Fate Of Icarus – Annihilate The Assassins

So, I spoke too soon. After I sent in the review of the Brown Angel song, I looked on myspace, and lo and behold, what did I find? A page for Fate of Icarus AND Creation Is Crucifixion. Which means you readers will have to endure two more reviews about Adam MacGregor’s bands. Sorry about that.

Fate Of Icarus was kind of more of the straightforward of the two bands, although both fit nicely into the whole thrash/grind/metal genre, although these bands were into it way before it became a fashion statement, ie Job For A Cowboy. Fate Of Icarus was one of the first bands on Willowtip, which has blossomed into one of the world’s premiere grind labels, but back then it was a tiny label that I found out about from ordering records through Ebullition.

This song has the typical thrash drumming along with some blast beats, really technical guitar playing, & the dual vocals that were somewhat prevalent at the time. I miss the tandem vocals of the late nineties … one having the low bellow & the other the kind of high pitched screaming. Anyway, this song is from their last release, Cut Your Throat Before They Do, and I would have to say this is my favorite record from them. Just simply amazing.

Ada Jane – Never Been Better

Ada Jane are a power pop outfit from the cold, cold streets of Minneapolis. And it shows on their debut album Never Been Better. The sweet arrangements are tempered by Matt Marka’s darker lyrics.

“You’ll Never Be Satisfied” owes a debt to Minneapolis icons the Replacements, with its chugging guitars and Marka’s strained vocals. It makes for a good opener, but doesn’t fully show how the band operates. “On Your Level” is better, with a catchier chorus of “Meet me upon your level/I’m up for whatever.” This is one of the more positive lyrics on the album. Marka’s dourness shines though on “Everyone Else Bailed.” The gentle shading of acoustic guitars frame this lilting semi ballad. “Everyone else bailed/They were sick of being treated/like the reason you failed” is the key lyric, showing Marka offers more than the supple sweetness of the first two tracks. “A hallow box with strings/A buzzing bent up note/Left of left of the dial/and what’s left in my throat” introduces the somber “This is My Broom,” which shows another facet of the band that is neither ballad nor power pop crunch. “The Wayside” offers another take on the traditional power pop motif with it’s perfect pogo guitar riff.

“High to Low” begins with a stuttering guitar riff, oddly reminiscent of Bleach era Nirvana, but fails to deliver on its opening promise. “Never Refuse the Rescue” is another slow burner. Its chiming guitars and morose lyrics make this a keeper. “Tally Up” is a punkish number, sounding like the Mats at their most amped up. “Show ‘Em Your Teeth” is another power pop number, but fails to deliver like it’s two predecessors. “Backing Down Again” is a nice little tune, with a simple acoustic riff. “I don’t care what anyone pleas/Some things deserve more than apologies” and lyrics like it show Marka is strongly consistent in the lyrical department. The closing track, “The Queen’s Treatment,” is the true slow burner on the album. It’s strummed acoustic and brushed drums make for a solid closer.

So what to make of all this? Matt Marka has been around for a while, releasing albums from himself and other groups, so he knows what he is doing. Oddly enough, for a power pop band, Ada Jane sound most comfortable when they stretch their sound to incorporate different textures and feels. It is when they try to follow the “power-pop template” too closely, that they struggle.

Matt Marka is a very good songwriter. He has the tools to make a great album. Ada Jane’s debut Never Been Better shows glimpses of true promise with the group, but it doesn’t deliver from start to finish.

Exit Clov – Respond Respond

Though the music often sounds pleasant, Exit Clov suffer from a lack of identity. Kind of indie rock, kind of chamber pop, kind of twee, some Top 40 and altogether not really anything you can sink your teeth into. The band is talented and intelligent but too green. The album Respond Respond suffers from the awkwardness of youth without projecting any of the power of being young.

Artists who make a name for themselves at a young age often have something to compensate for their lack of life experience: usually traumatic or unusual childhood experiences, a dynamic personality, genius-level intelligence, or genuine musical prodigiousness. It’s unfortunate but these are the things many people want from their young musicians and you don’t hear any of it in Exit Clov’s music.

