Pop 'stache

Since 2006, Quebec-based Islands have released four albums with a fine-lined thematic separation between each one of them. This year, they released A Sleep & a Forgetting on Valentine’s day, which was the same day front man Nick Thorburn began writing it. A tale of love, loss and recovery, A Sleep & a Forgetting is drenched in gloom and intimate vocal arrangements. Thorburn bears his soul in this record and while it is quite the change from “Vapours” in 2009, the catchy pop-induced riffs and art rock textures are still there.

Recorded and produced in two weeks, A Sleep & a Forgetting showcases the raw power that Islands is capable of. In conjunction with fellow member Evan Gordon, this album was finished with minimal over dubbing or production. This album is just the barebones. It feels almost intrusive to listen to it. Somber instrumentals are in the quiet backdrop of Thorburn’s vocals, but it isn’t until the near-end of the album that redemption seems to settle in.

After moving away because of a break-up, Thorburn ended up with a piano handy and a tale to tell. In “Never Go Solo,” the piano comes out in a furious pop rage. Pulsating keys and shattering drums take the listener into the angry stage of grief. Although this song is less overt than others on the album, it’s still evident that Thorburn’s pain overtook the writing process. His cathartic lyricism is brutally honest throughout this album, but the instruments hold to a higher meaning in this song. The scattered bats of fury dwindle like a sugar crash and eventually calm into a doo-wop throwback reminiscent of a 1950s ballad in “No Crying.”

Hoping to capture the essence of soul music, and succeeding, Thorburn dabbled in R&B and ‘50s pop to create a romantic allusion. While adding multiple string instruments as key element accompanied by swaying melodies and harmonized vocals, he finds a way to renovate the simplistic guitar licks and dreamy prom date tunes.

Heading back in to modernized pop, “Can’t Feel My Face” is a song of uptempo melodies and opposing lyrics – “I miss my wife. I miss my best friend, every night. I miss my home. I miss my own bed and my old life.” It’s a song that encourages toe tapping and sing-a-longs, but the repeating lyrics are quickly learned and soon the song gets more depressing. Nothing is masked. Nothing is coated with beauty. Thorburn completely lets loose in this track, saying exactly what he wants and inevitably begins to heal.

It wouldn’t be an Islands album without an epic track, and “Same Thing” fills those shoes with an echoing triumph. Like the black and gray rose on the album cover, this track is layered with darkness. It’s hauntingly beautiful and will remain a break-up staple to music nerds for years to come.

This album may take a few listens to settle comfortably, and it’s not all sad. It’s an acquired taste coming from songs like “When there’s a will. There’s a whalebone” and “Switched On” from previous releases, but the woven emotion will soon grab on tight and never let go. So, embrace it. A Sleep & a Forgetting ends with “Grey Funnel Line.” Besides a few elongated, droning keys, this track is a platform for Thorburn’s story. He hasn’t reached the end of his emotional battle yet, but he sees the light at the end of the tunnel.

Islands – A Sleep & a Forgetting tracklist:

1. “In a Dream It Seemed Real”
2. “This Is Not a Song”
3. “Never Go Solo”
4. “No Crying”
5. “Hallways”
6. “Can’t Feel My Face”
7. “Lonely Love”
8. “Oh Maria”
9. “Cold Again”
10. “Don’t I Love You”
11. “Same Thing”
12. “Swallows”
13. “Comes to Light”
14. “Grey Funnel Line”

Tim Kasher’s recent foray into writing screenplays should come as no surprise to fans of either of his bands, Cursive and The Good Life. He’s always taken a very theatrical approach to writing albums, especially with the former. From the delightfully bombastic arrangements to the overarching concepts on each of them, a Cursive album is a dense package.

