Category: Reviews

Twerps – Range Anxiety

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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

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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

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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

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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.

 

Viet Cong – s/t

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0004053794_10Rating: ★★★½☆

Viet Cong is a group formed from the ashes of Women, with two members from that lineup going forward and adding two members to create something new. The result is a similar darkwave sound that you might have heard from that past band, but with some nuances that keep things distinctive.

The band starts their debut full-length record out with “Newspaper Spoons,” a crunchy and buzzing staccato track that immerses you in the blackness that this record holds. The vocals are distanced and monotone, chanting single words or short phrases in bursts of lyrics while the extra fuzzy guitars meander and strike in the background. Little riffs of synthesizer join the mix toward the end, cutting through the static wall of noise the band has created with a sleek and clean electronic sound. This track is a good introduction for this record, as it shows you Viet Cong at their bleakest; as the album moves on, the sound gets a little warmer than this number, but for the majority of time, the group lives in this kind of stark musical environment.

“If we’re lucky, we’ll get old and die” buzzily resurfaces as a refrain on the second track of the album, “Pointless Experience:” even when they are at their warmest Viet Cong is still icy and dark. This second track is a departure from the first in that it has some kind of instrumental and vocal variation: the song is fluid as opposed to static. The fuzz is still there, but intermittently as the vocals of Matt Flegel sink into their yelping norm.

Later on you get some more stars song on this album with “Continental Shelf,” and “Silhouettes,” which really pull your ears back to attention near the end and crack the mechanized atmosphere that has been building over each song. “Continental Shelf” is a dramatic tune and the guitar riffs that open the track bring you in from the moment it begins. The vocals are emotive, both when they shrieking along with the instrumentation or mumbling to the simmering beat. “Silhouettes” is the closest that Viet Cong gets to a dance track, as the electric guitars and synth fight to the death for the spotlight and the darkness seems to hang above the music instead of weighing it down.

While Viet Cong as a whole listens quite easily, some tracks are much more enticing than others, which becomes apparent on your third or fourth trip around the album. I find myself gravitating towards the more accessible tracks that are trimmed down: concision works for the darkness that this band brings, and I look forward to see what the future holds for them and their post-punk style.

 

 

Sleater-Kinney – No Cities To Love

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SleaterKinney_NoCitiesToLove_cover-608x608Rating: ★★★½☆

It seems like this is the age of bands that were prominent in the late 90’s reuniting after hiatuses and so when Sleater-Kinney announced that they were going to be coming back together for another album, I was far from surprised, but by no means any less excited. You know who they are, and if you don’t, get with it: No Cities To Love is a loud and bold statement of indie rock that further proves what the band’s past seven studio albums already were working at.

This album, when it is listened to collectively, feels like a collection of singles—not because they are vastly different in style and sound, but because each track is catchy and self contained in classic Sleater-Kinney style: there are no quiet numbers that you would find buried in the depths of their other albums, but 10 tracks of punch-you-in-the-face grunge inspired rock and roll. Each track is a rambunctious thrill ride and the band takes you by the scruff of your neck and pulls you along with them. “Price Tag” starts things off with the infectious and dominating guitar riffs that fill most of the tracks on the album and make them seem so singular. The percussion is intricate and multilevel as the lyrics fall on top of each other, a cascade of quick quips that enumerate economic problems, as the title would suggest. It’s a strong open of bombastic rock that takes off from where the last left us.

The band doles out flaming track after flaming track, leaving you no space to catch your breath from this sprint of an album, but if you’re willing to keep pace with these ladies the rewards can be quite wonderful. My favorite tracks from the record include “Fangless,” “Surface Envy,” and “Hey Darling,” all of which have the classic components that this band are overwhelming good at, but in each, a different element really shines through. Take “Fangless” as a testament to the duality of vocals between Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker: they trade off, spitting catchy lyrics at us with their punk-y yelps. “Surface Envy” has that infectious electric guitar riff that cuts through it like hot knife and makes you shake your head and tap your toes. “Hey Darling” shows the band at their glossiest, the usual messy tension the band brings cut down with neater vocals that accompany and partner with the guitars.

It’s rock of the past that’s been updated to suit our 2015 sensibilities and its timing could be no more perfect. But, with all the hype surrounding this release, it’s hard to predict the longevity of the tracks on No Cities To Love. Will these single-ish numbers stand up to repeated listening, or will the tracks fall as fast as they’ve risen in this resurge? Time will tell.

