Tag: the strokes

The Strokes – Angles

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Rating: ★★½☆☆

You might remember the Strokes as the saviors of rock n’ roll who quietly disappeared into the night, only to form several side-projects, hinting that they might never return.  Well, they’ve returned now, and while there are definitely bright spots, Angles isn’t the album of triumphant return that we all pined for during their absence.

“Machu Picchu” is a reserved album opener, with half-hearted guitar lines opening up the entire affair.  Julian Casablancas’ voice still sounds familiar, enough to give the song some credence, although the continuing trickling guitar work just holds the song back.  But, “Under the Darkness,” the second track, is that gem of a Strokes song that we’ve been missing for quite some time.  It’s filled with those sharp guitar cuts and fantastic bass work, just a bit more polished than earlier works off Is This It.  Julian has a great performance here, getting gruff and angry during the chorus.  In fact, this might go up the charts as one of the better tunes they’ve recorded, in one man’s opinion. Then, they recover back into mediocrity.

“Two Kinds of Happiness” is a cheesy little number, reminiscent of a band trying to break into the MTV culture of the 80s; it’s lacking creativity and sharpness, with Casablancas coming off as disinterested, more so than his usual stance. “You’re So Right” doesn’t do too much to change that, although the middling section is a lot more endearing than that buzzsaw guitar churn that serves as the backbone of the track.

Still, this album goes back and forth between being catchy and boring, which makes it a hard record to really get your head around. “Taken For a Fool” features Julian providing some charming vocals, and that bass line is something that they’ve always done well, so it’s no surprise it sounds so good here.  And the chorus of this track is probably one of the brightest moments present in all of Angles.  “Call Me Back” reminds me of the tracks off First Impressions of Earth that seemed more like a place for Julian to prove doubters wrong in regards to his voice, as it’s nothing more than an exercise for him, with the rest of the band just sort of standing in the background while he takes the lead.

Then comes a track like “Gratisfaction,” which definitely has a bit of swagger to it, something we all appreciated about the band, though it has a more modern pop twist. It will make you yearn for similar tracks, the kind that could have easily saved Angles, making it more than a sub-par effort. Toss that in with Angles’ closer, “Life is Simple in the Moonlight,” and you wonder if the band does indeed have more to offer us, as these are some of the better tracks on the collection.  The last track, especially, sounds like the band’s natural progression, something we might have been able to foresee after all this time.

You see, the problem with The Strokes is that a lot of us probably feel like have a lot invested in the band; we might even believe that it helped bring us back to rock n’ roll back in the early 2000s.  All of this makes it harder to digest Angles, as clearly there are some solid tracks, but overall, it just doesn’t live up to our expectations of what the band should sound like in our minds.  With that, many listeners will find themselves disenchanted, losing faith in the band that helped us believe all over again.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/01-Under-Cover-Of-Darkness.mp3]

ACL Wrap-Up: The Top Ten Acts

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Well, we’ve finally recovered, and we hope your sunburn is peeling and your liver is resting quietly in a tub of water.  After a long weekend, filled with good memories, tunes and pretty much anything else we needed, we got down to the nitty-gritty. That’s right folks, after careful collaboration, and tireless hours of discussion, we bring you our Top Ten Acts of Austin City Limits 2010.

Show Preview: The Strokes @ Stubbs (10/6)

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Date 10/6/10
Location Stubbs
Doors 7pm
Tickets Sold Out Duh.

So the night has finally come and I’m sure a lot of you have already pissed your pants in anticipation for The Strokes show at Stubbs tonight.  From what I’m hearing, the rock veterans don’t even have an opener so make sure you get there early.  I personally didn’t feel like $60 was worth it on this one since I can see the band at ACL.  Honestly, does anyone ever remember a show at Stubbs that cost this much?  I know I know, C3 had to pay what I’m sure is the ridiculous fee to get the band… but come on!

[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/08-Hard-To-Explain-1.mp3]

Download: The Strokes – Hard To Explain [MP3]

4/14 Julian Casablancas @ La Zona Rosa

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Wednesday night was a busy one for the ATH crew in Austin, TX.  We had a few folks over at the White Rabbits/Here We Go Magic show, a couple at the Bonobo show, and a even one or two over at Adi’s indie karaoke shindig.  I however couldn’t pass up the chance to see one of the great front men of the past decade, Mr. Julian Casablancas.  Follow the jump for a quick review and more photos.

