Spoon – Kill the Moonlight

This is the fourth release from Spoon who hail from the glorious State of Texas, which has given the music listening public many underecognized great bands. Spoon has clearly been making a point to be mentioned among some of the best coming out of the Lone Star State, and this CD most likely will cement them in this status. This is a departure from their previous releases, which had a fuller sound to them, while this uses minimalism the best it can. Spoon were a band that were on the verge of breaking into the mainstream untill some well-documented unfortunate events with the record labels stopped this from happening. This record shows that the band can reach great power in the music and with the right backing can create quite a stir, if people pick up on it.
“Small Stakes” begins the disc with some minimal keyboard and synth noises that add an eerie sound to the background. This song uses its minimalism to full affect, and it creates quite a buzz in the head of the listener that will stick with them after listening. “The Way We Get By” follows this up with one of the best performances on the disc where everything falls nicely into place with handclaps and a good piano melody. Singer/songwriter Britt Daniel takes on a fake British accent and phrasing on this song that lends itself well to the underlying Beatles-like tune. “Something to Look Forward To” is a jumpy tune with slight punk/new-wave influences hinted at through it all. Daniel sounds like he is pleading to somebody, and that will leave the listener feeling the anticipation of what is to come for the person in the song.
“Paper Tiger” is another good use of minimalism that uses some different effects and synth bleeps to carry it along. Daniel is again very intriguing with his fake accent and nasally tone. “Someone Something” jumps and hops along as it goes with a neat piano and nicely placed drum fills to fill the sound out. It is a rather infectious performance that sticks with you as well and will have you humming the melody along with it. “All the Pretty Girls” is another fun song highlighted by good piano work that mimics the vocal lines. There’s also good infrequent biting guitar work that add a different dynamic to the recording, which is used rather seldomly.
This record could very easily be the highlight of their output seeing as it is incredibly solid all around. Daniel and band have changed the sound enough to keep everything fresh and evolving, which is very good to hear. It is always nice to see a band take that next step, and that is what Spoon have accomplished by recording this disc. There is not one bad song on this disc; on occasion the flow might be interrupted, but it quickly picks itself back up. This is a truly great record that I am sure will be among many year-end best-of lists, and deservingly so. There are very few CDs that will stun me everytime I hear it, but this is one of those. Now I hope the music-buying public will pick up on that.

Pedro the Lion – Control

First and foremost, if you are a Christian purchasing this album expecting a Christian album, be warned! Although, David Bazaan, the engine of Pedro the Lion, may be a Christian, he certainly doesnt produce Christian albums. This album contains the conroversial use of the word “shit” on the closing song, along with many other controversial lyrics that may be offending to the typical Rich Mullins, DC Talk, and Newsboys audience. Case in point, Bazaan’s comparison of the return of Jesus to a cheating husband achieving an orgasm. “She’s arching her back, she screams for more, oh my sweet rapture I hear Jesus calling me home.”
If you are a Christian music listener still reading this review, kudos to you for not hastily branding this album distasteful. And if you are a non-Christian, kudos to you as well; most secular music listeners run at the hint of Christianity. To both I assure you, you will be well rewarded. This album includes boasts a brilliant storyteller, amazing music, and, most important, beautifully delivered lyrics.
If you are familiar with Pedro the Lion, this album will seem a lot more upbeat than the others. It features many harder “rock” songs. PTL’s slow, monotone singing and their sometimes methodical music, however, still peek through on certain tracks. Unlike the earlier CDs though, each song on Control is amazing, and every one could stand alone.
This conceptual album opens to a married couple walking on the beach. They are going through a rocky relationship, revealed by the husband breaking the silence: “I could never divorce you, without a good reason.” The song ends with a resolution that seems to be bulging at the seems. The second song opens with the distressed husband engaged in an affair. It vividly describes the sexual act, comparing an orgasm with the rapture, hence the song title. The third song opens cleary into one of the before hidden themes of this album, corporate drudgery, “If it isn’t making dollars, then it isnt making sense, if you aren’t moving units then you’re not worth the expense.” The theme continues on the next track: “All the experts say you ought to start them young, that way they’ll naturally love the taste of corporate cum.”
“Progress” is actually a remix of a song put out before by PTL. This time it opens with distorted robotic vocals, then falls back into the same sound of its previous release. The next track opens with a great synthsizer intro that seems to perfectly fit with Bazaan’s weathered vocals. This song can really hit home with traditional Christian music listeners, openly attacking them: “On the one side the bad half lives in wickedness, and on the other side, the good half lives in arrogance.” It goes on to talk about the materialism of people. The cheating husband returns on “Rehearsal,” only this time the tables are turned, and the husband faces his wife’s obvious cheating tactics. This is where the album really takes a step into a much darker sound. In “Second Best,” the cheating couple are now together again, both aware of each others infidelities, (I’ll thank my use of that word to Chris and Dashboard Confessional) must face each other. Stuck, the couple falls into what is familiar, and a completely depressing sex scence ensues. In the next song, the wife and husband have gotten into a fight, the husband has been stabbed and dies on the way to the hospital. The vocals here are amazing, it all fits together impeccably with the music. The closing track is slow, haunting, and portrays the deepest depression.
The ending of Control is a little confusing. The character, who supposedly died, is now singing rejoice to God. This could be irony, or a partial resolution. Hopefully we find out on PTL’s next album.

