at the local donut shop, talking massive amounts of shit about everyone in town?  Yeah I’ll take some of that.  If nothing else, it’s a refreshing message that not everyone in the deep south bases their every thought on the old testament and gun law.  I promise you’ll be rooting for the two new guys and on the edge of your seat when you find out who won.  Let’s just hope the results aren’t read when the train is coming through town.

Now Show Me

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Wendy Davis--Texas Abopimage (1)

Who Should I see This With?

Your left leaning grandmother who votes a straight Democratic ticket.

Final Thoughts

Tomato Republic is a moving documentary that exposes the complexity and personality of small town folk who are often written off as backwards thinking country bumpkins.  ATH approved.

Austin Showtimes and Trailer

This film is currently listed with a TBD date in Austin.  Stay tuned.

She Keeps Bees – Eight Houses

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skbRating: ★★★★☆

Ever since 2006, She Keeps Bees, hailing from Brooklyn, have been creating under-the- radar blues-inspired rock music. They have three records already under their belt, but chances are Eight Houses is the first you’ve heard of the group, as they’ve somehow evaded popularity. Consisting of Jessica Larrabee on vocals and guitar and Andy LaPlant on drums, the duo has generated a fourth, slow burning and soul itching album in Eight Houses.

To say that Eight Houses is a light record may be one of the biggest possible understatements that you could make—their sound here simply aches with the blues at every twist and turn. “Feather Lighter” begins this trip down the soulful winding road by showing the more mellow face of this group. The start out here with a slowly haunting number—the track really only consists of Larrabee’s retro-vocals, guitar, drums, and a hint of piano. Instead, the group lets the vocals and lyrics dominate the song, which serves to warm you up a little bit before they bust out the rock next on “Breezy.” Whereas the opening number had the band reserved in their little world, the second song sees a fire lit underneath them, which you can hear clearly in the vocals and the new presence of growling electric guitar. This song introduces you into the burning element that She Keeps Bees encapsulates so perfectly; especially the last break down, or rather build up, that they end the number with. Larrabee’s voice is pushed to its max as the guitar gets gritty and intensifies.

However, while the album is quite heavy, at no point does it feel overly weighty or grueling to listen to. A large part of this seems to come from the tempering of this heaviness with the simplicity of some tracks that don’t try to overcomplicate the tunes, similar to the style of bands like Wye Oak. This is especially apparent on the last track of the album “Is What It Is,” which features Sharon Van Etten on backing vocals. The song begins with just vocals and drums, laying it out to you earnestly and letting you come to it on your own. Though this is the way the song starts, when Larrabee strikes out with the line “Do not surrender,” her voice quivering with force, you can feel the tugging of this emotionally charged music pulling you in. It’s a gorgeous and simple end to the album.

Though it was somehow possible that you had yet to encounter She Keeps Bees, I do not see this being a probable phenomenon after this album starts to makes its way around the indie-sphere. This comes with good reason; don’t be the last to get on board with Eight Houses and its epic simplicity.

Tennis – Ritual in Repeat

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TennisRiR1500px-608x608Rating: ★★★½☆

A few years ago, I heard a lot of buzz around the husband and wife duo, Tennis, from Denver, but somehow I never got around to really introducing myself to the band. Needless to say, I missed not one, but two albums from the group, as Ritual in Repeat marks their third full-length studio effort of groovy indie pop dance music, and it seems like this time around their challenge is to create an album with more that just a few killer singles.

They start the album out with a slow opener in “Night Vision,” which has these tinny drums that roll along from the very beginning. Alaina Moore’s sugarcoated vocals dance around the drums and a bob-your-head-to-it bass line, while the track builds up to its catchy chorus. It’s a good little warm-up number, but it gives me the impression that the band is holding back. While the chorus is a burst of energy, the rest of the song comes across as just filling space before the band really gets going. The real song that catches your attention and begs you to get on your feet is “Never Work For Free,” which follows the first track. Instantly, from the second the first drumbeat hits you square in the face, Tennis just takes off. You get these electric guitar riffs streaming in with just the right amount of rock to balance out the jumpy drums while Moore’s vocals get playful, pushing themselves for the chorus while a backing vocal track of quick “ohs” loop over. It’s simply a great pop song that will get stuck in your head for long periods of time.

Other solid numbers come later on and are scattered around in the scheme of the album. Immediately you get to “I’m Callin’” after the first few tracks and you’re taken back to the seventies in a little bit of a disco vibe as synths bee-bop through the song. Further into the thick of it you have a more lo-fi tinged number in “Solar on the Rise.” The slightly gritty guitar on this number that cuts through the fuzzy drums and vocals makes the track stick out from the rest as you get down the last stretch of jams.

When you listen to this album all the way through, while cleaning your house, or doing your every day chores, it’s easy to let it play all the way through while dancing away—Tennis will keep you doing just that. However, when you go back to listen to each individual track, there’s a handful of songs that stand above the rest on Ritual in Repeat. It’s up to you to find them.

Avi Buffalo – At Best Cuckold

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PrintRating: ★★★★☆

Avi Buffalo, it’s been a while. Four years, in fact, since Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg and his crew put out their mildly-radar-hitting self titled debut in 2010. You may remember this release, but chances are you may have missed out, so a reintroduction may be in order. Avi Buffalo is a group of youths from Long Beach, California, lead by the aforementioned gentleman who brought to life their growing album of “off kilter pop.” At Best Cuckold, this sophomore record, produces the challenge of recreating their success of the their first release, as well as growing from this initial sound.