The Decemberists – What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World

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watwwabwRating: ★★½☆☆

The Decemberists have long been a staple band in the indie rock world, coming together at the beginning of the new millennium and being fairly prolific ever since. While they’ve gone slightly different directions over the years, the raw distinctive vocals of Colin Meloy and folk influenced base have always been the center of their albums: What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World is no exception to this.

The strongest part of this album is the beginning, particularly the first few tracks, which lead you to believe these folks have a little something different for you this time around. Opener, “The Singer Addresses His Audience” sees the band breaking the barrier between audience and artist, as Meloy acknowledges his supposed influence on his listeners. He talks a lot about how the band has had to change over the years “to belong” to us, but what is great about this song is the way it really explodes at the end. What starts as simple acoustic guitar and vocals builds into this whole band effort of huge sound: strings, group vocals, piano, building drums and guitars all come together in one orchestration of the control of nuance, which this band does quite well. They chant “To belong” over and over, making you feel welcome to the album and happy that something so warm belongs to you.

They continue this bombastic sound on to the next track “Cavalry Captain,” that comes in hot with jangly percussion and horns. This song feeds off the energy and excitement that the first track ended on, and the dramatic and formal lyrics start to make you feel right at home with The Decemberists. “Philomena” continues the streak, but feels a little more old timey—the female “ooh-ahhs” and overall strong presence in this song makes it interesting the whole way through. The melody meanders and frolics, feeling whimsical and light.

But around the middle of the record, the songs start to fall flat, reminiscent of what they’ve already done before, or just not pushing past plain indie folk rock. “Anti-Summersong” sounds almost like a parody of their own sound; the cartoon-esque backup vocals and harmonica making the band sound silly. There’s not a whole lot of new territory here, and their sound feels really pared down to a stale formula: the freshness from the first tracks has been lost.

At the end of the album, it’s hard to figure out where I stand. There are some good tracks on this album that will probably make my listening catalogue, but on the whole, What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World lacks that knock-you-off-your-feet factor to make it more than just tolerable songs. Perhaps fans of The Decemberists will argue otherwise.

 

Belle and Sebastian – Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance

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yoRating: ★★★★☆

“If I had a camera I’d snap you now cause there’s beauty in every stumble—” our wise sage Stuart Murdoch recounts in the heart of opener “Nobody’s Empire,” both easing and stirring our antsy minds as we ask the question: will our favorite Glaswegians knock it out of the park once again or will we be forced to find the beauty in the stumble?

The album opens with the track from which I just quoted from, and this opener has everything to appease your Belle and Sebastian pop sensibilities. From the beginning, the band doles out the whimsy you’ve come to expect: the whole song revolves around the sing-songy melody as Stuart spins you a nostalgic tale of looking back and you just want to sing along. It seems as though he is revisiting those gloomy times that served as the setting for albums like If You’re Feeling Sinister. Now, far away from that darkness he is able to look back with wise eyes and celebrate them—which seems to be the spirit of this album from the very start.

Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is long and sprawling, stretching farther than an hour in length, and in this time you’ll find there are a wide variety of tracks that Belle and Sebastian add to their vast catalogue. The band goes down the synth pop road with songs like “The Party Line” and “Enter Sylvia Plath,” both of which see the band at their most electronic and straying from soft-spoken whimsical pop and their bluesy rock and into something new. However, through these numbers you still have the finesse that this band brings always: the songs are orchestrations far from strewn together haphazardly.

Where this album really shines, though, is on the subtler numbers that you don’t even reach until after the midpoint of the album: I’m looking at you “The Everlasting Muse.” This band is the best at storytelling, and so naturally “The Everlasting Muse” is a winding tale of an elusive and mysterious lady. Instrumentally, this track is one of the most interesting tracks this band has crafted, and they utilize all their skills with such ease and control. The song begins quietly with a grooving bass line, small drumbeats, Stuart’s soft vocals, little nuanced piano and synth parts, and electric guitar all simmering together in harmony. Then the whole thing flips on itself into the chorus, which is a bombastic and swaying, polka-esque spin, complete with handclaps and violin. But then the band switches back to a kicked up version of the verse, and now Stuart is complimented with Sarah Martin’s breathy vocals and Stevie Jackson’s electric guitar licks intensify. They try to tell you that “beauty crumbles with the years,” right before they jump into a glorious instrumental bridge/segue with horns before launching into the masterful end of the song where everyone comes together to sing and contribute and you have a little trouble believing what they tell you.

