Pop 'stache

The Swedish four piece, Graveyard, has a penchant for classic rock and sweet sounds of the devil. Their second release, Hisigen Blues, is a tightly focused pill of nostalgia that calls back to the days when bands like Led Zepplin infused the occult and mysticism into their music. Fortunately for the listener Graveyard has the skill to live up to their lofty role models.

Hisingen Blues is a winning mix of lo-fi instruments and tight musicianship. You won’t find any synth or other newfangled production techniques here. The band succeeds purely through varied songwriting, intricate riffs and the raw-power of vocalists Joakim Nilsson and Jonathan Ramm. Graveyard was actually formed from the remains of Norrsken, yet their cohesiveness is readily apparent in their music.

Songs vary nicely between fast and furious tracks like “Ain’t Fit to Live Here No More” and slower, moodier ones like “Uncomfortably Numb.” The latter starts with a wondering bluesy beat and howling from Nilsson and Jonathon. The drummer then speeds up the rhythm for the guitarist who finishes out the song with a wicked guitar solo. There’s not a second wasted in the six-minute song.

Graveyard’s psychedelic leanings show up on the album as well. The instrumental track “Longing” is a different breed from other songs on the alb.  As “Longing” starts with what sounds like a muted bongo, languid bass, light piano and a simple guitar phrase. It pivots into something entirely different with a lonesome whistle that would sound at home on the set of a spaghetti western. The weird progressions and avenues in this song are what make their album unique. The band manages to explore blues, psychedelica and classic rock to form an exceptional sound. They do it with brevity too. There are nine tracks on the album and it’s only better for it.

None of these songs are filler, and all of them encourage multiple listens to catch lyrics or details one may have missed the first time around.

Lyrical themes vary from the urge to leave it all behind, the undead and bad love. It’s the normal trappings one would find on a psychedelic rock record, but they remain relatable and well-constructed. Lines like, “People ask me want is wrong/I don’t see what’s right/Can’t get my thoughts together/I’m still asking why,” capture a real feeling. Nilsson and Ramm deliver just the right amount of rawness and swagger.

Hisigen Blues is an album that demands to be listened to in its entirety. The way the band shifts and expands their sound is compelling for both fans of classic rock and general music aficionados. Graveyard plays the low fi music they love expertly, and they show what two guitars, a set of vocal cords, a bass and drum set can do. Led Zeppelin and Beelzebub would be proud.

Graveyard  Hisigen Blues Tracklist:

1. “Ain’t Fit to Live Here”
2. “No Good, Mr. Holden”
3. “Hisingen Blues”
4. “Uncomfortably Numb”
5. “Buying Truth”
6. “Longing”
7. “Ungrateful are the Dead”
8. “RSS”
9. “The Siren”
10. “Cooking Brew”

In 2005, nearly all of the Gulf of Mexico was covered by a massive hurricane. As the people of New Orleans looked mouths agape to their city officials and federal government for a push in the right direction, Katrina was bearing down and gaining strength as she neared shore fall. The simple answer was “run and get out,” but no one could figure that one out on their own and as catastrophe struck, thousands were left to weather the storm. Once the swirling clouds cleared, New Orleans was submerged and many people’s lives were ultimately destroyed. What could be needed after such a chaotic and tragic event that could give the people a voice once again?

How about a song outlining the entire dilemma, written and performed by melodic Chicago hardcore natives Rise Against? “Help is on the Way” is only one of a dozen songs on their latest album Endgame that speaks in bounds about issues as the band sees them surrounding the world today. As an addition to the song, a video was released that chronicles a family’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina. To say the song is prolific is a gross understatement. The video paints an accurate picture of the struggle during the aftermath of such a grandly terrible event.

Having worked through five other studio albums, Rise Against is still on the books making waves and attempting to kick ass and take names as they spread a large swath of political views and personal feelings.

On their latest record, the band tackles current issues such as suicide in LGBTQ communities with a song called “Make it Stop (September’s Children).” They also continue to ride both the wave of endorsement of President Barack Obama and the damnation of former president Bush in a tune aptly named “A Gentleman’s Coup.”

The album cover reeks of typical Americana showing a blond-haired youngster in fields of grain (no doubt shot somewhere in the Midwest) draped in the Stars and Stripes and looking off to a rustic farmhouse. Rise Against exercises its First Amendment rights to their fullest extent and speaks by and large to create awareness of peoples civil liberties, animal cruelty and political activity. With American politics slammed in a bipartisan stalemate and the rest of the world as it is today, Rise Against will always have a target audience and a deep pool of material to pull from.

