Category: Alternative (Page 21 of 155)

The Henry Clay People: Somewhere on the Golden Coast

August 4, 2010 /


RIYL: Pavement, The Hold Steady, The Replacements

The Henry Clay People are busting out of LA’s famous Eagle Rock/Echo Park/Silverlake scene and they’re bringing a timely update to a familiar alt-indie, guitar-driven sound. The band’s ragged guitars will recall Pavement for some, though the vocals often bring a more energetic vibe. The album is also filled with zeitgeist lyrics that will resonate to many here in the Great Recession of the 21st century.

The opening duo of “Nobody Taught Us to Quit” and ”Working Part Time” establishes a high energy ’90s type of influence, but leaning toward the indie side of things rather than psychedelic grunge. The band is busting out loud guitars, simple yet infectious riffage and earnest vocals that add up to a compelling vibe. The latter tune features one of the best lines of the year with “We got drunk and called in sick,” instantly establishing this band as a bunch of guys that could be your drinking pals instead of some pretentious rock stars.

“Digital Kid” brings an endearing melodic slacker theme, while “Slow Burn” somewhat recalls a Neil Young & Crazy Horse sound with guitar solos that are only a few notes but which still sing out. “End of an Empire” blends a ’90s alt-rock with some ’50s rockabilly for a unique vibe, while “This Ain’t a Scene” is an anthem for the aughts – a mid-tempo number that gets deep and melodic, with some great lyrics about “ a generation caught in between… we won’t settle down until we’ve seen everything we paid to see.” “Two Lives at the End of the Night” closes the album out with a beautiful ballad about a relationship gone wrong – “I would pay to hear you say I’d never never make the same mistake.”

There’s definitely something deeper going on with the lyrics on this album. The band knows how to rock too, but can mix up the moods. It all seems to promise a bright future for the Henry Clay People. (TBD Records 2010)

Henry Clay People MySpace page

Alternative, CD Reviews, Rock

Sugar Army: The Parallels amongst Ourselves

August 4, 2010 /


RIYL: Interpol, Red Light Company, Neil Finn

“Detach,” the third track on Sugar Army’s debut, needs to be placed on everyone’s iPod immediately, and also included on every playlist therein (yes, even the one with Nat “King” Cole and Perry Como that you don’t tell anyone about). Sinister, urgent, and undeniably propulsive, it exemplifies the best aspects of the record, slicing out of the speakers like an ICBM just before it hits its target. You should also reserve disc space for “Acute,” “You Are a Possession, Up for Sale,” and “Tongues in Cheeks” – hell, just put the whole thing on there. This is a terrific modern rock album, a serious blast from start to finish.

With a voice like a younger, more forceful Neil Finn, singer Patrick McLaughlin steers the Australian band’s tight groove without ever reining it in. Even on slower songs like “No Need for Lovers” he expresses something ominous and powerful, leaning out of the group’s intense sonics and pulling the listener in. The rhythm section – bassist Ian Berney and drummer Jamie Sher – are particularly locked in and menacing, especially Berney, whose low-end riffs gurgle and hum like some outback monster.

The Parallels amongst Ourselves simply must find an audience in the US. Check it out for yourself and spread the word. (Shock 2010)

Sugar Army’s Myspace Page
Click to buy The Parallels amongst Ourselves from Amazon

Alternative, CD Reviews, Rock

Jesca Hoop: Hunting My Dress

August 4, 2010 /


RIYL: Tom Waits, Petra Haden, Laura Marling


The slightly off-kilter wordless harmonies that open Jesca Hoop’s “Whispering Light” immediately inform you that you’re in for a strange and possibly wonderful listening experience. With her folk music pedigree and Tom Waits connection, Hoop creates a sound firmly grounded in traditional instrumentation, with flashes and trickles of oddball noise made strangely beautiful.

Hunting My Dress is one of those records that opens up with repeated listening, for those with the patience and persistence to remain engaged. The charms of “Feast of the Heart” might escape you at first – its distorted vocal and wild-ass percussion are not typical fodder for easy listening. Get past the initial shock of the noise, though, and the layers of longing reveal themselves. The little-girl voice Hoop uses in “Angel Mom” may initially seem put-offish, but listen to it again. Hear how that voice wraps itself around the story of the child whose mother “visited me from beyond,” and determine for yourself whether Hoop could sing in any other register and be as effective.

Or consider the title track, which closes the album, and does so with a nod toward traditional folk singing and tight, multi-part harmony. Hoop’s vision – indeed, her art – can be encapsulated in this very song – her beginnings reflected in the album’s end.

