SONG OF THE MONTH (June 2010): Broken Social Scene - "Texico Bitches"

Few songs are as catchy and mysteriously subversive as Broken Soc's latest greatest. It's like a middle finger amidst a sun-soaked carnival. Enjoy, bitches.

THE BREAKDOWN (FT. DJ SUB PAR): The National - High Violet

DJ Sub Par Says:

To say an album needs to be listened to over and over to "get it" tends to be an excuse for mediocrity. Often the best music is immediate and gripping. We don't need to ask ourselves, "Do we like this music?" We either we do or don't. Sometimes, however, bands that don't give us immediate thrill still have something of value.
The National consistent create moody guitar driven indie rock and High Velvet is no exception. Occasionally they achieve the emotional power of Arcade Fire or Frightened Rabbit, though pounding drums and jagged guitars, but for the most part they could fall inline with a hundred other indie rock bands. A few extra spins of the National and one of the best aspects of the band emerge: the lyrics. On their last album, Boxer, I had become disinterested until I heard the lyrics of "Green Gloves", where the narrator breaks into his friends house while he's not there and questions how much we really know people. On High Velvet singer Matt Berninger uses images of floods and bee swarms to craft tales of spiritual emptiness and becoming a father.

DJ Responsible Says:
The lyrics are actually the first thing that I noticed about The National; Alligator fit a perfect balance between  Sam Shepard's poetical clarity and Isaac Brock's nervous detachment. Curious psychoanalytical lines like "I had a secret meeting in the basement of my brain/It went the dull and wicked ordinary way" swirled alongside anthemic, Americana-capturing classics like "I'm the new blue blood, I'm the great white hope...I won't fuck us over, I'm Mr. November."

High Violet is no Alligator, but I suppose that's not really the point. High Violet is a gentler affair.

The National have obviously grown comfortable in their own skin--too comfortable, I would argue, since much of the album's first half drifts along about as memorably as an afternoon lost. But anything The National releases is still special, and anything Berninger sings is still essential: the album feels destined to be part of a larger narrative we'll one day be proud to have shared at the source. As Berninger might suggest, everything's just a series of moments.

Essential Tracks

"Bloodbuzz Ohio"



Runaway

THE BREAKDOWN (FT. DJ SUB PAR): New Pornographers - Together

DJ Sub Par Says:

For those of you who don't know the New Pornographers, please for the love of music give them a listen. In an alternate universe this is the pop music that plays on the radio and gets covered on American Idol. This Canadian super group crafts three and half minute songs that are hooky and fun with cryptic lyrics that bare repeated listens.

For those who know this band: You may have been thrown off by the last album by A.C. Newman and the gang - "Challengers." The prevailing opinion was that they had abandoned the energy-cranked-to-ten approach for a mellower (read: boring) sound. I couldn't disagree more. "Challengers" was a natural progression from the Hey-la-las of stellar song "The Bleeding Heart Show." While the last album may have slowed things down it allowed them to bring in a complexity of sounds and find a strange highlight from weirdo contributor with "Myriad Harbor." So some critics may be calling this a come back of sorts, the bad-ass cello hits that start this album, the whistling bridge on "Crash Years" and fuller sound are a natural continuation.

DJ Responsible Says: 

Normally my least favorite contributor, Dan Bejar, is on fire here. I used to think he was sprinkled in for the sake of indie cred--Electric Version's wordy "Testament to You in Verse" just couldn't keep up with A.C. Newman's splendour-pop like "It's Only Divine Right." No more. Maybe I've matured, or maybe last year's whimsically epic Destroyer single "Bay of Pigs" was simply a turning point, but try not to love "Silver Jenny Dollar."

Together's best song, however, has been wrapping around my head for almost a week now: "Valkyrie in the Rollerdisco." Holy lovely banjo, I [heart] this duet. "You're a gold mine" New Pornographers. Keep making songs this bliss and albums this cohesive, and you're in for one hell of a discography.

Essential Tracks:

"Crash Years"

"Silver Jenny Dollar"



"Valkyrie in the Rollerdisco"

THE BREAKDOWN: Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring

Los Campesinos! made two of the best albums of 2008: their visceral debut Hold on Now, Youngster... and the nearly-equal follow-up faux-EP We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed. My first thought: prolific, anyone?

