Faber is a punk rock band from somewhere in between Carteret and South Amboy, NJ. These guys are not your average ‘punk’ band though; in their music is some intense amalgamation of punk, ska, metal and a touch of ‘It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.’
The band consists of Alex Heyer on the bass and backing vocals, Mike Fritz on the drums, Joe Porta playing rhythm guitar and singing lead vocals and Tim Rager on lead guitar. Travis Novack is also a part of the band, and is currently rockin’ it from the Middle East with the Marines.
On Saturday, November 7th, Faber played an intimate, invite only, basement show in South Amboy, NJ. The set consisted of seven of the band’s finest songs. To start, the band rocked out J+H(Jekyll and Hyde). This is a really fantastic song, and a perfect way to start a set. It started off with Joe and Tim both hammering on and pulling off notes on the high and low E strings on their guitars. Mike slowly increased the tempo with quicker and quicker drums hits and then Alex slid it on up the neck and brought us into the song. The lyrics of the song are also quite entertaining, as inverse as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Next up the band rocked one of their most intense love ballads of all time: ‘Lagoda’s.’ A little background: Lagoda’s is the most fantastic bar in all of New Jersey, possibly the entire universe. It is located in South Amboy, home (kind of) of Faber. The song features a call to arms to all who appreciate Lagoda’s: “GO! GO! GO! GO! / Let’s all go to Lagoda’s!”
After ‘Lagoda’s’ the band started up with the masterful ska/hard punk fusion song, ‘Living Tragedy.’ The song started up with some ska style up-strumming on the guitar, a solid drum beat and a fancy bass line to get everyone moving, then switched into distortion to get everyone’s heads banging. By the end of the song nobody is quite sure how to dance to it, but they know they enjoyed it.
‘Dismemberment’ poked its head out after ‘Living Tragedy.’ The intro of this song displayed an obvious metal/hard punk influence, but flowed into a more ska/hard punk feel afterward. The lyrics in the song have a fantastically evil feel and growling vocals to put them to the test: “Break out the scalpels, / Break out the chains, / Break out the intricate cutting of blades!” If the name of the song didn’t give away the idea here, the lyrics sure will.
The next song Faber broke out is a cover that should be on the list of ‘Most Awesome Songs a Band Could Ever Cover,’ is a crowd favorite, and it’s where the band gets that little touch of ‘Always Sunny;’ Ladies and Gentelmen, Faber then performed the epic tale that is: ‘Dayman.’ Faber has taken this song and created a slow starting version that speeds up verse after verse and eventually explodes into awesome at the end. Although a short song, and one with simple lyrics, it really brings out the best in the crowd with a lot of ‘Ohhh OHHHH’ing.
The second to last song the band played is called ‘No Void To Fill.’ This is a solid, ska/punk rock song anybody could enjoy; with Mike and Alex, a real solid rhythm section, providing a sweet, skankable, groove, Joe belting out the lyrics with Alex on backup and, and Tim coming through on the breakdown with a sweet lead riff, who could not like it? The final song in Faber’s set was a fantastic number called Carteret City Limits/South Amboy Rock City, or C-Town for short. Essentially the song is about why Carteret sucks as opposed to South Amboy, which rocks.
Faber played a fantastic show on Saturday, Friday also, but that’s another story altogether. These guys really push it to the limit, and put a lot of love into their craft. For more info on them, and to hear some songs including ‘No Void to Fill’ and ‘Dayman’ you can visit their MySpace at www.myspace.com/faber. Also, supporting Faber is supporting the Marines, since one of their band members is over in the Middle East, so check these guys out!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
The Swimmers - People Are Soft
The Swimmers are an Indie synth-pop band from Philadelphia. Their recently released ‘People Are Soft’ is a sophomore effort, recorded in the band’s newly built studio.
‘People Are Soft’ is a relaxing, soft, entrancing album. It starts off with ‘Shelter’ and ‘A Hundred Hearts.’ These two are both heavy on the synthesizer riffs. The Swimmers have essentially taken the guitar out for synthesizer in many places on this album. That’s not to say it doesn’t work however. The rhythm section, drums and bass, does a great job for support and keeps it real, while the synthesizer just multiplies.
‘What This World is Coming To’ is a nice mellow piece. The guitar and synthesizer share beautifully in this song, with some simple drumming and bass playing to even everything out. The song slowly builds in the end with more and more synth layering on to drop off back to just the guitar. After a false ending, the track explodes with sound to fade out once more.
‘Give Me the Sun’ starts off with some vocal harmonies running through a vocoder: “Gimme gimme the sun,” over and over again, sticking around even for the verse. A steady drumbeat accompanies the bass which is running through some fun filter/overdrive effects.
‘Save Me From The Brightness’ sacrifices some of over-abundant synthesizer for real pinao, half of the time. Guitar is also popping its head back into the mix. The song brings about some sort of nostalgia in its lyrical content, a longing for a time when hanging out at the park late at night was the thing to do on a school night: “Hiding out late at night / at the edge of the park.”
‘Nervous Wreck’ is a ballad for the nervous musician. The lyrics reflect the trials and tribulations of performing: “The lights go down and I’m a nervous wreck / crashing on the cymbals and the hiding in the shadows.” This is one of the songs on the album that breaks away from the over-use of synthesizer and instead keeps it in the background to back everything else up.
‘To The Bells’ includes one of the more interesting drum pieces on the album, going beyond just keeping time like a metronome. ‘Dress Don’t Fit’ starts again with the simple rhythm section backing some guitar and really low volume, backing synthesizer riffs in the background.
‘Anything Together’ and ‘Try To Settle In’ continue on with a lot of synthesizer, harmonized vocals and simple rhythm section droning. ‘People Are Soft’ is fun to listen to, and very accessible and easy to enjoy, but it lacks a lot of ‘meat.’ For anyone who is a fan of the sound of Eighties pop-rock’s heavy use of corny synthesizer sounds(think ‘The Final Countdown’), this is something to be treasured. All together the album is a solid listen, and very relaxing, but leaves one wanting more.
‘People Are Soft’ is a relaxing, soft, entrancing album. It starts off with ‘Shelter’ and ‘A Hundred Hearts.’ These two are both heavy on the synthesizer riffs. The Swimmers have essentially taken the guitar out for synthesizer in many places on this album. That’s not to say it doesn’t work however. The rhythm section, drums and bass, does a great job for support and keeps it real, while the synthesizer just multiplies.
‘What This World is Coming To’ is a nice mellow piece. The guitar and synthesizer share beautifully in this song, with some simple drumming and bass playing to even everything out. The song slowly builds in the end with more and more synth layering on to drop off back to just the guitar. After a false ending, the track explodes with sound to fade out once more.
‘Give Me the Sun’ starts off with some vocal harmonies running through a vocoder: “Gimme gimme the sun,” over and over again, sticking around even for the verse. A steady drumbeat accompanies the bass which is running through some fun filter/overdrive effects.
‘Save Me From The Brightness’ sacrifices some of over-abundant synthesizer for real pinao, half of the time. Guitar is also popping its head back into the mix. The song brings about some sort of nostalgia in its lyrical content, a longing for a time when hanging out at the park late at night was the thing to do on a school night: “Hiding out late at night / at the edge of the park.”
‘Nervous Wreck’ is a ballad for the nervous musician. The lyrics reflect the trials and tribulations of performing: “The lights go down and I’m a nervous wreck / crashing on the cymbals and the hiding in the shadows.” This is one of the songs on the album that breaks away from the over-use of synthesizer and instead keeps it in the background to back everything else up.
‘To The Bells’ includes one of the more interesting drum pieces on the album, going beyond just keeping time like a metronome. ‘Dress Don’t Fit’ starts again with the simple rhythm section backing some guitar and really low volume, backing synthesizer riffs in the background.
‘Anything Together’ and ‘Try To Settle In’ continue on with a lot of synthesizer, harmonized vocals and simple rhythm section droning. ‘People Are Soft’ is fun to listen to, and very accessible and easy to enjoy, but it lacks a lot of ‘meat.’ For anyone who is a fan of the sound of Eighties pop-rock’s heavy use of corny synthesizer sounds(think ‘The Final Countdown’), this is something to be treasured. All together the album is a solid listen, and very relaxing, but leaves one wanting more.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
By a Thread - Gov't Mule
Gov’t Mule blow it out again with their new release ‘By a Thread.’ Spanning all sorts of fantastic rock amalgamations such as blues , country , and classic(even the acoustic ballad), By a Thread adds a wonderful mix of tunes to Mule’s repertoire.
‘Broke Down on the Brazos’ features a special guest, Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top. You can feel Mule’s bluesy rock-out clashing with Billy’s awesome playing and creating some wonderful music. The song chugs along, with intermittent solos and jamming, to fade out in the end, giving way to Steppin’ Lightly, another high powered number. ‘Steppin’ Lightly’ starts out pretty loudly, but proceeds to get a little funky through the verse. The chorus also totally blows it out in an unexpected chord progression that varies so much from the rest of the song it could be a totally different track, but Mule is skilled and creative enough to pull it off brilliantly. ‘Steppin’ Lightly’ is also equipped with a false ending about two minutes out, that gives way to a fantastic guitar solo.
‘Railroad Boy’ tones it down a bit to start, but after the introduction regains massive energy. The guitar bit in the beginning accompanied by Warren Haynes’ vocals is hauntingly perfect for this traditional folk song, but when the whole band comes in, the flavor of Gov’t Mule takes effect and does a fine job. The middle of the song gives way to a powerful jam, including awesome slide guitar and keyboards, taking total advantage of the space these traditional folk songs provide for a fun jam. The song drags out with some eerie keyboard sounds and gives way to a delayed and highly effects driven guitar to start ‘Monday Mourning Meltdown.’
‘Monday Mourning Meltdown’ really does seem to illustrate its namesake in the music. The soul and emotion contained in this song are oozing over the top. The entire song escalates to the keyboard and guitar solo at the end, which is followed by a yet again haunting Warren chanting ‘How do you like me now that I’m not around.’
‘Gordon James’ goes into a totally different direction than the previous songs, with a light organ piece in the intro followed by some acoustic guitar and lyrics. The acoustic guitar continues until the entire band explodes onto the scene, working their magic. The slide guitar is superb and heartfelt, perfect for the song’s feel. ‘Gordon James’ falls out the same way it came in with some acoustic guitar and organ.
‘Any Open Window’ rocks it out right away, almost too high powered to follow ‘Gordon James,’ but still perfectly placed. The song has some lyrics but focuses heavily on guitar solos. Warren does a fantastic job (expect nothing less), and the rest of the band backs him like a brick wall.
‘Frozen Fear’ is really toned down and mellow, definitely an element of reggae music mixed in with the bluesy-rock which produces something beautiful. The song is just so positive, musically and lyrically. Warren gives some good advice in the song: “Don’t be afraid, to live your life my dear.”
‘Forevermore’ is a gorgeous love ballad. It starts out as only acoustic guitar and lyrics, and escalates into an amazing piece. Mule comes together on this one to create a fantastic love song. The lyrics totally take the foreground at points in the song, which is hard to do with the instrumentals these guys produce: “Can’t ya see, my whole world is nothing without you / I can feel the rain fall down / like tears upon my shoulders / but I can’t feel my love / she’s gone forevermore.”
‘Inside Outside Woman Blues #3’ is the heavy weight on the album, coming to nine minutes and three seconds, not a moment of which is wasted. Both musically and lyrically this song gets to the heart of the blues. The lyrics are brilliant throughout the whole composition, even hilarious at times: “At the end of the day want someone to keep him warm / somebody to keep him warm and somebody to set him on fire / Ya know what I’m talking about!?”
‘Scenes from a Troubled Mind’ is a highly structured track, a suite even, comparable to maybe an ‘Achilles Last Stand’ or ‘Terrapin Station.’ You can tell the band put a lot of work into this song. The instrumentals are key, and while it is set up very tightly, there are still fills and riffs around every corner.
‘World Wake Up’ is the final track on By a Thread. It ends the album perfectly, and inversely to how it began. The song is very mellow and has a lot of beautiful keyboard in it; Danny Louis is masterful in the creation of his tone and use of it. The song ends on an eerie note, all instruments ringing out while the song fades out.
‘Broke Down on the Brazos’ features a special guest, Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top. You can feel Mule’s bluesy rock-out clashing with Billy’s awesome playing and creating some wonderful music. The song chugs along, with intermittent solos and jamming, to fade out in the end, giving way to Steppin’ Lightly, another high powered number. ‘Steppin’ Lightly’ starts out pretty loudly, but proceeds to get a little funky through the verse. The chorus also totally blows it out in an unexpected chord progression that varies so much from the rest of the song it could be a totally different track, but Mule is skilled and creative enough to pull it off brilliantly. ‘Steppin’ Lightly’ is also equipped with a false ending about two minutes out, that gives way to a fantastic guitar solo.
