popwreckoning

Las Vegas group The Killers issued a statement on their web site today saying a severe illness of a close family member would cancel their Australian leg of tour. In an answer to many of the rumors circling about the band, the group also states that they have “no plans for an indefinite hiatus.” Read the full statement below:

The Killers had hoped that the Australian leg of their current tour would be completed as planned, but due to the severity of the illness of a close family member, they regretfully announce the cancellation of their Sydney Enmore show as well as their shows at Good Vibrations Festival Sydney and Good Vibrations Festival Perth this weekend. The band apologizes to their Australian fans and asks for their understanding. The Killers still intend to perform at the Good Vibrations Festival’s Gold Coast and Melbourne shows next weekend. The Killers would also like to take this opportunity to assure their fans that any concerns about the future of the band are unfounded. They are all looking forward to some time off at the end of this tour as they have been on the road for a long time, but there are no plans for an indefinite hiatus.

PopWreckoning.com is pleased to announce the first in what will surely be a long and great line of concert series from our very own Podwreck*.

Podwreck presents We Are Voices, Giant Radio, Seafarer^, Grizzly J Berry and spoken word performances by Steph Castor.

The show is April 10, 2010 at Kansas City’s Uptown Theater’s Conspiracy Room. Tickets will be available at the door or on ticketmaster.com.

*Podwreck is the name of our new podcast show. The hosts are hard at work putting together the premiere episodes, so look for those soon.

^Seafarer was previously known as the Yellow Walrus

As a general rule, being a diehard fan of an artist makes it much more difficult to offer a balanced review. There’s the problem of drowning in one’s fan knowledge and being completely biased in favor of the artist. Being a diehard Butch Walker fan, this particular review was no different.

I was positively giddy about the release of Butch Walker and the Black Widows’ I Liked You Better When You Had No Heart. I kept an eye out for every piece of news about the record’s release. I shelled out $75 for the preorder. I bought the iTunes single of “Trash Day” and “She Likes Hair Bands.” And then came the day when the stream made it online…

This record did not wow me. I strongly suspect this opinion won’t win me any friends and may even cost me a few.

It’s taken more than a few plays for the record to begin winning me over. Don’t get me wrong. By no stretch of the imagination do I consider this a bad record. If it were anyone else I would probably be content with it. After a week or two in heavy rotation I’d move on to something else. It’s good. But simply good isn’t the first descriptor I think of for Butch.

This record is very much for fans who favor Letters and Sycamore Meadows to Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Let’s Go Out Tonights. Everything is much more subdued and picks up more or less where Sycamore Meadows left off. Butch’s melodic acoustic rock gets heavy doses of country and 70’s AM Gold. Odd as it sounds, there are also moments where my mind’s eye sees the Black Widows well-coifed and swaying back and forth in matching Lettermen jackets. To be honest, most every song on the record conjured visions of band motifs, none of them looking like Butch and the boys.

There are a few important details that may account for my lack of enthusiasm upon hearing this record, so don’t think I’m writing it off all together. First off, Butch who’s usually a solo writer, shares writing duties with Michael Trent from The Films. Since I haven’t been able to get my hands on any credits, just yet it’s hard to say just how much of the record Michael wrote. There are a few undoubtedly Michael Trent moments, namely “Don’t You Think Someone Should Take You Home” and “Days/Months/Years.” Both songs sound like they would be at home on The Films’ next record and Michael even lends his voice to the former.

It’s quite possible that Michael has something to do with the country tinge on the record, though the record harkens different brands of country. “Don’t You Think Someone Should Take You Home” is a ballad done as if by a pair of country stars taking some over the top production away from a CMA. On the other hand, “Days/Months/Years” has some of the camp I always love in Butch’s lyrics and evokes images of a movie scene in a dive bar down a long dirt road. Coming from yet another angle is “She Likes Hair Bands,” which is very southern rock and sounds like there should be 12 band members on stage, not counting the group of girls on back up doing the choreographed moves in the corner.

Next up on the list of changes for Butch is that this record was recorded in just a few days following the west coast tour in June 09. While he isn’t exactly prone to epic, years long sessions, this is certainly a short time for a project. Something about the record sounds rushed. I can’t help but wonder how much of the record actually was written before the band went into the studio. Every song has a heavy dose of oohs, aahs and las, none of which would be out of the ordinary for Butch. God knows I have a weakness for well-placed oohs, aahs and las, but the preponderance of them just sound unfinished.

