Reviews: September 2005
QUEENANDREENA
The Butcher and the Butterfly (One Little Indian/Shock)
This album is almost an article out of place, a collection of songs arriving some 15 years too late for a larger audience – the angst and wrought emotion of Queenandreena is akin to the toxic outbursts of Babes In Toyland and pre-L.A. years of Hole.
Veterans in their own way after years in various bands, vocalist Katie-Jane Garside and guitarist Crispen Gray have for Queenandreena’s third album continued their outbursts of naked rock. Creating a rollercoaster ride of soaring, screaming vocals and buzzsaw guitars, the songs translate difficult stories of exploitation and innocence, both lost and found. A blistering, almost revenge-fuelled aggression is the core thread throughout the album, this becoming its strongest spark or biggest turn-off.
With the smudged lipstick and baby-doll imagery of the early 90s almost a distant memory, the dirt playing field of menstrual aggression is now left to bands like Scarling and Queenandreena.
RICHARD SWIFT
Collection Vol.1: The Novelist/Walking Without Effort (Secretly Canadian)
Like finding an old, dusty suitcase in the attic filled with a treasure trove of past lives, the songs of Richard Swift are like perfectly crafted pop artefacts from a bi-gone era. This release sees the compilation of two past albums, combined into one easily obtainable 17-track whole.
While it’s not really there, the crackle of old vinyl and mood of classic 60s AM permeates the songs, mainly comprising of piano, guitar, a little drum machine and Swift’s crooning, sombre tones. The inclusion of a little clarinet in ‘Lovely Night’ or accordion in ‘The Novelist’ adds an element of abstract beauty to these already great songs.
Swift’s sound is hard to pin-point, traversing opposite ends of the pop spectrum, from the uniqueness of Syd Barrett to the craftsmanship of Bacharach, this out-of-place uniqueness translating into an unquestionably earnest album able to stand the test of any time.
BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME
Alaska (Victory/Stomp)
Precision-based hardcore or overdriven power-metal? This North Carolina quintet are trying so damned hard to forge a path of their own that instead they’ve produced a third album as confusing as it is impressive.
One minute it’s all growls, furious shredding and blast-beats (‘Alaska’) and the next it’s Dreamtheater-styled prog pomposity and falsetto (‘Selkies…’), the band’s penchant for creativity regularly getting out of hand. It has to be said that the playing is exceptionally executed; especially in regards to guitarist Nick Fletcher’s preoccupation with Cathedral-styled high-fretboard guitar leads. The musical interplay, while heavy on the metal scale, is blueprinted with a total math-rock set of musical equations. Even when simplified songs such as ‘Roboturner’ bludgeon and sludge their way out of the speakers, it is only a respite between more cross-pollination. There are just too many ideas and not enough focus for this to ultimately be enjoyed.
THE JUAN MACLEAN
Less Than Human (DFA/EMI)
From the DFA stables (home of LCD Soundsystem and Rapture) comes Mr Juan Maclean, a man with an already long list of credits to his name, being at the core of robot rockers Six Finger Satellite and himself producing a slew of underground 12”s which buoyed DFA’s initial success.
For his debut album, Maclean’s electro tangents stretch far and wide, back to the core of Herbie Hancock’s funk jazz trailblazers and taking the groove and precision of Daft Punk light years ahead. It’s the live feel of the instrumentation in ‘Tito’s Way’ and ‘Crush the Liberation’ though, that really spark the music, turning dancefloor funk into a carnivalé street party, bells and whistles skirting between vocodered vocals and throbbing squelch bass lines.
Maclean’s use of classic moods – whether they be from the house of Kraftwerk, Jean Jacques Perry or that of Mr Moog – translated through the latest tools has produced a wonderful hybrid that is as eclectic as stylistically futuristic.
SILVER CITY
Self-titled (20/20 Vision/Stomp)
Remember in the 60s how the future would see us wearing those one-piece funky outfits, groovy spaceboots and all those cool toys and flying cars, just like the Jetsons? Well, we‘re not there yet, but that hasn’t stopped Silver City from attempting to create a soundtrack for this futureworld.
