Menomena- Muscle ‘n’ Flow
"Muscle 'n' Flow" was released in 2007, off of Friend and Foe. "Muscle 'n' Flow" sounds like a song that was broken up into pieces but then imperfectly glued back together. But the jaggedness of the song makes it that much better. It sounds so broken that it almost becomes fluid.
"Muscle "n" Flow"
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin- “Sink/Let It Sway”
SSLYBY formed in Springfield, Missouri and have released three studio albums. "Sink/Let it Sway" is on their forthcoming studio album Let It Sway. "Sink/Let It Sway" is just an overall catchy pop song, with a really good chorus. The structure of the song and the way the chorus is sung really reminds me of Polaris, so extra points there.
2010 First-Half Recap!
"Younger Us" is the latest of a string of Japandroids singles. Definitely one of the best of 2010.
There has been some great music so far this year from a variety of different bands. Because of both being busy and at times lazy I haven't had the time to showcase all the bands I've been digging in 2010 at the release time. So here it goes...
Top Tracks
1. Wide Eyes-Local Natives
2. Younger Us-Japandroids
3. Swim Until You Can't See Land- Frightened Rabbit
4. Next Girl- Black Keys
5.White Sky- Vampire Weekend
6. What You Know- Two Door Cinema Club
7. Excuses- Morning Benders
8. Burn Bridges- Dom
Gorilla Manor is already making a strong case for 2010 Album of the Year.
9. Swim- Surfer Blood
10. Daisy-Fang Island
Top Albums
1. Gorilla Manor-Local Natives
2. Contra- Vampire Weekend
3. Romance Is Boring- Los Campesinos!
4. Winter of Mixed Drinks-Frightened Rabbit
5. Brothers-Black Keys
6. Tourist-Two Door Cinema Club
7. Forgiveness Record- Broken Social Scene
8. The Brutalist Brick-Ted Leo/Rx
9. Fang Island- Fang Island
10.Astrocoast- Surfer Blood
Honorable Mention: Teen Dream-Beach House, The Monitor-Titus Andronicus, Big Echo-The Morning Benders, High Violet-The National, In The Dark-The Whigs.
Keep in mind, this list is very rough. I haven't listened to everything that has come out this year yet (there are a few albums that have been sitting on the back burner). But also I have to say this the first half after an extremely strong 2009. Other then Gorilla Manor, I haven't been "wowed" by much of anything yet. There is still five months of music to go, there is plenty of time for a classic to be released in 2010.
Japandroids-”Younger Us”
I loved Japandroids debut album Post Nothing. Their live show was one of the best things I've ever seen in concert. But I was definitely worried about if they had any more room to grow from the debut. "Younger Us" quickly put an end to that fear. Their new single shows a tighter Japandroids with improved vocals, but the same youthful intensity. One of the best tracks of the year by far.
Albums of May & June- XO, Per Second, Per Second, Per Second…Every Second
If you haven't noticed, I haven't been posting for a while. Well no excuses, I just got lazy. So I'm going to give two months in one post.
The album of May was XO by Elliot Smith. XO is a beautiful album that displays Smith's talents as a pop artist. While a lot of Elliot Smith's discography up until XO is fairly dark and acoustic guitar based, songs like "Baby Britain" and "Bled White" are great power-pop songs that show off Smith's multi-instrumental talents. But songs like "Sweet Adeline" and "Independence Day" are great songs that are dark and acoustic.
The album of June was Per Second, Per Second, Per Second...Every Second by Boston-based power-pop group Wheat. Wheat shows a great ear for a hook but also have a simplicity about them that really makes their songs very accessible. The leadoff track "I Met a Girl" is probably the strongest song off the album and shows a great hook and the memorable line of "I met a girl, who I'd like to know better/ But I'm already with someone". But songs "Life Still Applies" and "Some Days" are also great and show off Scott Levesque singing talents.
Tokyo Police Club-Champ
Champ was released June 8th 2010 under Mom + Pop Music Co. It is Tokyo Police club’s second full-length release.
Tokyo Police Club’s first two EP releases, A Lesson in Crime (2006) and Smith EP (2007), can be easily called EPs. Only one song between the two releases has a song that surpasses three minutes long. It also feels like every song is a race against time. Both releases are strong, but the breakneck pace style of playing didn’t give Tokyo Police Club too much room for growth. Elephant Shell (2008) was a step away from their first two releases, but was still a little unfocused. “Tessellate” and “Your English is Good” were both very good songs but the album as a whole still seemed like they were focused on churning out as many songs as possible rather then focusing on writing eleven or twelve song that stood on their own from one another. Their newest release Champ shows Tokyo Police Club finally maturing as musicians and songwriters.
No song on the album can be considered an epic by any means (no song on the album reaches four minutes in length). But there is definitely a major improvement in Tokyo Police Club’s songwriting. Champ begins with “Favorite Food” which for the first half of the song is mostly guitar and vocals. By the mid-point of the song the whole band kicks in and the tempo gets kicked up. But by playing the first two minutes at a floating speed and then building up to the up-tempo ending the avoid sounding like their racing for the song to end.
