Category: Reviews

Of Montreal – Aureate Gloom

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ofmontrealRating: ★★★½☆

If you still somehow don’t know who Kevin Barnes and Of Montreal are, after the ever-impressive and prolific thirteen studio albums that he’s put out, I’m at a loss as to what to really say to you. Of Montreal is a household name at this point, and rightly so; this project has been around for almost twenty years now making slightly off kilter psychedelic indie rock for the ages. Aureate Gloom, the thirteenth in the vast collection from this group, finds the band striking a resonant chord once again, bringing together glam/trippy rock and funky lyrics to make for an odd yet enjoyable trip into whatever world Of Montreal are living in.

It’s remarkable after all these albums that this band is still able to put out the hits; Aureate Gloom has a fair number of tracks that feel simultaneously familiar and novel. Opening up the album is “Bassem Sabry,” which launches you right into the groovy realm of the band, as springy disco guitar puts the spunk in this song, and then Barnes’ voice steps in to spiral around with immaculate diction, all of which inspire the same twisted distortion of our own perception of the music. This opening number is a great start, and when Barnes says “I believe in witches/I believe in you,” he brings in yet another element of fantasy to the mix, but often the fantasy isn’t whimsical, but grounded in scathing words sometimes chastising a group or part of life. Later, on “Virgilian Lots,” the music mirrors this grounding with the eerie synths and the gritty guitars.

There’s also the ever-so-obvious Bowie influence, as well as Barnes’ play within this trope of alien spaceman rocker, which comes into play on tracks like “Aluminum Crowd,” where Barnes’ vocals ooze Bowie. But instead of this becoming just mere imitation, Barnes’ lyrics, as well as the structure of this song, give it enough of the band’s own signature to set it apart. It sort of feels like a futuristic imagining of the past, tying together the aspects of glam rock with modern sensibilities and elements that keep it fresh.

Aureate Gloom is a fun record simply in that it has enough funkyness to make you shimmy along with Barnes and company as well as some twisted and alternate reality-esque lyrics to escape into. Of Montreal have still got it, and they want to share with you so we can all trip down this psychedelic distorted, yet comforting road.

 

Buxton – Half A Native

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unnamedRating: ★★★☆☆

Buxton are a group from Houston who make folk inspired alternative indie rock with Americana elements interspersed throughout. Half A Native combines the various genres that the group draws from (i.e Americana, honky-tonk, alt-country, psychedelia) with a careful presence of songwriting and craftsmanship that makes for easy listening.

What works well for Buxton on this album is the aforementioned mix of genre that allows these gentlemen to flourish in several different directions while staying under the umbrella of indie rock. Therefore, it’s only fitting that each of the standout tracks all border on different directions. Take immediately emotive and lush title track “Half A Native” for an example of the folksy direction this band takes. This song is combines delicate acoustic guitar riffs with twangy slide guitar and Sergio Trevino’s bluesy vocals to make for a hauntingly beautiful listening experience; this song is powerful in its subtlety. Personally, this is where Buxton’s music comes across the strongest, Trevino’s lyrics are able to shine through clearly and with distinction.

While gentle folk is one direction that lets the band shine, they also show their strength in other genres. Early song “Good As Gone” shows them leaning towards more straightforward rock and roll, with a bit of campy piano that bounces through the track. Trevino’s vocals are central in the mix, but the snarling electric guitar kicks up now and again, taking the reigns and steering us to rock. Near the end of the album they go full honky-tonk alt-country with “Icebreaker,” which is full of twang and Trevino spinning fast lyrics in a southern drawl, throwing around quaint phrases like “whistlin’ Dixie,” accompanied by full on twang-filled guitars and a bluesy bass line. That campy piano also rejoins the band, and this song kind of makes you just want to throw on some cowboy boots and a hat and dance along with the band as they get down.

The easy listening makes this a quaint and enjoyable album, but this same quality leaves me a little underwhelmed along the way. Some songs soar above and create a notable and lasting impression for this band, but others get a little lost in the mix. Half A Native shows promise for this group of gentlemen, and I will be looking out for what the future holds for them.

