Hello, this is a music blog. If you like what you read, I have more reviews at www.toneandgroove.com.
Golden Silvers’
True Romance
XL Recordings
This band is at its best when they keep things light, bouncy and for the dance floor. When they try to make pronouncements about love and life, they preach, and the music falls flat. Unfortunately, the bad outweighs the good here, and even though in the end this isn’t a bad album, it’s also not good enough to recommend. [http://www.myspace.com/thegoldensilvers]
Andrea Weiss
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
New Reviews
Hello,
This is a music blog. If you like what you read, I have more reviews at www.toneandgroove.com
The Cave Singers
Welcome Joy
Matador Records
Imagine the Sadies as a folk band, quieter musically, but like the Sadies, their lyrics deal with hard times and hard living. That’s The Cave Singers, a trio from Seattle, and this album is their debut. It is a very good album, with hushed vocals, gently strummed guitars, and drums that whisper, all meant for quiet times, and for a great late night nightcap. [www.myspace.com/thecavesingers]
Andrea Weiss
Watch Me Fall
Matador Records
Reatard follows up his acclamed 2006 singles compilation Blood Visions with his first proper full-length album Watch Me Fall. The sound of the album is the speedy punk of the Buzzcocks combined with the melodic roar of Husker Du in their prime.
Lyrically, the words are a blur, as they race along with the music. In general, they seem to be about panic, paranoia, and bad times. He also throws in a couple of songs about succeeding against the odds no matter what.
This album is a lot of fun to listen to. The energy of these songs is infectious. Reatard doesn’t take himself too seriously, and that’s good, otherwise this album could have been one long whine. It’s recommended for these reasons. Speed doesn’t kill here, it’s uplifting. [www.myspace.com/jayreatard]
Andrea Weiss
This is a music blog. If you like what you read, I have more reviews at www.toneandgroove.com
The Cave Singers
Welcome Joy
Matador Records
Imagine the Sadies as a folk band, quieter musically, but like the Sadies, their lyrics deal with hard times and hard living. That’s The Cave Singers, a trio from Seattle, and this album is their debut. It is a very good album, with hushed vocals, gently strummed guitars, and drums that whisper, all meant for quiet times, and for a great late night nightcap. [www.myspace.com/thecavesingers]
Andrea Weiss
Jack Pinate
Everything is New
XL Recordings
The laid back groove Pinate has on his new album is only marginally better than the jittery new wave singer/songwriter sound he had on his debut Matinee. At least with a smooth shimmy the fact that he has nothing to say or play goes down easy. When he wants to make a meaningful statement it's embarrassingly lightweight: the refrain of “out of the womb, and into the tomb, let’s all die.” Skip it and live.
[www.myspace.com/jackpenate]
AndreaWeiss
Watch Me Fall
Matador Records
Reatard follows up his acclamed 2006 singles compilation Blood Visions with his first proper full-length album Watch Me Fall. The sound of the album is the speedy punk of the Buzzcocks combined with the melodic roar of Husker Du in their prime.
Lyrically, the words are a blur, as they race along with the music. In general, they seem to be about panic, paranoia, and bad times. He also throws in a couple of songs about succeeding against the odds no matter what.
This album is a lot of fun to listen to. The energy of these songs is infectious. Reatard doesn’t take himself too seriously, and that’s good, otherwise this album could have been one long whine. It’s recommended for these reasons. Speed doesn’t kill here, it’s uplifting. [www.myspace.com/jayreatard]
Andrea Weiss
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Hello. This is a music blog. If you like what you read, I have more reviews at www.toneandgroove.com
Julian Plenti
Julian Plenti is…Skyscraper
Matador Records
Plenti, AKA Paul Banks, lead singer for Interpol, wrote and performed under this name starting in 1996 to 2001. Banks then put Plenti on the back burner until 2006, when he learned how to make music with the software Logic Pro. That program freed him up to compose songs more than any other program he had tried. In 2008 he entered the Seaside Lounge recording studio to finish the songs with engineer Charles Burst, and Skyscraper was the final result.
The music and lyrics sound Interpol like in terms of the melodies and song structure, and Plenti is still trying to make sense of confusing situations lyrically, much like he does in Interpol. There are some big differences though. The music is lighter, less sharp edged, and while there are electric guitars used throughout the album, the overall sound leans towards indie folk, in the sense that these songs were acoustic songs to begin with, then electrified for Skyscraper. Banks sings without a snarl and softer than with Interpol, and the lyrics, while not exactly cheery, have none of the doom and gloom or sardonic humor that are in Interpol’s songs. In the end, this is a really good album, an album to think to, and a good companion piece to any Interpol album. [www.myspace.com/julianplentinyc]
Andrea Weiss
Julian Plenti
Julian Plenti is…Skyscraper
Matador Records
Plenti, AKA Paul Banks, lead singer for Interpol, wrote and performed under this name starting in 1996 to 2001. Banks then put Plenti on the back burner until 2006, when he learned how to make music with the software Logic Pro. That program freed him up to compose songs more than any other program he had tried. In 2008 he entered the Seaside Lounge recording studio to finish the songs with engineer Charles Burst, and Skyscraper was the final result.
The music and lyrics sound Interpol like in terms of the melodies and song structure, and Plenti is still trying to make sense of confusing situations lyrically, much like he does in Interpol. There are some big differences though. The music is lighter, less sharp edged, and while there are electric guitars used throughout the album, the overall sound leans towards indie folk, in the sense that these songs were acoustic songs to begin with, then electrified for Skyscraper. Banks sings without a snarl and softer than with Interpol, and the lyrics, while not exactly cheery, have none of the doom and gloom or sardonic humor that are in Interpol’s songs. In the end, this is a really good album, an album to think to, and a good companion piece to any Interpol album. [www.myspace.com/julianplentinyc]
Andrea Weiss