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OUR WEEKLY COLLECTION OF SHORTER REVIEWS
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Town and Country,
Foil,
Wolf Colonel,
The Dearhunters/The Hired Guns,
The Black Heart Procession,
Chic-A-Go-Go: The Soundtrack,
Caligari,
The Sunshine Fix,
Sara Ayers,
Troy Horne,
The K.G.B.,
7 Seconds,
Lynx,
Ruby Zoo,
Thom the World Poet and Rotcod Zzaj,
Northern Picture Library,
Laura Watling,
Gravity Crush,
Cub Koda and the Points,
Munkafust
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Town & Country / It All Has To Do With It / Thrill
Jockey (CD)
The four musicians who make up Town and Country are pretty
well saturated with improvisational and so-called
"post-rock" credentials. Experienced listeners should find
It all has to do with it pretty familiar; like much
that falls into the post-rock catch-all basket, T&C's songs revolve
around the repetition and juxtaposition of simple musical
figures. However, you should give Town and Country credit
for leaving rock well and truly behind. Their music is
slow, ornate and very organic, alternating between soothing
melody and brooding uncertainty. Contrabass, harmonium,
piano, trumpet, accordion and bells mingle moodily,
referencing classical compositions more often than they hint
at jazz. It's beautiful stuff, though extremely somnolent
due to slow tempos and a relative lack of aggressive percussion.
Dishing up four songs in slightly more than forty minutes, It
All Has To Do With It straddles the grey area between EP
and LP, but should intrigue anyone who's interested in
approaching post-rock from the rear entrance. -- gz
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Of course, my first thought after placing Foil's latest CD into my player
is "When is the world going to run out of monosyllabic band names?"
Fortunately, there's a bit more to this English band than its
one-dimensional name. The band jumps around a bit, keeping its sound
interesting and entertaining as everything from hopeful ballads to
shredding, noise-ridden guitar-fests are mixed together on Never Got
Hip. The bass lines clearly stand out from track to track; the full-bodied tone of the four-string is the underlying apparatus that keeps the
other instruments in check. Hugh and Colin's raspy and alarming vocals are somehow
placating, even though you're harangued by angst-ridden
yelling when you least expect it. Along with the title track, "I'll Take
My Chances" and "Superhero No.1" capably express the band's incendiary,
charming and melodic stance, showing you what the bastard child
of Bowie, GVSB and the Pixies sounds like after digesting some of the
better parts of spontaneous indie rock and tried and true pop sounds. -- am
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Wolf Colonel / The Castle /
K (CD)
Wolf Colonel's power pop is stuck in the bedroom this time; Jason Anderson
played concerts in his dorm room a few years back, and many of these
ballads sound like they were conceived in a similar place. The opening of
"Is This What We Asked For?" has some bits of O-Positive, and builds heavily
on Kevin Johnson's drums. "I Swear I Am" completely changes the mood with
its simple acoustic/voice arrangement. There are times when Anderson sounds
like Dinosaur Jr., as in "The Almond Gorilla". Elsewhere on the album he
reminds me of the Replacements, with the lyrical joke in "We'll Always Have
Phoenix". Its pathetic line, "We'll be knockin' boots with everyone
backstage/But what I really want to know, is will I see you at the next big
show?" almost made me run off the road laughing. I'd buy it for the sense of
humour alone. -- js
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The Dearhunters/The Hired Guns / Ivy/Blue Sunday /
Steady Cam (7")
With a single apiece on this split 45, both the Dearhunters and
the Hired Guns
succeed at making the listener want to hear more. The
Dearhunters come across as
an updated version of the Sugargliders' quiet guitar pop.
Jodi Phillis'
voice shines in its ethereal glory, while the slithering
guitar-strumming
recalls both Johnny Cash and New Order. The Hired Guns take
a slower, dronier approach in "Blue Sunday".
