Sound Salvation Army

I love it when a group I’m quite literally completely ignorant of hits me over the head like a brick with a song that comes totally out of left field.

Admittedly, my expectations were low for Cold War Kids. Not being familiar with their previous works, I checked out their 2010 EP Behave Yourself on a whim and was knocked on my ass. The California band apparently emerged as one of those annoying blog-buzz bands that I never bother to listen to (sorry, Black Kids/Clap Your Hands Say Yeah/whatever). Thankfully, I somehow missed the buzz altogether.

The track “Coffee Spoon” seemed like a revelation from the first spin, despite the confused central metaphor that gives the song its title. Singer Nathan Willett’s off-the-charts-high falsetto evinces the best of white-boy soul, as does his plaintive vocal melody in the chorus. The chord progression that underpins the falsetto sections is busy, constantly shifting, filled with fingers fervently hammering on notes only to retreat just as quickly. It’s a slinky, bouncy descending melody that is as good as I heard throughout 2010. Now, if only someone could explain to me how a human is at all like a coffee spoon (maybe his girlfriend dumps sugar directly down his gullet every morning?).

Being an EP this collection of leftover tracks from years gone by is admittedly brief. It may also explain why it’s so good, depending on what reviews of the bands two most-recent full lengths go: reviewers who have followed the band all the way along seem to suggest that they peaked with their debut LP and are slowly sliding into mainstream blandness with their latest.

But the rest of the EP is just as strong as “Coffee Spoon.” Lead-off number “Audience” is an insistent stomper whose piano chords help hold support a fuzzy, plodding bass-line; airy back-ground wailing and harmonies from Willett flesh out the mix as well. The re-recorded “Sermons” (which has appeared in different forms on two previous releases) is a terrific slow-burning soul number and “Santa Ana Winds” builds to a dramatic flourish, riding on the upper register of Willett’s voice. The latter two make some reviewer’s comparisons to Jeff Buckley seem rather on-the-nose, as Willett is absolutely swinging for the fences with very reminiscent results.

Song for song this is definitely among the strongest short-players released in 2010. It’s also a good primer for their brand new, just-released album as well (if my first listen is any indication.) While critical analyses of their latter-era results may be anything but flattering, I have to admit that my first listen to the newly-released Mine Is Yours has been overwhelmingly positive. It is quite slick, no doubt thanks to the large part Kings of Leon (BARF! WORST BAND IN RECENT MEMORY!) producer Jacquire King played in recording, producing, and mixing the album. It’s unabashedly pop, but the pop sensibilities of Behave Yourself are what drew me in. At this early point in my knowledge of the band’s recorded output I’m more than happy to hear more of their pop side.

 

 Cold War Kids - Audience Of One: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Cold War Kids - Finally Begin [3:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Physical copies of the band’s latest album are right here. iTunes is at this link. Older releases, including Behave Yourself are over here.

Pat entries America, Best of, Best of 2010, Cold War Kids, EP, indie rock

Sometimes it’s okay to listen to pop for pop’s sake. That’s something I’ve been working on this year.

After fighting with my co-writer extensively on the Twitter machine about Lady Gaga I found myself in a period of intense introspection, concerned that I was everything I was being accused of: closed-minded, snooty, more concerned with substance over style, a genre racist. Having considered it, I obviously don’t think that’s true (and I still don’t like Lady Gaga, despite listening to her album more than 15 times in an attempt to ‘get it’) and my sheer, unabashed enjoyment of Makeout Party is one reason why.

Like the first time I heard Ghost Town Trio it didn’t take much for the band to get the point across. From the first up-tempo track, “Clock Radio” (like GTT’s “Cold Machine” before it) I was hooked. The New Jersians/Philadelphinoids know how to craft an all-encompassing pop hook, add another five or six to the mix, and make an instantly-catchy song out of it. Warm textures, yearning vocals, bright guitar, downright cuddly harmonized back-up vocals, and flourishes of bells, keyboards, and strings all mesh into dizzying examples of everything that can be done right in the guitar pop genre. This is a fine slice of pop rock that concerns itself with heartache and all those sentimental feelings that classic pop rockers have tread upon before.

The EP is a teaser in the most literal sense. They admit it’s been a while since they put out any new material so they’ve dropped the 3-song set onto the web in a ‘donate-what-you-want’ page in order to remind folks they’re still hanging around and working on a new full-length, their second, due in 2011.

