December 15, 2013 Dropbox Notes

Now that you’ve had a little time to digest this month’s offerings, I figured I’d try a little different method of introducing this month’s dropbox offerings. As you know, if an album is on the list, then I like it. It is pointless to “criticize” a record. Over the years I have read reviews in a large variety of publications, including fanzines, almost religiously, with a singular purpose:  to determine whether I would like an album enough to purchase it. However, when I actually thought about the information I was processing, in the end it was all about the quality of certain information in a review. Most reviews are rather worthless fluff. It seems as if writing more about how the band feels about the record was somehow important, or where it was recorded, or how it compares to the last record ( always harder, faster, more fully realized, etc.), or the difficulties one or more band members experienced during the writing process (Alternative Press – I’m talking about you here) was somehow important in making me decide to make a purchase. I am a slow learner. It is only recently I realized that I was only just scanning theses so-called reviews to see if I could gleam valuable nuggets of information that would help me decide on whether I would actually like the record. Some reviewers are better than others at giving me the information I needed to make that decision and I find that I am sometimes guilty of excessive descriptors.

So, after plenty of thought, I have divined the minimum amount of knowledge required to make a decision:

1. Band Name + Album Cover – You can often determine what genre a record falls into pretty quickly by looking at the album cover and in knowing the genre, you’re probability of determining whether you’ll actually like the album will increase, sometimes, significantly (in the true meaning of the word significance). Art is very much a part of the record buying experience. Death metal and thrash albums look different than indie records which look different from pop artists and country. There are exceptions, but generally, the formula, band name + album cover art = genre can help you narrow things down. As noted below, this is why a video of the band performing live is really helpful. Than you YouTube!

2. What other sound/influences are present? This is a different question than one that is often asked of the musician’s themselves. If the information comes from a band member, the “influences” question (which in my opinion is a fairly lazy and poor question) can produce a wide variety of answers none of which will actually help with the decision to listen to an album based upon a review. For example, here are Sky Ferreira’s claimed musical influences: Madonna,^[19][20] Prince,^[19] Gwen Stefani,^[19] Britney Spears,^[20] Alice Cooper,^[19] Nancy Sinatra,^[19] and The Runaways.^[20]

So, when you listen to the record, which is in this month’s dropbox, do you hear any of these influences? No. Not a single one is present on this record. Not much help.The real question for PIP (purchasing information purposes), are those elements of artists that have a similar sound to the artist being reviewed, so you can kind of figure out if it is a sound/artist you would like to listen to and then take the leap from there.  For example, it is not much of a stretch to say that the early Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers records sound like Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground. How do I know? I asked Jonathan in Vancouver and he said “I ripped them off, I tried to sound like them.”

There should be little debate that throughout the history of recorded music, artists have incorporated elements from other artists into their compositions. Whether by design, accident, coincidence, the limitations of human imagination, or genetics, popular music is derivative. The past is a predictor of the future, right? Comparison should not be avoided when it can lead to finding something worth treasuring.For me, these comparisons are helpful. If I know and like the other artist to which the comparison has been made, then the probability of me liking the unknown artist, increases proportionately to the reputation of the comparison artist. For example, if you tell me an artist sounds like the dBs or Replacements – I’m in. I will purchase the record. I love those sounds.

3. Where is the artist located? Regionalism in music is important. For example, the English punk rock scene, Seattle’s grunge scene, Athens GA, North Carolina alternative rock, Minneapolis punk rock, Vancouver punk rock, even Toronto, Boston, Los Angeles, and New York developed some interesting variants in the same genre, i.e. a sound associated with a city.  Once a particular type of music becomes moderately successful in an area i.e (playing shows that people are attending) then other bands in the area start developing a similar sound. This may be a result of bands playing together on a concert bill, or attending each others shows (British punk is an excellent example of this), or in areas where college radio still has an influence, hearing like minded musicians playing and incorporating those sounds into a bands oeuvre.