While Adam Kyle's vocals are fine, they're tossed deeper in
the mix; the
Hired Guns are more about nailing down a groove. This
results in music which
spreads more thoroughly through the priviliged listener, and
fills him with
the pleasure of being one of a lucky 300 in possession of
this
limited-edition gem. -- td
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The Black Heart Procession / Three / Touch
and Go (CD)
I've been really digging the slow sad stuff lately, and the magical mail
lizard at Splendid HQ has kept me in fine supply. Three is
currently on the top of my "dark and mopey" pile, and has been keeping
me company quite a bit these last few weeks. In particular, "Guess I'll
Forget You" does something special to my innards -- it's like the
soundtrack to an Atom Egoyan film set in a scary circus dream where all
of the spooky clowns have just broken up with one anther. Yeah, there's
plenty of atmosphere on this CD, courtesy a nice array of instruments
and gadgets, including organs, trumpet, musical saw and space echo. The
songs are mostly slow, somber numbers, with lyrics to match. Despite the
dark, moody vibe on Three, I wouldn't really call this a
depressing, or depressed, recording. It's really a state of mind -- but
it's someone else's mind, so what you do with it is up to you. Hell,
maybe it'll cheer you up. I think I'll go have another listen. -- ib
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Various Artists / Chic-A-Go-Go: The Soundtrack / Beluga
(CD)
Chic-A-Go-Go is a four year old Chicago public access cable
phenomenon -- you might have read about it in last week's issue. Part children's show, part dance show and part
Soul Train-style cavalcade of exhibitionists, it features hipsters and confused-looking
children dancing haphazardly to records and the lip-synched
performances of a variety of musical guests, while punk rock
rat puppet Ratso interviews various musical guests. In
other words, it's quite a trip. The disc, which mirrors a
video retrospective, features an intriguing mixture of
artists and weirdos, from Kelly Hogan, Bobby Conn and Pansy
Division to Monotrona, Jan Terri and M.O.T.O. Ratso's interview segments, various bands and human hostess Miss Mia fill in the blanks. You probably won't hear anything
like this any time soon -- where else can you hear Jello
Biafra being interviewed by a rat puppet? My only gripe is
the sound quality. Recorded on public access equipment, some of the
material sounds less than pristine...but really, that's part
of the charm. -- gz
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Who says Echo and the Bunnymen are dead? They've clearly been resuscitated
and have taken on the identity of this Virginia quartet. Should you doubt me,
just look at the proof: Ian McCulloch's pained vocals still strain for
those high notes, the marching band snare drum still beats on, crisp,
catchy guitar lines continue to keep you hooked and there's even the
occasional hand-clap to complete the flashback. The only noticeable
oversight is the absence of Mr. McCulloch's frizzed pompadour. The devil is
in the details, Caligari. It's a fine cassette, full of new wave hits, but Caligari didn't make me ache for more Caligari. Rather, it prompted me to, as they say in college,
return to the primary source -- that is, to dig out and relish Songs to
Learn and Sing. -- rg
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The Sunshine Fix / The Future History of a Sunshine Fix / Kindercore (CD)
I’m convinced that instead of going out drinking, playing sports or
dating, The Sunshine Fix’s Bill Doss stayed in his room, dropped acid,
listened to Sly & The Family Stone and practiced being Johnny Cash in
his mirror. There is simply no other way that this music could have been been
conceived. Consisting of equal parts James Brown and Gram Parsons, The
Future History of a Sunshine Fix shimmies and twangs its way through
five severely damaged psychedelic country-funk-jams. It’s as sleazy as
it is sweet. "The Many Keys to Reunion" begins life as a breakbeat-happy
slice of big-beat buffoonery, then mutates into a slab of
wah-wah drenched funk suitable for use in any porno flick you’d care to name.
"Last Night I Had a Dream (said I had a dream last night)" is a
stuttering country-pop ditty rife with obtuse lyrical references and
twangy guitars. And while the closing musical couplet of "Future History
and the Irrelevance of Time" and "Beaconary Words" are good, their
pseudo-funk bravado sounds a bit too much like Midnite Vultures-era Beck
for my taste. In the end, it looks as though all those nights spent
dropping acid while listening to old soul records and
pretending to be country musician weren’t a huge waste of time after
all. -- jj
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Sylvatica's cover looks like one of those cheesy self-help CDs -- and to tell you
the truth Sara Ayers will indeed cause you to apply a bit of self
reflection as she glides peacefully from track to track.
However, the hokiness stops at the cover; this adventure in a
marvelous world of ambience is quite intriguing. Building on the application
of multiple layers of dense vocals and ambient synth undertones, Ayers
creates an electronic state of consciousness that sweeps dramatically from
minimalism to moving masses of multifaceted, whirling exquisiteness.