It's not surprising then that their one-year hiatus produced the 15-track barrage Romance is Boring, which overflows with (dark, provocative, often elegant, often comical) ideas. Most of the experimentation pays off (like killer opener "In Medias Res"), just watch out for those that fall flat (the raw ra-ra of "Plan A"). And don't expect a smooth ride.

Los Campesinos! have two dimensions to their alluring madness: words and temperment.

I'm not arguing that it all makes sense, but how can you argue against lines like "I'm leaving my body to science/Not medical but physics," "I think we need more post-coital and less post-rock," "Said I'd gone deaf/But I'd heard everything they said/It's just I had no interest," and even the album's titular "romance is boring."

This all might sound pretentious on paper, or if it were strewn over an acoustic guitar (check the song titles, e.g. "This Is a Flag. There Is No Wind"). Not a problem: they tie this sensible nonsense to a fitting high-energy constitution. The result: Another great effort from on of music's most interesting and compelling outfits.

Essential Tracks:

"There Are Listed Buildings"

 "Straight in at 101"

"In Medias Res"

WORTH A LISTEN: Los Campesinos! - There Are Listed Buildings

My favorite go-to band when I'm in the need for manic eccentricity, Los Campesinos! return to the scene with this effortless piece of alt rock power pop. Great low-tech video too.

THE BREAKDOWN: Free Energy - Stuck on Nothing

Band: Free Energy
Album: Stuck on Nothing
Sounds Like: OK Go, Foghat, Blue Oyster Cult
Sub-Sub Genre: Soft-Hearted 70's Rock Revivalists
Essential Tracks: Bang Pop, All I Know, Free Energy

I don't mean to knock Free Energy too hard, but little about Stuck on Nothing appears to have any staying power. These kids never claim to be wise, but instead ballyhoo "cruising across town/lost in the endless sound" ("Dream City"). Yet they lack the manic youthful frenzy of early Arctic Monkeys or the sonic adventurousness of something like Japandroid. Free Energy seem unashamed to revel in a world where handclaps and cowbells are not only cool, but act as suitable lifeblood.

Not to allude that Stuck on Nothing is completely without life. "Bang Pop" is a taste of unadulterated joy quite rare in the indie rock realm, and which would be destined to become an alternative radio summer hit in a just suburban America. This is followed up by the most mature and textured piece, the string-heavy, mandatory-bob-along "All I Know" (and that hypnotizing finale...). Indeed, this track pairing would've made a fine finale to a excellent four-track EP.

Bang Pop - Free Energy

All I Know - Free Energy

THE BREAKDOWN (FT. DJ SUB PAR): Ted Leo - The Brutalist Bricks

Band: Ted Leo
Album: The Brutalist Bricks
Sounds Like: Clash, The Thermals, Okkervil River
Sub-Sub Genre: Personal Political Indie Punk
Essential Tracks: Bottled in Cork, Even Heroes have to Die, The Mighty Sparrow


DJ Sub Par Says:

Ted Leo is a steady hand. Every couple years he releases an album that comes from a punk rock impulse (read:the clash) that is unafraid to incorporate other influences, including reggee, dub, folk, celtic. While not every detour is successful, it is delivered with enough energy until Ted finds his feet again. He certainly finds his footing a few times on this album. He comes out of the gate with The Mighty Sparrow and the lyrics "When the cafe doors exploded I reacted to/reacted to yoooou." Try starting your morning of with that a see if you don't have a better day.

DJ Responsible Says:
Ted & the gang are at their best when they're making songs about places. "Bottled in Cork," the high point of The Brutalist Bricks's many peaks, is the sound of aging realists maintaining a bright-eyed wonder towards their globe-trotting ways. After name-dropping the United Nations and maybe a dozen (mostly European) cities, the narrative eventually drifts into something more narrow and immediate: "I tell the bartender/I think I'm falling love" repeated optimistically over the sound of dizzy, clinking glasses.

Even when Ted Leo are sounding raw for the sake of being raw ("The Stick"), or weird for the sake of weirdness ("Mourning in America"), they are simply avoiding the semi-downfall uniform-catchiness of 2004's Shake the Sheets. The Brutalist Bricks is just another example of Ted Leo giving 'prolific' a good name.