Exit Clov is fronted by harmonizing twin Asian female vocalists/musicians, so the vocals are the 800lb gorilla with this band. One problem is that I don’t care what they have to say. I know the band works out of Washington,D.C., but I don’t know where they come from. I can only suspect songs are written in dorm rooms, hashed out at music school rehearsal space, and recorded in clean, decked out recording studios. I’m probably wrong, but Exit Clov has not told me differently with their music, vocals, or website.

The twins Emily and Susan Hsu’s harmonies are solid but they are not virtuosos and they sing with their “inside voices” all of the time. Maybe this is what works best or maybe they go flat when they push it. Who knows? The music is catchy: “DIY” and “Beast Simone” are the best tracks on the 6 song EP Respond Respond.

Unless you’re under 17 years of age, you might want to give Exit Clov a little while longer to grow into their talent.

The Unit Ama – The Unit Ama

A reclusive and shadowy band from Newcastle, The Unit Ama have been active for a little while now. This self-titled album was recorded in 2003, although released by Gringo not until 2005. The band’s approach to songcraft owes much to Rumah Sakit and the better-known Storm and Stress — bands whose recordings date back quite a long time now. And it’s worth mentioning that not many bands have the skills to pull off what these bands pull off.

Much of The Unit Ama’s music alternates between post-punk drive and controlled noise. The odd time signatures and the arrhythmic convulsions spike the sound. There aren’t always melodies to hang on. There aren’t always rhythms you can tap your feet to. It’s like riding Space Mountain: you can’t see or predict what’s ahead but you welcome the unexpected nature of the ride.

“How the Mind Works” repeats itself for the first 2/3 of its duration, with vocals that recall Ikara Colt. Drummer Christian (first names only) eschews any kind of backbeat and instead goes for an intricate pattern between the un-snared snare and the high hat. The last third of the song is all atonal guitar and cymbal washes, with only a steady bass line to anchor it. The song flows right into the next — entitled simply “M” — and its quiet nature feels like a respite. “M” does slowly build into a Jim O’Rourke or David Grubbs kind of guitar piece, again with only the bass to keep time by.

“Glass Like Water” takes cues from June of 44. Its post-punk styling emphasizes the band’s most rock inclinations. It’s probably the most accessible and ordinary of anything here, although “Plastique Bertrand” (apart from its being in 5/4 time) gives it a run for its money. “Dead Birds” opens the album with quiet restraint before it overwhelms you with its tension. And, yes, its title does mean something relevant to the song: “dead birds washed up on the shore” goes one line.

Later in the album, “Horses (of Northumberland)” would give Medications a run for its money. Its gallops get interrupted by stabs of drum and bass, but its returns to flat out post-rock bring it back to its energy. “Fuck the Critics” sounds like a cross between Minutemen and Shellac. Unfortunately, even at 2 minutes in length, it feels a little tired or forced. In fact, the vocals here and on other songs can be engaging but also a little off-putting. But you don’t grab a record like this for the vocals, do you? You come for ideas.

Album closer “And How The Elephants Danced” takes minimalism even farther than did opener “Dead Birds,” but it has a similar feel. Much of its 6-plus minutes is very quiet, apart from the cymbal runs and the guitar scrapings.

All in all, this is a brave recording by a band that pulls together influences from a lot of well-known and critic-favorited bands. But, like its influences, The Unit Ama carries a flag marked “difficult listening.” It’s not for everyone, certainly, but those who enjoy this kind of thing will probably really enjoy it. Those who give it a chance will discover its rewards.

Brown Angel – Your Life Is Heaven

So this is the final time you will read about Adam MacGregor, unless I find pages for Fate Of Icarus & Creation Is Crucifixion, then I might resurrect his name. Who am I kidding? If I could find pages for those bands, then I will definitely write up reviews for them.

