A Regular ol’ Record Review

The Breakfast Club stuck in a VCR at the cabin or Yukon Blonde – On Blonde

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Shooting for the sound of Joy Division and hitting the Psychedelic Furs instead means only one thing to a fan of Yukon Blonde; the sound was overhauled in a total ‘WTF’ way. Confusion can be forgiven when a leap from R.E.M. mixed with Teenage Fanclub becomes an analog synth driven kaleidoscope of the 80’s New Wave movement. The opening track “Confusion” may not have been written as a message to fans, but the coincidence certainly matches the sound I’m hearing.

That said – I’m digging it!

Gone are guitar fronted loose ‘extenda jams’ that were present in Yukon Blonde’s eponymous 2010 debut and in is the more atmospheric layered production of a far more evolved unit. The change shouldn’t be entirely shocking as synth-pop has always been an element of the Yukon Blonde sound. “Make U Mine” with its playful flirt has a slight Prince feel and single “Saturday Night” lays out that “Safety Dance” vibe that has weird haircuts and pastel clothing running for the dance floor.

The whole Yukon Blonde experience is built around fun and On Blonde is no different from Tiger Talk in terms of lyrical themes. Still, to have so completely transformed from one record to the next makes one wonder if they had The Breakfast Club stuck in a VCR at some old woodsy locale. You know, a few friends, some odd flavoured cider and that guy who says every line a step out of cue until you all start yelling.

Good Times…

For vinyl lovers, go to the Kings Road site where they are offering On Blonde in a pretty cool looking gatefold cover with orange/black splatter wax. Only 300 are available so move quickly.

Would You Believe I Just Bought A Cassette! Or Metric – The Shade EP

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The last time I bought a cassette, well… I’m not sure I remember. It was definitely in the late 80’s or maybe 1990, but it’s all rather fuzzy. To some extent vinyl had always kept a small touch of cool, but cassettes were popular only because they were portable. When CD’s took over that market, they became obsolete. Still, there is that touch of nostalgia and I fully admit to having a tape deck hooked into the stereo as I was making ‘mixed tapes’ into the late 1990’s.

So imagine my surprise when the latest Metric release came in two formats only: digital download and limited cassette. (Actually, I’ll be honest, I find it pretty awesome!) Over to the old AIWA deck I go and watch two wheels turn a thin strip of plastic. There it is, that new single (“The Shade”), introduced to The Edge just a day or two before their Sugar Beach performance, starts pumping out the speakers. The green and red lights are bouncing a storm on the cassette players level reader. It’s all so… mesmerizing. Fortunately, so is the music.

Heavy on the synthesizer, The Shade takes the exploration of those sounds found on Metric’s 2012 release Synthetica an extra step away from 80’s synth-pop and 90’s alternative  only to mix it up with a slight industrial tinge. The result is a band that has managed to show growth and range with every new release and an ep that is catchy without being crass.

The title track with its repeated chorus “I want it all” speaks to living in the moment. “Cascades” finds tenderness in electronica, “Too Bad, So Sad” comes off as a post apocalyptic self-help manual, and the final cut “Office Towers Escalate” builds a heavy drum &keyboard jam into a Matrix like dance revue.

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As if the music wasn’t incentive enough, Metric adds to the ‘collectibility’ of the cassette by signing autographs on the inside of the cover. Not that I think ‘the cassette’ is coming back in style, but I wonder if I need to get a head cleaner?

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You can find The Shade ep at ilovemetric.com

Heartbreak… it’s universal & sounds awesome! or Sharon Van Etten – I Don’t Want To Let You Down ep