“So What” picks up right where Avi Buffalo left off, with the reverb soaked high pitched, whisper vocals, the jangly twang of the guitar parts, and the sandy sounding drums pounding away. Though, as the song bounces its way along to the chorus, the band adds in elements, like a bit of saxophone and gang vocals, both coming together with the lead as well as doing their own thing to create different textures through its repeats. The whole track has this shimmery sheen to it, as if the group has rolled their music in sunshine—a simple but good beginning to the album.

On the whole, At Best Cuckold feels somehow lighter and airier than the band’s first release, and these moments of delicateness are the highlights for me on this album. Middle of the road tracks, “Two Cherished Understandings” and “Overwhelmed With Pride” both work together in the gentle warmth that is the theme of the album this go round. The first of these two tracks isn’t even two minutes in length and yet it has me coming back to it over and over again. Synthesizers waft in past some laid back gentle guitar, and the vocals—breathy, barely there—give it a feeling of easy nostalgia, something akin to an indie-pop lullaby. Carrying on this lullaby vibe, “Overwhelmed With Pride,” also brings in the horns, piano, and non-falsetto’ed vocals to put some depth and length on this stripped folksy tune that coolly comments on the pride that comes with being a human being.

But there isn’t just simple and delicate beauty here, but a strange and twisted side to this record that we first came to know on the band’s debut. You can hear this in the odd lyrics on numbers like “Memories Of You,” and “Think It’s Gonna Happen Again” in which the vocals also seem to twist into a caricature of itself. Just when you think you’ve got them pinned, Avi Buffalo keeps you guessing as to which direction they will steer you next, which is a large part as to why this album works in its twisted way.

 

Love Inks – EXI

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Processed with VSCOcam with g3 presetRating: ★★★½☆

A little less than a year ago, Love Inks gave you Generation Club, a synthesizer filled mix of tracks that took on the minimalist electro-pop genre well. Not even taking a moment to breathe, the band has lined up another album for purveyance and EXI is a stripped down approach to contrast their last work, playing with space instead of filling every empty crack with sound.

As I’ve just mentioned, this album feels like an inverted take on the sound that Love Inks doled out last go-round. The dreamy-electro pop is still there, but it’s subtler in the approach. First track, “Shoot 100 Panes Of Glass,” gives a little taste of this style, breaking in the minimalist style. Sherry Leblanc’s velvet vocals fill most of the track, but there is also a soft drum machine, bubbling bass, and traces of guitar here and there to compliment the deep vocals. The beauty is in the details here, and the minute guitar work at the end of “Regular Lovers” is a perfect instance of this, with just the faintest hint of a riff coming through at the end to top off the song.

Along with the vocals becoming even more so the central element to this band’s sound, so, intrinsically have the lyrics. The title track is a testament to this theory, with the track becoming a story, starting out with the tale of a female protagonist and then follows this character through the whole track. For the chorus, it turns personal, as the lyrics twist and turn, embodied in the Frankie Rose-esque vocal fashion. In the chorus, which comes across as a chain of word association, Leblanc chastises a former lover: “You were never there when you should have been/You could never see what was right in front.” As the song goes along, it starts to loop on itself, but then comes to an abrupt and sudden halt in which the music is replaced with what sounds like a skipping record, perhaps mirroring the end of the aforementioned relationship.

All in all, Love Inks wear this minimalist approach with effortless grace and beauty, though it becomes a little repetitive at points. However, I still find myself falling into tracks left and right, and letting the quietness of the album take me away with its soothing subtleties. Once again these locals prove that Austin is home to some great bands in every genre.

Cymbals Eat Guitars – LOSE

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59573e8eRating: ★★★☆☆

There’s a lot to be said about a band’s third record; gone are the first impressions that come with a debut and the jitters that a sophomore release present. With a buffer record under their belt, Cymbals Eat Guitars, currently a four piece from New York, can go wherever they want, and LOSE feels, mostly like a manifestation of this freedom as well as growth. This third album is mature and varied in ways that Lenses Alien was lacking.

“Jackson,” begins as the open that you would expect from the group, but quickly grows into a slightly reformed version of the group. You get the same quiet, growing introduction, but just when you expect them to burst into the song with all guns a-blazin–’ and they do burst in quickly—they jump with more control. The electric guitar squalls in the background, but the percussion aligns with the subtle “oohs” that glide in smoothly. It’s as if the band has entered off the high dive with a precision, effortless trick, instead of just a cannonball. “Jackson” undoubtedly brings the rock too, it comes through with D’Agostino’s vocals that cut through the instrumentation with his occasional guttural screech as well as the back and forth between quiet and peeling out. This track doubled down with “Warning,” that has D’Agostino reeling off lyrics line after line with a quick tongue and a bitter heart, saying things like “friendship’s the biggest myth” and “the shape of true love is terrifying enough.” If these lines don’t scream unhappy endings, I’m not sure what does.

While LOSE shows a lot of growth, some of the tracks fall mediocre and fail to hold on to my interest as they go through. “XR” begins with promise and a little bit of harmonica, but then spins around itself a few times and ultimately goes no where—this isn’t to say that every track has to build to a climactic ending, but the sound is grating at the end of the 2:35 time, and feels like a step back from the first two songs. This is to be a pattern: you get a few solid songs that pique your interest and show progress, and then a little step back.

When you reach the end of LOSE, you will feel an immediate desire to return to some really great tracks, such as “Chambers.” This is the best song from the album and maybe one of the best that Cymbals Eat Guitars have put out, but there isn’t the cohesive qualities of a spectacular-knock-you-off-your-feet album here; it’s good, just not great.

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