Vol. 5 Issue 41 May 2009
Summer is here. Thank God. Well, almost. At least it’s not raining. And at least I no longer have to lug a coat around. I’m happy. And what better way to celebrate than with some new f’ing SUPERCHUNK!? For serious. If you could’ve told me that the same band I swore by in 9th grade, I’d still be talking about when I was 28 I wouldn’t have believed you and yet Superchunk is back with a killer new EP. So is Conor Oberst – the kid is incapable of making a bad record apparently – even when he lets his bandmates get some spotlight action too. Other hits this month include The Wooden Birds (like Death Cab For Cutie songs played by Iron & Wine), Pink Mountaintops, Bachelorette, Richard Buckner, and more!!!!
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Current Releases
- Click to see:
- Merge
- Jagjaguwar
- Team Love
Merge
www.mergerecords.com
Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band
"Outer South"
Conor Oberst is a smart kid. Not only are his songs great – filled with plenty of melodrama, barbed lyricism, and modern “meta-ness” to appease both lovers of Bob Dylan and David Sedaris a like, but Oberst also realizes he’s nothing without his friends. Maybe it’s the Omaha in him, but Oberst’s new album, Outer South (his second for Merge under his own name and not the Bright Eyes moniker), is one of his best. He gets a little help from his friends (read: the Mystic Valley Band), who all take turns singing and playing their own individual tunes, but for what OS lacks in thematic cohesiveness it surely makes up for in sheer exuberant freewheeling fun. Turns out Oberst’s dirges sound great couched between his bandmates sunnier 60’s country pop. Conor turns in the Westerberg-sounding, “Cabbage Town,” and the moody M. Ward-like, “White Shoes,” and both are among the best tunes he’s ever written and would not sound out of place on any of Oberst’s previous outings. Furthermore, the Byrdsian arpeggio’s that open “Spoiled” or the moog-laced power-pop of “Air Mattress” may be new frequencies for the Bright Eyes set – but they both turn out to be winners as well. 2009’s Sandinista! Check out "Nikorette".
Superchunk
"Leaves In The Gutter EP"
To this day Superchunk will always hold a special place in my hear as the band that basically introduced me to indie rock. I don’t know what my highschool experience woulda been without obsessively listening to now-classics like Foolish, and “Hyper Enough” and “Detroit Has A Skyline Too” on the 30 minute bus ride up to Riverdale each weekday morning. No band has ever been able to marry just the perfect balance of adolescent hyper-activity, fractured atonal guitar hooks, and sublimely shouted-out chorus’ as well. And they still have it! Superchunk is making the rounds playing some killer hit-filled live sets that will most certainly have these four new songs off the band’s brand new Leaves In The Gutter EP sprinkled throughout. “Learned To Surf” sounds like classic Superchunk – all trebly guitars, Mac’s strained-throaty vocals, and break-neck percussion. Best. Band. Ever. Check out "Misfits & Mistakes".
Richard Buckner
"Reissues: The Hill, Bloomed, Impasse"
Over the course of 8 plus records Richard Buckner has quietly established himself as one of the best modern noir dustbowl folk- singers around. His husky, gravely voice does little to hide the brush of his Texan accent, and that’s just fine. It’s suits Buckner’s dark narratives like harmonica’s do acoustic guitars. However, it may be because of Buckner’s accent, or the subtly of his tunes that has caused him to fly “under the radar” for far too long. Those who’ve heard Buckner’s music swear by him, and to those who haven’t now may be the perfect time to discover one of America’s finest talents. The fine folks at Merge are reissuing three of Buckner’s out of print mid-period record originally released on Overcoat: The Hill, Bloomed, and Impasse. The most essential of these is the despairing and gorgeous Impasse. Between Buckner and M. Ward and Oberst – Merge owns modern folk sounds in 2009. Check out "Gauzy Dress In The Sun."
Jagjaguwar
www.jagjaguwar.com
Pink Mountaintops
"Outside Love"
Black Mountain’s main man Stephen McBean goes softie on us once again with his latest release under the Pink Mountaintops moniker. Titled, Outside Love (Jagjaguwar), and featuring an album cover not too far removed from that of a trashy Danielle Steele romance novel, Love features a song called “Vampire.” And for that we thank McBean. It couldn’t come at a more apt time – what with Twilight and True Blood and hell…Forgetting Sarah Marshall too! Sounding something like a folkier, moodier Echo And The Bunnymen – Pink Mountaintops is actually that rare sideproject that actually makes sense. Namely, music that wouldn’t fit with the dark prog-rock jams of McBean’s Black Mountain find a nice home colored in Pink. Check out "Vampire".
