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Men is two parts Le Tigre, and they will be making their way to Austin this Wednesday night at the Beauty Bar. It seems that the group is predominantly the work of JD Samson, but there are other contributions from her former band-mates. Men will be hitting the stage with Gretchen Phillips. Sounds like a danceable way to spend your hump day.
Download: Men – Off Our Backs [MP3]
With Lollapalooza inching closer and closer, now is a good time to start talking about the festival and some of the bands playing. We couldn’t think of a better way to introduce some bands to the public than with a free sampler from the fine folks at Lollapalooza. The itunes sampler includes hit tracks from festival artists like The Raveonettes, Langhorne Slim, Deerhunter, and a few others. Head to the Lolla site now to get your hands on it. Until then, here’s our favorite track from the playlist, Fleet Foxes single “Mykonos”.
Download: Fleet Foxes – Mykonos [MP3]
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New Orleans duo, Generationals, seem to have flown beneath the radar for quite some time, that is until Park the Van Records, home to Dr. Dog, decided to release their album Con Law. The record crosses various rivers of genre, yet always staying familiar in the listener’s ear. Here we have a complete album of pop celebration that will surely tide us over for the rest of the summer.
When “Nobody Could Change Your Mind” begins, the tinkering of electronic keyboard makes it seem like just any other neo-electroni-pop album, but then the horns kick in, stepping the album out of a purely cliche realm of music. Vocals here have a bit of an echo, which may give them a lo-fi title, but the band is nowhere near that mark.
“Angry Charlie” switches gears, and recalls the best moments of MGMT, although if you listen to this on repeat several times you will see that the usage of the organ and bounding percussion give it an entirely different light, moving the band beyond their peers. Yet, this group immediately allows for the staleness of such styles to veer in different directions. The half-hearted stomp of “Faces in the Dark” demonstrate that the band is far more than a one trick pony; they have a barrage of approaches in the writing of Con Law, allowing for the album to take on a more long-standing importance for fans.
By the time you meet the mid-section of this record, you start to wonder exactly why you hadn’t heard anything about this band up until this point in time. “”When they Fight, They Fight,” and “Our Time (2 Shine)” are both solid tracks that exemplify just how special a listening experience this will be. Both songs hold tightly to some really great hooks, while still paying homage to classic beach sounds. They might take a slight misstep from here with “Wildlife Sculpture,” as it’s one of the very few songs that doesn’t immediately make you want to press repeat on your player, whatever format.
Just as the album seems as if it will stay with electronic flourishes, “Exterior Street Date” sweeps in with ringing guitars. The vocals will take the key role for the majority of the song here, but the subtlety of the chorus somehow manages to stick inside your head. This duo is the key of under-spoken pop gems, accessible and discernible, only for those with careful ears. Following this comes “It Keeps You Up” with its bouncing piano work and vocals that appear to be sung by a mass group of fans, though it’s just one voice. Such care went into the patchwork of these songs that it’s no wonder you find yourself listening to them again and again. And such is the story of the album, you find yourself rushing back and forth to play that track over and over, wondering to yourself if it really was that good. The answer for the songs, and the album is yes!
Generationals play at Stubbs Indoors on August 6th.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/02-angry-charlie.mp3]Download: Generationals – Angry Charlie [MP3]
Sunday night wrapped up a rather moderate week of live music in Austin, but let’s not forget that we’ve had a pretty awesome summer of live music. Fortunately for us at ATH, we were able to catch Foreign Born, The Veils and Other Girls at The Mohawk on Sunday night, just after we did our best to pretend to be entertained by the Anarchy Wrestling Tour outside of the Mohawk. You can’t argue with $1 Pabst or good tunes. Follow the jump for our take on the show and a few snapshots.
We’ve been closely following news that Islands will be releasing Vapours this September on Anti Records. Anything Nic Thorburn lays his hands upon turns up to be genius in our books, be it this band or Human Highway or the much missed Unicorns. This new track is a different approach to songwriting for him, with the empty space left open for his voice to soar.
Download: Islands – No You Don’t
As much as I was disappointed by At War with the Mystics, I still have a soft-spot, mostly due to my friends, for The Flaming Lips. Every once in awhile they come up with something brilliant, such as The Soft Bulletin; it seems now that they have a title for their upcoming album in the fall, Embryonic, it’s time for tracks to make their way to the web. Thank to our good friend over at Covert Curiosity for giving us the heads up on the new tracks. Enjoy the promising “Silver Trembling Hands.”
Download: Flaming Lips – Silver Trembling Hands [MP3]
I suppose I could make my own Mega Mac. But, as a proud American, shouldn’t I be able to get someone to make one for me?
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It’s hard to follow The Fiery Furnaces, as their genre hopping and musical expeditions tend to lead followers in several directions, occasionally at the same time. However, you’d be reluctant not to notice the prolific output of the group, and their continuous relevance musically. Their latest album, I’m Going Away, is chocked full of deviating paths and piano-laden hooks.
