Tag: album review

Case Studies – The World is Just a Shape to Fill the Night

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Rating: ★★★★½

A few years ago, The Dutchess and the Duke graced the music scene with their debut album of folksy rock and glorious harmonies and were hailed by many as a stunning first release. They followed with Sunset/Sunrise, which was an equally interesting and complete album, building on the success of the first, and once again the band made sure to imprint itself upon listeners. However, during that second album, there was a shirt in importance to the role of Kimberly Morrison in providing those juxtaposed feminine vocals with the deep rasp of Jesse Lortz. So the question that remains is this: will Lortz flop without that constant aspect, or soar out on his own?

Well, to me, the answer is clear as can be when the first song begins to play. “From the Blade of My Love” is the perfect opener for this album because it reveals some of the goodness that can be found here, but it doesn’t give it all away. Soft strumming sets off the song and brings in a heavier sense of folk and less Rolling Stones-esque rock music. The biggest difference that is noticeable from his group efforts is that where you would expect the buzz of guitars to chime in, there are only delicate melodies. But, this is not all Case Studies has to offer. A few songs later, you have the piano driven “Animals,” which opens up a faster pace with less smoky female backing vocals that create a softer and more innocent sound. Also present on this album is a showcase of Lortz’s vocal talent himself, which is consistently exceptional throughout.

In a statement Lortz made about this collaborative album of sorts was that this was the first time that he was genuinely excited to be making music and on The World is Just a Shape to Fill the Night, you can feel this change. On previous albums, the talent, and the excellent song writing is there, but here, the details are all apparent. Each and every song is crafted careful and serene. The sensation while listening to this can only be one of pure bliss as the waves of acoustic guitar, harsh/soft vocals, beautiful stories and the assorted other instrument that makes each song stand strongly alone, yet weave together nicely in a collective sense.

The end result of this side project is something you would expect from Lortz. It’s just as good, if not better than his other work. While it is excellent right from the start, it also has enough depth to appreciate on repeated listens. And you’ll definitely want have repeated listens.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/04-You-Folded-Up-My-Blanket-Like-We-Were-Already-Lovers.mp3]

Download: Case Studies – You Folded Up My Blanket Like We Were Already Lovers [MP3]

Bad Sports – Kings of the Weekend

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Rating: ★★★½☆

Whatever’s in the water in Denton, Texas, people better start to take notice, as the area continues to push out great garage-pop rockers, and Bad Sports are no different. Their second album Kings of the Weekend, this time on Dirtnap Records, is just an energetic burst of great licks, giving you exactly what you need–a solid dosage of good old fashioned rock n’ roll.

The band jumps right in with “Off Switch,” and while garage-pop might be all the rage, this track opens up with a lot more fury than most things associated with the genre, showing you that Bad Sports aren’t here to rehash, they’re here to reimagine on their own terms. From here, the band burst into a bit more territory with hints of the Ramones.

“Cant Just Be Friends” might not have the hammering pace of the Ramones, but you can feel that element of harmony bubbling in the bass, something that truly labels both bands as fans of good old pop music.  “Sweet Sweet Mandi” definitely bears the mark of the classic New York group, with the delivery mimicking Joey, and that hooky chorus that enables you to sing along.

“Teenage Girls” is one of those songs that illustrates the group pushing themselves to live outside of their obvious influences. It’s less punk-infused, going back to more of a garage style of power-pop.  Even the solo cutting in belongs somewhere in the annals of garage/rock/pop history–this is not a bad thing! it’s a similar feeling you’ll find with “You Look Funny,” which has the band using a likeness of the garage sort, just getting a bit dirtier in the final mixing. 

One of the tracks that stood out to me on Kings of the Weekend was “I’m In Love with Myself.”  I love a tune that utilizes simplicity in lyrics, but combines solid pace and a bit of a guitar solo.  You’ll find that this is the sort of song that fits perfect into the live setting, giving in to the fans need to pogo about and shout lyrics back at the group. Another Bad Sports number here that fits this mold, though in a slightly different manner, is “June Sixteenth.”  There’s something about the song’s inherent melody, the sound of the guitar and the pounding drums to wrap the song up that just hits home for an aged punk like myself.