The next song on the album is “Favorite Colour” and is one of strongest on the album. This is the first song that I had heard by Tokyo Police Club that was melody-focused. By no means is “Favorite Colour” a complicated song, but what they did that really sets this song apart from previous releases is that they used stops to break up the chorus. It adds an extra punch to the song and most importantly doesn’t make it seem like their trying to race through the song.
“Bambi” is another song that shows Tokyo Police Club maturing as songwriters. The intro is so catchy because the guitar effect and rhythm at which their playing the song is so much different then the rest of their songs. Favorite Colour” and “Bambi” are really perfect examples of why Champ is Tokyo Police Club’s strongest album to date; by using different effects and rhythms they break up the monotony that was a problem in their early material but also show some creative arrangement in the process.
The back-end of the album is a slight drop-off, with the strongest song being “Not Sick” but from front to back there aren’t any clunkers. “Hands Reversed” and “Big Difference” seem to blend in, but they definitely aren’t bad songs. Champ is one of the stronger albums of 2010 but more importantly is a step in the right direction for Tokyo Police Club.
83/100 Recommended Tracks "Favorite Colour", "Breakneck Speed", "Bambi"
Tokyo Police Club- “Favorite Colour”
"Favorite Colour" is off of Tokyo Police Clubs newest album Champ, which was released early last month. It really shows Tokyo Police Club going into a more focused area of song writing. It's much more melody-driven and has a very simple but catchy chorus.
Bamboozle Day 2 2010
I was at the May 2nd date of Bamboozle, which was fantastic. Entirely worth the $70 ticket, four hour drive to New Jersey, four hour trip back to DC, plus gas money. Definitely worth it. And without further ado, my 2010 Bamboozle experience...
The Dig (B-): The Dig are a fairly new band from Brooklyn, NY who have a rock and roll sound with driving bass and guitar. At times during the set, there were flashes of a lot of potential, but the set as a whole lacked variety. The Dig are definitely a band to keep an eye on.
Ok Go (B): I only caught the first part of their set, but from what I saw they were very fun to watch. They played "Here It Goes Again" and a very good cover of "Debaser" by the Pixies.
The Devil Wears Prada (D+): I'll admit, I'm not the biggest hard-core fan. But at the same time, Devil Wears Prada did little to impress me. Good musicianship was on display, just the songs were all about sounding aggressive rather then be listenable.
Minus The Bear (B): Minus The Bear was very solid live. They played an even split of older songs and new songs from their upcoming album. They did sound a little out of place in a large venue setting. My big issue with their set (and actually a lot of the other shows of the day) was there were a lot of people who looked like they were there for hard-core bands who were moshing at inappropriate times. Minus the Bear is definitely not a band that should have moshing.
Say Anything (B-): Also another solid set. Say Anything played "Woah" and "Alive With the Glory of Love" from their debut album. The rest of their set was a fairly even spread of material from albums after ...Is a Real Boy.
Piebald (A+): This was the best show I've ever seen. Piebald and the crowd were really into the performance. Lead singer/ guitarist Travis Shettel was in the crowd for most of the first half, singing with the crowd and jumping all around the stage. On top of all this, they played We Are the Only Friends We Have front to back, and this may have been their last performance ever. If so, this was a great show to go out on.
Matt and Kim (B): I'll admit, I only saw the last song of their set because Matt and Kim's set was during Piebald's. What I did see was "Daylight" which was very fun to watch. I definitely want to see a whole set of Matt and Kim at some point now.
MGMT (C-): I only stayed for two songs. I gave up on MGMT after they sounded very average and the crowd was terrible (see Minus The Bear). Enough said.
Weezer (B): Weezer definitely has a good live presence. But Weezer of the 90's is officially gone at this point. Josh Freese mans the drums instead of Pat Wilson (who is now on guitar) and Rivers shows a much different stage presence then the older shyer Rivers. Their set was average. They played a lot of The Blue Album but other then that it was mostly post-Make Believe material. What they did play of the older material was enjoyable and even the newer material was bearable. Overall a good performance.
Piebald- “American Hearts”
In honor of Piebald's amazing reunion show at Bamboozle (and final show?), "American Hearts" is the song of the week. Piebald is an amazing band from Massachusetts which is entirely worth a listen. Check out their 2002 release We Are the Only Friends We Have if you like "American Hearts".
Hey! Your part of it!
"American Hearts"
Pinback-”Non-Photo Blue”
"Non-Photo Blue" is the first track on Pinback's third studio album Summer In Abaddon (2004). The San Diego, CA duo consists of Armistead Burwell Smith IV and Rob Crow, both of whom are multi-instrumenalists. Like many of Pinback's songs, "Non-Photo Blue" is a laid back but flowing song with a chorus that just seems to get stuck in your head.
"Non-Photo Blue"