Team Love
team-love.com/
Popup
"A Time & A Place"
Their songs are long. They build. They are “emotional.” “Melodramatic.” They are from Glasgow. They have that accent. They are the Popup. The band’s Team Love debut, A Time & A Place, should have you swooning with it’s rafter-gazing chorus’ and melodic arpeggio friendly builds. If you like Snow Patrol and Frightened Rabbit than you are going to go bananas for Popup. And can I also add how “dopeass” it is for a label like Team Love to diversify it’s roster and sign a band of this caliber playing beautiful epic rock music just the way you like it. File Under: Possible Openers For Coldplay. Check out "Love Triangle".
- Click to see:
- Dead Oceans
- S Curve
- Barsuk
- Drag City
Dead Oceans
www.deadoceans.com
John Vanderslice
"Romanian Names"
John Vanderslice and the Bank Robber have been bedfellows for quite some time. Our friends at Barsuk used to put out JV’s organic indie-pop musings, and now with the new “game-changing”, Romanian Names, Vanderslice is making his debut on Dead Oceans - another label I’m sure you all know we love at the Bank Robber. Without beating around the bush, the label-change makes sense. Romanian..is a complete artistic rebirth for Vanderslice. It’s by far the best thing he’s ever recorded – the melodies seem sharper, the production mellow and mercurial, and dare I say some of the album sounds like a really delightfully relaxed David Bowie joint - must be all the acoustic guitars, barbershop piano, and hazy synth lines. Or maybe it’s just the songtitles – “Fetal Horses” is actually a pretty swanky slow jam, and “C & O Canal” bounces along a vaguely Sufjan Steven’s rhodes-keyboard and glockenspiel line. There’s even some “la, la, la’s” to please the Feist contingent. The real standout, though, is “Too Much Time” - a woozy come-on, all spacey and trippy and almost Portishead-sounding. In short, if you already love John Vanderslice then you are in for a real treat. If you think you know about JV – guess again. Check out "C & O Canal".
S Curve
www.s-curverecords.com/
Tinted WIndows
"Tinted Windows"
Holy 90’s Where Are They Now headline! Fountains of Wayne maestro, Adam Schlesinger, Smashing Pumpkins’ Asian guitar dude, James Iha, and the hot Hanson Brother (Taylor – for the record) have all joined forces with Cheap Trick’s drummer, Bun E. Carlos (!) to form Tinted Windows. Yes you read that correctly. Whether you have been paying attention or not, nobody does impeccable retro-pop like Schlesinger (see: writing the theme song to That Thing You Do! - also, “Stacey’s Mom”), and James Iha even has a solo record from about a decade ago that still sounds to my ears like the best breezy summertime 70’s folk revival record in recent history. That said, with Tinted Window’s selftitled debut all these dudes really get to indulge their inner Raspberries/Buzzcocks/Kinks/The Knack etc – and it turns out there are no better men for the job. The album’s first single “Kind Of A Girl” is a huge Cars-styled homage filled with compressed buzzy guitars and armies of “Whoa-Oh’s!”. It’s sublime pop – and like much the rest of Tinted Windows – for a group of super-successfully industry “vets” this is some of the best music any of these guys have ever been part of. Verdict: more than a sideproject. Check out "Kind Of A Girl".
Barsuk
www.barsuk.com
The Wooden Birds
"Magnolia"
The Wooden Birds are a new band on the very wonderful Barsuk Label. That said, "new" might be a bit of misnomer considering The W 'Birds are helmed by Andrew Kenny who for years fronted the minimalist slo-core trio American Analogue Set. I was always a big fan of Am An Set's brand of Elliott Smith-y bedtime music, and so when I tell you that with The Wooden Birds Kenny is making some of the best music of his career, it's no small praise. The band's debut is called Magnolia, and it’s definitely got more than a few similarities to Am An Set’s mellowness. However, much of Magnolia comes off way more “earthy” – full of tribal percussion, and moody groovey acoustic guitar strums. If you could imagine a Death Cab For Cutie album that sounds like Iron and Wine, you’d pretty much have The Wooden Birds nailed. “Hailey” is proof. Gorgeous record. Check out "False Alarm".
Viva Voce
"Rose City"
Portland duo Viva Voce’s ’06 Barsuk debut, Get Yr Blood Sucked Out, was full of blues-y psyh pop. Now after a worldwide stint opening for The Shins, the double “V” is back with Rose City (Barsuk). Viva has also doubled in size – welcoming Corrina Repp and Evan Railton to the the once-duo to make a solid four-piece. The record sounds great – all angular, freewheeling guitar rock. It’s less druggy and far more urgent than the band’s Barsuk debut. Check out “Die A Little”.
Drag City
www.dragcity.com
Bachelorette
"My Electric Family"
Bachelorette is New Zealand’s Annabel Alpers. Her music was recently described by my favorite Feminist rag, Bust Magazine, (not that I actually read Bust Magazine) as like “taking too many mushrooms and falling in love with your computer.” Awesome. My Electric Family is Bachelorette’s third release and it definitely has an otherworldly synth-pop quality to it. It’s no surprise that one of our favorite tracks off Family is called “Little Bird Tell Lies.” Indeed.