That said, there is no real progression in their music. There is no change in their sound and no real direction to their music other than stabbing the mainstream and making issues out of bad Fox News reporting. From start to finish, Rise Against’s latest album has the same flavor as any Nickelback, Finger Eleven or Killswitch Engage album. Their message holds meaning, but their sound is as cookie cutter as it gets. Sing-song hardcore bands are just like being on the high school football team—they’re a dime a dozen and once you’ve graduated, you’re just a name in a yearbook.

Ultimately, Rise Against preaches a solid case on the issues, but their message is draped behind a manufactured sound. The ideas behind these songs are lost in a whirlpool of generic guitar riffs and genre-typical delivery. It’s unfortunate they try to sound different and still manage to fit right in.

Rise Against – Endgame Tracklist:

1. “Architects”
2. “Help Is On the Way”
3. “Make It Stop (September’s Children)”
4. “Disparity By Design”
5. “Satellite”
6. “Midnight Hands”
7. “Survivor Guilt”
8. “Broken Mirrors”
9. “Wait for Me”
10. “A Gentlemen’s Coup”
11. “This Is Letting Go”
12. “Endgame”

Conceived in muggy depths of New Orleans, shoegazing duo Belong boast a murky and atmospheric sound that hovers like brooding swamp fog. Belong started as an instrumental ambient group, while their newest effort, Common Era, finds the band detracting from this sound in peculiar ways, but by and large, they retain their seismic timbre.

Common Era sounds exactly like a good shoegaze album should: Thick walls of sound and fuzz create a hazy sound scape that envelops the listener. But beneath all the noise lies undeniably intriguing instrumentation. It’s difficult to make something that sounds so formless so melodic, but Belong know how to craft a tune.

Such as the opener “Come See,” a track that appears arduous on the surface but reveals itself to be entirely listenable as it unfolds. A wiry rhythm section battles the overpowering resonance of feedback and distortion, making for an eclectic listen. Other songs, like “A Walk” and “Different Heart” follow a similar path. The cloudy textures crafted by the band manage to be as demanding as they are pleasurable.

However, if when listening to Common Era you begin to suffer from a strong case of “I’ve heard this somewhere before,” it’s with good reason. The album loses its footing when Belong relies on its influences a little too strongly.

They’ve skirted this dangerous territory before: October Language—the outfit’s 2006 debut—boasted obvious nods toward My Bloody Valentine by way of a Meddle­­-era Pink Floyd aesthetic. Meanwhile, their 2008 EP Colorless Record is merely a collection of genre riffs. Covering songs from the likes of Syd Barrett and Billy Nichols, the album is a nice idea but ultimately useless in terms of forming a unique sound. Arriving at Common Era, Belong appeared to have stayed this course.

Falling victim to predictability, much of the album is simply enjoyable and little more.

Where “Come See” illustrates the band’s ability to dexterously sustain their wall of sound, “Keep Still” is a perfect example of the exact opposite. Elongated riffs often overstay their welcome, burdening the album and reducing it to a series of annoyances.

More ineffectual are the vocals. In previous efforts, singer Turk Dietrich used his voice less as a focal point and more like another layer in a wide range of sounds. For Common Era, Belong took this minimalist aesthetic and reverted it further. There are points at which Dietrich’s voice may not as well be present, lost in the aimless feedback.

Each of the album’s worst tracks shares a common flaw: They build and churn for five minutes or so before abruptly ending without reaching any finite conclusion. The end result sounds something like a slow motion Phish concert: incessant noodling stands in the way of any clear ideas. Relying on this kind of sonic overload paints Belong as a pair of meandrous genre nerds unable to craft songs with individual merit—which is unfortunate, considering the numerous bright spots on the album.

Stepping outside the aesthetic might do the trick.

Belong – Common Era Tracklist:

1. “Come See”
2. “Never Came Close”
3. “A Walk”
4. “Perfect Life”
5. “Keep Still”
6. “Different Heart”
7. “Make Me Return”
8. “Common Era”
9. “Very Careful”

At first, it’s a promising jam. “An Easy Life” starts the Meyrin Fields EP with a mysterious tune. It features an upbeat intro before it coasts into an easygoing rhythmic rollercoaster followed by a more rugged “Heartless Empire,” which is also easy to float on. Though they don’t start the EP strikingly, they’re two decent melancholy tracks. Once we hear the title track, there is assurance that the entire setting is slow. “Meyrin Fields” is an ominous telling of something that is clearly not good. It’s a bit catchy, but it might not please its followers. “Windows,” a track that has a neat beat with high vocals and some low guitar, closes the collection. It’s cool, but it really isn’t fun.

Meyrin Fields EP is true to the Broken Bells that fans first heard back in 2009.