Combining funky electro, boogie disco and upbeat dub this Leeds duo has futurised the vibe pioneered by George Clinton, now ready to be consumed by the punk-funk generation. From the vocodered vocals of ‘Dance Til The Morning’ to the slap’n’pop bass of ‘What You Get’ a high-octane funk is the lifeblood driving these 11 songs. The only downside is how easily digestible it all is, ‘Down Till 7’ and ‘Shiver’ are the only moments when the vibe breaks out into something definable as its own. Still, for a bit of a boogie or light dancefloor groove, Silver City does the trick.
SPIDERBAIT
Greatest Hits (Univeresal)
Spiderbait are a unique band in this country, coming across as a trio of ocker footy fans who should be hooning round in their Monaros, not making some of this country’s heaviest and cleverest rock. After 15 years and five albums, they have certainly cemented a sound instantly recognisable to everyone from meatheads to punks to fresh-faced teens.
These 22 tracks have all Spiderbait’s best elements: Whitt’s blistering and over-cranked guitar riffs, Janet and Kram’s sweet and sour vocals and, of course, Kram’s limelight-stealing, driving drum workout. The tracks run back from the chart-topping hits, ‘Black Betty’ and ‘Glockenpop’ to their trailblazing ‘Buy Me A Pony’ and ‘Monty’. Years later, earlier tunes ‘Run’ and ‘Footy’ are still some of the funniest rock songs ever embraced by head-banging youth. This compilation should be all the proof needed that, recognised or not, Spiderbait’s four-to-the-floor talents are all but flawless.
FRANZ FERDINAND
Do You Want To (Domino/Sony-BMG)
With a world of expectation upon them, Franz Ferdinand’s first single is exactly what you’d expect. Filled with the necessary glitz to pack dancefloors from here to Glasgow, the song possesses the same angular guitars and middle breakdown as their other hits. Lyrically it’s another self-absorbing and inane focus on going out and getting a shag. This tune is sure to be worn out soon by iPods and Dj’s alike.
THE WHITE STRIPES
My Doorbell (XL/Remote Control)
Not the catchiest tune from their latest album, ‘My Doorbell’ still has a heavy stomp and could be seen as Get Behind Me Satan’s ballad single. With Jack White’s clunking piano and Meg White’s booming kick, the songs charm comes from the innocent boy-next-door sentiment in Jack’s lyrics. Backed up by two live tunes, the equally sentimental ‘Same Boy You’ve Always Known’, it’s only ‘Screwdriver’ that displays the powerhouse side of this ever more diverse band.
IRON ON
Oh The Romance (+1/Reverberation)
Next time you’re in the record store looking for that special song that moves your feet as much as strums your heartstrings, chances are that you won’t find it in overseas indie bands such as Death Cab For Cutie, Bright Eyes or The Shins. Chances are it’s right on your doorstep in the form of local four-piece Iron On!
This debut album sees the band stretch their wings and reach full flight, interweaving articulate melodies that leave a lump in your throat with the type of rock-out abandon usually reserved for the more leather clad type of band. It’s the magnetic vocals of Ross Hope and Kate Cooper that really strike the biggest chord, their tales of love both right and horribly wrong (‘Hearts’, ‘High Miami High’, ‘More Than Tape’) making you pine for more than the 10 songs on offer here.
It seems unfair for them to be labelled indie rock because that’s such a limp-wristed term, and when it comes to standout moments like ‘Playing Hard To What’, their resolve to totally disarm and dismantle you is unrepentant. A remarkable album.
PSAPP
Tiger, My Friend (Arable/Didgeridoo)
Taking that quirky intellectual pop vibe that you usually find in Belle & Sebastian songs and vastly expanding the pallet, London’s PSAPP produce songs with a childlike innocence, squeaky toys as beautifully orchestrated as strings or xylophone. Imagine the worlds of Autechre and Cocorosie melding into one, but where anyone can play anything, even Splodge the cat (‘About Fun’).
