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REVIEWS (April 2010; Updated 4/23/10):
Beach House
Teen Dream
Beach House pic
Perhaps one of the most-hyped bands of 2010, Beach House belies its sedate, ambient piety with energetic and really, really loud performances. Teen Dream was released in early 2010 and set the course for Beach House's current aesthetic departure from their previous albums' output. Ironically, it took them three albums to get there. But while they were noodling around in the studio for the last five years, cutting two LPs for the Baltimore indie scene, Beach House honed in on an expansive and delicate sound.
Album opener "Zebra" sets the tone for Teen Dream. At a major turn in the chorus, French-born Victoria Legrand's feminine tenor intones, "Anywhere you run / You run before us," and the power behind she and Alex Scally's warm, yet heavy tremolo communicate real power. It's a subtle difference from much of the material on their sophomore release, Devotion, which hinted at the melody and "dream-pop" sound so characteristic of Teen Dream but remains somehow so distinctly separate.
The songs are built around the interplay between Scally's usually-buoyant guitar work and Legrand's ambient synth/piano, which are sometimes completely engrossing. "Walk in the Park" uses a pulsing piano, George Harrison-esque guitars and manages to affect nostalgia, remorse, joy, and the entire spectrum of emotional color for any piece of music. At no point -- and this could be what makes Teen Dream such a satisfying effort -- are you overwhelmed or distracted by the ethereal songscape or by Legrand's melancholy lyricism.
Where Beach House used to leave space for Legrand's vocals and moving, progressive elements within the song, they now seem completely content to just play their instruments. Of course, they've beefed up their sound a bit, with meatier and bolder instrumentation, but they've still managed to retain the beautiful and understated foundation that made their earlier efforts worthwhile.
Judging by what the band has told interviewers, the departure grew out of a necessity to play "bigger" songs and a feeling of complacency with their older, more composed material. Now they bare their teeth through a wash of heavy, distorted mid-range tone, and it seems everyone has finally taken notice of this intelligent and subtle duo. Fresh off a memorable appearance at Coachella, Beach House are white-hot.
[Beach House is playing 4/23/10 at Walter's on Washington, along with glo-fiers Washed Out.]
(Sub Pop Records -- 2013 4th Ave. 3rd Floor, Seattle, WA. 98121; http://www.subpop.com/; Beach House -- http://www.myspace.com/beachhousemusic)
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Dead To The World
Demo
Dead To The World pic
So, I've seen Dead To The World several times now, but I only recently procured their CD at a Röcbar show, and the best thing about it to me was that I recognized some of the songs immediately, so a major pro for this band is the strong continuity between their live and recorded music. They seem to know how to engage the crowd and their environment very well, despite being in an embryonic stage of band development; songs like "Drunk and Loud Punk and Proud" make audiences feel included in the band even if a DTTW show is their first exposure to the band.
The songs on the demo all have a mid-to-fast tempo, with vocal-driven melodies over roaring punk rock guitar, and the kind of rock 'n roll bass and drum rhythm that makes for great driving music. This is a badass CD for anyone interested in the Houston punk rock scene, in particular, but it's still accessible enough that I think anyone can enjoy it.
[Dead To The World is playing the Punk U. II fest 4/11/10 at Cardi's (Pasadena), along with The Dead Rabbits, Chelsea Hotel, Vatos Locos, The Vag Scabs, Pseudo Section, The Cunts, Brutally Normal, Abide, Penny Arcade, Obama Nation, Capital Gain, & The Missfit Girls.]
(self-released; Dead To The World -- http://www.myspace.com/dttwband)
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The Jonx
Vocabularian Herds
The Jonx pic
It's funny, but while The Jonx do generally come off as a "serious" band -- the flat-sounding talk-singing, the complex structures, the furious, almost jam-y feel to some of the songs -- one of my favorite things about 'em is their almost subversive playfulness. These three guys are smart, smart songwriters, the kind of smart where they like playing with words and preconceived notions, turning them on their heads and grinning at you while they're doing it.
The prime example here is "I'm Getting Really Good At Tetris," which is an uncertain, halfway-bitter meditation on long-distance relationships channeled through a pile of razor-sharp '90s post-punk; the lyrics are dark and confused, appropriately enough, but the band shifts to full-on satire midway through, adapting "The Rifleman's Creed" into the awesome "The Long-Distance Boyfriend's Creed": "I must talk longer than my enemy, who is trying to talk to me / I must yell at her before she yells at me."
It's utterly fucking brilliant, skewering both our cellphone-obsessed culture and, well, kind of the male mindset at the same time. It's the kind of song that makes you chuckle ruefully, admiring the sneaky cleverness of it while acknowledging that yeah, it's pretty much dead-on. The band also hits a high point with the lyrics to "Hyphen Machine," an evocative track that likens punctuation to herd animals bred out of some mindless character-generating automaton.
