Review: Dartz! - This Is My Ship

Posted on 22 March 2008 | 1 Comment

England isn’t exactly known for producing top-notch emo groups, but then again Dartz! is more of a fusion band; but not some jazz-rock fusion (though Bitches Brew is pretty great). Sounding like the bastard child of American Football and Test Icicles, the drunk and buoyant emo-dance-punk on This Is My Ship is absolutely infectious. It is really really fucking good. This Is My Ship takes familiar elements and combines them in a way that is hard to describe but easy to fall in love with. There are the typical dance-inspired hi-hats that mingle right alongside the circular melodic guitar lines in a way that just makes me want to get up and move (and I’m not much of a dancer). It is a raucous and off-kilter I-don’t-give-a-shit free for all full of catchy hooks and dynamically spiky new-wave-emo-something-for-everyone. There are pretty parts; there are sassy parts and despite the fusion tag I’ve applied to it, This Is My Ship may be just about as close to the traditional Midwest emo sound as the British can come, but if so I’m certainly more than OK with that. Get a copy now from Deep Elm.

MP3 | Dartz! – St. Petersburg This Is My Ship
MP3 | Dartz! – Once, Twice, Again! This Is My Ship

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Emo, New Wave

Review: Dragons Of Zynth - Coronation Thieves

Posted on 3 March 2008 | No Comments

I’ll lay it all on the line here and just tell you flat-out that Coronation Thieves is a powerful, chaotic, and (ultimately) brilliant album that seemed to fly under just about everyone’s radar last year (including mine). This debut from the Brooklyn-based noisemakers Dragons Of Zynth is the musical equivalent of a kid in a candy store who grabs a little bit of everything as they pillage the little shop. It’s Prince vs. Black Dice vs. Husker Du, Hendrix vs. The Eternals, or even De La Soul vs. Gang Of Four. It is all that and more; It is incredible and overwhelming.

An obvious comparison to casual listeners would be TV On The Radio at their most disjointed and then some, partly due to TV’s own David Sitek’s production work on Coronation Thieves. The end result is neo-avant-disco-punk-soul that rips and tears at your speakers until they are just about disintegrated. A discernible streak of noisy free-jazz also runs through the music of Coronation Thieves as well; in large part (probably) because Aku and Akwetey O.T. (the twin brothers that front the band) both studied with jazz saxophonist Yusef Lateef.

But as visceral and incendiary as the album is, Dragons Of Zynth manage to somehow keep the melodies afloat amid the cacophony of raw angular guitars, walls of fuzzy distortion, and excessive new wavey synths. Everything on Coronation Thieves isn’t necessarily like a caged beast unleashed. The album’s closer “Closer” is a bit more subdued and works amazingly well as the final exclamation point at the end of a thrilling, exhausting, but truly excellent album.

MP3 | Dragons Of Zynth – Who Rize Above Coronation Thieves
MP3 | Dragons Of Zynth – Breaker Coronation Thieves

Filed Under: Album Reviews, New Wave, Noise, Post Rock

Review: Kittens Ablaze - Hot Litter EP

Posted on 25 February 2008 | 1 Comment

Okay. How great (or at least amusing) is it that Kittens Ablaze titled their EP Hot Litter? Am I the only one who finds that totally hilarious? Anyhow, Kittens Ablaze is a band that calls Brooklyn, New York home and (well) their music is combustible! It is a manic clusterfuck of dance-punk-folk that sounds like what might happen if Defiance, Ohio moved to New York City and started gettin’ busy in the club scene and also a little like Ra Ra Riot. Acoustic guitars ramble and roll, and as a mournful violin provides additional accompaniment. Hot Litter is a highly enjoyable and welcome addition to my collection (or yours) and (if you care) Kittens Ablaze was also recently named MTV U’s band of the week. Killer.

