Band of Horses | A Review of Mirage Rock

Band of Horses have released their fourth studio album called Mirage Rock and the content makes a listener wonder: what has this band become? Initially, Band of Horses had a musical style that leaned more towards driven pop rock that exuded an almost ethereal presence in the lyrical content and it’s execution by lead singer Ben Bridwell. It was distinctly dreary in tone and song lyrics often would linger upon dark topics such as a funeral or the secret connection between cigarettes and wedding bands. These lyrics though, were given a certain gravity in the airy and often high pitched way in which they were sung.  The songs in the previous albums of Band of Horses were good but carried with them the mark of an angry youth still struggling with the realities of adulthood.  This is not the case with Mirage Rock.

Band of Horses seems to be taking more cues from Neil Young as opposed to Death Cab For Cutie with Mirage Rock. Some of tracks that populate this new album have an almost country vibe to them, but not in the bad, “I wear a ten gallon hat!” kind of way, which you can really hear on the track Everything's Gonna Be Undone.  This track summons the spirit of Neil Young in the best way possible, with its breezy guitar portions to the simple cautionary idea put forward in the lyrics that eventually everything ends, so relax.  No, this album has a more lighthearted feel in its sense of misery and wonder. Like a well-timed joke during a friend’s hardship, Mirage Rock has all the heart of a sombre intimate exchange while leaving all those touched with a smile on their face. 

Team Genius Release Show At Union Hall

The always fun Team Genius are having a release show at Union Hall in Brooklyn, Saturday September 29th. This band, if you have not heard their music, specializes in catchy pop songs played with the gusto of a thousand burning suns. The show is in honour of all three of their EPs, Whiskey Songs, Loud Songs and Pop Songs, being released on October 2nd. If you are in Brooklyn tonight then you should take in Team Genius' show, if not here is a preview of some of their work from one of their EPs Pop Songs or get all of their music here. 

Dum Dum Girls | End of Daze EP Review

The California based band Dum Dum Girls have been putting out music since 2008 and have managed to release two full length LPs to some critical acclaim. The style and character of Dum Dum Girls is really a combination of rattling atmospheric rock and pop drone, think of The Jesus and Mary Chain with a dash Simple Minds, all sung by a female lead.  Recently, the band has released an EP called End of Daze which carries the distinct character of a band that’s hitting its stride. At only five tracks the EP rattles off with a steady pacing, the lyrics are filled with dreary imagery suitable for the impending October rains.

The End of Daze EP does not miss a beat with any of its tracks, as if what they have produced is some kind of Dum Dum Girls concentrate. This is an EP not to be missed by music fans anywhere.  

Aimee Mann | Charmer A Review

Aimee Mann is best known for her voice, which is instantly recognizable by anyone who has been listening to music for the past two decades. Her songs have appeared in many films and television series on account of their emotional lyrics and catchy hooks.  With her latest album titled Charmer, Mann delivers on past promises of sorrow as she almost always does in her albums.  Crooning alongside her for one song on the album is The Shins frontman James Mercer. The pairing does indeed produce excellent harmonies in their shared track Living a Lie, which makes one wonder why the last The Shins album was so underwhelming.   Perhaps Mercer needs a Mann like force in his musical life to inject some much needed melancholy because, as always, Mann’s songs are bursting with stories of misfortune.  

It might be an odd thing to point out but, Mann seems to have a bit of a thing for dogs, or at least songs that have canine imagery. Back in 2002 with her Lost in Space album she had Pavlvo’s Bell, a song about being trained to need something (in this case drugs) and the title itself refers to the famous Pavlov’s Bell experiment conducted with dogs and of course a bell. Now, with Mann’s latest album we have the track Labrador which is less about carrying out acts compulsively and more about being a good little pet and an emotional footstool.  Oddly, both songs are among the strongest on their respective albums.  No Aimee Mann album would be complete without a truly depressing track that somehow manages to make you feel better about your own life and for that look no further than Barfly. 

Aimee Mann isn’t getting any better at making music and that’s not necessarily a bad thing to say. She isn’t getting any better because she doesn’t need to, Mann has been at the top of her game for years and she doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of slowing down.  

Neil Halstead | A Review of Palindrome Hunches

Neil Halstead is a British musician who is of the folk persuasion and is set to release a new album this September. His music is laced with calmly sung acoustic melodies often accompanied by piano interludes and the occasional violin.  All of these elements frame Halstead’s work as contemporary folk music.  Folk music is at its heart about telling cautionary tales and doing so in a style that is approachable. It invites you to join in and in a very real way, it’s expected that folk songs are to be passed along during get-togethers and times of fellowship.  Bob Dylan began his career as a folk musician, singing ancestral songs, only to make his own additions to the musical tome of folk. These songs became rallying points for a generation, to sing so that their themes and sentiments of warning could be passed on. Yes, times they were a-changin, but the more time passes the fewer things seem to actually change.  That being said, Neil Halstead does not seem to take very much from Dylan, he has his own voice and it is quite soft and inviting.

The songs that populate Palindrome Hunches are sometimes about love and loss but if the title song to this album is any indication Palindrome Hunches is about finding serenity in forgiveness. This serene sentiment can be heard in the way the piano genially plays in the background accompanied by Halstead’s lyrical bursts ranging from talk of a Toyota to the devil himself.  The overwhelming theme that continues to come back during this brief song is that you must forgive wonderings about unrealized daydreams and move on. (Or perhaps the song’s about nothing that is always a possibility.) However, if the theme of this album can be gleamed from the track Palindrome Hunches, then it is definitely about something and it definitely is worth listening to.  

Key tracks on Palindrome Hunches are, Digging Shelters, Wittgenstein’s Arm, Spin The Bottle and Palindrome Hunches.