The project started 18 months ago when producer Danger Mouse got together with The Shins front-man James Mercer. The sound they produced was exciting, innovative and current. It featured heavy synth and new audio implementations that rocked the speakers of indie rock lovers everywhere. Their self-titled debut was certainly a hit. So when they set out to produce the new EP, they set the bar high. What we hear in the four new tracks is the essential Broken Bells. It’s heavy on the electronic accompanied by quick, low beats and the familiar range of vocals. This is the comforting feeling attached to the sampler they’ve just put out.

What’s not as chipper is the mood that rides alongside the melodic current. Meyrin Fields is focused on the scary relationship between highs and lows. And when it goes low, it stays low. In fact, most of the set is a dark flow of words and tones. Even though “Meyrin Fields” might perform well on alternative radio stations, the EP as a whole is a little discomforting. Take “Meyrin Fields” out of context, and you’ve got a hit. Look at it any other way, and it’ll dampen your mood. Way to go, Broken Bells. This one’s a buzzkill.

Broken Bells – Meyrin Fields EP Tracklist:

1. “Meyrin Fields”
2. “Windows”
3. “An Easy Life”
4. “Heartless Empire”

Metronomy took the time to record their latest album the more traditional way—in a recording studio instead of a bedroom. They include synthesizers and drum machines, and capture a sound similar to Herbie Hancock and Stevie Wonder, who are driving forces behind The English Riviera. Though electronic contraptions may be the backbone of the album, Joseph Mount partners with companions Anna Prior on drums, Gbenga Adelekan on bass and original Metronomy member Oscar Cash on keyboard and saxophone. In joining forces, their combined powers have created a more organic sound.

Riviera is a fully produced follow-up to the highly revered Nights Out, released in 2008. Mount brought the idea that fans who listened to Metronomy’s last album would be just starting college and might like a follow-up that could take them along their first journey through the halls of higher education.

There is a handful of love songs included on the record with a synth-heavy sound. “Corinne” blasts a “Space Invaders” sound to back an abusive spouse’s apology.  “Love Underlined” creates an Arabian air coupled with power-pop electro beats.  On the other hand, “Loving Arm” is a simpler love song dripping with heavier beats right from the start. It’s an out-of-this-world yet shallow song hammering simple rhythms. “Trouble” is a bass-driven lover’s lament with Mount crooning over a twinkling guitar. Throw in a Frampton-like talking guitar and the hearts of any college freshman girl will start to melt.

There is no shortage of groovy, slower tempo songs on the album either.  Following the creation of a living sound on top of the synths and drums, Mount layers echoing lyrics throughout.

He uses his singing as glue that holds songs like “The Look” and “She Wants”—their first single from the album—together while Adelekan brings in his bass to seal the deal. These two ditties stray from more frantic music and have a slower pulse, baby-making appeal to them.

The album’s namesake is only 37 seconds long but boasts violin accompaniment complete with seagulls and waves crashing in the background. This rolls into “We Broke Free,” continuing the gulls’ call and waves’ crashing as a smooth bass grinds alongside dreamy keyboards.

From end to end, Metronomy takes its Brit-pop four-piece and couples it with all the electronic panache one could ever need. They wrap it neatly in an album cover befitting their name, taking a picture from an English Riviera tourist board poster designed by the late John Gorham at the behest of his wife. The picture, songs and idea behind the album are all apt to lead to an excellent third full-length. It fits well at university where the premise can be summed up in seeing plumes of smoke floating above all the cool stoner kids’ heads on the first trip to a house party. It’s a down-tempo walk through early adulthood showing a glimpse of what people will be bumping uglies to in the future.

Metronomy – The English Riviera Tracklist:

1. “The English Riviera”
2. “We Broke Free”
3. “Everything Goes My Way”
4. “The Look”
5. “She Wants”
6. “Trouble”
7. “The Bay”
8. “Loving Arm”
9. “Corinne”
10. “Some Written”
11. “Love Underlined”
12. “The Look (King Krule Remix)”

It seems strange to criticize something for being too joyous. With so many terrible things happening in the world, condemning celebrations of life is like popping a balloon bouquet one painful burst at a time. A few listens to Noah & the Whale’s third release Last Night on Earth, however, and you remember how frustrating your perpetually happy friend is on days you just want to brood.

At first listen, it seems the band has returned to the fun, sun-soaked style they captured on their first album. But Noah & the Whale’s debut balanced this with enough weight and homespun sound to avoid sounding like a novelty. That kind of crunch is immediately absent on this album. It is lazy to say a band has “sold out,” but it is apparent that Last Night on Earth was produced with a larger budget and is featured on car commercials to make those funds back.

Noah & the Whale was largely criticized for trying too hard to deviate from their twee debut with sophomore effort The First Days of Spring, whereas the latest album seems like an overcompensation, considering their brief stint with a darker approach.