Golden Rough – Provenance

It’s always interesting when an artist talks about their art, inside their art. The self-conscious musings you occasionally find in songs can be more interesting than the songs themselves. Of course, self-conscious thoughts can turn the song into a stunning inward glance, or a thinly-veiled ego trip. For instance, when Jeff Tweedy says that “you’ll sing some strange verse, from some strange song of mine,” it’s a golden line. But when you get into the “I write the songs that the whole world sings” territory, you’re in trouble. The title track of Golden Rough’s Provenance contains a virtual boon of such insights, and it has quite an effect on the rest of the album.
“People in the Street,” which opens the album, is a fantastic piece of early-Wilco pop twang (it’s no coincidence that I chose Tweedy to quote above). But when the album moves into “Provenance,” the whole game changes. Singer David Orwell says “I’m tired of always seeming darker than I am / in my words and in my songs / I wrote a thousand from a single love gone wrong.” As if that weren’t enough, the chorus kicks in: “See I come from a quiet suburban place / I had no ghosts or fears of any kind to face.” At first, I was struck by the immediate honesty of the lyrics. After all, don’t you think most underground bands could sing those same lyrics? When was the last time you bought the emotion in a Get Up Kids song?
After thinking about the lines for a while, though, I decided I didn’t like them so much. Because for all of their honesty, I don’t really want to listen to some middle-class musician lie to me (hell, isn’t that what I’ve got friends for?). At least most other bands can fake it. I want my artists damaged, damn it. Bleed for me. Bleed for your art. And if you really are just some average white guy, then make shit up. It worked for Dylan, and he’s the greatest songwriter of the last half-century. “Provenance” doesn’t ruin the album, but it does make lines like “99% of everything is killing me” awfully difficult to buy.
So far I’ve spent a lot of time waxing over the lyrics of one song on the album, so let’s go over some of the rest of it. The songs on this album are startlingly similar, both in sound and quality. Lots of acoustic guitars and piano flourishes, with Orwall’s graceful voice swaying over mostly mundane lyrics. The songs are so similar, in fact, that three or four listens in, I still can’t really pick out any highlights. “99%,” though mostly unbelievable, is a pretty good song, and “Captains of Industry” has a fading trumpet coda that captures my heart. The electric piano that helps open “Antarctica” sounds like a majestic change from the normally earthy sounds that permeate nearly every other track. The closer, “Someone Else’s Home,” contains some of the album’s best music, and along with the opening track, is the band’s best stroke.
Golden Rough is an awfully good band. The instrumentation and recording is superb, but given the vast fault in confidence set up by Orwell in just the second song, the art is a bit hard to swallow. Suspension of disbelief works for most bands, and Golden Rough should have left it at that. Besides that though, this is a quality collection of Wilco-inspired pop that should appease fans who are still clinging onto Being There‘s Americana.

