alternative rock

The Emotional Depth of Flanging and Reverb or Ride –OX4

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There was a time before the 90’s wave of Grunge and Brit-Pop when a generation of music geeks had their collective consciousness turned towards the sounds of a UK movement dubbed “shoegaze.” Known for “wall of sound” like buzz and a variety of guitar effects it was the best possible escape for people tired of pop and hair metal but still loved loud electric guitar as the driver behind the tunes.

Ride was one of the best of the era with their own brand of songs crossed between My Bloody Valentine, The Smiths and even American avant-garde noise rockers Sonic Youth. At the beginning what attracted people to the band was the menagerie of influence pooled together under a banner of rock attitude and loud experimentation.

Unlike classic rock bands that would build a song around a guitar riff using it for the more climatic moments, Ride would use a riff like a wave over the song and change its very dynamic. If you listen to “Like A Daydream” even when the songs driving force is held back during the lyrical sequence, the guitar riff is still present as the basis for the rhythm. What changes is the tone and power with which it is played. The song itself gains more emotional resonance by the riff coasting for the duration rather than any one specific moment. At their best, this is exactly how Ride operated, a lyric of longing surrounded by shimmering guitar lines that buzz meaning with flanging and reverb.

Unfortunately, their existence was a brief eight years and it ended with internal disagreements and some half hearted attempt to go in a more ‘commercial’ direction. Some critics have claimed they fell flat looking for a more Brit-Pop sound, but honestly, after reading some of their more recent interviews, it sounds more like they just lost the motivation to be a band.

Still Record Store Day 2015 was a reminder of what brilliant music they did put out back in the day, with the vinyl re-issue of OX4: The Best Of. Three editions were released on April 18th in three major markets. The UK and Europe saw 500 copies each printed in red translucent vinyl while the North American market printed an additional 5000 copies of the same. As of last week when I was visiting record stores in Toronto I still saw copies around at the regular RSD prices.

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On a cooler note, Ride have worked out all their differences, are back together and currently touring. They’ll be hitting the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto on June 2nd and are being presented by 102.1 The Edge/Spirit Of Radio.

Technicolor Horror Story or Faith No More – Sol Invictus

/ ds barrett / 1 Comment

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So much more than just another ‘alt-rock’ or ‘metal’ band Faith No More could pack influences into music so tightly I would have no other choice but to call it ‘genre skipping.’ Crazy as that sounds they do it in individual songs. Funk, hip hop, metal, and even easy listening soft rock balladry naturally bounce around so well you’ld think they were a basketball.

Add that to the fact that Mike Patton is the best living rock vocalist on the planet (seriously, he has a vocal range that stretches six octaves) and you have a powerful explanation as to why music fans are salivating at the mere thought of a new Faith No More record.

Eighteen years between records and Faith No More not only picks up from where they left off, but do it as if both a love letter to fans and kiss off to anyone else. In fact, the feel of Sol Invictus is far more reminiscent of Angel Dust than the commercially lauded The Real Thing. The result is an album that just seems to go in whatever direction the wind is blowing at any given moment. Which isn’t to say that Faith No More lets anything get away from them, but rather that the transitions seem natural.

The title track opens with a bit of a circus atmosphere before breaking off into atmospheric melody. “Superhero” takes medal riffs and builds them towards a climatic cliff that is followed by the sinister “Sunny Side Up” which comes off as the proclamations of a narcissist. Characters are littered throughout Sol Invictus creating a type of epic short story one might imagine as the work of Flannery O’Connor or Richard Bachman. Listening to “Black Friday” as it describes living in the “age of the mercenary” comes with the realization that hope is a matter of perspective. Faith No More may not have created a pop masterpiece, but they have made a record that tells dark stories of broken people in vivid sonic colours. Sol Invictus is an album that stays with you long after the needle has lifted, and compelling enough to keep you up long after your head hits the pillow.

For you fans of vinyl, Faith No More have given you a couple options. Sol Invictus can be ordered in clear (limited edition) or black 140 gram vinyl and of course their web store also has a variety of bundles to make a true music geek happy.

TAKE THAT, FOUR OF A KIND! or Queens Of The Stone Age – … Like Clockwork

/ ds barrett / 3 Comments

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To say that …Like Clockwork was a loved record would be an understatement, it was pretty much universally praised as a great record. In hindsight Josh Homme was screaming to the world that Queens Of The Stone Age were now the greatest hard rock band since “fill in your own blank.” Almost two years since its release and “I Sat By The Ocean” can be heard almost daily on the radio. Josh Homme must have had an inkling it was great before it was even released because he handed fans an abundance of options to not only purchase it in multi formats, but four different vinyl versions as well. Three of those wax options were on the very day of release.