The grit of their last album has been smoothed over with synth layers, and melancholy aspects have been piled with unrelated hooks and glinting, hopeful lyrics.

Last Night on Earth puts its best foot forward with the first track, “Life is Life.” The song employs the anthemic synths that ruled the 1980s alongside a blissfully assured message of some unknown character’s future with a choir-type chorus and all. This fearless optimism works well as a first track, but the problem is that this same theme is applied to literally every other song on the album. The first-track newness of every song prevents Last Night on Earth from really ever beginning and the album stays stuck in the mode of starting over.

“L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.” offers hope for some sort of progression of the record. The climbing guitar lines and lack of overbearing electronic elements are a nice change from preceding songs. That is when the awful truth sets in—the title actually means what you think it does, and that is a repeatedly spelled-out chorus a la Fergie. Minus the chorus, “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.” is an electronic ode to Tom Petty’s brand of narrative lyricism. Toward the end, lovely string arrangements enter at the bridge, but the glimpse of hope is quickly taken away as the chorus repeats itself again. Nevertheless, the alphabet lyrics do their trick and will inevitably be lodged in your brain for at least a day or two.

With Last Night on Earth, Noah & the Whale never let their guard down past the surface level.

This makes delving into the record difficult—this, and the fact that their lyrics do not provide are not too much to explore in the first place. Not that Noah & the Whale were ever expected to be prophetic, but the songs on this album are too flighty to leave much of an impression or any lasting effects on listeners. The band has proven they can pull off sunny albums with some dignity, but Last Night on Earth takes the cliches too far.

Noah & the Whale – Last Night on Earth Tracklist:

1. “Life Is Life”
2. “Tonight’s The Kind of Night”
3. “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.”
4. “Wild Thing”
5. “Give It All Back”
6. “Just Before We Met”
7. “Paradise Stars”
8. “Waiting for My Chance to Come”
9. “The Line”
10. “Old Joy”

Having asserted themselves as one of the most creative and vital forces of the past decade, TV on the Radio settles into a sweet spot on their fourth record, Nine Types of Light. Not quite as interested in “getting down” as they had been on their previous record, Dear Science, the band examines love in its purest form, bearing their souls in ways unseen up to this point.

Fat, funky grooves are often traded for or integrated into atmospherics and soulful crooning. Misleadingly titled opener “Second Song” seems to fuse the soft open of “Halfway Home” with the hook of “Crying,” the one and two tracks of Dear Science. But as opposed to the band’s generally hard-hitting, cryptic openers, this one immediately exposes a depth of heart with lines like “I’ll defend my love forever.” There’s a personal element to this track unlike what fans are used to. And it only goes deeper from here.

Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone don’t shy from a good ballad in the first half. With more than their fair share of gorgeous melodies and perfectly woven guitars, TV on the Radio get sentimental, singing words like “You’re the only one I’ve ever loved.”  It stands in stark contrast from the carnal desires exhibited in “Lover’s Day” and “Wolf Like Me.”

Rounding out the first half is “Killer Crane,” one of the most gorgeous things the band has ever produced, floating above time with reverberated piano and a chorus layered with some tasteful banjo. It’s all so serene, especially at the tail end of the chorus where Adebimpe sings, “As night heals the ground and the moonlight steals the sound I can leave, suddenly unafraid.”

Similar to David Bowie’s phenomenal Low, Nine Types of Light has two distinct halves. The first a lighter, ballad-ridden side and the second more up-tempo and aggressive.

Lead single “Will Do” serves as the transitional point. Adebimpe points out “I think we’re compatible/I see that you think I’m wrong” and in the chorus questions “What choice of words will bring me back to you?” The mood shifts from sweetness to frustration.

None of it rocks as hard as “Wolf Like Me,” but they get their point across. “Repetition,” however, does come close, starting with a groove where Dave Sitek’s guitars interplay with Malone’s falsetto and reaching its climax point with Adebimpe chanting “My repetition, my repetition is this” and Sitek letting loose before locking back into the groove to shut it down.

“Forgotten” brings the tempo down one last time, sinking into the lowliest of despair before closer “Caffeinated Consciousness” busts through to a renewed mental state as they sing “We will survive!” The jubilance of this track will make for a great closer to their live sets.

Nothing on this record may stand out as monumental, but all of the songs are excellent. TV on the Radio is largely affecting and for the first time seems to meet the listener on a personal level. There’s never been any shame in simply making a great record and that’s exactly what TV on the Radio have done with Nine Types of Light.

TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light Tracklist:

1. “Second Song”
2. “Keep Your Heart”
3. “You”
4. “No Future Shock:
5. “Killer Crane”
6. “Will Do”
7. “New Cannonball Blues”
8. “Repetition”
9. “Forgotten”
10. “Caffeinated Consciousness”

Yelle returns to the electronic scene with their second album Safari Disco Club. Fans of their first release Pop Up will be a little let down by this new album. The title is misleading because the album is not an adventure of any sort.

