The Walk Ons – We Did This On Purpose EP

The title rules out, for anyone who had wondered, any possiblity of this being the sort of ‘chance’ recording pioneered by John Cage. What the title doesn’t tell you is that this is some pretty solid up-tempo slick rock, the sort (kinda) pioneered (kinda) by Franz Ferdinand and then copied by a thousand others with varying levels of success and quality.

The Walk Ons fall somewhere in the middle of that long line. The songs are all shiny and polished but stopping to stare for a while at the glossy veneer might reveal there isn’t much there, like being given a present only to discover its actually layer upon layer of wrapping paper. Not that that’s a huge issue with an EP, when all that’s really required is that you kick in the door and prepare to answer questions later, so long as you just get noticed!

So how does this stack up as a career-boosting battering ram? “Forget You” is typically insubstantial but has an anthemic chorus that doesn’t need any qualification or purpose, it’s just plain good. And its possible to do a shuffling, awkward dance to it too, about as much as any reasonable person looking for good times and rock and roll could ask for. That sets the blueprint for the rest of this EP. “When We Were Together” is somewhat calmer, but still relies on a big, powerful, chorus to prop it up. Any fan of funky distorted guitars and conventional song structures with choruses you can sing along to will love this. Maybe.

Interview with Hostage Calm

Hostage Calm is from Wallingford, Connecticut and has been playing up and down the east coast since its DIY demo in 2007. With every member free of collegiate duties and a second LP announced on Run for Cover Records, it appears they will not be graduating from the band. Guitarist Tom Chiari has been with Hostage Calm since their melodic hardcore inception until their recent pop-driven metamorphosis. We talk about the forthcoming release and take a glimpse into the future of a bright band on the rise.

What took place between recording and Lens that you can attribute to the new sound?

A ton of stuff. Lens came out in May 2008, the bulk of which was written after the release of the demo in the summer of 2007, and we’ve just finished mastering the new record this month (April 2010). The recording process took a full calendar year, for a number of reasons. We’ve grown a great deal as players, writers and people in those nearly three years since the conception of Lens. We’ve all gotten better and more confident. Chris has been taking vocal lessons for more than a year, and it obviously shows, he sounds great. I think in improving as players on all fronts, we felt more comfortable incorporating the wide variety of influences into our sound that we maybe lacked the confidence to do before. Playing a similar set for nearly three years was a bit tiring, and I think that, subconsciously perhaps, had something to do with the departure.

Give a laundry list of influences for the current Hostage Calm sound.

The Smiths are a big one with Johnny Marr’s awesome guitar jangle, Morrissey’s crooning and their overall take on pop music. Others would be early-era Beatles, The Clash, Bruce Springsteen and Ted Leo. I think if you mix all that in with the punk direction we had going on Lens, it fits. Sometimes the sound resonates with moments of early 80′s British power-pop: late Jam, Squeeze, maybe not as far out as something like XTC. I suppose every member might give a different list. I’d also say Make Do and Mend and My Heart to Joy. They’re our best-friend bands and we talk about, play and listen to music with them constantly. Our three bands are each distinctly different, but I think we influence and inspire each other in weird ways.

Was this LP a goal you all saw from the beginning but didn’t have the means to create yet?

No, I don’t think so. Each time we’ve gone into the studio we’ve had the songs written and a pretty clear vision of how it would come out. With Lens and each other previous projects we were extremely happy with the finished product. We came away thinking we made the best record we could each time. That’s also really a testament to Greg, the guy who has engineered and recorded all of our records (Silver Bullet Studios, Burlington, CT). He’s a very talented dude and he has done a great job of helping us translate our ideas.

Has the live show evolved along with the music? Any new stage moves to speak of?

Haha, well Tim (the bass player) has some pretty sexual stage moves, but I’m not sure if that’s anything new. Unfortunately we’ve haven’t been as active with shows as we have in the past because of recording, dudes finishing school, etc. We’ve been working on the live sound a ton though, and we’ve put a great deal of thought into getting some different guitar and bass tones. Also, Tim and Nick (other guitarist) have been working hard on backing vocals, so people will see a few more mics on stage than in the past.

What’s your stance on bands that have a conscious image?