‘Railroad Boy’ tones it down a bit to start, but after the introduction regains massive energy. The guitar bit in the beginning accompanied by Warren Haynes’ vocals is hauntingly perfect for this traditional folk song, but when the whole band comes in, the flavor of Gov’t Mule takes effect and does a fine job. The middle of the song gives way to a powerful jam, including awesome slide guitar and keyboards, taking total advantage of the space these traditional folk songs provide for a fun jam. The song drags out with some eerie keyboard sounds and gives way to a delayed and highly effects driven guitar to start ‘Monday Mourning Meltdown.’
‘Monday Mourning Meltdown’ really does seem to illustrate its namesake in the music. The soul and emotion contained in this song are oozing over the top. The entire song escalates to the keyboard and guitar solo at the end, which is followed by a yet again haunting Warren chanting ‘How do you like me now that I’m not around.’
‘Gordon James’ goes into a totally different direction than the previous songs, with a light organ piece in the intro followed by some acoustic guitar and lyrics. The acoustic guitar continues until the entire band explodes onto the scene, working their magic. The slide guitar is superb and heartfelt, perfect for the song’s feel. ‘Gordon James’ falls out the same way it came in with some acoustic guitar and organ.
‘Any Open Window’ rocks it out right away, almost too high powered to follow ‘Gordon James,’ but still perfectly placed. The song has some lyrics but focuses heavily on guitar solos. Warren does a fantastic job (expect nothing less), and the rest of the band backs him like a brick wall.
‘Frozen Fear’ is really toned down and mellow, definitely an element of reggae music mixed in with the bluesy-rock which produces something beautiful. The song is just so positive, musically and lyrically. Warren gives some good advice in the song: “Don’t be afraid, to live your life my dear.”
‘Forevermore’ is a gorgeous love ballad. It starts out as only acoustic guitar and lyrics, and escalates into an amazing piece. Mule comes together on this one to create a fantastic love song. The lyrics totally take the foreground at points in the song, which is hard to do with the instrumentals these guys produce: “Can’t ya see, my whole world is nothing without you / I can feel the rain fall down / like tears upon my shoulders / but I can’t feel my love / she’s gone forevermore.”
‘Inside Outside Woman Blues #3’ is the heavy weight on the album, coming to nine minutes and three seconds, not a moment of which is wasted. Both musically and lyrically this song gets to the heart of the blues. The lyrics are brilliant throughout the whole composition, even hilarious at times: “At the end of the day want someone to keep him warm / somebody to keep him warm and somebody to set him on fire / Ya know what I’m talking about!?”
‘Scenes from a Troubled Mind’ is a highly structured track, a suite even, comparable to maybe an ‘Achilles Last Stand’ or ‘Terrapin Station.’ You can tell the band put a lot of work into this song. The instrumentals are key, and while it is set up very tightly, there are still fills and riffs around every corner.
‘World Wake Up’ is the final track on By a Thread. It ends the album perfectly, and inversely to how it began. The song is very mellow and has a lot of beautiful keyboard in it; Danny Louis is masterful in the creation of his tone and use of it. The song ends on an eerie note, all instruments ringing out while the song fades out.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
White Denim - Fits
White Denim are an unclassifiable, musical entity out of Austin, Texas. Their recent album Fits was released on Tuesday. This is an awesome band that everybody should be checking out. This album alone encompasses everything from folk, to filthy raw beats and sounds to 60’s style psychedelic rock, to the acoustic love ballad.
Fits starts off with a song called ‘Radio Milk How Can You Stand It.’ This piece is a power packed high energy song that feels a lot like Geezer Butler and Frank Zappa playing in a punk band. It has a strong driving bass, loud drums and some vocals that seem to just be asking ‘how can you stand it?’
‘All Consolation’ carries the same garage vibe and repetitive vocals as it’s predecessor but feels a bit more like it came out of a time machine. You can already tell White Denim have a thing for a sick, driving rhythm section. The song fades out on a strange drum solo at the end.
‘Say What You Want’ is a pretty standard rock tune to start, but alas, deception. The band breaks out into an instrumental jam that is accompanied by either a sitar, or someone who can make their guitar sound like a sitar.
‘El Hard Attack DCWYW’ blasts out of the ashes of the previous song, and is the most erratic one yet with its all over instrumentals. As well as erratic, it’s exotic. There are some seemingly Spanish lyrics shouted in the first break, going back to English in the second.
‘I Start To Run’ would be a Primus song if it didn’t know any better. The bass is thumping and technical at times, leading the pack while the guitar inserts little bits of flavor over the intense funky jam. The song goes out with some harmonized vocals and eventually some strange guitar part that leads into ‘Sex Prayer.’
‘Sex Prayer’ reaches back into the same time machine ‘All Consolation’ came out of. The song has a really psychedelic feel, and is totally instrumental. The bass keeps it on the high end of the octave while the guitar chimes through even higher with an amalgamation of effects that make it sound like a keyboard. The song on the whole is very trance inducing and cuts off very abruptly at the end.
‘Mirrored and Reverse’ starts off with more trance inducing instrumentals and adds another layer of harmonizing vocals on top just to make it that much better. This is the last song on the album that sounds similar to its preceding songs. ‘Paint Yourself’ while still holding onto the garage feel, becomes more poppy and upbeat. This feels like a love song, with a fitting acoustic guitar, as well as some parts on an electric guitar. The drums are wholly different here than from the rest of the album, very refined and consistent.
‘I’d Have It Just The Way We Were’ continues in the smooth, poppy romantic song trend but regains the drumming that really sets this band apart. Strangely, the bass seems to be way down on the volume scale, or absent entirely. The intensity picks up for a bit at the end, but finishes on a nice, classy cymbal crash.
‘Everybody Somebody’ opens up with an amazing guitar run going until the lyrics pick up. The rhythm section is again rocking it, bass seemingly running through effects and the drummer seemingly playing with more than two arms. Towards the middle of the song there is a really clean, spot on guitar solo that builds off what it introduced us to in the opening riff.
‘Regina Holding Hands’ is a really beautiful ballad starting with acoustic guitar and those awesome, creepy, multi-track vocals that always add another dimension to a love song. It takes about halfway into the song for the rest of the band to start up, and the chorus kicks in moaning ‘Ohhhh Regina.’
‘Regina Holding Hands’ gives way to the last song on the album, ‘Syncn.’ ‘Syncn’ starts off light with some low guitar and muted cymbals eventually building and falling off with about a minute left to reveal an awesome jam with lots of ‘La La’ing that will surely get the crowd going when played live. Keep White Denim in mind for your next CD buy, this is a highly entertaining album that will not disappoint.
Fits starts off with a song called ‘Radio Milk How Can You Stand It.’ This piece is a power packed high energy song that feels a lot like Geezer Butler and Frank Zappa playing in a punk band. It has a strong driving bass, loud drums and some vocals that seem to just be asking ‘how can you stand it?’
‘All Consolation’ carries the same garage vibe and repetitive vocals as it’s predecessor but feels a bit more like it came out of a time machine. You can already tell White Denim have a thing for a sick, driving rhythm section. The song fades out on a strange drum solo at the end.
‘Say What You Want’ is a pretty standard rock tune to start, but alas, deception. The band breaks out into an instrumental jam that is accompanied by either a sitar, or someone who can make their guitar sound like a sitar.
‘El Hard Attack DCWYW’ blasts out of the ashes of the previous song, and is the most erratic one yet with its all over instrumentals. As well as erratic, it’s exotic. There are some seemingly Spanish lyrics shouted in the first break, going back to English in the second.
‘I Start To Run’ would be a Primus song if it didn’t know any better. The bass is thumping and technical at times, leading the pack while the guitar inserts little bits of flavor over the intense funky jam. The song goes out with some harmonized vocals and eventually some strange guitar part that leads into ‘Sex Prayer.’
‘Sex Prayer’ reaches back into the same time machine ‘All Consolation’ came out of. The song has a really psychedelic feel, and is totally instrumental. The bass keeps it on the high end of the octave while the guitar chimes through even higher with an amalgamation of effects that make it sound like a keyboard. The song on the whole is very trance inducing and cuts off very abruptly at the end.
‘Mirrored and Reverse’ starts off with more trance inducing instrumentals and adds another layer of harmonizing vocals on top just to make it that much better. This is the last song on the album that sounds similar to its preceding songs. ‘Paint Yourself’ while still holding onto the garage feel, becomes more poppy and upbeat. This feels like a love song, with a fitting acoustic guitar, as well as some parts on an electric guitar. The drums are wholly different here than from the rest of the album, very refined and consistent.
‘I’d Have It Just The Way We Were’ continues in the smooth, poppy romantic song trend but regains the drumming that really sets this band apart. Strangely, the bass seems to be way down on the volume scale, or absent entirely. The intensity picks up for a bit at the end, but finishes on a nice, classy cymbal crash.
‘Everybody Somebody’ opens up with an amazing guitar run going until the lyrics pick up. The rhythm section is again rocking it, bass seemingly running through effects and the drummer seemingly playing with more than two arms. Towards the middle of the song there is a really clean, spot on guitar solo that builds off what it introduced us to in the opening riff.
‘Regina Holding Hands’ is a really beautiful ballad starting with acoustic guitar and those awesome, creepy, multi-track vocals that always add another dimension to a love song. It takes about halfway into the song for the rest of the band to start up, and the chorus kicks in moaning ‘Ohhhh Regina.’
‘Regina Holding Hands’ gives way to the last song on the album, ‘Syncn.’ ‘Syncn’ starts off light with some low guitar and muted cymbals eventually building and falling off with about a minute left to reveal an awesome jam with lots of ‘La La’ing that will surely get the crowd going when played live. Keep White Denim in mind for your next CD buy, this is a highly entertaining album that will not disappoint.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Flaming Lips - Embryonic
Wayne Coyne is back with the Flaming Lips and ‘Embyonic,’ their newest material since the release of ‘At War with the Mystics’ in 2006, and this time he’s not only being joined by his friend weird, but dark and experimental are also hanging out on the new CD as well. ‘Embryonic’ is one of the most experimental Flaming Lips works ever, excluding ‘Zaireeka,’ but most people haven’t really ‘listened’ to that anyway.
‘Embryonic’ is truly what it must sound like to drip into insanity. It starts off with some strange blips and sounds from the song called ‘Convinced of the Hex.’ This song is quite trance inducing, as are some of the other songs on the album. ‘The Sparrow Looks Up at the Machine’ continues entrancing, and leads into an infinitely calmer song, ‘Evil.’ ‘Evil’ is as smooth as butter to start off but gets very dark instrumentally somewhere near the middle, but reverts to is original state soon after. All over the song are desires for time travel and understanding. ‘Evil’ leads into ‘Aquarius Sabotage’ (one of five zodiacally named songs on ‘Embryonic’) and ‘See the Leaves,’ two hard hitting, psychedelic rock songs that both taper off into eventual silence, foreshadowing ‘If,’ ‘Gemini Syringes’ and ‘Your Bats,’ which just chug along and drip so slowly and quietly, the equivalent of some new age, psychedelic folk songs. Eventually ‘Powerless’ starts up to end the first disc. ‘Powerless’ is as awesome a disc ender as ‘Convinced of the Hex’ was a start to the album. It maintains essentially the same backing instrumentals but slowly builds and gets louder, with more intense soloing over until it drops off into a strange whirring static.