 

Moon Duo – Shadow of the Sun

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unnamedRating: ★★★½☆

Trying to nail down the sound of San Francisco’s Moon Duo is a bit more difficult than slapping on the label of hazey rock, as these two (three, counting live drummer John Jeffrey) turn that genre inside out. The drone/noise guitar becomes the substance itself and everything else works like kindling to fuel this grungey fire. Shadow of the Sun sees this band creating music that primarily dwells under this haze, occasionally surfacing for lighter and poppier tunes.

They begin with the darkness of “Wilding,” which is pretty much a straightforward gritty guitars blazing rock song. This song is a rambunctious and raw start to the album, as the band starts you out with the shadowy rock before they tone it down from this grit to the more refined “Night Beat.” The band takes the haze of noise with their guitar, reverb coated vocals, and adds a quirky and somewhat spooky synth part to it. Here is the trend that takes hold over the music here; it feels eerie and haunting but with enough dance hooks and jangly percussion to drive it to genre of synth pop. The same can be said with “Zero,” but this song blends the two genres seamlessly into one slow simmering tune.

Later “Slow Down Low, makes for one of the brighter, lighter tunes on the album. The use of airy synths, handclaps and gang vocals make this song a surefire hit, still incorporating those drone-guitars, but they’re balanced out with the clean clarity of the synthesizer. This is one of the best songs, and the guitars take over at its end to provide that revival of darkness before you move on to “Ice.” Nearing the end of the nine songs that Moon Duo has crafted, “Ice,” feels more like a continuation of the previous song, a groovy outro of sorts to tone down the sound before the last song.

                  Shadow of the Sun is a surprisingly fun album; for all the dark and swirling pieces of the music, there are a decent amount of tunes that have a dance-able quality to them. The brooding nature of Moon Duo’s hazey guitar rock sound is always there, but within that space they’ve made songs that work to get you moving a bit beyond just nodding your head. That being said, this album’s novelty wears off a little bit after you’ve put the record down. I’ll be back to revisit my favorite tracks for sure, but on the whole it doesn’t push from good to great.

 

Lady Lamb The Beekeeper – After

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LadyLamb_AfterCoverRating: ★★★★½

When Aly Spaltro recently signed with Mom + Pop Music and gave us a taste of what she had in store for us on After, I had a sense that this album would be something special. In an age in which the concept of a cohesive album feels sometimes forgotten, a single becomes what we look to in order to gauge the worth of an artists’ unreleased work. “Billions of Eyes,” in all its garage spunk and jangly guitars, is misleading in that its warmth and exciting sound may convince listeners that this is as good as it gets for Lady Lamb The Beekeeper, but as a true single should be, it is merely a hearty slice of After.

This album starts incredibly strong, with its first four tracks each battling to be your favorite tune. “Vena Cava” opens, immediately showcasing Spaltro’s bluesy and powerful vocals that Then you’re hit smack in the face with pop goodness from the aforementioned single “Billions of Eyes,” which is both a catchy and emphatically well written track about finding positivity amidst stress. “Violet Clementine,” comes next, mixing it up with its theatrically folksy roots, and even bringing in some killer horns near its end, wowing you with all this song has to offer. “Heretic,” the fourth track on this album, is four minutes and fifteen seconds of sunshine, alternating between the glossy chorus that begs you to sing along with Spaltro as she hits the notes effortlessly and the more grounded verses in which the rambunctious guitars take over.

But Lady Lamb doesn’t stop after this ridiculously infectious line up of hits. No, the rest of the album keeps on this pace, throwing you more and more tunes to fall in love with; there isn’t even a mildly mediocre song on here. After transitions through several genres, from outright garage/jangly pop, to more simmering percussive based jams like “Spat Out Spit.” I don’t mean to downplay pop music, but there’s a craftsmanship here that you wouldn’t expect from such euphonic pop music. Each instrument and note feels right in the mix—it’s pretty and easy to listen to, but neither vapid nor trite. The lyrics and the seemingly endless combinations of instrumentation and Spaltro’s enrapturing vocals prevent you from ever straying from the music.

After is everything at once: one moment it’s soft and delicate, the next it’s a gale force wind of sputtering rock, but above all, it’s all a delight to listen to. With every trip through its collection of tracks that work together quite well, I find myself latching on to more of the tracks than the previous listen. I expect this album to find itself on top of year-end lists, as Lady Lamb The Beekeeper has knocked it out of the park with this one, giving you pop hooks as well as depth of sound. This is one of those records you will tell all your friends about.

