popwreckoning

Before Frank Turner became a solo artist, he played in a London post-hardcore outfit, Million Dead. When that band fizzled, he decided to strike out on his own, he did so in a very different musical genre, folk rock. Five years post-Million Dead, three solo albums, and two EPs later, Turner finds himself being revered and highly sought after, easily selling out venues at home in the UK. Despite having toured stateside over the last 2 years as support for the likes of the Gaslight Anthem, the Offspring, and Social Distortion, he’s not a household name in America. Yet. But his latest EP released this week, the simply-titled Rock & Roll, should help matters.

Thanks to the BBC, folk gets a lot more attention nationally in the UK than it does here in America, and in Britain, there is a glut of folk and folk rock acts eager for mainstream success. Three reasons I think Frank Turner has come out on top of the heap and succeeded in Britain and in Europe? His down-to-earth persona, his eagerness to communicate with his fans (check out his Twitter and his blog, usually detailing his life on the road but more recently, the difficulties of touring during a freakishly early winter snowfall in Britain), and the protest bent of his lyrics, making him a present-day, Bob Dylan-style folk hero, if you will. He champions the little guy, a position that usually doesn’t translate to fame, fortune, and success in the popular music world. Yet back home in Britain, he’s idolized. I never got into Tom Waits like some of my friends and some of the people in the music business I’ve run into as a blogger. But I imagine for many people, Frank Turner is their Tom Waits.

The melodic guitars and Turner’s engaging vocals make this EP highly enjoyable. “Pass It Along” starts slowly with a folky sensibility. It reminds of how some of Led Zeppelin‘s songs would start off quietly and introspectively before ripping into monster, now classic riffs. (I bring up Led Zep because they are the band that created arguably one of greatest rock ‘n’ roll songs ever, aptly titled “Rock and Roll.”) In the case of “Pass It Along,” it’s at the 3-minute mark that all lets loose for what feels life-affirming. “Rock and Roll Romance” is a short piece, just Turner and his guitar. Simple, yet gorgeous and heartbreaking, all at the same time.

If you feel like the EP is flagging, then “To Absent Friends” reignites the fire. Listening to this song, I’m sure you can feel the excitement that is Frank Turner and his band live, Turner giving his vocal cords quite the workout as piano keys bang. The tune “The Next Round” is the most country of the five on this EP, and is the regretful musings of an alcoholic. What could sound fake doesn’t in Turner’s deft songwriting hands. But the rallying cry of this EP is the anthemic track “I Still Believe.” Turner sings, “who would have thought / after all / something as so simple as rock ‘n’ roll would save us all?” Decades after the first rock ‘n’ roll tunes came out of its rhythm and blues roots, rock ‘n’ roll is still going on strong. And it will continue to thrive with people like Frank Turner, committed to making music under his own terms. This album might not be as aggressive as what is being passed off as “rock” these days, but it’s sure got plenty of substance. And heart.

Track Listing:
01. I Still Believe
02. Pass It Along
03. Rock & Roll Romance
04. To Absent Friends
05. The Next Round

The Rock & Roll EP by Frank Turner will be released on December 07 on Epitaph Records.

Frank Turner: website | myspace

About a year ago, I stumbled into Kansas City’s pivotal music establishment for discovering the next big thing, The Record Bar, to cover a brilliantly underrated Minneapolis band, One For The Team. However, to my surprise, a band band on the bill, Now, Now Every Children would catchy my attention just as effectively as the band I was covering. As a result, both bands ended up getting reviews that night.

However, something a little outside of my norm happened following that evening as well. Instead of simply moving on to the next project, Now, Now Every Children clung to me, holding on with a white knuckle grip. I followed their news feeds, lurked their tour dates and actively searched out chances to include them in my life instead of simply and passively waiting for their public relations team to send us a mass email. In a time where I often fail to listen to bands for fun, this band was really fun to which to listen.

That hasn’t changed over the course of a year’s time. In fact, the only thing that has been altered is the band’s lengthy name, which has recently dropped the “Every Children” to sport the new, simpler title of Now, Now. Thankfully, the simplifying the name of the band has in no way watered down the quality of their sound. In fact, if anything they’ve grown stronger with their new EP Neighbors, which is set to drop December 7, 2010.

“Giants” just might be the song to break things wide open for Now, Now. Sporting the most confrontational opening line I’ve ever heard kick off an album, Casie Dalager‘s direct, in your face approach to fronting a band stands tall against a back drop of sassy songstresses selling more sex than albums. Boldly stating: “If I believed in God I would not have done the things you’ve done/’cause you’re only half willing to follow the son,” she makes no bones about her judgments and leaves no room for anything but respect. Placed over haunting guitars and pounding drums this song could easily shift into the single of the year of stumbled upon by the right person. Though dark, its structure and depth lift it up to a level few bands manage to reach.

Following “Giants,” Now, Now steps off the gas pedal temporarily for “Roommates.” Taking the path of the likes of great 90′s groups like K’s Choice or The Cranberries, the band relies on drum heavy patterns and soothing picking to help the song creep cautiously towards a larger, explosive outro.

