Silent League | A Review of Their New Album But You've Always Been the Caretaker

As a band from Brooklyn New York, Silent League stands distinguished from the often roughly depicted city of the band’s base of operations. That is in part because of lead vocalist Justin Russo, closely associated and former member of a psychedelic rock band Mercury Rev. After cutting his teeth with this band, Russo went on to create Silent League, a band that could have been opened up for The Band back in the day. With its delicately woven together list of tracks, But You’ve Always Been the Caretaker is an experiential sort of album. Visceral and complex, the tracks that populate the album stir an oh-so-good kind of feel in the listener that you may become completely swept away in its movements. Currently comprised of five members the band, at least in terms of vocals, sounds similar to Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard repackaged in dreampop/Chamberpop style. Don’t be confused though Silent League is not an EMO band drowning in anguish, the vocals are the only real similarity. This is their third album, the first of which was extremely well received by the music community, though the second never got its American release. But You’ve Always Been the Caretaker is sure to make an impact in the Americas. As a mainly orchestral band, many of the tracks off of the album either lead into or out of extended instrumental portions, adding to the album’s depth and length.

The Bravery | Stir the Blood Album Review

The NYC based band The Bravery has come out with its third album Stir the Blood and you can tell that this band has had an effect on the musical currents in the world when you listen to a band such as White Lies, a recent edition to the Robert Smith-centric style of music. That is why we should take notice of The Bravery when they release a new album. Stir the Blood, doesn’t offer much more than the predecessors did, in terms of innovation. Though by maintaining the status quo in terms of style while working on refining what makes The Bravery great, synth heavy creations and a floor rattling level of pumping drum rhythms, the band has produced a noteworthy album. The music of The Bravery often attractively dresses it’s drearily sung vocals with the swirling energy delivered by the instruments. The combination of these elements allows for some interesting song designs and this album Stir the Blood is no exception. The overall tone of the album is that of a disgruntled lovers quarrel, tipped off by some of song titles, Hatefuck and She’s So Bendable. But that same tone continues throughout Stir the Blood moving from lyrics depicting the bendiness of a certain someone to the more heartfelt yet provocative imagery by the end of the album in Sugarpill. Whoever this Flexible Sweetie is, I think we would all like to meet her and in a way by listening to this album, we do. Key Tracks off of Stir the Blood are; Slow Poison, She’s So Bendable and Sugarpill.

Here's a question: there have been a number of bands of the same genre to come out with an album this year. Which was the best? Not exactly the same but similar in sound, bands like Franz Ferdinand with Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, White Lies with their To Lose My Life, Arctic Monkeys with Humbug and Editors In This Light And On This Evening. Which was best?

Track List for Stir the Blood. Due out December 1st 2009
1) Adored
2) Song For Jacob
3) Slow Poison
4) Hatefuck
5) I Am Your Skin
6) She’s So Bendable
7) The Spectator
8) T Have Seen The Future
9) Red Hands And White Knuckles
10) Jack-O’-Lantern Man
11) Sugarpill

Battle Of The Supergroups | Chicken Foot Vs. Them Crooked Vultures Vs. Monsters of Folk

