Fresh-faced and ingratiating, indie-rock newcomer Howler hails from the ’80s punk-rock hotbed of Minneapolis. But there is little evidence that frontman Jordan Gatesmith cut his teeth on legendary local fare such as the Replacements and Husker Du. Instead, Howler uncannily channels millennial-era Strokes at its most CBGB-obsessed, bringing to bear all of the singalong choruses, simple backbeats and pouting vocal delivery that first elevated that band to stardom. In this regard, Howler’s handsomely recorded debut, “America Give Up,” occasionally feels like a pastiche of a pastiche, one heavy on hooks and attitude but a little light on substance and originality. That said: It’s only rock-and-roll, and Gatesmith is only 19.Album opener “Beach Sluts” weds a slow-burning riff to a propulsive stop-start Cal-punk beat reminiscent of vintage Descendents. The song’s title and accompanying reports of “drinking in the afternoon” are characteristic of the group’s genially delinquent preoccupations. The driving “This One’s Different” exemplifies Howler’s inarguable capacity for mainlining a catchy melody at a frantic tempo, but it fails to live up to the promise of its title — the song is interchangeable with many tracks on the record. However, exciting hints about where the band may evolve are in evidence on “Too Much Blood,” a midtempo drone that suggests someone poured a little “Disintegration”-era Cure into the musicians’ espresso.
“America Give Up” is reminiscent of Weezer’s 1994 debut album — an energetic and fully formed power-pop record made more impressive by the band’s youth. It’s a powerful start. But one hopes that this manifestly proficient band might embark upon deeper, riskier territory, as Weezer did with its legendary sophomore effort, “Pinkerton.”
“Good ol’ Freddie Mercury is the only guy that advises me,” Craig Finn sings on “No Future”, from his first solo album, Clear Heart Full Eyes. Later in the same song, he calls out another 1970s rock icon: “The best advice I’ve ever gotten was from good ol’ Johnny Rotten,” he confesses, before launching into a few lines from “God Save the Queen”. As rock touchstones go, Queen and the Sex Pistols aren’t too far off the beaten path; he could have quoted Alex Chilton or Damo Suzuki or even Elvis Costello, but that would miss the point. Finn is after the artists and music that try to make rock a communal rather than a private experience. So he’s an unlikely hero for the cloistered and segmented indie rock crowd, which we’re told prizes obscurity over accessibility. Ironically for a band whose lyrics depicted geographically specific subsubcultures, Finn’s day-job group the Hold Steadybrought a bar-band approach back into the indie rock world. They strove for broad appeal, which circa 2005′s Separation Sunday sharpened their guitar attack and made them sound almost dangerous. Read more...
Kathleen Edwards faces one of the toughest possible paths to popular success: She’s that singer-songwriter who’s so good, you can’t help but wish she stood out more. Like Tift Merritt and countless others who’ve preceded and surrounded her, Edwards resides in a shadowy netherworld between genres, where folk and pop and country morph into a genre-less place that’s ironically both accessible and hard to sell in a marketplace that requires its artists to fit into a clear niche. Read more...
About halfway through The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy, singer Matthew Caws issues a mission statement to sum up this and all Nada Surf records: “It’s never too late for teenage dreams.” Those seven hopeful words perfectly summarize a long-suffering rock group’s unflagging optimism and wise, wide-eyed love of life. Now in their early 40s, the members of Nada Surf — singer/guitarist Caws, bassist/singer Daniel Lorca and drummer/singer Ira Elliot — still function as perhaps the least cynical band in the world. They’ve been stars, back when they had a left-field novelty hit with “Popular” in 1996, and they’d rather be happy. Read more...
For a pair of young Swedish sisters, First Aid Kit’s Klara and Johanna Söderberg sure do attract a lot of Fleet Foxes comparisons. Those start, of course, with the pair’s gorgeous 2008 cover of “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song,” which became a YouTube sensation to the tune of more than 2.6 million views. But they’ll no doubt continue with the release of First Aid Kit’s second full-length album, The Lion’s Roar (out Jan. 24), which conjures an array of dense echo-chamber harmonies and a good deal of achingly somber portent. Much of the time, it stays nestled in a Foxes-friendly sweet spot of rich choral folk, suitable for moping and swooning along.
But, while the title track opens The Lion’s Roar on a serious note (“I’m a goddamned coward / but then again so are you,” First Aid Kit sings in the chorus), the album isn’t all doomstruck mountain music and solemn condemnations. It quickly finds a place for the charmingly goodnatured lilt of “Emmylou,” in which the sisters romanticize past musical Americana couples, while “King of the World” closes the album with a ramshackle, clap-along rouser — complete with guest vocals fromThe Felice Brothers and former tourmate Conor Oberst. Naturally, stark moments like “To a Poet” ratchet up the gloom along the way, but the Söderbergs are wise and versatile enough never to stay in one place for too long.