Children of Fall – Ignition for Poor Hearts

The Swedish band Children of Fall makes up for the shortcomings of much of the European hardcore scene. While many countries are pumping out bludgeoning and brutal metal of the darker variety, most are content with pussy-fotting around in black leather and recycling old Judas Priest riffs. Yet all that’s changing with a new wave of European hardcore bands, and CHildren of Fall are definitely representing.
If I could sum up the music of Children of Fall in one word, it’d be “power.” The message, the music, the production, it all comes together to make a very potent package of angst and rage. The lyrics by this band are an all-out attack on the system but not an overly-idealistic one, a call for urgency with the definite bite of a cynic. “Becoming Less” is an internal monologue about how the powers that be have degraded people to a highly superficial level that what they own or what they look like constitutes who they are. The lyrics muse the anti-thesis of a Gap ad, “All I know is that which defines me / My belongings and my body / The rest is invalid / But I don’t want to be so easily defined / To be so easily kept in mind.” “Sick of Medicine” is lyrically my favorite track on the album; its deals with psychiatrists freely doling out pills to cure one’s pain. If you’re depressed, heres a pill, it will make you feel better. Haven’t we seen this before in an oft-forgotten book called Brave New World? It was called SOMA. Once again the powers-that-be are brought into focus with the lines, “No one is a threat with a knife to the wrist or a gun to the head / There are those in this world that want us almost, but not quite, dead.”
With the power and angst of the lyrics being so powerful, its no doubt that the music follows suit. The production on this album is excellent, it’s raw and not of the highest grade but totally perfect for the situation. The music of this four-piece band is like a wall of sound coming at you; there are lots of discordant squeeks and noises but also the occasional slick-sounding breakdown. These guys blend styles and sounds very seemlessly. I debated for a long time as to what genre to put in this here review as there were elements of traditional hardcore, metalcore, emocore, and other sub-genres present. Finally I decided to just cop-out and place some fairly diverse (in the genre, at least) RIYL’s to best convey Children of Fall’s sound.
I’ve got to say this is one of the more surprising releases I’ve heard in a very long time. I’m usually on top of the genre and read reviews of things before I buy them or even get to hear them so I’m not surprised often, but these kids from Sweden came out of nowhere to blow my head off. Everything is spot-on here, and I have not a single complaint. Ignition for Poor Hearts is an unquestionably powerful release that is loud, angry, and wants to do something to change the society in which we live, and unlike alot of other bands who have qualms with society, Children of Fall present their views in a very lucid, clear manner. Hopefully more people will get a sniff of this band, and the gospel according to Children of Fall should spread like wildfire.

Sukilove – Talking in the Dark EP

“Sukilove is a new band. It’s spelled in one word as not to be confused with the band ‘Mike Love’.” – From the band’s website
Sukilove, a five-piece band from Belgium, loves American roots music. The group’s first album, Talking in the Dark, is a stripped-down EP full of appreciation of Americana, with a nod to Burt Bacharach-style pop.
This soft, melodic, and bittersweet sounds could be the start of something, if lead singer/songwriter Pascal Deweze, who was one-half of the duo Chitlin’ Fooks, can get past his limited English skills and write more impressive lyrics. Take these lines from the title track, “No blue moon / no bluebird song / would ever make me do you wrong.” Or, from the same track, “Don’t be shy and have a run / How does it feel to have some fun?” The lyrics are nothing to write home about, but the song’s lush arrangement is reminiscent of the Beatles, complete with the strings and the “Shalalalaa’s.”
Led by Deweze, the band also includes Carol Van Dyk, Bettie Serveert’s frontlady, who provides background vocals. Deweze and Helder Deploige’s steel guitars, Herbert Lanckhorst’s violin, Guy Van Nueten’s melancoly keyboards, and Deweze’s very strange lyrics float throughout Sukilove’s first album, giving it a lush, bittersweet sound. Lyrics aside, this is an album of soft beauty with a heavy nod to lite 60′s pop. It’s worth waiting to see if Deweze signs up for some Berlitz English classes so he can take his promising music to the next level.

Driving the Stake – Split CD

I bought this CD at The Conqueror Worm’s last show for 2 bucks. I was so impressed by their live show that I was curious to see how they would sound recorded. When I put this CD in I was blown away, thinking of how amazing it is to hear music of this kind coming out of the depths of Michigan.
The sadly departed Conqueror Worm, out of Flint, Mich. and Bay City, Mich., exhibit great control of their songs while producing melodies that reflect brilliantly arranged music flowing from a slow emo tempo to a very fast metalcore tempo. The high points of their side of the split are the clean melodic guitars and the unconventional vocals, which in my opinion are a mix between From Autumn to Ashes and Saetia with very eerie lyrics such as “it’s the lack of bleeding that demands attention.” There is a lot to the music of TCW, and it is quite amazing to hear how well this music is put together, although it is not music you would want to listen to with your parents.
Driving the Stake arose from members of two Flint, Mich. local bands Dead By Sunday and the emo band Kid Brother Collective. The result? Not at all you would think. This is pure aggressive, screamed in-your-face vocals and great guitar riffs. Both the vocals and guitar are brought together with the bass and drums, and out comes fantastic hardcore music. Something for you to consider while listening to this record is that the vocalist had no lyrics previously written. At one point he even begins to scream nothing because he couldn’t think of what to say. The music is accented by their breakdowns and outcries of such things as “I’ll kill you with my own two hands!”
As unfortunate as it is for these bands to come out of Michigan (with the low level of exposure any band from Michigan gets), it is also unfortunate that TCW is no longer playing. This is a CD that I can put in whenever I feel the need to listen to something both rhythmic emo and fast hardcore and will remain a favorite in my collection.