Anyway, the final band in the series is Brown Angel. You are going to have to bare with me on this song & band. “Your Life In Heaven” was recorded live on WRCT, so it has a really muddy sound to it. Which I think just adds a great appeal to the song, but maybe I just really dig low fidelity recordings. Anyway, they say they are really into Godflesh and Swans, which is really apparent while listening to the drumming & guitar parts. There is a really dark quality to the song, which opens up with white noise, then goes into a repetitive riff, which sounds quite a bit like Celestial-era Isis. Even the vocals sound a bit like Aaron Turner.

About a minute & a half before the song ends, this really beautiful melody shines through just long enough to catch your attention, and then fades away back into the riff. If you’re into the whole “post metal” scene, then you really will dig this song.

Owen – At Home With Owen

There is a wall of crisis that indie-rockers hit: a lack of overwhelming success or acclaim mixed with friends who used to crowd the backstage freebies no longer finding their bohemian, road-wearied lifestyle all that appealing. Girlfriends want to become wives, want to live in an apartment for longer than the space between tours. Peers and friends have health insurance, working vehicles, steady paychecks. Most of these aging rockers decide to write an album about how hard it is to be 25 or 29, baring their soul’s shadow over strings and spare guitars. It’s the Feel My Pain, It’s Heavier and More Expansive Than Your Pain Could Ever Be mentality that has sunk many bands and made laughable caricatures out of serious musicians. Mike Kinsella (as Owen) gives us the anti-FMPIHAMETYPCEB: the charmingly cheerless At Home with Owen.

Most people would be satisfied with Kinsella’s career—-a stint in a pioneering punk band (Cap’n’Jazz), a founding membership in the anti-emo anti-heroes Joan of Arc, a few years breaking in his frontman skills with American Football, and finally a solo career as Owen that has seen a few dazzling moments. As much as his brother Tim is an antagonist for change (in both the artistic sense and the pretentious, I Know Better way), Mike has become the arbiter of the status quo. His releases under the moniker Owen all have the same general feeling: sensitive, competent, sad. Press for At Home tells of a new love, the death of a parent, and the leaving-behind of the past. All of those things are here, but Kinsella has refined his true gift: an unflinching and relentless will to write and sing about life with brutal honesty.

What sets Kinsella apart is that he is not just the guy strumming his guitar alone on his bed, but also the guy willing to talk about the pink elephant over in the corner of the room—his sharp, pitiless observations are the kinds of truths most people would be happier never to hear: “Whatever it is / you think you are / you aren’t / a good friend / unique, well-read / good looking or smart / well now you know” he sings on the album’s opening track, the viciously sweet “Bad News.” “I know it hurts to hear / but it’s the truth so you might as well hear it from a friend / you’re a has-been / that never was.” Ouch. Maybe Kinsella is talking about himself, but he’s been more than willing to treat others to the straight dope throughout his solo career—2004’s “Who Found Who’s Hair in Who’s Bed?” has a few lines that are brutal in their ambiguity, like “I heard about you in that alley…” I can only imagine what it must have been like to be the object of that song, to have everyone who knew Kinsella and/or you know that he knew and was willing to talk about it in public.

There are a few listless moments here–the cover of The Velvet Underground’s “Femme Fatale” feels out of place and “The Sad Waltzes of Pietro Crespi” is too smart for its own good. But even when Kinsella loses focus, there’s still something there to connect to: his voice has a soothing tone that he never tries to stretch to hit notes. Kinsella is also one of the few songwriters of his generation who can combine cultural awareness and storytelling without seeming pretentious (see Oberst, Connor), and who has the genuine ability to make emotional connections to the listener without seeming pathetic (again, see Oberst, Connor.)