This debut’s songs range from the unique and organic (‘Rear Moth’) to the glitchy and surreal (‘Leaving In Coffins’), the most astounding thing being that this kaleidoscope of song is born out of only two people. It’s not that this album is sooo left field; it’s simply that the guitar and piano at the core of these pop gems are where most groups would end, and it’s here that Tiger, My Friend’s magic really begins.
DEVENDRA BANHART
Crippled Crow (XL/Remote Control)
With the cover art of Banhart’s fourth album recalling a neo-folk version of St. Pepper’s, it’s in fact a more subtle and personal expansion of sound that’s carried throughout. This time accompanied by a village full of friends, there’s less obvious weirdness and more orchestrated and immaculately crafted freak-folk than before.
Peppered with the flamenco and samba flavours of his youth in ‘Santa Maria…’ and ‘Quedate Luna’, the album expands progressively over the 22 tunes, both in scope and sound. The delicate beauty of ‘Heard Somebody Say’ uncannily recalls the soul of Nina Simone, Banhart crooning like a lost offspring. While piano, guitars and drums regularly fill out his troubadour sound, it’s ‘Long Haired Child’ when things start to go truly psychedelic, its hazy 70s vaudeville sound blooming into an exotic Middle Eastern echo with ‘Lazy Butterfly’ and rollicking stomp in ‘Queenbee’.
With an obviously unique folk music talent, Banhart hasn’t yet produced his best work, but with Crippled Crow he’s created his greatest statement of what looks to be a real magical, mysterious career.
URDOG
Garden Of Bones (Secret Eye/Sensory Projects)
It’s a strange psychedelic haze, a merry prankster-styled journey that the three members of Rhode Island’s Urdog seem to be descending into. It’s a place where dense, droning guitar, freaked-out Farfisa organ and derailed drumming mix with static interludes that find the music separating like molecules only to reform moments later as fully functional song structures.
The eight songs here play themselves out when and whichever way they please, whether in a playful one-minute ‘Smoky Narghile’ or spectral nine-minute ‘Ice On Water’. They always feed you enough line though, so as to feel lost in the sounds, but never abandoned within their swirling landscapes. Refraining from anything as brash as Beefheart, the songs retain a softer focus on detail, similar to early Pink Floyd or Can, the one moment of jovial sideshow alley atmosphere being ‘Urdog Awaken!’. A curious and enjoyable journey towards the third eye.
PUBLIC ENEMY
Power To The People And The Beats: PE’s Greatest Hits (Def Jam/Universal)
PE blazed a trail into the world’s musical conscience so deep and wide that no one collection of songs (or review) is ever going to do them justice. That said, these 18 tracks are a damn good start to outline one of music’s most important contributions since James Brown or Bob Marley.
While the combo of Chuck D, Flavor Flav and Terminator X could never better the early years of their first three albums (15 of the 18 tracks here), it doesn’t matter because those years in the late 80s saw PE redefine hip-hop, take it to the masses, fuel it with revolutionary messages and turn upside down the world’s kids, both black and white.
Tracks like ‘Don’t Believe The Hype’, ‘Fight The Power’, ‘Brothers Gonna Work It Out’ and ‘Bring The Noise’ (the latter producing what’s still the best synergy of metal and rap) combined humour and politics in equal doses, their songs’ fires still raging now decades after their creation.
And while you’re reading, remember this was during the Reagan years and life looked grim for many in the ghettoes. PE gave desperate kids hope and that can’t go understated in the déjà vu spectre of Bush Jr!
CONTROLLER.CONTROLLER
History (Paper Bag/Shiny)
These Canadians are making sure every last drop of blood and sweat is wrung from the dance punk cravat. Released a year-and-a-half ago, this EP still manages to sound fresh in a genre fast running out of ideas. ‘History’ is My Bloody Valentine trying to connect to the internet one minute and exhuming A Certain Ratio’s grave the next, while ‘Bruised…’ is the darkest and best track of the six. With its mixture of 4/4 disco styling, live instrumentation and Deborah Harry-infected vocals out front, within minutes it’ll feel as though you’ve been listening to this for years.
