This is fine.
Earlier in the summer we posted new single “Geraldine” by a Scotish band to keep your eye on, Glasvegas. If you enjoyed that tune, we’ve got another new song for you entitled “Daddy’s Gone”. Both songs will appear on a new album by the band due out in September. Scotland is free!
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/glasvegas_-_daddys_gone.mp3]
Download: Glasvegas – Daddys Gone [MP3]
Rating: 
When I first head about the union of former Pretty Girls Make Graves member, Jay Clark, with two of the Blood Brothers, I was salivating in wake for the release of a full length. The potential for this combination could reach no bounds in my imagination, but come to find out, there are some boundaries for this band.
The opening track, “Highways of Gold,” fails to let me down. Each time I play this song I’m invigorated by the rise and fall of the guitar work, as it approaches the angular tour de force that I anticipated. Had they reined it in about thirty seconds, then this could be a front runner for one of my favorites of the year.
I suppose that at this point, I should let you know that singer Johnny Whitney’s voice can be grating. Personally, I’ve adapted to it after settling in to several Blood Brothers’ albums, but I can foresee this as a problem for many listeners. If you can’t look past it in the first song, then you can’t get through this album.
Still, the next three songs are solid tracks. In particular, “Georgia” won me over with its proximity to a modern indie ballad done in the post-punk way. Lyrically, these songs set the face, from the doomsday homages in “Jaguar Pirates” to the personal pain that comes with “Georgia,” which still kind of deals with the effects of living in the modern world.
However, the album starts to get repetitive at this point. The musicianship is exactly what you expect, with tight drumming and throbbing bass, piled upon razor-sharp guitars, but at this point it kind of blends into itself. There isn’t any differentiation in the vocals, and the music, like a Blood Brothers album, or the later Pretty Girls Make Graves records for that fact. It’s not that the music is uninteresting, but the pace and power disappear.
Then comes the eighth track on the record, “Bone Trees and a Broken Heart,” which is another slow song for the group. Strangely, their slower songs are just as intriguing to my ears as their louder material. For me, it represents the talent this group possesses, not to mention their abilities to go pretty much anywhere on this record. It’s just too bad that they don’t really go anywhere, aside from the expected barrage of noise I predicted in my earlier fantasies of this band.
Once you get away from Whitney’s vocals, you’ll find–those of you that like to rock–that this record has a lot of redeemable qualities about it. It’s listenable all the way through, at least for those of this ilk. It might not be anything that takes you out of this world, but then again, it meets almost all of my expectations. Good start fellas, now hit the showers.
There’s nothing like a good old trip to H-E-B. Sure it takes hours to fight your way down each aisle. Sure you inevitably run into at least one person you didn’t want to see. Sure they don’t recognise the concept of expiration dates. At least they have some pretty good deals, on everything…
Wednesday night Austin Town Hall was blessed to catch a very intimate show at The Mohawk featuring Seattle’s The Dutchess and the Duke. Due to recent highlights of their debut album, we expected to find more people in attendance at the show, but luckily, the small crowd played into the overall experience. (Show review and pics after the jump)
Matt Pryor, formerly of The Get Up Kids & The New Amsterdams, will be showing his face at Stubbs in Austin on Saturday for 2 different events. The first set will feature an all ages show from Matt’s kid focused group, The Terrible Twos. Terrible Twos will be performing at 3pm with tickets running you $7.50. Later in the evening, Matt will play a solo set with doors at 9pm and tickets only costing you $12.00. Read more about Matt Pryor on his myspace page or check out our review of his latest album Confidence Man.
Mason Proper has some new stuff for ya that you can check out with a sweet mp3 below. “Lock and Key” is the title of the new song which will appear on the band’s latest effort Olly Oxen Free due out Sep. 23rd.
Download: Mason Proper – Lock and Key [MP3]
Starting today, you can download a digital copy of Bloc Party’s latest effort Intimacy for only $10 from the band’s website. You’ll be waiting until Oct. 23rd if you want a physical copy of the album. You can check out the song “mercury” elsewhere on our website or you can listen to “Trojan Horse” on Bloc Party’s myspace.
Rating:
For influences, local Austin band The Boxing Lesson could do much worse: the songs off Wild Streaks & Windy Days reveal an appreciation for the hypnotic swirl of The Secret Machines (“Lower,” “Muerta,”), the pop-prog-trips of MuteMath (“Timing,” “Dance with Meow,) and the grandiosity of Muse (“Dark Side of the Moog,” “Scoundrel”). And like these bands, and Minus the Bear, another group with nonsensical song titles, The Boxing Lesson attempt to synthesize these influences into something greater and original.
What The Boxing Lesson is lacking is not simply talent, restraint, or any lyrical insight at all – although throwaway songs like “Hopscotch & Sodapop” and “Freedom” would suggest they’re missing those too. Their most notable problem is they have no direction. With songs like “Scoundrel” and the title track lasting nearly seven minutes but offering no payoff, no climactic build, The Boxing Lesson aren’t giving us more, they’re making us wait longer for less.
Encompassing Pink Floyd synth washes provide pleasing backdrops for clean guitar lines on nearly every song, but when it takes more than two-and-a-half minutes to get to the opening verse of the title track, only to have it rip off the music and lyrics from the title track of The Secret Machines’ “The Road Leads Where It’s Lead” – albeit slower and with less passion and intent – you can’t help but feel cheated. The Boxing Lesson seem to have their hearts and ears in the right place, but singer Paul Waclawsky’s lyrics go nowhere, and without something to set his voice apart – aggression, passion, any feeling – the album ends up getting carried away, lost in the large-scale but rootless sweeping effect they created.
Read more about The Boxing Lesson and hear songs from the new album on the bands myspace page.
Two Melvins events going down on Friday we’d like to tell you about. First, the longtime rockers will be signing whatever your little heart desires at Waterloo Records around 5pm. The Waterloo website says no live music, only a signing. Shortly after the signing wraps up, The Melvins will break out the guitars and amps for the people at Emo’s Austin. Doors for the event are set for 9pm with opening act Big Business kicking the music off at 10pm. Tickets for the show are only $13 and can be had here.
Each week, we here at Austin Town Hall will be featuring one of the many great artists playing the late September Xemumba Latin Music Festival. This week, we cast the spotlight on Academicos da Opera. Academicos, a return act from last years Xemumba festival, are a group of about two or three dozen performers who will bring the pulse of Brazil, Samba, to Xemumba. The group will be playing that Brazilian Samba both nights at the Festival. Be sure to read our original post about Xemumba and buy your tickets. You can also check out an excerpt of that famous Samba music below which should get you jacked up for the show.
Download: Academicos Da Opera – Samba Clip [MP3]
