Destroyer – Trouble in Dreams

With every album he has made in his long and successful career, Dan Bejar has such a distinctive sound to call his own. Whether it’s his unique voice, his loosely-constructed songs, his diverse use of wordplay or maybe just his knack for melodies, every one of his albums is a fresh breath of air. And with Destroyer’s latest album, Trouble in Dreams, Bejar adds a great accompaniment/follow-up to 2006’s breakthrough, Destroyer’s Rubies.

The album begins with the gentle and sparse, “Blue Flower/Blue Frame.” Bejar adds a wonderful guitar and piano melody to his clever and often funny lyrics. While the music flourishes, he sings, “A woman by another name is not a woman. I’ll tell you what I mean by that. Maybe not in seconds flat, maybe not today…” And that’s exactly what we expect from a Destroyer album, a fun and good ol’ time.

And maybe that’s what’s just so refreshing about Bejar’s music. I’d be hard-pressed to name any other artist that sounds remotely close to his music. Even the aforementioned lyrics, what exactly do they mean? They could be a nice foreshadowing to some lyrical content on a future album, i.e. he will tell us what he “means” on his next album. Maybe it’s stating that a woman who isn’t herself isn’t a real woman, simple as that. Naturally, I’d choose the more complex reasoning that only Bejar really knows what he means but the music is just too fulfilling, it’s remarkable.

Now, some will complain that Trouble in Dreams doesn’t thread any new ground and it doesn’t. However, this isn’t an issue because good music is good music, period. The fuzzy end of “The State” leads perfectly into the serene and organ-filled “Foam Hands” — a wonderful piece of regret and love lost. The song flows in and out of focus with a lovely, melodic guitar line and a driving bass line.

And the epic song on here, the near eight minute tour de force, “Shooting Rockets (From the Desk of Night’s Ape)” is vividly sequenced in the middle of the album. It’s an atmospheric grower that features some timely piano and repetitive guitar. And the lyrical content on this one is all over the place, it’s a song that begs to be examined.

The music on here is just so pleasant; this is truly a gifted and talented musician at work. The way that “Introducing Angels” builds is an example of amazing craftsmanship, the magnificent melody on “Dark Leaves from a Thread” is fantastic and the terrific “Libby’s First Sunrise” is a great way to close the album. With 53 minutes of superb music, this is one beast of an album.

Destroyer has clearly picked up where it left off and the music on this eleven song album is utterly exceptional. Regardless of whether or not people wanted a change, this album is a fine addition to Bejar’s ever-growing credits. You won’t find another album that sounds quite like this all year and that’s just fine, because Trouble in Dreams is surely to be one of the highly regarded albums come year end.

The Hands – The Hands

Rock and roll is such a boring proposition these days. For every ass-kicking rock and roll band, like the Icarus Line or Murder City Devils, there are a million Jets. A bunch of boring dudes who just want to play loud, tired rock riffs and sing about their unfortunate trials with the opposite sex.

The Hands are a rock and roll band, and unfortunately, they’re no MCD. Sure, they have their moments, but for the most part, they fall more on the bad side of the Stones-aping rock revivalists. From the “rollicking” opener, “Six Gun Hand,” to the boring white blooze of the closer, “Knife,” the Hands never disappoint in supplying you with the third-rate rock and roll that might remind your mom of her younger days back when dudes with shaggy hair and raspy singing voices had the girls going wild. Oh, wait…

At any rate, these guys are in the unfortunate predicament of being stuck in the logjam of bands that sound similar to them AND sucking on top of that. It makes me long for some of the overblown bullshit I’ve reviewed here at DOA, like Justice Of The Unicorns or The Kimn Philbys. At least those bands had vision. These guys couldn’t get any safer without becoming Michael Bolton’s backing band. Epic fail.

Amelia – Tragedy

Out of Portland, Oregon comes Amelia, a three-piece spinning crafty tales of rustic, folksy rock that create images in your head to form a movie similar to something that might have been made up of deleted scenes from The Triplets of Belleville but with a little more attitude. “Tragedy” comes from their third full-length album, A Long, Lovely List of Repairs.

The sultry, breathy voice of Teisha Helgerson takes this song from simply a funky and catchy folk tune to something truly achingly beautiful. I can’t help but wonder how her voice weaves other tales throughout their new album and if she explores other styles. It’s a really interesting sound the song takes on with the difference between the layered strings with rustic, twinkly keys and her soulful yet sensual voice describes moving through and beyond obstacles in life with lines like “Can we write this in a new script?”