1) 2x vinyl 12” that plays at 45rpm with a red cover

2) 2x vinyl 12” limited edition (10000 copies) 150 gram vinyl plays at 45 rpm with a blue album cover

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3) 2x vinyl 12” limited edition 180 gram vinyl plays at 45rpm with an oversized gatefold cover containing a 20 page book

Then, with the album already selling very well came Record Store Day/Black Friday and the band put out option #4; the so called Black On Black Friday Edition. Limited to 2400 copies the cover art was in black and inside was a 180 gram vinyl record.

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Now the funny thing about these options, are the crazy prices that vinyl resellers are asking for them.  In some cases, sealed copies of the black cover and the blue cover editions have asking prices of over a $100.00 but used copies can be found for under $35.00. Funnier still were that I found people asking $35.00 for a new copy of the standard red cover edition and the deluxe book set for another $100.00. The reason I find this funny is that the bands own website still has these for sale for less money. WAY LESS! The standard vinyl is $19.99 and the deluxe is $44.99 American.

Honestly, if you’re looking at purchasing …Like Clockwork on vinyl, go to your local record store before you start thinking about the online re-sellers. Great sounding new records are still available. I’ve even seen a couple of the blue covers kickin’ around at regular prices.

Life Without A Road Map or Palma Violets – Danger In The Club

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The post brit-pop world is full of bands both worthy and lacking. Sometimes, like the children of self-made millionaires, it seems that the swagger and bravado earned by Mommy and Daddy has been transferred to the kids by a sheer sense of entitlement. In the case of Palma Violets it is like Jr. moved out making a decent splash in the process, but somehow just hasn’t figured out where to go next. Maybe it’s from nursing a 180 hangover, or maybe they never left the party that stopped being entertaining hours earlier, whatever the case, Danger In The Club sounds sincerely indifferent.

This attitude is best exemplified in “I’m Walking Home” which has a great bass line riff with vocals that lack emotional depth. “My babies got a new man, I’m walking home” doesn’t come off like a old blues singer with broken heart, but instead like a guy who misplaced his bus ticket and now has to walk a couple blocks.

“Danger In The Club” is musically all playful and drunken but again gets lost in vocals that are rather mundane. Which only points to the fact that while 180 pointed to Palma Violets as a possible peer or promising child of The Libertines, Danger In The Club comes off as something like a band looking for directions.

If You’re Late For Dinner… or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Eponymous

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I have no idea what it was like in your house growing up, but in mine being ‘late to the table’ was a sure way to lose out on after dinner goodies. However, this whole ‘vinyl revival’ thing makes it so you can be years late to the table and still enjoy a great dessert.

Such is the case with the fabulous self-titled debut by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. It has been 10 years since their initial offering and in celebration the band is re-issuing their out of print eponymous record with an additional recording of songwriter Alec Ounsworth doing a solo acoustic live show.

Just in case you may have forgotten Clap Your Hands Say Yeah popped onto the scene in spectacular fashion garnering rave reviews on both sides of the ocean and beyond. Names like Modest Mouse, Neutral Milk Hotel, Ride, and the Talking Heads have been used to describe them (Ounsworth’s voice does resemble a higher pitched David Byrne) but really they are a really well balanced stew of many influences. You can hear various styles dating from the 80’s to the present, which just means it is pretty hard to them pin down from one song to the next. Listen to it with friends sharing a couple bottles of wine and you could have an interesting conversation about what you hear and how good it is.

Out on June 2nd, the wax re-issue will be pressed on gold translucent vinyl and both the CD and LP versions will include download cards of the original release and live material.

Like Riding A Rollercoaster Blindfolded… or Crocodiles – Boys

/ ds barrett / 2 Comments

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A touch of psychedelia, a smidge of shoegaze and sounding like they spent a whole lot of time in a garage playing covers of The Shondells is the basic Crocodiles recipe. So the real question, if one dares to ask, is this any different from the plethora of bands also trying to mine this vein?

Well, yes and no…

Heading into summer lets use baseball as an analogy. Major League Baseball has thirty teams all trying to attain a single goal – win the World Series. There are a lot of both good and bad teams that resemble one another but only the best really stand out while the rest are merely background noise until the playoffs arrive.

The Crocodiles are contenders.

