Review: Japandroids - Celebration Rock

June 5, 2012

Polyvinyl Record Co.

Rating:  8.2/10

The year's most exciting display of musical exhilaration may very well have been released earlier this summer from the Canadian duo, Japandroids.  The perfectly titled Celebration Rock is about a half hours' worth of youthful exuberance and buoyant energy.

Let's be honest--there is no earth shattering originality on display here.  And at first, it comes off as slightly more juvenile and bro-friendly than the stuff I usually enjoy.  However, there's no denying or resisting the melodic bombast that screams and soars through every last bit of this record when simply taken and enjoyed at face value.  Driven by unmistakably catchy bursts and shout-along "whoa-oh-oh" choruses, it doesn't take long before the mood of this album washes over you.

Recorded live with little to no overdubbing, the band effectively captures the atmosphere of the most kinetic concert experiences.  It starts and ends with fireworks, of both the literal and figurative variety.  Trust me when I tell you it's the best music you'll hear between colorful skyward explosions this week.

It feels like finally finding a Replacement for the Cheap Trick you used to pull on your old Boss.  It sounds like an old episode of the three Stooges Clashing with Who knows what in some old house in a Gaslight district.  It rocks like the appetite you try to destroy late at night in a futile effort to make yourself Hold Steady.  

So find some people who enjoy your company as much as you enjoy theirs, and celebrate this week.  Toast to something meaningful, and toast to something frivolous.  Splash some bottles together and let the foam soak your fists.  Throw this record on among a crowd of friends.  Trust me when I say it won't serve as background music for long.  Happy Fourth, everyone.

Official Site

Japandroids on Facebook
Buy on Amazon

Band Of Horses - New Album To Be Released In September

Band Of Horses consistently puts out quality country-tinged indie rock, and I'm sure this will be no exception.  This is cause for celebration.

Penny Lane #3: The Beatles - Dear Prudence

The third installment in the Penny Lane home movie series is now complete.  Set to the Beatles classic, "Dear Prudence," it highlights months 4-6 in the life of Lainey Glaze.

The Gaslight Anthem to Release New Album - July 24, 2012

Handwritten (2012, Mercury)

The Gaslight Anthem are set to release their fourth LP entitled "Handwritten" on July 24.  I've been reading reports of a more 90's alternative rock influenced sound, and the bonus tracks are to include both a Tom Petty and a Nirvana cover.  I positively cannot wait for this record.

Track Listing
1) ''45''
2) Handwritten
3) Here Comes My Man
4) Mulholland Drive
5) Keepsake
6) Too Much Blood
7) Howl
8) Biloxi Parish
9) Desire
10) Mae
11) National Anthem

Bonus Tracks
Blue Dahlia
Sliver
You Got Lucky

Review: First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar

January 24, 2012

Wichita Recordings

Rating:  6.5/10

Being revered as a female Fleet Foxes singing Joni Mitchell tunes, one could easily understand my immediate draw to the Swedish duo, First Aid Kit.  Well, the descriptions being bestowed upon the throwback folk impressions of sisters Johanna and Klara are completely fitting.  These songs are rustic and poetic, and they wouldn't sound out of place around a campfire at Woodstock.  As a person who does not typically shy away from modern day hippie music, I can genuinely enjoy this album in moderation.  Not taken in small doses, however, this flower child formula can begin to teeter on music exec board room banality.

All flaunting of innocence and incense aside, the music actually sounds pretty good in the right setting; sunny day drives through fields of wheat, for example.  The credentials are legitimate too, as the girls have worked with Jack White (but who hasn't, really?) and the album was produced by Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes.  It's also hard to ignore the obvious, albeit well merited, name-dropping of Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, etc.  I will say that Conor Oberst's appearance on the final track serves as a sweet signature on a simple and summery set of songs.  Check it out to add some airy and untroubled warmth to your day.

Official First Aid Kit

First Aid Kit on Facebook

Buy On Amazon

The Tallest Man On Earth - New Song: Bright Lanterns

Take a listen to this, the first sounds from the new album There Is No Leaving Now.  Great stuff as always from The Tallest Man On Earth.

http://www.listenbeforeyoubuy.net/listen/listen-the-tallest-man-on-earth-bright-lanterns/

12 Song Mix - Rainy Days

The next 12 Song Mix I'd like to present to you is inspired by the inauspicious storms that rolled across the country today.  I hope that everyone has settled in safely despite the dicey nature of today's acts of Mother Nature.

Forgive me for the overly sensitive commentary, but some songs just sound better against a background of raindrops on a window pane.  Many albums have suddenly clicked between the slides and scrapes of wiper blades.  The atmosphere described here is not limited strictly to depressing ballads or mournful piano pieces.  The mood of a raging monsoon or a violent wind ripping across the plain is just as frequently captured in popular music.  Really, the songs that hit home on rainy days could fill a thousand of these lists.

 

Therefore, we'll start with a few of the more obvious choices.  It wouldn't be the Bark without including some relatively obscure tracks as well.  All subtlety aside, spin some of these the next time a timelier and more innocuous storm comes through (hopefully on a day off from work); it can be therapeutic.

1. Neil Young - See The Sky About To Rain

2. Sun Kil Moon - Grey Ice Water (Modest Mouse cover)

3. Grateful Dead - Box Of Rain

4. Fleetwood Mac - Storms

5. Nada Surf - Are You Lightning

6. The Beatles - Rain

7. Whiskeytown - Sit And Listen To The Rain

8. Bob Dylan - Shelter From The Storm

9. Jonsi - Tornado

10. Simon & Garfunkel - Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall

11. Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Raincoat

12. Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song