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Holmes: Holmes

September 22, 2009 /


RIYL: Steely Dan, G. Love, Rufus Wainwright

While the landscape is positively littered with pop culture-spewing, post-ironic hipsters, Roy Shakked, the one-man wrecking crew that is Silverlake’s Holmes, gets a free pass solely for “Let Go,” the opening track on his band’s self-titled effort and easily the best stoner song Steely Dan never wrote. Like Donald Fagen, Shakked is smart and a little bored, delivering his detached vocals over pristinely arranged café pop songs awash in sunny backing vocals. The most unintentionally funny thing about Holmes is how hard it tries to slack; “Gone” quotes Cameo’s “Word Up” just a tad behind the beat in traditional So-Cal hip hop style, and has one of those plinkety-plink hip hop piano bits propelling it along, but the album is far too ornate to be the work of a slacker. Shakked pulls an unpredictable left turn on “Go Computer,” a Weezer-esque guitar stomper with vocals smothered in slap echo. It’s a neat trick, but he’s clearly more comfortable mining mellow gold.

The heart of a showman beats inside these songs – wait until you hear what he’s done to David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” – and the sooner Holmes embraces it, the better off he’ll be. He’s good now, but the cutesy stuff is holding him back. (Groove Gravy Records 2009)

Holmes MySpace page

Adult Contemporary, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop

Pearl Jam: Backspacer

September 22, 2009 /


RIYL: You’re kidding, right? Recommended if you like Pearl Jam

Backspacer is Pearl Jam’s ninth studio album in their 19th year of existence. Seemingly out to prove that they’re neither resting on their laurels or mellowing with age, it’s one of their most energetic and exciting albums to date, filled with pop hooks and a strange sense of optimism that may scare the die-hards.

Pearl Jam haven’t been very pop-friendly since Yield. Binaural was experimental art-rock, while Riot Act was dark, introspective and depressing. Their 2006 self-titled effort was definitely a step towards the mainstream, but it was also very angry and aggressive, a sign of the Bush-led times perhaps. But Bush is gone, and with his departure Pearl Jam must feel that it’s okay to be upbeat once more, and maybe even popular again.

The album opens with a drug-themed triple-pack; “Gonna See My Friend,” “Got Some,” and “The Fixer.” Although dripping in drug references, none of the three are really about getting high. The titular friend in the first track is a buddy that’s helping someone get off drugs, and the ‘some’ in “Got Some” is actually music, being dealt out like the addictive substance that it is. As for “The Fixer,” that appears to be Eddie himself, proclaiming his ability to make you rock out. Through the quick three-minute stomper he lets you know he’s your one-stop cure for what ails you, “When somethings dark / Lemme shed a little light on it. When somethings old / I wanna put a bit of shine on it.”

Eddie must be riding high from all that fixing, because he’s in such a good mood he’s actually written a couple honest-to-God love songs on Backspacer, a first for the band. “Just Breathe” is a quiet ballad about a man who realizes how lucky he is to find the one he loves, while “Amongst the Waves” is a bombastic proclamation of love using surf imagery to convey how love can conquer all. It’s corny, cheesy and about one step removed from a U2 song, but they get away with it thanks to Eddie’s touching lyrics and a powerful closing guitar solo. The musical formula is copied successfully with the following track “Unthought Known,” although this time the lyrics return to typical abstract themes that are more common ground for Vedder. After a brief return to rock with the catchy-as-all-hell “Supersonic,” the CD closes with three more ballads, ending with the exceptionally strong “The End.”

Backspacer is probably Pearl Jam’s best album of the decade, an obvious, but not pandering, attempt to regain some of the mainstream attention they voluntarily gave up over the years. The older fans might balk at the idea of Eddie and company courting a new audience, but whatever man; a stadium full of 40-year-olds is depressing. (Monkeywrench 2009)

Pearl Jam MySpace Page

Alternative, CD Reviews, Rock

Happy birthday, Leonard Cohen

September 21, 2009 /

Cohen

Nicole Richie. Luke Wilson. Cecil Fielder. Ethan Cohen. Bill Murray. Don Felder. Stephen King. Jerry Bruckheimer. All these individuals are celebrating a birthday today, but there are two others that deserve special praise. The first is Christopher Joseph Glotfelty. The writer-musician-philanthropist is probably best known to the American public as a blogger for Eat Sleep Drink Music, Premium Hollywood, and Scores Report. Often mistaken for Benny from “The Sandlot,” he is 24 today.

