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The Happy Hollows: Spells

October 1, 2009 /


RIYL: Deerhoof, The Pixies, Q and not U

The Happy Hollows’ world as laid out on their debut full-length album, Spells, is inhabited by monsters, horses, flowers that turn into radios, and all sorts of other colorful characters, both real and imaginary. Such is the place sometimes referred to as Negahdariland, the namesake inner world of the Happy Hollows’ mistress-mind, singer/guitarist Sarah Negahdari.

This psychedelic punk approach radiates excitement of narcotic addictiveness, given a solid driving force by powerhouse drummer Chris Hernandez and nimble bassist Charlie Mahoney, whose often trebly bass lines jump over Sarah’s rhythm guitar to tag team on melody duty, most effectively so on opener “Faces,” on which Sarah declares that she’s trying to “escape from great expectations.” This is the only failure evident on Spells – after three years of high-energy live shows and two solid EPs that hinted at what a full Happy Hollows album could achieve, the band has actually met expectations and produced the most exciting debut album of the year. Props to ex-Mighty Lemon Drop David Newton for capturing the band’s live vibe while also making room for subtle decorations, like the tastefully placed violin in “Turtle and Hare” and “Second Lieutenant,” and punctuating several songs with Sarah’s adorably idiosyncratic background vocals.

You can feel the band smiling and having fun throughout all 14 of the album’s songs, and unconsciously injecting a renewed vitality into punk that has been lost in so many other quarters due to over-production and too many layers of polish. On Spells, the band got it just right. Prepare to fall in love. (Happy Hollows 2009)

The Happy Hollows MySpace

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Punk, Rock

Sunny Day Real Estate: Diary/LP2 (Reissues)

October 1, 2009 /

Diary

LP2

RIYL: Smashing Pumpkins, Polvo, Mineral

Even if you haven’t actually heard the music of Sunny Day Real Estate, chances are you at least have seen them name-checked in countless record reviews and interviews. We’ll spare you all of the “they helped spark the emo movement” hoopla and just dig into what’s really important here. The folks at Sub Pop have just re-released the first two albums by this almost mythical Washington state outfit. Both collections are filled to the gills with angular guitars, prog-rock styled rhythmic arrangements, and unorthodox yet infectious vocal melodies.

Originally released in 1994, Diary sounded like nothing else when it first crept its way onto college rock playlists. For starters, Jeremy Enigk’s vocals seem to come from another planet completely. His ethereal singing style had his notes often floating through the guitars and drums much like a keyboard or orchestra would. Imagine the Cocteau Twins’s Elizabeth Fraser fronting Smashing Pumpkins during the Gish era, and you would be close to what SDRE sounded like at the time. As layered and dissonant as the material on Diary was, the band’s hardcore punk roots definitely sprout up in moments. “Seven” and the bombastic chorus in “In Circles” were straight-forward and crunchy enough to hook in Sick of it All fans, while the introspective parts of the music appealed to the indie kids. This album changed a lot of people’s lives, and a million bands were born out of its influence.

In 1995 SDRE released LP2, which their cultish following quickly dubbed “The Pink Album.” The record came out posthumously as the combo had broken up earlier that year. It seemed like the adulation and mounting pressure that came along with the left-field success of Diary had done the guys in. Luckily SDRE managed to finish the sessions for LP2 despite the personal struggles they were going through at the time. The album’s nine songs span everything from King Crimson-esque guitar spaz-outs to gentler ballad-like moments. It’s a tougher listen than their debut album, but once you dig deeper into its heart, it’s an even more rewarding experience than anything else they’ve ever recorded. (Sub Pop 2009)