My favorite song on the album is “A Bird in Hand,” built on what has become Owen Territory: lots of staccato guitars constantly shifting focus; capable drumming; layers of melodies. The song is too long at first glance (seven minutes for a folk song!), but what saves it from being another endless “atmospheric” (to use the parlance of our time) song is Kinsella’s way with words. Not many writers are talented enough to play the pitting actions and reactions of marriage against each other for a public audience: “When I put my arms around you / I mean it / When I’m too drunk to stay up with you / I mean it / When I slam doors cos I’m pissed at you / I mean it / When I put on a suit and say I do / I mean it.” I haven’t heard a more honest or beautiful love song in a long time. Here and throughout the album, Kinsella (I don’t buy that he’s writing this from someone else’s perspective) puts it simply, defining what it means to be in love as I understand it: “that said I’m a bird in your hand / so take me as I am.” “I’m a fuckup, and sometimes I hate you,” he tells us over and over again, “But I love you, and you love me.”

That’s truth, and it makes this album the best Kinsella has ever made.

Micah P. Hinson and the Opera Circuit – S/T

The term alt-country and the title of this disc are a bit deceiving. This is not a play set to music with all of the words sung to orchestral accompaniment, nor is it anything like the country in “country and western”. It is instead the heartfelt, back-porch musings of one Micah P. Hinson, a young ex-con from Abilene, Texas who has been addicted to prescription pain medication, did time for forging prescriptions, and had a turbulent relationship with a Vogue cover model all before the age of 20. The Opera Circuit is the name given to the dozen or so musicians that helped him flesh out these eleven original, indie-leaning, alt-country musical sketches.

This is neither typical alt-country nor singer-songwriter fare. For one, the alt-country label owes more to a few sparse arrangements and the liberal use of banjo and harmonica than it does to the style of play. For two, Mr. Hinson has a very unique and husky voice that at times sounds like a combination of Nick Cave, Richard Butler (The Psychedelic Furs) and Mark Oliver Everett (Eels). The similarities to these singers does not end with the way his voice sounds either, as Hinson is adept at providing the necessary emotion in ways comparable to these artists, whether it’s a wavering whisper on a slower song or a guttural howl on a more lively tune.

Also atypical for singer/songwriters is not so much the bevy of varied instruments used (guitars, banjo, mandolin, organ, piano, accordion, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, violin and viola), but the fact that Hinson employs so many different musicians to play them while still managing to inject his personal emotionality into every one of the songs without sounding contrived. The combination of the lo-fi production, melancholic strings and the intelligent use of orchestral ambience and a few insect chirps, all provide a certain antiquated feel, which in turn brings a genuine and familiar quality to the music.

Micah P. Hinson And The Opera Circuit contains some quite creative and colorful music with parallels to Eels and Nick Cave found in the way everyday subject matter is reflected upon from a skewed point of view. In this case mostly based on Hinson’s bizarre life experiences at such a young age. Hinson also shares the RIYL artists’ affinity for sculpting songs void of unnecessary dressings without creating a musical vacuum. Each song seems constructed using whatever instruments and orchestrations are necessarily added for effect and to form the desired outcome which includes full out indie-rock electric guitars, surreal jazz funeral, almost-classical strings and sparsely arranged, scorching, back-country freak-folk.

The fuller band-sounding songs catch the listener’s ear immediately. “Diggin’ A Grave” is an excellent example as it even includes a rousing hook that sounds like a soundtrack for Russian kick-dancing. “Letter From Huntsville”, “My Time Wasted”, and “You’re Only Lonely” are also heavier songs that include some electric guitars and exploding indie-rock rhythms. “It’s Been So Long” and “She Don’t Own Me” are more abstract with a slower pace and beautifully placed melancholic strings. In between are a few stripped down affairs that are nothing more than acoustic accompaniment to Hinson’s cracked voice. This makes for a somewhat disjointed effort which is the album’s only drawback.

Micah P. Hinson And The Opera Circuit is a very unique album that can be as warm and familiar as it can be chilling and alien. After repeated plays all of these aspects end up being enjoyed since it is apparent that these songs were built with an honest emotional grit that ultimately shines through in every song, either in Hinson’s voice or in the music.

Harvey Milk – Special Wishes

Harvey Milk has been putting out music on and off for quite some time now. You’ll have to excuse me then, because their newest offering is serving as my introduction. From what information I’ve read about the band, their fan base is a cult-like one, anyways. Judging from the slow, chugging axe work and howling, scratchy vocals of the intro, I concluded Special Wishes would be an admirable work, but not my thing.