The record’s second track, “Pretty Melody” is a stand out and easily my favorite on the record, thanks in part to lines like “You’re such a pretty melody/I’m just another tattooed tragedy.” It opens with sweeping strings that carry over through the rest of the song and sounds like it should be the theme to a yellowed 1970’s flick with a tagline like “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Of course with strings like this, I can’t help but wonder if the next record will be his Wall of Sound era, which I’d love to hear. It would certainly go with my Letterman jacket visions. This also is quite true of “They Don’t Know What We Know.” To be honest, it borders on being Grease-esque. Come on Butch, where’s the choreography to go with your ever present leather jacket?

The closest this record gets to big rocker tracks, of which there are always a few, are “Temporary Title” and “House of Cards.” Of course they still have the aforementioned strings, but also a faster tempo. When I’m listening to “House of Cards,” however, I really wish for a gang of Muppets to pop out of a closet or from behind a couch to sing parts of the chorus like “you know you better run.”

Last on the list of changes in Butch’s MO, the fans barely had heard any of this record before the stream went live. Butch fans are very fortunate to be as spoiled as we are to get to watch the evolution of songs via the countless live videos and demos that find their way online long before the record sees the inside of a record store. A handful of tracks were previewed at his residencies in LA, New York, Chicago, and Atlanta last month with a few videos making it online, but nowhere near what we would normally see.

When all was said and done, I had heard six of the 11 tracks before sitting down to listen to the whole record, most of that only three weeks earlier at his Atlanta residency and all of them exactly as they are on the record. This may seem like a huge preview, but in the case of his previous efforts, fans had heard practically the entire record, with many of the songs as alternate versions long before they bought it on the release date. Is this record off-putting to the diehards since fans haven’t had the luxury of getting well-acquainted with each song before it is finally heard on the record? This could have something to do with my earlier wonderings as to how much of the record was written prior to the band setting foot in the studio, or perhaps Butch simply chose to be more guarded with his art before he was ready for it to be heard. I’ve certainly warmed to the record after many listenings. I suppose I’ll have to wait to see if I will fall for this record the way I have for the rest of his catalog.

Track Listing:
1. Trash Day
2. Pretty Melody
3. Don t You Think Someone
4. Should Take You Home
5. Stripped Down Version
6. Canadian Ten
7. Temporary Title
8. She Likes Hair Bands
9. House of Cards
10. They Don t Know What We Know
11. Days/Months/Years
12. Be Good Until Then

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard the track “Sweet Disposition” by Aussies the Temper Trap, featured on the film “(500) Days of Summer.” And thanks to the very nice folks at Filter Magazine, we have some signed Temper Trap merchandise to give away.

To win a t-shirt or a poster featuring the cover art of their debut album Conditions signed by the band, comment below with the correct answer to the following question: What city is the Temper Trap from?

Answers must be in before Friday, February 19 at noon CDT. We will choose the winners then. Please use a valid email address when entering. Note: This competition is open to American residents only.

Check out below the promo video for the excellent “Fader,” the Temper Trap‘s third single out in the UK. Conditions is available digitally everywhere now. As previously reported on PopWreckoning, the band will hit the road in North America starting March 10 in Los Angeles and is scheduled to appear at Coachella on April 17.

The Temper Trap: website | myspace | The Temper Trap Announce North American Tour

On Tuesday, February 9, NIN posted this on their web site as their latest news:

?

———

New music, new album, new tour? What does it mean? Guess we’ll have to wait and see…

If you tuned into the big game on Sunday, did you happen to see the ad for the US Air Force Reserves? The one that apparently uses a re-recorded version of The White Stripes song, “Fell in Love with a Girl” to persuade young men and women to join their troops? I may have missed it because I was too busy watching “Puppy Bowl” during the commercial breaks, (you know you did too…) but it looks like Jack White saw the ad, and well, he’s pissed.

According to the White Stripes label, Third Man Records, the band did not authorize use of the song to the Air Force Reserves and offered the following statement:

“We believe our song was re-recorded and used without permission of The White Stripes, our publishers, label, or management.”

“The White Stripes take strong insult and objection to the Air Force Reserves presenting this advertisement with the implication that we licensed one of our songs to encourage recruitment during a war that we do not support.”

He adds, “The White Stripes support this nation’s military, at home and during times when our country needs and depends on them. We simply don’t want to be a cog in the wheel of the current conflict and hope for a safe and speedy return home for our troops.”