Inspiring your brain to ponder everything from the death of a relative to lazy summer evenings, Ayers' evocative and humble presentation burrows deep into your soul. Sometimes the best form of
entertainment is letting your mind roam, and Ayers is able to guide you
along your path with a little help from her own creative mind. -- am
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Greenspoint Baptist Church stands large in American musical history: greats Aretha Franklin and Al Green cut their figurative eye-teeth in the choir there, with Toni Braxton following in their footsteps. Troy Horne is now aiming to become the next famous alumni of Greenspoint. Troy’s neither an Aretha nor an Al, but he’s got a pretty enough voice. Unlike his better-known elders, Horne’s music isn’t notably rooted in soul or gospel. Citing Sting and Steve Winwood as influences, Horne indeed creates some very catchy tracks that could likely find a happy home on Triple A radio. -- bl
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The K.G.B. / The Space Cadet EP / Dreamworks
(CD)
These guys sound like they want to get played on the radio so badly that'll
they'll do
ANYTHING to get there -- even sign to Dreamworks. Oops, looks like I spoke
too soon. There are plenty of radio-friendly, overly repetitive choruses
here, ready for some hapless DJ to burn into your brain. I
think Canada's Pluto already tried this routine and look where they ended
up... That said, The K.G.B. does have a consistent, sometimes grooving,
sometimes playfully amusing personality to its music, and that keeps this EP
from getting totally nixed. Lots and lots of in-your-face keyboard blurps
add a snazzy, un-rock sound, while the band also dabbles a bit in dub and
reggae rhythms. A glossy production sound makes this CD prime material for
the soundtrack to some of your teenage-hijinx, school-night tomfoolery
episodes as you cruise around drinking cheap beer, shooting cars with paint
guns and yelling at girls. It's fun, it passes the time, it'll even have
you chuckling a few times -- but it all grows old rather quickly. -- am
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7 Seconds / Scream Real Loud / SideOneDummy (CD)
Every few years, I'm surprised to discover that 7Seconds
still exist. After twenty years in the hardcore trenches,
it's not all that shocking that Kevin Seconds comes across as being a lot
smarter than your average 22 year-old punk kid, but it's
still refreshing to hear a positive message delivered
without the sanctimonious straight-edge attitude employed by so
many of today's holier-and-hipper-than-thou bands. This
career-spanning live set dishes up a few classics -- "The
Crew", that sublime cover of "99 Red Balloons" and "Walk
Together, Rock Together" among them -- amid the newer stuff,
while Kevin seems determined to make certain that nobody
gets hurt in the pit. Yeah, I'm speaking from a geezer
perspective, but I like this stuff...at least enough that I don't need
to drag out the "clawing desperately at the vestiges of a dying career" indictment. -- gz
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Lynx's instrumentals are plucky from the first track, growing more introspective as the album progresses. The Boston-based band is
somewhat reminiscent of Tristeza. Their strong point is drums and guitars, including steel
guitars. The voices Lynx can mimic with guitars are intriguing: "In Snow"
begins and ends quietly, building slowly with the repetitive fingering,
whereas "In Sand" uses bass to create a more ominous tone. Back to back,
they're nearly companion pieces, making them even smarter than they sound.
"Explosive Diarrhea" is as nauseating as its title, repeating the same
unconnected themes over and over again. There are two really obvious
musical jokes on the listener: "Pyrnx" fades in and out in the opening of the
track, while "Raisins", a quieter and seemingly more cohesive track, ends
softly with the sound I knew in cartoons as pterodactyls. If you're a
musician, Lynx's subtleties should please you. -- js
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Ruby Zoo / Disenchanted Monk /
Ruby Zoo (CD)
Ruby Zoo plays music derived from Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam. It's
generally bland and lacks distinction. Take the mid-tempo ballad,
"Dreams": it sidles too harmlessly along, never reaching to pull you in.
"Jesus Come" is a plaintive crescendo that seems too dark for its
reverential subject matter. "The Forest in G Major (aka Wood)" is stilted,
with contorted rhymes -- and I just don't buy the part where they break into
the Monty Python "Lumberjack Song" (yes, I'm serious). The other tracks on
Disenchanted Monk have shortcomings as well, and I just can't recommend it. The
spark of creativity is missing. -- nw
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Thom the World Poet & Rotcod Zzaj / Fantasy in Disguise / Zzaj
Production Studios (CD)
Years ago, Jack Kerouac and Steve Allen teamed up to wed poetry and piano.
Today, another wordsmith grafts his bits to a keyboard, though this time
around it's a synthesizer with a healthy pitch bender. Like Jack, Thom has
tales of discovering America in a roadside cafes and finding salvation on
highways. Thrown in for good measure is a meditation on mastectomies.
