Vol. 5 Issue 42 June 2009
I never thought I’d see the day where I’d be shilling a new Dinosaur Jr. album on the BRM Homepage. But hell, that day is here (original line-up and all!). I’m happy to report that Mascis and Co. have delivered a late-period classic to the Dino canon. This month we have other hits though too. Take for one, Foreign Born. Hailing from LA these guys are like the westcoast answer to Vampire Weekend. It’s the perfect “June” record – worldy, with a dab of U2 just to remind me of this kid I knew in Highschool who was OBSESSED with Bono. Sad. Also, two gorgeous folk records from the likes of Tom Brosseau and Bowerbirds, epic Scottish rock from We Were Promised Jetbacks, and some DFA-ish from Yacht. Blurbs!
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Current Releases
- Click to see:
- Jagjaguwar
- Secretly Canadian
- Fat Cat
Jagjaguwar
www.jagjaguwar.com
Dinosaur Jr.
"Farm"
The All New reunited original Dinosaur Jr. line-up are back! You guys have to know what you’re getting here. Lyle would tell you this is “5th album for SST” territory. In reality, Dino Jr’s Farm is their debut for Jagjaguwar (!) – and even though it seemed in the mid-90’s Dino guitar-God-front J. Mascis was getting “settled” and “happy” living the Major-label dream/married life with a kid and…Well, we’re happy to report Farm does away with all that. Maybe these guys all really do hate each other, and maybe that makes for some glorious discontented RAWK. Album stand-out “Over It” is a driving distortion-soaked heart-brokenness that can take it’s place among the many many Dino Jr. classics. It even features “Wah Wah” – and just think about that for a moment. How freaking awesome does a band need to be to actually use a wah wah pedal in 2009 and not suck!? That’s right, “Dinosaur Jr. awesome.” Plus, Lou Barlow turns in two of his best songs in years, and Farm’s cover art may just be the ugliest in the whole Dino canon (and if you quickly allmusic them, you will realize this is no small feat) – but it’s ugly in a good way (it literally features giant walking tree-like forest monsters trenching through a power-plant riddled sky-line carrying naked nymph-like children – I’m not kidding). Sticker this one: RETURN TO FORM. Check out "Over It".
Secretly Canadian
www.secretlycanadian.com
Foreign Born
"Person to Person"
As any proud New Yorker clearly must, I generally hate bands from LA. Really. The Red Hot Chili Peppers and a million crappy OC-styled “Punk” bands come to mind. So the fact that Secretly Canadian’s latest signees Foreign Born hailed from the City of Angels wasn’t helping them any in my book. Also in the negative column was that apparently they sounded like Achtung Baby-era U2. Ooooookay. And look there are plenty of moments on FB’s glorious debut, Person to Person, that do recall “Mysterious Ways” (see: the appropriately titled “Vacationing People”), but somehow these guys have found a way to take in all that sunshine and smog, to channel all the “world” influences that are so au courant right now, and just make a killer record. It’s probably cause they’ve penned the most consistent batch of songs on a debut we’ve heard in a while. “Can’t Keep Time” is so good, it would be a standout on The Strokes debut. “Lion’s Share” is an 80’s styled epic ballad that is unforgettable – it’s the kind of song I thought Coldplay might be able to cook up on their last album with Eno but sadly did not. In short, my favorite new band is from LA. I think Hell just got mighty chilly. Check out "Vacationing People".
Fat Cat
fat-cat.co.uk/fatcat/
Tom Brosseau
"Posthumous Success"
Fat Cat Records resident folkie Tom Brosseau has made a name for himself as an outsider boho character somewhat akin to a British Devendra Banhart – all untamed wiry vocals and spare sometimes-whisper-quiet acoustic guitar playing. Brosseau’s ironically-titled new third album, Posthumous Success (Fat Cat), should change all that. Posthumous sees Brosseau’s folky musings couched in gorgeous strings, full band accompaniment, and some killer production courtesy of Mice Parade’s Adam Pierce, and Ethan Rose. In short, Brosseau’s a loner no more. Match up this full-bodied accompaniment with some of the man’s strongest songs ever, and you’ve got one of hell of an album. File Under: the kind of record you wish Ryan Adams would still make OR Devendra Less Weird. Check out "Big Time".
We Were Promised Jetpacks
"These Four Walls"
Something epic is going down in Scotland. All the bands coming out of that place play this glorious building stadium-sized brooding explosive rock: “Scot Rock.” The latest of these bands, Edinburgh’s wordily-named We Were Promised Jetpacks are among the best of these groups. The four-piece’s Fat Cat debut, These Four Walls, takes the quiet/loud dynamic to literally new heights. Like a more brainy Snow Patrol – album standout “Quiet Little Voices” shoots for the rafters and just about gets there. Check out "Quiet Little Voices".