“Jesus Camp,” the EP’s third track, shows off Now, Now’s ability to dabble in the technology based boundaries of music. The production value of this song is best served in a surround sound area where the audios can float around the room, swirling around you. The build up of the electronic noise under the pounding drums in the end sequence is flawlessly placed directly before a vocally highlighted slowdown.

That slowdown is followed directly by the albums most upbeat and racing song, “Neighbors.” With great changes shifting from straightforward 4/4 drums to twitchy complicated beats, the song jumps back and forth between the two styles. Followed by two acoustic versions of already featured songs, the last three tracks round out my favorite EP on this week’s release schedule. Please take a second a check this band out.

Album bonus: Absolutely take a second to listen to Neighbors opening track “Rebuild” through large, stereophonic, ear cupping headphones. While you might look like an ass, I promise the tasty musical hooks that will hit your ear buds will be worth any face you might have to save.

Track listing:

Rebuild
Giants
Roommates
Jesus Camp
Neighbors
Giants (Acoustic)
Neighbors (Acoustic)

5 out of 5 stars

Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro have announced a club tour of North American for February. Support on this tour will be from Westchester, New York quartet Moving Mountains. The tour kicks off on February 10 in Washington, DC and finishes up on February 28 in San Francisco. The Scottish trio just finished up a 14-date, sold-out arena tour of the UK. Their fifth album Only Revolutions released in late November 2009 was nominated for the 2010 Mercury Prize.

Tour Dates
Feb 10 – Rock N’ Roll Hotel / Washington, DC
Feb 11 – North Star Bar / Philadelphia
Feb 12 – Gramercy / New York City
Feb 13 – TT the Bears / Boston
Feb 15 – La Sala Rossa / Montreal
Feb 16 – Garrison / Toronto
Feb 18 – Basement / Columbus
Feb 19 – Double Door / Chicago
Feb 20 – 7th Street Entry / Minneapolis
Feb 24 – Doug Fir / Portland
Feb 25 – Venue / Vancouver
Feb 26 – Crocodile / Seattle
Feb 28 – Rickshaw Stop / San Francisco

Biffy Clyro: website | myspace | @ Beaumont

Photo: Mary Chang

Kansas City locals, The Beautiful Bodies are playing The Night The Buzz Stole XXmas with My Chemical Romance, A Day To Remember, and Innerpartysystem on December 8 at the Midland Theatre.

They joined PodWreck in the studio for an interview before the show.

Be prepared for Mary Management, Twilight, Brian answering questions as Alicia, and track-jackets. It is also apparently the night for cheesy jokes, thus, we have added laugh tracks.

Download their single “You’re A Risk” on iTunes!

Listening to Duffy it is fairly easy to notice that she has talent. Her voice tends to be strong and in tune, belted out and rising above the string composition and nineteen-something throwback numbers slammed onto her album. Talent isn’t the question. I honestly have little doubt that Duffy would own American Idol (heck, she owned the Welsh version Wawffactor). She can be marketed. The 6.5 million copies of her debut record Rockferry sold prove that without a doubt. However, regardless of her success, her talent and her marketability, she still seems to be standing there without a defined image. Listening to her albums, she comes off as little more than a sassy karaoke singer. She never manages to capture the larger than life spotlight that the Gagas, X-tinas and  Winehouses of her genre need.

Endlessly, Duffy’s sophomore album seems to reinforce this. The retro-styled R&B has its moments of momentum, but mostly fails to gather enough thrust to be deemed interesting. Sure,  the album’s obvious single, “Well, Well, Well,” will probably manage to draw people to snag the album from the store shelves with a propaganda attack on MTV and radio, but as a whole, Duffy’s product falls short of album of the year material. To be quite honest, it doesn’t even rate on my chart as the best album released this week. With 6 fairly ignorable tracks on a 10 track album, it is hard to approve of this album not being trimmed down to an EP.

However, not all is lost on the album. The production of Endlessly, which was done by Albert Hammond is top  notch. The strings are crisp, the vocals are bold and the rhythm section, made up of members of The Roots, is driving. Tech nerds night want to give the album at least one listen for these instances alone. Everyone else might consider downloading “What, What What” and “My Boy” from iTunes.

2 out of 5 stars

The U.S. can be a little behind the times when it comes to listening European acts. The UK has already had plenty of time to get acquainted with the sweet electropop of 23-year-old Ellie Goulding, but now its time for the U.S. to get introduced to her as well. 

Ellie Goulding just released her debut EP An Introduction to Ellie Goulding stateside and will release her full-length album, Lights, in early 2011. Lights has already topped the UK charts and been praised by the Brit Awards and BBC polls.

PopWreckoning wants to help get you acquainted with the talented, young songwriter, so we’re giving away two autographed copies of her An Introduction to Ellie Goulding EP. All you have to do be one of the winners is comment and tell us what you would do if you were given the chance to be introduced to Ellie in person.

This contest is for U.S. residents and answers must be submitted by 12 p.m. CDT on Friday, December 10. We’ll select two winners at that time from the comments. Please use a valid email address when entering.

And for a sample of Ellie’s work, check out her cover of Elton John‘s “Your Song” below:

. “Your Song” (Elton John cover)