But Kasher is fooling himself if he thinks his fans loved Cursive for the concepts. Domestica worked because it was about something real. He and his wife just divorced and he was hurting. It was raw, exposing his feelings on a deeply personal level. The Ugly Organ worked for the same reasons. While the concept may not have been as directly tied to something in Kasher’s life, it still hit on some very universal things. “Art Is Hard” didn’t need a thematic tie to anything. It was a song on its own, with a hook, skillfully written lyrics and properly theatrical arrangement. “The Recluse” is a truly sad song reflecting Kasher’s post-marriage life in a stream of consciousness: “Oh Christ, I’m not that desperate, am I? / Oh no – oh god – I am,” and even some dark humor to boot: “My ego’s like my stomach, it keeps shitting what I feed it.” The whole album was a dramatic spectacle, but the themes and the emotion overrode the story. Kasher was going nuts and it made for an incredible album. Even after things settled down in his life, he still found relevant topics to address, take the religious discussion throughout Happy Hollow.

But now we’ve come to I Am Gemini, the latest release from Cursive. The press statement says that the album “is the surreal and powerful musical tale of Cassius and Pollock, twin brothers separated at birth.” Which begs the question: Who the hell cares? We already have Star Wars anyway. The Ugly Organ followed a story of love, lust and empty sex throughout “The Ugly Organist’s” life. The character doesn’t really matter, the themes do. It’s the same reason why Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of the greatest films of the past ten years and Garden State is not. Only Garden State is still a pretty good movie.

I Am Gemini has all the elements of classic Cursive: driving bass lines, dissonant riffs and plenty of ups and downs. In many ways, this is Cursive’s most complex album musically, but never before have they sounded so mechanical. The structures are jagged and therefore the songs are hard to follow. This isn’t to be dismissive of prog-pop on the whole. Plenty of bands make great technically-proficient, stimulating music that sounds far less forced and have much stronger melodies.

Listeners will have to remind themselves that they are not listening to a Battles record when they get to a song titled “Wowowow,” but if they were, it would be so much more fun than this, even with it’s somewhat circusy riffage. It’s unclear if this is supposed to be half-hearted or completely serious, and with a title like that, it should clearly be neither. Even if that is nitpicking a bit, it’s reflective of the larger problem that the point of this album is either hidden or missing.

On the eve of his last album, Dear Heather, Leonard Cohen was sixty-nine years old, still groveling on– a poet in every sense of the word–muttering folk songs that plunged the depths of the human soul. In 1996 when he was ordained a Buddhist monk, a world-weary and self-imposed exile, many felt that Cohen had at long last, hung up his hat. Then, in a swindle as storied as his songs, a former manager misappropriated Cohen’s retirement fund, squandering a sum of five million dollars, leaving the artist with close to nothing. The year was 2005 and the storied singer plotted his comeback. The successive 2008 and 2009 world tours were met with huge critical acclaim and put him back on the scene. The question was, how long could it last.

Impossibly, Old Ideas marks Cohen’s seventy-seventh year to heaven and little, very little has changed. The album commences with him intoning the epithet, “I’d love to speak to Leonard, he’s a sportsman and a shepherd/ He’s a lazy bastard living in a suit” (“Going Home.”) Cohen has no qualms confronting his own mortality with a studied theatricality and a hard-lined grin. Even the album’s title could be taken as a self-deprecatory poke at his own experience. Topics range from penance (“Amen”), to sexuality, “You wanna change the way I make love but I wanna leave it alone” (“Different Sides”), to rejuvenation and of course to love itself. Never one to shy away from the spiritual, Old Ideas could be Cohen’s biggest testimonial yet. Some songs are sacred-in-style ballads, others like the quiet gospel of “Show Me the Place,”  to the chorale “Come Healing,” which might well appear in hymnals of the next ten years.