In all honesty, Kings of the Weekend is filled to the brim with brazen pop ballads in punk fashion.  There’s not a single song you’ll want to skip, but that being said, you might also be able to say that a certain creativity is lacking.  But, when it all boils down to it, aren’t we all just here to have a little bit of fun with our music?  If that’s your bag, then this new record from Bad Sports is built exactly for you.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/bad_sports_teenage_girls.mp3]

Download: Bad Sports – Teenage Girls [MP3]

Cut Off Your Hands – Hollow

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Rating: ★★★★☆

With their first album, You & I, you sort of had the feeling that New Zealand outfit Cut Off Your Hands might have been yearning for the British Isles, but with their release of Hollow, the band has completed their maturation, giving fans a full-on venture into the sounds of the Oceanic region of the world.

“You Should Do Better” begins with a rolling drum beat, and chiming guitars, before Nick Johnston’s vocals soar above it all.  Sure, people will hear remnants of the Smiths influence, but I hear Lucksmiths delivery, and the sharpness of the guitars employed by the Go-Betweens. Trust me, these are all good things.  It’s furthered with “Nausea,” the second track on the record, where the chorus has this incredible melody that totally beats out anything the band has done to date (no offense fellas).

What might stand in the way for some of the long-time fans of Cut Off Your Hands is that the energy is markably different on this outing, in comparison to past works.  Where you once found sharpness and angular cuts of the knife, the band has slowed things down, clearing the way for much warmer guitar sounds.  Don’t get confused here, as the guitars on tracks like “Hollowed Out” definitely maintain an edge and brightness, but instead of forcing riff into riff, the guitars ring loudly throughout Hollow, providing listeners with a sound that has much more durability.

Still, there are several tracks available for those looking for a quicker pace, and the group’s more traditional sound.  “Fooling No One” bounces in your ear, before the vocals swing in to provide that melodic approach the band rely upon.  This is much more of a stomper than anything up to this point on Hollow. They follow it up with “Down and Out,” which relies upon ringing guitar chords in the background to provide that energetic punch you’re begging for the band to give you.  Both tracks show the band still has what it takes to offer powerful pop gems with bits of fuel behind them.  Just because you clean things up, doesn’t mean you can’t unleash a good solid rocker, right?

When they close out this album with “Buried,” it’s the perfect summation of Hollow.  The track is drawn out slowly, though with the guitars maintaining their melodic sharpness.  Johnston slowly works his way through his vocals, caring to emphasize every emotional point in your listening experience.  Much like this song, the entire new record from Cut Off Your Hands is a bit of a slower burn, with longer songs, allowing the band to get the maximum quality out of all nine tracks.  If anything, their maturity displays the group’s songwriting capabilities, giving listeners an experience that will surely leave a lasting impression.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Cut-Off-Your-Hands-You-Should-Do-Better.mp3]

Download: Cut Off Your Hands – You Should Do Better [MP3]

Pepper Rabbit – Red Velvet Snowball

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Rating: ★★★★☆

For a relatively new band, Pepper Rabbit seems to be moving at lightning speed.  With their debut release, Beauregard, just making its appearance in October of last year, this band is back in less than a year’s time. In this short of a time period, Xander Singh and Luc Laurent have culminated a slew of all new jams. Now, if it had been any other duo making this quick of a return, it would be easy to be apprehensive of the merit of said release. However, the two gentlemen on this record have a powerful sense of what sounds good meshed together and it’s this collaborative ease that pushes Red Velvet Snowball to it’s best.

Claiming the genre psych pop, Pepper Rabbit begins this sophomore effort with “Lake House,” which is naturally coated in raging synthesizers of all sounds and forms. It creeps in slowly at first, showcasing the electronic sounds before establishing a solid rhythm and letting the toned down yelp of Singh to enter. It is a good appetizer, letting you get used to their styling before they move onto their spectacular single “Rose Mary Stretch,” which is clearly the main dish. Bouncy synth once more begins the song, but it doesn’t last for long before the pop elements take over; the faint handclaps in the background, the steady build to its furious climactic finish, or the crashing cymbals along for the ride.

After these first two songs, Pepper Rabbit should have a strong hold on your ears, but if they don’t, for some strange reason, stick around. There are plenty of treats later on in the album. An example of this comes in the form of “Murder Room,” whose groovy beats warrants head bobbing and toe tapping.

But the best part about Pepper Rabbit is that the electronic elements don’t overpower the sound produced. So often, a band throws in too many bleeping synthesizers and you can’t hear the other elements: the drums, the vocals, the other little nuances that keep it from turning into one big cloud of noise. This band incorporated various other instruments into their repertoire, and played around with looping of sounds and the result is a sound that feels fresh and crisp. There isn’t a song on here that you’ll need to skip.

