Sonny & The Sunsets – Talent Night At The Ashram

sonnyRating: ★★★★☆

For years, Sonny Smith, with and without the Sunsets, has been turning out a ton of youthful and light tunes, incorporating aspects of whimsy into his odd indie rock music to create a genre all its own. Talent Night At The Ashram marks yet another album for Sonny and company, but this time around, a running thread of melancholy and seriousness runs through with the whimsy, creating an album exploring the relativity of normalcy.

The overall sound on Talent Night At The Ashram continues in classic Sonny & The Sunsets style: soft indie rock with a touch of whimsy, but elements on this album make it feel slightly like a stripped down approach to glam rock, a-la Ariel Pink, but with more subtlety and nuance. The guitars are twangy and distorted, there’s a heavy reliance on piano or synth riffs that runs through and under everything, and Sonny’s vocals seem as distant as ever. Opening “The Application,” gives you a brief insight into this transition, as the song meanders along, with Sonny opening with the lyrics “I filled out the application to be a human being,” underscored by a twee synth riff, creating a rosy sound that’s juxtaposed by the solemn lyrics Sonny spins. This is where the gravity of album lies, and it works well for the band.

Sonny continues his tradition of storytelling, as most of these tracks tell the tale of some, often titled woman and her thrills and spills in daily life. You get the obvious ones, like “Alice Leaves For The Mountains,” and “Icelene’s Loss,” in which the title characters are the main focus of the songs. As you delve deeper into the album, it seems that each song talks about matters of daily life. Take centerpiece and main attraction track “Happy Carrot Health Food Store,” which listens more like a multi-act play, with its distinctive movements. The first of which gives you classic Sonny, setting up the stage with exposition of this imaginary, or perhaps real, natural health food store that you enter “through a mystical door.” This opening brings the eclectic glam rock, with clip-clopping percussion and Sonny’s faded vocals. Then you transition to the next act, where the band really kicks in and you’re greeted with vast and detailed imagery of the characters that work there, and when the band launches into its wirey guitar chorus and following instrumental break down, you’re completely hooked into this weird little play. The ending acts gives you Sonny talking with a barking dog, which, oddly enough, feels like the only natural end to this exercise in the sometimes mundane, yet meaningful nature of daily life.

Talent Night At The Ashram walks the line of sincerity and irony with a smirk and a wink, and sometimes an outright grin. Admittedly, this album takes a little work to enjoy: the music is subtle and not overtly becoming on first listen, and I found myself needing a few spins around before I could really sink my teeth into the tracks. However, once I got on board, the album really opened up and revealed that Sonny & The Sunsets somehow still have a bit more up their sleeves to give to you. Spend some time with this record and get lost in its subtleties.

 

In Tall Buildings – Driver

in tall buildinsRating: ★★★½☆

In Tall Buildings is the project of multi-talented musician Erik Hall, of Wild Belle and Saturday Looks Good To Me, amongst other bands. Driver is his sophomore record under this moniker, following up the 2010 self-titled debut. Hall has come quite a long way since that initial release, fleshing out his folksy sound with electronic elements and focusing on creating a dichotomy between these two distinct sounds. The result is an exercise in precision and creativity, as Driver carves out its own space and flourishes there.

What works really well on this album is the constant battle between the balance of warm and cold sounds within the music. Aesthetically, Hall’s vocals are cold and distant, barely audible at points as he mutters his lyrics. In this way, they work almost as another instrument amidst the synthesizers, sheer percussion and elegant guitar riffs that are scattered in the mix, but as an instrument of juxtaposition. While his voice may be static, cool and calm, the music transitions between aligning with this chill and opposing it with growing warmth. The sound of the guitars play a large part in this—when acoustic they fill the emptiness of the track, and when electric, often the riffs are distorted warmly to give out that surfy heat of hotter days. There’s a soft blending of the elements here that feels like the sonic accompaniment to a visually smooth and subtle gradient of color.

On a track-to-track basis, this album doesn’t have a bad song, as each one feels artfully crafted, however, I have found highlights that are all over the map. First track, “Bawl Cry Wail,” is as sonically emotive as Hall’s voice gets, and the instrumentation is rustic and stripped. Later on you get the sleek and practically dance floor ready “Flare Gun,” with simmering synths and a catchy pop chorus that you’ll be singing along to in no time. Then you get “When You See Me Fall” which is a halfway point between these two songs, mixing the minimalist sound you got early on with the electronically dominated threads that have percolated in to the album.