The album art, the shadow of a woman of a camera standing over Cohen, is his own. It goes to show just how superb an artist he remains beneath his many facades. His might not be the most accessible brand of music but it’s almost impossible not to love his big heart. Uncannily, the craftsmanship he devotes to his work is second to none, the slowness to his songs, the sparseness of the arrangements here, has hit a haunting fever pitch. Gone are the synthesizers, keyboards and over-ornamentation of his last several efforts, left only are the bones; a violin plays, a rickety banjo is plucked now and again, a wistful harmonica, the piano always holding the tune. For a man in the winter of his life, he has not for once lost his touch. He goes about quietly seeking forgiveness from his old lovers and absolution from his old demons, all without bitterness, asking only that he be allowed to lay down his burden.

Some artists go out in a fit of glory, dead before their time. Others drag on dimly for years, past what even fans might like them to. Old Ideas burns like the last embers of a campfire, casting shadows on the wilderness around it, while we can’t help but stare with glazed eyes into the din and sigh. Given the eight year interval between his last two albums, it’s unclear if and when we will from our old friend again.

Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas tracklist:

1. “Going Home”
2. “Amen”
3. “Show Me the Place”
4. “Darkness”
5. “Anyhow”
6. “Crazy to Love You”
7. “Come Healing”
8. “Banjo”
9. “Lullaby”
10. “Different Sides”

At the start of 2012, Colin Meloy of The Decemberists proclaimed via Twitter: “Hospitality is, like, my new favorite band.” This serendipitous celebrity endorsement came hot on the heels of the Brooklyn trio signing with Merge Records, releasing a hipster-friendly music video starring Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat, and opening for such indie darlings as Wild Flag and Eleanor Friedberger in late 2011. And now, with the January release of their self-titled debut causing quite the stir amongst industry insiders, Hospitality is poised to become the next underground-turned-mainstream musical sensation.

The band’s first LP with a major record label is an appealing blend of ’70s/’80s New Wave (Elvis Costello and the Psychedelic Furs are obvious influences) and minimalistic twee pop that also sounds refreshingly current (think Belle and Sebastian with a wide-eyed New Yorker’s sensibility). Lead vocalist/guitarist/pianist Amber Papini, drummer/flautist Nathan Michel, and singing bassist Brian Betancourt have chemistry and talent to spare—creating an ebullient record that is cute and likeable without being overly pretentious.

Almost all ten tracks have the potential to become catchy singles, with “Friends of Friends” emerging as the sure-fire hit of the bunch. With its infectious hook of guitar thumps and raucous saxophone blurts, this song perfectly captures the youthful exuberance that comes with moving to a new city and expecting an entirely new way of life. Other standouts include “Betty Wang” (an upbeat ditty about a depressing cubicle drone), “Eighth Avenue” (a richly cultivated melody with a spastic guitar kick), and “The Right Profession” (a sneering statement about how people are “hard to change”). The only weak spots on the album are “Julie” and “The Birthday”—a pair of languid, meandering folk ballads that are far too sleep-inducing to make lasting impressions. However, similar songs like “Liberal Arts” and “Sleepover” are saved by lyrics that speak directly to the post-graduate woes of their target audience: “So you found the lock/but not the key that college brings” and “Let’s pretend we’re married/Lock the door before you leave.”

Producer Shane Stoneback (Vampire Weekend, Sleigh Bells) does an excellent job of mixing Amber Papini’s saccharine vocals with an intricately constructed playground of keyboards, synth, piano, and treated guitars. Although Papini’s sister Gia has since left the band, her voice still appears on the album—adding effervescence to the lyrical landscape that might have been missing otherwise. Still, Papini doesn’t need the backup harmonies to deliver a sing-song lilt of unexpected depth. At times she sounds like a baby doll version of Karen O, with a wobble of pent-up aggression tipping her deceptively childlike sweetness slightly off-kilter.

Nothing about this album is particularly exceptional or groundbreaking, but it does feel comfortably familiar—like an old sweater that is suddenly back in style. Papini, Michel, and Betancourt have yet to fully mature as artists, as they rarely stray from the themes of premature angst and rebellion that define their twenty-something generation. Still, with their sharp songwriting skills and adorably contagious musicality, these impressive newcomers have earned a more than hospitable embrace.

