The new self-titled album from Bedouine, out Friday on Spacebomb Records, caught me totally by surprise. Expecting something wispy, I got a record that bears favorable comparisons to some Joni Mitchell releases. While the compositions are not quite as complex, Bedouine's supple voice gives these cuts a depth that the songs of other current singers simply do not have.
If opener "Nice And Quiet" eases a listener into Bedouine's world via some simple and direct neo-folk stylings, the more sultry "One Of These Days" offers up something pitched between Joni and early Linda Rondstadt. At her best, Bedouine sinks into these cuts in such a way that one marvels at not only her voice, but her compositions as well. There are songs here that tread a semi-safe path ("Dusty Eyes") and a few others, most notably the marvelous "Solitary Daughter", where Bedouine's voice recalls that of Peggy Lee even as the material takes a more arty turn that places it vaguely in Laura Nyro territory. On some tracks, like "Mind's Eye", there's even a trace of a sort of Sandy Denny-vibe to things. What makes this record so special is the ease with which Bedouine pulls all this together, navigating a few styles with a remarkable naturalness. Relaxed and fully in command as a vocalist, Bedouine reveals one of the warmest new vocalists one is likely to encounter in the current musical climate. Fans of Emma Pollock (The Delgados), Judee Sill, and solo Natalie Merchant should find a lot to like in these largely down-tempo numbers.
The music of Hollow Everdaze is not going to set the world on fire but it will certainly please fans of a certain strain of indie-pop, myself included. The new album, Cartoons, is out on Deaf Ambitions on Friday and I'm here to clue you in to the charms of this record.
If "Still Ticking" swoons with a sort of Travis-like melodic-ism, the more languid "Poisoned By Nostalgia" adds a faint alt-country twang to the sound being refined by the group here. If "Out Your Window" reveals an approach that could best be described as a nod in the direction of I Am Kloot, or early Alfie, then the fine title cut finds inspiration in more recent U.K. bands (Childhood, Temples). Elsewhere, the superb "Never Going Back" blends a nice Sixties chamber pop-mood with some fuzzy guitars to create something poised perilously close to both The Left Banke and The La's. It is a very good track and one of the many standouts here, along with the sleek string-laced "Running Away" and the chiming "Same Old Story", all pre-disco Bee Gees hooks stretched out and given breathing room.
Drawing from inspirations as disparate as mid-period Radiohead, Beulah, The Bluetones, and even The Pernice Brothers, Hollow Everdaze make perfectly serviceable modern indie of the sort that very nearly rises to the realm of greatness in certain moments. This Australian band is now one of the acts on my radar and I'd urge you to pay attention to them too.
I've shown a lot of love 'round these parts to Ultimate Painting and now I'm about to start showing a lot of love to a new solo project from one of its members. Jack Cooper was not only in Ultimate Painting but he was in the earlier Mazes and now he's prepping a solo album that should be out on August 25th from Trouble in Mind Records.
The first taste of that album is called "North of Anywhere" and it's a fine, languid rumination on life that recalls both solo George Harrison as well as down-tempo Pavement to this listener. It is the sort of thing that's got me intrigued about the upcoming album now.
Sandgrown will be out on Trouble in Mind in August. Follow that site for more details on Jack Cooper in the mean-time.
The good news of the week is the return of Frankie Rose (Vivian Girls, Beverly, etc.). Ahead of the the new album, Cage Tropical on Slumberland Records and Grey Market in August, Frankie's dropped a lovely new single.
Called "Trouble", the number soars with a blissed-out vibe that recalls an unlikely mix of a Giorgio Moroder-produced Donna Summer classic with a solo Laetitia Sadier cut. A heady mix, the single is the sort of assured, future-lookingindie-pop that Frankie's been pursuing in the last few years. The result is a sleek bit of alt-rock machinery, the sort that sounds like it's capable of hitting some stratospheric heights on its way to the cosmos.
Cage Tropical will be out on August 11. In the meantime, keep track of Slumberland Records for news of Frankie Rose's activities in the run-up to the release date, and be sure to follow Frankie via her official website, or her official Facebook page.
The new, self-titled album from Rips, out today on Faux Discx, is a fine example of modern indie-pop successfully mining the past for inspiration. That so much of this record from the Brooklyn act sounds like one from a NYC band from the Seventies should be seen as a good thing, after all.