With the end of summer looming close, Red Velvet Snowball is resurgence back to feelings of bliss and carefree that comes along with this immense heat, so enjoy it while you can.

Leatherbag – Yellow Television

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Rating: ★★★☆☆

In the aftermath of Hurricane Rita, back in 2005, lead singer Randy Reynolds relocated to our great city of Austin. Lucky for us he did, because after this, he formed the American Rock band known as Leatherbag. Six years, various changes in the band and multiple albums, later, the band consists of three members: Reynolds, Drew Emmons, and Daniel Blanchard. Together, they craft a classic rock record in Yellow Television, which reflects on the general current state of things in the world.

The first number is dubbed “Imitation Generation” and kicks things off quickly and with the flair that one would expect of Leatherbag. A solid drum beat, angled guitars lead your in what seems calmly, but then it has those yelled catchy choruses with group vocals adding some texture behind Reynolds’ vocals.  As the name already suggests, the song comes off as more of a social comment on the repetition of any creative work by this generation. He remarks that “love is dead and so is rock and roll,” which is a bit grim, but gets the point across that we are in need of a little originality, perhaps to be delivered by this band in some form? It’s a good opening beat, but it isn’t exactly spectacular.

Then Leatherbag transitions to the title track “Yellow TV,” which relies on that catchy chorus to pull you into this band’s style if they hadn’t already. From here on, the rest of the album is relatively similar to these first two songs; which is a double edged sword. There is still the alluring rock style, which at some points reminds me a bit of Ted Leo, on jams like “Waxing Nostalgic.” However, it gets a bit redundant when the beginnings of most of the songs start out in the same way; it gets hard to discern one song from the other. Some are just too similar for their own good and you can get lost on the natural order of this album. That being said, stick around for “Sincerity,” which is ten minutes of bluesy guitar and the variety you’ve been missing up to that point.

Overall, it’s a pretty solid American Rock album. You can find the slightly grunge guitars and the sincerely indelicate vocals that you’d expect as well as some surprising freshness that you wouldn’t.  Albeit, there are some weaker tracks, and it gets a little repetitive at points, but there is still something worth enjoying on Yellow Television.

Richard Buckner – Our Blood

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Rating: ★★★½☆

Well seasoned and well-versed, Richard Buckner has been producing deep and devoted albums ever since 1994, which is, by my math, around seventeen years now. As this is an admirable feat in itself, it is even more important that in this time this gentleman has established himself as one of the greats of alt-country; a genre that is known to divide some fans. However, those familiar to Mr. Buckner’s sound should find what they are looking for, and those who are new to this man’s work should find something worth sticking around for.

Our Blood starts with “Traitor,” an opening number that kicks a little of everything your way. You have the deep and soulful voice of the man himself, the methodical guitar strumming, the gentle percussion instruments keeping things moving and some old fashion steel guitar to give it that country twinge in the background. But these are not the only elements of the track; as it progresses, the electronic elements (the synthesizer) become more apparent, and so does the darkness of the song. At the end, you are left in a state of bitter resentment, as you mourn the loss of someone close who chose betrayal, with Richard.

As it continues, the elements on this album that make you fully immersed in the music and the stories are the songwriting and those rugged, emotionally expressive, vocals. Like I just mentioned, it’s quite easy to lose yourself to this man’s tales, but it’s not because the sound is something radically life changing; as a matter of fact, the songs are musically quite simple in their nature. It is the songwriting rather, that makes this album stand apart from others. Listening to the weathered voice of a man singing about his troubles via intricate lyrics make them tangible. Buckner lures you in with his sentimental voice, and then keeps you with the story behind the emotion.

That being said, the instrumental parts of Our Blood are definitely nothing to overlook either, they just may not be the first thing you pick up on in your listening experience. For example, on “Witness,” amidst the fluttery guitar, you can hear delicate jingling of some percussion instrument twinkling in the background. It’s minute details like this embedded in these songs that provides for some variety on this very acoustic, yet good, album.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/traitor.mp3]

Download: Richard Buckner – Traitor [MP3]

Boston Spaceships – Let It Beard

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Rating: ★★★½☆

How does one review something written by Robert Pollard?  You know there are going to be some amazing tunes, but you know there will probably be a few that you can toss away, especially when there’s 26 tracks.  But, in the case of Let It Beard, the latest release by Boston Spaceships, the majority of the trucks are solid, and you’ll hardly find any throw-away tunes.