‘The Ego’s Last Stand’ starts the second disc with a strange, dark, guitar that slowly builds with the bass, drums, keyboards and an eerie harmony fronted by Wayne Coyne’s extremely dark lyrics: “The only way out / Is to destroy all traces / Oh, destroy yourself / There's no way back / There's complete devastation.” ‘I Can Be a Frog’ is one of two songs featuring Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. Throughout the song Wayne Coyne is naming animals he “can be”, and Karen O is making animal sounds and laughing in the background. ‘Sagittarius Silver Announcement’ is another entrancing song which keeps a steady bass riff and a haunting moaning and counting along with some complimentary ‘other sounds’ (for lack of a better word, Lips fans will understand). ‘Sagittarius Silver Announcement’ leads into ‘Worm Mountain’ featuring MGMT. First thoughts upon listening to this song might be ‘Geezer Butler?’ or ‘awesome!’ or probably both. It’s a very intense song, and it is awesome to hear the boys from MGMT getting together with the Lips. The song ends with some keyboard type sounds to calm everyone down and fades out very quickly. ‘Scorpio Sword’ literally cuts through like a sword with its first few guitar notes and quickly turns strange. The song is seemingly devoid of any structure and sounds something like a monster attacking with a drum solo playing in the background. ‘The Impulse’ takes it down quite a few notches. The lyrics seem to be run through some sort of vocoder akin to ‘Daft Punk.’ ‘Silver Trembling Hands’ starts off with a lot of ‘Ah’ing and a really solid rhythm section. Similar to many songs off of ‘Embryonic’ it totally morphs into something different towards the end, but regains it’s intense bass and drums just in time to end. ‘Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast’ consists mostly of ‘ah’ sounds, almost inaudible jungle sounds, and strange, sharp, bursts of sound. The jungle sounds keep going into the final song, ‘Watching the Planets,’ the other song featuring Karen O. The song builds up with lots of drums and Wayne and Karen singing together (Karen is mostly making sounds, but it counts). Lyrically the song ends the album perfectly with the line “finding that there ain’t no answer to find” and sums up the work pretty perfectly.
‘Embryonic’ is truly what it must sound like to drip into insanity. It starts off with some strange blips and sounds from the song called ‘Convinced of the Hex.’ This song is quite trance inducing, as are some of the other songs on the album. ‘The Sparrow Looks Up at the Machine’ continues entrancing, and leads into an infinitely calmer song, ‘Evil.’ ‘Evil’ is as smooth as butter to start off but gets very dark instrumentally somewhere near the middle, but reverts to is original state soon after. All over the song are desires for time travel and understanding. ‘Evil’ leads into ‘Aquarius Sabotage’ (one of five zodiacally named songs on ‘Embryonic’) and ‘See the Leaves,’ two hard hitting, psychedelic rock songs that both taper off into eventual silence, foreshadowing ‘If,’ ‘Gemini Syringes’ and ‘Your Bats,’ which just chug along and drip so slowly and quietly, the equivalent of some new age, psychedelic folk songs. Eventually ‘Powerless’ starts up to end the first disc. ‘Powerless’ is as awesome a disc ender as ‘Convinced of the Hex’ was a start to the album. It maintains essentially the same backing instrumentals but slowly builds and gets louder, with more intense soloing over until it drops off into a strange whirring static.
‘The Ego’s Last Stand’ starts the second disc with a strange, dark, guitar that slowly builds with the bass, drums, keyboards and an eerie harmony fronted by Wayne Coyne’s extremely dark lyrics: “The only way out / Is to destroy all traces / Oh, destroy yourself / There's no way back / There's complete devastation.” ‘I Can Be a Frog’ is one of two songs featuring Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. Throughout the song Wayne Coyne is naming animals he “can be”, and Karen O is making animal sounds and laughing in the background. ‘Sagittarius Silver Announcement’ is another entrancing song which keeps a steady bass riff and a haunting moaning and counting along with some complimentary ‘other sounds’ (for lack of a better word, Lips fans will understand). ‘Sagittarius Silver Announcement’ leads into ‘Worm Mountain’ featuring MGMT. First thoughts upon listening to this song might be ‘Geezer Butler?’ or ‘awesome!’ or probably both. It’s a very intense song, and it is awesome to hear the boys from MGMT getting together with the Lips. The song ends with some keyboard type sounds to calm everyone down and fades out very quickly. ‘Scorpio Sword’ literally cuts through like a sword with its first few guitar notes and quickly turns strange. The song is seemingly devoid of any structure and sounds something like a monster attacking with a drum solo playing in the background. ‘The Impulse’ takes it down quite a few notches. The lyrics seem to be run through some sort of vocoder akin to ‘Daft Punk.’ ‘Silver Trembling Hands’ starts off with a lot of ‘Ah’ing and a really solid rhythm section. Similar to many songs off of ‘Embryonic’ it totally morphs into something different towards the end, but regains it’s intense bass and drums just in time to end. ‘Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast’ consists mostly of ‘ah’ sounds, almost inaudible jungle sounds, and strange, sharp, bursts of sound. The jungle sounds keep going into the final song, ‘Watching the Planets,’ the other song featuring Karen O. The song builds up with lots of drums and Wayne and Karen singing together (Karen is mostly making sounds, but it counts). Lyrically the song ends the album perfectly with the line “finding that there ain’t no answer to find” and sums up the work pretty perfectly.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Everclear's In a Different Light
Everclear’s In a Different Light is an acoustic rerecording of many of the band’s past hits and some new songs as well. Art Alexakis reformed Everclear and signed to a new label, 429 Records, with this album.
In a Different Light starts out with one of the band’s most recognized hits off the album So Much For The Afterglow, ‘Everything to Everyone.’ The song starts off with its signature keyboard droning and kicks in with acoustic guitar and simple drums. The song itself is very stripped down from the original version, and the maturity in Art’s voice can be heard after twelve years since the song was originally recorded.
The second rerecorded song on the album is a heartfelt version of ‘ Wonderful.’ The song itself is quite powerful in its original form on Songs From an American Movie, Vol. 1: Learning How To Smile, but the stripped down acoustic and again an older Art Alexakis creates a very different experience of the song.
‘At The End Of The Day’ is a brand new song that was never included on an album. It was written by art in 2004 but didn’t make the cut until now. It features some very gospel singer style backup vocals and great acoustic piano pieces. The lyrics are very different from classic Everclear, and more reflective on Art and his past: “I know / I would do it all again / At the end of the day.”
‘Santa Monica’ is one of the songs that put Everclear on the map back in 1995 with the album Sparkle and Fade. The song starts off with a nice little keyboard piece and continues with the acoustic guitar. The drums kick in at the second verse and the song really takes off after that. The acoustic rerecording hasn’t taken any of the original flavor away, just twisted it around.
‘Summerland’ comes after ‘Santa Monica’ on In A Different Light just as it did on Sparkle and Fade. ‘Summerland’ is a classic example of the dark lyrics Art has installed into many of the older Everclear songs: “I think I lost my smile / I think you lost yours too / We have lost the power to / Make each other laugh.”
‘Here Comes the Darkness’ is the other song on In a Different Light that is new. It was originally going to be recorded for 2006’s Welcome to the Drama Club. This song seems to be a middle ground between older Everclear and the new Everclear. It still holds on to some of the darkness but has a little of the maturity of the Art Alexakis of 2009.
‘Father of Mine,’ quite possibly one of the most well known Everclear songs, has also made the cut for the new album. The stripped down version is a noble attempt, but the original recording from So Much For The Afterglow contains so much more power and emotion, something that this song is built on.
‘Rock Star,’ originally off of Songs from an American Movie, Vol 2: Good Time for a Bad Attitude, is one of those forgotten songs. Good Time for a Bad Attitude never came to much recognition, even though ‘Rock Star’ was one of the singles released for the album. In the song Art sings “I don’t want to be a loser / I don’t want to be an almost was / I don’t wan to be a white trash working class chump / I don’t to be a loser anymore.” It seems quite ironic the song declaring this never made it while Everclear themselves did become rock stars to some degree.
‘Learning How to Smile’ is another one off its self titled album. It’s something of a country music style story song for alt rock. ‘I Will Buy You a New Life’ is another awesome hit off So Much For The Afterglow. While the song has lost some of the energy in the stripped down version, it has gained a lot of sincerity. Acoustic guitar is a perfect transition for this song.
It’s awesome that Everclear is back, but it is a bit sad that In A Different Light is the last album that will be featuring the old Everclear lineup. Art has unfortunately totally recreated the group after this recording and will be touring and recording with the new Everclear. So long 90’s Alternative Superheroes, hello Adult Alternative hits list.
In a Different Light starts out with one of the band’s most recognized hits off the album So Much For The Afterglow, ‘Everything to Everyone.’ The song starts off with its signature keyboard droning and kicks in with acoustic guitar and simple drums. The song itself is very stripped down from the original version, and the maturity in Art’s voice can be heard after twelve years since the song was originally recorded.
The second rerecorded song on the album is a heartfelt version of ‘ Wonderful.’ The song itself is quite powerful in its original form on Songs From an American Movie, Vol. 1: Learning How To Smile, but the stripped down acoustic and again an older Art Alexakis creates a very different experience of the song.
‘At The End Of The Day’ is a brand new song that was never included on an album. It was written by art in 2004 but didn’t make the cut until now. It features some very gospel singer style backup vocals and great acoustic piano pieces. The lyrics are very different from classic Everclear, and more reflective on Art and his past: “I know / I would do it all again / At the end of the day.”
‘Santa Monica’ is one of the songs that put Everclear on the map back in 1995 with the album Sparkle and Fade. The song starts off with a nice little keyboard piece and continues with the acoustic guitar. The drums kick in at the second verse and the song really takes off after that. The acoustic rerecording hasn’t taken any of the original flavor away, just twisted it around.
‘Summerland’ comes after ‘Santa Monica’ on In A Different Light just as it did on Sparkle and Fade. ‘Summerland’ is a classic example of the dark lyrics Art has installed into many of the older Everclear songs: “I think I lost my smile / I think you lost yours too / We have lost the power to / Make each other laugh.”
‘Here Comes the Darkness’ is the other song on In a Different Light that is new. It was originally going to be recorded for 2006’s Welcome to the Drama Club. This song seems to be a middle ground between older Everclear and the new Everclear. It still holds on to some of the darkness but has a little of the maturity of the Art Alexakis of 2009.
‘Father of Mine,’ quite possibly one of the most well known Everclear songs, has also made the cut for the new album. The stripped down version is a noble attempt, but the original recording from So Much For The Afterglow contains so much more power and emotion, something that this song is built on.
‘Rock Star,’ originally off of Songs from an American Movie, Vol 2: Good Time for a Bad Attitude, is one of those forgotten songs. Good Time for a Bad Attitude never came to much recognition, even though ‘Rock Star’ was one of the singles released for the album. In the song Art sings “I don’t want to be a loser / I don’t want to be an almost was / I don’t wan to be a white trash working class chump / I don’t to be a loser anymore.” It seems quite ironic the song declaring this never made it while Everclear themselves did become rock stars to some degree.
‘Learning How to Smile’ is another one off its self titled album. It’s something of a country music style story song for alt rock. ‘I Will Buy You a New Life’ is another awesome hit off So Much For The Afterglow. While the song has lost some of the energy in the stripped down version, it has gained a lot of sincerity. Acoustic guitar is a perfect transition for this song.
It’s awesome that Everclear is back, but it is a bit sad that In A Different Light is the last album that will be featuring the old Everclear lineup. Art has unfortunately totally recreated the group after this recording and will be touring and recording with the new Everclear. So long 90’s Alternative Superheroes, hello Adult Alternative hits list.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
blast from the past- London Calling
London Calling is a landmark album release by The Clash in 1979. It marks a big change in the style of music being written by the band, and is influential for many bands in a wide style of genres from punk and pop to third-wave ska.
The title track for the album, ‘London Calling’ blasts through right away with a powerful and very recognizable bass riff. Even if you think you don’t know The Clash, you know ‘London Calling’. The lyrics of the song powerfully invoke images of some post-apocalyptic, war zone London: “London calling to the faraway towns / Now that war is declared and battle come down.”
Just a couple tracks later, the band takes a complete one hundred and eighty degree turn with the song ‘Jimmy Jazz.’ Where ‘London Calling’ was a bit of a harder punk song, the influence for ‘Jimmy Jazz’ lies quite clearly on the shoulders of reggae. A powerful walking bass-line, some up-strummed guitar chords and fantastic horns really keep it mellow.
‘Rudie Can’t Fail’ is another song heavily influenced by early Jamaican ska and reggae, with a bit of punk flavor. The heavy Jamaican influence is not only heard in the music of the song, similar to ‘Jimmy Jazz,’ but also in the spoken and written lyrics. The song itself is about a ‘rudie,’ or a delinquent Jamaican youth heavily involved in the early ska scene. Aside from all the Jamaican lyrics influence, it seems as if they may also be poking a bit of fun at organized society; In this you can see the early ska and reggae music being fused with punk ideals.
A lot of punk and pop sound shines through in ‘Lost In the Supermarket,’ musically and idealistically. In particular the lyrics of this song are quite powerful, touching on psychology and mental disorder, the mark of the educated punk deity who is Joe Strummer. Stuff like “I wasn’t born so much as I fell out” and “I heard the people who lived on the ceiling / Scream and fight most scarily / Hearing that noise was my first ever feeling / That’s how it’s been all around me” reveals a certain air of a distorted childhood, a hallmark of modern punk music. This song also pokes some fun at society like ‘Rudie Can’t Fail.’