Many bands have similar sounds but the pure catchiness and fun they exude is what keeps bringing me back for more. Hell, if they hired Rick Rubin to produce they would likely end up sounding like The Cult during the Electric era.

As it is, their brand of ‘riff-riding’ gives them a different team from others. They’re not as angry or skillful as Detroit’s Dirtbombs and they’re not as trippy as California’s Best Coast, but they carry your attention down the stretch.

“Crybaby Demon” starts things off with a “She Sells Santuary” guitar intro that takes a left turn towards the Happy Mondays. “Do The Void” plays with a 90’s alt-rock sludge guitar than breaks towards a early 70’s Banana Splits party. To a certain degree, listening to the Crocodiles is a bit like riding a rollercoaster blindfolded – it’s a great adventure and half the fun is not knowing where the hell you’re going next.

You can get the new Crocodiles album Boys on multiple formats at all those places music is being sold.

I Really Want This! Sweet Relief: A Benefit For Victoria Williams – Various Artists

/ ds barrett / 1 Comment

 

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Back in ’93 I was given an album to review that became a best friend of sorts. Surprisingly it was a compilation record (which usually just don’t stand up due to inconsistency) of songs by an artist whose music was only known previously to musicians and music geeks, but it knocked me over. One song after another caught my imagination with vivid imagery and music that could be both morose and uplifting within the same moment. It was brilliant, which is something you usually can’t say for a record recorded by “various artists.” However, what holds it together is the artist to who the album was benefiting – Victoria Williams.

“My sister got bit by a copperhead snake in the woods behind the house” is the first line that pops out the old speakers as Soul Asylum breaks into “Summer Of Drugs” and I as listener was hooked. By the time Evan Dando (of the Lemonheads) sings “Frying Pan” I’ve decided I want to play guitar.  By the conclusion I’m looking for a bullhorn so I can tell any and everyone within earshot that they have to listen and buy this record. Williams’ songs are so detailed in character that songs feel like you’ve both read an exceptional short story and listened to a new musical experience. Despite the different styles of the various artists performing the songs, the original vision of the songwriter herself remains potent and shines through any genre leaping in the album itself.

If you don’t know the story, Williams star was on the rise when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Having been bogged down with debt from increasing medical bills a virtual who’s who of 90’s alt rock and beyond joined forces to help her and others out. The Sweet Relief Charity Fund was set up to help musicians in need of expensive health care.

More than 20 years have gone by and Pearl Jam is still playing their contribution “Crazy Mary” live, and my CD still has a home within twelve inches of the stereo. So, you can see my love for this record runs deep, and I want a vinyl copy… I just didn’t think that one actually existed. That is until the other day when I just started putting album titles into the discogs search engine and… oh my, it exists. But damn… only in European used stores that would raise the price with shipping to over a hundred bucks.

So, I hope that it gets re-issued on vinyl eventually or that the ghost of Ed McMahon shows up at my door with an oversized check.

Sweet Relief can still be purchased at your better record stores on CD and has two follow up LP’s.

Sweet Relief II: Gravity Of The Situation – The Songs Of Vic Chesnutt

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And

Sweet Relief III: Pennies From Heaven

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Check them out, give ‘em a listen, and maybe you’ll want to drop a few dollars to a worthy cause.

P.S. – Here’s a video of Victoria Williams covering the great Sam Cooke

 

Learn To Pull The Trigger or Matthew Sweet – 100% Fun

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A life time ago it seems I was getting the opportunity to interview some of my favorite artists for the now defunct id Magazine. In this case, it was the summer of 1995 and I was in my new overheated cheap rent apartment having just finished university. Sitting beside the phone random chords were filling the air as I strummed my guitar for no one but myself to hear. Once the phone did ring I was talking with Matthew Sweet for the better part of 30 minutes about his recently released album 100% Fun.

I wish I could reprint the article, or even remember the questions and answers, but it was a different time. While I have the interview on disc, it is one of those old 2.5 inch plastic jobs that haven’t been used in computers since before the turn of the century. The actual interview was recorded on a mini cassette, but I have no working player to even hear it with. So all I can tell you is this… he was super nice and patient with me when I asked him for the chords to the song “Someone To Pull The Trigger” from his previous record Altered Beast.

I hadn’t been playing guitar for all that long and I really wanted to learn how to play this song, but unlike the current version of the internet, you couldn’t just Google or YouTube to get answers – so I asked.