I suppose it depends on the image, haha. I think every band has a conscious image to some extent. Every band chooses t-shirt designs or album artwork or whatever, and they want that to reflect how they see themselves, or how they want people to perceive them. The end goal of that image is to get people to listen to your songs, and to attract people who you think will like your music. Sure, there are big bands with marketing people promoting a certain image and the band is totally hands-off, maybe they have different motivations, maybe they just want to play music and not deal with that, or maybe they just want to make money. Being hands-off is not something I would choose for us, but to each their own.

What’s the plus-side of sitting on a finished, anticipated album?

Listening to the album 40 times in a row, showing it to all our friends and getting out of the cave zone to play some gigs.

What formats are you releasing it in? Who will be handling what?

Run For Cover Records is doing CD, LP and digital. Jeff and Dre are stand up people and Jeff answers my random text messages at all hours of the day and night.

Have you ever toyed with the idea of going full-time as young bands often do?

We actually are going full time starting in June. Chris and Tim are the last to graduate from college, and they’re doing so in May. Once the album is out, we plan on touring hard. It’s a dream.

You have a spiritual advisor listed on your Myspace. What does he do for you?

Haha, Ed was in our last band At All Costs. Ed played trombone and when our trumpet player quit, we decided to end the band and do a new one without horns. He’s a great friend and great person and he kind of got the short end of the stick on that. He played trombone on one song on the new record. He currently sings for a band called Mute Witness.

What are a few of the cities you look forward to every tour?

We’ve been fortunate to meet great people all over the place, and we unfortunately haven’t spent enough time out west, but I’d have to say Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Birmingham, Columbus, Portland and Tacoma, WA.

What bands coming out of your home state of Connecticut should people be aware of?

There are a ton, CT has a great and diverse scene.
My Heart to Joy – http://myspace.com/myhearttojoy
Make Do and Mend – http://myspace.com/makedoandmend
Deadlights – http://myspace.com/deadlights
Don’t Say I Wont – http://myspace.com/dontsayiwont
Jettison – http://myspace.com/imrichimrich
Baby Grand – http://myspace.com/babygrandct
Midi and the Modern Dance – http://myspace.com/midiandthemoderndance
Mute Witness – http://myspace.com/mutewitnessct
Cold Snap – http://myspace.com/coldsnapct
Hate Your Guts http://myspace.com/hateyourgutsct
Sabotage – http://myspace.com/sabotagect
Swear Jar – http://myspace.com/swearjarct

Thanks for the interview!

Ruby Throat’s debut album out on vinyl

Official News from the band Ruby Throat (AKA KatieJane Garside of QueenAdreena and Daisy Chainsaw and Chris Wittingham)

A new tiny specialist record label on the west coast of america called ‘THE LOVERS’ WILL’  have done RUBY THROAT the great honour of pressing and releasing our 1st album ‘the ventriloquist’ on vinyl, this is a double album limited to 300 pressings, our dear friend aaron has made 100 copies available to collectors from www.katiejanegarside.com, these will be signed by kjg/cw and numbered

This is the press release from ‘the lovers’ will’: “The Lovers’ Will Records & Press is proud to announce our inaugural release: The deluxe double vinyl LP edition of the classic Folk-Noir recording, The Ventriloquist, by Ruby Throat.  Limited to 300 hand-numbered copies in a reverse-board gatefold sleeve and including a full colour insert, this is the first time this gorgeous recording– originally self-released on CD in 2007– has been issued on vinyl! We are very pleased and excited to be forming this partnership with the band for the label’s first venture.

Ruby Throat is a bewitching duo from The Edge of The Woods, UK and is compromised of vocalist KatieJane Garside (Daisy Chainsaw, Queenadreena) and guitarist Chris Wittingham. Garside’s voice is much like The Ventriloquist’s subject matter – riding on a dark line between the ethereal and the visceral. The album is made up of psychosexual musings, spectral visions, stark murder balladry and other transgressive tales delicately surrounded by the Psychedelic dream-wrap and pastoral strumming of Wittingham.

We believe The Ventriloquist is the perfect introduction for the tone and quality of albums, chapbooks and limited art-pieces The Lovers’ Will is planning to release in the coming months and years.