Consistency is one thing I cannot knock about this band. They have their sludgy Southern sound well paved from the get go, something the years have helped with I’m sure. They’re simultaneously too comfortable with their chosen style, and don’t really deviate from the stoned pacing over the album’s lifespan. My first impression from “I’ve Got a Love” was Unbroken on serious downers, but Harvey Milk is not a hardcore band, so comprehend that comparison with some imagination.

The song titles are all nice and abrupt, and in some cases serve as accurate portrayals. Power chord rips on “Crush Them All” dig a hole in your ears with each elongated blow. Also, “Instrumental” is no lie either (ha!). These guys know how to play heavy, and I love that, but it’s not an especially difficult task to accomplish.

Do I really embrace Harvey Milk after hearing Special Wishes as a whole? Not really. “Once in a While” might signal a clue as to why that is. The blatant classic rock nostalgia leads me to believe this would fit right into my collection if I was either a metalhead or obsessed with stoner rock in another life.

Creation Is Crucifixion – Burn The Churches (A Manifesto)

I don’t even know what to say here about this band. Creation Is Crucifixion is beyond seminal in my life, ranking up there with Unbroken in importance to me. This is the band that changed my political stance irrevocably for the better. Their performances were life affirming spectacles to behold, less like shows and more like a community of friends. If you ever got to see them live, then you know what I mean. I remember picking up a seven inch from them that came in a cut up UPS folder with a really detailed insert and a record that occasionally popped – and would just stop playing midway through the song from being so warped and scratched up. I didn’t care. I taped that seven inch along with some Ebullition bands and the first Suicide Nation LP and listened to that cassette every day until it broke from me rewinding it so often so I could listen to the CIC songs.

Adam MacGregor played guitar in this band, along with a million other people. This band suffered from the plague of line up changes, but every time they just re-emerged stronger than before. This song is one of my favorites. I don’t want to even describe it for fear of making it seem less than it is. Just listen to it and get ready to be changed forever.

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – So Divided

First a little gripe, then I swear I’ll get to the review. I hate when record companies, especially big ones like Interscope, don’t send a real cd. I like being able to look at the artwork while I listen to the cd … it just leaves me feeling empty.

Anyway, to the review of the new …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead album, So Divided. I hadn’t really been up to date with this band since Source Tags & Bar Codes, & even then, I had a marginal liking for them, because it felt like Unwound redux for me. So when the opportunity came up to review this, I wanted the challenge. I was pretty sure I would hate this, but I wanted the chance to be open & honest. A few days before this arrived in the mail, I went to the band’s page & listened to a couple of songs they had posted up there from the album. Nothing really caught me, so I really knew I was going to hate this. The next day I went back thinking maybe I would like it better. I am really glad, because they were streaming the whole album, & I listened to it three times through.

So Divided opens up with a short track of background noise with people talking, then they start clapping which segues into the second song, a poppy kind of punk number. I wasn’t too thrilled with it, but it has grown on me. The third track, “Wasted State Of Mind”, is when the band really grew on me. It has this really catchy piano part as the opener, then when the chorus hits, it feels so epic because of the way that Conrad delivers the line, then by the end the chorus is carried by a few people & the way that they harmonize is gorgeous. My favorite song on here by far, which is the shortest, is “Gold Heart Mountain Top Queen Directory”, which is a really understated piece that bursts into a sixties pyschadelic pop freakout akin to a heavier Polyphonic Spree. The other song that really caught my ear is “Eight Day Hell”, that is just a really sunny catchy pop song that wouldn’t feel out of place on a sixties record.

I knew this was a good record when my girlfriend actually seemed to enjoy it, which is a rare thing unless it sounds like The Shins or Mates Of State. I know it seems as if a lot of bands are on the whole psychadelic bandtrip right now, but I don’t think any other band out there right now is doing it as well as Trail Of Dead are. So Divided has left behind most of the noise of their older records & finds a band going in a new direction which I hope they continue along for a long time.

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