“Blind 20-20” kind of gave me a start, building up towards its machine-gun drumming.  Bob’s entry changed the dynamic of the track, and when he hits that renown Pollard pitch, it’s a great moment–all before the song subsides into itself. Clearly, Boston Spaceships is still under the songwriting of Pollard, as evidenced by “Tourist UFO.”  Sure, the guitar has that angular chug, psychedelically walking in and out of the track, but the voice of Bob dominates in the forefront.  It’s incredible thinking about his persona (the drinking, the shows, etc) and his ability to still pull off warm vocals that grab even the most casual fan.

The construction of “Make a Record for Lo-Life” grabbed me immediately, like riding up and down on some sort of indie rock roller-coaster.  Crashing cymbals and chugging guitars give a bit of bounce to the track, and we’ll call the solo in the middle a bit of a racing moment on straight-away. Of course, song construction, and self-importance might account for the weaker moments on Let It Beard. “I’ll Make It Strong (for you),” for instance, just doesn’t hold up to the energetic tracks.  Like several of the tracks present, they appear to come from a different, almost unplugged guitar sound, taking a bit of the bite out.

Still, even with moments that come off softer, slower moments do have the ability to win out on this latest Boston Spaceships effort.  “Christmas Girl” sticks out, as the guitar itself begins slow, then almost seems muted, but again, Pollard’s voice has this capacity to propel the song into this blissful pop moment.  It’s quite possibly the standout moment of the entire record, if I had to pick one (I mean, there are horns!). Similarly, “No Steamboats” sort of trickles along, begging to be pushed to the limit of maximum rock n’ roll, but it never quite goes there, not until the end.  You’ve got to appreciate appropriate use of restraint.

In the end, Let It Beard is a mixed bag of various touches of Robert Pollard’s legacy.  While a great deal of the tracks have Boston Spaceships focusing on a more raucous garage sound, there’s still elemental dabbling in the studio with visible “lost sounds” tossed in just for the sake of it.  There’s just something about listening to anything penned by Pollard that eventually finds its way into your soul, haunting you passionately, secretly whispering for you to skip this track, love the next one, repeat that one, and then go back through it all over again.  It’s a sort of magic most people wish they had in their songwriting, but so few seem to possess.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ChristmasGirl.mp3]

Download: Boston Spaceships – Christmas Girl [MP3]

The Fair Ohs – Everything is Dancing

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Rating: ★★★½☆

Let’s be honest; it’s hotter than blazes basically everywhere in the country. So what kind of music is perfect to ease the sweat on your brow or the sunburn on your shoulders? While there may not be any certain genre that can take away the heat entirely, perhaps just riding those heat waves out with summer themed music can help in some way. On Everything is Dancing, you’ll find the nautical guitar riffs and the surfy pop melodies that can make you feel as though on the beach, or at least close to something refreshing.

The Fair Ohs, hailing from London, kick off this debut with “Baldessari,” a summery-from-the-get-go number that doesn’t waste any of your time to get things started. Tropical guitars begin right as you press play, leading you to the waves of crashing cymbals and the yelping vocals of Eddy Frankel. He is also joined by what sounds like the rest of the band: Matt Flag and Joe Ryan, for some quality gang vocals. All of the elements combine and overlap each other to make for a complex, yet simply summery mix. Following this opener, is “Eden Rock,” in which this band just keeps moving forward, and faster. The pacing certainly increases on this second song, and so does the amount of cymbal, which contributes to an even simpler sound than that of the first.

At this point, it is plausible to wonder if The Fair Ohs are just a one trick pony; that all their songs revolve on their sunny disposition alone. However, this is an assumption to be proven faulty from later on songs off of Everything is Dancing. Example: “Marie,” the second to last number, brings in a slightly more somber feel to the beachy tunes. The overall beat is a little slower, and the sunshine switch is at half volume, alluding to the end of that favorite season when the band asks “where does summer go?”

But in reality, you’ll probably remember the sensationally fast-paced and mad summer tunes of songs like the band’s single and title track “Everything is Dancing, ” or even “Helio,” in which you can’t help but sing along with Frankel as he drags out his words, or move your feet to the those rolling drums in the background. In the end, it’s just a really fun and entertaining release; perfect to sweat out the last of your energy dancing through the heat of this summer.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/FairOhs-Baldessari.mp3]

Download: Fair Ohs – Baldessari [MP3]

Crystal Antlers – Two Way Mirror

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Rating: ★★★½☆

I’ll be the first to say that I can’t ever get enough of Crystal Antlers in the live setting.  Their energy, the raw power of the vocals and drenched audience just never gets old.  That being said, their recording material has sort of been hit or miss for me.  After an EP and an album, the band return with Two-Way Mirror, and it finally seems that they’re forging new grounding, melding the tightness of their live show with promising recorded material.