Click to buy Diary from Amazon
Click to buy LP2 from Amazon

Artists

Jemina Pearl: Break It Up

October 1, 2009 /

“It’s not all the cocaine/not a chemical reaction in my brain/that’s making me go insane.” That’s the first line to “Heartbeats,” the opening track of Jemina Pearl’s solo debut Break It Up. It’s nice to see that the lead singer of the recently departed Be Your Own Pet hasn’t lost her edge. Sure, the music behind her vicious and vindictive lyrics may be better tailored for the dance floor than the mosh pit this time around, but this is dance music in the vein of Blondie, using disco beats to accompany dark lyrics and an overall menacing feel. While the Yeah Yeah Yeahs took the same approach this year with their excellent disco revival record It’s Blitz!, Pearl instead goes even further back in time with her dance-pop, instead drawing from ’60s pop music. Songs like “Selfish Heart” and “Ecstatic Appeal” sound like punk rock covers of unreleased Ronnettes songs. And others, like the brilliant “I Hate People,” an ode to misanthropy and true love (featuring Iggy Pop!), are freakish bubblegum pop songs from hell combining easy listening sounds with twisted lyrics and themes. “I Hate People” might just become an anti-love song classic; its chorus of “I hate people but I love you” should be anthem of every punk rocker in love, maybe even becoming a new wedding song. One thing’s for sure – Jemina’s back, she’s still pissed and kicks more ass than ever. (Ecstatic Peace! 2009)

Jemina Pearl MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Punk, Rock

AFI: Crash Love

October 1, 2009 /


RIYL: Alkaline Trio, The Misfits, Naked Raygun

In punk years, AFI have been around for a lifetime. While many of their mid-’90s counterparts have bitten the dust or become completely irrelevant, the Northern California quartet have kept their career fresh through a series of albums where they’ve opened up their material to all sorts of sonic experimentation. The band started out as a dime-a-dozen melodic punk band in the vein of Bad Religion, but their more recent output has revealed everything from synthpop to Goth-rock leanings woven into their assault. For the last decade or so, Davey Havok (vocals) and Jade Puget (guitars) have been the primary driving forces behind AFI’s open-ended songwriting style.

On their newly released album, Crash Love, AFI tone down the electronic flourishes of their last full-length effort (2006’s decemberunderground) which, looking back, did come off heavy-handed at times. Puget’s guitars are pushed to the front of the mix while Havok’s candy-coated vocal melodies take center stage. There are still some of those electro touches included, like the drum loops in “End Transmission,” but they are harder to find. Listeners who fell in love with the band from hits like “Girls Not Grey” and “Silver and Cold” don’t have much to complain about this time out.

“OK, I Feel Better Now” and “I Am Trying Very Hard To Be Here” are the kind of modern rock nuggets that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on their breakthrough Sing the Sorrow album while the pulsating rhythms in “Too Shy to Scream” are sprinkled with Marc Bolan and Suzi Quatro glam dust. Havok and company even prove they can spool together a bonafide pop gem in the irresistible “Veronica Sawyer Smokes.”

Producer Garret “Jacknife” Lee (Bloc Party, Kasabian) does a splendid job of blending the textural nuances with AFI’s anthemic qualities. All of the act’s strengths are at full display on Crash Love and Lee highlights all of the right instrumental spots in all of the right moments. He does especially impressive work with the lead and background vocals and if you know AFI’s discography already, you’ll know how impactful that aspect of their attack is. There isn’t that one song to truly push the album into the four-star range, but you would be hard-pressed to find a better alt-rock record hitting shelves for the rest of the year. (Interscope 2009)

AFI MySpace page

Alternative, Artists, CD Reviews, Rock

The Clientele: Bonfires on the Heath

October 1, 2009 /

In an era where slacker sensibilities and low-gazing attitudes seem to dominate the musical mainstream, the Clientele’s preoccupation with lush, radiant textures and elaborate, ethereal arrangements consistently go against the norm. Vocalist/guitarist/musical mastermind Alasdair MacLean’s aversion to bombastic singers and self-serving guitar solos finds thoughts morphed into action via the collision of horns, harmonies and soft-swaying melodies that adorn Bonfires on the Heath, the latest extravaganza from this Hampshire band. The group conjures up a number of obvious influences – Love, the Zombies, Galaxie 500 and the Felt – but given their seamless delivery and breezy, shimmering style, it would sell them short to merely attribute their sound to appropriating that of their predecessors. “I Wonder Who We Are,” “Bonfires on the Heath” and “Jennifer & Julia” purvey a genteel charm and a soothing, sensual ambiance that seizes attention even on first encounter. And while the scattershot shuffle of “Sketch” almost seems disruptive in the midst of these mellow soundscapes, a song such as “Never Anyone but You” shows their ability to make a seamless transition from meditative reflection to gently compelling refrains. Varying the tempos between a samba and a sway, this rich mélange provides an allure all its own. (Merge 2009)

The Clientele MySpace page

Artists, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Melodramatic, Pop, Rock, Widescreen

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