This is fine.
Lo-fi punk darlings Japanther are returning in 2010 with another new album to add to their already impressive discography. This new one will be called Rock ‘n’ Roll Ice Cream features this new track “Spread So Thin”. You’ll notice the addition of a new female member who just so happens to be Anita Sparrows formerly of The Soviettes. Japanther’s new album hits stores March 2nd on Menlo Park.
Download: Japanthers – Spread So Thin [MP3]
| Date | 2/3/10 |
|---|---|
| Location | The Parish |
| Doors | 8pm |
| Tickets | $15 from FrontGate |
We weren’t huge fans of Sondre Lerche’s last album, but we still value him as a musician and songwriter. If he floats your boat, head on over to The Parish on Wednesday night to check out his intimate set. Opening support will be provided by JBM. I’m gonna drop an old tune down below to show you why we’ve still got love for ya Sondre.
[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/04-two-way-monologue.mp3]Download: Sondre Lerche – Two Way Monologue [MP3]
A few years back a band by the name of The Muslims exploded out of California with the supposed surf-rock answer to The Strokes. Now, the band has changed their name to The Soft Pack, and have released their self-titled album on Kemado Records. It’s exactly what you would expect from a California garage group.
Upon listening to the first track, “C’mon,” the band’s formula is immediately apparent. They combine mild surf guitars with the fueling of a garage practice space, and they lyrics have a slight hint of punk drawl delivery. But, what listeners will see is that the lyrics are severely lacking in the developmental sense. The only words that really stand out are “c’mon,” uttered over and over again.
By the third track, “Answer to Yourself,” nothing much has changed in the structure of the album. Lyrics are overtly redundant, and clearly lacking in any creative sense. Musically, it just seems like a consistent re-hash of song after song. There’s a definite energy to the group, but you’ll be hard pressed at this point to find much else in the offering.
When you get to “Pull Out” the bass is a little bit heavier, while the guitars are reminiscent of living close to the waters. Still, water is the only thing that really comes to mind at this juncture in the album. Everything about the band just comes across as watered-down, and just out of touch. It’s not something that you can stand up and say that you hate because it really isn’t horrendous musically, it just isn’t anything that warrants listening to time and time again. It’s almost as if the band is treading water in the same place for the duration of the record. Tired of the water analogy?
What once seemed like a promising moment for the band seems to have slipped away as The Soft Pack has compiled a solid set of forgettable songs that you won’t remember when their gone. It’s quite a shame that all this work and popularity came to nought for the band. Garage moments and surf-guitars are great, but in this day and age something has to be done to distinguish yourself from the masses in order to reach the pinnacle of the genre, and it’s hard to find a standout moment on the album, aside from the joke track “Move-Along,” which is more of just a “WTF?” moment than anything. This is just one man’s opinion, but you won’t find the self-titled album from The Soft Pack spinning around my house any time soon.
We were introduced to the greatness known as Efterklang during SXSW last year, and we’ve been following the band ever since. Previously only available in video form as of a few days ago, this new song “Modern Drift” now has an MP3 available for downloading. The track will appear on the band’s upcoming album Magic Chairs due out Feb. 22nd on 4AD. I’m honestly enjoying this track probably more than anything else that has come out so far this year. Let’s hope the rest of the album delivers as well.
Download: Efterklang – Modern Drift [MP3]
Girls brought the stoned out and sunny, but never too sunny, sounds of their debut Album to life at the Parish last Friday. With support by The Smith Westerns and Magic Kids it was a night of bright shards of pop bouncing off the Parish’s newly re-decorated walls. A great night for a reverb drenched acid trip lead by the eccentric weirdness of Christopher Owens and his mighty side kick Chet White. Follow the jump.
I can’t help but sort of fall in love with Nick Curran, in a musical sort of way. The guy mixes classic punk sounds with the romance of Motown, and since I’m an avid fan of both, this is the perfect thing for me. Nick’s an Austinite, and he has a new record coming out on February 16 titled Reform School Girl. Unfortunately, he’s been sidelined with tongue cancer, so if you’re in Austin, or just a fan of good tunes, you should keep him in your thoughts. Get well soon Nick…and here’s his title track.