Driver, with its sheer quiet melancholy pop veneer, feels like an excellent record for a transition from winter to spring; from finally shaking off the cold, shedding those coats, and emerging into the sunlight. There are some tracks that have definitely made my listening catalogue and perhaps you can make the delicate de-thawing process with In Tall Buildings as well.

 

Quarterbacks – s/t

quarterbacksRating: ★★★½☆

Sometimes, simple is great—whether you’re in the mood to just jam out or not, stripped down rock songs will always be there to take you away. Such is the case with New Paltz, New Yorkers, Quarterbacks and their incredibly high-energy twee-punk sound. On this self-titled debut album, these three gents don’t give you a song that lasts even two minutes, but they do give you lots of them, leaving you to question just why anyone would bother with creating longer tracks.

The general sound on this album is that of borderline out of control spastic drumming, electric guitar riffs that just won’t quit, and the vocals that just try to keep up with the instruments. Opening with a quick number, “Usual,” they instill this high energy from the beginning, that classic electric guitar sound making sure you’re wide awake before they fully launch into things. From here they don’t really stop—while they may slow down slightly, the whole album seems to run on pure raw energy. The lyrics come at you full force, and little details all become apparent at once in this youthful release.

Just because the overall sound on this album is hyper-fast and feisty doesn’t mean that it lacks tenderness. Surprisingly, there are a ton of softer moments embedded in the mix, which provides the necessary juxtaposition to the twangy punk guitars and nasal vocals that serve as the main focus of the group. These moments sometimes have whole individual tracks devoted to this sound, and other times they come as a blip interred into an otherwise rambunctious track. The tender, slower moments seem to be wound into the fiber of Quarterbacks sound, and this gives the album a real emotive quality that harkens back to 90’s emo bands. This melancholy tone runs through the album alongside the playful, which is quite effective for the band—see “Knicks,” or “Center”

While the hyper-short song lengths may seem a little ridiculous at first glance, at the end of Quarterbacks, you understand why the band has such a choppy catalog of songs for you to enjoy. Simply put, It works perfectly for this genre; the brevity of each track makes you appreciate it more, as before you even get the chance to really sink your teeth into the number it’s gone. Such is the same with the album as a whole: if you blink, you’ll miss it, so keep your eyes and ears open.

 

 

Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear

fatherRating: ★★★★☆

Josh Tillman, or rather Father John Misty, has garnered a notorious reputation over the years, and this reputation has only grown as of recent—there’s no point in denying that. Whether it was launching his faux-stripped of artistry-midi version of this album, or performing new tracks around New York City with a karaoke machine, he’s developed a sarcastic and cynical side to his infamous hip shaking and suave performance style. I Love You, Honeybear is the musical counterpart to this performative transformation, and our reaction mirrors that of our reaction to his publicity shenanigan; that is to say we are simultaneously with and against Father John Misty in his battle with sincerity versus cynicism in the 21st century.

It was the best of times, it was the not so best of times: the tracks on here range a great deal in their merit as they traverse the genre of pop folk with hyper clear production. In some of the numbers on here, Father John Misty’s lyrics are apt and brilliant, describing the perilous plight he faces with quick quips and with colloquially deep storytelling. These lyrics, the heart of the album, are often accompanied by sweeping musical arrangements that will make your skin crawl with goosebumps. The strings are often the perfect counterpart to his words, demonstrating his talent for creating drama and emotionally moving pop music.

But on a few tracks on this album, things don’t quite add together as eloquently and neatly as the rest of I Love You, Honeybear. Particularly numbers like “True Affection,” or “The Night Josh Tillman Came To Our Apartment” seem to be flattened by the production, the very soul of the music stamped out by the desire to maintain an ironical distance between artist and substance.

These, of course, are overwhelmingly overpowered by those completely wonderful songs, of which I could go on about for days. There’s each of the singles that we were tantalized with before the rest of the songs were revealed, like hitting-the-nail-on-the-head “Bored In The USA,” or the title track, which comes equipped with lines like “The future can’t be real/ I barely know how long a moment is/ unless we’re naked, getting high.” Then you have some completely surprise numbers that take you by storm. “Ideal Husband,” is the most rambunctious tune you’ll find on the album, with a full on melt down from our fearless blasé leader. But Father John is at his best with “Holy Shit,” which feels stripped and sincere, as he weighs love with a long list of the things that make up our own absurd reality: “Oh and no one ever knows the real you and life is brief/ So I’ve heard, but what’s that gotta do with this atom bomb and me?” It is the moments like this number that make me want to give this album 5 stars.