A little cabaret, a little melancholy and full of attitude this three-piece out of Portland makes some pretty funky and flawless folk rock. This song is certainly likely to pique the interest of a listener looking for something a little different in the folk scene and if the rest of the CD is this good, it is quite a gem.

The Breeders – Mountain Battles

“I’m lazy, but I’m not super-lazy,” knowingly-quipped Kim Deal in a recent interview with MOJO on the drawn-out recording of Mountain Battles, the first Breeders album since 2002’s also lengthily-gestated Title TK. Unlike her on/off Pixies sparing-partner, Frank Black, Kim Deal certainly doesn’t possess a prolific work-ethic; preferring instead to deliver little and not very often. Whilst it might be inaccurate to suggest that The Breeders have strictly followed a ‘quality-not-quantity’ philosophy, it is oddly relieving to find a band resigned to generously-spaced-out releases in these over-crowded musical times. After all, if you’ve not got much to say, why say it too often? Had the Pixies live reunion not happened then it’s conceivable that The Breeders would have been ground-down again to repetition and over-familiarity. At least by taking another sabbatical, we have the chance – in theory at least – to properly appraise The Breeders album-in-hand with less of the background baggage.

Anyone expecting a return to the angular art-rock of 1990’s Pod debut or the grunge-pop of 1993’s platinum-selling Last Splash, best look/listen away now. Those predicting a straight-forward facsimile of Title TK may also be caught a bit off-guard. Although Mountain Battles does share the raw defiantly non-digital fidelity of its predecessor, it goes far further into diverse deconstructionism; in fact it feels more or less like a Kim Deal solo album. Not that familiar faces are totally absent (twin sister Kelley Deal, the Title TK rhythm section of bassist Mando Perez and drummer Jose Medeles, as well as Steve Albini on some production duties), but Mountain Battles sounds as if Kim Deal has been mindfully prioritising playing with the studio over playing with a full-band. Which makes for a fragmented though rarely less-than-intriguing 13-track selection.

The opening “Overglazed”, with its My Bloody Valentine-like fuzz and drone, is a great – albeit deceptive – way to start proceedings. The bouncy “Bang On” quickly follows suit with its rudimentary drum-thwacking and multi-tracked vocal chants, pleasantly recalling Luscious Jackson’s grubbiest early-wares or perhaps even a depoliticised Le Tigre. Things slide into more atmospheric terrain for the dreamy “Night of Joy” (which remembers Kim’s divine “Little Trouble Girl” collaboration with Sonic Youth) and the slowly-uncoiling “We’re Gonna Rise” (a sequel-of-sorts to “Off You” from Title TK). A bizarrely invigorating twist occurs with the garage-rock-meets-Krautrock chug of “German Studies” (sung in the language of its title), though its impact is offset with the plodding and directionless murk of the ensuing “Spark”.

The LP’s quirky-groove streak soon picks-up again with the inspired “Istanbul”, featuring a voodoo percussion and keyboard combination similar to “The She” (from Title TK) but with even more alluring execution. Curiously, the most ‘traditional’ sounding Breeders track, the scratchy “Walk It Off”, falls rather flat in its wake. Another stylistic and linguistical twist occurs with the Kelley Deal-sung and Spanish-tongued “Regálame Esta Noche” (a Mexican ballad learnt from Colombians Los Tri-O) which revels unrepentantly in balmy schmaltz before gently gliding into the sublime stripped-down country-harmony-fired “Here No More”, that has a beatific Hank Williams hue to it. Somewhat frustratingly, another slightly sluggish rocker (“No Way”) breaks the serene spell-casting momentum but the more sprightly trash ‘n’ roll of “It’s The Love” (happily revisiting the choppy delights of Kim’s one-album side-project The Amps) more than makes up for it. The rather too-short album concludes with its titular track, that provides the most disarmingly ‘non-rock’ moment. With Kim cooing eerily over a wobbly keyboard and distant acid guitar lines, she evocatively echoes Helium’s Mary Timony at her most bewitchingly-macabre.

Mountain Battles undoubtedly lacks a truly powerful singular Breeders moment – like say “Hellbound”, “Cannonball”, “Head To Toe” or “Huffer” – for Kim Deal to prove she still has the true twisted magic of melody lurking within. However, the absence of such an overbearing song has paradoxically freed-up her rich imagination, fashion-free impulses and eclectic reach. Taken as a whole, this endearingly strange collection should force casual-listeners to appreciate the importance of the album as a convoluted, contrary and eternally charismatic art form, which can still be defended by even the most work-shy of songsmiths.

