Can You See the Sunset? » album reviews

Bro. Stephen – Baptist Girls

Eric — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:18:47 +0000

Bro. Stephen is the name that (Stephen) Scott Kirkpatrick records under and (lucky for all of us) he’s just released a new album called Baptist Girls which is fucking brilliant, if you like that sort of thing. It was recorded primarily in a converted chicken coop in rural Indiana but you’ll find no clucking or crowing here. Really, it’s a testament to the strength of Baptist Girls that it is just as good a record for late nights and headphones as it is for a sunny morning buoyed by cups of coffee.

Baptist Girls is largely acoustic but is anchored by slight drones and hushed-but-noisy found sounds and a a minimal of percussion so it’s not folktronica at all, but there’s a common thread between this and some of what Greg Davis has recorded. The songs are also punctuated by little bits of piano, strings, and electric guitar in all the right places. It’s really a beautifully stark and sparse album with that is understated but (at points) really catchy.

Bro. Stephen wisely enlisted the help of Cheyenne Marie Mize for Baptist Girls too. She contributes some lovely harmony vocals that perfectly compliment Bro. Stephen’s own reverb-drenched voice that sounds more like it was recorded in a cathedral than a chicken coop.

It all adds up to an album that’s got a soft ethereal sounding record that’s a bit like a WAY more mellow and more pastoral sort of Andrew Kenny project (think American Analog Set or Wooden Birds) or even Fleet Foxes, State River Widening, and/or Vermont just for the sake of comparison. It could just be the guitar tones though… Still, Baptist Girls is an affecting record that shines brighter and seems much more emotionally complex that its simplicity and bare arrangements would have you initially think.

Even for all the above praise, Baptist Girls isn’t perfect. Most songs end a bit too soon for my liking. Sure, I’m all for brevity in songwriting and being concise, but these songs leave me wanting more of them and more resolution… like an additional chorus or just some sort of ending that doesn’t feel so abrupt. Really, it’s just a minor complaint that will only force you to listen to Baptist Girls a few more times to soak it all in.

I do follow Bro. Stephen (@brostephenscott) and he’s always seemed like a good guy. He was also willing to send me a copy of this record and I’m very happy he did.

MP3: Bro. Stephen – Tears On Tape
MP3: Bro. Stephen – Domino

The Boogers – Let’s Go! Review & Giveaway

Eric — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 01:41:14 +0000

On their website, The Boogers claim to be “the world’s most dangerous kids band.” They don’t play death metal so that might not be 100% accurate, but The Boogers do play some of the finest punk rock for kids I’ve ever heard. The band’s 2nd album Let’s Go! is filled with 13 songs of fast and hard-driving Ramones-core that will appeal as much to punk rock parents as it will to the youngsters. In addition to their originals, the band tackles classics like “Pop Goes The Weasel,” “Big Rock Candy Mountain,” and “London Bridge” and transforms them into sing-a-long punk rock songs. But wait, there’s more…

The Boogers aren’t just your average punk rock band. The trio is the brainchild of musician and developmental psychologist Paul Crowe (aka Crusty Booger) who spent time touring with a punk band and shared the stage with both Dee Dee Ramone and Marky Ramone. The songs on Let’s Go are simple but totally fun and will have your kids dancing around the living room and asking for a leather jacket and some Chuck Taylor’s. Heck, I’ve even found myself humming the melody from “Otto” a time or two.

Thanks to The Boogers and our friends at ParentSphere, we are lucky enough to have 3 copies of Let’s Go to give away! To enter just leave us a comment. We’ll pick 3 random winners on Tuesday, April 12th at 10PM CST.