Hospitality – Hospitality tracklist:

1. “Eighth Avenue”
2. “Friends of Friends”
3. “Betty Wang”
4. “Julie”
5. “The Right Profession”
6. “Sleepover”
7. “The Birthday”
8. “Argonauts”
9. “Liberal Arts”
10. “All Day Today”

Writer Bill Simmons was interviewing comedian Jeffrey Ross a little while back on the ever-so popular “B.S. Report” podcast when they broached the subject on how Ross became forever known as the “Roastmaster General.” Ross proceeded to tell a story about starting out at a few roasts around New York, finding success and then trying to parlay that into expanding his stand-up career. One set bomb after another led Ross to seek advice from friend and fellow comedian Dave Chappelle. Chappelle’s response: “Stay your lane.” He told Ross that if you’re tremendously good at one thing, become the best at that one thing instead of spreading yourself too thin.

Maybe Rick Ross ran into Dave Chappelle early in his life, or maybe he just knows what he’s good at because he’s definitely one that knows to “stay your lane.” Ever since Ross broke on the scene with Port of Miami, it’s been easy to know what to expect from Ricky Rozay: tales of large scale drug dealings, repetitive phrases dropped in every song, and a mixture of hi-hats and 808s that seem to keep every song grouped together. His latest mixtape, Rich Forever, definitely sticks to that script, complete with a few new repetitive phrases (joining “MMMMaybach Music” are the shout outs for this tape, “Rich Forever,” his upcoming album, “God Forgives, I Don’t” and “Untouchable”). The only variation from the usual formula comes late in the tape during an awkward love song stretch of “Ring Ring” featuring Future, and “Party Heart” featuring a song-saving verse from Stalley and the Atlanta flavor-of-the-month 2 Chainz.

Ross handles his usual cocaine-laced bars with the professionalism and money-making ambition that’s come to be expected of him while throwing in the requisite sports references—a few mentions of his Miami neighbors Alonzo Mourning and coach Pat Riley, and even the NFL’s savior Tim Tebow on “Fuck Em” (“though I wouldn’t make it, now I’m winning, Timothy Tebow”). But, what Forever really plays like is a Ross-centric mix thrown together, albeit well thrown together, by MMG’s DJ Khaled, which means it’s slam-packed with guest features, some kind of special and noteworthy.

The aforementioned 2 Chainz also makes an appearance on “F*ck Em,” along with MMG ‘untouchable’ Wale, who breezes through the track with the same arrogance and adept lyricism that made Ambition one of last year’s best releases. Diddy swoops in to get his Puff Daddy on by adlibbing on intro track “Holy Ghost,” and kind of rapping on “New Buggatti.” Meek Mills blesses “Last Breath” (along with Birdman) and “MMG The World Is Ours” (along with Skateboard P, Pharrell) with his usual aggressive howl, and Kelly Rowland and John Legend bless a few hooks. French Montana is on a couple too but just sounds super weird.

The two buzzworthy tracks have to be “Triple Beam Dreams” and “Stay Schemin’.” The latter features Drake performing what was perceived to be a Common diss (“Don’t be ducking like you never wanted nothing/It’s feeling like rap changed, there was a time it was rugged”) which caused Common to not just fire back, but hop on the very same track and rip Aubrey’s young ass a new one. “Triple Beam Dreams” is memorable for a more positive reason: a fire-breathing verse from Nas, eliciting memories of Illmatic and It Was Written, painting pictures of hustling and ‘street dreams’ like only he can.

Ross definitely stays his lane on Rich Forever and churns out a solid holdover for Rozay fans who are counting the days until they find out why God Forgives, but Ricky doesn’t.

