ALBUM REVIEW PEPPER SPRAY

Let’s face it. We live in a fast paced society. The kids want quick, short bursts of communication. If you’re not tweeting their language then you’re out…ya blew it. It’s called the “fragmentation of media” people. There’s an engagement factor that must…(mid-sentence pause)

OK...here’s the deal. I’ve been incredibly busy (which is good given the hell-hole that our economy is in…freaking consumers out will bolster confidence right?). I’ve listened to numerous albums in the past few weeks but I don’t have time to review them to you in the long (winded) format so here is the “short-short” version of a few…

Trail of Dead – Century of Self

The full length album definitely did NOT live up to the excitement generated around the Festival Thyme EP (see my review on 11/11/08). Bells of Creation and Inland Sea remain the top songs on the full length. Century of Self is not bad by any means. Its a lot more rockin that the previous concept-esque albums. The faster guitars mixed with some mellow piano tracks and vocal pair-offs between Conrad and Jason (seen on Far Pavilions) is reminiscent of their masterpiece Source Tags & Codes. However, this album is so “polished” it’s a little concerning. Some songs I couldn’t tell if I was listening to TOD or Fall Out Boy (ok…maybe that’s a little extreme…but you’ll get my point). Century of Self is good but falls a little short…oh but the album art is UNREAL…serious. Take a look. Download this: Bells of Creation, Inland Sea, Far Pavilions, Ascending

Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
I’m gonna be honest. The “feeling” behind the cover of Neko Case’s latest album Middle Cyclone didn’t really match the sound in my mind. All I hear is “Barracuda” when I see that cover. Anyway, I listened to Neko’s solo work for the first time with this album. She is truly an amazing vocalist. I only knew her previous work with the New Pornographers with songs like Bones of an Idol on Twin Cinema and the title track off Challengers just to name a few. As for Middle Cyclone goes, it is a pleasant listen but lacks anything unique in my opinion. It’s a true Singer/Songwriter recording. The lyrics and harmonies in songs such as the opener This Tornado Loves You, Vengeance is Sleeping and The Pharaohs are sublime. I could have done without Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth (I hope that track was meant as a joke) and the 30minutes of “nature sounds” at the end. All in all I feel like this album is parallel to Jenny Lewis’s solo work. It’s nice and pretty and folksy and could be more easily played on your local adult contemporary (light hits) radio station than on some indie stream/satellite channel. I know many will disagree but I’m just being honest here. Download This: This Tornado Loves You, I’m an Animal, The Pharaohs

Von Bondies – Love, Hate & Then There’s You

I was wondering what these cats were up to. Everyone loved ‘04s Pawn Shoppe Heart (including the FX network as C’mon C’mon remains the theme from Rescue Me) but since then all I really can remember is that a few members left the band and Jason Stollsteimer got punched in the grill by Jack White. So I heard the new single off of LHTTY called Pale Bride and was like…”alright, I’m picking this one up”. I was pleasantly surprised. The album is pretty rockin. Some of the tracks are a little too poppy (aka title track) and forced but the bulk of the album is good. I miss the rawness of the prior album (see also Been Swank) but the new album has some meat to it. Tracks like The Chancer and 21st Birthday deserve heavier rotation. That said. Download this: Pale Bride, 21st Birthday, The Chancer, Modern Saints

Thursday – Common Existence

This might turn into a long winded one. Thursday’s album Full Collapse is in my top 10 records of all time/thus far. When it came out during the early millennium it sounded nothing like anything I had ever heard before. It blended hardcore with emo like those old Reeses commercials. To this day when a track from this album pops up on my iPod in shuffle-mode I think to myself "oh hell-yeah”. The genre “Scremo-core” began with this record. Now a billion bands mimic their sound. Once Geoff Rickly was featured on a Spin Magazine cover back in 2000(?) with Karen-O of the YYYs, Justin Hawkins of the now defunct Darkness (see also: drugs) and some other “it” music personality…I guess it freaked him out a bit. I feel like the band stepped out of the dim alt-rock spotlight after that right when War All the Time was released (Full Collapse follow-up). For me War All The Time was a let-down at first cause it wasn’t as powerful and didn’t have enough…umm…screaming…to be honest. However the more and more I got over that initial feeling and actually listened to the music and vocal arrangements, I grew to like the album…a lot. Most of the time I’m a brat when it comes to bands “maturing” their sound. The album after that was A City by the Light Divided which was even better than WATT. A great deal of the tracks were arranged differently than any of the other albums and most were pretty strong and pounding. That said when I picked up Common Existence I had high hopes. Looks like I set the bar too high. The album has no differentiating factor. It’s just bland, over produced hard rock songs. Its not awful, just strange as I’ve heard their sound evolve from Waiting (1st LP) till now and thought either (A) the sound would take a new turn or (B) they would return to form given their earlier work. I should have known there was trouble when I saw they were playing on the “Taste of Chaos Tour: Sponsored by Rockstar Energy Drink”. They seemed to go through the motions on this one. Major disappointment. Download this: Subway Funeral, Resuscitation of a Dead Man

