Category: Rock (Page 41 of 241)

Indigenous: The Acoustic Sessions: A 10 Year Anniversary

June 11, 2010 /


RIYL: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Los Lonely Boys, Government Mule

Guitarist Mato Nanji is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of his band with acoustic renditions of songs that cover the band’s entire career. The anniversary covers the decade of album releases from the band’s 1998 debut Things We Do up through their most recent album, 2008’s Broken Lands. The band has always centered around Nanji’s electrifying guitar work on his trusty Fender Stratocaster. But as we see here, Nanji’s ace musicianship translates very well to the acoustic spectrum. These tracks also serve to highlight his ever-soulful vocals and strong blues songwriting.

The disc opens with two great tracks from Things We Do,; “Now That You’re Gone” and the title track. Both epitomize Nanji’s endearing style with bluesy but melodic tunes that feature sharp chord changes and lead guitar lines that sing. Nanji’s wife Leah also sings on the harmonies, helping to keep Indigenous a family affair (following the departure of Nanji’s brother, sister and cousin from the band in 2006.) Nanji then moves on the band’s great second album Circle, featuring “Little Time” and “Rest of My Days.” The former features some of the best riffing on the album over a tribal sort of rhythm. The latter highlights the way Nanji mixes heartfelt vocals with hard-hitting riffs to really dig deep into the blues. Both were electrifying in their original format, but work great acoustically too thanks to the stinging riffs, vocal melodies and crisp rhythms.

“Want You to Say” moves on to the band’s third eponymous album with one of the band’s top tunes, a deeply melodic and infectious love song that benefits from the husband and wife harmonies. Three songs are featured from the fourth album Chasing the Sun. “Fool Me Again” has some great note bending and more strong harmonies. “Come on Home” is a deep blues ballad that just oozes soul. “Leaving” has some of Nanji’s bluesiest riffs, and feels like it could fit on the soundtrack to a Clint Eastwood western. It also features some great guest fiddle work, which deepens the bluesy feel of the track even further. The last album is represented with “Should I Stay” and “Eyes of a Child,” two more soulful tunes that feature the deeper perspective of the passage of time. A playful cover of Roy Orbison’s “You Got It” closes the album on an uplifting note.

The whole album serves as a great back-to-basics exercise in the blues. It’s easier to impress with amps cranked, but Nanji’s virtuoso blues playing and songwriting really shines on these tracks. (Vanguard Records 2010)

Indigenous MySpace page

Blues, CD Reviews, Rock

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals: Grace Potter & the Nocturnals

June 11, 2010 /


RIYL: Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals

This is technically the band’s fourth studio album, but the eponymous release marks a new era for the group. Former bassist Bryan Dondero has been replaced with Catherine Popper (formerly with Ryan Adams & the Cardinals), and this change has created a new synergy for the band. Popper helps balance the gender dynamic with her harmony vocals and she drives the songs higher with her superior jam skills on the bass. Rhythm guitarist Benny Yurco has also been added to the lineup, helping lead guitarist Scott Tournet, drummer Matt Burr and keyboardist/guitarist Potter to embiggen their sound, as they’d say on “The Simpsons.”

The album is a showcase for Potter’s dynamic vocals and melodic rock style, but it also feels like a coming-out party for what in hindsight will probably be viewed as the band’s classic lineup. Potter has her mojo working from the start in “Paris (Ooh La La),” a high-energy sexual rocker. “Oasis” comes down a notch, but then builds back up as Potter’s voice and Popper’s bass seem to sync in with each other. “Medicine” cranks it back up with a another blast of down and dirty groove rock where Potter sings about a mesmerizing gypsy type of woman not unlike herself.

Lead single “Tiny Light” shows off the new lineup at its best. The overall sound conjures visions of Rumors-era Fleetwood Mac, before blasting into the stratosphere with a big jam driven by Popper’s dynamic bass line. The song also features some of Potter’s best lyrics, which acknowledge the chaos of the early 21st century but ultimately lead to an uplifting catharsis. The song also gives a snapshot of the band’s live power with the jam at the end, where Tournet rips a sonic blast of lead guitar and Potter belts it out to the extreme. Potter’s softer side shines on piano-driven ballad “Colors,” where her delicate vocals dedicated to the twilight time of day are sure to melt hearts. “Only Love” provides a another high-energy blast of skillfully layered blues rock, a sound that is the band’s bread and butter.

The second half of the album isn’t quite as strong as far as memorable songs, although the band’s sound remains vibrant. “One Short Night” is a catchy number with a funky flavor about a questionable night out, while “Low Road” explores a bluesier territory with Potter still shining on vocals. “Hot Summer Night” is another sexy rocker similar to “Medicine” and “Only Love.” It would be nice to see Potter explore a wider variety of sonic flavors, but there’s no doubt this is one she’s very good at. “Things I Never Needed” closes out the album with a contemplative and endearing ballad. The first half of the album gets four stars, but the second half gets only three, so that’s three-and-a-half overall. This is a very good album, but the next one should be a true classic.