Rick Ross – Rich Forever tracklist:

1. “Holy Ghost” (featuring Diddy)
2. “High Definition”
3. “MMG Untouchable”
4. “Yela Diamonds”
5. “Fuck ‘Em” (featuring 2 Chainz & Wale)
6. “London Skit”
7. “Rich Forever” (featuring John Legend)
8. “Triple Beam Dreams” (featuring Nas)
9. “Mine Games” (featuring Kelly Rowland)
10. “New Bugatti” (featuring Diddy)
11. “Keys to the Club” (featuring Styles P)
12. “Last Breath” (featuring Meek Mill & Birdman)
13. “I Swear to God”
14. “Off the Boat” (featuring French Montana)
15. “King of Diamonds”
16. “Ring Ring” (featuring Future)
17. “MMG the World Is Ours” (featuring Pharrell, Meek Mill & Stalley)
18. “Party Heart” (featuring Stalley & 2 Chainz)
19. “Stay Schemin’” (featuring Drake & French Montana)

English trio Band of Skulls has been picking up some steam since their 2009 debut, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey, having tracks featured on the soundtrack for the TV show “Friday Night Lights” as well as the New Moon movie from the Twilight saga. With their sophomore effort, it’s time for the garage rockers to take advantage of the attention and sweep up some new fans.

Expanding their audience was ostensibly on their minds in making Sweet Sour. Where their debut was more of a full-forced rocker, Sweet Sour boasts a wider array of tunes and a more delicate sense of melody and vocal interplay between vocalists Russell Marsden and Emma Richardson.

They don’t sound as raw, but they can certainly still rock hard (See: “You’re Not Pretty But You’ve Got It Goin’ On”), only now they understand now that a full album of fuzz and energy grows tiresome quickly. So after the title track opens Sweet Sour in a typically gritty way—it’s sure to be an early fan favorite—the band takes it down a few notches with “Bruises,” introducing a new, softer side in the verses which they expand upon later in the album.

This isn’t going to wow anyone at first, but those intrigued enough by the sound will continue to revisit it and find more to like with each listen. Perhaps the best example of this on Sweet Sour is “Navigate.” Here, the band takes the soft acoustic style into a slow build, and it works much nicer than before. They play with tension but throw in a curveball, and instead of releasing with a massive bridge, they slide things back down. Listeners will probably be puzzled at first but will appreciate it in time; it’s a well-executed song.

But then there are also tracks such as “Lay My Head Down.” The song takes its melodic cues from Pink Floyd during the verse and, just when it seems like the track has potential, gives way to a rather lousy chorus, one that the listener will swear they heard on an infomercial for a 1970s soft-rock compilation. They will be glad the band sandwiched it with their thickest slabs of bluesy grit.

By this time, though, the album’s lack of flow becomes clear and problematic. The band must have written all of these songs separately without really considering how they would piece together and then in production just kind of mixed up the heavy ones and the soft ones.

It’s most noticeable when “Lies” gets thrown in right before the end as a last-minute perk. It suits its purpose, but it almost sticks out too much and screws with the mood set by the previous two tracks before going into another softie, “Close to Nowhere,” which is otherwise a nice closer.

Band of Skulls is on the right track if they want to be in it for the long run. They have all the tools they need for success and their best one, their male-female vocal team, is utilized well already. Unfortunately, at this point, they still just sound like a really good opening band. Their best moments are the ones when they just rip it, but with just a few tweaks in their ballads, they will be a perfectly well-rounded group.

Band of Skulls – Sweet Sour tracklist:

From what little information one can glean from their Bandcamp and Facebook pages, Sick Friend is a small band from Montreal, which consists of two guys playing four instruments: guitar, synth, drums and vocals. Their debut recording, The Draft Dodger, is a very quick, nine-song, 20-minute affair that, while not horrendous, is a little too muddled to be wholeheartedly recommended.

The record starts simply enough with “Cottages”: buzzing synths, very simple drums and very poppy vocals make the whole affair very similar to a lot of the dreamy, stripped-back fuzz pop that is so popular of late. The only real quirk here is the way that the vocals speed up and slow down, making use of some heavy syncopation when paired against the very straightforward backing instrumentation. While this is a cool trick, it still isn’t enough to make the song feel really fresh or new. There are a ton of bands trying out this exact style of music right now but with catchier hooks and more gripping backing.