‘The Guns of Brixton’ is an awesome anthem of civil unrest with lyrics that depict a rough time in London: ‘When the law break in / How you gonna go? / With your hands on your head / Or on the trigger of your gun?” The tune is the only Clash song written solely by bassist Paul Simonon, featuring him on lead vocal duties, that was released by the band. Simonon drew his influence for ‘The Guns of Brixton’ from growing up in Brixton, South London and the civil unrest of the people versus the brutal police activity that was taking place at the time of the song’s writing.
With all the other serious themes like drugs, revolution, sex and society going on in ‘London Calling,’ The Clash still had the time to throw in a classic song about heartbreak at the end called ‘Train in Vain (Stand by Me).’ ‘Train in Vain’ was originally not going to be included on the original 1979 release of ‘London Calling’ but was a last minute addition and therefore is not included on track listings for the original album.
The Clash are one of the most recognizable bands in the beginning of the English Punk movement and ‘London Calling’ is one of the most powerful albums released by the band, and even one of the most fantastic albums to come out of the glorious 1970’s. The influence of this band and album can be seen in so many different musical groups of many genres. In the punk scene it’s clear that guys like Rancid were heavily influenced by The Clash with such ballads of unrest as ‘Arrested in Shanghai.’ In the third-wave ska scene, a band that is heavily influenced by the Clash is the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. You can catch this band’s level of appreciation by the spirit with which they cover ‘Rudie Can’t Fail’ at their live concerts. It’s clear Sublime has also drawn from The Clash’s rich infusion of punk, ska, and early reggae music. These are only a few examples of the wide effect ‘London Calling’ and The Clash have had on music as a whole, never mind the effect they have had on society and culture from their heyday through the times we live in now.
The title track for the album, ‘London Calling’ blasts through right away with a powerful and very recognizable bass riff. Even if you think you don’t know The Clash, you know ‘London Calling’. The lyrics of the song powerfully invoke images of some post-apocalyptic, war zone London: “London calling to the faraway towns / Now that war is declared and battle come down.”
Just a couple tracks later, the band takes a complete one hundred and eighty degree turn with the song ‘Jimmy Jazz.’ Where ‘London Calling’ was a bit of a harder punk song, the influence for ‘Jimmy Jazz’ lies quite clearly on the shoulders of reggae. A powerful walking bass-line, some up-strummed guitar chords and fantastic horns really keep it mellow.
‘Rudie Can’t Fail’ is another song heavily influenced by early Jamaican ska and reggae, with a bit of punk flavor. The heavy Jamaican influence is not only heard in the music of the song, similar to ‘Jimmy Jazz,’ but also in the spoken and written lyrics. The song itself is about a ‘rudie,’ or a delinquent Jamaican youth heavily involved in the early ska scene. Aside from all the Jamaican lyrics influence, it seems as if they may also be poking a bit of fun at organized society; In this you can see the early ska and reggae music being fused with punk ideals.
A lot of punk and pop sound shines through in ‘Lost In the Supermarket,’ musically and idealistically. In particular the lyrics of this song are quite powerful, touching on psychology and mental disorder, the mark of the educated punk deity who is Joe Strummer. Stuff like “I wasn’t born so much as I fell out” and “I heard the people who lived on the ceiling / Scream and fight most scarily / Hearing that noise was my first ever feeling / That’s how it’s been all around me” reveals a certain air of a distorted childhood, a hallmark of modern punk music. This song also pokes some fun at society like ‘Rudie Can’t Fail.’
‘The Guns of Brixton’ is an awesome anthem of civil unrest with lyrics that depict a rough time in London: ‘When the law break in / How you gonna go? / With your hands on your head / Or on the trigger of your gun?” The tune is the only Clash song written solely by bassist Paul Simonon, featuring him on lead vocal duties, that was released by the band. Simonon drew his influence for ‘The Guns of Brixton’ from growing up in Brixton, South London and the civil unrest of the people versus the brutal police activity that was taking place at the time of the song’s writing.
With all the other serious themes like drugs, revolution, sex and society going on in ‘London Calling,’ The Clash still had the time to throw in a classic song about heartbreak at the end called ‘Train in Vain (Stand by Me).’ ‘Train in Vain’ was originally not going to be included on the original 1979 release of ‘London Calling’ but was a last minute addition and therefore is not included on track listings for the original album.
The Clash are one of the most recognizable bands in the beginning of the English Punk movement and ‘London Calling’ is one of the most powerful albums released by the band, and even one of the most fantastic albums to come out of the glorious 1970’s. The influence of this band and album can be seen in so many different musical groups of many genres. In the punk scene it’s clear that guys like Rancid were heavily influenced by The Clash with such ballads of unrest as ‘Arrested in Shanghai.’ In the third-wave ska scene, a band that is heavily influenced by the Clash is the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. You can catch this band’s level of appreciation by the spirit with which they cover ‘Rudie Can’t Fail’ at their live concerts. It’s clear Sublime has also drawn from The Clash’s rich infusion of punk, ska, and early reggae music. These are only a few examples of the wide effect ‘London Calling’ and The Clash have had on music as a whole, never mind the effect they have had on society and culture from their heyday through the times we live in now.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Phish - 'Joy'
Phish is back from Gamehendge this year for the first time since 2004 with an energetic reunion tour. This huge tour sold out all over the country, and not only included several weekend runs at certain venues, but also a show at Fenway Park, two days of headlining the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee and perhaps the most exciting of all, Festival 8, a three day Phish only Halloween Festival that is going to be held in Indio, California. To top all this off, the boys have also released a fantastic new album. ‘Joy’ dropped last week and is chock full of genre-bending tracks, crunchy jams and lyrics that show the maturity of a band at this stage of their existence. Though the album was just released, fans have been getting a taste of ‘Joy’ and it’s bonus disc of extra content, ‘Party Time,’ since the reunion tour kicked off at the Hampton Coliseum back in March.
‘Joy’ starts out with an ode to friendship, ‘Backwards Down the Number Line.’ This tune, written by Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and lyricist Tom Marshall, really shows you the bond the band members have as musicians and friends. This is quite touching and powerful, considering how long the band has been around and what they have been through. Over twenty-five years later, its songs like ‘Backwards Down the Number Line’ that show how the band has matured, as artists, friends, and members of Phish. This is a choice track from the album.
‘Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan’ officially gets the party started with an awesome Trey riff to start the song off. ‘Stealing Time’ also has interesting lyrics such as ‘Got a blank space where my mind should be’; quite an anthem for all of the band’s college age fans starting school the same week the new album came out. ‘Stealing Time’ fades out into the album’s namesake, ‘Joy,’ quite possibly one of the most beautiful songs the band has ever performed. ‘Joy’ is a slow, uplifting ballad seemingly dedicated to a little girl named ‘Joy.’ Lyricist Marshal cuts no corners, and the band brings everything together here for a solid slow ballad.
‘Sugar Shack’ is a light funk tune written by bassist Mike Gordon. The music is very solid, and at first listen it’s quite obvious it’s a Mike song by the groovy bass riffs. The lyrics of the song though, as are many of Gordon’s tunes within the Phish catalog, have a very country feel to them. The combination is pleasing and the song is good.
‘Ocelot’ is a high-energy song, and a great example of the band’s versatility. The song has a very ska/reggae feel to start, but the boys break out the funk later on, encouraging listeners to bust a move. After ‘Ocelot,’ ‘Kill Devil Falls’ busts into the mix as one of the faster paced songs from ‘Joy.’ The song is about the Kill Devil Falls, and it sounds like an awesome hang out.
‘Light is the first sign of psychedelic rock on the album. It’s starts out in a very ambient way with Page on the keys. Soon though drummer Fishman and Gordo come in strong with support. The trippy intro is short lived, but the rest of the track is more than satisfying.
‘Time Turns Elastic’ is from Trey’s excursion with a full orchestra, and is released in this form on the album of the same name. The song is now performed by the entire band on ‘Joy,’ and is fantastic. ‘Time Turns Elastic’ is a very special song. It reminds me of past Phish epics such as ‘Fluffhead,’ ‘Harry Hood’ and ‘Divided Sky.’ Though it seems a little too inflated with lyrics to become a jam vehicle such as these, listening to the song reveals the multidimensional structure fully supportive of jam possibilities. Of all the songs on ‘Joy,’ ‘Time Turns Elastic’ is quite possibly the most exciting.
‘Twenty Years Later’ is the bottom slice of bread to the ‘Joy’ sandwich. It deals heavily with some of the same themes as ‘Backwards Down the Number Line’ and radiates with the same maturity and love contained in the band. “Twenty years later” indeed, but kickin’ just as hard as ever.
‘Joy’ aims to please and it hit its mark. Though Phish’s main squeeze is the live show, Joy is a very high quality work and is very accessible for anyone who wants to get into Phish. What lies ahead for Phish from here? Will the Famous Flying Mockingbird fly again? Let’s hope so.
11 out of 10
‘Joy’ starts out with an ode to friendship, ‘Backwards Down the Number Line.’ This tune, written by Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and lyricist Tom Marshall, really shows you the bond the band members have as musicians and friends. This is quite touching and powerful, considering how long the band has been around and what they have been through. Over twenty-five years later, its songs like ‘Backwards Down the Number Line’ that show how the band has matured, as artists, friends, and members of Phish. This is a choice track from the album.
‘Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan’ officially gets the party started with an awesome Trey riff to start the song off. ‘Stealing Time’ also has interesting lyrics such as ‘Got a blank space where my mind should be’; quite an anthem for all of the band’s college age fans starting school the same week the new album came out. ‘Stealing Time’ fades out into the album’s namesake, ‘Joy,’ quite possibly one of the most beautiful songs the band has ever performed. ‘Joy’ is a slow, uplifting ballad seemingly dedicated to a little girl named ‘Joy.’ Lyricist Marshal cuts no corners, and the band brings everything together here for a solid slow ballad.
‘Sugar Shack’ is a light funk tune written by bassist Mike Gordon. The music is very solid, and at first listen it’s quite obvious it’s a Mike song by the groovy bass riffs. The lyrics of the song though, as are many of Gordon’s tunes within the Phish catalog, have a very country feel to them. The combination is pleasing and the song is good.
‘Ocelot’ is a high-energy song, and a great example of the band’s versatility. The song has a very ska/reggae feel to start, but the boys break out the funk later on, encouraging listeners to bust a move. After ‘Ocelot,’ ‘Kill Devil Falls’ busts into the mix as one of the faster paced songs from ‘Joy.’ The song is about the Kill Devil Falls, and it sounds like an awesome hang out.
‘Light is the first sign of psychedelic rock on the album. It’s starts out in a very ambient way with Page on the keys. Soon though drummer Fishman and Gordo come in strong with support. The trippy intro is short lived, but the rest of the track is more than satisfying.
‘Time Turns Elastic’ is from Trey’s excursion with a full orchestra, and is released in this form on the album of the same name. The song is now performed by the entire band on ‘Joy,’ and is fantastic. ‘Time Turns Elastic’ is a very special song. It reminds me of past Phish epics such as ‘Fluffhead,’ ‘Harry Hood’ and ‘Divided Sky.’ Though it seems a little too inflated with lyrics to become a jam vehicle such as these, listening to the song reveals the multidimensional structure fully supportive of jam possibilities. Of all the songs on ‘Joy,’ ‘Time Turns Elastic’ is quite possibly the most exciting.
‘Twenty Years Later’ is the bottom slice of bread to the ‘Joy’ sandwich. It deals heavily with some of the same themes as ‘Backwards Down the Number Line’ and radiates with the same maturity and love contained in the band. “Twenty years later” indeed, but kickin’ just as hard as ever.
‘Joy’ aims to please and it hit its mark. Though Phish’s main squeeze is the live show, Joy is a very high quality work and is very accessible for anyone who wants to get into Phish. What lies ahead for Phish from here? Will the Famous Flying Mockingbird fly again? Let’s hope so.
11 out of 10
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Silversun Pickups - Swoon
Silversun Pickups are an Indie Rock band out of Los Angeles, California. Their new album Swoon is a power-packed rock album reminiscent of the Smashing Pumpkins of the 90’s.
