Vol. 5 Issue 28 April 2008
So we’re 5 years old! We act like it too. It’s true, it’s the Bank Robber’s big 5th Anniversary. We had a big shindig where Lyle took us all to Esquina and The Muppets played, but I secretly wished it was “The Backyardigans.” What an f’ing amazing band name, no? If The Backyardigans wasn’t some wacky children’s television thing that I always stare at enticingly in my Time Warner menu function, they’d be the biggest thing in indie rock. Anyway, no, we haven’t started working The Muppets, but we do have some hot new music for yous. Check out sexy new shoegaze folk duo, Wye Oak, and then check out new music from the man who invented “sexy shoegaze folk music" Mark Kozelek’s beautiful new Sun Kil Moon album, April (Caldo Verde). Plus newbies from Barsuk’s Beck – Jim Noir, Modular’s hottest electro duo – The Presets, awesome Tunng sideproject - The Accidental, super pop songwriter dude Chris Mills and more!
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Current Releases
- Click to see:
- Barsuk
- Merge
- Thrill Jockey
Barsuk
www.barsuk.com/
Jim Noir
"Jim Noir"
Barsuk’s resident mad genius from overseas is back! Jim Noir marries the classicist pop leaning of McCartney with the bizarro OCD-fabulousness of Beck – hopefully without all the Scientology stuff. On his self -titled sophomore jam, Noir seems to have perfected this combo - “Don’t You Worry” has the swagger of Spoon at their best, and how can you supervisors not be down with a song titled, “Oh Happy Day.” ‘Nuff Said. Check Out: "Don't You Worry"
Merge
www.mergerecords.com/
Wye Oak
"If Children"
The Wye Oak is apparently a large imposing tree that protects those who seek refuge under it’s large limbs. Ok. I was all ready for Merge Records’ newest signees who tae there name from this, uh, lore-filled tree to be yet another freak-folk group. Turns out, Baltimore duo, Wye Oak have far more in common with say the Cocteau Twins and lush early-90’s 4AD-branded shoegaze. Wye Oak’s debut, If Children (Merge), is as strong a debut as your likely to hear in the ’08…and I’ll be damned if this does not sound like the mature work of a whole band, instead of just two youngsters. Children’s standout “Warning” is a blast of classic celestial female-fronted guitar pop, anthemic, energetic, and huge – it’s basically a three and half minute primer on everything I want out of a song. Check Out: "Warning"
Thrill Jockey
www.thrilljockey.com/
Thalia Zedek
"Liars And Prayers"
Lyle says this about Thalia Zedek: 1. Thalia should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Which would her make equally as good as John Mellencamp and ZZ Top. But looks she’s the Patti Smith of Indie Rock. Awesome. 2. Thalia has been in more consistently good bands than anyone on planet earth. You could practically do a Kevin Bacon time-killing indie rock quiz game centered around her. (If you don’t know which bands these are, Wikipedia her ferchristsakes!) 3. Her new album, Liars and Prayers (Thrill Jockey), is more rocking than her previous solo stuff despite the presence of “violo and trumpet and piano.” And I say: she’s from Boston. So I like her automatically. Check Out: “Lower Allston”
The Accidental
"There Were Wolves"
The Accidental. It’s a solid name for a sideproject. I’m almost inclinced to think that all sideprojects should be accidents, flights of fate, leading to inspired impromptu recording sessions using whatever you got laying around the house, a laptop, and a few mics. This is the story of There Were Wolves (Thrill Jockey), the debut record from The Accidental, a fourpeice made up of member of Tunng, The Memory Band, The Bicycle Thieves and more. It’s a shame The Accidental isn’t a full-time thing for these guys, because Wolves is one gorgeous folk record full of warm acoustic guitars, and sweet easy-going harmonies; it’s the type of album that in study seems deceptively simple, and yet Wolves’ modest charms continue to reveal themselves listen after listen. It’s the perfect companion piece to Tunng’s stunning like-minded last album, Good Arrows (Thrill Jockey)...whatever the Tunng collective are doing, they should keep doing it – they’re on a roll for sure. Check Out: “I Can Hear Your Voice”
- Click to see:
- Caldo Verde
- Modular
- Friendly Fire
- Ernest Jenning
Caldo Verde
www.caldoverderecords.com/
Sun Kil Moon
"April"
With April, Sun Kil Moon’s Mark Kozelek hits us with his second batch of original tunes under the Sun Kil moniker. He doesn’t reinvent the wheel here, but then again he doesn’t have to; nobody writes lushly finger-plucked, otherworldly and beautifully lovelorn ballads as well as him. And that voice. Another classic in the Kozelek canon. Check Out: “Unlit Hallway”
Modular
modularpeople.com/
The Presets
"Apocalypso"
Well technically we’re only supposed to work “indie” records, but what happens when our little DIY babies go on to have smash hit records!? Well, that’s what happened to Aussie electro duo, The Presets’ , brand new album, amusingly titled, Apocalypso (Modular). topping the charts in their hometown of Australia is one thing, but listening to shout-along, raucous, electro-pop party jams like “My People,” it’s no stretch to think that Apocalypso could be just as huge on these shores. Between this jam and the new Cut Copy, Modular Records has served up a memorable double punch of classic electronic music for the 2008. Check Out: "My People"
Friendly Fire
www.friendlyfirerecordings.com/
Camphor
"Drawn To Dust"
I can recognize a great name when I hear one, and “Max Avery Lichtenstein” definitely qualifies. Why this dude changed his name to..uh..Camphor for his languid, orchestrated Friendly Fire debut, Drawn To Dust, I’ll never know. Lichtenstein might be vaguely familiar to you in so far as his scoring work for indie flicks like Tarnation, Jesus’ Son, and The King, but Drawn is his first song-oriented work. And it’s a good thing he decided to sing, cause he’s got a great deadpan baritone that seriously recalls E of The Eels. Throw some meticulously orchestrated arrangements, wry acoustic guitar chords, and moody tempos, and you’ve got one outstanding chamber pop debut. Check Out: “The Sweetest Tooth”
Ernest Jenning
www.ernestjenning.com/
Chris Mills
"Living In The Aftermath"
Chris Mills’ new record is cursed. He titled it Living In The Aftermath (Ernest Jenning Record Co.), but had not idea how literally this title might have to be taken. Upon completing the album, Mills’ bassist died. That’s right, actually died. But wait, it gets better/worse – apparently, following, the guy who mastered Aftermath, just after finishing his job needed emergency open heart surgery. Jeez. It’s unusually heavy fare for a record that sounds like Nillson’s great lost Alt. Country album. Much like my favorite Wilco record of yore, Summer Teeth, Aftermath blurs the folk and chamber pop worlds to great effect. Decorating his tunes with mariachi horns and other off-kilter accompaniment, its no surprise that Aftermath was produced by Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu, They Might Be Giants) and features guest spots from members of the Sea and Cake, and Calexico. The curse has been lifted. Check Out: “Atom Smashers”