All this is not meant to infer that bands are mere copyists, but this “regionalism” is one of the qualities that I have found helpful in determining whether I am going to like a band. The place of origin alone is not very helpful, but as an additional piece of information, sometimes you can connect the dots to discover a connection to a particular sound.

3. Who produced the record? In certain genres this is an important piece of information. Depending on your familiarity with a particular type of music certain producers names have considerable influenced my decision to purchase an album. For example, Mitch Easter has produced a huge number of records by bands whose records I’ve liked. ( R.E.M., Ben Folds Five, Pylon, Helium, Pavement, Suzanne Vega, Game Theory, Marshall Crenshaw, The Connells, Velvet Crush, Ken Stringfellow (of The Posies), and Birds of Avalon). Same goes for Don Dixon ( Marti Jones, Chris Stamey, Tommy Keene, Smithereens, Richard Barone) , Steve Albini (Pixies, Nirvana, PJ Harvey), Steve Lillywhite (U2, The La’s), John Leckie ( Stone Roses, Radiohead), etc. Hopefully you get the idea. Sometimes a producer’s influence can make the purchase decision easier, although I note that few reviews mention a producer, unless it is Dangermouse.

4. A video. YouTube is among the greatest innovations in music. Why? Because now you can actually see an artist play live, and this for me is a huge influence in the purchasing process. Some artists make good videos but they are incapable of putting on a show that I would want to see. Perhaps its my growing up in Vancouver in the late 1970’s where the can-punk scene was huge. I attended hundreds of shows between 1977 and 1986 and this spoiled me forever. It is difficult to imagine the cognitive dissonance created in having experienced Dead Kennedys, D.O.A., Subhumans, as well as a steady stream of British acts including XTC, Echo & The Bunnymen, Gang of Four, Stranglers, Clash, Buzzcocks, Jam, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Police, and American acts including the Cramps, Minutemen, Toxic Reasons, Replacements, Plasmatics, and Husker Du and then try to experience a Tom Petty show, which I did, regrettably.  I loved Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers ( Released November 9, 1976 containing the songs “Breakdown” and “American Girl”, but the record did not translate well live because Tom Petty puts on the absolutely most mind-numbing and boring live performances ever. YouTube cures this problem. However, as noted in these notes, live performance is just a fact to the equation, because some great songs are recorded by bands that should never perform live. See Tom Petty above.

4. What record label is the artist on? This information used to be terrifically helpful, but now, not so much. As self-released and self-funded (or crowd funded) releases now start to predominate the market label associations are becoming relatively meaningless. I mention the importance of the record label as another excellent fact for PIP, because I would be remiss to dismiss the influence of some great record labels that were remarkably consistent, some for a very lengthy period of time. Often,  I would purchase an album just because of the label. Just as Blue Note is the touchstone for Jazz, Stiff Records, Sympathy For The Record Industry, Sub Pop, Car, Rough Trade, XL Recordings, Touch and Go, SST etc., represent (ed) classic punk, indie, and alternative records, and you could buy a record just because it was on the label. I note however, that many of even these labels are now either extinct, have expanded the range of their releases and therefore are not as consistent in quality, or owned by the few remaining major labels, and ascribe to a different perspective as a consequence ( make more money).  I haven’t dropped label as a requisite item of information,  but as time goes on, I fear this information will be less relevant for PIP.

So there you have it – not a lot of information is truly necessary to discern good from bad or potential interesting from not so much. I would add that sometimes you like a particular reviewer, and will go along for the ride, but even in my case, some winners could be losers in your mind. So, tread lightly my friends, and if I don’t update before the end of the year… happy holidays.

Here is this month’s list: (Also, I know about the numbering issue – I’ve tried to fix it, but WordPress #$^ stuff up. It took me an hour to get things to line up. As for the numbers, I’ll have to wait for another time.