Right off the bat you might be asking yourselves what the hell is Monsters of Folk doing in this head to head… to head? Well, there have been three major Supergroups to produce an album this year, Chicken Foot, Monsters of Folk and the latest Them Crooked Vultures. One of these just happens to be less metal/rock oriented, and the title of this band might have given away their style of choice. This should not exclude the Monsters of Folk from being involved in this battle, they stand a fighting chance. By the numbers alone Monsters of Folk has a head start as a foursome, albeit a foursome of thin, pasty skinned banjo wielding folk artists. One of the bands, Them Crooked Vultures is for all intents and purposes a threesome (if we omit Alain Johannes who is only featured and not a member of the band), a threesome of glass eating, fire breathing legends of rock/metal. Luckily, for the members of Monsters of Folk, there will be no actual physical confrontation between the groups. And the physical description of them, that was so delicately crafted, bares little resemblance to the members that constitute Monsters of Folk, just so we are clear.
Supergroups seem to be all the rage these days and why not? The effect of Supergroups are obvious and economical, musicians like to play and perform with their peers, it’s what they do, they perform, and the better the group is as a whole the better they feel about their individual performances. The Monsters of Folk is a variation on the whole super group idea. And Bands like Them Crooked Vultures are made up of some of the most prolific figures in the music industry and rock world. The Monsters of Folk and its’ members are cut from a different cloth. Made up of some very talented men, the guys that constitute the Monsters of Folk are much less prolific than the men who make up the roster for Them Crooked Vultures. Jim James of My Morning Jacket was very much responsible for the eclectic and richly performed tracks off of My Morning Jacket’s last album Evil Urges, (the track Librarian is especially odd and enjoyable, highly recommended). He and Matt Ward of M. Ward and She & Him make up the notables of this group. There is of course Conor Orerst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes, they round out the foursome, though they are lesser known by most. But the principle that gathered these men together also brought the members of Them Crooked Vultures together, the effect of musical collaboration, and most likely the thrill of performing with musical peers and in the case of John Paul Jones, a living legend. Though, Monsters of Folk is an impressive assembly of musicians the end result does not propel then as a group above anything they have done on their own. Some of the tracks off of Monsters of Folk self-titled album just fall flat keep that in mind while listening to the Them Crooked Vultures’ album and you will realize the difference.
Them Crooked Vultures, a Supergroup comprised of vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Eagles of Death Metal. As the drummer Dave Grohl famously of Foo Fighters, Nirvana, fills that position and bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, the band also features Alain Johannes another member of Queens of the Stone Age as the rhythm guitarist. The self-titled debut album starts off with a bang, with No One Loves Me & Neither Do I, Grohl’s drum work is one of a kind and may make you have Nirvana flashbacks. Grohl isn’t a one trick pony among this collection of apex musicians, he also pulls out a little Phil Collins action on Mind Eraser, No Chaser. Let’s not forget the rest of the band though, it’s the whole package that makes the album work so well. Homme’s voice is one of the best in the music industry, the highlights of which came out of his Queens of the Stone Age album Lullabies To Paralyze. John Paul Jones is a living legend, and at 63 years old Jones’ fingers still work just fine. So many bands these days try and recapture the visceral bass power riffing of classic bands such as Led Zeppelin, with Them Crooked Vultures there is no need to emulate because they posses one of the sources. Combined, the group sounds like a supercharges version of Queens of the Stone Age, a band that has always managed to find great talent to fill the band’s roster, but never the likes of Zeppelin alum. That’s a whole other bag of peanuts boys and girls. Of course we could be mistaken, the associate contributors to Queens of the Stone Age stands at thirty-five, who knows maybe Robert Plant slipped in for a couple of tracks without anyone noticing…doubtful.
What about Chicken Foot and how does that band measure up against Them Crooked Vultures? Well, Chicken Foot is comprised of big name musicians too, Sammy Hager, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony and Chad Smith. Essentially that band is made up of the bones of Van Halen and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Their self-titled debut album consists of numerous tracks that are easily identifiably as Hager’s brand of rock. That is both the best part and the downfall of this album. At first is seems that the failure of Chicken Foot is in its inability to do something different, even with great tracks like Oh, Yeah littering the album. In reality, the track My Kind of Girl acts as kind of a touchstone for the whole concepts of Chicken Foot, with lines like “she’s broken down, broken hearts, broken fool, out of touch in a modern world. But she is my kind of girl.” It is interesting that a band filled with such lotharios would choose the image of a spend woman with a tattoo on her ass as a representation of themselves. The sentiment though, is one that is shared by many followers of Hagar and the genre alike, in that, even though Chicken Foot’s style of music is out of touch with the modern world it’s still what they love and they are not going to turn their backs on it. On that basis alone you have to respect the members of Chicken Foot and what they produced. In contrast, Them Crooked Vultures managed to expand on the style of music the band members have been made famous for and taking it in a new direction. For diehard fans of Hagar, in particular, the Chicken Foot experiment will no doubt be added to their music libraries.
Where does this leave us? Perhaps a tie is in order between Monsters of Folk and Chicken Foot but when you get right down to it (as a personal preference) Chicken Foot comes in third in this ranking. As for Monsters of Folk it turned out that the sum of the band was not as great as the parts it is made out of. Even though some of the tracks off of this album are less than spectacular, the originality of others redeems the album and places it above Chicken Foot’s. That is it then. Them Crooked Vultures take the battle of the Supergroups of 2009 due to the records overall quality.

What order would you put them in?