I'd honestly thought these guys were as tight as they could possibly get with their last album, No Turn Jonx Red, but here Herds steps in and makes me revise that opinion. This time out, the trio sound genuinely comfortable with one another, three guys who're making the music they absolutely, truly want to make, and fuck anybody who thinks they should do something different.
They're also to the point where they can branch out a little, which may explain why Herds is pretty much the band's most flat-out "rock" album to date. The Jonx still put their distinctive stamp on things, to be sure, but this feels to me like it's the first time the Jonxers have really intentionally worked to craft real-live rock songs. Not stupid rock songs, by any means, and rock songs that owe a big debt to the band's post-punk forebears, but still.
"Tetris," for one, with its churning but almost deadpan-sounding drive, comes off like Mission of Burma at times, as does the later "Connection." Then there's opener "The Past Is All You Get," which starts off all Minutemen busy-ness and agile bass but shifts towards the end into a classic rock bit that I'd swear is a direct Stones lift, although I can't peg exactly where it's from. Even the aforementioned "Hyphen Machine," a snarling, raw chunk of punkish, heavy, bassy, Drive Like Jehu-y rawk, tosses out some nicely melodic passages and vocal lines that wouldn't sound of out place coming from some proggy, melodic metal band.
Taken together, the three tracks signify somewhat of a change from the band's earlier sound, although there's no telling how solid a shift it'll turn out to be. After all, the same album includes "Diabetic Vet," with its slurring half-stumble, Jawbox-like dissonance, and Slint-y murk (and I have to say that I love how vocalist/drummer Danny Mee's voice cracks and strains, with Mee channeling the title character's bleak worldview like he's lived it himself), and all-instrumental album centerpiece "Highway At Night."
The latter is by far the longest song on here, comprised of just Stu Smith's meandering, beautiful-then-jagged guitar lines gliding along over the top of Danny Mee's steadily-building drums and Trey Lavigne's unwavering, insanely focused bass, the rhythm thundering along like a freight truck going full-tilt somewhere out in the middle of the desert on a dark, moonless night. You can practically hear the white lines of the highway skipping past beneath the tires. Eventually it all builds to a roaring colossus of rhythmic, hypnotic sound, churning and blazing and -- in spite of the length -- impossible to turn off. Put it on at night and just go, anywhere at all, and the world seems to melt away beneath the tires. How many bands out there can do that?
[The Jonx are playing their CD release party 4/9/10 at Rudyar'ds, along with Woozyhelmet, Muhammad Ali, & 500 Megatons of Boogie.]
(Mustache Records -- 322 Aurora Street, Houston, TX. 77008; The Jonx -- http://www.thejonx.org/)
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The Ultra Siberian Pant Factory
Omniumgatherum
The Ultra Siberian Pant Factory pic
This band must really hate writers. How else can you explain naming your band "The Ultra Siberian Pant Factory"? Length and depth of syllables aside, the inclusion of "Pant" and not "Pants," like it should be, is a mother-humper. Then, on top of it all, the band names their album Omniumgatherum. What the fuck is that? Do they realize how many times an album title is used in a typical review? Well, I can tell you in this review it'll only be once, and you just saw it.
Trying to define USPFx -- that's the acronym they use, although I hear they've since shortened the band name to just "The Pant Factory" -- is as difficult as divining how they chose their name. The band's sound is best described as a souped-up combination of Dream Theater and Every Time I Die; just think of the most insanely progressive bunch of metalcore guys you could ever hope to meet, and you'll be right there.
What makes this band so good is that they eschew the "look at me" masturbatory leanings of a typical progressive band. While the band members do play their asses off and have skills that are unparalleled, every note seems to fit the song in which it's played. Guitarist George Heathco is beyond phenomenal. While he does show a Steve Vai or Joe Satriani influence, he also mixes in the sounds of modern acts like math-metallers Dillinger Escape Plan. His backing members are no slouches, either. Both drummer Gus Alvarado and bassist Jack Gordon do a remarkable job in providing a solid foundation for the song while showcasing their own proficiency, as well.
The lone drawback is singer Benjamin Cunningham. I'm sure that he is a nice guy and calls his mother once a week, but his vocals are very off-putting. Most of the time he comes across like a bad Corey Taylor. His growls are far from menacing and about as intimidating as a Twilight fan club meeting, and unfortunately, his clean vocals are about as good. He doesn't seem to possess the ability to hit a nice high note -- whenever he does, it sounds like he's struggling. I don't mean to pick on Mr. Cunningham, but his performance detracts from what his bandmates are playing. On a couple of the tracks, his voice sounds a lot better, so maybe this CD was recorded over a period of time where he was able to progress.
All in all, USPFX has released a very interesting record; it's so well-played that you discover new things every time you hear it.
[The Ultra Siberian Pant Factory (aka The Pant Factory) is playing 4/23/10 at Fitzgerald's, along with Vehement Burn & Giant Battle Monster.]
(self-released; The Pant Factory -- http://www.myspace.com/uspfx)
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