MP3 | Kittens Ablaze – Government Romance Hot Litter EP
MP3 | Kittens Ablaze – Strobelight Hot Litter EP

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Americana, Indie Rock, New Wave

Review: Celebration - The Modern Tribe

Posted on 7 February 2008 | No Comments

This should have been posted last night, but my daughter got sick and was coughing and running a fever of 103. Ahhh, the joys of parenthood. Anyhow, the Baltimore, MD based band Celebration released their second full-length for 4AD called The Modern Tribe last fall and it is a doozy of a record that I’m surprised hasn’t garnered more attention. The band consists of vocalist Katrina Ford, multi-instrumentalist Sean Antanaitis, and drummer David Bergander and knocks out an darkly progressive and densely minimal blast of primal noise that sounds something like a cross between Blondie and TV On The Radio. Droning synths and organs (and even occasional brass stabs) bubble up between pseudo-tribal drumming that hammers out fractured and almost staccato rhythms that are somehow still propulsive. Even just a quick blast through this one is enough to know that The Modern Tribe is titled perfectly.

Just imagine laying on the city sidewalk and looking up towards the heavens for the stars but only seeing an orange glow and feeling the rumble of the city at night. You have it then; a strange organic urbanism. The Modern Tribe has an almost mystic quality about it; almost as if the sounds on the album were conjured up by a shaman’s drum. The album’s primitive but soulful melodies are balanced by an atonal atmospheric din and often beautiful instrumentation. It all greatly contributes to the intensely and ferociously rhythmic attack of Celebration.

And while many bands (like the Pixies) employ a build-up-and-release strategy, Celebration just builds and builds while the listener waits for the crescendo that doesn’t happen. All build and no release can be a little frustrating, but listening to The Modern Tribe and letting the imagery enter your head can be drug-like and almost trance-inducing. The album also benefits from TV On The Radio member David Sitek’s gritty production even if (at times) it makes Celebration sound a lot like his own band. And with the buzz that always seems to accompany that band, I’m just not sure why we haven’t heard more about Celebration. The Modern Tribe is certainly buzzworthy.

MP3 | Celebration – Pressure The Modern Tribe
MP3 | Celebration – Fly The Fly The Modern Tribe

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Indie Rock, New Wave, Post Rock

Review: The Hot Toddies - Smell The Mitten

Posted on 14 January 2008 | No Comments

When I was sick between Thanksgiving and Christmas I remember drinking a bunch of hot toddies. In part because they are supposed to be good for sick people but mostly because they are yummy. Sure it may have not helped at all but that has nothing to do with this review. Whatever you do, don’t call The Hot Toddies a novelty group. On their debut full-length Smell The Mitten this all-girl San Francisco quartet churns out sassy and sarcastic songs full of retro-style surf-inspired 60’s girl-group doo-wop that is (on the surface) so cute it makes me wanna puke. It is sickly sweet, but awesome.

But if you don’t lose your lunch and actually keep listening, you’ll thank yourself. For all the clichés the band walks through there is equally as much substance. And the vocal harmonies supplied by Heidi Bodeson and Erin Skidmore are absolutely perfect in every way. Lyrically (and musically) the band gleefully slides down to the bottom of the hill with fun, whimsical, clever, and intelligent lyrics. It is a little punk, a whole lotta fun, and completely impossible to deny. Smell The Mitten must certainly contain some of the sunniest, most saccharine, sugary sweet melodies and vocal harmonies that have ever been recorded.

My only complaint with this is that the Beach Boys obsession and retro vibe of Smell The Mitten seems a little contrived and sometimes sounds like nothing more than a doo-wop cover band. Or perhaps that’s a compliment and it really is just that good I’m not complaining though since Smell The Mitten is (despite my better judgment) one of the most fun and instantly charming records I’ve heard in awhile. Is it even possible not to like this? Maybe The Hot Toddies are falling in rank behind The Pipettes and The Queers. I don’t even care. I dare you to listen to awesome and hilarious “HTML” and not crack a smile. I triple dog dare you.

Smell The Mitten is out now on Asian Man Records.

