You Heard Me Right

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After five years of absence, Julian Casablancas, Al Hammond Jr, and all the other strokes are back to hand out pretty much what should be known as a crazy tribute to the 80’s. Angels, the latest album from nyc’s rock/post-punk/indie outfit has pretty much everything a child of the 80’s or just someone who appreciates that kind of music will enjoy. The album starts with Machu Picchu, a synthy extravaganza that sounds quite reminiscent of the lead singer’s solo career and the shins (except with better guitar, obviously). The next track and lead single of the CD, Under Cover of Darkness, is a song for the old school strokes fans out there who enjoy a synth-free guitar based rocker similar to last night but with better hooks. This is by far the favorite on the CD, but when it comes to songs that sound like this, it pretty much stops there. Two Kinds of Happiness, the next track on the album, has a feel of a more grown up version of Left and Right in the Dark from Casablancas’ solo album, but with a Lou Reed meets Sting feel in the vocals, showing the singer’s improved singing abilities. Your So Right has a Joy Division goes rock feel to it, incorporating guitar licks that the band would be freakishly jealous of because they can’t do anything like that (no offense). This song shows a side of the band not yet seen, and old school fans may want to turn around if the experimentation gets to be too extraneous. I myself am enjoying it. Taken For A Fool leads in with Phoenix esque synth and guitar play downs, but with a darker post-punk tone that is known from the band. Games resembles something off of a Human League or New Order album, but a bit less electronic and more updated. The 80’s flair of the album I think is one of the high points, as the band has never sounded as tight as they have in this CD. Call Me Back is possibly the lowest point of the CD, as this song goes off into oblivion quite a bit, almost like they had no idea what they were doing. If it grows on me, I’ll be surprised, but this song is by no means bad, just not as cool as the rest of the CD. Gratisfaction has to be the most obvious nod in the CD, as the song sounds exactly like a Thin Lizzy song. Not that that’s bad, just a very obvious inspiration that shows that rock n’ roll is still alive, even if it’s ripped off. Metabolism, the next to last track, has a very Tears for Fears feel too it with it’s swingy drums and dark synth, but once again the guitar work saves this song from being lazy, and is my second favorite song on the CD. The last track on the CD, Life is Simple in The Moonlight, shows that the band has grown very much musically, as the song takes some of the movement that Call Me Back tried, but with a happy mood and great instrumentation by all the band members to cap this release off.

Overall, I’ve enjoyed this album more than any of the strokes’ prior releases to this because of my fondness for 80’s music. The band has progressed so much from a band that got famous for taking a riff from American Girl by Tom Petty and simplifying it to make Last Nite. Julian has never sounded better, and Nick and Al work great together as a guitar wielding duo. My only complaints about this album: it’s not OMG this is amazing enough, and it’s about 5 tracks too short. But minus those little complications, this has my stamp for the first nominee of album of the year.

Final Synopsis:

9.5/10: The Strokes’ tribute to the 80’s shines musically with instruments having more skill than all the other indie “musicians” out there, but some promises fall short. Despite this, the band is back and better than ever.

Hello all people who read this blog! Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted. Busy busy busy. I can’t even stress the…stress that I’ve had with all of my work I’ve been doing lately. But oh well, you don’t care bout that. :D

Anyways, well, this CD is already fantastic. I’m listening to Generator ^ First Floor right now, and it is a very trippy kind of song. It’s like you are floating in clouds while there is a mixture of xylophones, banjos, guitars, elevator noises and horns all tied together in one with a chorus that really has no words. It’s kind of a weird feeling. But I love it so far.

The next track, Hannah, is an automatic singalong. I am loving this CD. Hannah is a catchy, tap-your-foot kind of song that a camp counselor could possibly be singing at a camp. It’s not all Row Row Row Your Boat singalong, it’s more of a hipsters-grab-your-glasses-with-no-lenses kind of singalong. :o This band is very lenient with the keyboard sound effects. Freelance also has very chill, thoughtful lyrics. Even though the chorus says things like ‘If you’re vaguely attracted to rooftops’, it’s a definite keeper.

The following track, dubbed Location, is, well, I’m guessing it’s a tuba at the beginning, it’s a very tuba heavy song. But it’s talking about his girlfriends location and how he misses her, and how he can sense her location from where he is at this point. It’s a very deep song. But this is how the album has gone so far, it’s either witty and deep or nutty and fun. And that’s how indie is supposed to be.

Channels(the song after Location)is pretty much just the fade out outro of Location. But it’s good, I like how they made a different track out of the end.

The song after Channels is a synthesizer heavy song called Starring, which, is a very good song. The beat honestly makes the song, which is what is generally happening in these songs, but the lyrics are the icing on this deliciously decadent cake.

I’m not entirely sure why, but the following track(which is called Kilojoules)reminds me of a Sixties pop song that I have heard. If the beat is not a blatant ripoff, I am in love with this bass heavy, xylophone tinged anthem. This album could be album of the month for me(possibly year. ZOMG!).