"Malibu Entropy" blends a nice Television-style vibe with some guitar-lines that echo those of the acts of a generation later (The Bongos, Sonic Youth), while "Break" is a serviceable number that sounds a tiny bit like a more refined version of recent Twin Peaks offerings. Elsewhere, the rougher "Damaged" shines with the sort of spark missing from a lot of what passes for American indie these days, while the bright "Vs" recalls the sort of fine alt-rock found on early releases from EZTV. On the near-epic "Psychics", Rips try to broaden their sound a bit, some nice effects jutting up against vocals and a main riff that both nod in the direction of Thurston Moore stuff, while closing track "Spell" adds a faint trace of angular post-punk in the manner of Joy Division to the sound being cultivated by Rips here.
If Rips by Rips is not entirely original, it is fresh. There's a lot of enthusiasm here and that makes up for the fact that so many of the hooks do feel familiar. Still, they feel familiar in a good way. If the compositions of Rips are not quite (yet) as memorable as the tunes of the bands who've so obviously inspired this crew (Pavement, The Feelies, Television, Richard Hell and the Voidoids), nor the rough-edged equals of cuts from producer Austin Brown's Parquet Courts, the tracks here on Rips are certainly moving in a similar direction. Rips by Rips is a modest, thoroughly enjoyable record that I recommend quite a bit.
Was it ever in doubt that they would be back? Royal Trux are here again, to infect our eardrums with scuzzy glory. This time around, on the fine Platinum Tips+Ice Cream, out on Friday via Drag City, the results are live versions of some of the band's best material. The overall effect is one that reaffirms the low charms of the band while reminding a listener of just what a fine live proposition they remain.
The album opens with the rough "Junkie Nurse" before easing into the T.Rex-meets-Aerosmith stroll of "Sewers Of Mars", Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema languidly exploring the nuances of this near-blues-y stuff. Elsewhere, on the excellent and essential "Esso Dame", originally from the band's first album, the Trux blow the doors off with a whole lot of sinister intent. This is brutal stuff, as is the more-polished "Blue Is The Frequency" from the band's classic Veterans Of Disorder album. Royal Trux seem to be able to casually blend up a nasty melange of Exile-era Stones hooks, with some Johnny Thunders-type nastiness, and a blast of early Gun Club to whip up tunes that have somehow stood the test of time despite sounding like they were written yesterday in a rush (the lanky "Mercury", or the rather lovely "Sometimes" come to mind here). A clear highlight in this regard is "Ice Cream" from Twin Infinitives, here stretched to the breaking point in a neat approximation of acid rock that, however briefly, puts this band squarely next to Spacemen 3 and Primal Scream.
Platinum Tips+Ice Cream is the sort of live album that is so good that it makes you want to go back and get your older Royal Trux albums out again. And, I guess, there are probably a few people out there who maybe missed the recent string of Royal Trux reissues on Drag City and needed this reminder that this band was always on fire, always full of a real nasty streak, the kind that usually inspires the very best rock-'n'-roll of all
Out on Drag City on Friday, Platinum Tips+Ice Cream is the addition to the library of Royal Trux that both long-time fans and new ones so desperately needed. Get in on the woozy goodness now folks!
That guy up there leaning off the speaker? That cat is Ian F. Svenonius, in case you didn't know. He was once front-man of The Nation of Ulysses on Dischord, and leader of The Make-Up (recently revived from the dead for a series of live shows, that pic from the D.C. one last month), and he's also the singer for Chain and The Gang as well. The Chain, like The Make-Up, have returned for some more time in the public eye. The reason? The release of new record, Best Of Crime Rock, out this Friday on In The Red Records.