Bottled In Cork - Ted Leo & Th...

THE BREAKDOWN (FT. DJ SUB PAR): Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks

Band: Frightened Rabbit
Album: The Winter of Mixed Drinks
Sounds Like: A dirty Scottish Coldplay
Essential Tracks: Swim Until You Can't See Land, Living in Colour

DJ Responsible Says:
Admittedly, The Winter of Mixed Drinks is not as brash as The Midnight Organ Fight. It doesn't reach out and grab you by the throat, it simply gnaws at your ankle.

In other words, this one's a grower.

On first listen, I didn't catch the melancholy de-materialism of "Things" ("I don't need these things/I don't need them, oh"), and the rawness of "The Wrestle" ("they tore me limb from limb/there is bone, there is gristle"), recognizing only the immediacy of softie "Swim Until You Can't See" and the epic, should-be-album-closer "Living in Colour." Thankfully, these beautiful hidden moments become more tangible with every listen.

DJ Sub Par Says:
I echo Kevin's major point, this album requires a little bit of time.

In the meantime take a listen to the single (posted below). Frighted Rabbit are at their best when charmingly wishing for destruction. On the first single of their last album, Modern Leper, songwriter Scott Hutchinson makes his emotional crippling a physical one. Yet, on Swim Until You Can't See Land,  what immediately struck me as suicidal transformed into something else. The melody bobs along the surface. This act is an act of defiance. It is an act of living. He sings "Call this a drowning of the past"

Swim Until You Can't See Land ...

QUICK RIFFS: Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange

I'll admit, I was once skeptical of this band. The world already had a Deerhoof, which was more than enough mayhem for musicdom already. Why would we need the quasi-experimental haze of a Deer-based indie outfit? And the backstory (the death of a bassist) just seemed like another reason to consider this more of an interesting idea than a compelling band.

Well, after exploring Cryptograms, Microcastle and the Atlas Sound side project releases, I actually found myself excited about this EP release. It's definitely not a let down: all five tracks are fairly stellar, ranging from straight rocker ("Disappearing Ink") to meandering ballad ("Game of Diamonds") to low-fi tropicalia ("Rainwater Cassette Exchange"). Never a wasted moment.

I've included perhaps my favorite track below:

THE BREAKDOWN (FT. DJ SUB PAR): VIsqueen - Message to Garcia

Band: Visqueen
Album: Message to Garcia
Sounds Like: Neko Case, Joan Jett
Sub Sub Genre: Female-Fronted Rocknroll
Essential Tracks: Hand me Down, Fight for Love, Beautiful Amneisia, So Long

DJ Sub Par Says:

You won't find a Visqueen review on pitchfork yet. But watch for them to blow up at SXSW this year. Who are they? The Neko Case/Joan Jett comparison is apt. Soaring vocals of Neko and the guitar crunch of Joan. Visqueen stomps through 11 tracks in under 40 minutes and there is hardly a misfire (I find some of the lyrics on "Summer Snow" a little grating, but let's not dwell.) Put on the album, crank it up.

DJ Responsible Says:
Borrowing a compliment I've heard bestowed upon The Hold Steady, Visqueen might be the best bar band in the world (or at least in the top 5%). I can imagine them rocking through sweaty hits like "Hand Me Down" and "Beautiful Amnesia" before turning the lights down low for the lighter-raising sentiment of album centerpiece "So Long." But I'm curious to know how their sound will play out at the sunny fields of SXSW. For Visqueen's sound is decidedly indoor: all rasp, fuzz and toe tapping heartbreak

So Long - Visqueen

WORTH A LISTEN: Hot Chip - "One Night Stand (Drums of Death Remix)"

The first couple of minutes are pretty much killer. The last couple drift into unnecessary land (ft. pretentious noise). For a more straightforward dance track, there's also Carl Craig's PCP Remix and the very un-Hot Chip Joris Voorn Dusty Flower Remix.