I’m Going Away beings with a song referencing the title, but it’s more of a statement song, allowing listeners to get just a brief taste of the band’s latest affair shortly before ending. “Drive to Dallas” is the first exemplary song on the album, as the Friedbergers bounce back in forth between lounge piano work and lightning noise-infused guitar licks, just as Eleanor picks the pace of the song up with her vocals. It’s place back to back with “The End is Near,” which sounds an awful lot like it could replace one of the various theme songs from your favorite sitcom of the eighties. You should take a listen to Eleanor here, as her voice is remarkable once again, contrasting against her brother Matt’s as they trade verses and share roles during the chorus. Moments like this come about so rarely, but be thankful for a song such as this.
Speaking of voice, you have to wonder why Ms. Friedberer doesn’t get more love in the vocal department these days. Her vocal range is spectacular, from the lounge-y hints during “The End is Near” to her close Costello approximation on “Charmaigne Champagne.” She goes back and forth across tracks throughout the album, and you can’t help but envy the pipes she possesses.
Coming across “Even in the Rain” you will be pleased to find the band at possibly their most accessible during their entire career. It’s a fairly simple song accompanied by Eleanor’s trademark poetry and very light percussion. In fact, it almost sounds like the sort of song you might find (or wish) that Wilco was creating nowadays. Similarly, “Ray Bouvier” hits at the hearts of listeners, gentle in progression and light in its texture. The bare bones of the group appear to be the brightest this go round, and the entire album bursts forth thanks to this approach.
Epic songs such as “Take Me Around Again” or “Lost at Sea” surpass expectations of what one expects from a long Furnaces song. After years of honing their skills, they group seem to bring it all in closely, barely deviating as far as we remember them doing on various other numbers. It’s this newfound ability to hold back and focus that seems to have created some of the stronger songs on this side of the band’s career.
I’m Going Away is the most accessible Fiery Furnaces record to come out in a long time, largely driven by piano driven tracks and an ability to hold back the reins when the band would normally go into a schizophrenic foray into the outer realms of our pop indulgence. It’s good from front to back, and you know you won’t complain about that.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/the_fiery_furnaces-the_end_is_near.mp3]Download: The Fiery Furnaces – The End Is Near [MP3]
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Did you say Alison Mosshart? Yes please! Wait, Jack White too? Absolutely! These were the thoughts of many as news broke of a collaboration between the two, to be named Dead Weather. Now the band have released their debut, Horehound, and for many, this album will be precisely what you wanted to get from the band, but for others, it might seem like the blues-rock version of Phish.
As the album opens with “60 Feet Tall” Mosshart makes her presence known. Her sexually toned lyrics are full with the spirit of the blues, much as they were on the The Kills first album, Keep On Your Mean Side. Sure, the song is full of ear-splitting guitar work, but it kind of seems as if the band is trying to indulge in their classic-rock chops just a bit too much, leaving Mosshart as the standout for the album within the opening minutes.
“Hang You From the Heavens” was the first single from the album, and it definitely packs a bit of a punch. Fuzzed out guitars burn up and down through the song, meeting with the vocals of Alison as the seems to writhe in the negative space of the song. Perfecting the single is Jack White’s drumming, which will never be confused for the most exhilarating, but as he shows in this song, he knows just how to put the right touch on a song; he’s done this for years, and we can assume he will continue on that path.
“So Far From Your Weapon” demonstrates the lackluster elements of Horehound. Slow pacing and sparse instrumentation definitely make the tracks a lot weaker, as if the band’s meandering through their pantheon of influences took too much of the focus away from the band’s songwriting. But, it’s juxtaposed with “Treat Me Like Your Mother,” a stomper of a song where White and Mosshart’s vocals collide in a furious explosion before guitars splice up the song, albeit momentarily. But, yet another fault is that this song goes on way beyond where it should. The groups seems to carry on, treading the proverbial water of this song.
So you come to the latter half of the album with songs like “Bone House” and “3 Birds.” The only thing that goes on for a majority of this part of the album is the vocals of Mosshart. In “Bone House” it’s her come-hither-howl that draws any attention to the song at all. “3 Birds” as an instrumental song doesn’t seem to tell a story at all, as most instrumentals should do, instead it just exposes the lack of creativity that seems to be thrown into the mix far too often for the liking of most listeners.
This all sort of sums up the record as a whole. Mosshart saves the album, as her dominating vocals never seem to lose their touch on the ear of listeners, but the music itself doesn’t seem to be much more than an exploration, and a poor one at that, of styles long gone away. Sure, blues and classic rock have their place in the history of American music, but this album can’t kiss the feet of either of those two genres.
From the ashes of Hockey Night comes the straight-nostalgic rockers Free Energy. Word on the street is that the man behind the production of the groups self-titled 7″ is none other than James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem. You’ll find all sorts of reference points on this album from the days of old, but probably not the ones you would expect. Try this one on for size.
Download: Free Energy – Free Energy [MP3]
