popwreckoning

This is cool. I knew nothing about this album before it hit my headphones, but I’m glad it did. For Honors, the married couple Ben + Vesper (from New Jersey) are joined by a full backing band, which includes Sufjan Stevens on piano. This definitely gives the songs more weight than they might have otherwise.

Ben + Vesper’s Sounds Familyre bio mentions Danielson or Daniel Smith four times. I would’ve made the comparison, even if I hadn’t known the album was produced by Smith.  It’s a little more accessible than early Danielson, but it’s just as complex, and the sense of family is just as apparent. This is slightly cracked, idiosyncratic, indie pop with a definite religious bent.

The songs float in and out, guided by angelic male and female vocals. Most of them begin with a simple riff and a vocal melody, before the drums kick in, and the song gets going.  One of the highlights is a pretty simple call and response number, “Holly Home?” I say it’s simple, but it’s pretty funky as well. This is fun stuff.

My favorite lines from the album come from “Cheer Up, Cheers.” “I like your outlook today. You’re a happy man. I like that.” “That’s not impressive. Well, neither are sports cars.” The rest of the lyrics continue along those lines, against low guitar and bass lines. They amuse me greatly.

I’m really glad I put this on. I’m in a much better mood than I was when I started this review.  I’m going to spend a good amount of time deciphering this album’s lyrics, which means it’s going to stay in heavy rotation for at least a month. If you like your music a little soft and strange, and don’t mind heavy Christian overtones, you might really enjoy this. Highly recommended.

Track Listing:
1. Adult vAcA
2. My Father’s Eyes
3. Knee-Hi Wall
4. Find Your Friend
5. Holly Home?
6. How You Are
7. Cheer up, Cheers!
8. Sugar Song
9. Consubstantiation
10. All Is Forgiven
11. Understruggle; Yay, Win
12. HONORS

While on holiday in England in April 2007, I saw the indie rock group Hot Club de Paris open for Carl Barat and Gary Powell‘s post-Libertines band, Dirty Pretty Things, at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire. I was very confused that the trio was singing harmonies with an English accent and not a French one. Turns out the band is from the Northwest of England, Liverpool to be exact (yes, the home of the Beatles), and is comprised of principal songwriter / lead vocalist / bassist Paul Rafferty and a pair of brothers, Alasdair (drums) and Matthew Smith (guitar). Songs like “Shipwreck” from their 2006 debut album Drop It ’til It Pops turned into singalongs that Sunday night at Shepherds Bush, confirming to me that even though they aren’t massive in Britain like, say, Coldplay, they’ve got a devoted fanbase at home and in Europe. And for a British band, that’s a major thing to have under your belt: it gives you the clout to keep making records.

Hot Club de Paris‘ last two EP releases in the UK, With Days Like This as Cheap as Chewing Gum, Why Would Anyone Want to Work? (released February 2010) and The Rise and Inevitable Fall of the High School Suicide Cluster Band (released May 2010), have now been combined into one album for their North American album debut, the whimsically titled Free the Pterodactyl 3. Their record label, Moshi Moshi, may not be familiar to you, but past acts like Florence and the Machine and Friendly Fires should be, having released their earliest works on the indie London label before moving on to bigger things.

Hot Club de Paris is an interesting amalgamation of punk and pop. They make music under their own terms, putting out what they want (which explains why they put out two EPs in the UK last year instead of one long player) and bowing to no one. The backstory of the title track of the album is described by Moshi Moshi as “a slow and wistful jam about singer Paul Rafferty’s scrape with the law whilst attempting the liberation of a 3-metre fibreglass pterodactyl from a derelict fun fair with a couple of friends.” Sounds like a punk, all right (watch the black marker and drum-centric promo video for the song below). Their sound is at times angry and angular as math rock, but also maintains a pop edge, making them accessible to anyone. I mean, really, what punk band can you name that regularly breaks out into three-part a cappella harmony at a gig? While I haven’t seen the band in four years, I imagine “The White Town Express (Get High, Stay Low)” would be perfect to showcase their gorgeous harmonies live.

My favorite songs from this band are of the winsome, up tempo variety. “I’m Not in Love and Neither Are You” and “Dog Tired at the Spring Dance Marathon” have fun guitar lines running underneath the insistent, shouted vocals. “Dance a Ragged Dance” has feel-good harmonies and the proof that well-read Rafferty is handy with choosing words (“…buildings / booked basement parties, sad times / the moonlight lit a kiss on the stairs…“) without abandoning punk (“we can either dance or die!“). The song also ends with xylophone, more Freelance Whales than punk.

Despite the name, “Biggie Smalls and the Ghetto Slams” is not a rap song at all but instead tells the story of young kids and their ill-fated band. If you haven’t figured this out already, Hot Club de Paris likes to be different, but not for the sake of being different: it’s just not in their nature to operate any other way. And I’m glad, because their sound is all that’s great about the young North. “The Rise and Inevitable Fall of the High School Suicide Cluster Band” and “Fuck You, the Truth” (with the question, “are you guys having a good time?“, and response from the crowd, “noooo!“) are more punk, but there’s something charming about the way the lyrics are shouted at you. You want to root for this band. It’s not hard to imagine fans at a gig shouting the words back at them, fists in the air. Me? I want to be a part of that.

While Free the Pterodactyl 3 is not a cohesive album (and if you’ve read this far, you understand why this is the case), it’s a good introduction to an exciting Liverpool band that deserves success on this side of the Atlantic.