BONNY/SWEENEY
I Gave You (Drag City/Spunk)
If the eerie drawl of Will Oldham melts you, then this Ep is likely to work it’s magic from the moment his saddened drawl calls out for release. These four tracks of twin guitar and vocals are for all their sparseness; lush sounding country lullabies, warm in their mood and timeless in their sound. Matt Sweeney matching Oldham’s fragile vocals note for note.
AGAINST ME
Searching for a Former Clarity (Fat Wreck Chords/Shock)
It’s been bandied around that Against Me are this generation’s Clash. If that’s the case, then that makes Searching for a Former Clarity Against Me’s London Calling. On their fourth album, the band come into a sound of their own, striking the perfect balance between rock, punk (old and new) and blue-collar strike-line chants.
There’s an undeniable swagger and confidence present, from the opener ‘Miami’ and on, but the melodies set Searching For… apart – not in a Green Day pop way, but a mixture of folk-fuelled, rum rebellion-styled hooks with strong, Fugazi-like focused aggression. The political aesthetic is stronger then ever and originally articulated (‘From Her Lips To God’s Ears’, ‘Violence’ and many more), the music’s space allowing you to soak up the messages, temper the bristling bile and provoke thoughts, not just bashing your ears.
Seeing as most people don’t care about positive rebellion, it’s only the few who will be inspired by this remarkable statement and while there are real voices of dissent out there, there’s also a real hope for change.
TIM FITE
Gone Ain’t Gone (Anti/Shock)
Recalling the twisted pop/country/folk of Jim White or early 90s Beck, Fite has ensured his album grooves at a thoughtful and reflective pace, through the fiddles, the humour, the short blasts of misguided rock and the hip-hop vocal delivery.
Obviously a child of these eclectic times, it’s not since Sparklehorse that someone has brought so much varied sound to bear under one roof. The looped samples and answering machine vocals of ‘Eating At The Grocery Store’ meld beautifully into the slide guitar moans of ‘Forty-Five Remedies’. His sampling of culture stretches so far as to include portions of Dave McCormack’s music in ‘Not A Hit Song’. The strongest and most poignant aspect of Fite’s music though comes from interlude track ‘I’ve Kept Singing’, featuring the musical dissertation of the legendary Paul Robeson.
Anyone can produce pop songs and call them interesting, but not just anyone can make their melding of styles and sounds really work for them. Fite has, creating a completely original musical statement.
PIVOT
Make Me Love You (Sensory Projects)
From the moment the title track’s instrumental hip-hop groove beat blossoms into fully flourishing post-rock to the final ebb and pulsed frequencies, the journey taken by Pivot is a gorgeous subtle and languid affair, one that you easily get lost in.
Through predominantly live instrumentation, this Sydney five-piece build and meld their layers of sound to produce songs akin to Tortoise or Tommy Guerrero. The songs undulate from turntable moods (‘Make Me Love You’) to string sections (‘Artificial Horizon’) to broken down dub (‘LaMer’) with a seemingly effortless manner. Like all great instrumental music, the focus shouldn’t be the instrumentation or immaculate musicianship (which here is impressive enough) but the power the sounds have to fuel your imagination.
These nine glorious soundtracks frolic with as much depth as you can envisage – it all comes down to whether your imagination is up for this smorgasbord of sound.
CLUE TO KALO
One Way, It’s Every Way (Mush/Spunk)
This electronically orchestrated, luscious pop album is yet another leap forward for the man who is Clue to Kalo, Mark Mitchell. For his second album, he produces songs full of multi-part harmonies, sombre vocal tones and an air of bittersweet adventure.
