This is fine.
Who would’ve guessed that Eels leading man Mark Everett would have new material so soon after dropping LP Hombre Loco our way during the summer? Well he’s back and his band has another new album hitting stores in January called End Times. Here’s a first taste of the new LP. It sounds like… The Eels.
Download: Eels – Little Bird [MP3]
| Date | 11/18/09 |
|---|---|
| Location | Emos |
| Doors | 8pm |
| Tickets | $18 from Ticketweb |
The time for us to re-live the days of high school and college with a show by The Get Up Kids has finally come at Emo’s on Wednesday. Openers are also pretty solid and provided by Mansions and Kevin Devine. If you can somehow sneak between indoor and outdoor stages, Champaign, IL band Headlights are playing on the indoor stage. We’ve always been fans of those guys so try your best to go ninja style and head inside after GUK finish their set. Tickets for the indoor show are $10. Also, here’s that new song GUK played on Daytrotter a while back.
[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/the-get-up-kids-your-petty-pretty-things.mp3]Download: The Get Up Kids – Your Petty Pretty Things [MP3]
A little while back, a favorite artist of ours Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson made his way to town and we had the chance to ask him a few questions about his music. Not much is known about the up and coming artist so we hope you find this interview to be informative. Or at least a good read… Follow the jump for our full interview.
Shortly after the release of their LP Humbug in August, the Arctic Monkeys are set to release an EP of B-sides from the album’s recording sessions. The EP, entitled Cornerstone, hits stores today and many tracks are already making their way to the interweb. Here’s one called “Fright Lined Dining Room” which is more enjoyable to me than anything on the last record. You can hear another song from the EP called “Catapult” here.
Download: Arctic Monkeys – Fright Lined Dining Room [MP3]
Rating: 
Amidst the world of lo-fi stands one Slumberland Records band who is willing to go against the grain. Ladies and gentleman we present to you, Pants Yell!. Well, we don’t actually present them to you, as Received Pronunciation is the group’s third proper release. Still, after being all over the SR catalogue this year, and I assure you, we’re still into it, we now have a new record to fall in love with as the year draws to an end.
You see, when opening track “Frank and Sandy” comes through your speaker, you’re not sure what you were expecting, but you most assuredly weren’t awaiting the haphazard delivery of the lyrics, let alone the song itself. It just seems to sort of traipse along, ever really reaching any sort of climax. Such restraint, however, is actually refreshing.
You can find much clarity and precision on every single song that plays through this album. If you added heavy string arrangements, and perhaps a few more witticisms you might call this a Belle and Sebastian record. Still, that is lazy journalism, but if I told you that they sound like a much more confident Oh No! Oh My! you would probably be a little confused. More so, there is a particular youthfulness in this that B&S have moved beyond, perhaps even a little naivete, but such innocence, especially in the banality of the lyrics really makes the listening experience one of the most enjoyable of the last several months. Take the humorous “Spider,” which seems like an elementary student channeling Calvin Johnson.
This album just continually seems to give back to the listener, each song seemingly a touch different then the last, while consistently staying in the same place. Take “Someone Loves You” versus “Not Wrong,” two songs that have similarity in song structure, but the hurried percussion in the former picks up the tempo, creating a song that sounds nothing like the tune that will follow two tracks later. And as the album draws near to an end, it all seems so familiar. Perhaps those who fell in love with Jeremy Jay will find that they can take his promise and craft, hand it over to a set of vibrant like-minded youths, and it will come out like Received Pronunciation.
Everyone is sure to grab ahold of this band, as they are clearly ready to step into a light of their own. Three albums into their career, and it seems that the group can’t go too wrong. Let’s cross our fingers that Pants Yell! continue to build upon the talent and joy displayed in their latest effort, Received Pronunciation.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/06-Someone-Loves-You.mp3]Download: Pants Yell! – Someone Loves You [MP3]
Austin band Sunset have a new LP coming our way later this month and they’ve offered up three MP3s as a preview of this new material. We’ve got one for you below called “Gold Dissolves to Gray” which will appear on an album with the same name due out Nov. 24th on Autobus Records. This new tune has a nice jangly and slightly country-ish vibe that we really dig. You can also check out two more songs on the band’s website. Thanks to our amigos Ultra8201 for the heads up.