A Fine Frenzy – One Cell In The Sea

A Fine Frenzy’s (aka singer-songwriter Alison Sudol) debut album One Cell In The Sea combines gently percolating to sweeping musical arrangements of piano, keyboards, and strings, shaped into mid-tempo numbers and ballads, with Alison’s clear, but slightly heathery, straightforward vocal delivery, and deals mainly with the emotional upheaval of romantic relationships – perfect fodder for the Starbucks Coffee set, and apparently VH-1, since A Fine Frenzy has been spotlighted as a “You Oughta Know” artist.

Overall, however, A Fine Frenzy is still a cut above the average Starbucks chanteuse. There is a density and depth to Alison’s lyrics and an engaging nature to her varied vocals and instrumentation. The sheer breadth of musical instruments utilized lifts many of the songs out of the plainer, “girl-with-guitar” (or piano…or keyboards) style (but even if the sonics were stripped away, the song structures and vocals would hold up well in an acoustic setting). Alison’s voice glides with ease between more hushed, melancholy tones, mid-range musings, plaintive, emotive vocals, and higher, airy singing. The song structures, for the most part, are solid, if similar, and lend a supportive skeleton, while the musical dynamics and accents never get too sleepy or saccharine.

On the other hand, many of the lyrics-heavy songs suffer from similarity, with that familiar type of structure which needs to be more varied and distinctive to make an impression on the listener. Most of the songs adhere to a format of short-phrase vocals and a sing-song feel with pleasant musical accompaniment that doesn’t push any boundaries.

Alison’s vocals resemble a mix of Hayley Alker of Helsinki, Kate Tucker (of Kate Tucker and the Sons Of Sweden), and Beth Orton when she’s more subdued or singing in a throaty, feathery tone and not pushing out her vocals. On the more expressive chorus sections of songs, her voice is not as powerful or wide-ranging or lyrically stark as Tori Amos or Regina Spektor, but her vocal delivery sometimes approaches the style of those singers.

Highlights include the opener “Come On, Come Out”, with Alison’s wistfully plaintive vocal tone matched by the layers of keyboard notes, piano, flute, drumbeat, and cymbal shimmer, and the lyrics-centered song, “The Minnow & The Trout”, where Alison balances lighter, breathy accents against rougher, plainer vocals as she sings “We were one cell in the sea in the beginning and what we’re made of is all the same. We’re not that different after all”.

True to the title “Whisper”, Alison is hushed and whispery on the verses of this slower-paced song, sing-talking against picked guitar, where her fingers can be heard gliding over the strings, and on the chorus parts her vocals lift upwards, hitting airy highs.

The standout track of the album is the stirring, solidly hopeful “You Picked Me”. Alison starts off sounding a bit like Chan Marshall, sing-talking in a darker, husky tone, navigating around the strings, drums, cymbals, bell-like notes, and sweeter backing vocals. Then she lays it all out on the chorus, as her voice and the music swell, and she fluidly modulates between plaintive, mid-range tones and sweetly delicate heights, building up emotionally on successive chorus sections.

Another bright spot is the mid-tempo “Liar Liar”, which begins with old-fashioned accordion notes that fade and give way to piano runs, tinkling bell notes, drums, strings, and a shaken-sand sound, as Alison inflects with a throaty, velvety tone on the verses and with a strong, straightforward delivery on the chorus segments, accented with airy background vocals.

On “Last Of Days” Alison reverses the traditional “verse, chorus, verse” formula of soft verse and loud chorus by singing lightly on the verse and coming down on the chorus, all aching and melancholic against the piano, bell ting, and drumbeat.

Lastly, “Hope For The Hopeless” contains the finest parts of what A Fine Frenzy has to offer, starting with a lower bass guitar line, guitar and keyboard notes, and slower pace, which soon accelerates to a mid-tempo beat, and builds up in sound and emotion, as Alison’s sighing and bittersweet vocals rise and fall with longing.

The Patsys – Split 7"

Two Columbus, Ohio groups, two tracks of throwback rock stylings, one seven inch, and one disappointed listener. The Patsys’ is “Have You Got Soul?” and Magic City offers “Teenage Electricity.” Both songs basically cover the same theme: break the spell of boredom for the listener and “shake some hips.” However, I feel some difficulty in getting enthused about a release without individuality. I’m certainly not going to dance.

Obvious immediately from the album art, both groups strive for a sense of retro-chic, but in doing so compromise their own agency and identity. Straight-up, rough-and-tumble guitar rock reliant upon a few chords and catchy choruses (and, in the case of the Patsys, an organ often requisite in the genre, as well) is the show here. Both tracks are total garage-rock pastiche, longing desperately for days when this kind of stripped-down, gruff sound was still novel. If the seven-inch had materialized into a different musical culture, or if either band attempted to alter existing garage rock norms (well, alright, Magic City does it a bit in opting for two guitars and no bass, and also in exchanging males for females on the duty of guitar and vocals; that much has a freshness to it, though the resulting sound is a bit redolent of Metric), this review would be of a completely different tone; seen through historic lenses, the atmosphere is a bit stale and the music sounds regurgitated.