These breathy verses weave some evocative pictures. And even though the
hard-working keyboard is a bit much at times, it's a fine sample of DIY
heart wrenching. -- rg
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Northern Picture Library / Still Life / Vinyl Japan (CD)
This release compiles all the EPs that were produced by Northern Picture
Library, a Field Mice offshoot that eventually evolved into
Trembling Blue Stars. Northern Picture Library was the most erratic of these Bobby-Wratten-led outfits; members' melodic strengths took time to re-emerge following the musicians' transition to more ambient
material. However, Still Life offers a number
of pleasures, from the bliss-filled pop of "Truly Madly Deeply" to the
charging chorus in "Last September's Kiss" and the muscular guitar part
which drives "Paris". While Annemari Davis fails to convey more emotion than the lyrics suggest, her vocal lead on many of the tracks
("Here to Stay", "Paris", "Love Song for the Dead Che") offers a nice
distinctiveness to this stage in the Blue Stars' lives -- even as their lyrical
obsessions ("Should we stop being lovers, would we stop being
friends?") fail to distinguish themselves. The best cuts here (like "Signs", which compares to
anything Bobby has done before or since) come from the final NPL EP,
Paris/Last September's Kiss, but it's the earlier stuff that might
be the most interesting. These extract some of the purest forms of
sadness you will hear -- from samples that would produce headaches if placed in
less gifted hands. As always with Bobby Wratten's records, you can color me
among the impressed, and among the unashamedly devoted. -- td
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Laura Watling / What's Your Favorite Colour? / Shelflife
(7")
Ex-Autocollant Watling has one of those impossibly high,
saccharine-girly voices that make you wonder if you've got
the record on the right speed (and with my schizophrenic turntable,
I wind up wondering that a lot at the best of times). She's also a very eager
singer, rarely bothering with long introductions (or
any introduction, really) before letting loose with her
vocals. Songs here, which range from the short and sweet
"Christmas Trees in July" to the comparatively epic "Passing
Time", are a friendly blur of summery jangle-guitar melody.
Sometimes they seem a trifle hurried...which is a shame, as
Watling's voice seems to be worth lingering over. All four
of these tracks, especially "One More Way to Amuse Myself",
threaten to lodge themselves in your head for days. -- gz
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Gravity Crush / demo / Gravity Crush
(CD)
Here’s a confession: I grew up in Eastern Iowa in the ‘80s. Due to unforeseen circumstances (like dropping out of high school), I didn’t have the opportunity to attend my own high school graduation ceremony, but at my sister’s several years later, their class song was Boston's "Peace of Mind". Given that by that point punk had been around for over a decade, it struck me as a bit odd. But not really that odd. This CD brought me the glad tidings that folks in Eastern Iowa are still at it. If Gravity Crush were from a coast or Chicago, someone might mistake them for hip retro kitsch, but let’s be honest here. Gravity Crush pump out tunes that would have fit in nearly perfectly on commercial radio circa ‘79. In particular, singer Wendy Jans is a dead ringer for La Benatar. On the heavier side, the last track creates more of an April Wine/Sabbath vibe. Long live classic rock!. -- bl
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Cub Koda and The Points / Noise Monkeys / J-Bird
(CD)
Twenty years after their first album comes Cub Koda and The Points’
second offering, in which rockabilly and blues meet a whole lot of smoke and beer in
a crowded Detroit Rock City bar. Cub Koda and The Points is a never-say-die
bar band that’s going to continue singing about drugs and chicks no matter
how uncool it gets. Lyrical highlights: "Girl called me up, said she was
sick. Boyfriend was mean, he wouldn’t give her no dick. Girl said: Pusher,
are you going somewhere? I said: Yeah baby! I’m going down there!" Apparently he’s the "Pusherman of Love." The two guitar players in the band have got some serious chops and, really, this record probably doesn’t sound half bad in a dirty bar with a crooked pool table. Historical Notation: Koda
himself was in the band Bronwnsville Station, who brought you the
anathematic "Smokin’ in the Boys' Room." -- av
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Munkafust reminds me not a little of Sublime -- though without the reverential
devotion of the music press. Their slightly jam-band, slightly reggae-fied
brand of rock music is the type of thing that was really big about four years
ago. I'm not particularly hot for it. Sure, plenty of the songs have pretty
enough melodies (The chorus of "Control Of My Heart" manages to stick in my
mind somewhat). Sure, these guys are skilled and witty enough musicians.
Even the lyrics are witty, if a bit cynical at times ("Helmet Party" is a
bit much for me!). Sure, Munkafust can funk it up, rock it out or mellow it
down at will, but in a world of Sugar Ray, Fastball, unsundry jam bands and
the now-waning slew of ska-pop/pop-ska bands, I'm just not convinced that we need
them. Unfortunately, the mainstream probably disagrees with me. Give
Munkafust a couple of years and they'll probably be really big! -- nw
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gz - george zahora | nw - noah wane | am - andrew magilow | ib - irving bellemead | jj - jason jackowiak
td - theodore defosse | rd - ron davies | bl - beth lucht | av - adam voith | rg - rodney gibbs | js - jenn sikes
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