1. Go Violets – Heart Slice EP (Brisbane popsters channeling Breeders/Belly.)

Try: “Teenager,” “Josie,” and “Beside Me.”

 

 

 

1. Iron Chic – The Constant One (Long Island punk rock super-group claiming Gaslight Anthem territory – you’ll love it’) Try: “Sounds like A Pretty Brutal Murder,” “What Ever Happened to The Man of Tomorrow,” and “Bogus Journey.”

 

 

1. Chumped – Chumped EP (Slacker Superchunk channeling female fronted Brooklynites sing catchy as F… songs about…..feelings.)

Try: “Someday,” “Eleanor,” and “Something About Lemons.”

 

 

1. Sky Ferreira – Night Time, My Time (Model Sky actually can sing and gets it right – well-crafted electro-pop in an Annie Lennox light way.)

Try: “24 Hours,” “Nobody Asked Me (If I Was Okay),” and “I Will.”

 

 

1. Super Best Friends – Handshake (Canberra 3 piece party synth garage punk rock with headbangin’ appeal! Shouting choruses!)

Try: “Karma Karma,” “No Logo Is A Joke,” and “The Bleachers.”

 

 

1. Davey Lane – The Good Borne of Bad Tymes (Aussie You Am I guitarist debut EP a throwback to mod influenced shoegaze with power pop elements.)

Try: “You’re The Cops, I’m The Crime” (Awesome single!) “Sinking May,” and “You Got Me On Side.”

 

 

1. The Proctors – Everlasting Light (exceptional sunny jangle pop from Gavin Priest led trio – has perfected the Game Theory/Windbreakers sound.)

Try: “Trouble With Forever,” “Perfect World,” “Ember Days.”

 

 

 

1. Caseworker – Voices Out There (4^th album from San Francisco based garage dream pop trio with boy girl vocals who explore inner ambient/minimalist textures.)

Try: “Voices Out There,” “Ultramarine,” and “Dependence Day.”

 

 

1. Upset – She’s Gone (former Best Coast/Vivian Girls drummer Ali Koehler led all girl trio produce energetic fuzz laden 90’s influenced pop punk echoing Koehler’s past and the gooeyness of the Ramones.)

Try: “She’s Gone,” “You & I,” “Oxfords & Wingtips.”

 

 

1. White Hills – So You Are… So You’ll Be (8 years and 7 albums in band perfects haunted Hawkwind space rock – garage psych with light fuzz. Prepare to be blown away.)

Try: “In Your Room,” “So You Are… So You’ll Be,” “Forever in Space (Enlightened).”

 

 

1. Chills – Somewhere Beautiful (NZ Indie pop legends and sound originators with a live return (as a five piece) playing the hits at private party on New Year’s Eve 2011 in Central Otago, N.Z. )

Try: “Heavenly Pop Hit,” “Soft Bomb, Part One,” and the hauntingly lovely “Submarine Bells.”

 

 

1. Less Than Jake – See The Light (Veteran ska punkers make a return with first LP in 5 years – and its good)

Try: “My Money is on the Long Shot,” “Do the Math,” and “Sunstroke.”

 

 

1. Dead Gaze – Brain Holiday (Missisippi’s Cole Furlow’s project is lo-fi garage based fuzz pop in the same vein as Ty Segall with groovy hooks to make you smile.)

Try: “Yuppies Are Flowers,” “Stay, Don’t Say,” and “Possible Embrace.”

 

 

1. Wild Child – The Runaround (Austin-based group led by the husky voiced Kelsey Wilson and Alexander Beggins’ sophomore effort finds success in folk influenced indie pop, unfortunately a little overproduced, but some catchy hooks right the ship.)

Try:  “Victim to Charm,” “Living Tree,” and “The Runaround.”

 

 

 

1. Roman Candle – Debris (Chapel Hill N.C. fourth LP changes pace with a darker guitar pop record featuring a rarity – some strong lyrics. Beautiful sounding album.)