Our gratitude is due to KatieJane and Chris for their stunning music and endless help and support in making this release a reality. “
if you’d like a signed copy, please go to: http://katiejanegarside.com/shop.html

and additional unsigned copies available from:

http://www.theloverswill.com

R.E.M. releasing 2CD version of Fables of the Reconstruction

R.E.M. will celebrate the 25th anniversary of their 3rd album Fables of the Reconstruction with a 2 CD release on July 13. The first disc will feature the original album while the second disc will contain demos of songs to appear on Fables as well as an early version of Lifes Rich Pageants’ ‘“Hyena” and an previously unreleased track “Throw These Trolls Away.” The complete tracklist is below:

R.E.M., Fables of the Reconstruction: 25th Anniversary Edition

Disc 1: Original Album
1. “Feeling Gravitys Pull”
2. “Maps and Legends”
3. “Driver 8″
4. “Life and How to Live It”
5. “Old Man Kensey”
6. “Cant Get There from Here”
7. “Green Grow the Rushes”
8. “Kohoutek”
9. “Auctioneer (Another Engine)”
10. “Good Advices”
11. “Wendell Gee”

Disc 2: Demos
1. “Auctioneer (Another Engine)” (Demo)
2. “Bandwagon (Demo)”
3. “Cant Get There from Here” (Demo)
4. “Driver 8″ (Demo)
5. “Feeling Gravitys Pull” (Demo)
6. “Good Advices” (Demo)
7. “Green Grow the Rushes” (Demo)
8. “Hyena (Demo)”
9. “Kohoutek (Demo)”
10. “Life and How to Live It” (Demo)
11. “Maps and Legends” (Demo)
12. “Old Man Kensey” (Demo)
13. “Throw These Trolls Away” (Demo)
14. “Wendell Gee” (Demo)

Debut Album and Tour Dates from Sahara Smith

Sahara Smith is a stunning, young singer-songwriter who started performing at age 12, and first garnered national attention at age 15 when she placed second in a contest for young songwriters on A Prairie Home Companion.

Now 21, Sahara is poised for a breakout with June tour dates supporting Mason Jennings, and a just-completed album of original songs overseen by T Bone Burnett and producer Emile Kelman. The album is called ‘Myth of the Heart’ and features many of Burnett’s first-call session players, including drummer Jay Bellerose, guitarist Marc Ribot, and bassist Dennis Crouch.

Listen to 3 new tracks here: http://bit.ly/9k0qVV

Sahara Smith Tour:
(** w/ Mason Jennings)
5/21 – Dallas, TX @ Granda Theatre**
5/22 – Austin, TX @ Antones**
6/10 – Richmond, VA @ Botanical Gardens**
6/11 – Falls Church, VA @ State House**
6/12 – Annapolis, MD @ Rams Head**
6/15 – New York, NY @ City Winery
6/16 – New York, NY @ Rockwood Music Hall
6/25 – Chicago IL, @ Lincoln Hall**
6/26 – Chicago IL, @ Lincoln Hall**

Sahara Smith on the Web:
http://www.myspace.com/saharasmithmusic

New Album from Luna Is Honey

“Who Wouldn’t” mp3:
http://bantermm.com/tracks/LunaIsHoney-WhoWouldnt.mp3

Luna is Honey has become a fixture in Los Angeles’ burgeoning, increasingly diverse, and always progressive DIY music scene since their inception in 2006.  Having played in various bands together since their pubescent days as goth teens who gradually transitioned into more melodic, more adult, less gaudily-stylized disillusionment, guitarist/vocalist Josh Crampton, drummer Amorn Bholsangngam, beatsmith/soundscape artist Jay Francisco (also known as jbts), and keyboardist Elijah Crampton (also known as E&E) joined forces once more to coalesce their love for punk intensity, pop sensibilities, jazz spontaneity, and dreamy sonic textures.  The result is chaotic and beautiful at once, drawing from seemingly contradictory aesthetic sources to create a sound that is singular and harmonious.

Having self-released two full-length albums on CD-R and cassette formats (2008′s Rhino Sinners and 2009′s Raptor Red), the group has crafted what may be their most accessible, most immediately enjoyable release yet. Copy Cats (available now) is a fine introduction to the world of Luna is Honey for those who have lived beyond the reaches of the L.A. music scene and the most accurate representation of the band as a formidable live entity.  With bassist Tyler Binkley joining the ranks to round out the line-up, Luna is Honey is poised to do justice to all the things that influence their music — from their beloved city, to their musical heroes (Prince, Elvis Costello, My Bloody Valentine, Brian Eno, The Cure, to name a few), to their various pets, to their still-lingering affinity for all things dark — perhaps making a few fingers snap, a few toes tap, and a few heads bob along the way.