Somehow, Belle and Sebastian haven’t stumbled or lost any of their beauty. Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance marks their ninth studio album and yet another graceful step in their dance of a career. These Glaswegian heroes make music that glides through genres, but still remains quintessentially the wistful pop we fell in love with almost twenty years ago: “The music is for us.”

 

Ariel Pink – Pom Pom

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pom pomRating: ★★½☆☆

While Ariel Pink has been making waves in the media for comments made about one thing or another these days, its always important that we go back to the music that the artist is making. For Ariel Pink, that is this latest solo effort, Pom Pom. The album cover is plain and pink, with the album title scrawled on it in a carefree manner—you’re first introduction to the mix of whimsy and dementedly dark aspects that battle for your attention through the whole album.

Though some of the tracks that are the embodiment of pure fancy and whim are hilarious and entertaining, it’s difficult to imagine them being enjoyable in a live setting—and yes there is the divide between the live and recorded material that an artist creates, but it says something when I’m more focused on the ridiculous nature of a track then the music itself. “Jell-o,” besides the bits of shredding guitar solo provides an example of the absurd becoming banal. At this point in the record we’ve already been a bit beaten over the head with it, the constant undercurrent of mumbling voices in the background, the production making some numbers sound like they belong out of a children’s television program from the 90’s and so here is where the absurdly whimsical elements become so prevalent that they’re normalized and redundant.

It’s not all this way on Pom Pom—on the contrary, there’s some good numbers that held my attention with their balance. “Lipstick” is a glossy number of swirling darkness that easily stands out amidst the rest of the tracks. 80’s synths hollowly pipe and simmer through the number, creating a groove that begs to be got down to, and then Ariel Pink comes in on the vocals, singing through his lower register as he gives out some exposition for the little story within he is about to craft. This song isn’t entirely devoid of the shenanigans that are all over this album, but they are introduced in a controlled form, the ridiculous high pitched backing vocals fit right in with the fantastical world that Pink creates instead of simply being thrust at you. Same goes with following track “Not Enough Violence:” Ariel Pink is at home in the darkness of weird, but seems to flounder around in those numbers where its supposed to be the main event.

At the end of the lengthy, dare I say too lengthy, album, I have to say I’m honestly on board with only about half of the tracks on Pom Pom, the other half of which are burdened a little too heavily with elements of whimsy that don’t contribute really to the music. There are some great tracks on the album that break the confines of genre, but there are moments that have my finger poised to skip when Ariel Pink goes too far and it detracts from the sound. Though maybe I just don’t get it and this hour long mix is the perfect balance of fun and serious for you.

 

Angelo de Augustine – Spirals of Silence

angeloRating: ★★★★☆

Angelo de Augustine is sure to be a name everyone whispers behind your back for a few years.  His work is so unassuming that it’s likely to be skipped over by many, to their detriment, as it’s a listen that people will praise from the darkened corners of coffee shops, spreading the gospel beyond until everyone scours Discogs in search for a copy of Spirals of Silence.

It’s going to be difficult for people to look beyond the Elliot Smith references, especially after listening to the opening two tracks, “Old Hope” and “Collections.” Quiet whispers in the vocal quality and even the sound of the strings being plucked are definitely similar, but there’s still some tiny nuances that allow Angelo to find a path all his own.  That being said, if you’re an Elliot fan, then you should find yourself listening to “Collections.”

An instance where I see de Augustine making his own path on Spirals of Silence if on “The Beginning and the End.”  There’s a fragility to the vocal for sure, but there’s also this careful bit of intricate work filling in the empty space beneath the guitar lines.  Sometimes it’s touches of bells or strings, but it comes off sounding more like a field recording as opposed to an ode to the Beetles. It’s those moments that provide a certain level of intimacy that we don’t always find in our musicians, and it seems to be on every track Angelo has left us with.  If you need another example of such quality, then “Tucked in at Home” is another place you’ll find this insight into the soul of the musician. I love the light little “do do do” moments that fill in near the middle of the track; it’s playful yet wholly personal.

I’m still finding myself entranced with “You Open to the Idea.”  It was the first track I experienced from Spirals of Silence, and thus, it’s been the one I’m particularly fond of.  I love the way Angelo rises and falls in pitch and tone within the track; it also never hurts to have a really faint bit of tinkering piano in the far off distance of the song. Still, I encourage you to do your own exploration of the record, as each time I spin it, I find something different and new lurking in the background, or even in front of my face.  It’s a record that’ll make you lost, looking for the key to its secrets, and in the end, it’s just a nice bit of songwriting. Cheers to that, and Angelo de Augustine.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/07-You-Open-To-The-Idea.mp3]

 

 

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