It’s rare that a release this short seems so familiar and comfortable while still being exciting. I’ll be eagerly anticipating that release while I attempt to track down their older material, that’s for sure.

 

 Makeout Party - Clock Radio [3:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Get the EP from the band’s download page
Older releases from Amazon and iTunes.

Pat entries EP, guitar pop, Makeout Party, New Jersey, Philadelphia, pop, pop rock

Ah, the stop-gap EP. Such a convenient way for a band to capitalize on some momentum, to strike while the iron is hot and keep material flowing to an expanding audience.

This is one of those.

You’ll recall I named the Wheat Pool’s Hauntario my favourite album of 2009, and for good reason. It’s a prairie rock/alt-country masterpiece that is fraught with tension and emotion, an impeccably-performed set of intricately-arranged songs that resonate on every wavelength. It’s just so good, you guys.

Some of that magic crosses over to this EP, thanks to the fact that most of these tracks were recorded during the album sessions. In fact, one of the highlights is an alternate version of Hauntario standout “Evangeline” that strips away all of the tension and bombastic instrumentation save a slowly-plucked acoustic guitar and the Angus brothers’ harmonies. It wisely runs little more than half the length of the LP version, serving as a minimal yet ghostly bit of storytelling.

Alternate versions are apparently something the Wheat Pool toyed with at length while recording the LP. You’ll recall the rollicking “Too Far Apart” was reprised as the much quieter, more contemplative, more mournful “Two Far Apart” to end Hauntario. While that was absolutely the right call they apparently dropped the track “Edith Cavell” to do it. Its jaunty acoustic strumming and far-off slide guitar recall the LP’s high-water mark, “Italy,” but leaving it off the album proper was probably the right decision; it’s brevity and preciousness likely would have contrasted with the rest of the record.

The linchpin for the release is a cover of Neil Young’s “Helpless.” Young is obviously the band’s chief influence and the track has been a popular live staple for the group, according to the EP’s one-sheet anyway. I suppose I see the logic to that, as they do a pretty terrific job with it, keeping it fairly close to Young’s original version with just the right mix of rock guitar leads, keyboard, and slide guitar. The brothers’ distinctive harmonies also help make it distinct. While the track may have been the impetus for the EP’s entire creation, including two different mixes seems superfluous and unnecessary; maybe I’m just too Canadian, but it seems like we’ve all heard this song enough already. I don’t think it will have the same kind of appeal over time as the other numbers.

Again, this is a stop-gap release; it’s only a couple of original songs, they’re all leftovers, and as such they only possess a microcosm of the magic that made Hauntario so perfect. Regardless, I’ve only had these songs for a day and a half and I am so grateful for it. If you haven’t been exposed to this band yet, $3.99 is a very small price to pay for your first taste of one of Canada’s great young bands.

 

 Wheat Pool - Helpless (Hauntario mix): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This bitch is digital-only, friends:
iTunes: here.
eMusic: here.
Get Hauntario and the debut album Township here.

Pat entries Canadian content, covers, EP, Hauntario, rock, the Wheat Pool

Okay, first things first: ignore the title of this record if you must. Don’t get hung up on what is surely one of the most reprehensible (but amazing) puns in all of recorded history. The title, however awesome, is irrelevant — don’t judge a book by its cover!

Now that that’s taken care of, lets talk Larry Arms. I love this band to an obscene degree. Their 2003 album, the Greatest Story Ever Told, is one of my 15 favourite albums of all time and their other two Fat-era releases aren’t far behind. Their two singer/songwriters have a distinctive yin/yang thing going for them, bassist Brendan Kelly serving as an abrasive, aggressive counterpoint to guitarist Chris McCaughan’s melancholic crooning. Common themes are drinking, living below your potential, alcohol, regret, booze, and dealing with past failures. Its a heady combination that’s further augmented by a dark sense of humour and occasional subversive pop-culture references. They’re one of Chicago’s most stalwart poppish-punk groups, so far managing to avoid the overtures to teenage girls made by your Alkaline Trios or the breaking up of your Smoking Popes.

This EP is released to mark their 10th anniversary and perhaps inadvertently it represents the past and the potential future of the group in stark contrast.