Phoenix on SNL?

http://pitchfork.com/news/34921-phoenix-to-play-saturday-night-live/

Wtf. Sometimes bands go on SNL that are virtually unheard of in the mainstream...but not very often. Music snobs like me would like to keep it that way. This reminds me of when Teenage Fanclub was on SNL when I was a kid (which exposed me to the "Bandwagonesque" album which changed my life). Crap...I guess I should let go of my snobbery/sell-out-itis from my 20's and be psyched...I am. More psyched for the new album to come out. The last Phoenix album ("It's Never Been Like That") is in my tops of all time/thus far. At least America Ferrara, Steve Martin or Michael Phelps isn't hosting. When is Robert Loggia gonna host? Robert Loggia. http://www.trilulilu.ro/Ana/bffd82441bbe6a

Ladies & Gentlemen...the Greatest Album Cover of All Time

I probably should have an album review to go with this but I haven't picked it up yet. I was floored by the "awesomeness" of this cover. Review will come shortly. Sorry....it's been a busy week and I had a stomach flu last week (TMI bitches). Waaaaaaaaaa. No crying on the blogosphere.

OMFG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovm3_UjISiQ

The only potential reunion that ever mattered to me (besides Pavement). Graham is back on board and they are starting off with some Hyde Park shows in foggy London town (on American Independence day weekend). Anyone want to fly out there with me? (I think the shows sold out in a matter of nanoseconds) Well...if not I'm sure we can look forward to some shows stateside in late '09 or early '10 depending on if they are recording or not...which I believe they are. Why do some 90's alt-rock reunions never result in new material? Some actually do which can be incredible (Dinosaur Jr) or "sub-par" (Breeders). I'd like the Pixies or Swervedriver to come out with some new stuff...otherwise you just know these reunions are "forced" by reasons of increased mortgage rates etc. Duh. I'm sure they all are but they don't have to make it obvious by not writing any new songs. My zero cents.

Album Review: Cold War Kids - Loyalty To Loyalty

Something is not right with me. I know what you’re thinking. “Yes…we know this Tom. We’ve known this since you were in diapers and your current behavior continues to reinforce this widely known fact”. Well, sorry to disappoint you (jerks) but I am referring to track #4 on Cold War Kids latest offering - Loyalty To Loyalty. This is one of those “late-bloomer albums” for me as I believe it was released back in the fall. Something Is Not Right With Me was the first track I heard and for some reason I thought for a split-second that it was off of their debut album Robbers & Cowards which came out a number of years ago. SINRWM is a killer track sonically with great lyrics…which in turn made me pick up the album. After listing to Loyalty To Loyalty I wondered why I didn’t listen to the last album more. Loyalty to Loyalty is a truly excellent album. What’s unique about this band is primarily Nathan Willets vocal delivery and the lead guitar sound similar to bands like the Walkmen, Pinback or Modest Mouse (pre-Johnny Marr). Tracks like Dreams Old Men Dream are prime examples of this sound. I think the reason I didn’t go full force into the last album was that I thought the vocals on the most popular tracks like Hang Me Up To Dry or Hospital Beds were alt-pretentious and the hype around the band turned me off. Hype amongst critics who were more trend followers/buzz agents than appraisers of good music. I saw Cold War Kids interviewed recently and they seem like a grounded group of musicians. They’re “good people”. Loyalty to Loyalty starts out with Against Privacy which is almost a mission statement-like opener setting the tone for the rest of the album. It’s a mellow track that just builds into the last minute of chugging loud guitar riffs (I love build-ups). If Against Privacy is the novel forward then Mexican Dogs is chapter one which makes you say to yourself. “Well all right…we’re moving now”. Cold War Kids uses synthesizers moderately in tracks like SINRWM and Relief but it melds well with the guitar/vocals. It’s not just thrown in there to differentiate one indie rock band from another or make them seem “new-wavey” (just made that up). A number of songs on L2L are bluesy in concept but something if off...like everyone ripped down shotguns of Jolt Cola. There are a few mega-mellow sleepers like Avalanche in B and Every Man I Fall For but the lyrics are still great. The second single that caught my ear was I’ve Seen Enough. What a STELLAR track. Slow/Fast switch-up that rocks along with some guitar fills that in my opinion wasn’t amplified enough when it was recorded. I saw them live on Conan and it’s those loud signature fills that give them their signature sound. Oh well. Pick this one up. If you can get accustomed to the vocals then you’ll be completely satisfied with Loyalty To Loyalty. DOWNLOAD THIS: Something Is Not Right With Me, I’ve Seen Enough, Relief