Asobi Seksu | A Review of Rewolf

Shoegazers unite! It seems that the subgenre of shoegazer is one that can bridge language barriers. And its growing popularity of continent is becoming more prevalent. Two other bands come to mind, at least from this year, who fall into the near mystical class of music. Those bands are The Whitest Boy Alive based out of Germany and The Mary Onettes who hail from Sweden. Each band is distinct but bares that very identifiable feeling of a shoegazer/dream pop type band. Now, you can add the band Asobi Seksu to that list of notable musicians of that music scene. This album is not the first go around for the band that is based out of New York City. Rewolf is the fifth full length album that the band has released, the first under the band’s previous name Sportfuck. As with shoegazer bands the melodies in Rewolf put the foot peddles and keyboards through their paces. The lead vocalist of the band Yuki Chikudate performs a delicate set, genially drawing in the listener. Why you might what to listen to this album, boils down to the unique experience Rewolf provides incorporating very stylized vocal work and soothing instrumental performances. Key Tracks off of the album are, Breathe into Glass, Meh No Mae and Familiar Light.

The Mess Hall | Taking a Look at the Album For the Birds

There are now two Aussie bands that we need to pay attention to. Wolfmother is a must and has proven itself a power house to be reckoned with, the other is The Mess Hall. The Mess HahUHall is a two man band consisting of Jed Kurzel vocal/guitar and Cec Condon drums/vocals. Wait two man rock band, what comes to mind The White Stripes right. Wrong, they sound nothing like The White Stripes. The sound of The Mess Hall is much grittier than that of the other dynamic duo. In their newest album For The Birds the vocals are often buried beneath with overwhelming low note progression. Stylistically, the band has a lot going for it, combining certain aspects of classic blues with the added bonus of vocal effects making the listener feel as though some of the songs were performed and recorded in an endless hall way, creating echoes and depth and richness of sound. Some tracks off of the new album give you the sense that they were loosely inspired by the Boss while others bare a more Ryan Adams feel. What makes things more interesting is the incorporation of ‘the funk’ with Beck-centric style in songs like Bell. Each song off of the album tells a different story and each is worth multiple listens. If you have never heard of The Mess Hall before, then this is a perfect album to spark your interest. It’s richness of content and familiar style makes this Aussie band feel accessible.

Them Crooked Vultures | Why Should You Listen To Them Crooked Vultures

Them Crooked Vultures, a Supergroup comprised of vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Eagles of Death Metal. As the drummer Dave Grohl famously of Foo Fighters and Nirvana, fills that position and bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. The band also features Alain Johannes another member of Queens of the Stone Age as the rhythm guitarist. The self-titled debut album starts off with a bang, with No One Loves Me & Neither Do I, Grohl’s drum work is one of a kind and may make you have Nirvana flashbacks. Grohl isn’t a one trick pony among this collection of apex musicians, he also pulls out a little Phil Collins action on Mind Eraser, No Chaser. Let’s not forget the rest of the band though, it’s the whole package that makes the album work so well. Homme’s voice is one of the best in the music industry, the highlights of which came out of his Queens of the Stone Age album Lullabies To Paralyze. John Paul Jones is a living legend, and at 63 years old Jones’ fingers still work just fine. So many bands these days try and recapture the visceral guitar power riffing of classic bands such as Led Zeppelin, with Them Crooked Vultures there is no need to emulate because they posses one of the sources. Combined, the group sounds like a supercharges version of Queens of the Stone Age, a band that has always managed to find great talent to fill the band’s roster, but never the likes of Zeppelin alum. That’s a whole other bag of peanuts boys and girls. Of course we could be mistaken, the associate contributors to Queens of the Stone Age stands at thirty-five, who knows maybe Robert Plant slipped in for a couple of tracks without anyone noticing…doubtful.
Supergroups seem to be all the rage these days and why not? The effect of Supergroups are obvious and economical, musicians like to play and perform with their peers, it’s what they do, they perform, and the better the group is as a whole the better they feel about their individual performances. The Monsters of Folk is a variation on the whole super group idea. And Bands like Them Crooked Vultures are made up of some of the most prolific figures in the music industry and rock world. The Monsters of Folk and its’ members are cut from a different cloth. Made up of some very talented men, the guys that constitute the Monsters of Folk are much less prolific than the men who make up the roster for Them Crooked Vultures. Jim James of My Morning Jacket was very much responsible for the eclectic and richly performed tracks off of My Morning Jacket’s last album Evil Urges, (the track Librarian is especially odd and enjoyable, highly recommended). He and Matt Ward of M. Ward and She & Him make up the notables of this group. There is of course Conor Orerst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes, they round out the foursome, though they are lesser known by most. But the principle that gathered these men together also brought the members of Them Crooked Vultures together, the effect of musical collaboration, and most likely the thrill of performing with musical peers and in the case of John Paul Jones, a living legend.
Not to depart much, but it seems with bands such as, Dr. Dog, Sunset Rubdown, M. Ward, Deer Tick, Kings of Leon, we are seeing a new bread of music. One that takes its influences from a host of genres and eras, what results is a style of music that is getting harder and harder to place. They do not come off as a style that is trying to be something from the past, or a style that is unfamiliar, it is simply a reflection of the musicians’ musical interests. In contrast we have Them Crooked Vultures comprised of some very well respected musicians, who instead of saying ‘hey, we should have some serious throwback riffs on this album…something like you would hear on a Zeppelin album,’ during the initial formation of the band and its sound didn’t say just said, ‘Let’s get John Paul Jones to play in the band we are putting together.’ The distinction is what really puts Them Crooked Vultures at the top of the heap, they didn’t simply absorb the essence of the great music of decades gone by in a wonderful synthesis, they went to the source. They released the album on the 9th of November from their YouTube page to the dismay of some onlookers. The main release date is the 16th of the same month. Key Tracks off of the self-titled album of Them Crooked Vultures are, No One Loves Me & Neither Do I, Scumbag Blues, Warsaw Or The First Breath You Take After You Give Up and so on. It might just be that the whole album is key.