“There’s No Real Secrets This Year” is a catchy fast paced tune. At the end of the track it breaks into an ambient keyboard piece with light vocals over the top, which lead into the next track. “The Royal We” starts off light and gets a bit heavier at times, occasionally incorporating an eerie violin in the background while the guitars blare. “Growing Old Is Getting Old” breaks out with a solid bass line to usher in the lyrics about the undesirability of growing up “Suddenly / We decompose / But we're not alone.” Halfway through the song rips through and gets more intense in coming to terms with the inevitability of age: “And don't be afraid of the cold / Afraid of the cold / Afraid of the time / You've got no where to go but here.” “It’s Nice to Know You Work Alone” brings in a driving bass line to back a simple guitar riff and a drum beat that pave the way for a song seemingly about a failed relationship. The violin from “The Royal We” comes back for another appearance adding a little flavor at the end of the track. “Panic Switch” starts off strong and heavy, with tight drums and bass backing up a grungy guitar lead. The song keeps building in an anxious way into a spastic guitar solo in the end, followed by the repeated mantra “Waiting and fading and floating away.” “Draining” is one of the more mellow songs on the album. It incorporates a simple bass-line and light drumming backing a clean guitar part. The vocals really shine here, especially with the vocalist’s unique style of singing. “Sort Of” brings a frantic distorted bass-line, heavy drums, and very supportive organ like keyboard part. During the chorus a high-pitched guitar squeal accompanies the height of the vocals, and breaks free at the end for a melodic solo. “Substitution” comes through with that Smashing Pumpkins feel the band has. The song feels like throwback to the alt-rock of the 90’s. “Catch and Release” uses the front of fishing and very simple musical piece to tell the story of how to catch a lover: “Come and see / How the wind in / your hair will feel differently / Catch and release / The lure above.” “Surroundings (Or Spiraling)” is a solid ender for the album. It’s quite driving and pushes forward, and tapers off at the end with some reverb.
“There’s No Real Secrets This Year” is a catchy fast paced tune. At the end of the track it breaks into an ambient keyboard piece with light vocals over the top, which lead into the next track. “The Royal We” starts off light and gets a bit heavier at times, occasionally incorporating an eerie violin in the background while the guitars blare. “Growing Old Is Getting Old” breaks out with a solid bass line to usher in the lyrics about the undesirability of growing up “Suddenly / We decompose / But we're not alone.” Halfway through the song rips through and gets more intense in coming to terms with the inevitability of age: “And don't be afraid of the cold / Afraid of the cold / Afraid of the time / You've got no where to go but here.” “It’s Nice to Know You Work Alone” brings in a driving bass line to back a simple guitar riff and a drum beat that pave the way for a song seemingly about a failed relationship. The violin from “The Royal We” comes back for another appearance adding a little flavor at the end of the track. “Panic Switch” starts off strong and heavy, with tight drums and bass backing up a grungy guitar lead. The song keeps building in an anxious way into a spastic guitar solo in the end, followed by the repeated mantra “Waiting and fading and floating away.” “Draining” is one of the more mellow songs on the album. It incorporates a simple bass-line and light drumming backing a clean guitar part. The vocals really shine here, especially with the vocalist’s unique style of singing. “Sort Of” brings a frantic distorted bass-line, heavy drums, and very supportive organ like keyboard part. During the chorus a high-pitched guitar squeal accompanies the height of the vocals, and breaks free at the end for a melodic solo. “Substitution” comes through with that Smashing Pumpkins feel the band has. The song feels like throwback to the alt-rock of the 90’s. “Catch and Release” uses the front of fishing and very simple musical piece to tell the story of how to catch a lover: “Come and see / How the wind in / your hair will feel differently / Catch and release / The lure above.” “Surroundings (Or Spiraling)” is a solid ender for the album. It’s quite driving and pushes forward, and tapers off at the end with some reverb.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
My Morning Jacket - Celebración De La Ciudad Natal
My Morning Jacket's recently released EP, Celebración De La Ciudad Natal, is a fantastic live display of all the glory that is MMJ. Not only do these country boys play their hearts out like no other live band I've heard in my life, but they do it for good reason. This EP was partially recorded at an independent record store, “ear-x-tacy” in Louisville, KY, and will only be released to independent record stores to honor and support such fine establishments.
The EP starts off with a song off of My Morning Jacket's newest album, the title track, “Evil Urges.” Strange keyboard sounds and Jim Jame's high wailing voice take to the center stage of the song straight away. Part way through the song the pace speeds up and gives way to a very energetic breakdown that leads back into the original jam before the song ends. “Highly Suspicious,” another tune off Evil Urges follows. “Highly Suspicious” is a raucous, animated tale of a paranoid drug user and his encounter with law enforcement officers that think he is, in fact, “highly suspicious.”
“Gideon” leads off with one of the most captivating guitar parts off any My Morning Jacket Song. The breakdown in the middle of song is a fantastic show of all instruments going above and beyond, backing Jim James and his voice, the signature and most unique instrument of MMJ. “Where to Begin” comes up next and digs into the country roots with slide and acoustic guitar and simple drums and bass. The lyrics add to the country feel as well: “My head takes a lickin', but my heart keeps on tickin' just the same / always startin' over but somehow I always know where to begin.”
A beautiful “Librarian” graces the ears with a soft acoustic piece, and eerie slide guitar in the background, with only a minor drum and bass line to keep time. “Librarian” is a beautiful love story-song, that goes beyond the normal cookie cutter love song.
“Phone Went West” is a classic My Morning Jacket song from earlier in their career, off At Dawn. With poppy instrumentals reminiscent of a little ska, a heartfelt guitar solo that shreds into the depths of the soul, and lyrics like “Tell me I'm wrong, tell me I'm right / tell me theirs nobody else in the world” how could you not melt? At the end of “Phone Went West” Jim James gives a short speech dedicated to the gratitude of My Morning Jacket's following, and welcoming new fans to the show. The speech leads into an epic “Dondante” weighing in at a whopping 14:31, and not a second wasted. The song starts off slow and a little melancholy with cymbals ringing out occasionally, dispersed chords ringing out here and there and the unearthly high pitched whine of Jim Jame's voice. A third of the way through the song, a guitar solo paves the way for a heavy progression into a new dimension of “Dondante.” After the heaviness dissipates, two guitar solos dance around each other in an extended improvisation backed by steady drums and driving bass, with a mild keyboard to pull it all together. Just when you think it is all over, a beautiful Saxophone solo takes the forefront. After this magnificent instrumental piece is finished, the song slowly rings out.
With such a great live EP release, My Morning Jacket is sure getting out their message that they support independent record stores. To quote Jim James “It's scary because a lot of towns are turning into Anytown, U.S.A., and you walk around, and you're like, 'where the f am I?” Remember kids, support your local record stores, Celebración De La Ciudad Natal is as good a reason as any.
The EP starts off with a song off of My Morning Jacket's newest album, the title track, “Evil Urges.” Strange keyboard sounds and Jim Jame's high wailing voice take to the center stage of the song straight away. Part way through the song the pace speeds up and gives way to a very energetic breakdown that leads back into the original jam before the song ends. “Highly Suspicious,” another tune off Evil Urges follows. “Highly Suspicious” is a raucous, animated tale of a paranoid drug user and his encounter with law enforcement officers that think he is, in fact, “highly suspicious.”
“Gideon” leads off with one of the most captivating guitar parts off any My Morning Jacket Song. The breakdown in the middle of song is a fantastic show of all instruments going above and beyond, backing Jim James and his voice, the signature and most unique instrument of MMJ. “Where to Begin” comes up next and digs into the country roots with slide and acoustic guitar and simple drums and bass. The lyrics add to the country feel as well: “My head takes a lickin', but my heart keeps on tickin' just the same / always startin' over but somehow I always know where to begin.”
A beautiful “Librarian” graces the ears with a soft acoustic piece, and eerie slide guitar in the background, with only a minor drum and bass line to keep time. “Librarian” is a beautiful love story-song, that goes beyond the normal cookie cutter love song.
“Phone Went West” is a classic My Morning Jacket song from earlier in their career, off At Dawn. With poppy instrumentals reminiscent of a little ska, a heartfelt guitar solo that shreds into the depths of the soul, and lyrics like “Tell me I'm wrong, tell me I'm right / tell me theirs nobody else in the world” how could you not melt? At the end of “Phone Went West” Jim James gives a short speech dedicated to the gratitude of My Morning Jacket's following, and welcoming new fans to the show. The speech leads into an epic “Dondante” weighing in at a whopping 14:31, and not a second wasted. The song starts off slow and a little melancholy with cymbals ringing out occasionally, dispersed chords ringing out here and there and the unearthly high pitched whine of Jim Jame's voice. A third of the way through the song, a guitar solo paves the way for a heavy progression into a new dimension of “Dondante.” After the heaviness dissipates, two guitar solos dance around each other in an extended improvisation backed by steady drums and driving bass, with a mild keyboard to pull it all together. Just when you think it is all over, a beautiful Saxophone solo takes the forefront. After this magnificent instrumental piece is finished, the song slowly rings out.
With such a great live EP release, My Morning Jacket is sure getting out their message that they support independent record stores. To quote Jim James “It's scary because a lot of towns are turning into Anytown, U.S.A., and you walk around, and you're like, 'where the f am I?” Remember kids, support your local record stores, Celebración De La Ciudad Natal is as good a reason as any.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
The Decemberists - Hazards of Love
The Decemberists’ recently released album, The Hazards of Love, is a concept album with a very wide range of sounds and a very thick plot behind it. It is based loosely on Anne Brigg's 1966 EP, also entitled The Hazards of Love. The story is of Margaret and William, who are lovers trying to find each other throughout the album but are stifled by an abductor and an evil Queen.
The Hazards of Love starts out with a prelude, solely comprised of a very mellow organ piece. The prelude flawlessly melds into the next song, “The Hazards of Love I,” setting up the character William and his love for Margaret. This song is also quite mellow, containing lyrics and acoustic guitar accompaniment only. “A Bower Scene” speeds up the pace quite a bit and kicks the distortion into gear, at times even getting really sludgy. “Won't Want for Love” adds piano, and is where we first hear the voice of lovely Margaret. The previous two songs have served to set up her character. “The Hazards of Love II” returns again to a slow acoustic piece, starring William. He responds to Margaret's call for love in the previous song with romantic lyrics such as “I lay you down / in clover bed / the stars a roof / above our heads.” “The Queen's Approach” weighs in at only twenty-nine seconds, but with it's melancholy banjo riff, conveys the emotion of the piece quite well. “Isn't it a Lovely Night” is quite an upbeat tune that combines a slow beat, and beautiful accordion with the vocals of both William and Margaret in duet. “The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid” introduces vocally the Queen who approached earlier. She is every bit as beautifully voiced and vitriolic as the hint we were given. Here we also hear William begging her, to let him out to find his love.
A slow acoustic interlude now takes places, and separates the story into two pieces. “The Rake's Song” is masked by quite a simple instrumental, invoking a sort of menacing feel. To truly listen to the lyrics though is to understand the magnitude of it all; “The Rake's Song” tells the story of our new character. This man killed all of his children after his wife died while giving birth. Don't worry though, it doesn't bother him: “And that's how I came your humble narrator / to be living so easy and free / expect you think that I should be haunted / but it never really bothers me.” “The Abduction of Margaret” is musically very similar to “A Bower Scene”, but a bit more anxious. This song however involves the abduction of our female star from earlier in “Won't Want for Love.” The abductor is no other than the vile Rake. “The Abduction of Margaret” runs into “The Queen's Rebuke/The Crossing” with the same instrumentals but the Queen is now speaking. The lyrics tell the Queen's mastery of her domain, the forest. The song also tells of the beginnings of her son. Toward the end of the song there is a fantastic organ solo. “Annan Water” is another heavily acoustic piece. However, it includes an eerie ambient presence of morphing keyboard in the background, giving it a sense of urgency. Halfway through and at the very end of the song the guitar fades to give way to the eerie keyboard, along with William's voice begging the Annan Waters to part for him: “But if you cull / and let me pass / you may render me a wreck / when I come back .” Again we see Margaret in “Margaret's Captivity.” In this song there is a dialog between Margaret and the Rake. The purity of Margaret's voice is captured in the organs accompanying her vocals. “The Hazards of Love III” brings the murdered children of the Rake back from the dead, in an eerie chorus of children's vocals. Each of the three murders from “The Rake's Song” is elaborated upon and the children declare they have returned and seemingly claim revenge. “The Wanting Comes in Waves” is reprised after “The Hazards of Love III.” It is quite ironic for it to come here before “The Hazards of Love IV” because in this song, Margaret and William are finally united, in the waves. The love story ends very powerfully: “These hazards of love, never more will trouble us.”
