September 2010 Archives

Billie The Vision & The Dancers - From Burning Hell to Smile and Laughter (Love Will Pay The Bills) [upcoming shows] [audio]

Sweden's best cross-dressing pop band is back with another album full of characters, conversations and unstoppable melodies. Like their other albums, From Burning Hell... unites elements of many genres into a simple pop sound that sticks to your synapses. Songs like "You Taught Me" and "Golden Frame" sound like traditional laments, while songs such as "I'm Alive" and "Oh Baby, Yeah Honey" are fun and boppy. Like all albums from the Billies, the songs here are candid, melodramatic, corny and charming.

Rangda - False Flag (Drag City) [upcoming shows] [audio]

Rangda is Chris Corsano on drums and Ben Chasny of Six Organs of Admittance on guitar and Richard Bishop of Sun City Girls on guitar. This is the sound of alien architects deconstructing the pyramids. In search of ancient gods, we stumble across old motifs but new idols emerge, unscathed. This is the godhead of noise in 2010. King Crimson's Red meets Glen Branca.

Stephen Egerton - The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton (Paper + Plastic) [upcoming shows] [audio]

As guitarist for All and Descendents, guitarist Stephen Egerton is known for clean, cutting, crazed guitar riffs. Egerton's style of fun-punk is given life by 16 different vocalists including bandmates Milo Aukerman, Chad Price, and Scott Reynolds (the best of All singers) on The Seven Degrees of... For any fan of pop punk over the last 15 years, this is a trip down memory lane, as singers from bands including Alkaline Trio, Less Than Jake, Big Drill Car, Lagwagon, Rise Against, and MXPX join in on the fun.

Slacker - Start a New Life (Godlike & Electric) [upcoming shows] [audio]

Start a New Life is the sound of a self-aware man taking a step back from his life. Hinting at many current electronic undercurrents, yet sounding separate and distinct, (imagine a modern Endtroducing for a loose reference point) Shem McCauley has turned a creative corner and released an unpredictable and under-noticed slow burner. A refreshing blend of... Ignore that. This album stands alone and on its own two feet.

Crooked Fingers - Reservoir Songs II (Foreign Leisure) [upcoming shows] [audio]

The six songs that comprise Reservoir Songs II are considerably less familiar than those that appeared on the original Reservoir Songs ep a few years ago, and that's refreshing in a way. Eric Bachmann's voice continues to change over time, and here he takes on a slight southern twang (perfect, as it turns out, for things like Merle Haggard's "Shelly's Winter Love"). It's a much more low-key affair than its sister ep, but just as impactful.

Unbunny - Moon Food (Hidden Agenda) [upcoming shows] [audio]

Alternating between bare boned odes to exes and joyous Harvest-esque country folk singalongs where the people with the worst voices sing lead, very personal details are laid bare in the lyrics; from calling bullshit on her new husband to song titles like "Young Men are Easy Prey" and "You Run Like a Girl", which also suggests some possible gender issues that we shall ignore. Hit repeat on "Straw on a Camel's Back"; with its two-note violin flourishes, it's a spurt of pop perfection. Also, Eskimos don't live in Mexico.

Mike Viola & Kelly Jones - Melon (self released) [upcoming shows] [audio]

The five songs recorded live for Melon may sound familiar to fans of Viola and Jones. "There Goes My Baby," an upbeat pop song penned by the pair, gets reworked as a mournful ballad with the two harmonizing quietly over an acoustic guitar. That intimacy continues on Fleetwood Mac's "Steal Your Heart Away" and Hunters & Collectors' "Throw Your Arms Around Me," both evocative of Viola's previous live recordings. The record concludes with "A Way to Say Goodbye," an oft-performed Viola tune written for a duet that's never sounded better.