Tracklist:
01 - No One Loves Me & Neither Do I
02 - Mind Eraser, No Chaser
03 - New Fang
04 - Dead End Friends
05 - Elephants
06 - Scumbag Blues
07 - Bandoliers
08 - Reptiles
09 - Interlude With Ludes
10 - Warsaw Or The First Breath You Take After You Give Up
11 - Caligulove
12 - Gunman
13 - Spinning In Daffodils

The Mary Onettes | A Look At Their New Album Islands

The Mary Onettes have released their second album Islands. The band is categorized as an indie dream pop style of band, which is an apt description of the Swedish bands style. Like some heart wrenching moment out of a 80’s teen movie, the cuts off of Islands’ resonate in the light haze of the band’s musical ambiance. Not to draw too direct of a comparison, but The Mary Onettes bare some similarities to bands such as The Cure and Jesus and Mary Chain, but what makes this band more than just another band in the lengthening list of retro revive bands popping up all over the globe is that they have made it enough their own so that when you listen to the album you don’t feel as though the musicians are trying to be something they are not. The music they have produced seems to come not as a forced menagerie of bands gone by but more as a synthesis of the uncongenially appreciation of all things 80’s. There are a few other bands that came out with albums this year that are within this reemerging style of music.

Unlike The Mary Onettes these bands all come out of the U.K. The White Lies, came out with their first album at the start of 09’ and has been gaining popularity ever since. The Big Pink and their album A Brief History Of Love seem to capture something through its Feedback riddled melodies. The XX or just XX released their first album in August of this year and for such a new band it is impressive just how refined the tracks that populate this self titled album really are. The keyboard and guitar play a more mood setting role on the album creating a flat often numbing sensation which in a very real way captures the essence of the 80’s.

Lady Led Canadian Indie Bands In a Full On Versus Extravaganza | Metric vs. Tegan And Sara vs. Magneta Lane