 

Colleen Green – I Want To Grow Up

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colleenRating: ★★★½☆

As a female young adult, I feel as though the music of Colleen Green should really appeal to me, but her last album, Sock It To Me, didn’t sink in too deep, and left me feeling a bit weary as to the nature of her girl garage rock. I Want To Grow Up is another trip down the road of maturation and growing up, as the title would suggest, but this time around Green’s tunes themselves have matured a bit and we’re able to rock along with her navigation of youth and adulthood with the greater coherence of pop hooks.

“I’m sick of being immature, I want to be responsible” is one of the first lines on this album, giving you a snapshot of the general theme this album: wanting to transcend ones current state and be something else, but not quite achieving that goal instantly and the frustrations that arise out of this dilemma. This theme makes for an interesting subject matter for Green to craft some great garage rock gems to delight. Look no further than “Grind My Teeth,” or “TV” to give you fuzzy guitars and pop hooks. “Grind My Teeth,” is one of the more complex tracks you’ll hear from this artist, and it’s definitely one of my personal highlights off the album. This song goes several different directions, first beginning with a rapid pace, leaning more towards the stripped simplicity of punk song, then transitions to a slower grunge mode, when the buzz saw guitar takes center stage and allows for some sweet synth to solo for a bit. Before you know it the track is back to its hyper fast original state,

The lyrics, while they aren’t the deepest, acknowledge their own shallow-ness and play with this idea, especially on songs like “Things That Are Bad For Me (Part I).” Here, Green’s rhymes are simple and easy, sometimes elongating a word or syllable so that the rhyme will work out; there’s no apology or inhibition, Green just goes with it, and her honest naïveté goes a long way.

I Want To Grow Up feels light years away from Green’s last record and the tunes on here reach further than just noisy girl rock. While Green sticks to her guns lyrically, the music now provides an appropriate catchy- grunge pop setting for them to play in. Something has clicked for Colleen Green on this album, and perhaps something in her life has clicked as well, now that she’s realized she can do whatever she wants. Right on.

 

 

Keath Mead – Sunday Dinner

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adventureWeird_LP_11183_newRating: ★★★½☆

Keath Mead is South Carolina boy and self taught musician, and Sunday Dinner is his debut album. Recorded in California at the home of one Chaz Bundick, of Toro Y Moi, the album comes off as a mix between these two distinguished styles: southern ease mixed with California lightness. The result is delightful, crammed full with bouncing pop tunes that make for easy listening.

Like the best kind of end to a relaxing weekend, Sunday Dinner kicks off without a hitch with “Waiting.” Some sugary synths come winding in, scattering around lightly while the lower synths ground the tune all before Keath’s high-pitched, yet still soulful, vocals chime in. This generates a pop song gently evolving and changing modes from the east to west coasts: from slow heated and sleepy to the breezier and permanently chill California style. It’s around two minutes into the song before it reaches its full potential and the drums and some ooh-la-la’s bring it on home. “Grow Up,” the following track, feels kind of like a sunnier Mac Demarco track; the guitar licks are clean and crisp but also distorted and serve as the backbone for the bopping nature of the song. Mead’s vocals and lyrics work together, telling you to “Grow up and act your age,” talking about the self-centered nature of youth, but the overall mood of this song is far from serious. Instead, it feels filled with whimsy and effortlessness, which is the trend of this album; light and airy pop songs with serious, often heavily grounded lyrics to give you that kind of delightful dichotomy.

But the tracks on here aren’t so bouncy that they’re overwhelming. As I said before, the lyrics tend of provide a sense of balance and gravity to the Sunday Dinner that Keath Mead has invited us to. The style itself also gains gravity as it progresses, like you see on later tracks “Quiet Room,” that provides an almost gothic tone with its alien synth parts and heavily distorted vocals. Although sunshine and bounce aren’t terribly far away, as moments like these provide just the right amount of weight before we return to brighter numbers like “Polite Refusal.” Though it begins with those same synth sounds, we get to the choral hook and the soaring vocals and acoustic guitar take over the track and there’s no shortage of sunshine.

Once you get to the end of the album, it’s only a matter of figuring out which tracks were your favorites and which were just really good. Sunday Dinner is brimming with pop gems and enough variation in style to keep your attention all the way through to its termination. This debut from Keath Mead has certainly put him on my map, and if you’re into sunny pop with melancholic undertones, then it should certainly put him on your map too.