Robyn – Body Talk

Eric — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 17:40:29 +0000

A few months ago (for whatever reason) I was watching a rerun of the Jay Leno show from right before last Thanksgiving. Really? Yeah. It’s odd considering how infrequently I watch late-night television, but I need to move on with the story. Anyhow, I turned on the show just as Jay was introducing a performance of Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own.” Despite knowing who she was, it was the first song of hers that I can remember hearing. I really liked the song and listened to some more from her latest album Body Talk online and spent another half hour watching YouTube videos of her. Uh oh…

Since then, I’ve been totally smitten with Robyn’s music, specifically about half of her newest album Body Talk. It’s a record that would have easily made my best of 2010 list if I’d heard it earlier. “Dancing On My Own,” and “Hang With Me” are easily two of the best songs released last year and “Hang With Me” is about as close to pop music perfection as I’ve ever heard. I mean, it’s on par with “MMMBop” in terms of pure catchiness, but has significantly more depth lyrically and I have barely been able to shake it out of my head for any part of the past few months. I’m as surprised as anyone just how much I love the highlights from Body Talk, but I do. It’s not punk or anything I’d usually cover here on Can You See the Sunset, but there really truly is a reason that she was on so many best of 2010 lists. Body Talk is a gem of a record. Here’s the video for “Hang With Me.”

Mayflower – Second Best Sunsets

Eric — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 02:36:51 +0000

So you want to know about a really great band? A band so great they should have been on my year end list last year. Well, the band is called Mayflower and they’re from Syracuse. Their debut full-length, Second Best Sunsets was released last summer by the studs from Kiss Of Death Records their sound is in the same vein as Dillinger Four, Off With Their Heads, The Mushuganas, and Iron Chic with a wee bit of East Coast Fuck You thrown in for good measure. You know, gruff but poppy punk rock that’s pretty straightforward and 100% amazing. Maybe a bit heavy-handed at times but still it makes you wanna put your fist in the air and scream along until you need to go get another beer and take a piss. I can’t get enough of this. Serves me right since this sat on my desk for about 6 months. Really, you should see my desk and all the crap that makes it easy to (physically, on my desk, I mean) overlook amazing albums like this one.

MP3:
Mayflower - I Never
Mayflower - Worst-Case Scenario

Sundowner – We Chase The Waves

Eric — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 03:03:01 +0000

I’m a Chris McCaughan fan, it’s true. I liked Tricky Dick, I liked The Broadways, I like The Lawrence Arms, and I liked the first Sundowner album. It’s because of this that even though I like the new Sundowner album We Chase The Waves, I feel a little disappointed by it. It’s not entirely unexpected though since I didn’t initially like the first Sundowner album as much as I do now. The songs are good (if unremarkable) and Chris’ performance is pretty strong, but something just seems to be missing and I’m not sure what it is. Yeah, it just sorta sounds like Four One Five Two part two with the same forlorn longing and loneliness permeating the album, but that isn’t a bad thing. Chris’ ragged and imperfect vocals fit better alongside Brendan’s in The Lawrence Arms instead of here with mainly just an acoustic guitar for accompaniment, but the yearning in his voice is more apparent here on We Chase The Waves. Good but not great (yet!), but (really) what Cub fan doesn’t love “Tinker To Evers To Chance?” I’ll guarantee that I like this one more as time goes by… and I think that time might be now. Yes, this is a good one. Out now on Asian Man Records.

MP3:
Sundowner - As The Crow Flies
Sundowner - Baseball's Sad Lexicon

Campaign – It Likes To Party EP

Eric — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 02:03:42 +0000

Simply based on the denim and beards they’re sporting on the cover of their newest EP It Likes To Party, the Atlanta-based punk quintet Campaign can’t be anything other than bad-ass. Luckily the music contained within backs ‘em up. The EP begins with some throat-shredding yells on “Rock Bottom Summer” that sound painfully atonal, but over the course of the its 5 songs, Campaign adds enough melody (including the hook on my favorite here, “Best Luck”) that you’ll have no choice but to take notice. It’s a nice juxtaposition of dissonance and melody, really, it is. Campaign isn’t re-inventing the wheel or turning out anything that you haven’t heard before, but they do the gruff-voiced punk rock thing pretty doggone well and add just enough sonically to keep it interesting. It’s not that other bands in this genre aren’t, but somehow Campaign manages to sound really fucking loud on It Likes To Party. Their sound is dense, raucous, and in-your-face. RIYL: Small Brown Bike, Hot Water Music, D4, etc…