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What is it about heartbreak that drives one to explore the depths of grief rather than run away fast? Then, as a listener, what makes us want to grapple with someone else’s despair instead of looking for a happy song? Things are intensely personal on I Don’t Want To Let You Down in a way that is both captivating and raw with open wounds. Not content to place blame, Van Etten explores relationships with empathy from both sides of the figurative divide. On the title track, Van Etten sings “When dreams grew black / I didn’t want to see the light”; her voice both pleading and determined to hold together the shards of a relationship that has already failed. Observations don’t contradict one another as much as crash and lay emotions strewn upon the road with pieces not even large enough to gather up. As the EP continues it becomes quickly apparent that the end of a love affair is the uniting theme. “Just Like Blood” explores lost communication, “I Always Fall Apart” looks at the need for a confidant, and “Pay My Debts” views the destruction caused by distance. Each song has a different perspective but conclusions are similar in their longing for circumstances to be somehow different than what they have become. I Don’t Want To Let You Down may not be happy, but sometimes it’s good to have a soundtrack for tears. After all, heartbreak is universal and it’s great to have a haunting voice remind us we are not alone. I Don’t Want To Let You Down is out on June 9th.

Beauty Found in Desolation or Of Monsters And Men – Beneath The Skin

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With metaphors of mountains and wolves threatening to turn Beneath The Skin into a lost scene from The Lord Of The Rings, a sudden heartfelt turn takes place that puts it all in context. This isn’t a record about pomposity; it’s an album about finding life affirmation.  It takes time to get past the catchy single “Crystals” and its images of gold, silver and crystal eyes to find the depth and heart in Beneath The Skin.

“Organs” sees vocalist Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdottir lamenting “I am tired of punching in the wind / I am tired of letting it all in” as she bears witness to the changing nature of self as a relationship falls apart. That confusion continues in “We Sink” as Himarsdottir finds no solace; “It’s warm, the skin I’m living in / It creates and shapes what is within / So please look away, don’t look at me / As we sink into the open sea.” It’s her realization that sometimes things just don’t get better which makes the song that much more poignant.

Behind the words are an atmospheric blend of alt-rock guitar crunch, acoustic soul and keyboard flourishes that build drama around the lyrical images. It is a folk-rock sound that is reminiscent of Mumford and Sons and City and Color to name just a couple, but those similarities do nothing to interfere with the albums’ emotional resonance.

That said, Beneath The Skin provides a lasting and hopeful end as “Winter Sound” concludes “You and I will not be shaken by the winter sound.” Desolate perhaps, but Of Monsters And Men prove that beauty can be found in desolation.

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Out on June 9th, Beneath The Skin comes out on all the usual formats and has some pretty cool special options on their website. Check it out.

By D.S. Barrett

Comes With Big Explosions or Muse – Drones

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It’s hard to gain respect when you are the world’s most bombastic band. Ask ELO or Queen about critical reception and there will always be those critics who point out the over the top nature of such artists. On top of this Muse can’t shake the fact that vocalist/guitarist Matthew Bellamy phrases his singing like The Bends era Thom Yorke and plays flashy guitar reminiscent of Brian May. Thing is, if you were to describe the ingredients of a great sounding record, you could do much worse than those guys.

The only thing that can save artists from the line of ‘artistic achievement’ and ‘unholy disaster’ is a group of songs that both the band and their fans can embrace as “really f’in cool.” So now you have Drones, an album that uses the mechanical bringers of death as a metaphor for the loss of humanity, identity and empathy. It shoots for the stars and attempts to play more like a rock opera on the movie screen than a mere record put out in 2015.

Odd as it seems, they make it work. Sure you get the impression that they listened to a few popular 80’s records along the lines of The Power Station and Foreigner to update their previous sounds, but damn, it’s fun and they sell it with conviction. You might accuse them of being pretentious; an honest criticism in their case, but the basic fact is that Drones is entertainment. Think of it this way, not every war film made is about the consequences of violence; some are released so that people can watch big explosions and stuff popcorn in their face simultaneously…  and there is nothing wrong with that.

So when Bellamy sings “men in cloaks / always seem to run the show / mercy / from the powers that be” you can either roll your eyes or turn up the volume, but there is just no way you can ignore it.

Now for the purchase details.

Muse does know how to treat their fans and make a few bucks. You can buy Drones on all the usual physical mediums or you can buy this gorgeous gem.