 

The Black Ryder – The Door Behind The Door

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The-Black-Ryder-The-Door-Behind-The-DoorRating: ★★★★½

The Black Ryder consists of Aimee Nash and Scott Von Ryper, who hail from Australia, but have recently relocated to L.A. Back in 2009 they released their first album, Buy The Ticket, which earned them some recognition as they premiered their self-proclaimed “rhinestone drone dark rock” music. The Door Behind The Door is a dramatic and gorgeous exploration of this genre, complete with standout tracks as well as an intensifying growth over the course of its duration.

If you were to listen to the first and last track of this record, you would be mystified as how one could lead to the other. Opener “Babylon” is a swirling and twisted slow core jam, complete with heavily distorted guitars that rip through the mix for a brief introduction. Then the band moves into their sweet spot: a sometimes-hazy wall of dark sound comprised of detailed and alarmingly subtle nuances that move you. Take one of my favorite numbers, “Let Me Be Your Light” for example. This number slinks in with its whirring sound and slowly takes off, the transparent vocals of Aimee Nash giving the whole number a juxtaposition between the lightness of her voice and the heaviness of the instrumentation. Infectious, deeply moving, well crafted, this song, as well as the rest of the numbers, hit you in a place you didn’t even know existed.

By the end of the album, there’s an overall shift from the heavy rock that The Black Ryder rolls in with to a beautiful and elegant refined orchestral sound; the very opposite of the historical progression of these genres. However, this transition feels nothing but natural and right for the band, as even when they dwell on the noisier side of things, there are signs of this elegance that creeps into the mix even in the beginning of the album. Like a well crafted novel or movie, upon second or third listen all the way through, you notice these subtle moments of foreshadowing embedded in the mix on moments like “Let Me Be Your Light.” Once you revisit the album, these moments become ever more apparent, calling your attention to the precision and intricacy that this band have done so well. When you reach the stirring last number, “La Dernier Sommeil (The Final Sleep),” you are ready for the tune, but still overwhelmed by its instrumental grace and fluidity.

The Door Behind The Door is a sprawling, constantly changing and progressing work from this duo that resembles a walk down a winding path, one which continuously gives you a breathtaking view with each curve you round. At 54 minutes in length, it begs you to simply sit down and do nothing but listen, letting the music wash over you in waves, though if you’re not careful it’ll sweep you away in the best possible way.

 

Santiparro – True Prayer

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santiRating: ★★★½☆

Chances are that you haven’t heard of Santiparro, the solo project of Alan Scheurman, and while I never mean to underestimate you dear reader, chances are higher that you don’t know what Santiparro means. So you know, this name means “the lens that sees many things not usually seen,” which was given to Scheurman on a pilgrimage to Wirikuta, the sacred desert where Peyote originates. This should clue you in to the earthy, sacred, and ethereal nature of True Prayer, if the album artwork hadn’t already. Overall, these threads are the center of this album, weaving together along with the twisted psychedelic folk rock to create something the likes of which are hard to come by.

The whole album is very much grounded in nature, which is made obvious through the opening track “Sikuli,” which is merely the sound of birds chirping calmly, as if welcoming the day. In opening this way, Santiparro gets our minds in the right state of mind before he really begins. When he does on “The New Baktun,” you encounter the soft vocals placed gently atop the gently folksy blend of guitar and barely-there percussive elements, such as shakers. This makes for a simple and effortless sound, but one distinguished by the quality of each of the elements. There’s a sleepy, half-trancelike nature to the sound on this song, and this is just Santiparro getting started.

True Prayer, while it maintains this trancelike, ethereal nature through its duration, does pick up a bit. Songs like “Total Freedom,” build on the simple foundation, adding more layers and earthy dimensionality. The guitar sound is twangy, although still subtle and low in the mix; there is a lot going on here, but not overwhelming. “Where We’re From” is one of the most straightforward songs on the album, but it still incorporates the intricacies that you’ve come to enjoy already. There’s a shift to a more rock and roll temperament here, with little squalls of fuzzy electric guitar that scatter off along the edges. The vocals are more forceful, standing out in the mix and changing from whispery to full bodied and deep.