Then we have Mr. Lenoard Cohen. Perhaps the most beloved musician to ever emerge from Canada, Cohen continuously receives critical adoration on par with Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Paul Simon as an older, yet active musician. Funny enough, Cohen first gained attention for his books of poetry, only venturing into the music business once he reached his 30s. After falling in with Andy Warhol and the “Factory” crowd, Cohen’s debut album, Songs of Leonard Cohen, failed to make a huge impact. However, Cohen was persistent and recorded vigorously during the 70s, as songs like “Bird on the Wire” and “Famous Blue Raincoat” slowly increased his appeal. Numerous albums, books of poetry, and awards later, Cohen still has that creative spark. In 2008, he began touring for this first time in 15 years and recieved favorable reviews. During his time off, Cohen spent five years in seclusion becoming a Zen Buddhist monk at the Mt. Baldy Zen Center. Unfortunately, in 2005, he was involved in a lawsuit with longtime manager Kelley Jensen, which he later won.

Cohen turns 75 today and will celebrate while performing in Barcelona. It’s unbelievable, considering he fainted onstage in Valencia, Spain two days ago in the middle of “Bird on the Wire.” And he’s back already? Even at 75, he’s more dedicated than most of these youngsters.

News, Videos

Jupiter One: Sunshower

September 21, 2009 /


RIYL: The Silver Seas, The Shins, The Feeling

Not to be confused with Jupiter Rising, the California duo who received a rather harsh, but fair, beatdown from our own Jason Thompson in 2006, this New York indie pop quartet brings the hooks by the truckload on their sophomore effort Sunshower. The heart of a late ’70s pop band beats at their core – check the cymbal ride, handclaps, and Moog solo in the super-cool “Simple Stones” – but they’re not hiding behind a gimmick. They’re like an American version of the Feeling, comfortable in the present but having more in common with rock bands of the past. “Flaming Arrow” would have fit perfectly on the Silver Seas’ album High Society (itself a brilliant modern-day slice of AM radio heaven), while the power popstastic “Anna” sounds like a lost song from an ’80s soundtrack (starring John Cusack, of course), and “Lights Go Out” recalls a more restrained Foo Fighters.

What this means is that Sunshower will be adored by soundtrack supervisors around the world, but will need a “Garden State” moment in order to break the band into the mainstream. This isn’t right or fair, but this is the music business we’re talking about; half the bands that sell millions don’t deserve it, and vice versa. Sunshower is one of the vice versas. (Rykodisc 2009)

Jupiter One MySpace page

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

Pavement’s Scott Kannberg discusses the reunion

September 18, 2009 /

pavement

As expected, the Pavement show scheduled for September 21st, 2010 at SummerStage sold out immediately. When the band added dates at the same location for the 22nd and 23rd, they also went like hot cakes. As expected. They’ve just added another for September 24th. I quickly bought three tickets and am now in a state of disarray. I almost missed missed my chance!

But don’t fret. The band will apparently tour the world next year, so be sure to catch them if you can’t make the Central Park shows. Nevertheless, it’s still hard to believe this reunion is even happening. Let’s be honest, it’s never been out of the question, but as the years dragged on and the individual members shifted comfortably into their respective careers, we all lost a bit of hope. Now that the tour has been confirmed — seemingly out of the blue — fans are left wondering, “why now?” Thankfully, Pavement’s second guitarist and songwriter Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg recently sat down with Rolling Stone and explained.

Typically for Pavement, the decision to get back together was made in a lackadaisical way. Says Kannberg, “Steve [Malkmus] and I just had a conversation on the phone, and we’d never talked about it before at all. We’ve talked over the years, but the subject never came up. Then our agent asked us about these New York shows, so we went around to everybody in the band, and they said, ‘Yeah, the time is right. If everybody’s ready to do it, then we’ll do it and see what happens.’ There was no real impetus — it just kind of happened naturally.”

“It’s weird how over the last however many years, Pavement’s become a much bigger thing,” Kannberg says. “This whole generation of kids discovered Pavement after we had disbanded, and made us into a huger thing than we ever envisioned. So now I guess we can tour and make those people happy.”

Kannberg says the goal is to keep it fresh. “It’s not gonna be like Echo and the Bunnymen, where they don’t talk to each other, yet they tour every year. I flew in to see them do Ocean Rain at Radio City last year, and it was good, but it wasn’t the same, you know? I don’t think we’ll be that way. We’re not still trying to flog a record or anything. It’ll probably feel like we’re just starting again. It’ll be fun to play these songs.”

I’m part of that generation of kids that discovered Pavement years after they broke up. I was still in college, playing in various bands in which I was either unhappy or simply goofing around. I had an idea of what type of music I wanted to write — I just couldn’t put my finger on it. When I heard Pavement, that all changed. I’ve always loved the pop and country rock of the 60s, the heavy sounds of the 70s, and the grunge of the 90s. Luckily, here was Pavement, combining all those influences. I couldn’t comprehend what I was hearing, but I devoured their catalogue with anticipation and awe. It will be another year until I see them in New York, but I can’t wait to share my experience with everyone here.

Concerts, News

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