White and his management plan to pursue legal action. Stay tuned.

Have you ever been to show that drastically changed the way you listen to a band? Well, last Friday I went and saw Editors (no ‘the’) and it’s almost like they’re a completely new band to me. Seriously.

Starting the tour supporting their third studio album In This Light and On This Evening, Editors brought along openers Black Nite Crash and Princeton for their Seattle and Vancouver shows. The former was a local Seattle band, one of which I’d put in the “fuzz rock” genre. Some call it “shoegaze,” which to me has a negative connotation of apathetic non-stage presence, so I prefer “fuzz rock.” They weren’t bad, but as a stark contrast to anything Editors did, it was an odd fit. If I had to compare their sound, it was like early Pixies but with a dose of cool Seattle confidence.

Between acts, the front area of the Showbox floor got strangely scarce, or at least until you looked down. Obnoxious teenagers decided to plant their behinds on the floor, tricking those further back that they might get a spot closer. To make the situation even more inconvenient, I almost tripped numerous times on these squatters.

No matter, because as soon as the next band, Los Angeles’ Princeton got on stage, people stood up to enjoy their low-key SoCal indie rock. I was standing right next to their personal band photographer before Princeton’s set started, and she tried to illustrate their sound to me, “kind of like Beach House?” Again, they were an interesting fit on Editors’ bill, but I quite liked them. At one point lead vocalist Jesse Kivel said after they kept switching around instruments, “I never realized how many bass players we have.” Three out of four the band members played bass during Princeton’s half-hour set. They played a concise set list from their debut studio album Cocoon of Love, out last September, all of which was scribbled on a sheet of paper under their feet. There were a few that I remembered having clever titles like “Calypso Love” and “I Left My Love In Nagasaki.” I liked those ones.

I feel like it would both suck and rock to be an opening band for a band as big as Editors. You get the pleasure of touring with and getting exposed to fans of that huge band, but during shows you don’t get as much love because people are there most of the time for the headliners. Jesse Kivel said it best – “thanks guys for coming out early.” When I see a “doors open at” time, that’s when I get there. If I pay for tickets, I want to see as much music as possible. I didn’t come early. I came on time. Everyone else came late.

At that, I was very glad because the Showbox didn’t get really crowded until right before Tom Smith, Chris Urbanowicz, Ed Lay and Russell Leech came out on stage and broke into the strong synthesizer and the lyrics, “I swear to god, I heard the earth inhale, moments before it spat its rain down on me” from the title track of their newest album. That’s when people went nuts.

Back to what I was saying earlier about hearing a band completely differently – when you first hear Editors, you’d never expect the lead singer to be winding around the stage, teetering on his stylish shoes and randomly jumping on the piano. But now that I’ve seen Editors live, I think of Tom’s antics when I hear “Papillon,” “Lights” or “Smokers Outside the Hospital Door” – all of which they played, by the way.  Tom Smith’s almost creepy charisma is perfect for the generally dark nature of their music; he was phenomenal at building momentum through a song without being cheesy, switching between three microphones, a keyboard and a piano. There was just a way that he grabbed at the microphone in almost a longing way, while stomping at the pedals below him.

Chris, sporting his familiar black and white Rickenbacker guitar, got to show his synthesizer skills last night, too. However, because his synth set was right up against Tom’s piano, Chris was completely isolated on the left side of the stage. But even with the separation on stage, everyone sounded so together and harmonious.

Honestly, when I first heard the last album I was kind of underwhelmed after how amazing An End Has A Start was, but after seeing it live, the songs off of In This Light and On This Evening make for a more dynamic live experience with all the elements included. Editors have surely utilized electronic sounds on this record, and it makes so much more sense to me now. I even forgive them for recording a song for the New Moon Soundtrack.

Throughout the 90-minute set, Editors played all but one track off of In This Light and On This Evening (that title is a lengthy one to type out, I must say), half of An End Has A Start, and even a few from 2005’s The Back Room, including “Camera” and “Bullets.”

After they finished up “Brick and Mortar” and left the stage. These girls standing behind me were saying, “There’s gotta be an encore. They haven’t played ‘Munich’ yet.”

“There’s a three-song encore coming up, I caught a glimpse of the set list on the stage,” I turned around and told them.

“Fingers crossed for ‘Munich!’” They squealed.