Liveticketnationmaster - Hybrid Monster Alert

Some of you may have heard that Live Nation, a venue promotions entity is merging with ticketing behemoth (Satan) Ticketmaster. My stomach turned when I was informed of this. I thought to myself - “How could purchasing tickets for shows online get any fucking worse?” The good news is that Live Nation is buying out Ticketmaster to form “Live Nation Entertainment”. Ticketweb is the most efficient service in my opinion but I had no beef with Live Nation. They always seemed to have had reasonable pricing (limited surcharge) and operated a user friendly site. My fears are that Ticketmaster….those “Convenience Charge” whores…will infect the Live Nation Entertainment pricing methodology like “hoof-n-mouth”.

NY Senator Charles Schumer (I have always dug Chucks policy views) echoes my fears claiming that - “This merger would give a giant, new entity unrivaled power over concert-goers and the prices they pay to see their favorite artists and bands.”

The Live Nation CEO assured the public - “Too many tickets go unsold and too many fans are frustrated with their ticket-buying experiences…the new company will work to simplify the ticketing process and increase attendance at events.”

For the love of God just ease-up on the surcharges. If you want to sell more tickets then make it somewhat reasonable to consumers financially. In the long run this builds a relationship and ultimately will yield a better profit for vendor/venue/artists. Don’t charge a 30% premium strictly for convenience (ridiculous). At least Ticketmaster called it for what it was without masking it in ambiguous language like “service” or “handling” or “back-handed”.

BOTTOM LINE - Not everyone lives near the venues to pick up the tickets in person at the box office. Many people have fallen on hard economic times and going to a concert, theatre or sporting event may be the only outlet which brings them enjoyment, relaxation and sanity. If this emotional outlet can not be realized given ridiculous pricing models, then these pent up frustrations are often channeled into other forms of "release" such as booze/drugs/karaoke/clog-dancing. No one wants that. I apologize to the strung-out cloggers of the world. I happen to enjoy booze and karaoke in moderation. Please rock responsibly.

GRAMMY RANT!! YAAAAAY!