“Fallen Empires,” the sixth studio album from Northern Ireland’s Snow Patrol, drops today after more than three years of radio silence from the band. Despite the lull, lead vocalist Gary Lightbody explains that the six months they took to the make the record in the Malibu sunshine heavily inspired them, allowing a more creative process and dramatically affecting the tone of the album. Here’s a track-by-track look at “Fallen Empires”.
Jazz vocalist Michael Franks has a new CD (11 tracks) release titled ‘Time Together’ : it’s a well crafted album (great vocals, melody, piano, saxophone & well produced material/music. Stand-out track is “Now That The Summer Is Over” : wonderful guitar, vocals & melody. This is my favourite track from this CD. The remaining 10 tracks are all great jazz tracks with no weak tracks to talk of : they are “One Day In St. Tropez” (great piano, vocals & melody), “Summer In New York” (wonderful saxophone on ‘strange sounds’), “Mice”, “Charlie Chan In Egypt” (a slow track with great piano, saxophone & vocals), “I’d Rather Be Happy Than Right” (great guitar & vocals), “Time Together” (a slow title track with great guitar pick-ups, piano & vocals), “Samba Blue”, “My Heart Said Wow”, “If I Could Make September Stay” & “Feather From An Angel” (a slow closing track with great piano/bass combination). On overall, the talented jazz vocalist Michael Franks is back with a well crafted CD release ‘Time Together’, a highly recommended CD listening.
Soul music lovers and crate diggers will eagerly await the June 21 release of ‘Got To Get Back!’ on Electraphonic Recordings from Memphis soul music standard bearers the Bo-Keys, their first in seven years. New converts to the genre via Sharon Jones and others will embrace it upon first listen. Powerhouse guest vocalists join the band, including Stax Records hit-maker William Bell, soul/gospel great Otis Clay, classic Atlantic Records singer Percy Wiggins, and blues legend Charlie Musselwhite, who also blows some of his signature harmonica.
In describing the band in a nutshell, The Memphis Flyer puts it best, “[The] Bo-Keys pair great Stax/Hi-era session players with a younger generation of local session aces.”
Parton is that rare singer who can make optimism seem like a viable philosophy. When country music goes upbeat, it often traffics in cornball novelty tunes, but Dolly plays her album full of love ‘n’ hope with straight-up sincerity. In the midst of hard economic times, the positive anthems that fill Better Day — all new material, no covers — come off as brilliant strategy, with some equally brilliant vocal performances.
Matt Nathanson is one of the most dynamic performers and premier songwriters on the music scene today. In 2007, his release Some Mad Hope produced the smash hit single `Come On Get Higher’ which has sold over 2 million copies to date and subsequent hit singles `Car Crash,’ `Falling Apart,’ and `All We Are.’ The success of Some Mad Hope earned Nathanson the coveted spot as a VH1 `You Oughta Know’ artist and he has graced the stages of such national television shows as David Letterman, Ellen, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel and Craig Ferguson. His songs have been featured in numerous film and television programs including Good Morning America, NCIS, Private Practice, American Idol, Vampire Diaries, American Pie and 90210. His legendary live shows have resulted in sold out tours across the U.S., Canada and Australia. Matt Nathanson’s 8th studio release, Modern Love, on Vanguard Records is a collection of pop and rock songs that are more joyful, complex and bold than any of Matt Nathanson’s previous works. Modern Love is poised to become the album of the summer. Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush also make a special appearance on Modern Love.
Fresh-faced and ingratiating, indie-rock newcomer Howler hails from the ’80s punk-rock hotbed of Minneapolis. But there is little evidence that frontman Jordan Gatesmith cut his teeth on legendary local fare such as the Replacements and Husker Du. Instead, Howler uncannily channels millennial-era Strokes at its most CBGB-obsessed, bringing to bear all of the singalong choruses, simple backbeats and pouting vocal delivery that first elevated that band to stardom. In this regard, Howler’s handsomely recorded debut, “America Give Up,” occasionally feels like a pastiche of a pastiche, one heavy on hooks and attitude but a little light on substance and originality. That said: It’s only rock-and-roll, and Gatesmith is only 19.Album opener “Beach Sluts” weds a slow-burning riff to a propulsive stop-start Cal-punk beat reminiscent of vintage Descendents. The song’s title and accompanying reports of “drinking in the afternoon” are characteristic of the group’s genially delinquent preoccupations. The driving “This One’s Different” exemplifies Howler’s inarguable capacity for mainlining a catchy melody at a frantic tempo, but it fails to live up to the promise of its title — the song is interchangeable with many tracks on the record. However, exciting hints about where the band may evolve are in evidence on “Too Much Blood,” a midtempo drone that suggests someone poured a little “Disintegration”-era Cure into the musicians’ espresso.