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In a tri-fold cover, the deluxe edition contains two 180 gram red vinyl discs, CD, DVD, download card and two litho art prints. It’s pricey and you’ll need to cover shipping… but damn, it looks pretty sweet.

So Bad, It’s Brilliant! Or The Darkness – Last of Our Kind

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Back in the mid 80’s when the crimping iron was king and glam-rock-metal kids wore makeup in the fashion of Poison, a movie came out that was so bad it was absolutely brilliant – Maximum Overdrive. The villain was a big rig truck wearing a Green Goblin mask, the hero was Emilio Estevez, and the director was none other than the master of horror himself, Stephen King. Trucks, lawnmowers and even vending machines turned homicidal in a film King himself would admit to being done as he was “coked out of his mind.” Ultimately it was a film that stretched “suspension of disbelief” beyond any reasonable limit.

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Well, I certainly can’t say what or even if The Darkness was ‘on anything’ but it certainly takes a sense of humour to enjoy this record. The Darkness always seemed to have their tongue planted firmly in cheek, but now I have my doubts. You see, I’m not quite sure if this is a band that takes itself seriously or not anymore; and I’m not sure if their intention is rock supremacy or parody; I just know that the guitar “licks” are straight from the era of Whitesnake, White Lion and vocals are over the top cliché. The big hair 80’s had music was catchy, the subjects silly and spandex was thought to be cool.

From track number one “Barbarian” the axe swings a heavy blow against… well… it swings a mighty blow, and the falsetto screams of… well… screams. “Reducing the feeble citadels to ashes and blood stain / enslaving the sweet women folk / while every man is slain” is hilarious in its “epic-ness” as a description of story rather than storytelling itself.

Things get even more… um… colossal (that sounds good) throughout the record as The Darkness take on sounds of Queen doing the soundtrack for Flash Gordon. We are told to “open up your mighty wings and fly” in that high pitch testimonial climax on “Mighty Wings.” Regardless, it has all those metal moments of high drama and sound. You can imagine waves crashing, lightning flashing, broken hearts and quests for the nature of existence.

It isn’t that The Darkness have put out a bad record, it’s just that like Maximum Overdrive it stretches the “suspension of disbelief” beyond my capacity. Do they know they have broken the forth wall down and have in essence become a musical episode of Disney’s Phineas & Ferb? Is Last Of Our Kind a parody, and if so, who is it a parody of?

Proclamation, Explanation, Reclamation! or Barenaked Ladies – Silverball

/ ds barrett / 1 Comment

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The first person narrative has long been a device in rock music. So whether it is self proclamation (“Get Back Up”) or explanation (“Say What You Want”) or reclamation (“Piece Of Cake”) the only question to ask:  Is the Barenaked Ladies road still worth travelling?

It sort of depends on where your music tastes start and stop. Silverball leans heavily on the pleasant sounds of the eighties, happily playing in a mix of Huey Lewis & the News, Katrina & the Waves, and the Live Aid era pop that saw the dangerous (Jagger & Bowie) become outrageous as they danced in the streets. Sure, “Get Back Up” is a song that looks at the band as having nothing left to prove, but that doesn’t mean nothing left to say.

In the Barenaked Ladies world growing older doesn’t mean much more than gaining perspective. When Robertson sings “maybe we got much better at looking at the others heart” on “Hold My Hand” it’s a gentle reminder to a partner that not only is everything golden, but that he wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s these kinds of personal reflections that give the record a good natured charm.

Silverball is good, really good in fact. It’s well produced, the lyrics are meaningful and you can play it in the background on a Saturday afternoon with a few friends gathered in your backyard as the bbq burns a few hot dogs. Which really, if Silverball has a point, it’s that after all these years it’s just fine to live for the little things.

A Roller Coaster Ride! or The Vaccines – English Graffiti

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The Vaccines brand of rock ‘n’ pop has recently been conjuring comparisons to The Strokes but that is both a little obvious and not quite hitting the target. Like most bands that have a quest for timelessness in their music; they are roller coasters that shift left when you think right and ultimately bring excitement to both the peaks and valleys.