“Jules Story” begins the record seemingly where Tentacles left off. There’s that marching drum beat, with killer fills, and Johnny Bell’s vocals scratching at his throat, and your ears. By no means can you consider it a bad track, it’s just not anything exceptionally new. “Seance” is where you’ll find the band branching into slightly new territory.  They’ve included bits of melody that have always bubbled beneath, but this time, they’ve chosen to reveal them, clearing away the excess noise without losing the song’s power.  Bell’s vocals, here, don’t seem as urgent, yet they still beg for your attention; it’s the perfect melding of their live performance and what one looks for in recorded material.

Just because they clean things up, however, doesn’t mean you’re going to lose any of that furious energy they’ve always unleashed.  In the one-two punch of “By the Sawkill” and “Two-Way Mirror” you’ll see that, if anything, the cleaner approach to the recording only allows you to focus more firmly on the explosiveness within the tracks.  In the past, they’ve been too dynamic for their own good, often making it hard for listeners to really focus in, but this isn’t the case on Two-Way Mirror.  You can still here the experimentalism, such as the tinkering of noises while the guitar screamingly crawls through the background at the end of “By the Sawkill.”  Combine that with Bell’s vocal performance on “Two Way Mirror,” and the remarkably drumming, and you’re sure to see that these excellent tracks will transmit perfectly to the live setting.

One of the problems that I found listening to the first record from Crystal Antlers is that the noise eventually bled into the ensuing noise, and tracks became indiscernible.  But, my favorite track from the group lives in the heart of this record: “Fortune Telling.”  It’s easy to pan it as a psychedelic moment, and maybe it is, but it’s excellent.  Bell sounds incredible, and the pacing of the track is perfect, never pushing to quickly.  And, it all moves perfectly into the following track, “Always Afraid.”  It’s probably my favorite moment of the group to date.

Perhaps my past listens to previous Crystal Antlers were too harsh, although I always liked them enough to repeatedly seek them out live.  But, with Two-Way Mirror, the band seems to have discovered the missing link between recording music and being a live animal.  Bits of eloquent noise have quietly been pulled back, revealing a record with sharpness at just about every corner.  It’s clear that the band still wants to push themselves, and that’s great, as long as they keep offering up the exact recipe they used during this session.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Crystal-Antlers-Summer-Solstice.mp3]

Download: Crystal Antlers – Summer Solstice [MP3]

Brilliant Colors – Again and Again

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Rating: ★★½☆☆

A few years back, when all of your favorite bands were releasing their debut albums, so was Brilliant Colors. Except whereas other bands from Slumberland Records, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, were getting their jump to the buzzband title, this band remained relatively unknown. They put out their first release, Introducing, and while receiving decent reviews, it failed to make the same jump to popularity as the other bands of the time. Now, they’re back, with relatively the same sound, trying their luck once more at striking up a following with a successful sophomore record, Again and Again.

Things kick off with “Hey Dan,” which provides the classic dream pop vibe that this whole album spins off of. Immediately, you can pick out the misty, single toned vocals of the female lead singer, Jess, floating high above the catchy guitar riffs and the faded drums. With the crash of the cymbals and the raging guitar, it is infectious music of the shoegazey variety. It’s a strong start, and possibly the strongest song on here. However, later on, there are some other gems like “Hitting Traffic,” or “Back to the Tricks,” that, when listened to on their own, rival the first song with their quality and catchiness.

However, my biggest and only qualm with this record, which may prove too detrimental for listeners, is the repetition and altogether similar songs here. There is sure as hell not a lot of variety, which may work for bands just going with the stellar single approach to the musical world, but it fails for bands like this that don’t have that one to stand above the other.  Separately, there are some good songs as aforementioned, but collectively, they all mesh together in one hazy pop blob. In this way, it is far too easy to let this music fall to the background as boring; Brilliant Colors do nothing to entice, to pull you back in, after the first song.

Thus, Again and Again is not necessarily an album in which you end wanting to do what the name suggests.  Sure, there isn’t a horrible song on here, but there isn’t a really grand one either. Brilliant Colors have found the mediocre middle of the road, and if that’s what you’re okay with, then, by all means, spend the afternoon with this serene pop record.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/02-How-Much-Younger.mp3]

Download: Brilliant Colors – How Much Younger [MP3]

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