There very well could exist fun on this release, but it’s obscured by far too many degrees of imitation and inauthenticity.

Boo and Boo Too – s/t EP

It is really hard for me to review an album that I’m in the middle of the road on. I don’t want to come off as hating an album that isn’t bad, although generally I feel that’s how I come off. Mediocrity just really, really annoys me. Mediocrity that is a failed attempt at being edgy is far worse.

With that in mind, Boo and Boo Too’s self-titled EP really really bothers me. They show promise as a band, they really do; the sound they are going for can turn into a huge success when done correctly (see: A Place To Bury Strangers, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Liars, HEALTH, etc.) but Boo and Boo Too just do not seem to understand their sound. Background guitar whines and drones aren’t added to a track if they are intended “to sound cool” and that’s their only purpose. When My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Jimi Hendrix, and Glenn Branca created feedback drenched pieces, they had a specific feeling or mood they intended to create in the listener. I feel that this is often overlooked by people today; they hear the sound and say “whoa, that sounds cool!” but don’t bother to actually listen and let it create the intended emotion. When people who do this start a band, the result is something along the lines of the Boo and Boo Too EP.

I’m going to take the track “Couch On Fire” as an example. This track is six minutes long, the longest on the album. It’s actually not that bad of a song, but it is essentially a pop song trying to blend in with the post-punk crowd. It starts out with a very Sonic Youth-y guitar sound that 15 seconds in turns into a thin whine. All the instruments except for said guitar, a tambourine and some hand claps fall out so that the chorus can be yelled by a crowd of three or four in a sing-songy fashion. Everything comes back in, proceeds in verse-chorus-verse format…and what are we left with? A pop song with a guitar pulling many overdone sounds (yet generally the results are better than in Boo and Boo Too’s case).

I would actually recommend this album to anyone who needs a step between The Strokes Is This It and a Sonic Youth album; Boo and Boo Too EP can work as a greater primer into noisy music, it just isn’t as effective as its much more challenging peers/legends.

Evangelista – Hello, Voyager

“Paper Kitten Claw,“ the 8th track on Hello, Voyager, sums up the career of Carla Bozulich in a nutshell. “Every time you see the word never/you must cross it out.“ She is another entry in the category of no nonsense, boundary pushing, kinda scary rock women such as Lydia Lunch, Diamanda Galas, and Exene Cervenka. No disrespect is but PJ Harvey should hope to be as adventurous. If Harvey were to open up her Beefheart & Waits influences they would fall somewhere in line with the path that Bozulich has taken.

It’s the usual sort of story everyone is familiar with by now regarding the 90’s alternative rock scene. Underground band with an unusual sound gets signed by a major label, puts out some great but not profitable albums, gets dropped by label and then the chances are good the band breaks up. The Geraldine Fibbers were one such band. Their debut for Virgin, Lost Somewhere Between The Earth and My Home, ended up on Spin’s year end charts and still holds up as one of the oddest and most beautiful albums released by a major. Nels Cline joined the band for their second album, Butch, which strangely enough was a cleaner, more pop friendly affair. Then the axe fell, Cline has since joined Wilco, (come on, you have to fit that angle in somewhere) and Bozulich has created some of the best and most daring work of her career. If there’s something she wants to attempt, she’s going to do it and it’s going to be done her way.

Evangelista, the name of her last album, is now the name of her new project. For Hello, Voyager she enlisted the help of the Silver Mt. Zion Choir and recorded at Hotel2Tango in Montreal. The album calls to mind everything from Jim Morrison to Jandek, but is far more listenable than either one. For recording with the Godspeed collective the album doesn’t feature their brand of apocalyptic post rock. Bozulich is far more concerned with telling tells of her own personal turmoil. It almost feels as though everything she’s written about previously has led to this point.

“Lucky Lucky Luck” is as creepy as you can get. Singing as a character with an evil soul and a dead heart it some how doesn’t seem much like a character at all, more like an autobiography. It’s a low key, rather slinky song, punctuated with a sinister chorus of “woo hoo’s.” There are several instrumentals featuring layers of sound; guitars and other ambient noises carefully weave in an out of each other, adding to the unsettling mood. Even when not using her trademark growl Bozulich stamps her name all over a song. Although nothing is as accessible and rocking as her work with the Fibbers, “Smooth Jazz” and “Truth Is Dark Like Outer Space” keep Voyager from being bogged down.