In the past they were using a bit of 60’s pop music reminiscent of the early hits of the Kinks, but with English Graffiti they seemed to have filtered it through the 80’s synth pop. “Dream Lover” is a hybrid of Brit-Pop that has more Duran Duran than Oasis in the sound. Then they get you thinking that they will let the good times roll with “20/20” which crosses the Kaiser Chiefs with Motion City Soundtrack.

With energy levels about to go through the roof they abandon it all for a Moody Blues moment in “(All Afternoon) In Love” and later in “I Want You So Bad.”

Lyrically they are pretty quick to turn a phrase and go for the biting one liner, rather than look for a character to drive the story. Album opener “Handsome” provides a pretty good case in point as they drop the line “you think that you look good in whatever they sugarcoat you in.”  The song is all sarcasm and snot with a big F.U. to whomever is trying to sell bullshit for image.

The real point The Vaccines make more than any other is that they want to keep rockin’. English Graffiti isn’t life altering or earth shattering it’s just a fun rock ‘n’ roll record that you play on your way to the amusement park… and really, what more can you ask for.

Beautiful Wreckage of Human Fallacy or Rhett Miller – The Traveller

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If the characters in the Old 97’s albums like to party than the characters in a Rhett Miller record wake up to regret it. The line “there’s happiness and then there’s this, whatever it’s supposed to be” from “Jules” is pretty indicative of the confessional rides being taken. Apologies, regret, forgiveness and the need for redemption play out to a background of foot stomping and sorrowful alt-country/Americana.  Of course, it helps that the music is being provided by the alt-country genius of Black Prairie, who have been setting that genre ablaze for a few years now.

Rather strange it seems is the instant dynamic that falls into place between Miller and his new cohorts. After all, Black Prairie is four members of The Decemberists and a couple musical friends who are exploring a different musical style rather than people who live fulltime making music in Nashville.  They do it so well you forget they are in another band at all.

Soft acoustic guitar, a light violin and an accordion permeate over a ghostly atmospheric vocal as played out on “Dream vs. Waking Life” underscoring the hearts desolation at a relationships end. Then later you get the playful banter of a piano carrying a storyteller until the violin starts to do the call and answer thing on “Reasons To Live.” In every case the music is central in creating an atmosphere for Miller’s various levels of turmoil.

The Traveller may not be a concept album in the traditional sense but it runs the gambit of emotional expressions felt when a relationship implodes by reason of human fallacy. No one quite describes self-wreckage the way Miller does, and Black Prairie makes it sound that much more poignant.

The Traveller is available at all the finer music stores and you can pick it up on vinyl here.

Two Glasses Of Wine, One For You and One for the Voice coming from your Stereo or Josh Rouse – The Embers Of Time

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There was a point in the early 2000’s that looked like Josh Rouse would become more of a household name. He had released three albums in a row that showed the promise of a great songwriter who was gaining a larger audience and critical praise with each subsequent record. Under Cold Blue Stars, 1972 and Nashville had built a foundation for a promising and what looked like a long career. Then… well, it’s difficult to say. His Brill Building observational song writing just seemed to start blending and newer material started to quickly find a home in the CD collection marked “I’ll listen later.” You know, the albums that eventually find their way into the used bins at the local record store. As a fan, I just couldn’t follow him in his newer direction and I stopped paying attention.

So, a month ago Rouse releases The Embers Of Time and it wasn’t until this week that I finally decided to give it a spin.

WOW!

There it is!

Everything that made me listen before is back plus other influences popping out that I hadn’t seen before. This time, not only has his brand of folksy Americana brought in reminiscences of Carol King and James Taylor, but now you get Paul Simon and Stray Gator era Neil Young added to the mix. Simple observations of a trip to the bar or losing sleep become a musical conversation about how things are going with an old friend. It gets to the point where you pour two glasses of wine, one for yourself and another for the voice coming from your stereo. Sometimes reconnecting leaves you wondering why you ever parted ways in the first place.

The Embers of Time can be found on all the usual music formats including vinyl.