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The Soft Pack – s/t

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soft packRating: ★½☆☆☆

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.

FT5: Modern Rock Stars

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0115top5coverWe really live in a day and age when the idea of being a rock star is just about gone. Gone are the days of the lead singer who gets mobbed by fans everywhere they go or sleeps in hotel rooms full of strange women.  We don’t even get a lot of musicians with drug and alcohol problems anymore or who quite obviously don’t give a shit what anyone thinks.  You know, those people who were just way cooler than you ever hoped to be?  Dylan, Jagger, Plant, etc.  We all know the names.  That’s what makes them rock stars.  So today I wanted to create a list of those “modern rock stars” who have carried the torch of debauchery and coolness into a new age.  These guys (and gals) represent all the great things about being a rock star: alcohol/drug rehab stints, celebrity girlfriends, trend setting, don’t give a shit attitude, members of popular bands, and decent music all earn you a place on this list.  As a disclaimer I’ll say that all these artists rose to fame in the last decade so this means you won’t see a Dave Grohl or Eddie Vedder on this list because they have long been in the halls of the greats.  I’ll also make an attempt to compare each artist to who they most closely resemble from years past.  Please don’t assume that I’m comparing anyone artistically, I just wanted to give you a  frame of reference.  Follow the jump for the full list.

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Hurricane Bells – Tonight is the Ghost

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Hurricane_Bells_FNLRating: ★★★☆☆

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]

Julian Casablancas – Phrazes for the Young

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julian-phrazescoverRating: ★★½☆☆

It’s been a long long time since the essence of cool was brought back by The Strokes.  No longer do we have to listen to stagnant rock on the radio, and the indie underground seems to have grown substantially.  We owe a great deal of that to Julian Casablancas.  His new album Phrazes for the Young creates a certain sense of nostalgia; it makes you look back to those days when it all seemed new and vibrant. 

Hands down, the first three songs on this record, “Out of the Blue,” “Left and Right in the Dark,” and “11th Dimension,” are all ridiculously good songs.  You can say that they have a more pop-centric leaning than most of the work done by Casablancas other band, but you can’t deny that the infections hooks are in abundance on these first three tracks.  If you take “11th Dimension” alone, you can see that combining the swagger of The Strokes with the electronic pop of Phoenix packs a huge punch.  This is such a killer opening to the album, that it really makes the latter half of the album fall flat on its face before our eyes.

Once you get to the last five songs, the pace is gone, and with it, the depth that seemingly existed from the outstart.  “Ludlow St.” has sort of a throwback feeling to a summer folk string, almost as if The Beatles have just entered into Julian’s lexicon, while the lyrics are reminiscent of Whitman’s Song of Myself.  It’s clever, but it is not a song that will last long in your memory.

“River of Brakelights” does sound exactly like some of the more straightforward rock songs that eclipsed the gems that were on First Impression of Earth.  Unfortunately, Julian Casablancas has a difficult time as it is differentiating the tones in vocals, and this song makes that all too apparent, which lead to the damage that devours this track. 

All this seems to head towards the trudgingly slow “Tourist,” a song that is lyrically akin to “Ludlow St.” All the punch is clearly gone at this point, and you can feel your heart sink as the album draws to a close.  It’s a shame actually, as the record began with such a promising start that you wanted the entire thing to be successful, but our luck has run out here.  Still, for those die-hard completists, you will find the voice of The Strokes living in a different place, one that at times, is as exciting as we’ve ever heard him.  Perhaps such moments make it onto the new work of either of his bands.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Julian-Casablancas-11th-Dimension.mp3]

Download: Julian Casablancas – 11th Dimension [MP3]

FT50: Albums of the ’00s

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0828top5coverWhat?   You still listen to THAT album?  That record is so 2004!  Well, that’s okay, because we really like that one too, which is why we decided to come up with a list of our favorite albums of the last decade (2000-2009).  Sure, these might not be YOUR favorite records, or the most critically acclaimed, but we sat down and really thought out every record from the past ten years that we keep coming back to in our collections.  You’re likely to disagree with some of these, and we won’t tell you we’re absolutely right we just know that these happen to be OUR favorites.  If you think we totally blew it here, feel free to tell us so, but be nice, as our egos are kind of fragile.  Follow the jump for more.

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