MP3 | The Hot Toddies – HTML Smell The Mitten
MP3 | The Hot Toddies – Seattle Smell The Mitten

Filed Under: Album Reviews, New Wave, Pop, Punk

Review: Moving Units - Hexes for Exes

Posted on 20 November 2007 | 1 Comment

WI thought the disco-dance-punk movement was so 2003-2004 and all but dead these days. Evidently the Los Angeles trio of Moving Units didn’t get that memo. The band released their excellent debut full-length Dangerous Dreams in 2003 and has finally released their sophomore effort Hexes For Exes after four long years. It is still dance-punk but a little less jagged and in your face than their debut. It actually reminds me a lot of Communiqué‘s one and only full length (in both vocals and melody), albeit a little less obvious than that record.

Hexes For Exes isn’t groundbreaking and isn’t overly complex, but it is damn good music for moving to. I put it to the test last night and found that it made the usually monotonous treadmill miles fly right by. Perhaps something in between The Rapture, New Order, Hot Hot Heat, Communiqué, and Interpol. I realize that isn’t the most succinct comparison, but I think it is pretty accurate. No one song really comes out and grabs you and says, “I’m the single,” but when the whole albums is as consistently solid as this one is, there is no need. I’m not saying there aren’t boatloads of catchy tunes on the record, cuz there are. In the end, this record may just creep its way into my year-end Best Of list.

MP3 | Moving Units – Paper Hearts Hexes For Exes
MP3 | Moving Units – The Kids From Orange County Hexes For Exes

Filed Under: Album Reviews, New Wave, Punk

Review: Professor Murder - Rides The Subway EP

Posted on 10 October 2007 | 1 Comment

Another entry in the ever-expanding category of how-did-I-miss-that-the-first-time items, is last year’s insanely awesome Rides The Subway EP from NYC dance-punk fusionists Professor Murder. The band starts off strong even before the first note by taking their name from a fictitious character from the HBO sketch comedy series “Mr.. Show.” Professor Murder then one up themselves by dishing out five songs of scurrying dance-punk that is so so good but over way too soon.

I’ve probably listened to Rides The Subway at least a dozen times this week alone. There is just so many different ideas, tones, and musical textures packed into this brief EP it is astounding. Synths squelch, whirr, and blip into a symphony of digital cacophony while cowbells ring out in perfect dysfunctional unison and pulsating fuzzy disco-bass grooves lock horns with the click of the hi-hat. In other words, Professor Murder combines the best elements of The Rapture, Islands, and The Eternals and just runs with it. It is a recipe for fun that is so flawlessly executed I can’t imagine anything else this band does ever being better. We can hope though, right?

MP3 | Professor Murder – Champion Rides The Subway EP

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Indie Rock, New Wave, Noise

Review: Calvin Harris - I Created Disco

Posted on 13 August 2007 | 1 Comment

If you are ever in the mood for something a little lighthearted to break the monotony of the serious and downtrodden indie rock you’ve been obsessing over, I have your fix. I’d suggest checking I Created Disco from a young Brit called Calvin Harris if you need that break to be electro-pop that isn’t totally dissimilar to LCD Soundsystem. Its akin to eating gummy worms when you know that a banana would be the prudent choice, but who hasn’t done that? Unlike LCD (though) there isn’t anything remotely complicated about I Created Disco and Harris isn’t trying to change the world. Instead he just wants to dance have a lot of fun and that is exactly what this record is; fun. Electroclash pop with a sense of humor that even manifests itself in the ridiculous title. It is what it is and it ain’t bad. I Created Disco is out now in the UK on Fly Eye Records and will be released September 4th here in the US through Almost Gold (the label that put out Peter, Bjorn and John in the US).

MP3 | Clavin Harris – Acceptable In The 80’s I Created Disco
MP3 | Calvin Harris – Disco Heat I Created Disco

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, New Wave

Review: Maximo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures (or) hold my head up while I'm falling down

Posted on 31 May 2007 | 2 Comments

I think it was sometime last year when I said that Maximo Park is “yet another British group that plays that popular-with-the-kids melodic post-punk but this band is one of the best of the lot,” and I still stick to my guns on that verdict. Better than Franz, Futureheads, or Kaiser Chiefs.