Try: “End of the Street,” “Nowhere to Start,” and “Not Strangers Anymore.”

 

 

1. Sadies – Internal Sounds (Canadian desert rockers still evoking their Byrds and Band with all the jangle that means on their 16^th album.)

Try: “The First 5 Minutes,” “Starting All Over Again,” and “Leave This World Behind.”

 

 

1. Straightaway – Last Exit To Nowhere (straight forward no fills skate punk from France.)

Try: “My Own Demise,” “Last Exit To Nowhere,” and “Right Choice, Wrong Feeling.”

 

 

1. Blue Rodeo – In Our Nature (Canadian alt-country legends edge closer to their Band roots with a beautiful but very dark folk rock record – 13 is a lucky number.)

Try: “New Morning Sun,” “In Our Nature,” and “When the Truth Comes Out.”

 

 

1. Minor Alps – Get There (Blake Babies + Nada Surf = sweet folk harmonies – Juliana Hatfield and Mathew Caws.)

Try: “Far from the Roses,” “Mixed Feelings,” and “Waiting for You.”

 

 

1. Alex Lloyd – Urban Wilderness (Very catchy Aussie sing-a-long folk pop that’s punchy with this 6^th album as good as his award winning first, 2002’s Black the Sun.)

Try: “Waterfall, “Black Cat” and “Turn the Light On.”

 

 

 

1. Templeton Pek – Signs (melodic punk rock from Birmingham England in vein of Billy Talent, Rise Against (with whom they toured in 2011) still retaining some metal edges.)

Try: “Who We Are,” “Slow Burn,” and “Signs.”

 

 

 

1. Radical Face – The Family Tree – The Branches (Ben Cooper recording under Radical Face moniker 2^nd LP of trilogy traverses Death Cab For Cutie indie/alt-folk territory – successfully.)

Try: “Holy Branches,” “Reminders,” and the pastoral “Summer Skeletons.”

 

1. The Sounds – Weekend (5^th album from Swedish dance party rockers contains classic (Blondie) elements of the Sound’s past while showing a little more risk with a couple of indie pop efforts. Gotta love Maja Ivarsson’s vocals which are gruff sweetness.)

Try: “Hurt the Ones I Love,” “Shake Shake Shake,” and Weekend.”

 

 

1. Gary Numan – Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind) (20^th release, Goth electro-robot’s triumphant return.)

Try: “I Am Dust,” “Splinter,” “Everything Comes Down to This.”

 

 

1. Curbside – The Sound I Know (2012 release, Canadian throwback 90’s pop-punk rock in same vein as Overwhelming Colorfast.)

Try: “54 Queen Street South,” “For Those Left Behind,” and “Saving Face.”

 

 

1. Alex Chilton – Electricity by Candlelight (Alex illuminates genius through impromptu cover set recorded at Knitting Factory NY 2/13/97 after power outage cancels second show.)

Try: “Surfer Gril (Beach Boys)” “Solar System (Beach Boys),” and “My Baby Just Cares for Me (Nina Simone).”

 

 

1. Lovespoon – Carious Soul (Italian (Ravenna, Italy) Green On Red meets Alex Chilton – loads of reverb.)

Try: “Anyway,” “Carious Soul,” and “Another Pale Moon.”

 

 

 

1. Twin Forks – Twin Forks EP (Boca Raton FL based Dashboard Confessional singer Chris Carrabba’ folk rock project – and its good.)

Try: “Back To You,” “Cross My Mind,” and “Can’t Be Broken.”

 

 

1. Craft Spells – Room 205 Session EP (Stockton California’s regrettably too short Cure influenced lovelorn indie electro-pop – beautifully crafted.)

Try:  “From The Morning Heat,” “Party Talk,” and “Love Well Spent (Live at MFNW).”