The Hazards of Love starts out with a prelude, solely comprised of a very mellow organ piece. The prelude flawlessly melds into the next song, “The Hazards of Love I,” setting up the character William and his love for Margaret. This song is also quite mellow, containing lyrics and acoustic guitar accompaniment only. “A Bower Scene” speeds up the pace quite a bit and kicks the distortion into gear, at times even getting really sludgy. “Won't Want for Love” adds piano, and is where we first hear the voice of lovely Margaret. The previous two songs have served to set up her character. “The Hazards of Love II” returns again to a slow acoustic piece, starring William. He responds to Margaret's call for love in the previous song with romantic lyrics such as “I lay you down / in clover bed / the stars a roof / above our heads.” “The Queen's Approach” weighs in at only twenty-nine seconds, but with it's melancholy banjo riff, conveys the emotion of the piece quite well. “Isn't it a Lovely Night” is quite an upbeat tune that combines a slow beat, and beautiful accordion with the vocals of both William and Margaret in duet. “The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid” introduces vocally the Queen who approached earlier. She is every bit as beautifully voiced and vitriolic as the hint we were given. Here we also hear William begging her, to let him out to find his love.
A slow acoustic interlude now takes places, and separates the story into two pieces. “The Rake's Song” is masked by quite a simple instrumental, invoking a sort of menacing feel. To truly listen to the lyrics though is to understand the magnitude of it all; “The Rake's Song” tells the story of our new character. This man killed all of his children after his wife died while giving birth. Don't worry though, it doesn't bother him: “And that's how I came your humble narrator / to be living so easy and free / expect you think that I should be haunted / but it never really bothers me.” “The Abduction of Margaret” is musically very similar to “A Bower Scene”, but a bit more anxious. This song however involves the abduction of our female star from earlier in “Won't Want for Love.” The abductor is no other than the vile Rake. “The Abduction of Margaret” runs into “The Queen's Rebuke/The Crossing” with the same instrumentals but the Queen is now speaking. The lyrics tell the Queen's mastery of her domain, the forest. The song also tells of the beginnings of her son. Toward the end of the song there is a fantastic organ solo. “Annan Water” is another heavily acoustic piece. However, it includes an eerie ambient presence of morphing keyboard in the background, giving it a sense of urgency. Halfway through and at the very end of the song the guitar fades to give way to the eerie keyboard, along with William's voice begging the Annan Waters to part for him: “But if you cull / and let me pass / you may render me a wreck / when I come back .” Again we see Margaret in “Margaret's Captivity.” In this song there is a dialog between Margaret and the Rake. The purity of Margaret's voice is captured in the organs accompanying her vocals. “The Hazards of Love III” brings the murdered children of the Rake back from the dead, in an eerie chorus of children's vocals. Each of the three murders from “The Rake's Song” is elaborated upon and the children declare they have returned and seemingly claim revenge. “The Wanting Comes in Waves” is reprised after “The Hazards of Love III.” It is quite ironic for it to come here before “The Hazards of Love IV” because in this song, Margaret and William are finally united, in the waves. The love story ends very powerfully: “These hazards of love, never more will trouble us.”
Monday, April 6, 2009
Street Racing
The Fast and the Furiously Illegal: Street Racing in Suburban New Jersey
Long after the sun goes down, in the late hours of the night, a counter-culture of adrenaline junkies take to the streets in incredibly fast, expensively and expansively modified automobiles. This is the world of underground street racing.
At about 11 p.m. on a balmy night in early February I found myself with a friend awaiting the call. The call we were waiting for was going to be from the individual who organizes and sets the location for the street racing. The ideal place to hold such a street racing event is generally out of the way of any type of residential traffic or police patrol, on a straight, double lane road in generally good repair. Just such a place is where we were headed after the call came through.
We drove up to the particular road, which will remain unnamed for privacy reasons, in a pair. My friend and I were at point, with a follower, whom we met up with prior to the call, both driving American Muscle Cars. On the other side of road we saw a few Import Cars with their headlights out hiding in a small cove just off the shoulder. We drove up the road, made a U-Turn and met up with them in the cove. My friend got out of the car and met up with the organizer to speak with him about racing and attendance for the night. When he came back to me by his car, he said there would be quite a few racers tonight. Looking down the road I saw the bright headlights of cars, one by one, slowly pulling in and turning off their headlights, filling the cove and overflowing onto the shoulder and even the road itself. Before long the entire road was blocked off by modified street racing cars. It was a surreal scene, right out of the movie The Fast and the Furious.
I watched from a distance as the cars were pulling up and staging. There was an overwhelming majority of Import Cars: Honda Civics, Toyota Corolla’s and Mitsubishi Eclipse’s, just to name a few. Cars lined up in pairs next to each other. Before each race started, the drivers would warm up the cold rubber tires by burning out: spinning their tires to create friction with the road. I heard the squeal of the rubber on the pavement and saw the clouds of smoke being created from this preparatory ritual. After both drivers were satisfied with their burnouts, the organizer flagged them off to fly down the road at dangerous, breakneck speeds. When one of the street racers were far enough ahead that there was no possibility the other driver could catch up, they would switch on their hazard lights to signify that they had won the race.
Lives aren’t the only thing at risk in this dangerous practice. The organizer collects bet money from the two opposing drivers; anywhere from three hundred dollars, to three thousand or more. Some drivers are even racing for pink slips, or ownership of the loser’s vehicle. Participation in this sport of street racing is dangerous even if you aren’t in a race. Passing motorists will usually alert the local police as to what is going on. Getting caught illegally street racing can cost a driver any number of expensive tickets, from speeding to illegal modification, and even getting their car impounded or appropriated as evidence.
This night was no exception to such danger. The driver of a tractor-trailer, which passed just minutes earlier, must have alerted the local police dispatch to send a patrol out. The massive gathering of street racers on the road was more then obvious. Just as my friend was about to queue up for a race we saw a set of headlights staring down the road, then a third light, a spotlight. It was a police car. With the windows open I could hear fellow participants and onlookers shouting; “Dipset! Cops! Cops!” The engines roared in the rush to escape. We spared no time cutting across the road and going the opposite direction of the approaching squad car. My friend accelerated around some of the others trying to escape, reaching speeds of eighty miles an hour and over in seconds. With some quick turns and an exit off the road we managed to escape.
It took the ride home and meet-up with the friend that followed us to the race earlier in the night to realize the authenticity of it all. I had been a spectator in something I had once only seen in movies and television. I gained a real appreciation for the rush of the race, the chase, and the observation of such an event. The underground culture of street racing is alive and well, thriving on the back roads of suburban America.
Long after the sun goes down, in the late hours of the night, a counter-culture of adrenaline junkies take to the streets in incredibly fast, expensively and expansively modified automobiles. This is the world of underground street racing.
At about 11 p.m. on a balmy night in early February I found myself with a friend awaiting the call. The call we were waiting for was going to be from the individual who organizes and sets the location for the street racing. The ideal place to hold such a street racing event is generally out of the way of any type of residential traffic or police patrol, on a straight, double lane road in generally good repair. Just such a place is where we were headed after the call came through.
We drove up to the particular road, which will remain unnamed for privacy reasons, in a pair. My friend and I were at point, with a follower, whom we met up with prior to the call, both driving American Muscle Cars. On the other side of road we saw a few Import Cars with their headlights out hiding in a small cove just off the shoulder. We drove up the road, made a U-Turn and met up with them in the cove. My friend got out of the car and met up with the organizer to speak with him about racing and attendance for the night. When he came back to me by his car, he said there would be quite a few racers tonight. Looking down the road I saw the bright headlights of cars, one by one, slowly pulling in and turning off their headlights, filling the cove and overflowing onto the shoulder and even the road itself. Before long the entire road was blocked off by modified street racing cars. It was a surreal scene, right out of the movie The Fast and the Furious.
I watched from a distance as the cars were pulling up and staging. There was an overwhelming majority of Import Cars: Honda Civics, Toyota Corolla’s and Mitsubishi Eclipse’s, just to name a few. Cars lined up in pairs next to each other. Before each race started, the drivers would warm up the cold rubber tires by burning out: spinning their tires to create friction with the road. I heard the squeal of the rubber on the pavement and saw the clouds of smoke being created from this preparatory ritual. After both drivers were satisfied with their burnouts, the organizer flagged them off to fly down the road at dangerous, breakneck speeds. When one of the street racers were far enough ahead that there was no possibility the other driver could catch up, they would switch on their hazard lights to signify that they had won the race.
Lives aren’t the only thing at risk in this dangerous practice. The organizer collects bet money from the two opposing drivers; anywhere from three hundred dollars, to three thousand or more. Some drivers are even racing for pink slips, or ownership of the loser’s vehicle. Participation in this sport of street racing is dangerous even if you aren’t in a race. Passing motorists will usually alert the local police as to what is going on. Getting caught illegally street racing can cost a driver any number of expensive tickets, from speeding to illegal modification, and even getting their car impounded or appropriated as evidence.
This night was no exception to such danger. The driver of a tractor-trailer, which passed just minutes earlier, must have alerted the local police dispatch to send a patrol out. The massive gathering of street racers on the road was more then obvious. Just as my friend was about to queue up for a race we saw a set of headlights staring down the road, then a third light, a spotlight. It was a police car. With the windows open I could hear fellow participants and onlookers shouting; “Dipset! Cops! Cops!” The engines roared in the rush to escape. We spared no time cutting across the road and going the opposite direction of the approaching squad car. My friend accelerated around some of the others trying to escape, reaching speeds of eighty miles an hour and over in seconds. With some quick turns and an exit off the road we managed to escape.
It took the ride home and meet-up with the friend that followed us to the race earlier in the night to realize the authenticity of it all. I had been a spectator in something I had once only seen in movies and television. I gained a real appreciation for the rush of the race, the chase, and the observation of such an event. The underground culture of street racing is alive and well, thriving on the back roads of suburban America.
Get The Led Out Concert
Get The Led Out rock Nokia Theatre, Saturday March 7th
Get The Led Out(www.gtlorocks.com) is an American Led Zeppelin Tribute band. The band played at the Nokia Theatre in New York City this passed weekend, and rocked the sold out house of over 2,000 for two and a half hours with true to the very note covers of Zeppelin’s studio work spanning their entire career.
The lights dimmed, the house music stopped, and the band pulled no punches for the opening song. “Immigrant Song” started the party in a hard rock way, getting the crowd riled up right off the bat. “Misty Mountain Hop” and “Good Times, Bad Times” followed, building the crowd up. You could tell they were about to pull a jack move, and it happened with the bluesy “Since I Been Lovin’ You”. Vocalist Paul Sinclair hit every high note with the finesse of a young Robert Planet, while guitarist Paul Hammond let the blues flow. “The Ocean” came up next, followed by a beautiful “No Quarter” with an ever so eloquently improvised keyboard solo by the band’s keyboardist, Andrew Lipke. After that the band took it back to the roots of Zeppelin with another blues favorite, “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You,” followed by a more up beat “Over the Hills and Far Away.” A super energetic “Ramble On” paved the way for the dark “Dazed and Confused,” powered by bassist Paul Piccari.
After “Dazed and Confused” The lights dimmed and the band disappeared for a moment, only to reappear with acoustic guitars and mandolin in hand. One of the most famed parts of Led Zeppelin show is the acoustic break, and Get The Led Out did not shy away from such a ritual. “Goin’ to California” set the mood for this part of the act, with very pleasing acoustic guitar riffs melding with the sweet sound of mandolin. Afterwards came “The Battle of Evermore” where the band brought out a special guest to sing the female vocals to the song. Next they played the country style single “Hey Hey What Can I Do.” Finally the band wrapped up the acoustic portion of the set with “The Song Remains the Same” and “Rain Song,” one after the other, true to the song order on Houses of the Holy.
The regular set reopened with the famous drum song, “Moby Dick.” After the full band intro to the song, the spot--light shined solely on drummer Adam Ferraiolli, while the rest of the group left the stage. Adam beat the skins with sticks, and with hands, and back to sticks, playing “Moby Dick” the way the late John Bonham would have in concert. After the epic drum solo that is “Moby Dick” the band brought out Ted Nugent Band guitarist and vocalist, Derek St.Holmes, for “Rock and Roll.” There is a point at every good concert where the music truly hits you, chills run up your neck, and the proverbial face melting occurs; “Rock and Roll” was it this night. The crowd went wild, and Derek did a fantastic job singing and jamming out to the song. Afterwards, the band took a break from Zeppelin tunes and let Derek lead in one of his very own, “Stranglehold.” Riding on the energy of “Rock and Roll”, “Stranglehold” was no disappointment. Everyone traded off solo’s and the bass and drums were so loud, you could feel it deep within your chest. Next the band brought out yet another high intensity Zeppelin hit, “Heartbreaker.” Guitarist Paul Hammond again showcased his expertise, with an extended, improvised solo. Once again, the band stayed true to Zep’s studio works by connecting “Livin’ Lovin’ Maid” to “Heartbreaker.” Get The Led Out ended the show with the ever popular, “Kashmir.”