Kelly’s contributions reflect the former. “Spit Shining Shit” kicks off the EP, a number which reportedly began in Kelly’s side project, The Falcon. With a mid-tempo pace, palm muted power chords, and occasional rim shot percussion is indicative of that band’s more pop-rock leanings. “Them Angels Been Talking” is a less-adventurous cut, recalling several previous Kelly songs in its vocal melody and orchestration. The opening vocal of “Demons” and some other portions of the song heavily recall “Like A Record Player,” one of the poppier numbers from their last full-length, Oh, Calcutta!. These similarities aren’t overt, more a subtle sense of deja vu. That’s not to say these songs aren’t enjoyable, but it does ring a bit familiar.

McCaughan, on the other hand, seems like he’s continuing to look for the atypical arrangements that marked some of his best tracks on the Greatest Story Ever Told. He continues to provide some choice melancholy and lyrical lonesomeness as well, especially on the track provided below, “the Slowest Drink In The Saddest Bar On The Snowiest Day In The Greatest City.” The chorus in two parts outlines it best: “Walk through the street to a bar where there’s no one I know/Drink slow, drink slow, with nowhere to go/And when I leave I’ll be singing this song/Summer’s gone, carry on, I’m a ghost in the dawn.” The track is broken up by an alternating tempo, the shifting pace relaying the constant mental conflict and anguish a person can inflict on themselves when they’re alone. On closer “The Redness In The West” he spends the better part of 90 seconds seething about how he’s beholden to unreceptive, sometimes antagonistic audiences. The churning guitar and world-weary singing carry through a chorus-less number that seems mired in misery.

When the band comes in for the big finish on that track, it wraps up a set of songs that can be interpreted in different ways. For each lyrical or musical allusion that might suggest the group is somehow growing weary of doing what it does there is an accompanying self-affirmation. As McCaughan states on the final track, “I got a fever for the cowbell, boys/I fell for the beat and I stay down for the noise.” Of course, that’s before he insists, “This time we’re gonna roll where only fools dare/We’re gonna lie tonight/then we’ll disappear.”

I hope the former holds true instead of the latter.

 

 the Lawrence Arms - the Slowest Drink In The Saddest Bar On The Snowiest Day In The Greatest City [3:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Buy the new 7″ and most of the rest from Fat Wreck. Asian Man has more in their store and the iTunes covers off pretty much everything.

Pat entries brilliant titles, EP, Fat Wreck Chords, punk rock, the Lawrence Arms

Since changing the name of their band (probably the smartest move they’ve ever made), A Wilhelm Scream has issued a progressively more brilliant series of LPs that culminated in 2007’s Career Suicide. This EP is not their finest work, but it is the sound of the group and its newest member feeling each other out.

Last year Chris Levesque, one half of an impossibly-dynamic guitar duo, up and left the group. His replacement, Mike Supina, proves on this self-titled vinyl/digital release to have equally impressive chops. Fans can rest easy knowing that the incredibly technical nature of their songwriting remains intact, with jaw-dropping riffage and neck-snapping time changes littered throughout this five-song set. Opener “Australias” continues directly where Career Suicide left off, throwing Supina and founding guitarist Trevor Reilly front and center with some frantic riffing. Aside from the middle track, “Fun Times,” the tracks don’t deviate much from Wilhelm’s usual modus operandi: furious playing, melodic but gruff vocals, some occasional metal-ish riffs, and a somewhat pessimistic and bristly lyrical bent.

There are several sections where the band seems to be searching for the next area in which to expand their sound. In particular the outro of closer “Skid Rock” slows way down to provide what might be the closest thing to a “pretty” piece of music they’ve recorded (although Brian Robinson’s dextrous, fuzzed-out bass steps on that a bit) before turning full-circle to end on a more aggressive note. “Fun Times” is the biggest step outside their usual comfort zone, a down-right slow and much more straight-forward track that serves as their version of a pop-rock song. Its just as up-front lyrically, a song about the unifying camaraderie that comes with drinking and writing songs with your friends. While the tone is a bit downtrodden, it serves as a positive lyrical counterpoint to “Skid Rock”’s assertion that friends are merely, “enemies in the making.”

This is a great stop-gap release that should help make sure their next full-length has a unified and cohesive songwriting effort behind it. Hell, you could probably argue they’re pretty much the whole way there based on these few tracks. But these tracks pale in comparison to the dizzying highs of Ruiner and Career Suicide’s best cuts. I get the feeling there’s an even bigger next step in store for what is easily the most gifted band in punk rock today as long as they work their way carefully towards it.