Listeners open to the possibilities of the un-obvious melody, an unexpected noisy flourish, or the simple charms of a plaintive voice telling a story, will likely appreciate the artistry at work in Hunting My Dress. It might take a bit of work to get to that point, but the effort is worth it. (Vanguard 2010)

Jesca Hoop’s Myspace Page
Click to buy Hunting My Dress from Amazon

Alternative, Americana, CD Reviews, Folk

Lollapalooza 2010 Pre-Day One: Choose your battles

August 4, 2010 /

One of the things about Lollapalooza’s marketing angle was that we’ve always found amusing is the idea that the consumer was getting well over 100 bands for about $200, so they’re paying about two bucks per band. The problem with that logic, of course, is that most of the time there are five bands playing at once, meaning that you couldn’t possibly see every band that you’re supposedly paying two bucks to see. And that’s all right – we get that they’re trying to provide as much entertainment for as many different musical cliques as possible, and that’s how it should be. Yes, it may create the occasional conflict – last year’s biggie for us was when they pitted the Kaiser Chiefs against the Airborne Toxic Event – but for the most part, the worst thing you’ll have to deal with is missing the beginning or end of a band’s set as you’re trekking from the northern stages to the southern stages, or vice versa.

This year, however, boasts some scheduling conflicts that frankly have us scratching our heads. Why, for example, book Mavis Staples and Raphael Saadiq, presumably here to add some color to a largely lily-white music festival, and then have them play at the same time? Odds are, anyone who’s interested in seeing one of those two would like to see the other; why make that impossible? If crowd control is the issue, it couldn’t have been too much trouble to have them play one after the other on opposite ends of Grant Park, would it? Or even better, have them play back to back on the north side or south side. We know that they all have other touring commitments that complicate things, but really, we see no reason why Saadiq and Staples couldn’t play against artists that, you know, they have nothing in common with.

But alas, there are a lot of bands that we’d love to see this year but can’t, due to some conflict or other. In order to see Devo, Green Day, 2Many DJs and Wolfmother, we’ll have to miss the New Pornographers, Cut Copy, Phoenix, the Strokes, and MGMT. On a heavily front-loaded lineup (Friday is easily the most star-studded lineup this year), missing out on five bands is big. We suspect that we’ll be killing much time at the DJ tent this year, and that’s all right: we had a great time there last year (thanks to our friend Leyla at Sunday Morning Soliloquy for showing us the light), and with the inclusion of Ancient Astronauts and 2ManyDJs, a.k.a. Soulwax (they’re huge in Belgium, because they were born and raised there), Perry Farrell clearly understands the importance of taking the DJ tent seriously. We still haven’t forgiven Beastie Boys DJ Mixmaster Mike, though, for making us late for the Go! Team in 2006 when he blew off his appearance at a Hard Rock function. No one’s late at Lolla, period. Well, except Amy Winehouse, and you all saw what happened after that. (much drinking and drugs…)

Still, scheduling conflicts aside, we’re looking forward to a fun – and if the current forecast is to be believed, not terribly hot – weekend of music, and though we’re missing the New Pornographers, we’re interviewing one of them next week. Wonder how she’ll react when we tell her we decided to see Devo instead…

Along with a giant, comprehensive recap of the festival highlights, there will be nightly recaps of each day’s events, so make sure to check back here each day to find out what went down.

Alternative, Artists, CD Reviews, Concerts, Dance, Electronica, Hipster, Lollapalooza, Melodramatic, Pop, Rock

Squeeze: Spot the Difference

August 3, 2010 /


RIYL: The Beatles, Elvis Costello, Split Enz

Cynics will surely scoff at the idea of new wave legends Squeeze re-recording their best known songs, but not us, not after we learned that they made more money from their self-released 1999 album Domino than any of the albums they released for A&M, Reprise and IRS during their heyday. Think of Spot the Difference, so named because the band tried to make these new versions sound as close to the originals as possible, less as an album for consumers – because really, there is no need for fans of the band to buy this, unless they’re feeling generous and want to send the band some money – than it is for soundtrack supervisors and people in the biz. It stands to reason that the band made these so they could market these versions to anyone looking to use a Squeeze song in this movie or that TV show, asking for far less than Universal, who owns the originals, would ask, while still turning a nifty profit in the process. The consumer of said TV show or movie, meanwhile, will likely be none the wiser, since the band did an impressive job covering their own tunes. The only key difference is the placement of the vocals in the mix, as the lyrics are much easier to discern, though true Squeeze fans will notice tweaks in production here and there. As a commercial product, Spot the Difference is as nonessential as they come. As a business move, it’s remarkably shrewd. (XOXO 2010)

Squeeze MySpace page
Click to buy Spot the Difference from Amazon

Alternative, Artists, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock

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