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Category: Music

Music reviews and recommendations by Adam Bender.

New Rock Review (Vol. 1)

Published by Adam on August 20, 2012

Tired of hearing the same old bands? There’s new music all around if you know where to listen. Here are a couple reviews of new albums by bands you may not have heard. Stay tuned for more reviews in the coming weeks.

The Asteroid Shop – Distant Luxury EP

Dark swagger seems to come naturally to the Asteroid Shop. Eric Brendo and Co. find the most success when they combine the heavy atmospherics with a driving beat and a good pop hook, as they do on the EP’s finale, “Hazy Love.” It’s a slow burn you can sing along to. The Austin band’s musical talent shines through on the other three songs (“Burn Out” in particular has a dreamy beauty to it), but they lack the pop punch needed to stick in your head. The smoky dance of title track “Distant Luxury” works to a point, but at 5:31 feels a couple minutes too long.  There’s some real potential here but a little more editing could elevate the Asteroid Shop to new heights.

Click here to listen to “Hazy Love.”

Deep Sea Arcade – Outlands

Like fellow Australians Tame Impala, Deep Sea Arcade combines bass-heavy psychedelia with hypnotic Lennon-esque vocals. Deep Sea plays up the pop side of the equation and the result is an album of catchy numbers that hum along in your head long after the album’s through. The single “Girls” is by far the best result, featuring a verse as catchy as the chorus.  Like a lot of debuts, the best songs are packed into the first half, but side B is no slouch. It can get better from here, for sure, but you walk away excited about what’s to come.

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Space Rock, Grounded

Published by Adam on October 15, 2011

You might expect some serious space rock from a band called The Asteroid Shop. Song titles like “Planetary” seem to confirm the suspicion that you’re in for the kind of shoe-gazing guitar rock that might soundtrack a zero-gravity flight into the great unknown.

But band leader Eric Brendo (interviewed on this blog here) brings an earthy road-weariness to his baritone vocals and guitar work on this Austin, Texas band’s self-titled debut. While the album opens in space with the thundering “Destroyer,” by the second half The Asteroid Shop has landed in the dusty desert of the American West.  A lot of bands pick one sound and stick with it, so it’s refreshing to hear this band unplug the guitars and bring in instrumentation more common to the folk and country genres. The result is some real winners like the folksy “Ashes” and lovelorn “Silver Lane.”

The Asteroid Shop
Under the stars...

Not every song works and the album drags somewhat in the middle. The lyrics are unlikely to stick in one’s head and Brendo’s vocals are a little rough around the edges. The instrumentals are what’s compelling here. Atmosphere may be one the album’s greatest strengths, whether in the thundering bass of opener “Destroyer” or the shimmering guitar and synths of “Dandelion.”  They’re also not afraid to surprise with a quick tempo change, as they do to great effect with the groovy ’60s organ jam in the otherwise sleepy “Planetary.”  While not all the songs engage the listener, this is a promising album by a band that knows how to set a mood.

Download “Dandelion” for free right here.

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Kaiser Chiefs By Faded Wave

Published by Adam on June 6, 2011

fadedwave

One of my favorite eccentric British bands, Kaiser Chiefs, have come up with a novel concept. They have just released 20 new songs and are asking fans to pick 10 of them for their new album, The Future is Medieval.  This is no election, mind you — everyone gets their own custom mix of the CD with personalized cover art to boot!  And even more mind-blowing, everyone gets to sell their custom album to the world!

To be honest, I was actually a little annoyed when I found out about all this. It was a Friday evening after a particularly long day at work. Picking ten songs from twenty, based on mere samples of the songs, seemed like a tall order. What if I left out a great song? What if that song I thought was great actually ended in three minutes of Billy Corgan screaming the letters of the alphabet?

The Future is Medieval (Faded Wave edition)

So I decided to put off making the album until Saturday morning after I’d had a good night’s rest. The result can be streamed and purchased for download at www.kaiserchiefs.com/fadedwave.

I’m happy to report that I rather like my/their album. It’s got everything — super British pop (“Problem Solved”), synthy silliness (“Heard It Break”) and even poignant balladry (“If You Will Have Me”). I think I found a great balance between the band’s fast rockers and slow grooves. But in the immortal words of LeVar Burton, don’t take my word for it.

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The Strokes Get Back Their Mojo

Published by Adam on March 26, 2011

I’ve been trying to figure out why I haven’t loved the Strokes since their debut Is This It? It wasn’t like they sounded any less talented on their 2003 and 2006 followups.

But something was missing.

After listening to The Strokes’ excellent new album Angles five years later, I think I’ve figured it out. The Strokes got negative, man.

OK, so they weren’t exactly singing about sunshine, lollipops and rainbows on Is This It? But at least their attitude toward broken relationships and total assholes was imbued with some level of self-worth. Sure, singer Julian Casablancas was pointing out a lot of BS, but he also didn’t seem to be all too affected by it. And that was cool.

Take “Hard to Explain,” for example:

I watch the TV; forget what I’m told
Well, I am too young, and they are too old
The joke is on you, this place is a zoo
“You’re right it’s true”

But by 2006’s First Impressions of Earth, the Strokes sounded very very affected, and boy was it a bummer. Take these lyrics from “On the Other Side”:

I hate them all.
I hate them all.
I hate myself for hating them,
so I’ll drink some more.
I love them all.
I’ll drink even more.
I’ll hate them even more
than I did before.

Or how about “Ask Me Anything,” featuring a chorus in which Casablancas sings “I have nothing to say” over and over…and over….and over. And if there’s something worse than hearing the guy mutilate his vocal cords on tracks like “Fear of Sleep,” well… I don’t want to hear it.

Now here comes Angles, and I’m happy to report that the Strokes have got their mojo back. Song for song it doesn’t match the brilliance of their debut, sure, and stylistically it’s definitely different. But after a five-year absence, the Strokes actually sound happy to be making music again.

You hear it instantly on opener “Machu Picchu.” It’s a track that takes the band in a new, more reggae direction, but revives the undeniably fun Strokes arrogance that’s been missing all these years.  “Taken for a Fool” is classic Strokes, but the band shows more range than songs previous. Not every song is great — “Metabolism” could have been another mediocre cut from First Impressions — but by the end of the set I felt like I had my old friends back.

Let’s hope they’re here to stay.

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Irish Band Has Sharp Claws

Published by Adam on March 13, 2011

For your listening pleasure, here’s the first single by Morning Claws, a new indie band from Northern Ireland. The slow-burning “Slack Magic” mixes electronic bleeps with intricate vocal harmonies and earnest lyrics. The effect is quite hypnotizing, demanding repeat listens. Fans of Postal Service take notice!

Play “Slack Magic” by Morning Claws (right click to save to PC)

New bands always have trouble with the first photo.

The band is looking for a U.S. label and hasn’t announced plans for a full release. But if they’ve got a few more tracks in them like this, I think they’ll do just fine. For more info, go to http://morningclaws.com/

 

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