MP3:
Campaign - Best Luck

The Atom Age – Kill Surf City

Eric — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 04:01:18 +0000

I was (and I guess I’m still a big fan of the classics) a big ska-punk fan in my younger years (not that it really has any bearing on this review) but just because a band features a brass/horn section it doesn’t mean they’re a ska band. In this particular case, The Atom Age is not a ska band. They’re a punk band with a singular saxophone player who is prominently featured on every track of their debut album Kill Surf City. The band is from Berkeley, CA and is fronted by Ryan Perras (who was once the drummer for The Queers and billed as Ryan Qwon Doe). Now I’ve heard comparisons to Rocket From The Crypt and Voodoo Glow Skulls but I’d also like to throw out the Blue Meanies as a point of reference. There songs are pretty straightforward but the saxophone adds a little bit of that “psycho circus” element at times. I love it.

There’s plenty of melody on Kill Surf City but it’s also forceful, hard-hitting, and unrelenting from start to finish. Guitars blaze forth without a single upstroke anywhere in sight and the vocals are a bit gritty without being gruff. Seriously, there’s no filler to be found. The Atom Age also manages (because of the sax) to infuse their punk rock and roll with some jazzy skronk and (at times) an almost garage/rockabilly spookiness. I applaud the band for doing the punk
with horns thing and actually pulling it off without being gimmicky. I mean, this sort of thing could devolve into parody really quickly, but it never does.

MP3:
The Atom Age - Kill Surf City

Glory Bound – Glory Bound EP

Eric — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 03:42:25 +0000

This 8 song EP is a must-have for fans of gruff and sometimes folksy punk rock. I mean, it reminds me of Crimpshrine, early Against Me!, and other bands that have done this sort of thing before with a little (maybe) Defiance, Ohio and some Rumspringer thrown in for good measure. You’ve got catchy songs, solid guitar playing, throaty vocals, and everything else you’d expect in a paint-by-numbers kit for this sort of sound, but (as is usually the case with good music) it really isn’t that simple. What they lack in overall uniqueness, Glory Bound makes up for through the passion and energy of their delivery. There’s no denying that aspect of the music. Additionally, for all the relative diversity of sounds on this EP, the songs come together into a pretty cohesive whole. It’s raw, it’s raucous, it’s rough, and pretty damn great. So these dudes are from The Poconos in Eastern Pennsylvania as well and somehow sound a little like Rustweiler as well. Shitty but fantastic and available entirely for free from the good folks at Death To False Hope.

MP3:
Glory Bound - Excuse Me Sir, I Have A Keg Party To Attend
Glory Bound - More Ian MacKaye, Less Ron Jeremy

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The Riot Before – Rebellion

Eric — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 02:55:06 +0000

I like The Riot Before’s new album Rebellion better than their last one, Fists Buried In Pockets, which I also like a lot. On first listen, I wasn’t sure, but it’s grown on me quite a bit. Rebellion is a more direct and in-your-face record than its predecessor and relies less on subtlety in the arrangements and more on volume and relentlessness. It’s still got catchy melodies and sing-a-long parts, and there’s still a little (but less) Americana twang than I hoped for, but (in retrospect) I don’t really miss it all that much. The vocals are forceful and the guitars are louder (thanks in part to producer J. Robbins) and it’s definitely a cathartic sort of listen. I also dig the strange word breaks and lyrical cadence; it’s something (at times) a bit unexpected. I’ve also come to the conclusion that this record works much much better when listened to as a whole in one sitting. Sure, the songs are good individually, but, yeah, it’s a complete product and every song kinda builds on the song before. Rebellion is available from the badass mofos at Paper + Plastick. RIYL: New Wave, Caution, Over The James, etc…

MP3:
The Riot Before - The Oregon Trail
The Riot Before - Uncharted Lands