Download: Nick Curran – Reform School Girl [MP3]
The beautiful Holly Miranda is prepping her new album The Magician’s Private Library due out Feb. 23rd via XL Recordings. Below we’ve got a chance for you to check out first single “Waves” from the upcoming album. Holly is another one of those ladies with a voice that I find irresistible.
Download: Holly Miranda – Waves [MP3]
If you haven’t gotten to know Black Tambourine, as very few did, then you’re lucky this time around, as Slumberland Records (the one who brought you lots of goodies like Pains of Being Pure at Heart) will be releasing an anthology of the band on March 30th. BTambourine only existed for a few short years, but this new anthology will have four new songs (two originals, two covers) for your ears. Just another thing to be excited about in 2010.
Download: Black Tambourine – Black Car [MP3]
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When Denton, TX band, Midlake, released The Trials of Van Occupanther in 2006, they received critical acclaim, which put the pressure on the group to follow up with similar success. Four years later, the band has finally prepared the next installment in their catalogue, The Courage of Others. Influences for the album are said to rest somewhere in the British-folk era, but would the four years since their last release match the acclaim the band received last go round?
Upon first listen, “Acts of Man” opens the introduction with Tim Smith’s trademark vocals, seemingly floating on the winds. As a completed song, it does have the wintry affect one would associate with a lot of 60s folk-undertakings, marked most notably by the way the guitar is strummed. Still, there isn’t a wow factor, or something that stands out as brilliant, like “Roscoe,” but it’s only the first track.
But, herein likes the problem with The Courage of Others; you can make it through the first four songs of the album, and nothing really differentiates itself; nothing is begging for you to come back for a repeat visit. Admittedly, all the songs are pleasant enough, with gentle guitars and Smith’s floating vocals, which can’t really hurt the overall value of the album. However, it doesn’t bode well that nothing really seems to change in the craftsmanship of the songs either; they all sort of stay in the same place, as if they’ve been created as small pieces to fit into a larger puzzle.
“Fortune” is one of the few songs on the album where the approach to writing the music seems to have been altered. It’s got little to no percussion, and the song rests on the idea that Smith appears as some sort of musical bard, just picking his way through his life. It also touches with imagery that is more personal than some of the more nature related themes you’ll find elsewhere on the The Courage of Others.
This isn’t to say that all the blandness doesn’t have its rewards. “Bring It Down” is worthy of repeated listens, and though it clearly has roots in the past, the barely audible female vocal buried beneath the lead vocal tracks adds an extra bit of layering that the entire album could of used as a whole. “In the Ground” is another number that grows with repeats. It begins a bit slow, but there’s just a bit of a quiver in the vocal delivery, which does just enough to make it come across a bit differently, though those flutes (are they horns) get a touch annoying.
After four years of waiting, you would have hoped that the next work from Midlake was as rewarding as their previous effort, but it seems that letting the songs fester for too long might have led the band down the path towards complacency. For what its worth, The Courage of Others is listenable, but other than that, it’s far short of remarkable, which makes it a disappointment to many, if not most.
We all have that feeling. You have a crucial presentation or test the next morning and you just need some damn sleep. Then it hits you. Out of nowhere, the chorus to ‘Rocky Mountain High’ (or some equally random song) decides to lodge itself deep within your subconscious. “What the hell John Denver, I don’t even listen to your music and can’t possibly even remember the last time I hear that song!” This kind of thing happens to me more often than I would like to admit, but here goes. The ear-bug phenomenon may be an inevitable curse to the music junkie. I can’t go through the day without listening to some sort of music and therefore, some rhythm or theme, or even a random lyric gets stuck, leaving me with nowhere to run. The only thing to do is to listen to music as a guard against this from happening, from my own personal theme music infiltrating my deepest thoughts. And thus, the cycle begins anew. Over the years, I find myself humming the tunes of many songs in the short-term, but a few have never left. It’s a living nightmare. Damn you Hippocampus! Follow the jump for full list.