And that’s really the key problem with The Draft Dodger: it’s not a bad album; it’s just that it spends its very brief run time not really bringing anything new or interesting to the table. It just sort of breezes by, not much more than a distraction from bigger and better things.

The one real exception to this is the album’s title track, which is a little less dream pop and a little more rock. The heavier use of guitars on this track works to distinguish the band a little bit. It’s something they should consider trying to do a bit more in the future if they really want to stand out.

Unless you’re punk or ska or some other genre that really favors fast-paced, short snippets of songs, it’s tough to sell an album whose longest track lasts just more than three minutes long. While it’s an interesting stylistic choice that Sick Friend made, the songs here need to linger a little longer, they need to build a little bit more, and they need just a little more grit and substance to really work.

This may have sounded a bit harsh, but  The Draft Dodger isn’t an album to hate; it’s just that no one really needs to hear it. There are clearly a few elements at play here that could be worked into something fun or catchy or really interesting, but as it is now, it’s a little bit undercooked.

Sick Friend – The Draft Dodger tracklist:

1. “Cottages”
2. “Seal That Would Fly”
3. “The Draft Dodger”
4. “Nothing Tragic”
5. “No Harm”
6. “Sleep Late”
7. “Masks”
8. “Forest Lawn”
9. “Millionth Night”

Claire Boucher has kindled a reputation for her drifting and waifish singing over hypnotic, lo-fi tracks that could be connoted in another dimension as pop. Hypnotic it may be, the question is, how far is the listener willing to go under? Visions is her third effort and by far the most attentively produced. Here is an artist that has proclaimed her music “post-Internet,” occasionally titling songs in symbols, Cyrillic and Japanese characters. Her label, Arbutus, indicates on its website that Boucher is “a veteran of the illegal DIY loft culture of Montreal.” Many of the recordings from her first two albums were played on toy instruments. A lot has changed this time around.

Free track “Genesis,” was Visions’ first foot forward, a blogosphere blowup track—and this one, for lack of contrivance, verges on toe-tapping goodness. Likewise follow-up “Oblivion” has a prancing bassline that could have been ripped from Ultravox. Now that Grimes has left one brand of shtick behind, trading it for a higher fidelity version—there’s at least some parts listenable, less art-for-art’s sake. And here’s where critics have been complicit in bestowing too much credit—Boucher’s music doesn’t create any parallel worlds because there’s no foundation beneath them, nor does it appeal to much more than a shoegaze aesthetic. It could be that Visions is the artist’s own, secret brand of fun, but then what’s in it for everybody else? It’s like showing up to a rave the only person sober.

At times, her voice is so high and so shrieking that it’s genuinely grating. Please store any glassware before cranking “Eight.” Approaching the album on its own terms is incredibly difficult because there are very terms to go off. There are times where it could be mistaken for Yolandi Vi$$er singing over a Bjork track that High Places produced. Clearly, she means to be perceived as spacey. One read down the tracklist can tell you that. Songs such as “Infinite ♡ Without Fulfillment” and “Vowels = Space and Time” are poor attempts at the cutting into electronic-pop outfits (not naming names) shtick, the latter even venturing into soul and oldskool hip-hop influences. There seems to be a pattern to her songmanship: play a familiar sequence over a dancy drum loop and then, just as the listener anticipates the last chord, make it something unpredictably spacey and weird.

Actually, the attempt is at something like an incantation, to wind the listener up in a spider web of ritualistic chanting, sensuality and psychedelia. Spun-out vocal delays, gated arpeggiators and custom synthesizer pads equate to one big, disjointed mess. “Nightmusic” opens with a sample from Mozart’s “Requiem” and continues on a similarly contrived spree of disappointment, stilted self-importance and would-be innovation. There’s no doubt that there is a strong bond between the visual and aural in her music, that it does challenge the listener—but in ways more troubling than good. Despite Visions’ airs, there’s no sense, even from Boucher, that this album ever wanted to be taken as a unified collection of songs and not far-out shots in the dark.