On first listen of this album, I was completely enamored with what Father John Misty had crafted, and with good reason: musically, it’s easy on the ears with its lush and gorgeous sound. However, after several rounds through, some of the tracks simply don’t have the same amount of sweeping power that the majority of the tracks do. Perhaps these other songs’ staying enchantment will kick in over time, but for now I Love You, Honeybear is a rather valiant effort at depicting love in our modern times in which the highs outweigh the lows.

 

The Fireworks – Switch Me On

unnamed (1)Rating: ★★★★☆

The Fireworks are a self-proclaimed loud fuzzy pop band from London who have released a bunch of material thus far, but Switch Me On marks their first trip down full-length LP lane. And it is an exciting one, filled with gritty feedback, alluring pop hooks and dueling vocals coated in reverb to pull you into this groups infectious sound.

Switch Me On is an exhilarating chase at high speeds—you’re constantly trying to keep up with The Fireworks in their never-ending energy, but its one that you’re willing, and wanting, to keep pace with, as the lo-fi fuzz rock is as good as it gets. The band bursts through the door with their squalling feedback, utterly distorted guitars, popping percussion and the trading off of vocals between Emma Hall and Matthew Rimmell. “With My Heart,” is just the beginning, breaking the ice so that you can jam along with the band. The chorus is infectious, as Hall and Rimmell share the hook; their voices collide to add to the collected messiness of the sound. It’s not clean and it’s not delicate, but the ferocity gives the band the right amount of grit they need to push forward to other places. For example, “Let You Know” is the least fuzzy track on the record, and it pushes on the jangly nature of the guitars and the smooth vocals rather than the intensity of the feedback. The Fireworks aren’t a one trick pony.

Halfway through, you’re refreshed with “On and On,” which is championed by Emma Hall’s vocals and a killer guitar solo at the end. Like the other songs on this album, this one is also fast and furious, streaming by in a blaze of buzzing guitars and pop hooks and its one of the best tracks on the album. As Hall chants “on and on and on…” as the title suggests, you wish her and the band would just keep on. And they do; later on you get “Corner of My Mind,” which is as close to shoe-gaze as this band gets, and the guitar riffs that cut through the feedback are sharp and crisp, grabbing you with their clarity in the fuzzy cloud of noise. It’s the little nuances such as these that vary from song to song that keep the tracks from getting too redundant or falling down the well of sound.

So you reach the end of the album, and you realize just what’s happened to you: your hair has been blown back a bit, and your socks have been knocked clean off your feet, and you find it a little hard to stop shaking your hips. You’ve been switched on by The Fireworks, and the only cure is to spin Switch Me On again and accept your grunge-y, fuzz pop fate. As far as this genre goes, this is some of the best music you’ll find. Turn it up loud and get down.

Jessica Pratt – On Your Own Love Again

Jessica-Pratt_On-Your-Own-Love-Again-coverRating: ★★★☆☆

Jessica Pratt first hit the scene back in 2012 with her debut self-titled album that transfixed audiences with its folksy creations. Now she’s back with a soft sophomore effort, On Your Own Love Again, which hopes to double up on the success of the first album in the apparent age of the singer/songwriter.

While Jessica Pratt’s music is certainly folk, it goes deeper than this blanket genre term suggest. Pratt’s overall sound is a mix of cascading acoustic guitar that serves as both the melody and the rhythm accompanied by her whimsically airy vocals. These vocals are the main attraction, though, and through them she spins intricate tales and crafts wonderful imagery that your mind will linger on. The combination of her voice and the intricate plucking of acoustic guitar are vastly more complex than they might seem and Pratt weaves them together with ease and allure. The sound here is simple, yet elegantly crafted, ornate, yet easy.

The highlights of this album come all over—by no means is this a one sided collection of songs, and I feel that those that resonate with you the strongest depends on your personal taste, but those that struck me as the most enticing come from the second half of the album. I was drawn strongly to “Jacquelyn In the Background,” on which Pratt’s vocals are impossibly breathy and light and yet still weighty in their content. The twisting and turning acoustic guitar falls on itself, creating a constant state of motion over which the vocals are able to glide. At the end of this track, the production adds a twist to it, distorting the vocals and guitar as if the record is playing on the wrong setting, evoking a level of self-awareness in an unexpected twist. Another song that has really pulled me in is “Back, Baby,” which reminds me a bit of old Destroyer records—the melancholy guitar that cuts through the tongue-twisting vocals hits hard.