Even in the end, it’s still not quite over. The band came back out for the encore, the one song that every Led Zeppelin fan knows is missing at this point: “Stairway to Heaven.” Guitarist Jimmy Marchiano walked out on stage and started playing the signature lick, and the venue became electrified. “Stairway” was not denied. Finally, the show ended with “Whole Lotta Love,” complete with thermin and rototom fueled breakdown.
Get The Led Out(www.gtlorocks.com) is an American Led Zeppelin Tribute band. The band played at the Nokia Theatre in New York City this passed weekend, and rocked the sold out house of over 2,000 for two and a half hours with true to the very note covers of Zeppelin’s studio work spanning their entire career.
The lights dimmed, the house music stopped, and the band pulled no punches for the opening song. “Immigrant Song” started the party in a hard rock way, getting the crowd riled up right off the bat. “Misty Mountain Hop” and “Good Times, Bad Times” followed, building the crowd up. You could tell they were about to pull a jack move, and it happened with the bluesy “Since I Been Lovin’ You”. Vocalist Paul Sinclair hit every high note with the finesse of a young Robert Planet, while guitarist Paul Hammond let the blues flow. “The Ocean” came up next, followed by a beautiful “No Quarter” with an ever so eloquently improvised keyboard solo by the band’s keyboardist, Andrew Lipke. After that the band took it back to the roots of Zeppelin with another blues favorite, “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You,” followed by a more up beat “Over the Hills and Far Away.” A super energetic “Ramble On” paved the way for the dark “Dazed and Confused,” powered by bassist Paul Piccari.
After “Dazed and Confused” The lights dimmed and the band disappeared for a moment, only to reappear with acoustic guitars and mandolin in hand. One of the most famed parts of Led Zeppelin show is the acoustic break, and Get The Led Out did not shy away from such a ritual. “Goin’ to California” set the mood for this part of the act, with very pleasing acoustic guitar riffs melding with the sweet sound of mandolin. Afterwards came “The Battle of Evermore” where the band brought out a special guest to sing the female vocals to the song. Next they played the country style single “Hey Hey What Can I Do.” Finally the band wrapped up the acoustic portion of the set with “The Song Remains the Same” and “Rain Song,” one after the other, true to the song order on Houses of the Holy.
The regular set reopened with the famous drum song, “Moby Dick.” After the full band intro to the song, the spot--light shined solely on drummer Adam Ferraiolli, while the rest of the group left the stage. Adam beat the skins with sticks, and with hands, and back to sticks, playing “Moby Dick” the way the late John Bonham would have in concert. After the epic drum solo that is “Moby Dick” the band brought out Ted Nugent Band guitarist and vocalist, Derek St.Holmes, for “Rock and Roll.” There is a point at every good concert where the music truly hits you, chills run up your neck, and the proverbial face melting occurs; “Rock and Roll” was it this night. The crowd went wild, and Derek did a fantastic job singing and jamming out to the song. Afterwards, the band took a break from Zeppelin tunes and let Derek lead in one of his very own, “Stranglehold.” Riding on the energy of “Rock and Roll”, “Stranglehold” was no disappointment. Everyone traded off solo’s and the bass and drums were so loud, you could feel it deep within your chest. Next the band brought out yet another high intensity Zeppelin hit, “Heartbreaker.” Guitarist Paul Hammond again showcased his expertise, with an extended, improvised solo. Once again, the band stayed true to Zep’s studio works by connecting “Livin’ Lovin’ Maid” to “Heartbreaker.” Get The Led Out ended the show with the ever popular, “Kashmir.”
Even in the end, it’s still not quite over. The band came back out for the encore, the one song that every Led Zeppelin fan knows is missing at this point: “Stairway to Heaven.” Guitarist Jimmy Marchiano walked out on stage and started playing the signature lick, and the venue became electrified. “Stairway” was not denied. Finally, the show ended with “Whole Lotta Love,” complete with thermin and rototom fueled breakdown.
Les Claypool - Of Fungi and Foe
Les Claypool, Champion of the Strange
It’s hard to categorize Les Claypool’s newest album Of Fungi and Foe. This work even stands out from his last studio album, and all of his other work with bands such as Primus and C2B3. The boundaries of traditional instrumental use are as usual, surpassed by Claypool and his distorted, synthesized, slapped, popped, tapped and all around whacked out bass lines. The only category it could possibly fit in to, is strange.
The albums starts out with not one, but two songs about mushrooms. “Mushroom Men” and “Amanitas” are both songs Claypool wrote for the upcoming video game release, Mushroom Men. This doesn’t make them any less authentic Claypool style. Heavy, tribal drums and driving synthesized bass lines only serve to compliment Claypool’s nasally voice, speaking about none other than mushrooms.
“Red State Girl” gets political in a way only Les can. A quick listen to a less than flattering physical description followed by “She wants to grow up to be Sarah Palin, / she’s a self proclaimed, bona fide, red state girl” clearly show’s the man’s political side.
“Booneville Stomp” brings out the dobro bass and it’s metallic sound for a raucous jam that sounds like it belongs in a horror movie. “What Would Sir George Martin Do” shows Claypool’s penchant for bowing his nifty upright five string fretless bass. He also brings his son Cage into the mix with a slide whistle solo.
“You Can’t Tell Errol Anything” tells the story of a know-it-all, drug dealing, musician handyman that doesn’t take well to criticism: “If you got a project then he’s quick to your aid / just don’t bitch about the service or critique the grade / ‘cuz you can’t tell Errol anything / ‘cuz Errol knows anything”
“Bite Out Of Life” features special guest Eugene Hutz of the band Gogol Bordello on guitar and vocals. Eugene’s gypsy-punk influence is clearly seen in the fast paced jam.
“Kazoo” takes it down a notch and adds in a soothing cello and vibraphone piece over Claypool’s slow bluesy bass line. “Primed by 29” is a song about how drugs make everything better until they destroy your life. In this song Les is on an instrument so strange only he could pull it off- the bass banjo.
“Pretty Little Song” goes off the deep end of weird with the synth bass lines, hard hitting drums, and satanic background vocals. The title track “Of Fungi and Foe” follows off the deep end with strange instrumentals leading up to a mantra like chanting of “of fungi and foe, fungi and foe” until the instrumental takes over again and ends the song.
“Ol’ Rosco” is another classic Les Claypool story song. It is about a drunk driver who always gets away with it until one time “he went head on with a purple PT Cruiser, came out without a scratch, now that’s the dumb luck of a boozer.” As odd as the song may sound, it has quite a ring of truth to it.
There is a lot that can be said about Les Claypool’s strange musical stylings, but the only true way to experience the man’s genius is to go and listen. You’ll either love, or hate it.
It’s hard to categorize Les Claypool’s newest album Of Fungi and Foe. This work even stands out from his last studio album, and all of his other work with bands such as Primus and C2B3. The boundaries of traditional instrumental use are as usual, surpassed by Claypool and his distorted, synthesized, slapped, popped, tapped and all around whacked out bass lines. The only category it could possibly fit in to, is strange.
The albums starts out with not one, but two songs about mushrooms. “Mushroom Men” and “Amanitas” are both songs Claypool wrote for the upcoming video game release, Mushroom Men. This doesn’t make them any less authentic Claypool style. Heavy, tribal drums and driving synthesized bass lines only serve to compliment Claypool’s nasally voice, speaking about none other than mushrooms.
“Red State Girl” gets political in a way only Les can. A quick listen to a less than flattering physical description followed by “She wants to grow up to be Sarah Palin, / she’s a self proclaimed, bona fide, red state girl” clearly show’s the man’s political side.
“Booneville Stomp” brings out the dobro bass and it’s metallic sound for a raucous jam that sounds like it belongs in a horror movie. “What Would Sir George Martin Do” shows Claypool’s penchant for bowing his nifty upright five string fretless bass. He also brings his son Cage into the mix with a slide whistle solo.
“You Can’t Tell Errol Anything” tells the story of a know-it-all, drug dealing, musician handyman that doesn’t take well to criticism: “If you got a project then he’s quick to your aid / just don’t bitch about the service or critique the grade / ‘cuz you can’t tell Errol anything / ‘cuz Errol knows anything”
“Bite Out Of Life” features special guest Eugene Hutz of the band Gogol Bordello on guitar and vocals. Eugene’s gypsy-punk influence is clearly seen in the fast paced jam.
“Kazoo” takes it down a notch and adds in a soothing cello and vibraphone piece over Claypool’s slow bluesy bass line. “Primed by 29” is a song about how drugs make everything better until they destroy your life. In this song Les is on an instrument so strange only he could pull it off- the bass banjo.
“Pretty Little Song” goes off the deep end of weird with the synth bass lines, hard hitting drums, and satanic background vocals. The title track “Of Fungi and Foe” follows off the deep end with strange instrumentals leading up to a mantra like chanting of “of fungi and foe, fungi and foe” until the instrumental takes over again and ends the song.
“Ol’ Rosco” is another classic Les Claypool story song. It is about a drunk driver who always gets away with it until one time “he went head on with a purple PT Cruiser, came out without a scratch, now that’s the dumb luck of a boozer.” As odd as the song may sound, it has quite a ring of truth to it.
There is a lot that can be said about Les Claypool’s strange musical stylings, but the only true way to experience the man’s genius is to go and listen. You’ll either love, or hate it.
Dan Auerbach - Keep it Hid
Keep It Hid is the solo debut of Dan Auerbach, singer and guitarist for the Black Keys. It opens up with “Trouble Weighs a Ton”, a song with a country feel that includes only a mellow acoustic guitar and harmonies, which give this song a very eerie, yet soothing sound.
“I Want Some More” bursts out of the smooth acoustic track preceding it with a somewhat heavier, more psychedelic groove. Auerbach’s multi-instrumental talents shine through in the song with distorted bass, and guitar riffs, and a keyboard that produces a sound straight out of the late sixties. The next track on the album follows in the same psychedelic vein. “Heartbroken, In Disrepair” is a very dark love song, with the some notably haunting lyrics as “Searching for light, grasping for air / Heartbroken, in disrepair.”
“Whispered Words” breaks the psychedelic feel and slows it down for a few tracks. The words for this song were written by Auerbach’s father ,Charles, and put to music by Auerbach himself. The music is very soothing, but doesn’t lose the garage rock feel. The next song opens with a solid keyboard part, and a synthetic drum machine beat that is quickly replaced by authentic drums. “Real Desire” calls on many elements of the blues in its guitar line, which can be heard wailing behind the lyrics for the duration of the track, and comes out into the spot light for a solo toward the end.
“When the Night Comes” slows it down even more, to the effect of the first track of the album. A slow acoustic guitar line is accompanied by a ghostly violin piece in the background, and a very light drum track that is hard to notice through most of the song.
The calm is broken by the next track on the album. “Mean Monsoon” has a driving drum track that gives the feel of “I Want Some More” earlier in the album and Auerbach’s blues guitar influence can again be seen in this song, also carrying into the next song. “The Prowl” is a very interesting track lyrically, showing life through the eyes of seemingly, a stalker. With lyrics like “I wish someone could understand / but you know I could never tell / I’ll just live on in the dark / If there’s no harm, there’s no foul”, that’s sure how it seems.
The title track or the album also comes in with a synthetic drum part that is soon replaced by real drums. “Keep It Hid” is driven by the simple yet powerful bass line, which makes it easy for another very bluesy guitar line to dance over it.
“My Last Mistake”, the next track on the album, is the first song with a very pop rock feel to it. Its lyrical structure puts the narrator in a very shaky, inquisitive voice in the first half of the song, and a more staunch answering voice in the second half.
“When I Left the Room” does the unthinkable. It combines elements of country, and psychedelic rock, into a guitar driven track with banjo accompaniment. It works out very well. “Street Walkin’” is another song that is somewhat poppy, with a bit of Nineties grunge feel thrown into the mix. “Goin’ Home” closes out the album just at beautifully as it was brought it in. A very calm, acoustic country feel and lyrics telling of how the narrator is goin’ home are a sort of good-bye and thanks for listening.
