Label: PRC Released: August 14, 2007 The Wildbirds draw on a variety of late 60s and early 70s influences on Golden Daze. At times they turn it into their own sound, but at other times, they filter it through more recent regurgitations, most prominently the Strokes. The first few tracks on Golden Daze get old quickly. The driving rhythms of… Read more »
Label: Cheapshock Records Released: November 5, 2007 Here’s a short list of some of the bands I can hear in Love and a .45’s music: Bad Religion, Rancid, Hole, Avail, Face to Face, a bit of the Replacements, even. The thing they all have in common is that they’re American. What’s odd is that Love and a .45 isn’t. They’re… Read more »
Label: Vagrant Records Released: October 16, 2007 Some bands seem to have potential, but early on, it’s unclear whether they’ll fulfill that. When I first heard Thrice open for Hot Water Music at the 9:30 Club back in 2002, that’s exactly the way I felt about them. The live show was dynamic and energetic, but the two studio albums were… Read more »
Label: self-releassed Released: 2007 Pomegranates have crafted an EP that knocks on the doors of Casiotone indie pop, pop punk and everything in between. The first few bars of “The Children’s Progress” sound an awful lot like Postal Service, but before you can get settled into that, it takes a turn down a crooked post-punk street. They follow that with… Read more »
Label: Smithsonian Folkways Released: October 23, 2007 When listening to a Smithsonian Folkways release, it’s important to keep in mind that their mission is far different from a strictly commercial label. Their eyes aren’t on Billboard, but on culture. There is always a clear educational goal on their albums that is incidental at best when it exists elsewhere. Still, they… Read more »
Label: Rhino Released: November 13, 2007 Like Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles career, this collection is erratic. Some of it is amazing, some is trite, some is timeless and some is dated. The first disc is by far the least interesting. While some of the very early classics are on there, the videos generally show Paul’s escape to a pastoral life that… Read more »
Label: Vendlus Records Released: February 14, 2007 Prog rock’s faults aren’t usually related to technical skill at any stage of the process, from writing to playing to producing. In fact, the genre’s greatest difficulty stems from its artists being too good, too musical. Prog bands have a tendency to lose the emotional connection with their audience that is essential in… Read more »
Label: Eschatone Records Released: November 13, 2007 Clearly, some novelty records are just silly and others are, at least on some level, actually quite serious. Words of Wisdom is certainly of the more serious variety. That’s not to say that it isn’t light-hearted, just that it has a real purpose. Brian Dewan apparently found these songs in old schoolbooks, garage… Read more »
Label: Released: October 9, 2007 While the resumes of some members the Mystix may look impressive (Jerry Lee Lewis, Ben E King, Peter Wolf, even studio work at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals), don’t be fooled. This is a group of session players, not a real band. They do play well together as session players often do, but there is… Read more »
Label: Deep Elm Records Released: November 13, 2007 Dartz! mix agitated math rock with a punk edge and British quirkiness (or is it quirky Britishness?). They produce songs whose layers are the many moving parts of an efficient machine. The parts feel loose and rambling when they’re really quite tight if you concentrate. But that’s not the point. They’re meant… Read more »