Case of the Monday’s alert. Grammys? More like “Grannys”. The award itself is a Gramophone for god’s sake. I’m sorry, maybe I’m being snobbish and close minded but why does the Grammys consistently suck every year? I think it maaaaaaay have been around the time when Metallica lost to Jethro Tull for “Best Heavy Metal Album”. I tuned in sporadically last night and was consistently disappointed. First disappointment was the “new” U2 song which opened up the show. About as unoriginal as it gets. And the protest language flashing up on the big-screen? Bush is out…no need for that anymore. Show some youtube clips of drugged-up toddlers or resurrect ZooTV. Moving on. Does anyone else find it odd that there is this sudden groundswell of pasty-white British soul singers (Winehouse, Duffy, Adele…wasn’t she in that hipster band “The Gossip”)? Don’t get me wrong…great vocalists all of them…just find it incredibly strange. So, another revelation from last night – Boys II Men are still around? (holding up megaphone) I LIVE AND WORK IN PHILADELPHIA AND HAD NO CLUE. I also saw Kid Rock nominated a number of times…Kid Rock…really? Wow. Aside from those gems, the Grammys were pretty predictable in my opinion. Lots of Coldplay, Jonas Bros, John Mayer. Josh Grobin…old artists collaborating with them. I guess nominations and performances from MIA, Radiohead and DCFC were supposed to indie/youth-it-up….theeeeeeeeen Robert Plant & Allison Krauss become the big winners of the night (booooooo). Hahahaha…so close!. I think they won “Record” and “Album” of the year (wtf is the difference?). In my opinion (and I remember having so many fights about this) Led Zeppelin is and forever will be the greatest rock-and-roll band that ever existed (sorry Beatles/Stones fans). Everyone loves Robert Plant…and I’m sure his album of duets with Ms. Krauss was great. HOWEVER, I’m not sure how the award winners are picked but you’d hope they’d make way for some new talent like MIA or artists that deserve the recognition for the inventive ways they are changing music…like Radiohead (still considered “alternative” by the Grannys standards). There was a 10% ratings bump against adults age 18-49 from last year but I have a feeling that may be attributed to “The Jonas Effect”. My mother actually texted me asking me if I was “watching the Jonas brothers”. Squeaky clean punks. The hip-hop acts I can’t really comment on (but I will then go into a tirade) except that I’ve heard recordings from Lil’ Wayne, TI, T-Pain and Ne-Yo and they’re all god-awful. I took a chance on buying some new Kanye as well. Terrible. Why cant he stick to rock solid singles like “Jesus Walks” or “Lights”. The new stuff is so tone-deaf. What happened to using obscure samples? Any samples at all or just killer beats? I’m so sick of that computer voice modulator over awful beats and slow unoriginal rhymes. It’s such garbage. In terms of mainstream appeal what happened to the NWAs (Dre/Cube solo), Wu-Tangs, Beasties, Jay-Zs, Gangstars, TCQs and Ghetto Boyz of the world? Obviously I’m stuck in the 90s but I haven’t heard ANYTHING that is anywhere near the skills of the aforementioned groups. Nas was right…hip-hop is dead…and the Grammys died in the late 80s. Anyone reading this blog please…please enlighten me. I heard this underground rap outfit P.O.S which I’ve been meaning to pick up (heard a killer track called “Drumroll”…the man can rhyme at lightning speed). I’ll review it shortly.

I guess the one good thing I can commend MTV on is the uniqueness of their awards shows…the only on-air content actually music related about the flagship channel. XOXOXOXO

Album Review: Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion could be described as a “that was unexpected” album…for me at least. I heard some good things about the newest album so I picked it up. Animal Collective tracks I’ve heard in the past were not my “bag” and sounded completely different sonically then what is on MPP. I took a train to NYC this past weekend. Train rides or long drives are great album testers. Captive environment with limited distractions. Flights never work for me. Too white-noisey and the whole ear-popping deal. The first track “In the Flowers” gave me an initial “buyers remorse” vibe until the drums kicked in. I thought it would be an hour of experimental electronic mellow 10min tracks. The second track “My Girls” is the one that got me interested (http://myanimalhome.net/). Easily the best track on MPP. Hard to describe ACs music style on this album. Electronica? Electro-Pop? Beat-Pop? (I made that last one up). I guess is the best term out there would be “Electro-Pop” but if I read that on a blog I’d probably back away. You can get an idea of what they use in the “My Girls” video in the link above. Keyboard elements, Synths, drum machines, live drums, mixing boards, hand-claps, etc. I believe the majority of the songs on the album are past the 5-min mark. The reason for this is that each track builds a few minutes before the tootsie-roll-center of the harmony arrangements kick in. You’ll need to have a plan before throwing this album on for a full listen. The vocal style and lyrics somewhat vary per track between the two leads in the band. One of the vocalists I confused with Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse) on a few of the tracks. During my first run-through I honestly thought he contributed some guest vocals. Some tracks make you very relaxed (No More Runnin/Taste) while others keep you on your toes (Summertime Clothes/Bluish). The last track “Brother Sport” is my second fav behind “My Girls”. Those two songs (and maybe Summertime Clothes) would be considered singles if this band was radio-friendly. The instrumentation is unique and the lyrics/harmonies on “Brother Sport” towards the close repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat…but you don’t want it to end. Pick the album up and you’ll see. “Two snaps in a circle”

Addendum Alert!