“I Want Some More” bursts out of the smooth acoustic track preceding it with a somewhat heavier, more psychedelic groove. Auerbach’s multi-instrumental talents shine through in the song with distorted bass, and guitar riffs, and a keyboard that produces a sound straight out of the late sixties. The next track on the album follows in the same psychedelic vein. “Heartbroken, In Disrepair” is a very dark love song, with the some notably haunting lyrics as “Searching for light, grasping for air / Heartbroken, in disrepair.”
“Whispered Words” breaks the psychedelic feel and slows it down for a few tracks. The words for this song were written by Auerbach’s father ,Charles, and put to music by Auerbach himself. The music is very soothing, but doesn’t lose the garage rock feel. The next song opens with a solid keyboard part, and a synthetic drum machine beat that is quickly replaced by authentic drums. “Real Desire” calls on many elements of the blues in its guitar line, which can be heard wailing behind the lyrics for the duration of the track, and comes out into the spot light for a solo toward the end.
“When the Night Comes” slows it down even more, to the effect of the first track of the album. A slow acoustic guitar line is accompanied by a ghostly violin piece in the background, and a very light drum track that is hard to notice through most of the song.
The calm is broken by the next track on the album. “Mean Monsoon” has a driving drum track that gives the feel of “I Want Some More” earlier in the album and Auerbach’s blues guitar influence can again be seen in this song, also carrying into the next song. “The Prowl” is a very interesting track lyrically, showing life through the eyes of seemingly, a stalker. With lyrics like “I wish someone could understand / but you know I could never tell / I’ll just live on in the dark / If there’s no harm, there’s no foul”, that’s sure how it seems.
The title track or the album also comes in with a synthetic drum part that is soon replaced by real drums. “Keep It Hid” is driven by the simple yet powerful bass line, which makes it easy for another very bluesy guitar line to dance over it.
“My Last Mistake”, the next track on the album, is the first song with a very pop rock feel to it. Its lyrical structure puts the narrator in a very shaky, inquisitive voice in the first half of the song, and a more staunch answering voice in the second half.
“When I Left the Room” does the unthinkable. It combines elements of country, and psychedelic rock, into a guitar driven track with banjo accompaniment. It works out very well. “Street Walkin’” is another song that is somewhat poppy, with a bit of Nineties grunge feel thrown into the mix. “Goin’ Home” closes out the album just at beautifully as it was brought it in. A very calm, acoustic country feel and lyrics telling of how the narrator is goin’ home are a sort of good-bye and thanks for listening.
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Mastodon is one of the best metal bands out there these days. Their new work on Crack the Skye is no exception. The band is a smooth amalgamation of melodic clean and distorted guitar and bass lines backed by one of the hardest hitting drums around, and vocals that don’t overpower but blend perfectly with their surroundings.
“Oblivion” starts the journey, fittingly so with an intro that slowly fills in all the instrumentation and proceeds to birth eerie vocals that haunt and soothe simultaneously. “Quintessence” follows on the heals of the previous track with a piercing guitar intro, taken over right away by a quick and driving drum line that gives way to vocals that meld beautifully with the instrumental.
“The Czar” is a ten-minute epic progressive metal masterpiece that comes in four parts: I Usurper, II Escape, III Martyr, and IV Spiral. It opens up with an ominous keyboard piece and the beautiful keys continue to back the song throughout the duration of Usurper. The switch from Usurper to Escape is obvious at the tempo change several minutes in, where the song becomes very drum driven. The song again breaks into a slowing bit followed by a small guitar interlude, introducing Martyr and Spiral. These two parts seem to be closely intertwined rather than separate; there is no distinguishing tempo or instrumental variation to set them apart, not even the lyrics can lend a hand: “Spiraling up through the crack in the sky / leaving material world behind / I see your face in constellations / the martyr is ending his life for mine.” This part of the song does however sport several mind blowing guitar leads, magnificently backed by the rest of the band. The piece ends perfectly with all instrumental sound slowly disappearing into a bird’s song.
“Ghost of Karelia” showcases throughout the song how tightly the band can play together. The music is everywhere and all of the instrumental seems to flow together perfectly through rapid and erratic chord changes. The title track, “Crack the Skye” picks up on the end of the previous track’s ring out and starts anew with a more classic metal feel. It adds pounding double bass drumming into the mix along with deep growling vocals sung along side more harmonious ones on the upper register. “The Last Baron” is the longest track on the album weighing in at over thirteen minutes. The lyrics conjure a story of magic and pyromancy backed by the intense instrumentals: Faltering footsteps, dead end path / all that I need is this wise man’s staff / encased in crystal he leads the way / I guess they’d say we could set the world ablaze.”
“Oblivion” is the first totally instrumental track on the album. It puts the quick hard hitting drums at center stage, holding it all together for the heavy guitar and bass riffs throughout. “Divinations” is the second instrumental song on the album. A version with vocals however is also included. The strangest part of “Divinations” though is its use of the banjo. One might wonder how a banjo fits into a metal song; Mastodon makes it work, very well at that.
“Oblivion” starts the journey, fittingly so with an intro that slowly fills in all the instrumentation and proceeds to birth eerie vocals that haunt and soothe simultaneously. “Quintessence” follows on the heals of the previous track with a piercing guitar intro, taken over right away by a quick and driving drum line that gives way to vocals that meld beautifully with the instrumental.
“The Czar” is a ten-minute epic progressive metal masterpiece that comes in four parts: I Usurper, II Escape, III Martyr, and IV Spiral. It opens up with an ominous keyboard piece and the beautiful keys continue to back the song throughout the duration of Usurper. The switch from Usurper to Escape is obvious at the tempo change several minutes in, where the song becomes very drum driven. The song again breaks into a slowing bit followed by a small guitar interlude, introducing Martyr and Spiral. These two parts seem to be closely intertwined rather than separate; there is no distinguishing tempo or instrumental variation to set them apart, not even the lyrics can lend a hand: “Spiraling up through the crack in the sky / leaving material world behind / I see your face in constellations / the martyr is ending his life for mine.” This part of the song does however sport several mind blowing guitar leads, magnificently backed by the rest of the band. The piece ends perfectly with all instrumental sound slowly disappearing into a bird’s song.
“Ghost of Karelia” showcases throughout the song how tightly the band can play together. The music is everywhere and all of the instrumental seems to flow together perfectly through rapid and erratic chord changes. The title track, “Crack the Skye” picks up on the end of the previous track’s ring out and starts anew with a more classic metal feel. It adds pounding double bass drumming into the mix along with deep growling vocals sung along side more harmonious ones on the upper register. “The Last Baron” is the longest track on the album weighing in at over thirteen minutes. The lyrics conjure a story of magic and pyromancy backed by the intense instrumentals: Faltering footsteps, dead end path / all that I need is this wise man’s staff / encased in crystal he leads the way / I guess they’d say we could set the world ablaze.”
“Oblivion” is the first totally instrumental track on the album. It puts the quick hard hitting drums at center stage, holding it all together for the heavy guitar and bass riffs throughout. “Divinations” is the second instrumental song on the album. A version with vocals however is also included. The strangest part of “Divinations” though is its use of the banjo. One might wonder how a banjo fits into a metal song; Mastodon makes it work, very well at that.
William Elliot Whitmore- Animals in the Dark
Animals in the Dark is William Elliot Whitmore’s newest studio Album. Whitmore unleashes his soulful voice and simple banjo and guitar riffs to get his emotionally, and politically charged message across.
“Mutiny” opens up the album with drums only as an a cappella style song. Whitmore uses this opportunity to showcase his powerful voice. The snare drum keeps time, while he roars and is occasionally supported by background harmonies.
“Who Stole the Soul” is a mellow tune about a loss, and a rediscovery. Whitmore speaks of the loss of his “spark” earlier in the song, and goes on to find it in a progression from the morose to the heartfelt.
“Johnny Law” is a fast paced, old school country style song, with an old school country theme: protest of the police. With Lyrics like “Johnny Law, Johnny Law, he’s the littlest man I ever saw, with his badge and his gun he’ll just hassle everyone, he’ll getcha on the run Johnny Law” it’s not hard to see where Whitmore stands on the subject.
“Old Devils” is a song along the same lines as “Johnny Law” but this time taking aim at the Old Devils: “The Old Devils are at it again, when I say devils you know who I mean, these animals in the dark, malicious politicians with nefarious schemes, charlatans, and crooked cops.” The tempo of the song gradually speeds up, as the verses get more intense, the two perfectly compliment one another. Whitmore has a strong message that rang true in old country and folk- and carries on just as strong today.
“Hell or High Water” takes a break from the political message of the previous songs. It’s a beautiful, simple song about love for friends, with a perfect acoustic piece to accompany the lyrics that brings on waves of summers past type nostalgia.
“There’s Hope for You” is the first song on the album to add several instrumental dimensions into the mix. It starts off slow with acoustic guitar, adds some backing keyboards and drums which all evolve through the song into more prominent versions of themselves. The message of the song is quite powerful as well; it’s an inspiring encouragement to be your best and help others do the same, just the kind of thing we need in today’s world.
“Hard Times” changes everything up and adds electric guitar to the mix, but keeps all the simplicity of the former tracks. It a lyrical genealogy and a mantra of self worth all packed into one song. “Lifetime Underground” takes it to the folk on a serious note with the introduction of Whitmore on the banjo. In this track Whitmore has created a ballad out of a piece of his life story: where he has been, where is from, and the family and love he misses; major themes not to be left out of a great folk/country album.
“Let the Rain Come In” takes the folk instrumental from “Lifetime Underground” and speeds it up with a driving drumbeat; it even adds in a little country flavor with some slide guitar in the background. The lyrics to this song are a tribute to loving the simple parts of life: “Open up the door, and let the sound come in, I can hear the owls and the dogs begin, and they sing, and they shout, when the moon is out.”
“A Good Day to Die” strikes a more serious chord in the heart, and draws heavily on folk standards of the past with thanks to the lord and imagery of a beautiful country day- a good day to die. This song closes out the album in a very mellow way, and fits perfectly.
“Mutiny” opens up the album with drums only as an a cappella style song. Whitmore uses this opportunity to showcase his powerful voice. The snare drum keeps time, while he roars and is occasionally supported by background harmonies.
“Who Stole the Soul” is a mellow tune about a loss, and a rediscovery. Whitmore speaks of the loss of his “spark” earlier in the song, and goes on to find it in a progression from the morose to the heartfelt.
“Johnny Law” is a fast paced, old school country style song, with an old school country theme: protest of the police. With Lyrics like “Johnny Law, Johnny Law, he’s the littlest man I ever saw, with his badge and his gun he’ll just hassle everyone, he’ll getcha on the run Johnny Law” it’s not hard to see where Whitmore stands on the subject.
“Old Devils” is a song along the same lines as “Johnny Law” but this time taking aim at the Old Devils: “The Old Devils are at it again, when I say devils you know who I mean, these animals in the dark, malicious politicians with nefarious schemes, charlatans, and crooked cops.” The tempo of the song gradually speeds up, as the verses get more intense, the two perfectly compliment one another. Whitmore has a strong message that rang true in old country and folk- and carries on just as strong today.
“Hell or High Water” takes a break from the political message of the previous songs. It’s a beautiful, simple song about love for friends, with a perfect acoustic piece to accompany the lyrics that brings on waves of summers past type nostalgia.
“There’s Hope for You” is the first song on the album to add several instrumental dimensions into the mix. It starts off slow with acoustic guitar, adds some backing keyboards and drums which all evolve through the song into more prominent versions of themselves. The message of the song is quite powerful as well; it’s an inspiring encouragement to be your best and help others do the same, just the kind of thing we need in today’s world.
“Hard Times” changes everything up and adds electric guitar to the mix, but keeps all the simplicity of the former tracks. It a lyrical genealogy and a mantra of self worth all packed into one song. “Lifetime Underground” takes it to the folk on a serious note with the introduction of Whitmore on the banjo. In this track Whitmore has created a ballad out of a piece of his life story: where he has been, where is from, and the family and love he misses; major themes not to be left out of a great folk/country album.
“Let the Rain Come In” takes the folk instrumental from “Lifetime Underground” and speeds it up with a driving drumbeat; it even adds in a little country flavor with some slide guitar in the background. The lyrics to this song are a tribute to loving the simple parts of life: “Open up the door, and let the sound come in, I can hear the owls and the dogs begin, and they sing, and they shout, when the moon is out.”
“A Good Day to Die” strikes a more serious chord in the heart, and draws heavily on folk standards of the past with thanks to the lord and imagery of a beautiful country day- a good day to die. This song closes out the album in a very mellow way, and fits perfectly.
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