Again refining a raft of organic instrumentation through the filters of electronic precision, these 10 tunes are reminiscent of the post-rock electronica of Tortoise or Fourtet. The juxtaposition of organs and accordion with saxophone, gu-zheung and mandolin bring together the perfect marriage of sounds, creating an air of past meets future (‘Seconds When It’s Minutes’, ‘Nine Thousand Nautical Miles’). There are also pure electronic pop moments (‘As Tommy…’, ‘The Tense Changes’) that rekindle the same spark that The Postal Service did with their songs.
Beautifully structured as a musical palindrome, Mitchell has presented a never-ending cycle of swirling lo-fi folktronica.
GOGOL BORDELLO
Gypsy Punks (Side One Dummy/Stomp)
While they hail from New York City this album breathes a mixture of Clash revolution and Pogues revelry, its title of Gypsy Punk right on the money.
Steeped in the cultural musical heritage of eastern Europe, with its interplay of violins, accordions and chorus-line chants, it’s structured punk side works to really propel these songs, the guitars and drums blistering beneath it all. ‘Not A Crime’ and ‘Think Locally Fuck Globally’ rouse the spirits with a multitude of voices heralding change, and with songs so culturally diverse, the core melodies regularly come from ethnic structures (and the odd reggae trip) – ‘Immigrant Punk’ and ‘Avenue B’ create a sound that will be fresh to most ears.
Not since Les Negresses Vertes has a group tried to reinvent such revelry and musical camaraderie, its uniting sounds only a good thing for punk.
THE WHATS
All Mouth No Trousers (Reverberation)
Whether as a side project to their long-time band Screamfeeder or as something definitively different, it’s hard not to look at The Whats as a legitimate entity in its own right.
With a very back-to-basics approach to the songwriting and sound, these 13 songs have a fun, old school rockity-roll feel to them, made up entirely of the sparse drums of Dean Shwereb and the guitar/vocals of Tim Steward. This approach brings the hooks and grooves easily to the fore in full hip-swinging effect, ‘Trouble’, ‘Chorus Ghetto’ and ‘Where Was I’ unashamedly brash in their delivery and resonance.
In this day and age, you can be sure of a few things – there will always be good three-chord punk, sad country and, in this case, stripped bare, stomped-out rock. So just enjoy it!
HORRORPOPS
Bring It On (Hellcat/Shock)
These Danish psychobillies pack a greater punch with their second album, full of all the hooks and drive that lies throughout rockabilly’s extensive history.
Charging their honky-tonk rock foundations with punk attitude and speed, ‘Freaks In Uniform’ and ‘Bring It On!’ get the album racing. What makes this band work though are the moments of restraint – in ‘Hit’N’Run’ and ‘Walk Like A Zombie’, they’re not afraid of having their hearts on their sleeves and their sound steeped in the history that preceded their genre. Songs like ‘It’s Been So Long’, with its saccharin guitars and vocals, are sure to piss off purists and give the band crossover appeal, but this cross-pollination actually does more to keep rockabilly interesting, the songs here never sounding watered down.
Ultimately, the Horrorpops do look harder than they sound, but even kids – punk, psychobilly or whatever – need something to snap their fingers to now and then.
BOYSKOUT
School Of Etiquette (Alive/Chatterbox)
This all-girl group of post-punk rockers have been slowly filtering this record out across the world for almost two years and with it now being our turn, it seems to still fit perfectly in with our current musical trends, it’s sound sitting side by side with the Presets or Snapp Krakk.
With a penchant for dark new-wave moods (especially Pornography-era Cure), the standard rock set up of bass, drums and guitar is filtered heavily through the barrel of thick keyboard overtones. While never totally turning dancefloor (‘Imaginary’) or fully rocking out (‘Sunday Morning’), there’s a constant edginess in the vocals and disdain in the air that makes it sound like they’re holding something back.
Still, with something for punks, goths and synthkids alike, Boyskout are sure to strike a chord with those ready to swoon their way through the dark nights.