The first thing that stands out about Safari Disco Club is that every song sounds almost exactly the same. Unless the listener is trying to consciously differentiate between songs, Safari Disco Club will flash by without having picked up a thing. As an electronic band, the instruments can only go so far and the creativity of songs relies on behind-the-scenes sound manipulation and augmentation. Yelle did not do anything interesting in the studio to make this album keep your attention.

Sadly, the album sounds almost completely like filler and this is not due to a language barrier or understanding the lyrics. As a conversational French speaker, it would still be hard to tell one song from another. Yelle has turned away from their own brand of fun, bubbly, danceable electro-pop into a beeping bore that sounds more similar to a generic Metric song.

The vocals are so electronically processed that it seems as if the band was trying to cover up for a lack of talent instead of the effect actually adding to the songs. This is a pattern on the album and the result of the same filter being applied to almost every vocal track on the album makes Safari Disco Club sound like a Freeze-Pop song being played ten times on repeat.

“C’est pas une vie” (roughly “This is not a life”) is one of the songs that sticks out mainly because Yelle approached the album’s abuse of the verse-chorus-verse format with a little more creativity than the other songs. It has sad, yet poppy instrumental leads and the vocal melody is surprisingly catchy. The processed effects that Yelle used on the vocals on “C’est Pas Un Vie” also sound like a toned down version of Passion Pit and it works surprisingly well on this song.

“Mon pays” is another song that stands out above the others because it sounds so deliciously 80s. The opening synthesizer lead sounds like a more cheery version of The Cure during their darker 1980s Goth rock phase.

People who were expecting a club-banging polished follow-up to “A Cause de Garcons” and the remix that inspired the awesome dance music video that we all know and love will find that when they compare Safari Disco Club to Pop Up they will have to think “Wait, where did the bass and drums go?”

Safari Disco Club is almost an insult to the dance community as a whole. This album is tame. It isn’t exciting. It is almost like listening to an uninspired electronic keyboardist practicing the ever so generic four chord song structure over a metronome changing keys every three or four minutes.

When a band comes out with such as strong a debut release as Pop Up, their fans can’t wait to gobble up a second album. Sometimes this makes the artist choke and they churn out an album in about a year’s time to appease the labels, record executives and fans, which results in an album that does not have the magic that was put into the first, and it tanks.

In this case, there was almost a three-year gap between Pop Up and Safari Disco Club so there is no excuse for this album to be as bland as it is. Yelle didn’t try anything new; they didn’t experiment. In fact, they even crawled so deep into a musical “safe zone” I’m not sure if they can ever get out.

Typically when a band makes an album with commercially “safe” songs it was because their label forced them into making a “radio friendly” album to ensure sales. I don’t know if this was the case with Safari Disco Club, but if so, this plan will surely backfire.

Yelle was great the way they were, everyone loved how fun they were and other electronic musicians enjoyed remixing their tracks. They were well received by everyone and their mother. Yelle was not broken, so there was no need for them to be “fixed.” This album does not have anything exciting or stimulating about it.

To put it bluntly once again, where the fuck did the bass and drums go?

Yelle Safari Disco Club Tracklisting

1. “Safari Disco Club”
2. “Que veux-tu”
3. “C’est pas une vie”
4. “Comme un enfant”
5. “Chimie physique”
6. “La musique”
7. “Mon pays”
8. “J’ai bu”
9. “Le grand saut”
10. “Unillusion”
11. “S’eteint le soleil”
12. “Safari Disco Club (BeatauCue Remix)”
13. “Que veux-tu (Madeon Extended Remix)”

Orange County, CA’s Voxhaul Broadcast was carving itself a unique niche with the release of its 2008 EP Rotten Apples. Recorded in just one day, Rotten Apples was an interesting take on indie rock, but with some subtle ’60s influence laid across the top. A year later, Voxhaul Broadcast released Fact Fiction and Turquoise, an even shorter work that hinted at the band’s varied musical scope. Both EPs had their highs and lows because of the band’s constant exploration of genres, but with their full-length debut Timing Is Everything just released, would the band find its identity?

Unfortunately Timing Is Everything proves to be a continuation of the directionless overtones that marred Voxhaul Broadcast’s earlier work.

A couple tracks resurface from those EPs—“Rotten Apples” and “Fact or Fiction,” respectively—and they are deserving of their inclusion. These tracks perfectly display what the quartet is capable of when they commit to a style. “Rotten Apples” has jangly guitars that complement guitarist/vocalist David Dennis while the rhythm section, comprising bassist Phillip Munsey II and drummer Kurt Allen, create a groove ideal for modern pop music.