I enjoy the songs on On Your Own Love Again, but I wasn’t too floored by the overall construction of the album; it’s gentle and delicate all the way through. Whereas Pratt’s contemporaries seem to burst through with power guitar or electronic components, she holds firmly to the eclectic nature of her folk tunes, which leaves me a little longing for more. She’s captured my attention with the enticing and spell-bounding quality of the music, but doesn’t expound beyond this.

 

Twerps – Range Anxiety

derpsRating: ★★★★☆

Twerps self-titled debut was something of a marvel.  It hit the US with little fanfare, but won over the hearts of many listeners and scored them a tour opening for Real Estate.  Me, personally, I fawned over the LP for the entirety of 2011. There was something in the relaxed attitude the band employed, and yet often offset with their jangling Aussie guitar prowess.  Range Anxiety picks up where that album left off, though there’s touches with the vocals that elevate this effort above its predecessor.

While there’s a statement instrumental opener, Range Anxiety officially begins with “I Don’t Mind.”  I hesitate to call it a true piece of slacker pop, though the pacing would suggest such.  My issue with that revolves around the song’s time, spanning over 5 minutes.  That’s not a slacker band running out of ideas, but rather a comfortable approach to well-crafted pop music. They follow it up with the bouncy “Back to You,” which sounds like a spritely version of the Go-Betweens.  I love how the backing vocals don’t join instantaneously during the chorus, but rather build into it…that’s a nice touch.

Speaking of nice touches, I like how Jules has a more prominent role on this LP, particularly in the standout track, “Shoulders.” It’s a tune that features that shimmering guitar work, but her voice offers a different tonal quality than that of her counterpart, Marty.  It actually harkens back to a time of more pristine female voices, void of auto-tune and all that other technological hoopla. Her presence on “Adrenaline” adds a continued softness that really smooths out the edges for Twerps; it’s still the same act, just a slight bit more leaning towards classic sounds of pop beauty.

In the end, I’m going to still fawn over this album for it’s guitar playing. Sure, everyone has praised the Oceanic influence on guitar over the last decade, but I don’t think there are many that do it quite as authentically as these guys. Listening to “Cheap Education,” I was pushed way back into my own record collection, at least mentally.  There’s a spirit to it that’s hardly been matched, and it always make listening to the group a joy.  But, I’d be remiss if I didn’t invest a sentence or two in “Love at First Sight.”  This song is unlike much of those that precede it, though I’ve found myself gravitating towards it again and again.  There’s something ramshackle that’s set amidst a really subdued performance.

Those that first fell in love with Twerps will surely find every song on Range Anxiety to have a redeeming quality.  But, I think they’ve put in enough finishing touches to really surpass their debut in many ways.  It’s a different listen, but one that exemplifies growth whilst staying grounded to what got them their in the first place.  Going to keep playing this album again and again.

The Lone Bellow – Then Came The Morning

unnamedRating: ★★☆☆☆

Sometimes a band needs a little bit of help to get off the ground, or rather with the case of The Lone Bellow, where to go once they have. On Then Came The Morning, they brought in The National’s Aaron Dessner to produce their sound, which makes for some interesting tracks and a bit of progress from their first effort they put out a few years ago.

The Lone Bellow have a bit of a mild alternative rock sound—one you would expect to hear from a band on the radio. This quality isn’t intrinsically negative, but it is apt; their folksy blend of acoustic guitar and harmonies doesn’t push a lot of boundaries sonically. In this baseness, they’ve found their niche—within this genre they’ve got some good numbers you’ll want to give a second or third listen. On the whole, however, the sound isn’t exciting enough to set them strongly apart from what others have already done.

Opener and title track, “Then Came The Morning” is about as boundary-pushing as you’ll find here. It’s a bluesy waking up track—the tempo is slow and rolling, as lead singer Zach Williams’ raspy vocals chime in with their emotive quality. The backing group vocals provide an interesting sweeping effect to the tune, the “oohs” and “ahhs” as well as the repetition of the chorus gives the whole number a balloon-like sound, giving the album a positive start. Other good songs seem to come when the band is doing bluesy sounding rock—take snappy number, “Cold As It Is” as an example. This song holds the vocals in the limelight, which freshens up the sound that The Lone Bellow have already developed. This number is a stomper and a catchy one at that, and one of the standout bright moments of the album.

By the end of the album, there is a feeling as if the songs are repeating themselves, within this genre it seems difficult to craft boldly different songs, and with thirteen altogether, the band doesn’t do themselves a lot of favors. Then Came The Morning is far from a bad record technically—the production is clear and there’s intricate craftsmanship abundantly placed all over—but I’m left wanting more edge and bite from this group. Maybe you’ll find you enjoy the mildness of The Lone Bellow, but I can’t seem to get fully behind what they’re putting out.