I have to end and study, so the other half of this review will be coming soon. :D

So, not many of you have heard from me in awhile, whether it be from my ARE YOU STUPID??? blog or from You Heard Me Right(which, we’ve been busy, lol). But while I’ve been gone, I’ve discovered great new music, played my first show with my first band, Toastbusters(Facebook us. You know you want to do it), and done a butt load of stupid, yet funny things. I have also re-discovered a lot of music that I forgot that I knew. For instance, take the song of the week band, Showbread. The song, entitled Mouth Like A Magazine and the single featured on the X 2005 DVD(Christian Rock compilation ftw)are extremely catchy and poetic in the same sense. You do not find that often in emo/alternative music. Clad with their skinny jeans and fingernail paint, the music video is what made me re-discover(and discover, for that matter)the song at something like five in the morning(insomnia in rampant proportions, my friends, especially on school days). So, in my crazy state of sleep loss, I was tapping my foot, bobbing my head like the commonly found Jackie Robinson or Babe Ruth bobble head that is on your P.E. coaches’ desk, and pretty soon, I was doing this weird dance up and around my room, which is the size of an average day closet, so I stubbed my toe, and immediately sat down. But that is beside the point. The song is fantastic, catchy, witty, delicate, and will be stuck in your head for hours to come. Please donate to the band, or buy one of the earlier albums(the give their music away for free now, due to the label that they’re on and the fact that the music industry is overly pricing good/absolutely crappy music for profit), I don’t care which, just support the bands with all you can do within reason.

The much anticipated final (yes, this is the last Bright Eyes album that Conor Oberst intends to release) album of Conor Oberst’s indie-folk band Bright Eyes, called The People’s Key, was leaked! I’ve listened to it a couple times through and I can definitely tell you, it’s something different. I won’t go too in-depth, because I intend on doing a full review, but I will say that it’s very electronic and punk oriented, a lot more so than anything Oberst has done before. Not necessarily Digital Ash/Digital Urn electronic, a bit poppier at some points. But as an avid Bright Eyes fan, I like it.

I won’t post a link or anything, but I will say that if you Google search “the peoples key site:mediafire.com” without the quotes, you might find a few downloads of the album (not due to be out until February 15th). 

But like I said, expect an in-depth review of The People’s Key in a couple days!

So, recently, I’ve been going through my iTunes to see what songs I like and don’t like(my music opinions/tastes have changed as of lately lol), and I stumbled across this song. It’s really not old, it’s actually kinda new, but I haven’t listened to this song or band, for that matter, in a long time. They’re just now getting big, but people who listen to SIRIUS XM probably have heard of this band. Funeral Party never ceases to amaze me with their dance punk style and crazy lyrics. I suggest to go check out Chalice by Funeral Party(duh lol), you’ll probably like it if you like the rest of the stuff we talk about.

http://ilike.myspacecdn.com/play#Funeral+Party:Chalice:41847155:s1131415.9462567.11589974.0.2.95%2Cstd_522dd5a096774a15d3c8d1d7c9e1caf

Check out Daytrotter.com. They want me to advertise for them, so BABOOM. CHECK THEM OUT. IT’S FREE MUSIC

ok, so i was a little late getting my hands on this CD. i was too busy putting the awesome songs from their other releases on repeat to go ahead and get this one. but holy crap, am i glad i did. torche comes out stronger than ever in the new “EP”, which is good enough to be a full length. The opener shows that the band has taken a queue from melodic hardcore groups, moreso that usually. This may be in fact the punkiest and most melodic album the band has ever put out. Vocal tracks harmonize perfectly, the sludgyness is still around enough for this to be considered sludge metal, and the ride goes by quite quickly. the album sounds something between a Deftones, Mastodon, and Isis CD with sounds of shoegaze and punk mixed in. It’s hard to choose a song that is best from this CD, but my choice would be between the Circus Circus esque UFO or the Deftones nod Face The Wall. For those who prefer the more metal sounding Torche, listen to Arrowhead (heck, you can get the song free with adult swim’s amazing METAL SWIM compilation)

Final Synopsis:

9.25/10- The album proves to be one of the most beautiful musical compositions i’ve heard in my life. but like all the band’s CDs, it’s not long enough. Sure, the last two tracks are double in size than the rest of the CD, but you gotta come out with longer compositions.

This is the coolest band i’ve heard in a long time. Middle Class Rut puts a hard rock push back to the Alternative genre that’s been missing to it since, eh, idk, 2001. These guys and New Politics are the first two bands that i officially declare Gold Age Revival (as they both take massive cues from 90’s alternative bands). It’s interesting though because they have a sound that sounds like a mash up of Jane’s Addiction, The Replacements, and Placebo with better vocalists. There’s a punk blues asthetic to them too, as can be told by some of their tracks. These sacramento boys have alot of potential ahead of them (New Low is a featured track on Alt Nation). I can’t wait to see what these guys put out in the future.

But for now, here are a few examples of what you’ll hear if you listen to these guys:

All Walks of Life (this may be where they got the name for the band from):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfBh9jbgA3A&NR=1

New Low (big single):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5GYOsKLp6o&feature=fvw

Busy Bein Born:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prwWpwDGyeM

I Guess You Could Say:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_gQ1v0ZYgg&feature=related

Dead Set (from the rare 25 Years EP in 2009):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjTNpzPDq9c&feature=related