Maximo Park’s latest album Our Earthly Pleasures is a little more cleanly produced than the band’s first record, but is still full of great new-wave meets post-punk tunes. The angular guitars and choppy synths are still intact. Singer Paul Smith’s sneering vocals and thick Geordie accent seem more sincere than many of his peers’ and just add a little unobscured realism to the music.

Maximo Park (unlike say Bloc Party) haven’t eschewed the hook-laded guitar rock that made them a household (???) name, but (overall) the album is a bit more mid-tempo than A Certain Trigger. Even so, the band performs no less fiercely than before. Oddly enough (though) it almost sounds as if the Maximo Park isn’t always trying that hard and like things come spectacularly easy to these lads from Newcastle Upon Tyne. The scary thing is that the band (IMHO) hasn’t hit their stride yet.

Our Earthly Pleasures is out now on Warp Records. Listen to “Our Velocity” and wait for the change at 1:51 mark and (unless you are wearing a neck brace) you’ll find it impossible to not nod your head. Good luck resisting.

MP3 | Maximo Park – Our Velocity Our Earthy Pleasures
MP3 | Maximo Park – Books From Boxes Our Earthly Pleasures

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Indie Rock, Just Plain Rock, New Wave

Review: Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (or) heimdalsgate like a promethean curse

Posted on 29 May 2007 | 5 Comments

For some reason I’ve never given the Athens, GA band Of Montreal much of a listen. I don’t really know why but I never did. But a month or two ago my wife Amy started going on and on about just how great the new Of Montreal album is. I was like “Yeah, whatever,” but she was persistent about it.

Fast forward to last week and she finally corners me and tells me I need to listen to the album and write about it and blah, blah, blah. So I listened to it. Wow.

The album was blessed with the ridiculously long and pretentious-sounding title Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? but is so freakin’ irresistible that it doesn’t matter. On it Of Montreal kicks out twelve songs of indie-disco post-punk-funk jams that blew me away but not before being lodged deep inside my cranium. I mean what band has song titles that include the words Kongsvinger, Heimdalsgate, and Gronlandic?

Rump-shakin’ beats knock around with hyperactive synthesizers and Kevin Barnes’ sometimes shrill falsetto to conjure a dark yet sugary sweet psychedelic haze that approximates throwing Abba, The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem, The Bee Gees, and The Shins into a blender and then injecting the mixture into your broken heart. Forget Prozac and all the other anti-depressant drugs and listen to Hissing Fauna instead and dance away your blues.

I’m not really sure what earlier Of Montreal albums sound like, but I’ll soon be looking back to find out. Hissing Fauna is such an incredible and invigorating album that I’ve probably played it a half-dozen times or more during what was a busy Holiday weekend. The album is out now on the fantastically awesome Polyvinyl Records.

MP3 | Of Montreal – Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse Hissing Fauna…
MP3 | Of Montreal – Faberge Falls For Shuggie Hissing Fauna…

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, New Wave, Pop, Post Rock

Review: Scissors For Lefty - Underhanded Romance (or) another southpaw takes the mound

Posted on 15 May 2007 | No Comments

Scissors For Lefty is from San Francisco? Seriously? They have all the leanings of a less blatant version of Arctic Monkeys that isn’t afraid to give you a little sass. Like the aforementioned Monkeys, SFL plays spastic and melodic indie rock that you can shimmy, shake, and sweat along to in the summer heat. Their debut full-length is called Underhanded Romance and even though it mines the same musical territory as many others, it still manages to sound fun and fresh.

The tunes on Underhanded Romance are loose and sloppy jams that straddle that line between synthy dance-punk and angular indie-rock and (surprisingly) make it work. Catchy without being saccharine, SFL’s songs have just enough atmosphere and edge to set them apart. This record will most likely make Scissors For Lefty a buzz band here in the states. Underhanded Romance will be out in June on Eeenie Meenie Records.

