Tag: #Import 2025-04-25 15:23

down with wilco

‘Sounds like mid-career Beatles or Paul McCartney’s solo material. It’s difficult to hear Peter Buck’s usual guitar work on this album. Then again, the part that Wilco played on this record may be the reason for this. Their influence drowns out the potential sound of everyone else’s input. Then again, that is what to be expected from the group still fresh off the success of “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.” It’s hard to argue with a band that put out such a landmark album. High points: Jeff Tweedy’s backing vocals. His voice is mesmerizing and works well on this record. Low points: The record drags at points and produces a sense of monotony.

first demo tape

‘When labels began sending CDs addressed to me this past year, the concept of reviewing a Minor Threat album seemed ludicrous.

Maybe if Dischord felt generous and I was having one of the luckier days of my life, I would have received the “20 Years of Dischord” Box Set. Unfortunately, that never happened. Still, you can imagine my surprise when a new Minor Threat release showed up on my desk.

“We’re just a minor threat,” ironically chants lead singer Ian MacKaye on the opening track also titled “Minor Threat.” About 10 minutes later, this eight-song demo is over. Writing songs not much longer than the blink of an eye, Minor Threat was born and the face of hardcore was torn apart, only to be hemmed back together in the same sweeping motion by the newborn faction of straight-edge hardcore. MacKaye’s words, albeit rough-sounding, unmixed, and left to collect dust somewhere in a studio closet, had more of a lasting impact than anyone at that point could have imagined.

After 22 years, the demo tape that was abandoned for a similar sounding 7-inch recorded a month later was finally released. From a studio shelf, it started it all.

Rumor has it that Dischord has sold two million records since their birth over 20 years ago. That same rumor also mentions that one million of those records sold were Minor Threat records, 500,000 belonged to Fugazi and the rest of the bands on the label made up the remaining 500,000. As hard as it is that such a reputable label has only sold two million records, it is not surprising that the majority of those records belong to Minor Threat and Fugazi, two MacKaye-led bands.

So, there is only one question you need to ask about the “First Demo Tape.” If you are a Minor Threat fan, is there any reason not to own this seminal and previously shelved work? One million records worth of sales proves that answer is no.

a people’s history of the dismemberment plan

‘The Dismemberment Plan will never die. As long as CDs remain unscratched, record player needles remain functional and mp3s remain online, The Plan will live forever.

For the people and by the people, this final record is a compilation of remixes of the best of The Plan. It is exactly the way the band was destined to go out. It’s weird, quirky and not even the biggest of fans could have predicted this. Above that, it’s absolutely amazing, a downright beautiful epitaph. It sums up the career of the band perfectly and is this ultimate, Buddhist sort of release, letting go of ownership of the music and returning it back to the people.

“A People’s History of The Dismemberment Plan” may be one of the best records released this year, although all of its material is recycled. It’s concise and accurately descriptive in the ways it deconstructs and reconstructs the band’s art. It’s quintessential musical postmodernism. It’s rife with aural poetic sentiments that embrace the love the fans show for this band. This is a culmination of the emotional attachment that both band and fans have put in to The Dis Plan over the years.

The Plan will forever be known for its cutting edge, its absolute ability to go where most other musicians fear to tread. They are D.C. musicians who have taken from their surrounding scene to create something so different, so unique that few if any other bands sound like them. They are a musical anomaly, an irrational happening that generations of fans still to come will only be able to wonder and marvel at the remnants of this spectacle.

“A People’s History” is a welcome addition and possibly the most indigenous member of this family. It is the best they have to offer, recreated by the best the kids have to offer.

The Dismemberment Plan was one of the most seminal of ’90s indie rock bands and they will truly be missed, but will forever live on through both their catalogue of works, highlighted by “A People’s History.”

evanesce

‘This is what good new school post-hardcore sounds like: a little prog, a little punk, a little metal and all heart.

“Evanesce,” Anatomy of a Ghost’s fist full-length, is inspired. It is an album in the style of popular bands like Thursday, and Coheed and Cambria, as well as a good part These Arms are Snakes.

It starts off fierce yet melodic, and never relents. The melodies are bright. The production is crisp. The straightforward progressions and intricate riffs are well balanced. For a dirty genre, it’s surprisingly clean.

Not one aspect outweighs another on an album in which everything stands out simultaneously. This is one of those cases where it becomes easy to look past the current release in heightened anticipation of what the band may offer next.