AMBULANCE LTD
Self-titled (TVT/Shock)
Take away the noisy 80% of Sonic Youth and you’re left with the lovely pop parts and that’s the majority of Ambulance LTD’s sound right there. The indie guitar-pop shimmers in ‘Stay Where You Are’ and sounds quirky in ‘Primitive’, the songs always hinting at more unbridled sounds but never fully unfurling. Vocalist _____ has a whimsical way with words that recalls Stephen Malkmus, but the overt pop sensibilities never let the content of these five songs stray for long.
SIGUR ROS
Takk… (EMI)
Iceland’s Sigur Ros are as removed from pop as popular music can get – the sound that’s slowly been expanding over three albums is here both honed and reinvented into music as beautiful and harsh as their Arctic winds.
The 11 songs here have more sonic weight than their previous album, drums and cymbals cascading throughout ‘Takk…’ and ‘Met Blotnasir’. The vocals of Jon Thor Birgisson are emotions filled with sound, but unfettered by the crudeness of language, his soaring and uniquely high falsetto as powerful as all the instruments around him.
While there’s the strings and bowed guitars that you’d expect, there’s also jovial moments like the tubas in ‘Se Lest’ and on several occasions you’re reminded that this is a rock band of unique vision, not some mini-opera. This no more evident than in ‘Soeqlopur’ and ‘Gong’, tracks that rival Godspeed You! Black Emperor for orchestrated ferocity.
Ultimately, in the context of modern music, Sigur Ros could only be aptly described as a sound of innocence both blind to and more powerful than a world of wrongs. Whether it’s sounds of sadness or joy, these songs cry out like a child would for its mother, communicating something vital and pure that only the coldest heart would ignore.
FEAR FACTORY
Transgression (Roadrunner)
From the outset, this doesn’t sound like the Fear Factory of old, primarily due to line-up changes, with former bass player Christian Olde Wolbers now shredding it on guitar while former Strapping Young Lad bassist Byron Stroud takes up the bottom end.
At the core, this is still very much the blistering tech-heavy metal that’s defined their 15-year career, but with new songwriters comes a different focus. There are no longer banks of effects and samples, their moods present in but a few songs and on Bell’s vocals. A thick wall of deep guitar does blanket everything, this held up by Herrera’s arrhythmic drum patterns and countered by the hooks of Bell’s soaring counter-melodies.
For the first time, their music presents a warmth that draws you in; still emotionally enraged, the cold futuristic precision of the past is now precision with a human soul and sound to it. For the first time, Fear Factory sound like they have ahead of them a real path beyond their future hell.
SHOUT OUT LOUDS
Howl Howl Gaff Gaff (Capital/EMI)
Okay, first thing, The Shout Out Louds don’t shout, howl or rock out in the way that their exterior suggests. They do, though, pop, chime, yearn and bop their way through a debut album of 11 tunes.
Consisting of five Swedes playing with a Bright Eyes-come-Interpol-ish pop-rock sound, they mix the moody air of their songs with a gleeful delivery that comes across in a very uplifting manner. ‘Very Loud’ is a building exhortation of sound; ‘Oh Sweetheart’ on the other hand is a unique mix of wafting strings and straightforward bottom-heavy stomp. There’s the odd Grandaddy-esque reflective ballad (‘A Track And A Train’, ‘Go Sadness’), but all in all it’s the sort of fun springtime music that you would expect from say, The Go Betweens. Luckily it’s arrived at just the right time and will hopefully be blossoming out of stereos far and wide.
MORTI VIVENTI
AKA: The Living Dead (Timberyard/Shock)
With a searing sound, these five boys from Melbourne have unleashed their debut EP, five songs of angular rock-come-hardcore that progressively build with intensity. Sonically similar to The Icarus Line or Hot Snakes, this is basically solid rock with the tempo sped up and squalling noise working as the glue to keep everything together. While pushed to the limit, Jordan Bloomer’s vocals luckily never fall into bad screamer mode, ‘Roman Polanski Discoteque’ the best example of his forceful delivery.
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