RIYL: Arctic Monkeys, Maximo Park, The Strokes, etc…

MP3 | Scissors For Lefty – Lay Down Your Weapons Underhanded Romance
MP3 | Scissors For Lefty – Save It Cory Underhanded Romance

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Indie Rock, Just Plain Rock, New Wave

Review: !!! - Myth Takes (or) the smell of napalm in the morning

Posted on 24 March 2007 | 1 Comment

!!! (pronounced chk chk chk) is back. Their latest album Myth Takes is overflowing with slinky dance-punk that has (somehow) mysteriously writhed its way up from the subterranean depths. Guitars whirr and horns stab while the drums pump out dance floor banging beats like a candy factory gone awry.

The music makes you want to move. It is organic, glitchy, bouncy, and conjures images of darkly sweaty bodies that are moving hyper-motion. Myth Takes makes your heart pound. Like NYC in the middle of the jungle, this is the perfect soundtrack for a dance party into the heart of darkness. “Yadnus” is like a sacrificial (and almost Rammstein-esqe) death march. A perfect and funky urban jungle dub disco deconstruction.

Myth Takes combines bits and pieces of almost every genre imaginable and distills them into relentless visceral sexy disco-punk jams that (by comparison) make The Rapture seem safe. Fans of LCD Soundsystem, Black Dice, Orblivion, and Gang Gang Dance should take notice. !!! has hit their stride. Myth Takes is out now on Warp Records.

MP3 | !!! – Heart Of Hearts Myth Takes
MP3 | !!! – Must Be The Moon Myth Takes

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, New Wave, Noise

Review: New Young Pony Club - EP (or) a twelve upsets a five

Posted on 16 March 2007 | 1 Comment

New Young Pony Club is an indie rock band from London that throws down ass-shaking 80’s new wave inspired grooves. Something perhaps like a female-fronted version of The Rapture. Their song “Ice Cream” is even featured on a commercial for Intel. Anyhow, if you feel like dancing (it is March Madness after all) peep the tracks below from their EP on Modular Records.

MP3 | New Young Pony Club – Get Dancey S/T EP
MP3 | New Young Pony Club – Descend S/T EP

Filed Under: Album Reviews, New Wave

Review: The Blood Brothers - Young Machetes (or) set fire to anything else on fire

Posted on 6 October 2006 | 2 Comments

Read all my posts from the past week and you’ll probably say WTF is this guy thinking? I just want to apologize for going easy on all of you. No worries, though right? Next Tuesday (October 10th) the new record from Seattle’s The Blood Brothers will be officially released. It was co-produced by Guy Picciotto (of Fugazi & Rites Of Spring) and is easily one of the best records of 2006 and will knock your socks off.

The record (which is called Young Machetes) is a bombastic frenzy that (while still sounding just like The Blood Brothers) finds the band growing as musicians and ambitiously exploring new sounds. During many songs it almost seems like the band is on the verge of imploding only to pull it right back together without missing a single furious beat. It’s the shotgun wedding of Barry Gibb’s Bee Gees disco classics with the grinding spasms of Converge. Maybe it’s like a Black Flag sucker-punch to the face of Charles Mingus. In other words, its dance music.

On Young Machetes the band sounds dangerous. Not like they are going to mug you and gunpoint dangerous, but (rather) dangerous with smirks on their faces as they wait for their next prank to unfold right on cue. The dual shrieks, screams and singing howls of vocalists Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney are the perfect accompaniment (or perhaps distraction) for the jagged guitars and buoyant and relentless rhythm section. Additionally, much of the album features some great keyboard melodies. It is artcore that swings.