Brakes
"Touchdown"
BrakesBrakesBrakes (aka “Brakes”) play instantly memorable guitar-charged power pop. The UK band’s formula may be simple but it’s a hard trick to pull off unless you’ve got some great song – the band’s new one for Fat Cat, Touchdown, thankfully is full of these. Album opener “Two Shocks” buzzes along on a bed of bluesy noir guitar chords and sounds like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at their catchiest. “Don’t Take Me To Space (Man)” and “Do You Feel The Same?” are even poppier – dare I say they both sound very Nada Surf, if Nada were British. My personal favorite, “Worry About It Later,” a breezy little acoustic guitar ditty that should score a hundred Michael Cera films. Email us. Check out "Worry About It Later".
- Click to see:
- Thrill Jockey
- Dead Oceans
- DFA
- East Side Digital
- Bank Robber Music
Thrill Jockey
www.thrilljockey.com
Tortoise
"Beacons of Ancestorship "
Beacons of Ancestorship (Thrill Jockey) is the first new material seminal post-rocker’s Tortoise have put out in five years. This time-off might crush most other bands, but one of Tortoise’s main strengths is their chameleon-like ability to adapt and trade musical flavors, updated and switching up their sound with freewheeling abandon like elementary schoolers and baseball cards. Their peripatetic nature has had some pretty big dividends, but Beacons may be their most “accesible,” “far-reaching,” and just downright “dope” album yet. In other words, it does not sound like the work of veterans – the fuzzy-electro math-hop of 8-minute album opener “High Class Slim Came Floatin In” could be the most original head-nodder I’ve heard all year. A seamless stream of jazzy nu-age hip-hop breaks a la The Roots (!), minimalist synth melodies like something off the obscure Electronic label Fonal, and epic-as-hell builds. After all this time, these guys are still on to something. Check out "Prepare Your Coffin".
Dead Oceans
www.deadoceans.com
Bowerbirds
"Upper Air"
North Carolina-hailing duo Bowerbirds make the kind of folk music you love. It’s not as weird or far out as Devendra, ethnically anachronistic as say Beirut, or just plain dusty as Iron and Wine – instead the his and her’s mix of Bowerbirds sounds at once modern, uplifting, lush, and gorgeous. They toured with Bon Iver and are essentially label-mates – and Bon is a great touchstone for the ‘birds’ brand of wistful, epic natural sounds…and we know how much you guys loved that record. Bowerbird’s new sophomore album, Upper Air, is introspective and somehow manages at having arrangements that are at once entirely lush featuring auto-harp, and violin, rag-tag percussion, and thick vocal harmonies, while also maintaining a subtle small diary-like quality. In short, stand-outs like the album opener “House of Diamonds (You Are Free),” and “Silver Clouds” are epic without being epic. You will be listening to this record again and again in ’09. Check out "House of Diamonds (You Are Free)".
DFA
www.dfarecords.com
Yacht
"See Mystery Lights"
And also on our new favorite DFA label – for all you dance heads – the blog-world has been all a flutter with Yacht’s new single “Psychic City (Voodoo City).”And for good reason. For once the blogs are not wrong. It’s like “Genius of Love 2009”. Listen. Check out "Psychic City (Voodoo City)".
East Side Digital
www.noside.com/esd
Halloween Alaska
"Champagne Downtown"
Twin Cities’-hailing Halloween, Alaska traffic in the kind of Death Cab For Cutie/Postal Service-y pop we cannot get enough of. Neither could The OC which included not one, but two (!) H, A jams off the bands debut on the series. Well with Champagne Downtown (East Side Digital), Halloween, Alaska are back with more slowly building emotional pop. “The Hollywood Sign” is brooding and beautiful – full of arpeggio guitars and a big swoon worthy chorus. Meanwhile, “In Order” is all muted guitar melodies and choppy drums. Why can’t more bands sound like this? Check out "The Hollywood Sign".
Bank Robber Music
www.bankrobbermusic.com
Various
"Bank Robber Music Compilation Vol. 19"
The heavyweights have come out for the latest compilation from here at Bank Robber Music. BRM Vol. 19 will have your summer soundtracked “to the max”. For starters, we have one of the most “accessible”/“commercial” jams we’ve ever worked: yes, we are indeed working the new Tinted Window’s album – a new band fronted by the good looking kid from Hanson (remember them!?), the guitar players of the Smashing Pumpkins and Fountains of Wayne, and even Bun E Carlos of Cheap Trick. It’s a pop-filled doozy that’s perfect for “shorts weather.” Also good for the beach, a rootsy new track from Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes fame, some exquisite David Bowie-like sounds from John Vanderslice, a gorgeous harmony-soaked hippie love song from Akron/Family, a track from “the next Vampire Weekend” Foreign Born, and 4 new songs from people who basically are beloved classic figures in indie rock: Bill Callahan, Dinosaur Jr. Superchunk, and Tortoise. All heavyweights, indeed. Check out "Follow The Map" by MONO.