In spite of what you might think 'cause of that title, the release is not a best of comp., in the purest sense. What it is is an exploration of the band's back-catalog and a re-casting of so many classic songs with the force of the current line-up of the band behind them. Of course, there are some legitimately "new" tunes here, like the Standells strut"The Logic Of Night", but it's the revitalized cuts, like the pounding "Devitalize", that showcase the formidable strengths of this act. The line-up here -- Ian F. Svenonius on vocals and rabble-rousing, Francy Graham on guitars and such, Anna Nasty on bass and strategy, and Mark Cisneros on drums and things -- tackles these songs with a mixture of abandon and confidence. For a cat who's such an amazing band-leader, Ian could be forgiven for sticking to just one outfit but he clearly feels affection for the sort of tunes on offer here, enough so that one can see the difference in mission between The Make-Up and Chain and the Gang, for you newbies out there. Stuff like "I See Progress" sees this act firing on all cylinders, to use an overused expression, with bass/guitar/drums/vocals purring with a sinister intent, Sixties slink with free jazz underpinnings. Elsewhere, the hard bop indie-pop of "Free Will" percolates with a real sense of fun, a looser take on the original from 2012's In Cold Blood, while "Why Not?", from 2011's Music's Not For Everyone, is here trotted around the track in a quick saunter, the Nasty bass and Francy riffs dueling it out under Ian's easy vocal performance.
On the down-tempo "What Is A Dollar?", the original number, from 2009's Down With Liberty... Up With Chains!, has been stretched out a bit to allow a looser take, the players here having a go at working some jazzy hooks into the cut, while "Certain Kinds Of Trash", from 2012's In Cold Blood, has been tightened up into a sort of take on early Bad Seeds. While Chain and The Gang lack the arty lugubriousness of that Nick Cave-fronted crew when tackling stuff like this, they are much better at infusing this kind of thing with a lot of wit and charm. One gets the sense that Ian doesn't necessarily take himself too seriously...even if he clearly is very serious about what he's doing here. A good case in point is "Deathbed Confession" which here seems much better and more vital than even the original. Stationed at the end of Best Of Crime Rock, this version of the number is haunting, surprisingly stark, and just heavy enough to signal another shade on this group's palette. Built over a live vocals-and-piano-take with overdubs from various guests, including local D.C. legend, DJ Baby Alcatraz (Alyssa Bell) on backing vocals, the song is sublime here. And it is pretty good proof of why there's no shame in the band re-recording the "hits" from their back-catalog, especially if the results are gonna be this good, this essential, and this subtly incendiary.
So, what are we to make of Best Of Crime Rock then, in total? On paper, it seems a naff idea. Frankly, if it was any other band, I'd run when I heard that the band was re-recording their own back-catalog. Here, in the hands of these players, my feeling is different. What this is is perhaps the tightest live line-up of Chain and The Gang re-taking these cuts from the past in a largely-successful attempt to show how gosh-darn with it this group is now. The current version of Chain and The Gang now owns these numbers in every sense of the word. The tunes have been been retrieved, "stolen" from their younger selves, as it were, and recast as lost classics, the kind we knew and maybe didn't know well enough. Could this be the only Chain and The Gang record you need to own? Well, that's a bit unfair considering the expansive genius of Ian F. Svenonius; it remains the sort of intellect one wants to follow on any release, at any time. That said, is this as fine a distillation of one Ian-fronted project as one is likely to encounter? Yeah, yeah it is. The heart of Chain and The Gang beats here, under the hood of this supple beast. Four players in cahoots, committing the sort of transgressions against the boring norms and conventions of indie-pop in order to rescue us from ennui. Liberate us brothers and sisters. Bring it down Brother Ian!
The American band Lake Ruth have recently contributed a fine cover of a song by French band Le SuperHomard to an EP that features a whole handful of other stellar indie acts. The original swirls with the sort of retro-pop charms that Stereolab and The Cardigans once routinely released. The cut has been covered and remixed by a handful of bands on a new EP called Dry Salt In Our Hair, out now.
The Lake Ruth cover of the tune expands on that sort of appeal to add a more robust instrumental base to the cut. There remain, certainly, some parts that will appeal to those of us who were weaned on Pram and Broadcast, but the musicians around Allison Brice are working on those riffs with a real sense of purpose and, for that reason, the number has a uniquely live-in-the-studio vibe about it.
Play "Dry Salt In Our Hair" by Lake Ruth below and then get more details on Lake Ruth via the band's official Facebook page.
Kevin Morby was once in The Babies but that was a long time ago. He's an artist in his own right and his new album, City Music, out Friday on Dead Oceans, is such a stunning release that it seems silly to even highlight his previous gigs. This is a pretty damn special record on its own unique terms, is what I'm trying to say.