While I’ve never had the opportunity to see the band live, I can just picture them flailing around the stage smashing everything in sight (including themselves). Young Machetes is a chaotic and tumultuous listen that shifts, shakes, and (ultimately) bashes its way into your head. Never a band to rest contentedly on their laurels, The Blood Brothers have taken another leap forward merging aggression and art into a noisy and brilliantly beautiful mess.

Young Machetes is out October 10th on V2 Records and the 2xLP vinyl (on limited edition 180 gram vinyl) will be released by Second Nature Recordings.

MP3 | The Blood Brothers – Lazer Life Young Machetes
MP3 | The Blood Brothers – Set Fire To The Face On Fire Young Machetes

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Hardcore & Metal, New Wave

Review: Ima Robot - Monument To The Masses (or) goin' to a ska show tonight

Posted on 31 August 2006 | 4 Comments

What would you get if you crossed a pop-punk band with a new wave band? Ok, more specifically, if you crossed the likes of Andrew WK with Devo and The Sex Pistols and made it reek of Hollywood glam? Well, you’d get Ima Robot, of course. They are geeky guys that have a silly name and play (oftentimes) silly music, but goddamnit they can write a hit song.

Their new album Monument To The Masses will be released on September 12th. Before I heard it, I wanted to hate this album. I really truly did. But I can’t. This album is too good. The songs are fun and catchy as hell. This is not serious music. This is music that makes you wanna shake your tail feather. I know this is a ridiculous cliche, but as I was driving to work on a rainy morning earlier this week, I put on “Creeps Me Out.” My day was instantly transformed into something full of sunshine, rainbows, and robot butlers serving M&M’s and Perrier. Enjoy.

MP3 | Ima Robot – Creeps Me Out Monument To The Masses
MP3 | Ima Robot – Disconnect Monument To The Masses

Filed Under: Album Reviews, New Wave

Review: Van She - EP (or) overpowered by the funk

Posted on 13 August 2006 | 2 Comments

Do you long for a time (namely the 80’s) when synth-pop bands like New Order, Simple Minds, and Depeche Mode dominated the musical landscape? If you do, you should certainly check out the fresh Aussie imports in Van She. The new band from Sydney blends synth-heavy new wave, choppy post-punk guitars, and breathy weightless vocals on their promising debut. “Kelly” is a standout track and will most certainly become a late-summer sing along. (Kurt you should play this song for your Kelly). Van She’s self-titled EP is out now on Modular Records (which is also the home of artists like The Avalanches, MSTRKRFT, and Wolfmother).

MP3 | Van She – Kelly S/T EP
MP3 | Van She – Kelly (Alan Braxe & Fred Falke Remix) Promo

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Indie Rock, New Wave, Pop

Dance dance dance

Posted on 30 July 2006 | 1 Comment

Remember how ‘House Of Jealous Lovers’ was the jam about 3 years ago? Well, The Rapture is back and have a new album called Pieces Of The People We Love slated for release on September 12th. Evidently they worked with a bunch of super producers including Danger Mouse. Here is the first single.

MP3 | The Rapture – Get Myself Into It Pieces Of The People We Love

Filed Under: Indie Rock, New Wave

Review: The Clock Work Army - Catalyst For Change EP (or) statistically insignificant sample

Posted on 24 June 2006 | No Comments

Southern California’s The Clock Work Army recently caught my attention when I got their EP A Catalyst For Change in my mailbox. What I heard was an energetic mix of new wavey keyboards, choppy guitars, and impassioned female vocals, that are all tied together with a dance-inspired backbeat. The music is darkly melodic without being poppy. I don’t think it would too much of a stretch to say they sound a little like a female-fronted Franz or Bloc Party. Heck, Ekko from Berkeley Place also recently said how much talent he thinks this young band has.

The band is currently holed up in the studio working on their debut full-length, which is due out (hopefully) at the end of the summer. In the meantime you can pick up their EP from Banter Records or right here.

MP3 | The Clock Work Army – Can’t Hold It Down A Catalyst For Change EP
MP3 | The Clock Work Army – Negative Space A Catalyst For Change EP

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Indie Rock, New Wave