The girls soon got their wish when Tom, Chris, Russell and Ed got back up on stage and broke into the opening riffs of “Munich.”

I don’t know if they were especially great and energetic because this was the first show of the tour, but this will surely not be the last time I see Editors. Heck, I would have driven down to Portland to see them if they’d stopped there. It was that awesome.

Set List:
1. In This Light And On This Evening
2. Lights
3. An End Has A Start
4. You Don’t Know Love
5. Bones
6. The Boxer
7. The Big Exit
8. Blood
9. Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool
10. The Racing Rats
11. Like Treasure
12. Camera
13. Bullets
14. Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors
15. Bricks And Mortar
Encore:
16. Munich
17. Papillon
18. Fingers In The Factories

The wait is over for those wondering what great music would draw them into the humid campground in Tennessee for Bonnaroo 2010…sort of. For those patient enough to wait as a new band is revealed every few minutes, keep an eye on the Bonnaroo myspace.

Initial bands announced include Dave Matthews Band • Kings of Leon • Stevie Wonder • Jay-Z • Tenacious D • Weezer • The Flaming Lips with Stardeath and White Dwarfs perform “Dark Side of the Moon” • The Dead Weather • Damian Marley & Nas • Phoenix • Norah Jones • Michael Franti & Spearhead • John Fogerty • Regina Spektor • Jimmy Cliff • LCD Soundsystem • The Avett Brothers • Thievery Corporation • Rise Against • Tori Amos • The National • Zac Brown Band • Les Claypool • John Prine • The Black Keys • Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers • Jeff Beck • Dropkick Murphys • She & Him • Against Me! • The Disco Biscuits • Daryl Hall & Chromeo • Jamey Johnson • Clutch • Bassnectar • Kid Cudi • Baaba Maal • Kris Kristofferson • Medeski Martin & Wood • The xx • GWAR • Dan Deacon Ensemble • Tinariwen • Wale • Deadmau5 • The Melvins • Gaslight Anthem • Miike Snow • The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band • Dr. Dog • They Might Be Giants • Punch Brothers • Isis • Blitzen Trapper • Blues Traveler • Miranda Lambert • Calexico • OK Go • Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue • Martin Sexton • Lotus • Baroness • Dave Rawlings Machine • Mayer Hawthorne and the County • Japandroids • Jay Electronica • Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros • Ingrid Michaelson • The Dodos • Manchester Orchestra • The Temper Trap • Cross Canadian Ragweed • Big Sam’s Funky Nation • Carolina Chocolate Drops • Needtobreathe • Tokyo Police Club • The Entrance Band • Local Natives • Brandi Carlile • Mumford & Sons • Rebelution • Diane Birch • Monte Montgomery • Julia Nunes • The Postelles • Lucero • Here We Go Magic • Hot Rize • Neon Indian • B.O.B

The festival is from June 10-13. You can buy general, VIP and other packages for tickets here.

The festival promises some more surprises/announcements in the next few weeks.

There is the notion of the band seasoned through tour: a group of musicians so comfortable in the nuances of their songs that they perform with an effortless cool and incite a room full of people to forget everything, but the precise moment-the now. That’s a Dr. Dog show.

The band took the stage at the Pike Room on Wednesday night and the audience became a moving form dotted with cell phones and cameras hurriedly trying to catch the moment. The set was comprised mostly of material from Fate, but songs from We All Belong, Takers and Leavers, and a few songs—which will presumably be on the forthcoming Shame, Shame—appeared. The new songs (no titles/set list stolen) continue to mine similar territory: tight vocal harmonies, tight rhythm, engaging guitar hooks, Garth Hudson styled piano…but a more refined version that displays greater comfort and awareness.

During the final song of the set, “The Rabbit, the Bat, and The Reindeer,” a group of people broke into a spontaneously choreographed dance complete with mimed vocals. Being par for the night it was clear that Dr. Dog has a metro Detroit following. The same is true of Ann Arbor, where the band will be performing in April. While this Blind Pig show is worth attending, some of the intensity Wednesday night was certainly owed to environment itself.

The Pike Room lends an intimate quality to performances. The backstage area is located behind the bar and about as far away from the stage as you can be. In getting to the stage the band must first pass through the crowd. It’s akin to a sporting event—the home team triumphantly taking the field.

