Category: CD QuickTakes (Page 84 of 149)

Paleface: The Show Is on the Road

April 24, 2009 / Lee Zimmerman

Following A Different Story, last year’s self-released comeback after an extended absence, The Show Is on the Road represents Paleface’s continued progress on the road to recovery. Once one of the prime movers in New York’s fabled Anti-folk scene, his journey hasn’t been easy; a decade ago, he collapsed and nearly died after being stricken by an onslaught of alcohol abuse, pneumonia and hepatitis. Those problems now well behind him, he opts for a rambling, ramshackle approach that’s both unhinged and unembellished, eschewing more sophisticated arrangements for a low-key, down home sound. The title track starts things off on a note of upbeat optimism, and as the album saunters on, songs such as “Try to Hold Your Own,” “Holy Holy” and “Pondering the Night Sky” maintain that jaunty lilt established early on. Yet, despite the nonchalant atmosphere and the DIY aesthetic, nods to the past are inevitable. “New York, New York” bids a wistful farewell to Manhattan, where he once resided before heading to a new life in North Carolina, while “Raise the Glass” offers salutations to past excess. No matter though; with the show on the road, Paleface procures a rollicking return.

Paleface website“

Americana, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Country, Folk

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Pat McGee: These Days (The Virginia Sessions)

April 24, 2009 / Mike Farley

Pat McGee has dropped the “Band” from his name and is going it alone, so to speak, in his solo debut and first effort for Rock Ridge Music, These Days (The Virginia Sessions). There is something breezy and easy to enjoy about McGee’s songs – they are delivered in a way reminiscent of ‘70s pop (think Jackson Browne) or akin to in more modern terms, Train or the Fray. McGee has a good, if not spectacular, voice; but as it’s always been, his songs are the driving force of his career, and he’s brought us another batch of good ones here. One of the only negative things you can say about Pat McGee is that much of the material, in melody, tone and arrangement, sounds very similar. But occasionally he steps things up, as he does on These Days with the stunning “Come Back Home,” a track originally written when McGee’s longtime drummer, John C. Williams, left the band, with the sentiment being how a military couple deals with separation during times of war. Sadly and somewhat symbolically, Williams’ younger brother lost his life in Iraq after McGee wrote the song last year. The Tonic-esque “The Hand That Holds You” is also a standout track. (Rock Ridge Music)

Pat McGee MySpace Page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock

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This World Fair: This World Fair

April 24, 2009 / Mike Farley

It appears the next incarnation of Aware Records is here, in the form of Los Angeles-based Ping Pong Music. Ping Pong manages Epic Records’ Augustana, and they are bringing us the next wave of very talented baby bands such as This World Fair, the London, and Windsor Drive. The formula of Ping Pong’s bands is similar to Aware, which launched the careers of artists like Train, Vertical Horizon and John Mayer. And that formula is almost a no-brainer – finding talented acts with hooky, melodic songs – but it’s in stark contrast to today’s hipster-driven music industry that mostly relies on gimmicks and fabricated street cred meters. Still, there is always a demand for great bands like This World Fair, and their debut album is an absolute sonic gift to those who dig the likes of Augustana, Better Than Ezra or Keane. Chris Kalgren fronts the band with a smooth tenor that effectively delivers a balance of driving rockers such as “Can’t Stop Falling” and “Drama,” or dreamy tracks like “This is All.” But among ten tracks that are quite frankly straight A’s, This World Fair scores an A+ with the pulsing, stunning piano-driven “Seven Letters.” Despite where the music industry is headed, there is no good reason why This World Fair shouldn’t be as successful as the rest of the world will allow them to be. (Ping Pong Music)

This World Fair MySpace Page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Indie Labels, Pop, Rock

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Grand Duchy: Petit Fours

April 17, 2009 / Jeff Giles

If Grand Duchy’s Petit Fours sounds like an overt throwback to the uncomplicated, low-budget sonics of ‘80s indie rock, there’s a very good reason: One half of this husband and wife duo is Frank Black, a.k.a. Black Francis, a.k.a. the creative engine that drove the Pixies during its seminal late ‘80s/early ‘90s run. Black’s attitude toward that period has always been ambivalent at best – he’s been quoted as saying he “spent the latter part of the ‘80s doing my part to destroy the ‘80s” – but paired here with wife Violet Clark, he allows the more accessible elements of his music to surface, creating one of the most consistently enjoyable efforts of his post-Pixies career in the process. Petit Fours’ consistency is somewhat ironic, given its resolute eclecticism; not only does none of this stuff sound particularly Pixies-ish, quite a lot of it sounds like it couldn’t have been recorded by the same band. Most groups can’t run the distance between the growly garage stomp of “Come Over to My House” and the poppy “Lovesick” without falling down, but Grand Duchy serves them up back to back, setting the tone for nine tracks of genre-bending home-studio fun. Will any of it supplant Doolittle in your collection? Highly doubtful, but it’s nice to know the old misanthrope still has some hooks left in him. If Black’s smart, he’ll keep the Pixies on the road and continue writing new material with his talented better half. (Cooking Vinyl 2009)

Grand Duchy MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Rock

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The Datsuns: Headstunts

April 17, 2009 / Ed Murray

The fourth album by New Zealand rockers The Datsuns is mostly a more-of-the-same kind of affair, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, after a couple of less-than-memorable releases – including their second album, produced by none other than Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones – Headstunts is somewhat of a throwback to the high energy, ’70s-style r-a-w-k that US listeners first got a taste of on their 2002 self-titled debut. “Highschool Hoodlums” recalls nothing if not their own “MF From Hell,” in in intent if not in sound. Other tasty sonic nuggets abound, such as the surf-y “Hey! Paranoid People!,” the grungy groove of “Your Bones” and the extended raunch ‘n’ roll of “Eye of the Needle.” While this album certainly isn’t going to start a new musical revolution, and the Datsuns aren’t the saviors of rock ‘n’ roll, Headstunts is a solid-if-safe effort that will still hit your gut a lot harder than your head, which, again, is not necessarily a bad thing. (Cooking Vinyl)

The Datsuns MySpace Page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Punk, Rock

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