Portland’s Anatomy of a Ghost has written an album that may be in line with the trends but, unlike many contemporaries, it will outlast the fads. This album should have a very long shelf life – but it won’t sit on the shelf long enough to collect dust.

As a hardcore fan, this will become a staple of your collection. So, if you have yet to do so, get up off of your lazy ass and go buy AoaG’s “Evanesce.”

True Delta Blues Roots

‘Rolling Stones, watch your backs. There’s a new band in town and much respect is due.

Their sound has been described as Muddy Waters meets Howlin’ Wolf meets Jimmy Hendrix. They’ve been labeled as white garage punks playing Delta blues that are as true to their roots as the best music Fat Possum could put out. A demo created on their first day of practice after dropping out of college bought them a record deal with Alive Records. From there, their records have been hailed by the press, including a rating of number 25 on Mojo’s Top 40, the “Best Debut Album of 2002” by Rolling Stone, and one of the best five records of the year by Magnet and the Village Voice, among others. The hype has them surrounded.

After releasing two well-received albums, “The Big Come Up” and “Thickfreakness,” where do the members of the two-piece band The Black Keys go from there?

“I don’t know,” began Keys drummer Patrick Carney. “We’re just taking it as it comes. Hopefully this time next year we’ll be releasing our third record. We’re really anxious to do that but it’s hard to find time when there is so much going on with this tour. It’s difficult to switch from performing mode to creative writing mode in between shows. It’s all so up in the air.”

One thing is for sure, though. This duo is not the White Stripes.

“It’s an unfortunate matter of circumstance that the press compares us to them just because we have two members, especially since we started playing together before the White Stripes did. They are a great band and they have opened up rock ‘n’ roll to a bigger audience but we sound nothing like them. Dan (Auerbach, guitarist/vocalist of the Black Keys) was always into two-piece blues bands like T-Model Ford and T. Rex. It started as just the two of us and we never even considered adding a third member.”

Patrick and Dan have known each other since they were eight and they have been playing together for the past seven years. As their practices evolved into songs and their playing around firmed up into a cohesive sound, The Black Keys began impressing everyone that heard their music. They continue to do so on the current large outdoor amphitheater tour with Beck and Dashboard Confessional.

Their fans come from a variety of genres including hip-hop, punk, pop, and blues aficionados. It is their own personal musical differences, in addition to their musical abilities and the confidence they exude, which may have opened up their sound to a such a wide mix of people, extending far beyond just the blues scene.

“I’m not really a fan of the blues at all,” continued Carney. “I am more of a rock ‘n’ roll, indie rock, and hip-hop fan. Dan is the fan of old blues music. That’s the great thing about playing with him, though. He comes from a different place than I do and that allows us to add our own touches to the music.”

Their convergence of eclectic styles mesh together into a blues sound so earnest that you would think that the Keys roots grow deep in the South. Being raised in Akron, Ohio could not be any further from that stereotypical image, though. On top of that, one of their biggest markets is out west in the Boulder/Denver area. The band has done well here over the past few years and they attribute that success to the folks of Colorado.

“There are some great stores in Boulder and we really appreciate all of the support that the stores have given us. I remember people, like the owner of Albums on the Hill, has always been so nice to us. Plus, Boulder and Denver have more of a rootsy scene here. There’s great music that can sell out here that can’t even book a show in Cleveland.”

The Keys hope that this is a relationship that will strengthen each time that they come around, including their upcoming show this weekend. That should not be too difficult, though. With Auerbach’s howl and grit layered over Carney’s left-of-center drumming, what’s not to love?

dismissed

‘In an effort to create a fine blend of emotional punk, indie pop mastery, and subtle math rock tones, Charlie Brown Gets a Valentine’s second full-length release “Dismissed” has continued to align itself sonically with J Church and early Face to Face.

Either way, it’s pop punk and it’s super-catchy. (Saying it’s catchy as fuck would be too vulgar.)

It’s tempting to file this album under party punk, especially with all the drinking references and the cover drawings of a half-full/half-empty rocks glass and an almost empty pack of smokes. This is not as poppy as mainstream counterparts Blink 182 and their likes, but it’s just as addictive. Contrary to the title’s suggestion, this album cannot be easily dismissed. Somewhere beneath the layers of distorted guitar and earth-shaking bass lines lies a good deal of talent. If you look hard enough, you’ll find it.