This element also creates a good barometer for the show. When the band plays their last song the audience can either disband or if they really liked the show (and want to block the band’s exit), stand there like a personified brick wall demanding more. The latter happened and Dr. Dog obliged, playing for another half hour and returning to Takers and Leavers, Easy Beat territory: “Die, Die, Die,” “Ain’t it Strange” and “Oh, No!”

At this point the audience relented. The band worked their way through a sea of back patting, congratulations and general cheering. The sold-out performance ended.

The band has a few more February dates with a March show at the Harvest of Hope Fest and then a brief respite before a tour in support of Shame, Shame starts in April. That album comes out on Anti- Records April 6th. The springtime of Dr. Dog soldiers on.

Looking at the cover for Songs for a Sinking Ship by April Smith and the Great Picture Show, I felt like I had stepped back in time. Most of the bands I listen to nowadays take the extreme minimalist approach when it comes to packaging and design for their albums, so just looking at this antique cover was a refreshing change. Designed by photographer and artist Matt Hoyle, it recalls days gone by, when you’d head to the summer agricultural fair and your long-suffering mother would pay someone to photograph your head peeking out from behind a cardboard cutout of some nonsensical scene. Opening the gatefold, you get a load of the band members perched precariously on their instruments or baggage and April Smith herself sitting on a wooden raft. And is that the Titanic half underwater behind Ms. Smith? Quite possibly…

I only bring this up because the attention to detail taken for the cover design provides insight into how I imagine the album was recorded. You can feel it in your bones how lovingly each of these 11 tracks was put together. Also consider that the album was entirely financed by the generosity of Smith’s fans – pretty impressive. Had this dance pop fan read the depiction of the album describing it as “sassy pop music informed by the ’30s and ’40s, juke joints and cabaret, the Andrews Sisters, and Tom Waits,” I may not have given it a second glance.

With the piano and ukulele effects and string, brass and handclap flourishes used so effectively throughout, I could not help but love this album. To the casual listener, yes, it does sound antiquated. With ragtime piano-playing and trumpeting (at the start of “Can’t Say No” for example), you may feel like you’ve gotten lost in a New Orleans parlor of a bygone era. But sometimes one needs to step back and appreciate what music sounds like without serious electronic intervention. This is honest music recorded without the benefit of auto-tune and other all too commonly used production crutches.

One of the best moments on the album is the superb opening track, “Movie Loves a Screen.” Smith’s winsome declaration “I just want to mean something to you…” showcases her gorgeous, lilting voice. Smith also does whimsical cynicism very well with the coy yet forceful “Drop Dead Gorgeous,” dripping with sarcasm: “Is there anything going on in that pretty little head? / If you’re just drop dead gorgeous / you should just drop dead.” Smith is obviously bitter about falling for some cute but emotionally unavailable cad. Seriously, what woman can’t commiserate?

The album’s journey through Smith’s emotions, ranging from jealousy (“Dixie Boy”) to joyful self-confidence (“Stop Wondering”), allows for Smith’s remarkable vocal range and songwriting prowess to shine. Clocking in at less than 35 minutes, Songs for a Sinking Ship is an all too brief introduction into Smith’s emotional world. With Smith at the helm, I predict – and hope – that this ship will be seaworthy for a long time to come.

Track Listing:
01. Movie Loves A Screen
02. Terrible Things
03. Drop Dead Gorgeous
04. Can’t Say No
05. What’ll I Do?
06. Colors
07. Dixie Boy
08. The One That Got Away
09. Beloved
10. Wow and Flutter
11. Stop Wondering

Songs for a Sinking Ship will be released on February 23 and can be preordered at the band’s official website. Smith and her band are currently on tour through to the middle of February with Langhorne Slim. They will join up with London-based folk/pop outfit Fanfarlo for a West Coast tour through to the end of the month.

Tour Dates
Feb 08 – Casbah / San Diego*
Feb 10 – Hi Dive / Denver*
Feb 11 – Record Bar / Kansas City, KS*
Feb 12 – Off Broadway / St. Louis*
Feb 13 – Summit / Columbus*
Feb 22 – Great American Music Hall / San Francisco#
Feb 23 – Doug Fir / Portland#
Feb 24 – Crocodile Café / Seattle#
Feb 25 – Knitting Factory / Spokane#
Feb 27 – Urban Lounge / Salt Lake City#
Feb 28 – Larimer Lounge / Denver#
* with Langhorne Slim
# with Fanfarlo

April Smith and the Great Picture Show: website | myspace