In reference to the prior KFN post - My buddy Chris who attended the "gathering of ladies and gents for the enjoyment of hardcore musical theatre" pointed out a very important "happening". I forgot to describe that while Damian was singing through the crowd and on the bar...at one point he busted into the nearby men's bathroom and surprised/pulled a guy out (might have been "mid-pee") into the crowd. Just another positive attribute of smaller venue shows....unless you have a small bladder I guess. Wheeeeoa! (light applause)

Fucked-Up & Pissed Jeans: Kung Fu Necktie - Philadelphia, PA (1/21/09)

Well. This was my introduction to the relatively new Philly bar/music venue “Kung-Fu Necktie” (tried to find a definition…I think it’s a pretty graphic executionary move). The bar is located literally under the subway tracks in Northern Philly (Fishtown). I went with a few friends to see two bands - Fucked-Up and Pissed Jeans (if those names aren’t punk rock I don’t know what is). The show was sold out. Given the “character” of the bands scheduled to play and the rumored smaller size of the venue…we knew the night would be “interesting” to say the least. Ohhhh boy we got out moneys worth. Or at least Chris did as I still owe him $10 for the ticket. (GONG!) So here’s the play-by-play - We walked into an already crowded bar. They had such a great DJ/soundsystem we thought the show already started when we approached the bar from the outside. Turns out it was just some obscure hard-core record being pumped. We grabbed some adult-sodas, shot the shit blah-blah-blah. Members of both bands were carrying amps and instrument casings through the crowd. Pretty normal for a small venue engagement punk rock or folk rock or yacht rock. Right before PJ began to play the place got insanely packed from the bar to the stage (30ft) and with the ramp-slope up from the bar to the stage we couldn’t actually see PJ play from the edge of the bar…and I’m 6ft-1. They sounded great in true noise/rock style. I couldn’t discern the songs from the last album (Hope for Men – Download “I’ve Still Got You”) with the new tracks peppered in. What ever the last song played was…it was pretty damn rockin. Might I add the sound a KFN was surprisingly good even for a feedback junkie like Pissed Jeans. After PJ finished they crowd thinned out a tad (“a tad”…I never write that) and we grabbed a few “fresh-ones” to get ready for Fucked-Up. We were able to move forward a bit to have a level view of the band…not that it would matter (you’ll see). The lead singer (Damian Abraham aka “Pink Eyes”) was a presence in size and voice…and wit. He came on stage wearing basketball shorts and a leather baseball cap. FU is Canadian so he made some Canada jokes as expected, talked about Obama etc. He was funny as hell and talked for a good 10min before “Son the Father” (the lead off track from the new album) kicked off like a punch in the throat. Amazing sound. The “pit” was in full force. No one was safe. I’m getting too old for that shit anymore however I was so amped up I wanted to throw my PBR down and sock the person next to me. Problem was the person next to me was 2ft shorter…and female. I have the latest FU album (see my review from 12/12) but to be honest I don’t know the names of most of the songs (some bands are like that for me). I think they played a good number of tracks from the early releases. OK. Here’s where it gets interesting. It was not long after the first few songs that Damian (now shirtless) jumped off the stage in mid lyric and pushed through the THICK crowd making his way to the bar. The mic was on a cord that must have been 100fit long and an inch thick (insert penis joke here). He was wailing into the mic, giving skinny hipster guys noogies, throwing the mic in peoples faces to sing along. Ol’ Pink Eyes then climbed up onto the bar. The whole time this was going on the band didn’t pause for a second and was cranking out rock like woodchipper. It was a sweaty punk rock scene. Reminded me of Bouncing Souls shows from high-school. Anyway, so when he was up on the bar I tried to get a phone-pic. The only one that came out ok (you could recognize shapes) was the one above. He barreled back through the crowd…sang another song or two…then came back to the bar. He took a candle and poured hot wax on his man-breasts then tried to stick the candle to his forehead. Awesome…I mean awful…awfully awesome.

The moral of this story is. If you every have a chance to see Pissed Jeans or especially Fucked-Up in a small venue…do it. If you think you’re too old for certain shows…shaddup…please go…just stand in the back and listen…make “back in the day” comments to anyone standing around then gauge reactions.

To give you a taste of what we experienced check out this Rhapsody link from a 12 hr show in NYC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWZroIFhLyo&feature=related and a video link from Pitchfork TV. http://pitchfork.tv/a-d-d-/fucked-up/son-the-father

What a fucked up show…I nearly pissed my jeans. HA! (crowd boos)