“Fact or Fiction,” the album’s closing track, is culled from Voxhaul Broadcast’s 2009 EP and is one of their strongest efforts. Dennis’ vocal performance is impassioned and utterly genuine. Anthony Aguiar’s guitar work creates a moody atmosphere with pop sensibility, a technique utilized by many of indie rock’s elite.

There are moments when the new material on Timing Is Everything matches the quality of the aforementioned—opener “Leaving on the 5th” and “Sleepless Dreamer” are prime examples, but most of the record falls completely on its face.

It appears as if the foursome understood a full-length to mean songs that needed to be extended well beyond necessity.

Songs like “Loose Chains” and “If I Run” are longer than five minutes but never justify their length. The band is not creating movement during these pieces; instead they jam on the same riff for minutes at a time. It punishes the listener for hoping that these lengthy ordeals will culminate in something worthwhile.

While Voxhaul Broadcast often over-reaches, its affinity for using worn out blues-rock riffs is, at best, trite. “Cheetah” sees Dennis implementing lyrics that only a persona like Iggy Pop could pull off, “Yeah, look like a cheetah, a cheetah.” His high-pitched “Woo!” that immediately follows the line’s delivery only makes matters far more embarrassing for all involved. The next track, “Junkyard Dog,” borrows just as heavily from the genre’s clichés and doesn’t fare any better.

Timing Is Everything does exactly what Voxhaul Broadcast’s preceding EPs did, display signs of greatness but obscure them with a general indecisiveness and lack of commitment. It sucks having to be the nagging girlfriend in this relationship, always telling the guy to commit and find a direction in life, but if it helps Voxhaul Broadcast make a great record in the future then it’s a complaint worth airing.

Voxhaul Broadcast – Timing Is Everything Tracklist:

1. “Leaving on the 5th”
2. “Blackout”
3. “Steal the Diamonds”
4. “Loose Chains”
5. “Cheetah”
6. “Junkyard Dog”
7. “If I Run”
8. “Rotten Apples”
9. “Sleepless Dreamer”
10. “No Better Reason”
11. “Drysand”
12. “Crash the Car”
13. “Fact or Fiction”

Buzz band Dirty Beaches is the pet project of Alex Zhang Hungtai, whose debut album Badlands is creating a groundswell of Internet commotion. Falling squarely into the indie rock rattle of acts like Japandroids and No Age, Hungtai embraces bedroom aesthetics in a way that is admirable in theory but wincingly gaudy in practice.

Hungtai’s shtick lies in embracing rockabilly licks and ’90s nostalgia. The result is a collection of hollow-sounding songs that are languid and rarely appealing.

The album’s standout track, “True Blue,” is a Roy Orbison-channeling take on a breakup tune. In a way, the song is a sort of microcosm for the album as a whole: The idea is fine—Hungtai is obviously hyper aware of the more kitschy aspects of ’50s rock aesthetics—but there’s much straining on his behalf. His unyielding attention to detail betrays the congenital sound he seeks.

This straining is painfully prevalent on the album’s second half. Hungtai’s suffusion of dark, atmospheric tones is an attempt to create an air of menace—something seemingly incongruous to the buoyant sounds of a typical Chuck Berry song. He completes this objective by subverting the jumpy bass lines and jangly guitar rhythms of the era and making them sound hollow and resonate, yet can’t escape the realm of novelty.

These tactics mostly stay on the backburner until the album’s closer, “Hotel,” turns the dial to 11. By that point, Hungtai’s myriad influences have come and gone—there’s nothing left but pure gimmickry.

Hungtai’s music has been given such annoying monikers as “lo-fi rockabilly” and “Wavves meets Jerry Lewis.” What’s more likely is he heard Suicide’s eponymous debut and proclaimed, “I wanna do exactly that!”

Awesome, bro.

Admittedly, bringing together old-timey standards with gritty emotionalism in such a DIY fashion seems like a good idea on paper. It’s wrong to chastise Hungtai for being ambitious. His capricious deconstruction of blue suede shoe-isms is an interesting idea formally, but the product feels entirely inauthentic.

There remains a grand distinction in art between what is considered avant-garde and what’s merely fashionable. If you hear Badlands the next time you’re in Urban Outfitters, you’ll know exactly why.

Though Badlands clocks in at a meager 28 minutes, it’s heavy-handed tonality makes an eight-song effort feel as lethargic as a double album. Hungtai is just trying so hard, the result of which renders his music completely inorganic. In stretches, Hungtai sounds downright desperate. His flailing approach to songwriting seems less driven by a desire to create and more by a need to be taken seriously.