Luna is Honey on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/lunachild

Jeremy Jay – Splash

Sensitive rock ‘n’ roller Jeremy Jay has kept a prolific pace since 2007, releasing a slew of albums, EPs and singles with the support of K Records. He has two full-lengths in the can for release in 2010, and Splash is the first. Written and recorded as he lived in London between long stretches touring, it finds Jay in typically soul-searching fashion, both romanticizing the distance and yearning for the things left behind.

Where previous album Slow Dance was a celebration of living in the present – the rapture of unfolding romance, prowling the city streets with friends, sharing a slow dance – Splash takes a more reflective approach, presenting a soul in isolation creating a postcard from afar. This is also a more down-to-Earth affair. Gone are the horses jumping over moonbeams, replaced with long-distance phone calls and an obsession with jaguars. Lead track “As You Look Over the City” jumps out of the box like said jaguar with the band brashly striking an overblown chord in unison, signaling the wide-open attitude and bright sonics that fill the remainder of the album.

Jay’s hooky garage rock sound returns, no more complex than it needs to be to be tuneful, and the catchy songs become familiar almost immediately. Off-kilter guitar leads earn the Pavement comparison, but another pre-release comparison to EVOL-era Sonic Youth is mostly in Jay’s overactive imagination, unless you count his Kim Gordon-esque whispered intimacies and occasionally tone-deaf sassiness. This vocal style, mixed up front and maintaining all its imperfections and idiosyncrasies, separates Jay from the field, humanizing his music with a personality you have no choice but to either reject or accept. His heart is on his sleeve for sure, but the make or break proposition isn’t anything he’s saying. Rather, it is his performance, raw and in the moment, which makes Jay an artist worthy of attention. Instead of seeming like a project, you trust that his art is born of life, easy to believe in and root for. Not a side-gig as he works in graphic design or app development, you get the feeling that he makes albums simply because that’s what he’s made to do, his primary instinct.

Somewhat contrary to his past successes, the songs on Splash that are most successful are the songs that eschew myth-making fantasy and keep their feet firmly planted on the ground – or at least lounging on a balcony or riding on a BMX with a guitar strapped on back. A few ventures into pirate and battlefield metaphors qualify as minor detours, not fatal flaws. At his best, Jay can’t be beat when he plays to his overarching theme: locating the importance of his small world by living away from it. “Just Dial My Number” balances the bouncy and the scuzzy, mixing the trust, hope, and barely-contained urgency of relationships temporarily disembodied via telephony.  Piano-led “Someday, Somewhere” is an elegant and spare dedication to one left behind. “Hologram Feather” is a slowly chugging remembrance, abruptly snuffed out when Jay remembers driving “up to San Francisco on my own to visit you”. There’s a sense that the memory got a little too real to go on.

The album clocks in at a very brief nine songs and 27 minutes. When the fluttering little riff for the final song, the Modest Mouse-shaded “Why Is This Feeling So Strong”, comes out of the speakers, it feels too soon. But it’s in keeping with the sentiment of the album. You can never say it all in a postcard. The best you can do is cram in as much as you can with short, vivid bursts.

Jeremy Jay

K Records

Ceremony – Rocket Fire

Do you ever get into those heated debates, the kinds that quickly turn into arguments, about the best decade for music? People will always be biased towards whatever specific time they grew up in and it never seems to get anywhere. Craig Finn says 1977 was the best year in rock and roll, James Murphy wrote that the 80s are mostly forgotten, I always hold the opinion that 1959 was the best year for music, period. But who’s exactly right and does it even matter? One thing’s for sure, the 80s are still reigning with albums, bands and sounds from that space of time continuing to influence even the noisiest of bands.