The band’s five-star live show is where they shine the brightest. When Potter & the Nocturnals played at Austin’s SXSW Festival in March, they highlighted the new material and knocked it out of the park with high-energy, jam-heavy performances in both an evening headliner show and a day-party performance. The band was good in 2008, but this version is at a higher level. Whoever orchestrated Popper’s entry into the band on bass should win rock ‘n’ roll’s “general manager of the year” award for the transaction. (Hollywood Records 2010)

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals MySpace page

Blues, CD Reviews, Jam Band, Pop, Rock, Rock Babes

Bo Bice: 3

June 11, 2010 /


RIYL: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, Marc Broussard

Bo Bice will forever be the guy who finished second to Carrie Underwood on Season 4 of “American Idol.” Many were outraged, thinking Bice had the goods and delivered the performances in the finale to merit winning it all. However, America voted for Underwood and the rest is history. It appears now that it was probably the correct long-haul decision, but that doesn’t mean Bice hasn’t made a nice career for himself. Now he’s back with his third effort, aptly titled 3, which is his debut on Saguaro Records, home to the likes of Patty Loveless and Lonestar. If you like straight-ahead country fried Southern rock, there isn’t much you won’t like about 3. It’s ten songs of shuffling, bluesy goodness, right from the first notes and horn hits of “Keep on Rollin’,” to the honky tonk, riff-infused “Coming Back Home” to the pretty balladry of “Wild Roses.” But there are a few tinges of mediocrity, too, most notably “Good Hearted Woman,” on which Bice seems to hover in a register too low for his vocal range; and “Long Road Back,” which is catchy enough but seems to drone on a bit. Still, Bo Bice keeps on rolling, and his songwriting seems to improve with each effort. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t want Underwood’s money, but…(Saguaro Records 2010)

Bo Bice MySpace page

American Idol, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Country, Rock

Me, Myself, and iPod 6/9/10: They work in bars. Whether they are all on drugs remains unknown

June 9, 2010 /

esd ipod

Strange. I thought that the closer we got to summer, the more awesome mp3s I’d have for all y’all. Instead, it appears the opposite is happening. Like I said, strange.

The Chap – We Work in Bars
I’m not 100% sold on this London band, but there’s a spirit to the work that I find appealing. Definitely want to hear more before officially passing judgment.

The Mercury Program – Arrived/Departed
This made the cut for one reason: the delay-driven guitar line at the beginning of the song is a near note-for-note copy of the beginning to the song “Outside” by the late, great band Tribe. These guys obviously took it in a much different direction (an instrumental, moody jazzy direction, that is), and that’s cool.

Hot Hot Heat – Goddess on the Prairie
You have to feel a little bad for these guys. When people start making jokes about the ’00s, these guys will be near the top of the One Hit Wonder joke list, and the worst part is that even the members of the band don’t like that song and wish they had never recorded it. This song, from their new album Future Breeds, which came out this week, shows the band, well, pretty much where the world left them. Give them points for not suddenly pretending to be Franz Ferdinand.

Parlovr – Pen to the Paper
Is Montreal the new Brooklyn? Or was Montreal Montreal before Brooklyn became the destination of choice for musical immigrants? Either way, this song has a driving quality to it that brings out the New Order fan in me.

Alternative, Artists, CD Reviews, Dance, Downloads, Instrumental, Jazz, Me Myself and iPod, Pop, Rock

Against Me!: White Crosses

June 9, 2010 /


RIYL: Fugazi, The Weakerthans, Anti-Flag, Needless Exclamation Points!

Against Me! was accused of selling out by many of their “fans” when word came out that they were leaving indie label Fat Wreck Chords for major label Sire. It was a stupid claim (more on that later), one that was deflated even more by the fact that New Wave, the band’s major label debut, was by far their best release to date. It was a blistering burst of band’s trademark semi-acoustic punk rock that some even claimed would be “The Next Big Thing.” And while that never came to pass, it was a damned good record that sold pretty well, which is probably the most a rock band can hope for nowadays.

Against_Me_01

Now there’s White Crosses. Old-school fans hoping for a return of the raw, acoustic punk of the band’s early work are going to be bummed. Newer fans hoping for another pack of well-written, tightly produced pop-friendly (but not pop-punk) rock songs to accompany the band’s 2007 masterpiece will be even more disappointed. White Crosses takes everything that was great about New Wave and pushes it too far. Against Me! really does sound too polished and too “mainstream” this time around. Any edge they had left on New Wave is way past long gone now. That in itself isn’t horrible, but even if these songs were stripped down to singer/guitarist Tom Gabel and an acoustic guitar, they still wouldn’t be very good. No hooks, no catchy melodies, and with rare exception there aren’t even any lyrics, always the band’s strong point, that stick around in your head moments after the first listen. What makes the band’s sudden descent into mediocrity even more frustrating is that the album starts out great. First with the killer title track and then with “I Was a Teenage Anarchist,” a perfect dis track against those who accused them of selling out in the past. Sadly, with White Crosses, those same fans don’t need to accuse Against Me! of selling out anymore, they can just (accurately) accuse them of being boring. And that’s even worse.

A quick afterward on what selling out actually is: Crafting a polished and tightly produced record isn’t selling out. Many times what people consider to be “raw” is really just bad production and amateur recording equipment; contrary to popular belief, most artists don’t want their albums to sound like shit. Signing to a major label isn’t selling out, either. The only difference between Sire Records and Fat Wreck Chords is that Sire is better at what they do. Given the chance, Fat Wreck would love to be rolling in dough just as much as the big guys. So what is selling out? How about releasing two versions of your album, a standard edition with a scant 10 tracks, and a “limited” edition that costs a few bucks more with four additional tracks. And then making that version a “deluxe” edition on iTunes by adding in an acoustic version of one of the tracks that’s “exclusive” (but not really, it’s on the single) to iTunes. There’s nothing that says Against Me! has to be against making money, but considering they’re built on a foundation of left-wing, anti-capitalist viewpoints, they should really know better than to pull crass crap like that. Next thing you know they’ll be doing horrible reunion concerts at corporate festivals, pretending like they still hate that machine they’re raging against. (Sire 2010)

Against Me! MySpace Page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Emo, Folk, Punk, Rock

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