Satanic Surfers – Unconsciously Confined

If you’ve read my reviews on pop-punk before, you know I don’t really like it. It tends to have nothing to say, it’s a watered down genre of what was started by The Ramones and The Clash. But then again, every once in a while a punk band comes along and catches my ear, and this CD has done just that.
Although I think they have a stupid name, this European punk band reminds us of what punk can sound like. Politically charged lyrics with beautifully intricate guitar lines and masterfully produced vocals make this a CD to be listened to over and over. I can’t get enough of it.
Songs like this are a joy to listen to, songs like “4 AM” whose first lyrics are, “I woke up at 4 AM to go back to sleep” go on to describe the injustice of the justice system and the tragedy of crime in the inner city. But the whole CD isn’t politically motivated; songs like “Forfeiture” and “Thoughts, Words, Action” make up the anti-capitalist views of the band. But songs like “The Sing-along Summer Song” describe the joys of being in a band or in love or just being alive.
Though the default punk drumbeat is ever present on this album, it is still a joy to listen to. And my only complaint is the name. Geez, we have enough satanic bands, and no one can top the Butthole Surfers, so they’re doomed on both accounts. But looking past the goofy name, the Satanic Surfers are a breath of fresh air in a world of watered down punk rock.

Everything is Fine – Vents

It’s not particularly difficult to make just sad music, just like it’s not all that hard to make just up-beat music. The trick, like with everything, is to do it well. Some bands, like Joy Division or Nirvana, can’t really help but be sad although they get there in different ways. On top of that, they’re really, really good. Some albums, like Happy Sad by Tim Buckley, are so sad they’ll make your skin crawl. And there’s plenty of albums I remember thinking were sad in high school, the kind you would lay around in the dark listening to, that I sort of think are a little naive nowadays; sad songs about breaking up or feeling sorry for yourself for one reason or another. It’s not all that hard to make someone cry if all you want to do is make them cry. It’s much harder to make that sadness have some kind of honest meaning that lingers around after you get out of bed and turn the light on. Everything is Fine shoot for that more meaningful kind of sadness, but it’s all a little too obvious. They’re all dirgy guitars and bellowing vocals; all the sadness and menace is right on the surface, meaning that there’s not much underneath for you to find and take around with you after the lights come on.
The album is mostly acoustic guitar with some atmospherics sprinkled behind it. Not enough, really, to compensate for the fact that vocalist/guitarist Marc Manning uses the same dull strum and vocal monotone throughout. Even though it comes in at under 30 minutes, it’s almost totally exhausting to listen to. Which is the point of it, so in a sense it succeeds at what it set out to do. Manning sounds like a late-to-the-party grunge singer. His voice is fine, though, and can convey emotion, which is good. It’s just not interesting enough to be the focal point. Like the songs, it doesn’t really do anything. It just sort of sits there and expects you to pay attention to it. Now I’m all for subtle music, which is what I think this wants to be. Subtlety, however, like irony, is a fine art that I don’t think they’ve grasped yet. And there’s a huge difference between subtle and boring, although lots of boring bands would like to think they’re being subtle.
Part of the problem with reviewing discs like this is that if you’re a fan of this kind of thing, you’re going to like it by default, and if you’re not a fan you won’t. The fans who like it will say everyone who doesn’t are just missing the point. Some people love slow, moody music just because it’s there, and that’s fine. But there are some people who do it well and some who don’t. Patty Griffin’s Living With Ghosts manages to be sad and powerful and interesting while only having her voice and acoustic guitar. A big difference, though, is that’s she’s a really good lyricist, singer, and guitar player. Right now, I’ve got “Rock and Roll Ghost” by the Replacements going, and that’s a damn effective song that doesn’t need much more than voice and guitar, although it’s more melancholy than depressing. On Vents, no one seems to be trying very hard to draw the listener in. The album will effect people who let themselves be effected by this kind of music. I don’t think there is much there for everyone else. It only really works on one level.
“Dry Ground” is the strongest song here, with the disc’s most melodic guitar part and a wonderfully abrupt ending. The others tend to be too one-sided. Almost more than anything, though, this album is totally no fun. It only makes you feel one thing. Joy Division could make you dance, Nirvana could make you jump around, and Tim Buckley – and Jeff for that matter – could really break your heart. The only thing you can really do to Vents is get sad if you’re predisposed to getting weepy over men with acoustic guitars, or shut it off if you aren’t.