Grimes – Visions tracklist:

1. “Infinite ♡ Without Fulfillment (intro)”
2. “Genesis”
3. “Oblivion”
4. “Eight”
5. “Circumambient”
6. “Vowels = Space and Time”
7. “Visiting Statue”
8. “Be a Body”
9. “Color of Moonlight (Antiochus)” (featuring Doldrums)
10. “Symphonia IX (my wait is u)”
11. “Nightmusic” (featuring Majikal Cloudz)
12. “Skin”
13. “know the way (outro)”

They grow up so fast in East L.A., it seems. Although only slightly older than cohort Kendrick Lamar, Black Hippy crew member Quincy Hanley is still much wiser than his 25 years might suggest. Maybe because he’s run the gamut of life experiences already, with football star, straight-A student, Crip member and one-strike felon all on his résumé. Seemingly a little more streetwise than Lamar, ScHoolboy Q expresses an impressively educated and open worldview hidden under the guise of his former self: an Oxycontin-slanging street hustler. This is because of him proclaiming Habits & Contradictions as the prequel to his debut release, Setbacks, which was full of him making excuses about being a less-than-stellar rapper in his own eyes. Habits is what led to those excuses, and he paints a beautiful picture of the contradiction between gang life and intelligence: a struggle he faced before finding a home with a pen and a pad.

What aids in the delivery of his wisdom is not only his poignantly poetic writing, regaling drug-dealing and skirt-chasing, but also his versatility behind the microphone. In an interview with Complex Magazine, Q said the chameleonlike flow came from his appreciation for Jay-Z’s rhyming technique.

“I got [my rhyme style] from Jay-Z though. If you really listen to Jay-Z, he has a new sound every time he raps. It’s never the same. He might use a little swag, but it’s always like a different flow. So that’s all I try to do.” This is evident throughout Habits, as he adeptly navigates between laid-back hustler and hypocritical sinner asking for forgiveness. He’s never the same person on consecutive tracks, but he is always recognizable.

“Sacrilegious” starts the album off by giving the listener the feeling Q had growing up the way he did, his succumbing to a life of gang-banging, understanding the hypocrisy of it, begging for God to save him, but all the while believing that to be impossible. From there, he sets aside his worries and tries to enjoy the life he chose on tracks such as the swagged-out “There He Go,” “Gangsta in Designer (No Concept)” and “Druggy’s wit Hoes Again.” He complains, and brags, about encounters with women on “Sexting,” “Sex Drive” and “My Hatin’ Joint” and throws in a little bit of everything on “NiggaHs.Already.Know.Davers.Flow.”

Since 2004, The Pharmacy has been furiously touring the States and the world while releasing small EPs and LPs as they go. The band’s sound has stayed, for the most part, the same, but the recurring theme of its work is the ability to make you feel alive and excited about music again. The group’s new EP, Dig Your Grave, is no different.

The production of Dig Your Grave still has that lo-fi feel that gives the feeling the band recorded it in one take. There isn’t any studio trickery or bells and whistles that are trying to get you to buy the EP, and The Pharmacy isn’t being dishonest with its abilities as a band.

Although it’s only four tracks long and clocks in at around nine minutes, the EP doesn’t feel like that when you listen all the way through. The variation in style from one song to the next pulls you in as a listener and really gives you a lot to think about and reflect on.

“Dig Your Grave” is a fast, full-band jam out. The keyboard riff alone in the intro and outro of the song sounds like a church that has a rock band orchestrate its hymns. Not to mention that for being two minutes long, the drumming is intense and intricate; each little transition is annotated perfectly. There are about five different guitar and bass riffs that make the song feel like a journey and not verse-chorus-verse.