There have been three major album releases from Canadian based lady led bands. The First came with Metric’s Release of Fantasies. The Second came much later in the year with Magneta Lane’s Gambling With God. The Third act is that of the twin sister lead Tegan And Sara who have only recently come out with their sixth album Sainthood. These three bands create a good representation of what is out their in the music world in terms of stylistic ideologies. But which came out with the best album this year? Putting aside any past glory we are going to look at each bands’ latest offering and rank them on that basis. Now, a major issue with comparing these bands comes with the simple fact that, like I said, they are stylistically different, Metric has more of a contemporary underground feel to it while Tegan and Sara convey a much more pop-centric tone accompanied by delicate melodies, Megneta Lane distinguishes itself with it’s familiar Ramones/The Pretenders vibe.
The best way to start is with comparing the most similar artists, in this case that would be Metric and Tegan and Sara. These two bands have a lot going for them including but not restricted to their sounds. The voice of Metric, Emily Haines, and lead singers of Tegan and Sara seem to have similar characteristics, ones that embody a kind of arid sadness, and both bands reside in the bread of indie-pop. Emily Haines and her band Metric have come out with a new album months ago, Fantasies. As a type of indie-pop with a deep electronic foundation, Metric is a fine example of what happens when you take classically trained musicians put them in Montreal/Toronto, then mix. This is just what happened in the formative years of the band, all members coming from some kind of Arts background whether it be training in Juilliard (James Shaw) or being the daughter of a well known poet (Emily Haines). Their newest offering is more ethereal if not confused than pervious albums. Nevertheless, this album offers us a music selection which is inventive at some points and comfortingly familiar in others. Though, this album is far less appealing than others released by the band and if you are a fan of Metric you may be disappointed with this one.
If you could compare the offerings of Tegan and Sara to any other bands, it would be a kind of perverted mixture of Courtney Love’s Hole and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. That is not to say they somehow are outdone by Metric, it is actually the opposite. Tegan and Sara’s Sainthood somehow finds itself more redeemable than the confused Fantasies delivered by Metric. In visceral appeal alone Sainthood stands about Fantasies, it contains more interesting, if not pleasant tracks than the other. (Side Note: Metric's acoustic album Plug In Plug Out contains some amazing renditions of the tracks off of Fantasies, ones that might make you think… ‘why couldn’t they make the whole Fantasies album sound like this?’.)
So what does that leave? Magneta Lane and Tegan and Sara, it seems that sibling/cousin filled bands are popping up all over the place in Canada, I guess there really are not that many people in that country. Tegan and Sara being twin sisters and all and Magneta Lane’s members also have a pair of sisters plus a cousin, making both bands a family affair. Magneta Lane, a band heavily influenced by classics such as The Pretenders, Sonic Youth and The Kinks, and have most recently released the album Gambling With God. The album features a number of finely executed tracks, so much so you may think the band hails from some nook in down town Montreal or played their way through the dive bars in and around New York City. This threesome is in fact from Toronto Ontario and Gambling with God as their third album is… quite the album. As you listen to it you can hear a number of influences and they coalesce in a way that brings about a sense of the band’s appreciation of both the new and old.
Gambling with God is a more clear-cut brand of Alt-Rock, filled with a casual sense of lyrical storytelling. The vocals delivered by lead singer Lexi Valentine are at some points reminiscent of Zooey Deschanel of She & Him, that is, if Zooey had any vocal edge at all. The melodies are relatively simplistic, and while the execution is precise. Gambling with God is no gamble at all (hold for applause). With a solid collection of tracks this album is by far the best female-only rock album of the year. But what makes Magneta Lane’s album superior to that of the others mentioned is heart, Fantasies and Sainthood are too pop-centric, they leave you feeling musically malnourished. Stepping over both Metric and Tegan and Sara for the simple reason that the album Gambling with God is a surprise that continues to maintain its initial appeal due to the more potent content, while the other two albums are more suitable for the Wal-Mart ‘Hot Picks’ rack.
How it all played out: Metric’s album Fantasies finds itself at the bottom of the pile in third place due to its overall disappointing nature. Tegan and Sara fill in the middle slot with Sainthood, with its pop pleasant sound and numerous catchy tracks. The winner overall is the less notable yet more musically interesting Megneta Lane’s album Gambling With God.

Thao And The Get Down Stay Down | Know Better Learn Faster

Thao And The Get Down Stay Down have released a new album Know Better Learn Faster. With breezy guitar riffs and occasional banjo this Indie folk band is in the same line of performers as M. Ward, but with a female lead vocalist. Lead singer Thao Nguyen was raised in Falls Church, Virginia by her mother and met her band members throughout high school and College. Thao And The Get Down Stay Down have made a total of four albums together, Like the Linen (2005), Day Trotter Sessions (2006), We Brave Bee Stings And All (2008) and their newest Know Better Learn Faster (2009). Thao And The Get Down Stay Down have produced a number of thoughtful albums that embody varying moods. Know Better Learn Faster has more of a darkly whimsical undertone that shows itself in the album’s fast paced songs and lyrics spouting things like, “What am I just a body in your body in your bed?”. The entire album has a mood separate from the older albums mentioned while feeling as though it is standing of the shoulders of came before it.