“We could’ve been so much better than this,” sings Lucas Carscadden on “Forget Tonight,” one of the album’s early tracks, but what’s the point? The band accomplishes their goal of grabbing your attention and making you dance without showing off. Now that, above all else, is impressive.

There’s no reason for the members of CBGaV to show off. The members of this band have proven their eclectic abilities around the D.C. area and in other Mid-Atlantic indie scenes with their other projects that have ranged from The Axis Set, to Jenhitt, to A Study in Her.

The only thing “Dismissed” is missing, when compared to “Commencement,” is a linchpin track. The first CBGaV album contained “Disco vs. Punk,” an incredibly memorable song destined for mix tapes and late-night drunken singalongs. While the songs on “Dismissed” are memorable, none of them singularly leap out of the whole mix. On the contrary, this album takes a little bit longer for the songs to penetrate that part of your brain that won’t allow you to stop singing a song you haven’t heard for days. With time and patience, though, songs like “Caffeine at Night,” “Best Early Morning Buys,” and “Instructions From Her Hero…” will become selections in that jukebox rotation in your mind.

this is who you are

‘Assuming the album title is intended to reflect back on “who” the band is, and not a mass grouping of who their fans are, this is the best work to date with which The Beautiful Mistake can use to describe themselves.

With their previous release, “Light a Match, For I Deserve to Burn,” the band was dumped into the generic screamo pit. Granted, the album title didn’t help matters much, but the band was just in its formative stages. They were learning, growing, expanding. They were making their mistakes, regardless of the mistakes’ aesthetic qualities, and figuring out their boundaries.

Well, they must have figured out a good deal prior to heading into the recording studio to work on their new album, “This Is Who You Are,” for the Militia Group. The inexperience of being a freshman is gone; the sophomore slump has been eluded. On this release, the band takes the helm confidently and in earnest. Quickly, they are becoming veterans.

In the past, the band was compared to some insulting equivalent of a Thursday- or Thrice-wannabe band. Now, it’s safe to say the new album puts them on par – at the very least – with what has come to be known as that two-band genre.

The Beautiful Mistake is forging ahead and further defining themselves. If the trend continues, who they are now is not who they will be by the next release. This will be a thing of the past, a stepping-stone to a higher ground.

50

‘Most compilations are hit or miss. They promise you the best new bands with exclusive new tracks that, at best, are impossible to find. It’s pretty damn commercial, unless you have a reason to celebrate.

To commemorate their 50th release, Saddle Creek has put together a two-disc set of all of their artists. This compilation features two songs from the SC lineup, one song previously released and one recorded specifically for this compilation.

Sticking along with the general theme of various artist records, “50” is neither groundbreaking nor mindblowing. That is not the point. Rather, it is just a good sampling of what the label has to offer.

On the other hand, the bands that have flocked to SC have been both groundbreaking and mindblowing. This label has single-handedly created a scene in Omaha worth paying attention to.

Standing on top of the rubble of this musical explosion in Nebraska are such noted musicians as Conor Oberst and Tim Kasher, two of SC’s most prominent artists.

“50” offers a good sampling of what Omaha’s best have to offer. For those unfamiliar with the bands on this label, “50” might be a good place to start. The previous released selections are slightly above average tracks from each of the bands but definitely not their best offerings. For those who know and love Saddle Creek, this record is a good addition to such a collection. The exclusive tracks are of decent quality and worth being heard.

good mourning

‘If consistency truly is the hobgoblin of little minds, then would it be an insult to say that the members of the Alkaline Trio are completely mindless?

After four albums and an endless onslaught of touring, the Alkaline Trio’s fifth full-length attempt, “Good Mourning,” follows logically in the footsteps of its predecessors: aggressive attacks from the guitars, smooth-surfaced harmonies, and tons of references to death and heroin.

There’s a reason for formulas. Applied to the proper equation, they lead you to the correct answer. In this respect, the Alkaline Trio may be working over and over again on the same pop-punk equation, coming up with near-perfect scores every time. Many bands would be criticized and labeled as uncreative for doing such a thing, but the Trio has found some loophole that still allows them to unleash their abilities.

For these efforts, the band has been lauded as the godfathers to a new generation of up-and-coming punk kids. They have been immortalized in Emogame v1.5 (http://www.emogame.com). They signed to Vagrant and took over the helm as one of their flagship bands, and cast a goth-pop shadow over the clean-cut Vagrant. Now, they have put in their time after being a band for six years and fans and new bands alike are kneeling down in front of singer/guitarist Matt Skiba to kiss his ring finger.