Remarkably, he laughed and started giving me the chords in enough detail to allow for a beginner, even giving me alternate and easier ways to play them. I’m guessing I thanked him for both the interview and the guitar lesson, but honestly, I don’t remember how things ended other than I was sweating in an overheated south facing shit-hole with a lovely view of the Humber River, trying to learn how to play a Matthew Sweet song that I really loved.

As the summer continued, “Sick Of Myself” was in heavy rotation at CFNY (the Edge) and I found myself turning off the radio when the song ended and picking up my guitar for another shot at figuring out my one and only guitar lesson. Unfortunately, I think I stopped trying when I finally attempted to add my own vocals and scared all the birds away from my balcony.

Anyway, 100% Fun is a classic power-pop record full of chiming guitar, powerful hooks and sing-a-long choruses that hide a wee bit of darkness and self loathing in the overall lyrical content. It is a record I keep coming back to year after year, and is one of my favorite albums to hear on those long drives. It is being re-issued later this month on 180 gram wax by Music On Vinyl over in Europe. I’m sure you can order it at your favorite local record retailer or online store.

Sweet is also working on a new record that will hopefully arrive at my door before the annual Christmas specials have me contemplating an apartment on the moon.

On The Subject of Bucket Lists and Bands #1 or Dressy Bessy – Holler & Stomp

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Sometimes you need a bit of candy to see you through the dark corners of life, and sometimes music itself needs to be lit up in bright colours if only to liven things up after a downpour; that’s when Dressy Bessy entered.

After the dreariness that was rock music in the early 90’s and the arrogance that was Brit-pop in the mid 90’s some kind of intelligent fun was needed. No one wanted a return to the days of hair-metal but what could fill the void?

Well the 90’s did provide us with some direction with power-pop bands like Shonen Knife, the 5,6,7,8’s, Matthew Sweet and The Posies, but another step was needed, and Dressy Bessy jumped right into my heart.

The dual guitar work of Tammy Ealom and John Hill provided promise to this music stalwart while Ealom’s delivery and lyrics had me dreaming of the sunnier side of things. Sure they sang songs of sunshine and their tones were 60’s surf/garage/Phil Spector poppy, but they just weren’t being over the top in their quest to relate. Instead it was sunny skies, sarcasm and observational humour used in a similar style to Cracker that had me fall for them. The only problem for me is that they never seem to make their way north to Toronto and they are pretty high on my bucket list of bands. Dressy Bessy just looks like they would be a whole lot of fun to see live.

Anyway, after my initial discovery of their music back in ’99 and then getting the old mail order CD’s from their various record companies and distributors over the years – I finally see the vinyl for Holler & Stomp.

It is gorgeous.

150 Gram Pink Splatter Vinyl

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It sounds absolutely fantastic; especially on a summer day with a margarita, a comfy chair and a nice bit of shade. Which is kinda the point when I listen to their music; it’s a cool escape.

You can order it here. You can also hear a great song from Holler & Stomp below… Enjoy Folks!

 

Where To Buy S#!t vol. 1 – Last Gang Records

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Whenever possible I usually try to direct people to a bands website or their label to purchase their record. The reasons for this are pretty simple. One – the actual band gets money flowing directly to them, or at least to the people who work with them. Two – the coolest deals are to be found in these places.

This is the case with Last Gang Records.

The label started as a way to get the music of Metric out to the public and from that point on they’ve grown to support a virtual ton of great acts that include: Metric, Death From Above 1979, K-OS, The New Pornographers, Billy Talent, A.C. Newman, Lindi Ortega and many many more.

As a hunter for cool vinyl to go with the music I love, they usually offer outstanding wax for music fans.

On a post from a few months back, I mentioned The New Pornographers most recent release Brill Bruisers. Last Gang produced four vinyl versions of 175 copies each in different colours. They also included a 3D poster of the neon light cover and 3D glasses to make the thing leap off the page. It was very cool.

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Then yesterday I’m checking out different web stores and BANG!

There it is, the lost Metric record on vinyl for the first time. Grow Up and Blow Away was recorded from 1999 to 2001 but due to record company bungles  (not Last Gang – they didn’t even exist at the time) it never saw an official release until 2007. It took seven more years for this beautiful piece of wax to get produced. It is on blue marble translucent vinyl and once again, compared to the download, the vinyl sounds way better.

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Check out the Last Gang line up here, and if you like, you might just want to get on their mailing list. AND (I almost forgot) If you live in the Greater Toronto Area you can opt to pick your purchase up and save on the delivery charge. Just make sure you make a quick decision as these offers do sell out pretty quick.