The other songs on Dig Your Grave really show that The Pharmacy isn’t concerned with commercialism or sounding pretty for the radio. The song’s an interesting mix between quality indie/pop/rock songwriting mixed with the energy and attitude of punk rock. When you listen to each instrument in detail, you realize that the most subtle differences in the way the band members play their instruments show their mastery of the craft.

They don’t strut their songwriting abilities in a gaudy fashion; The Pharmacy creates catchy pop songs that sound simple and easy to play, but they are actually complex pieces of music.

The closer, “Burn Your Bridges,” is a finger-picked guitar singalong. A first-time listener is given a refreshing, lyrically based song. “Burn all your bridges down/Sink them in the Puget Sound/And all the seagulls gather ’round/To shit while burning bridges down,” are strange lyrics, but you can’t help but sing along to them. “Burn Your Bridges” is as catchy as it is emotionally moving. Even if you couldn’t understand the lyrics, the melodies of the song are universal to the heart. It’s as fun to sing as it is to say as it is to hear.

Dig Your Grave is a nice EP to have on 7-inch. The cover is ghostly and looks almost like punk rock from another planet. The black and white photo on the back makes the guys in the band look like they’re ready for war. It’s not an EP to miss out on, and The Pharmacy is definitely a band to watch for when it releases its next LP, Stoned & Alone, this year.

The Pharmacy – Dig Your Grave tracklist:

1. “Dig Your Grave”
2. “Pines”
3. “Lazy Bones”
4. “Burn Your Bridges”

It’s hard to know what to expect from a group whose bio proclaims their sound as, “An aesthetic that resides at the corner of Crenshaw and Elm Street.” It’s hard to expect how messed up the listener’s head will be for weeks after first listen or how bizarre their dreams will be. “Celebrate with a bucket of grapes,” might be the line that best sums up the album’s chaos. Oddly enough, that line comes from legendary hip-hop figure Kool G Rap, who makes his own bizarre appearance. From the black-light-inspired cover art to the ode to an obscure, homemade alcohol in the title, Vodka & Ayahuasca is a psychedelic trip into the collaborative minds of two rap veterans.

On their third release as a duo, Alchemist (who has been around since the early days of Mobb Deep and Cypress Hill) and Oh No (an underground MC with his own vast heritage) might have worn out their welcome on the mic but still bring in excellent, grimy soundscapes that are rightly welcomed.

The aforementioned guest spot from Kook G Rap starts off the record on the track “Gladiator Music.” Other guest appearances include Roc Marciano on “Drink Up,” where Roc slyly navigates a beat that would fit well blaring in the ears of riders on Space Mountain if the ride were to go terribly awry, but it is Evidence on “Dark Shades” and Mobb Deep member Prodigy on “Dump Truck” who provide the album’s lyrical highlights.

Rather than focusing on where the album doesn’t quite measure up lyrically, it’s fair to focus on what’s going on musically, seeing as how these two made their names as producers for some of hip-hop’s grimiest moments. “Due Work” provides an aggressive 1970s-era piano sample that builds to a uneasy climax. “The Groove” is an ode to a party centered around an early-1990s Street Fighter tournament on Sega Genesis.

It’s not an achievement that’s going to move units or change the game, but Vodka & Ayahuasca provides a sinister soundtrack to what could be the highest-grossing “Saw” movie to date. Most producers want to be rappers deep down, and Al and Oh No aren’t terrible, but they definitely shine brighter when at their darkest behind the boards.

Gangrene – Vodka & Ayahuasca tracklist:

1. “Intro (The Mixings)”
2. “Gladiator Music” (featuring Kool G Rap)
3. “Flame Throwers”
4. “Drink It Up” (featuring Roc Marciano)
5. “Auralac Bags”
6. “Vodka & Ayahuasca”
7. “Dump Truck” (featuring Prodigy)
8. “Due Work”
9. “Odds Cracked”
10. “Top Instructors”
11. “Dark Shades” (featuring Evidence & Roc C)
12. “The Groove”
13. “Livers for Sale”
14. “Outro (The Downsides)”