 

 

1. Loon Lake – Gloamer (Melbourne brothers led five piece command indie surf pop and channel Weezer and INXS.)

Try: “City Lights,” “Cherry Lips,” and “Carolina.”

 

 

1. Swearin’ – Surfing Strange (Second LP from Brooklyn’s Allison Crutchfield and Kyle Gilbride co-fronting the Pixies (a little bleaker without the howl))

Try: “Dust in the Gold Sack,” “Watered Down,” and “Loretta’s Flowers.”

 

 

1. Moistboyz – V (Dean Ween‘s post Ween heavy punk -metal band with heavy debt to Billion Dollar Babies (Alice Cooper’s backing band on the classic albums) and the Beat Farmers – @#$%@#% awesome! NSFW.)

Try: “Paperboy,” “Chickendick,” and “Protect And Serve.”

 

 

1. Future of The Left – Human Death EP (See #56. Andrew Falkous led Cardiff Wales alt-punk rockers synth punk EP follow up to amazing 4^th LP.)

Try:  “Not Entirely Present,” “The Knife That Is Not A Knife,” and “Not Entirely Present.”

 

 

1. Young Knives – Sick Octave (Mercury Prize-nominated Leicestershire indie rock trio kickstarter funded 4^th LP indie-synth noise pop with Cabaret Voltaire leanings and David Bowie/Byrne vocals.)

Try: “We Could Be Blood,” “Marble Maze,” and “Maureen.”

 

 

1. Wooden Shjips – Back To Land (Velvet Underground inspired 6^th album from San Francisco based psychedelic drone rockers emphasize their 60’s influences all to great effect.)

Try: “Back To Land,” “These Shadows,” and “Everybody Knows.”

 

1. White Denim – Corsicana Lemonade (Southern boogie indie rockers 6^th LP finds the perfect balance between the 70’s (Allman Brothers) and today)

Try: “New Blue Feeling,” “At Night in Dreams,” and “Pretty Green.”

 

 

1. Western Lows – Glacial (ex-Mezzanine Owls front man Jack Burnside, with help from friends Michael Stipe, Azure Ray’s Orenda Fink, and Andy LeMaster produce an excellent shoegaze Bon Iver record with Echo & The Bunnymen elements)

Try: “Last Known Rivers,” “Lazy,” and “Grapevine.”

 

 

 

1. We All Want To – Streets of Your Town (Single) (catchy single from another Brisbane Australian band finding comfort in the sound of Michael Stipe fronting Let’s Active/ Go-Betweens. LP is great too!)

Try: “Streets Of Your Town,” and “We’re Not Perfect.”

 

 

1. TV Ghost – Disconnect (Lafayette Indiana’s shoegaze Joy Division meets Echo & The Bunnymen in haunting post punk epic.)

Try: “Veils,” “Others Will Be Born,” and “Dread Park.”

 

 

1. The Toddlers – The Toddlers (Baritone vocalist Nathan Tobin’s Carrboro NC, Mitch Easter recorded, Americana post punk influenced desert rock meets Pavement with the National’s Matt Berringer sound-a-like.)

Try: “You Can Keep The Wheels,” “Who Is The Kingdom,” and “Little Man.”

 

 

1. Smallpools – Smallpools EP (Vocalist Sean Scanlon’s Phoenix meets Grouplove/Imagine Dragons indie-pop.)

Try: “Dreaming,” “Mason Jar,” and “Over & Over.”

 

 

1. Polar Bear Club – Death Chorus (less howling and decidedly more poppy version of this terrific upstate New York punk rock band in transition – still rocks hard.)

Try: “Blood Balloon,” “When We Were College Kids,” and “Upstate Mosquito.”

 

1. Mystery Twins – Ghost In The Ground (Nashville rockers singer-guitarist Doug Lehmann and drummer Stephanie Brush produce garage rock kissed by X, the Everly Brothers and the 60’s.)

Try: “The World Within,” “Your Heart Won’t Let You Down,” and “Mary.”