Which gives way to more incongruity: Badlands is far too piecemeal for a lo-fi record. Its deliberate, overtly methodical pacing completely defies the minimalist aesthetic presented.

Apparently unbeknownst to him, part of the appeal of lo-fi is the sort of anti-style it employs. In fact, the low-grade production quality of their music was more an act of pragmatism than anything else. Back before it became chic, artists like Lou Barlow and Stephen Malkmus unpretentiously worked within the genre. People responded to their earnestness, not their irony.

As Hungtai borrows tropes from each of these forms, he never establishes himself as the genre alchemist he perceives. Rather, Badlands is an amalgamation of his unboundedly great taste in music. Nothing more.

Dirty Beaches – Badlands Tracklist:

1. “Speedway King”
2. “Horses”
3. “Sweet 17”
4. “A Hundred Highways”
5. “True Blue”
6. “Lord Knows Best”
7. “Black Nylon”
8. “Hotel”

Twenty years since their formation, Swedish quartet Acid House Kings have returned with just their sixth record. Their seemingly leisurely output can be partially attributed to their alleged game plan of releasing a record once every five years since 1992, supposedly inspired by Felt’s 10 albums in 10 years plan at least according to the bio on their website. Brothers Johan and Niklas Angergård and Joakim Ödlund formed the poorly (and apparently ironically) named group in 1991, adding “former guest vocalist and present sister-in-law” Julia Lannerheim as a full-time member in 2002. In addition, they’ve been busy with day jobs, personal lives and other musical projects, including Johan’s duo with fellow Swede Karolina Komstedt (from Poprace), Club 8 and his management of the independent record label Labrador, which has served as a Petri dish for much of the twee indie pop to emerge from the land of meatballs and lingonberries

ABBA are not Sweden’s only musical export; consider: Roxette, Ace Of Base, Robyn, The Cardigans, The Hives, and those are just a few with better name recognition.Loney, Dear, Radio Dept., The Concretes, Taken By Trees, Sambassadeur, The Mary Onettes, Pelle Carlberg, Those Dancing Days and the aforementioned Club 8 have all been part of the recent Swedish indie-pop wave. Given all that, it’s frustrating that Acid House Kings never seem to get their proper due.

Perhaps their lack of respect is due to their irrelevant moniker; this music has nothing to do with acid, house or acid house, and they seem to be way too meek and cute to bear the title of kings. This is not Spinal Tap’s “The Majesty of Rock,” after all. Acid House Kings make sunny orchestral pop like only the Swedes can, with Beach Boys via ABBA vocals and catchy acoustic guitar jangles flourished with horns, woodwinds, handclaps, maracas and castanets. Lannerheim’s smiling soprano recalls the simplicity of the ’60s girl groups, and her breathy delivery is a nice counterpoint to Johan’s delightfully amateurish and adenoidal tenor vocals.

Just as all songs by The Wedding Present are about love, all Acid House Kings songs are about the seasons, most notably their favorite season, summer. Not for nothing was an early compilation entitled Sounds of Summer and their recording studio christened Summersound (also the name of Johan’s original label)—they’ve spent most of their recording career capturing summery sounds on record, and Music Sounds Better With You is no exception. Perhaps it’s because summer ends so soon in Sweden that they spend their studio sessions obsessed with selecting moments to summarize, most apparently on “Windshield” and “Where Have We Been?”

When the Kings aren’t singing about summer directly, there’s a wonderful wistfulness that seems to say, “Let’s hold hands and run outside, and run about aimlessly in the meadow.”

Although the record begins with Johan singing “I know that summer’s gone again,” their jaunty, warm  approach is never in doubt throughout: “I almost forget we’re gonna die,” he concludes on “Are We Lovers Or Are We Friends?” Thus, even when the songs are not about summer, they seem to be about a longing for summer to come.

Indeed, when the songs are stuck inside the corner office as in “(I’m in) A Chorus Line,” Lannerheim sings that from her window she can catch “a tiny glimpse of a lake,” and by the end of her day in the corporate cubicle world, she is literally pleading, “Take me out tonight/And give me soul tonight/Give me your soul tonight/Give me anything tonight.” Even in the loneliness of the hotel room, or in the empty conference room with its barren dry-erase board, Johan is plotting their escape from the dining room, and he’s pleading  the girl spend less time in her dressing room and get out with him on “I Just Called to Say Jag Alskar Dig” (Swedish for “I Love You”).

After wondering if “Would You Say Stop?” on the galloping first single, Lannerheim argues on “Under Water” that setting the controls for the heart of the sun would be a source of salvation: “Take away the trouble take away the pain/We are going to a sunny side/No one stays the same/Go, go, go to a place under water/Come, come, come to a place in the sun” she sings.

If there’s any criticism to be levied against the new Acid House Kings record, it’s an issue of pacing.