Woke Up Falling – Dividing Blue from Blue

Woke Up Falling is a hard band to describe. That’s not because they’re doing anything drastically different, but their sound will sound familiar while still possessing an unidentifiable quality that makes it strike a chord with fans of indie and emo rock. Perhaps it’s in the impeccable production or the guitar-focused sound, but this band will no doubt be a favorite for fans of the emotional rock sound while still keeping a fresh perspective.
If that’s as clear as a rainy day, I’ll get more descriptive. Portland, Ore.’s Woke Up Falling is clearly a guitar-driven rock band, the ones that will draw the “emo” tag for sure. Yet they use enough texturing to deliver a layered sound, filled with guitars hums and keyboard backing. With some warm vocals mixed nicely into the sound and not too powerful, the band has a very strong, thick sound. It’s just a bit cold, provoking some gothic comparisons to a band like The Cure, while their sound more adequately falls between Jimmy Eat World and Death Cab for Cutie.
The opener, “Laughing at the Thought,” may be the best song here. The guitars are toned deep, and a wash of warm keyboards fills in the background of this very dreamy rock song. “Something Beautiful” picks up the pace a bit and adds some light, chiming keyboards in the distance, while the vocals soar. There’s nothing whispered about “The Only Whisper” left, a driving track that benefits from some really powerful rhythm and vocals that seem on the verge of a shout. After the upbeat and driving “Cloudy Days,” the band finishes with the lengthy and downright wonderful “P.S.,” a flowing song that moves into this repetitive guitar and keyboard line that goes on and on, and you never want it to stop.
Although the upbeat, almost soaring guitar-rock is the band’s bread-and-butter, their quieter, more ballad-like moments may be the most unique. The guitars are loud and beautifully melodic on “October,” a fantastic track. “When the Traffic Dies” has its quiet, breathy moments and more up-tempo, driving moments that work well in contrast, and the vocals really shine on this track. “Start to breathe” has some lovely melodic guitar and light keyboards, giving the song an introspective and subtle feel.
Dividing Blue from Blue is an excellent album that yet shows a promise not yet attained. Woke Up Falling haven’t reached their potential yet. The guitars here are beautiful, the vocals strong, the background suitably thick and textured, yet the sound feels a bit too familiar, a bit too comfortable. The band doesn’t push you, doesn’t force you to come to them. While still better than most of the bands they’ll be compared to, Woke Up Falling needs to find a way to deliver their sound to us rather than our sound to us.

Sparklejet – Bar Guest

Sparklejet’s debut album nicely captures the sound of their home of Fresno, Calif., which they mention as being so hot it drives you a little crazy and being the home of crystal meth. Both of those things sound like the influence to Bar Guest, an album of gritty indie-rock, sometimes lo-fi, sometimes loud and rocking. Think a modern, punkier version of Guided By Voices still playing in their garage, and you might know where this album is coming from.
The styles on Bar Guest are all over the place, running from lo-fi numbers that are catchy and fun to blazing rockers that verge on hardcore. What doesn’t vary is the grit, both in the kind of grungy guitars and the singer’s voice, which is smooth at times but more comfortable belting out lyrics over thick guitar lines and building to a shout or scream.
You wouldn’t think of this as a lo-fi indie-rock album from the opener, “How Long,” which starts with so much modern rock guitars and great big vocals it sets you up for something completely different. The high-powered “Dog Riot” has some ripping guitar lines and a catchy beat, driving this one to a nice bar rock sound. After those loud and aggressive tracks, “Emilio” feels a bit more relaxed, with Frank Black-like vocals and guitar riffs, and “Discordia” gets more laidback, driven by a firmer sense of melody and hooks.
From there, the band gets a little more indie-rock, as “We Get in a Hurry” sounds in the vein of GBV and “I Wanna Destroy You” goes in the other direction, blasting ahead in a blistering attack of hardcore screams and metal-like riffs. By contrast, “Lead Me Under” is quiet and bouncy with strumming acoustic guitars. On “Lebanon, In.” the band even whistles, going for a more playful rock feel, and “Silence of the Day” sounds sweet, with almost crooned vocals. And “Cast from the Seed” just rocks in a straight-up Superchunk kind of way.
Sparklejet have a lot of talent and enthusiasm, and this album is really fun to listen to for a dose of potent, guitar-driven rock. They do shift around too much at times, and it’s hard to get much cohesion on the release, but it still smacks of promise. Not a bad release for the rock lover in you.

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