Now, while this album is enjoyable, it’s important to note that if this is your genre of choice, I think that True Prayer could easily move up in your eyes from good to great. For me, there doesn’t seem to be enough variety in song style for to sink my teeth into this album for the long run, but there are a good deal of worthwhile and sonically interesting tracks that makes for a pretty good debut, albeit a little long. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Santiparro.

 

 

Grave Pool – Mnemonics

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grave poolRating: ★★★★☆

Lately, it feels like the dream pop/shoegaze genre is really taking off and spinning in several different wonderful directions. Nashville’s Grave Pool is no exception to this—the work of this gentleman takes a trip down shoegaze lane, but adds a whole new level of sheerness to the mix. Mnemonics may be Grave Pool’s debut album, but it feels like a seasoned work, one that delights as much as it resonates.

“Cast/Off” opens up the album with its brief taste of instrumental interlude that pulls you in from wherever you’re coming from. The synths wind their way in, gentle guitar strums along, and the soft yet substantial percussion creates a kind of drama that builds the short intro track into something more than just a throwaway instrumental song. Instead, it provides the perfect introduction to the sound that Grave Pool has elegantly crafted, akin to a sweeping overture of a stage production. Before you know it this track is over, and Devan Köchersperger has launched into the thick of it with “National Forest.” Angular guitars glide in white hot, while the vocals are muted and deep, juxtaposing the airiness of the instrumentation to give you an 80’s feel in a modern context; something about the synth in this song has me thinking about The Cure. Later on you get fiery tracks like “Burnt” or “I’ll Tell You Later,” both of which will get you grooving pretty intensely. Needless to say, I could go track by track enumerating each one’s lushness, but then you’d be reading this review for hours instead of just listening to it and finding out for yourself.

I will say that this album stands out because it feels so cohesive. It moves subtly to different places without becoming redundant or tired, coating you in its coolness layer by layer until you’re completely submerged. Sometimes, this kind of music can feel rushed or urgent and the instruments crowd each other, but that’s not the case with Grave Pool, each instrument feels precisely placed and has its own room to flourish and play, all within its streamlined sleekness. It’s synth pop delicately placed into a dreamwave/shoegaze setting, and somehow it feels so right.

When Mnemonics is all over and done, you don’t feel wrong at all starting it right back over again. The nuance to this album is killer, and will have you listening to it all day, all week, and maybe all year. See for yourself.

 

A Place To Bury Strangers – Transfixiation

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placeRating: ★★★☆☆

The noise, the noise, the noise! For more than a decade now, these New Yorkers have been dishing out a steady supply of loud and rambunctious rock music. But you already knew that, or you should, as they’ve become somewhat of a staple band when it comes to experimental post-punk revival noise rock. Transfixiation is far from short on the loud and punch-you-in-the-face rock and roll, but does it push A Place To Bury Strangers past where they’ve already been?

They open up with simmering “Supermaster,” which has the band’s dark post-punk grit toned down to a pop level, giving it a newfound accessibility that was missing before. This song plays with the concept of bursting forth into the explosive rock that we know the band to be capable of, but instead, they stay treading water just below of the surface. Oliver Ackermann’s vocals stay low in the mix, and the whole song crawls along forebodingly, building up the suspense as squalls of electric guitar slice through the mix. Alluringly, this song piques your interest and sucks you in before APTBS ever really launch in.

But not to worry, “Straight,” the second track up has the band taking this newfound pop accessibility to a different level. This song is a great middle ground for the band; neither too hot nor too dull in terms of gritty noise rock or a watered down version of their original sound. Instead, it takes the band to a different level, combining the grit with the streamlined to make for quite an enjoyable track. There are other tracks on Transfixiation that fit this mold in the best way, like late burners “We’ve Come So Far,” or “Fill The Void.” Both of these songs combine a newfound pop sensibility to the mix while maintaining the band’s core sound, and open up the band to a new hybridity we had scarcely seen before. Other times, you get the band holding on to their loud roots unabashedly. Take songs like “Love High” or “Deeper,” in which the grungey elements are in full force.

So, the answer to the question I posed at the beginning of this review is both a yes and a no. There are some tracks on Transfixiation that clearly stick out and sail above the classic noise they’ve come to be infamous for. However, part of the album feels so steeped in feedback and coated in grit that you’ve already gotten to know; a half step in a different direction rather than a full step. It’s up to you to decide if that’s a good or a bad thing.

 

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