Take someone like Ceremony, a band that contains the remains of Skywave, Paul Baker and John Fedowitz still sound a lot like what their ex-bandmate’s current band, A Place to Bury Strangers, sounds like. Except that for this strong duo, their music is much more focused on the melodic side of pop and how it can still maintain an equal amount of importance, through the cloud of noise. And this noise, which comes at you from inception on “Stars Fall,” is always at the root of their sound. It’s comfortably numb and it permeates an appealing amount of reverb that it channels both what My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth did with their rock; the biggest difference being in the delivery.

On Rocket Fire, Baker and Fedowitz bring out their inner The Cure and offer an impressive slice of standard pop hits. These ten songs swirl past with each one containing a solid three minutes of music into what ends up being a smooth, 35-minute album. And while each song seems indebted to the 80s and their long-standing trademark of melting lyrics and tones, the strongest shift in sound comes from the loudness of the guitars and drums. Even with the aforementioned song’s blast of noise, the lyrics are simple and lovely, “Anywhere you are, you will know” and the same can be said about this music, it’s sure to be well known for its pop sensibilities.

But don’t me mistaken either, because there’s also specific examples of how they’ve kept to their own brand of noise-filtered rock that is neither shy nor meek. On “Don’t Leave Me Behind” the guitars sound as if they are being channeled through a blender, with a squealing amount of atmospherics hidden in the foreground. Booming and uncontrollable, the pair of musicians keep everything loosely in control with a machine-like drum pattern. And though “Marianne” is in a much slower tempo, the wall of sound makes it that much more compelling – even when they conjure up their inner Stephin Merritt, it sounds coyly close to Distortion-era Magnetic Fields.

And definitely take a moment to stare in awe at the awesome cover to the left of this review. The album opens up in a four-part gatefold that makes the lyrics not just easy to read but a terrific pair to the album’s music. For every new guitar riff, the drums come in with a tremendous fill and even better accompaniment. Both members are listed as providing “vocals, guitar, bass, drum machine” so it’s hard to decipher it but on the fresh breath of air that is “Never Make You Cry,” it all comes together as one overflowing hill of volcanic eruption. And that’s what Rocket Fire is about, forgetting about the analysis and influences, letting go and taking off on an explosive ride.

“Someday” by Ceremony

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Killer Pimp

The Bamboo Kids – The Way Things Are

This is Garage Rock 101 – listening to music like this, it becomes more obvious the quite incredible sphere of influence the Kings of Leon have had on emerging American bands in this century. Of course there’s countless other bands that helped contribute to this sound, a quintessentially American sound. It doesn’t seem very likely that The Bamboo Kids will be heralded as one of the greats of this genre though. Plying similar trades as other bands is fine but we don’t need another Rolling Stones, there needs to be something new or different for everyone.

And that is sadly lacking from The Way Things Are, there’s five good country/blues-influenced rock songs here, but those songs are lacking in any real spark or memorable moments. This is not helped by overly generous song running times, the shortest being just over four minutes. It would perhaps have been better to concentrate on shorter, punchier songs that would help to grab attention. There’s really not much to get excited about here. Case in point with “Central European Time”, a slow blues number that is as frustrating as being stuck in a long queue at Charles De Gaulle Airport, it burns away at the same pace for five merciless minutes, devoid of any real invention.

“The Streets of New York City” has a saxophone part that would have Clarence Clemons looking over his shoulder uneasily, but apart from that there isn’t any real reason to really care about this. The band aren’t bad just apparently short on ideas – and ideas are important, just ask Albert Einstein.

Cheese People – “Open My Eyes”

What starts out as a truly sad, forlorn bass line reminiscent of “Wandering Star” via Portishead, Russia’s Cheese People are blazing a trail here on “Open My Eyes”. Their self titled LP was released last year and I am ashamed to say that it took this long to reach me. Cibo Matto would piss themselves at all 12 tracks (13 are found on this LP, the last being a remix of the second song, “Ua-A-A!”).

What is found here on track 10 is super fun, creepy, danceable beat-laden music. Although “Open My Eyes” is way too short it may be for the best. If this barrage lasted any longer than three minutes my brain would explode through my $40 headphones. Just over 49 seconds in and the programming pops, bounces and beeps like that of the first hand view of an alien abduction. As odd as that may seem, visions of The 4th Kind fly through my head, but with a bit less terror.When listening to this track you can’t help tapping your toes. Cheese People are new and exciting and their 2009 self titled release is one of the best albums I have heard in a really long time.

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