City Music opens with the Leonard Cohen-ish "Come To Me Now", a near-note perfect recreation of the best sort of material from the late master, while "Crybaby" shifts gears a bit, angling into mid-period Nick Cave territory in its languid, woozy appeal. The song here that's gonna get the critics salivating -- (and the one which I'm sure will end up in a car commercial eventually) -- is "1234", a homage simultaneously to The Ramones and Jim Carroll. This is, clearly, City Music, as the title goes, and as Kevin name-checks The Ramones -- "Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, Tommy" -- the music surges and swells in a pretty neat approximation of "People Who Died", the most famous Carroll number. On paper, it sounds a dreadful thing but it is, on record, a whole lot of heartfelt fun.
Elsewhere, the lovely "Aboard My Train" nods in the direction of both Cohen (again), but also late-period Lou Reed, and even Van Morrison, while the title cut spools out with a kind of lazy grace, hipster impressions of the genuinely dangerous stuff from the No NYC era. Still, for my cynicism there in saying that, I did love this record. Stuff like "Tin Can" is more traditionally beholden to both Bob Dylan and Tim Buckley than to anything else but it's a fine, catchy bit of business and Morby has sort of mastered this material in such as a way that the derivative bits -- and there are loads here, 'natch -- don't annoy too much. In fact, having a healthy working knowledge of the back-catalogs of John Cale, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Television, and Dylan might be a good thing when approaching City Music. I certainly appreciated the record more as tunes like "Night Time" and "Pearly Gates" seemed to owe so much to not only those NYC legends but others elsewhere like Tindersticks, The Saints, and The Triffids. And while it sounds as if City Music isn't wholly original, I'd still give Kevin Morby tremendous credit here as I think this record was done with a whole lot of affection for the work of the influences who inspired these (largely) very melodic and affecting tunes.
The new one from The Peacers, Introducing The Crimsmen, out Friday on Drag City, is the sort of album that is nearly impossible to describe. The lo-fi rewards here are such that the noise-y bits will appeal to one set of listeners, while the wildly melodic tunes will charm another. That this sort of dichotomy doesn't seem too jarring is one of the many reasons that the album is so successful.
If parts of this, like the skewed"Haptic Chillweed", owe huge debts to Syd Barrett and Ty Segall, then others, like the truly lovely "Staying Home", nod more in the direction of Roy Wood and John Lennon. The Peacers here cram a lot of ideas into material that remains largely concise. For every bit of warped pop that's here ("Windy Car"), there's something else ("Theme From Sonny", for instance) that offers up a flash of loveliness even as the odd bits come crashing in. At times, the specter of very early Pink Floyd looms so large that a cut, like "Aboriginal Flow", is nearly consumed in the influence-worshiping going on here. At others, the fellows in Peacers manage to harness this stuff and somehow shape the discordant bits into something that steers this side of coherence ("A Golden Age", "Child Of The Season"). Some of this ("Jurgen's Layout") very nearly suggests Bee Thousand-era Guided By Voices but where Pollard seemed to owe a huge debt to the legacy of The Beatles, the boys in Peacers clearly owe an even bigger one to Syd. There is just no getting around the one-time front-man of The Pink Floyd when listening to this new Peacers record. And I suppose a lot of you should be wise enough to read that as a compliment.
Introducing The Crimsmen by The Peacers is out on on Friday via Drag City. Follow the band via their official Facebook page.
We are here at the presumed conclusion of one of the great string of rock reissues in the modern era. The folks at Omnivore Recordings have done an amazing job at resurrecting the works of the late Scott Miller. His band, Game Theory, offered up some of the sharpest -- intellectually and musically -- music of the college rock era and, thankfully, all that stuff is back in print and surrounded by dozens of rare tracks on each of these individual album reissues.
The band's last album, 1988's 2 Steps From The Middle Ages, is now here. Out today on Omnivore Recordings, this is probably the easiest Game Theory release to embrace. If the dense material of earlier records like 1987's Lolita Nation is here streamlined, the overall magic of the band remains intact. It is, of course, as fine a record from the era as one is likely to encounter and one that, oddly, doesn't sound very dated (thank producer Mitch Easter for that).