 

 

1. Love Junkies – Maybelene (Perth Australia trio funnels Jet through the White Stripes traversing no new ground but rocks like a mother*&&$$.)

Try: “Oxymoron,” “Hurt You,” and “Maybelene.”

 

 

1. John Steel Singers – Everything’s A Thread (Aussie angular and jangly indie rockers with Beach Boy harmony flourishes achieve perfection.)

Try: “Common Thread,” “The Marksman,” and “Everything’s A Thread.”

 

 

1. Connections – Body Language (3^rd excellent 2013 release from scrappier Columbus Ohio GBV indebted lo-fi rockers who actually write better songs)

Try: “Aimless,” “She’s Cheering Up,” and “Jeni and Johnny.”

 

 

 

47. Day Ravies – Tussle (Sydney Australia quartet wear proudly their Kink’s/ Velvet Underground/ Sonic Youth influence on their Jesus & Marychain shoegaze sleeve)

Try: “Double Act,” “I Don’t Mind,” and “Staring Is Caring.”

 

 

 

1. Anna Calvi – One Breath (Sophomore release from the biggest thing since Patti Smith according to Brian Eno with powerful soaring nuanced vocals utilized to spectacular operatic quality effect.)

Try: “Suddenly,” “One Breath,” and “Carry Me Over.”

 

 

1. Ty Segall – Gemini (Demos from 2012 Twins LP sessions for vinyl only release.)

Try: “Would You Be My Love,” “Gold On The Shore,” and “Ghost.”

 

 

1. Entrance Band – Face The Sun (turbulent history California psych prog rockers return to the program with trippy moody LP )

Try: “Fire Eyes,” “Spider,” and “Night Cat.”

 

 

1. Georgia Fair – Trapped Flame (Jordan Wilson and Ben Riley, Sydney-born, now Melbourne-based duo mine travel to L.A to produce 2^nd LP full of Americana flavored inspired alt-country rock (BoDeans).)

Try: “Love Free Me,” “Plain Girls,” and “Someday Soon.”

 

 

1. Jake Bugg – Shangri-La (2^nd LP containing more of the same up-tempo rockabilly tinged folk rock as his debut. Carry on lad – what you are doing works.)

Try: “What Doesn’t Kill You,” “Messed Up Kids,” and “Kingpin.”

 

 

1. Songs: Ohia – The Magnolia Electric Co. (Late Lorain Ohio musician Jason Molina masterwork reissued ala Death Cab for Cutie acoustic.)

Try: “I’ve Been Riding with the Ghost,” “Almost Was Good Enough,” and “Farewell Transmission.”

 

 

1. Spiderbait – Spiderbait (9 year hiatus over for band together for a quarter century. Best known in U.S. for Ram Jam “Black Betty” hit cover, these Aussie alt rock legends return with explosive propulsive electro-hard rockin’, banger of an album.)

Try: “It’s Beautiful,” “Supersonic,” and “What You Get.”

 

 

 

1. Swellers – The Light Under Closed Doors (Flint, Mi. Diener brothers return solid effort of well-crafted mature pop punk with sad feel.)

Try: “Should,” “Got Social,” and “Big Hearts.”

 

 

1. Future of the Left – How to Stop Your Brain in an Accident (4th album is best punk rock record of the year, diverse, humorous and Johnny Lydon inspired vocals.)

Try: “Johnny Borrell Afterlife,” “She Gets Passed Around at Parties,” and “Why Aren’t I Going to Hell.”

 

 

1. Fuzz – Live In San Francisco EP (It’s Fuzz. It’s Ty Segall. What more is there to say?)

Try: Them all.

 

 

 

58. Hedley – Wild Life (Canadian pop rockers with hooks to spare, “Anything” subversively brain coma inducing.)

Try: “Anything,” “Beautiful Girl,” and “Dreaming’s For Sleeping.”