“Good Mourning” separates itself from previous records because it has a new part of the formula to celebrate. Drummer Mike Felumlee, originally of the legendary Chicago band The Smoking Popes – who helped the Alkaline Trio get their start, left the Trio after “From Here to Infirmary,” and was replaced by an old band friend, Derek Grant.

Felumlee’s style peaked with 2001’s “From Here to Infirmary,” in which his newfound tom-laden approach to drumming gave a different edge to the Trio’s sound. It appeared that Felumlee no longer wanted to play the role of the background rhythm man. He became much more aggressive and the band’s sound became fuller. Then, he and the band parted ways.

Grant’s freshman attempt with the group is reminiscent of Felumlee’s older attempts, like that on the Trio’s first full-length, “Goddamnit.” The drumming is noticeable but doesn’t leap out of the mix.

So, on the whole, it seems like the band is heading back to their roots and starting over – but they’re doing it with the experience and financial backing derived from their veteran status.

More than skin deep

‘Prior to my interview with Denali’s lead singer Maura Davis, I encountered a common reaction to my mention of the band’s name. Nearly every person with whom I spoke – who was familiar with the band – said:

“Dude, she is sooooooooo hot!

“And they’re a really good band, too.”

Is it sexist to make a statement like that? Probably not. It’s just a matter of fact. There are fewer female musicians fronting indie bands. So, the ones that are out there do tend to stick out a bit more.

Maybe it’d be more appropriate to judge the band’s music before judging its members’ looks, but that’s how we have been socialized to do things. After all, aside from the bassist of A Newfound Glory, when is the last time you saw a fat or ugly person on music television stations?

Yes, her looks do not hurt the band, but it’d be inaccurate to say something so superficial is helping them, either.

It’s hard not to have a secret, won’t-ever-come-true kind of crush on Maura Davis. She’s indie rock’s sweetheart, for more reasons than one. In all honesty, it’s her voice that gives her that extra something. Citing Ella Fitzgerald as one of her musical idols, she sings in the way that just makes men clad in tattoos and piercings melt like grade-school boys.

“If people want to make remarks that I’m hot or whatever, I’m fine with it,” said Davis. “I’m not a feminist or anything so, I take it as a compliment.”

She admits that she did have one bad experience as a female in a band, but it was not within the indie scene. When the band went on tour with the Deftones, she received numerous comments onstage to the effect of “take your shirt off.” As she stated, “It’s like they never saw a girl in a band before.”

Even such a vulgar gesture as this has not been too big of a deal. Having her brother Keeley, singer and songwriter from Engine Down, in the band has been a huge comfort to her. His presence made her feel safe and secure.

Sadly, this is no longer the case for Maura, the younger of the two siblings by nearly five years. Keeley and drummer Jonathan Fuller, also of Engine Down, have parted ways with Denali.

They were two of the original members of the band, which formed when Maura came to Keeley and asked him for assistance with the songs she had been working on. With the addition of bassist Cam Dinunzio, the roster was filled out.

Now, the burden of being in two high-profile bands has become too much for Keeley and Jonathan. Touring, writing and recording turned from blessing to burden. They never had any time off. So, they had to limit their responsibilities and put their focus back on Engine Down.

Both of these bands are on the road right now and, according to Maura, this is the first time the brother and sister have been apart for more than a week.

“Aww, I miss him,” she said of her brother. “It’s sad being so far away from him.”

Maura hopes that someday, the two bands will at least have overlapping schedules so that they may be able to play some shows together.

Change is the one thing that has been a constant in Denali since they hit the studio to record 2003’s “The Instinct.” As the last record on which all of the original members appeared, the band made a conscious effort to diversify their sound.

“On our first album, people thought I was just this really depressed girl,” said Davis. “We wanted to make the songs on ‘The Instinct’ shorter and more powerful. We wanted songs that would grab you the instant you hear the first note.”

Less downtrodden but more powerful was the compromise’s result. The new formula achieved the intended results and, additionally, fulfilled the band’s hope of capturing the dynamics of their live show.

Of course, those dynamics are going to be different now that the band has two new members. As of the beginning of this tour, Stephen Howard of Pinebender is playing the role of bassist and Ryan Rapsys is now playing drums.

“It feels like a different band, now, but in a good way,” she said. “It’s sad to be without my brother but things are going really well – as long as people aren’t telling me to take my shirt off.”