THE BREAKDOWN (FT. DJ SUB PAR): Vampire Weekend - Contra

Band: Vampire Weekend

Album: Contra

Sounds Like: Ra Ra Riot, Paul Simon's Graceland, The Very Best

Sub-Sub Genre: Indie Prep-rock

Essential Tracks: Cousins, Giving Up the Gun

DJ Responsible Says: Even with the substantial critical hype and the (unsurprising) massive populist backlash--or at least bickering--my first reaction to Contra tended not to be love nor hate, but an unqualified 'wtf?'. Was this really what they had spent all their time and money doing? Was this really the album, the Ivy League hipster so-uncool-it's-cool-again album that went number one in the country? Who sits down and writes "In December drinking horchata/I'd look psychotic in a balaclava" and feels that it's somehow a reasonable way to start an album (whether ironic or not)?

For however unenjoyable Contra can be at times ("Horchata," the auto-tuned "California English"), you can't label Vampire Weekend sell outs. In fact, there's an odd dichotomy to this release: their sudden and (for me) inexplicable popularity butt up against the downright incomprehensible oddity that is the actual listening experience. Did people know what they were getting into? Or were they just drawn in by the beautiful bemused blond?

There is at least half an album to love here: "Giving Up the Gun" is fairly spectacular, perhaps simply for its relative normalcy and earnestness. "White Sky" is obnoxiously buoyant and contagious, but somehow doesn't go too far. And "Taxi Cab" is a stunning, downbeat mid-album showcase for their impressive musical craft. A little taste of realness goes a long way, especially when it's hard to find.

DJ Sub Par Says: I consume music the way Michael Phelps takes in calories. I hardly pause to breathe. A month belated review of one of the most hyped bands in the last few gives me time for something rare, a chance to savor. Above all, VW have a distinct sound, joyous and upbeat. Perhaps it is derivative, schticky and might not hold up over time. But for now I'd wager that anyone can cull ten tracks from their last two albums and have themselves a nice driving CD. What more do you really want from a band?

WORTH A LISTEN: The Deer Tracks - "Slow Collision"

This one is courtesy of a friend of mine, who say this band in a small venue in Sweden. I could see this band eventually achieving some States-side, crossover success. Pretty cool video too.

THE BREAKDOWN (W/ DJ SUB PAR): Spoon - Transference

Band: Spoon

Album: Transference

Sounds Like: Ted Leo, Cold War Kids, White Rabbits, The Walkmen

Sub Sub Genre: Minimalist Rock

Essential Tracks: Got Nuffin, Goodnight Laura, Who Makes Your Money?

DJ Sub Par: Britt Daniels and Co are unflappable. Apparently they don't know how to make a bad album. Sure, their first single, "The Mystery Zone" might have them going back to the Spoon book of tricks with a minimalist grove, but elsewhere they have eschewed the studio gloss of their previous outing (Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga) for disoriented tracks, where the vocals might cut out sudden. The Ballad "Goodnight Laura" feels like a tape recorder has caught Britt taping out a song on the piano for the first time - a rough beauty.

DJ Responsible: As DJ Sub Par alluded, the production is a little all over the place. It's hard to imagine that the shimmering "The Mystery Zone" and the shiny "Is Love Forever?"--a.k.a. Spoon performing atop American Gladiators' Assault, can you hear the tennis ball gun?-- are only a stones throw removed from the grungy (and mediocre) "Trouble Comes Running." However, as trustworthy as the well-worn silver spoon in your morning granola, it all just sort of coheres.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention "Who Makes Your Money?," the best thing they've done since Gimme Fiction (so, not that long I guess). It's got the spine of a Spoon song, but all twisted and spaced-out and warped. If the rest of the album would've felt a little more like this, the memories may have reverberated even deeper.

Got Nuffin - Spoon

Who Makes Your Money - Spoon

THE BREAKDOWN: Mew - No More Stories...

Mew need to diversify their sound. Or densify. Or ossify.

If I had to describe No More Stories... in a word, it would have to be digestible. Maybe palpable. Accessible. Manila.

Here's what works: "Beach" is a great, great tune, full of confidence and spirit; I'm surprised I didn't see this on at least one year-end list. Softy "Silas the Magic Car" is like adult contemporary Minus the Bear, in a good way, while "Cartoons and Macreme" endeavors for the grandiose, and gets respectably close. Most of the others, especially the upbeat first four, don't work so well.

In the end, all that's left is a feeling that this would've made a really good EP.

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