Playful opener "Room For One More, Honey" chimes like R.E.M. in the same era had they jettisoned stuff like "Orange Crush" from their catalog and stuck ringing guitars back in the grooves of their album cuts, while "What The Whole World Wants" bursts forth with the sort of power-pop that remains timeless. Choppy guitars and pounding drums (from the late Gil Ray) anchor this cut as they do so many here and a listener can't help but think how much louder this record seems compared to the earlier albums. Still, there's no shame in that as Scott Miller was pursuing his own unique muse with the sort of creativity that was the hallmark of his tenure as a singer and songwriter. The excellent "Rolling With The Moody Girls" echoes what a band like The Smithereens was doing in this era while owing more to the sort of alt-rock being pursued by XTC and The Pursuit Of Happiness in 1988. Miller was an odd cat, thankfully, and he could indulge himself with power-pop that had heft even as he refused to dumb it down. Was this proto-metal or what? Certainly more crunchy than anything Elvis Costello or Robyn Hitchcock was doing then, Miller was racing to catch up with them as a lyricist and he seems now, frankly, nearly their equal and certainly one of the most important, if sometimes overlooked, songwriters from the late Eighties.
Elsewhere, "Throwing The Election" opens with a nearly Deep Purple-worthy organ hook, while "Leilani" is a uniquely Miller-style near-ballad in the manner of so many of the tracks on the mammoth and (partly) unwieldy Lolita Nation but it is sort of sweet and a kind of breather near the end of the album proper here. 2 Steps From The Middle Ages ends with the lilting "Initiations Week", a Miller look at college life even as he's here perfecting what we called college rock back then. The cut has that sad, almost wistful sound that Miller could pull off so easily thanks to his lyrical and musical gifts and it eases a listener into the 11 bonus cuts here in this fine reissue of 2 Steps From The Middle Ages.
There's a subdued live run at "Together Now, Very Minor" from the earlier Lolita Nation, a slew of demos, and a stab at "Bad Machinery", then a current number from Mitch Easter's own Let's Active on the group's Every Dog Has His Day album, also from 1988. But, clearly, the bonus cut here that everyone is going to be talking about in reviews of this reissue is the beautiful, solo take on "America" by Simon and Garfunkel from Scott Miller. In 1988, the first election year post-Iran-Contra, it was the sort of thing that would have caused idealistic listeners like me to look back to a (supposedly) purer era and an embrace by Scott of that "idealistic" Sixties vibe, the same vibe that contemporary acts like The Rain Parade, The Bangles, and even early R.E.M. were wholly embracing. What all that means is that Scott Miller was, as always, making music that was timeless in the way that the music of his inspirations was.
The contributions to the liner notes booklet from musicians Franklin Bruno and Ken Stringfellow (The Posies), original album producer Mitch Easter, and reissue producer Dan Vallor sound a bittersweet note which is understandable given the fairly recent death of drummer Gil Ray. There's another bittersweet feel here thanks to this being the last studio album from the band and, presumably, the end of the run of Game Theory reissues from Omnivore Recordings. A direct record in the GT catalog, 2 Steps From The Middle Ages is a concise, easy-to-love album, rendered here even crisper and brighter by reissue producers Dan Vallor, Pat Thomas, and Cheryl Pawelski. Fans of bands as seemingly disparate as The Pursuit Of Happiness, Cheap Trick, Green-era R.E.M., and The Smithereens should easily warm to this one if they weren't on board already back in 1988. For those of us who knew and loved this record nearly 30 years ago, this is the version we've waited for. If Lolita Nation is the critical peak of Scott Miller's climb to the top of the songwriting Everest, this is his semi-relaxed "touchdown dance" upon victoriously reaching that summit. A rare, uniquely Eighties blend of power-pop and smart lyrics, 2 Steps From The Middle Ages from Scott Miller and Game Theory is clearly the neglected masterpiece in the band's back-catalog and, perhaps, their most listenable record.
Originally released in 1988, 2 Steps From The Middle Ages from Game Theory is out today in this new, expanded reissue package via Omnivore Recordings. It's time to offer up a big "thank you" to the folks at the label who have made this string of GT releases so important, and so much fun to absorb and enjoy.