No longer bound by a major label and having such gifted musicians such as A Silver Mt. Zion & company, Bozulich is free to let her talents open up and get abstract. The two make for an amazing pair though the show is clearly hers. But if you happen to come across a Geraldine Fibbers album in the used bins, do yourself a favor & pick that up as well.

The Catalyst – Marianas Trench 12" EP

It’s been awhile since this Philadelphian has caught whiff of a Richmond, VA hard(core) band worth paying any attention. Then the Catalyst and its 12” EP Marianas Trench finds it’s way out of the piles and on to my turntable. I think my face was nearly ripped off and I loved every second of it.

Marianas Trench is just four tracks, two that seal the Catalyst’s reputation as a hardcore/noise band and two that should be giving the group a name among stoner rock fans. “This Bike is a Gravity Bong” and “Kyle vs. Robocop” are the full-throttle earth shakers. The pair of songs attacks with walls of sound – feedback, distortion, and screaming vocals. There are shreds of melody to be found and the sludgy grooves will quickly hook right into you.

“Proceed with Caution” and “Attention Deficit Disorder” are the more stoner rock oriented pair – tuned down and slowed down for your enjoyment. “Proceed With Caution” is instrumental, while “Attention Deficit Disorder” includes vocals similar to the first two tracks. These smoky jams are the perfect sludge fest, but the Catalyst is still tightly focused, almost technical in its delivery.

The Marianas Trench 12” EP is of a limited edition and comes on really awesome silk screened vinyl (blue or clear). In addition to cool packaging and awesome music, the band clearly has a great sense of humor as well – from the record itself (telling you to play forward and backward for satanic messages) to the fine print on the cover (telling you to send a drawing of a monkey with knives in order to receive a lyrics sheet).

If you love noisy hardcore, grungy, sludgy stoner rock or anything in between, then the Catalyst should be on your radar. The group will pummel your ears to a happy pulp, and then I imagine they’d smoke a joint with you while shooting the shit. Good times had by all.

Super Furry Animals – Love Kraft

The definition of pop music seems to have been altered for the current generation of teenagers. Today, it is “music” written by middle aged millionaires and recorded by glamorized strippers. It is nonsense about heartache and desire given praise from a generation it wasn’t written by nor fairly portrays the emotions of. Pop music should be about catchy melody, imaginative lyrics and special instrumental wizardry. It should be an original and colorful experience. Few bands today can capture these elements but Super Furry Animals do very well. They are masters of this sound and Love Kraft is a wonderful album.

Super Furry Animals formed in Cardiff, Wales, in 1993 and have had a steady following ever since. Gruff Rhys serves as the bands leader and he is a great one. He is the main songwriter, vocalist and lead guitarist. Their songs are quirky and filled with appealing sounds. Rhys has a very mellow and warm voice that fits with the orchestral pop universe the band provides. Love Kraft, the seventh studio album by the group, is yet another fine offering by this unique band. First time listeners will discover a candidate for their new favorite band while fans will agree that the quintet hasn’t lost their drive.

The cover of Love Kraft resembles a colony on a distant planet and it represents the music well. The album as a whole gives off the sensation of isolation like being in deep space. The disc opens with a splash of water and proceeds with 54 minutes of great pop/electronic music. The trademark mixing of instruments and sound effects is still here and, just like with all their other material, it works. That being said, Love Kraft has little experimenting by the band and a lot of familiarity. Whether that is a negative point or not is of the listener to decide. The only noticeable addition here is that all members do lead vocals for the first time but it doesn’t alter the sound much. Expectations of great original music are well satisfied with Love Kraft but devoted fans should know they won’t hear anything revolutionary this time around.

It is seldom when an album has as few downsides as Love Kraft does. Besides of the one of no new ground being touched (which is not really a complaint as much as it is an observation), two of the songs don’t represent the originality of the band very well. “Ohio Heat” is a very catchy and likeable song but it is an obvious rip off of “Trick of the Tail” by Genesis. It is a great melody and it makes a great song but it’s still a let down that Rhys and Co. have used someone else’s song (whether consciously or not) as a template for their own. The other problematic song, “Lazer Beam”, is simply too formulaic and too much of a single type song. Both of these pieces have the distinctive SFA sound but they’re not particularly original.

Love Kraft could be seen as the most mature and calm album in the Super Furry Animal catalog. If previous works showed a need for trying new things to see what worked, this album states that the group knows what they need to do in order to make a good record. It is not the best album by them but it is a good place to start and get used to their sound. If this album is appreciated, Rings Around the World (their masterpiece) and Phantom Power come highly recommended.

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