 

 

Pinkshinyultrablast – Everything Else Matters

psub-1440Rating: ★★★½☆

Band names are often weird, but sometimes they’re really out there. Oddly enough, Pinkshinyultrablast is a name that somehow fits this power-shoegaze group from St. Petersburg, whose sound is a mix of airy dream and heavy noise pop. Everything Else Matters is their debut full-length album, and it is packed with tightly wound tracks that will have your head shaking and your feet tapping fiercely.

You wouldn’t believe my previous statement at the outset of the album, as opener “Wish We Were” creeps in slowly, but as the name of this band suggests, the band just needs a little bit of time to light the fuse before this record explodes into full throttle shoegaze bliss. A few minutes in the song takes off, transitioning from distant and ethereal to tangible and rocking. The drums and infectiously shoegazey guitars kick in, moving the song right along to the sleek sound that Pinkshinyultrablast does so well. “Holy Forest” keeps things heading in this same direction—the band’s sound blends electronic elements like synth and super reverb soaked vocals with the cutting electricity of the white hot guitars to create blazing tracks with speed and intrigue.

Each track pushes through to blossom into its own little explosion of dream pop bliss, some hitting harder and heavier, while other soar through lightly and airy. The vocals play a large part in the balance of Everything Else Matters, creating contrast to the music when its weighed down with a deep bass groove or when the guitars are shredding. “Metamorphosis” and lead single “Umi” are the bands’ best examples of this balance. The first of these two holds true to its name, alternating between simmering instrumentation and straightforward alt rock, the bass line stringing the two together perfectly. “Umi,” on the other hand, is just plain pretty and lush; synths and the lead soft vocals compete for your attention while the peppiness of the percussion bounces you along. Both of these are just two of the types of dream pop you’ll find on this album, and there are a lot more adventurous tracks for you to dance along to.

Just as this firework of an album begins, it fizzles out slowly, akin to the residual smoke that is left behind when the brilliant explosion fades away. What you’re left with is that elated feeling of wonder and excitement, and the burning desire to start it all over again. While this is an album that makes you want to just turn up the volume and jam along, after a couple of times through it begins to fall slightly dimmer each time—still good jams, but a little less hard hitting than the first time.

 

The Dodos – Individ

PRC-284LP-COVERART_HIresRating: ★★★½☆

I’ll be honest and say that after this band put out their first record, back in 2008, that their music lost the same kind of forceful spirit that Visiter seemed to embody. Each following record they put out pulled me in with a single or two, but failed to put together something cohesive enough to really stick as a staple in my listening catalog. Individ is as close as San Francisco duo Meric Long and Logan Kroeber have come to duplicating the success of that first record.

Now, Individ doesn’t simply duplicate the same exact sound that these two began with, but repurposes the original style and tweaks it in a new controlled chaos that works for this rustic and forceful core sound. The tracks feel more refined but not any less exciting; they build and change, emotive and powerful. On a whole, the songs grow on each other, and the album is a true slow burner, picking up strength and peaking at the end. That’s not to say that the early numbers aren’t interesting: opener “Precipitation” is a long number that reboots and refreshes your memory of The Dodos. This song starts loosely and then gets tightened as it goes, mirroring the progression of the album as a whole. Long and grittily buzzing guitar noises welcome you, and then those infamous full and But before you know it, the band turn the corner and bust into full force, from subdued and controlled to a full sprint or a dance around the fire. This is the sound that you came to know and love early on from these guys and its back.

“Competition” marks the place in the album where The Dodos really hit their stride and only go up from here. This track is among the shorter and snappier numbers of stripped and energetic rag-tag rock that the band offers on the record, with its extra full sounding lead guitar sharply carrying the track, backed with a secondary cutting riff. In addition this song is completed with a vocal part that moves past the usual softness and into an emotive and interesting state. After this you get other wonderful songs like the sweetly melodic “Goodbyes and Endings,” that utilizes the full drums to juxtapose with the high yells of the chorus. Then there’s “Bastard,” a completely understated track that feels like The Dodo’s doing some extra lo-fi action a-la The Velvet Underground.

Soon you’ve reached the end of this forty-minute adventure, and while this album takes a lot of positive steps in a direction that seems natural and right for the band, Individ has a little trouble taking off, and some tracks are lackluster. However, the growth and attributes that this album contains overall outweighs the mediocre and leaves you ready to spend more time with The Dodos once again.

 

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