Just as some would say that all songs by The Wedding Present ‘SOUND THE SAME’ (as they famously proclaimed on their own tour T-shirts), the same could be argued of these ten tracks and their tempos; while none of them are fast-paced rockers, none of them are leisurely, contemplative ballads either; they all proceed at a bouncy pace, and although the instrumentation is richly varied and layered in each song, they do become a bit same-y after repeated listens.

Still, just like AC/DC or The Ramones, even though their compositions may be variations on the same song, it’s still a great song. Each Acid House Kings record has been better than the last one, and Music Sounds Better With You definitely follows that trend. The record is over too soon, but has definitely been worth the long wait, and is an entirely lovely listen.

Acid House Kings Music Sounds Better With You Tracklist

1. Are We Lovers Or Are We Friends?
2. Windshield
3. Would You Say Stop?
4. Under Water
5. (I’m In) A Chorus Line
6. Where Have You Been?
7. Waterfall
8. There Is Something Beautiful
9. I Just Called To Say Jag Alskar Dig
10. Heaven Knows I Miss Him Now

Travis Barker is not a lead singer, but he is the leader. In Blink-182 he could be found behind his fellow musicians marking time, but with the release of his solo album, Give the Drummer Some, Barker is his own man. One is curious as to what a percussionist sounds like when he moves to the front. With the help of a lot of friends, the answer is pretty damn good.

Although Barker never utilizes his voice in the album, he still comes out in the music. Drummers are often the forgotten member of a band despite the fact they keep the ship afloat, and as Blink-182’s he was one of the more quiet ones. In the record studio, producers are responsible for managing the assemblage of an album, yet are often forgotten despite being an integral part of the process.

In this case Barker is both the artist and producer and hard to overlook.

His beats hold everything together with a focus on complex percussion and selective use of guitar, ambiance and synth. He uses a guest vocalist for every track; the majority of which are rap artists, but Barker pulls in a stellar line-up in both quality and quantity. Highlights include Lil’ Wayne, Lupe Fiasco, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, RZA, The Cool Kids, Busta Rhymes, Pharrel Williams, Tech N9ne and Cypress Hill. While the stacked lineup is a definite plus, the abundance of voices makes the album seem more like a compilation than the singular product of an artist. Fortunately Barker maintains consistency with his production. Complex beats fit the vocals perfectly, there are drum solos aplenty, and songs benefit with help from guitarists Tom Morello and Slash.

The song “Devils Got a Hold on Me” is a great example where the drums, production and vocals play off of each other well. The track starts with a muted solo on a snare drum and settles into a nice mid-tempo groove with a touch of hi-hat and ambient noise in the background. Rap group Slaughterhouse keeps a good flow and works around the drum break with the chorus. “Let’s Go” is another standout from the album thanks to beats that fit Busta Rhymes signature meter and flow like a glove. Fellow guests Yelawolf and Twista deserve props were keeping up the tempo and not letting the song slouch. “Knockin,” the fourth track off the album, is somewhere in between the two with a sleek mid-tempo beat that weaves around the sultry stylings of Dev, Snoop Dogg, E-40 and Ludacris.

Barker has a talent for accenting the natural flow of the vocalists he uses to make his songs unique and interesting.

“Devils Got a Hold on Me,” uses its light snare groove and dark ambience to compliment the sinister subject matter. The lyrics, “I signed a deal with my maker. Satan’s my record company,” wouldn’t be nearly effective without Barker’s deft touch. “Let’s Go” is a bigger song with a wicked guitar noodling in the background dropping jagged cords and Lil Jon acting as the hype man repeating, “Let’s go, Let’s go.” The production manages to enhance the natural energy for these artists beautifully to separate itself from the rest of the album. In “Knockin,” Barker matches Ludacris, E-40 and Snoop Dogg naturally smooth delivery with a dynamic bed of drums that rises with a touch of distortion to meet the chorus from Dev, but gets out of the way for the verse.

Though Barker put more people in front of him than there’s ever been, Give the Drummer Some is a successful solo outing. Barker maintains a consistent sound using a variety of percussion, ambiance, and additional guitar. Better yet, he manages to absorb the different idiosyncrasies of the vocalists he uses to make songs unique. The drummer may often be the forgotten member of a band, but in this case he’s impossible to forget.

Travis Barker – Give the Drummer Some Tracklist:

1. “Can a Drummer Get Some?”
2. “If You Want To”
3. “Carry It”
4. “Knockin”
5. “Jump Down”
6. “Devil’s Got a Hold”
7. “Let’s Go”
8. “Saturday Night”
9. “Cool Head”
10. “Raw Shit”
11. “Just Chill”
12. “Beat Goes On/I Play the Drums”