In short, I wouldn’t start with this EP if you’re looking for a first exposure to the band but I think it will provide some important context in the future when we’re looking back on A Wilhelm Scream’s legacy.

 

 A Wilhelm Scream - Australias [2:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The self-titled EP is available from Paper + Plastick’s webstore, kind of. It looks like they only have mp3/flac purchases listed on there, there’s no vinyl option for it anywhere in there. Maybe it hasn’t been pressed yet. Or maybe their stores sucks. I don’t know. Other albums might be at Vinyl Collective or Interpunk.

Pat entries A Wilhelm Scream, EP, melodic hardcore, Paper + Plastick Records, punk rock

The last year and a half in music has certainly seen both fans and industry embracing the old, often for better or for worse. Led Zeppelin reunites in London but then decides to press forward with the ill-advised notion of recording new material without Robert Plant. Vinyl sales are higher than they’ve been in decades, but major labels are trying to exploit it by doing 180 gram reissues of albums that can literally be found in any used record store anywhere in the world. As with the original furor over cassette tape bootlegs, the industry finally realized the futility of persecuting downloaders.

All this bodes quite well for a New Brunswick, New Jersey punk rock band called the Measure [SA], whose name also serves as its overriding philosophy: strictly analog. While they may have technically violated that tenant by allowing a CD pressing of their first long-player, the rest of their output shows their dedication to all things vinyl: a dozen other vinyl releases including an LP compilation of a series of 7″ singles. They love vinyl so much some of theirs is redundant!

I actually acquired about half of this band’s recorded output without even realizing it, but I didn’t really recognize the significance of that act until I’d put a pretty long string of them together. See there are adults out there like myself that are still digging punk rock years and years after it was supposed to fade away and be replaced by other pursuits. All of their releases have been on tiny punk labels, their frontwoman does all of their artwork (which is part of what initially attracted me; see a partial discography on their website, and they tour like vikings. While the ’strictly analog’ mantra may seem like a gimmick, it also speaks to their integrity as musicians and songwriters. If they’re not compromising on format, you can bet they aren’t compromising on their songs.

On their latest EP Songs About People and Fruit…and Shit the bad really hits their stride, finally making good on all of the promise of their early releases. Not to say that everything up to this point hasn’t been enjoyable or worthwhile, it just seemed to me like they were missing something to really bring their sound to its full potential. The addition of Mikey Yannich, formerly Mikey Erg of the Ergs!, is clearly what was missing. He brings a much more forceful, assured skin-pounding that steps up the overall energy of the material and really takes the group to the next level. They’re tighter than ever and the songs benefit from that.

Most often likened to pop-punk bands like Discount (which fits beyond the base ‘female-fronted’ comparison; this album has the same upbeat energy and unexplainable joygasm factor as Half Fiction, the Measure [SA] also imparts a certain folk-punk vibe on many of their tracks. That frequently manifests itself an acoustic guitars backing the songs, occasionally in a Billy Bragg-ish nothing-but-electric-guitar-with-some-faint-acoustic structure. They mix up the tempo on, slowing it down for the love songs and jacking up the BPMs for the songs about getting drunk (”Drunk By Noon”), the war on terror (singleseriesnumberzero), and decrying celebrity culture (”Drama-Free Youth” which blissfully sneaks the term ‘frenemies’ into the narrative). The album is also seamlessly sequenced, an art all too often ignored on modern releases.

Female-fronted punk rock often gets pigeonholed as a niche sect of the genre, but the Measure [SA] so blissfully swing from one joyous peak to another you can’t help but get caught up in their enthusiasm for whatever they happen to be doing at the moment. Watching promising songwriters become more and more adept at their craft is a singular joy that few people have the patience for, but when that diamond in the rough really starts to shine its hard not to enjoy it that much more.

 

 the Meausre [SA] - Drunk By Noon [2:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 the Measure [SA] - Hello Bastards [2:32m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

There are a few releases on iTunes, but to get the best you really do have to go analog. Songs About People and Fruit…and Shit is available from Don Giovanni Records. Other stuff is available through the retailers listed on their site and No Idea’s distro.

Pat entries Don Giovanni Records, EP, happiness, punk rock, Songs About People and Fruit...and Shit, the Measure [SA]