Download: Sunset – Gold Dissolves to Gray [MP3]
| Date | 11/17/09 |
|---|---|
| Location | Emos |
| Doors | 7pm |
| Tickets | $16 from Ticketweb |
Yes yes I know this is officially listed as a Say Anything show, but didn’t the Emo movement die in like ’02? Thats out of the way, so let me put it out there that I like Eisley. Yeah I like ’em. I’m sure some of you music snob types will throw hate my way for that one, but just look at those faces! How could you not love those ladies? So if you dig the Eisley, head to Emo’s on Tuesday night for a set by the Tyler, TX (holla!) group. Miniature Tigers and Moneen also being on the bill should prove to make the show your best option for Tuesday night. Just leave before that headlining band…
[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/04GollySandra.mp3]Many may not remember the band Longwave, the band that bubbled just beneath the breakthrough success of bands such as Kings of Leon and The Strokes. Working hard for years, differentiating themselves from their contemporaries, they sort of disappeared. Yet, all along, they continued to create vibrant music with creative guitar work. Why does this matter? Well, at the heart of Longwave is Steve Schiltz, the core songwriter for Hurricane Bells. He’s been collecting demos and working on fleshing out the first full-length under the new moniker; here we have the story behind Tonight is the Ghost.
One of the things you’ll enjoy the most is how soft Schiltz’s vocals are throughout his recordings, with old band and new. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Albert Hammond Jr., but you can rest assured he has got much more range than the aforementioned character. It’s this pleasant delivery that makes Schiltz the perfect person to go into the singer/songwriter sphere of things.
Alas, the music isn’t too far off from where you usually find him. “This is a Test” reminds you immediately, for those that are familiar, with Longwave, albeit a less grand version. You can even tell in the harmonics of the guitar as they stretch out into the atmosphere where he’s coming from, but you can’t blame a guy for relying upon what he knows best. Such are the opening moments of Tonight is the Ghost; he doesn’t clearly step out of the shadows of his own career.
Yet as the record progresses, you can find yourself seeing the variance in the craft of writing that Schiltz must have endured when recording this album. “Tonight I’m Going to be Like a Shooting Star” is the first moment when he doesn’t seem to completely revolve around his writing of the past. It’s a more direct approach to writing, as simple as it gets for this chap. And in such a fashion, you won’t find yourself surprised when that slide guitar comes around the bend in “Freezing Rain,” though this has a different effect than the country-fied version used with so many other band across the globe. And in this moment, you realize why you really like Steve’s tunes.
The great thing about both Hurricane Bells and Longwave is that you can always clearly hear the vocals. In a world coated with lo-fi tendencies and indecipherable lyrics, it’s rare to find a singer who puts it out there so plainly for the listener. Subject matter is personal, and yet ultimately relatable, which allows for that connection between musician and audience, something lacking in a lot of modern musical movements.
As you would expect, the album is generally successful, though not too far off from where you find Steve in his day job. Luckily, I like Longwave a whole lot, and so any new tune from the great Steve Schiltz never hurts these ears. For fans like me, and music fans looking for something a little more pure, and a lot less contrived, you’ll find joy in Hurricane Bells’ Tonight is the Ghost.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/04-Tonight-Im-Going-To-Be-Like-A-Shooting-1.mp3]Download: Hurricane Bells – Tonight I’m Going To Be Like A Shooting Star [MP3]
Really, I love Fun Fun Fun Festival. I will readily stand up to the masses and argue about how much better FFF is in comparison to Austin City Limits. But, as with all festivals, there will inevitably be some sort of let down that leaves you frustrated. While I think some of these may be a bit obvious, there are others that definitely need to be brought into the forefront.
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| Date | 11/16/09 |
|---|---|
| Location | Mohawk |
| Doors | 10pm |
| Tickets | ?? @ door |
David Adamson and his musical project Jookabox is making its way to Mohawk on Monday night. Opening support for the show will be provided by locals Hotel Hotel. This should prove to be the best way to kick off a week full of entertaining shows.
[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/jookabox_-_dead_zone_boys_-_phantom_dont_go.mp3]Download: Jookabox – Phantom Don’t Go [MP3]