Track Listing:
01. I’m Not in Love and Neither Are You
02. The Rise and Inevitable Fall of the High School Suicide Cluster Band
03. Fuck You, the Truth
04. Biggie Smalls and the Ghetto Slams
05. Free the Pterodactyl 3
06. Dance a Ragged Dance
07. Dog Tired at the Spring Dance Marathon
08. They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
09. The White Town Express (Get High, Stay Low)
10. Three Albums and Still No Ballad
11. Noses Blazing
12. Extra Time, Sudden Death

Free the Pterodactyl 3 is available now from Moshi Moshi.

Hot Club de Paris: website | myspace

Seattle’s Campfire OK is set to release Strange Like We Are and they’re sharing the title track as a free download now. Who doesn’t like free stuff?

Download “Strange Like We Are” from here. It’s a fun indie folk jam with a building melody line that is sure to have you singing along by the end. You can also check out a video of the band performing the song below.

If you like this song, the rest of the album will be available February 1 on various forms. They’ll also play a hometown CD release show on February 5 at the Columbia City Theatre.

When some of my friends discovered I was attending a Linkin Park concert they scoffed. For anyone that knows my tastes well, I’ve never really been that into them, changing the dial when they came on the radio and I’ve never expressed an interest in having an of their music on my iPod. But even for a person as skeptical as I am of a rock group that merges with the rap genre, I must admit…Linkin Park is downright entertaining live.

Linkin Park has an aesthetically pleasing show. Behind the band, a big video screen played mostly black and white close-up videos of the band performing and various shots of fans reacting. For an amphitheater show, videos as big as this not only look classy, but are much appreciated by those in the back with a less than stellar view of the stage. For some variance, the video sometimes displayed clips of the band’s music videos or other images that matched the songs. The video display even got some use before the show promoting Music for Relief, a charity the band is heavily involved in. It’s pretty cool to see a band take a cause they believe in that seriously – great use of celebrity status.

In addition to the great use of video, the light show was spectacular. Sometimes bands go a little overboard with lights and fans are so blinded by the strobes (as it was with opener Does It Offend You, Yeah?) that it is almost impossible to glimpse the band even once. This light show was not only interesting, but it served to compliment the band – spotlighting solos, adding to the mood of a tune, and keeping the background video from being overwhelmed. Another segment of their stage set up that I loved was the use of a raised deck. The turntables and drums were set up on the platform, which was great to actually see what they guys were doing instead of being buried in the back like a usual set up. Their were also ramps up to the deck, so the guitarists, bassists and singer were free to move around between different levels, which was cool not only to watch, but also a great way for the guys to express some of the energy they have as they perform.Vocalist Chester Bennington was especially impressive as he moved from a crouched yell stage left to running up the ramp to singing upper stage left. Just from watching alone, a person could see that these guys love what they do…they’re not just faking it for the money.

Now, on the audio side of things, music doesn’t always sound the best in amphitheaters. The wrong type of genre can sound horrid in that environment, but in this case, Linkin Park’s music worked. Nothing sounded muffled as is a common problem in an amphitheater.

The set list was about what you’d expect: all the hits from all the albums, but also a lot of the new material. Fans went wild over a back to back performance of the popular “Numb” and “Breaking the Habit.” The band took some liberties with “Breaking the Habit,” and while the pause for a spasdically creepy video clip weirded me out, I did enjoy when Bennington extended the end of the song a cappella. From the amount of people waving their arms and singing along, it looks like I wasn’t the only one who loved that moment.

And no review of Linkin Park is complete without mentioning Mike Shinoda. His musical contributions, both instrumentally and vocally are some of my favorite parts of this band. I don’t think I would have enjoyed this show as much as I did if he wasn’t a part of the band.

Opening for Linkin Park were two UK acts: the quirky electronica rock act Does It Offend You, Yeah? and Pendulum. Does It Offend You, Yeah? isn’t for everyone. They sang a song where the main lyric was, “The fucking monkeys are coming,” and then they imitated a monkey. With lots of strobes, and beats that make you want to get down, this is more of a dance club scene band – perhaps aimed more at people that like tripping to music. Their last number was a bit more speed, but that have been that I had no idea what the sparser vocals were saying through their distortion. Pendulum is a bit more of the Linkin Park speed, just minus the rapping and with an added bonus of a British accent. So if you’re into Linkin Park, this band would be great for you to check out.

Now if you to experience the show for yourself, the entire set was actually recorded and is being offered as a free download to mobile users. You just have to text ‘KCLP’ to ’50505.’ Unfortunately, this is just audio – you’d have to dig around YouTube or buy a ticket to another show date to see the visuals for yourself.

Photos by Andrew Dunlap

After an amazing show in Seattle, from what I heard, The Thermals played their first show in Olympia on Sunday at the all-ages venue The Northern. A refurbished storefront, The Northern is perhaps the most rundown venue I’ve ever been to, so it was cool to see that the Thermals chose to play there.

Strong advocates for the All-Ages Movement Project, The Thermals brought close to about 100 people to the tiny dimly-lit venue on Sunday, but it didn’t really matter how many people were there, because The Thermals are never low on energy and always promise a good time.

Opening the show was White Fang, the self-proclaimed “Portland’s Favorite Shred Pop Drug Punk Spazz Rock Good Guy Band.” It personally wasn’t my cup of tea, but it was definitely fit for the Olympia crowd, which you could call a dirtier version of Seattle. Yeah, Olympia is like Seattle, but dirtier.

All of White Fang’s songs were around 1-2 minutes long, and were so indistinguishable that you didn’t even have time to get into the songs.

“This song is about being younger than someone. It’s called ‘Younger.’”

Featuring lots of fake seizures, homoerotic state antics, and some semi-nudity, White Fang is definitely a band that puts on a show, and whether or not I liked the music, I appreciated the power they had on stage.

At this point, a few more people had stepped through the door, but literally it was the smallest crowd I’ve ever been a part of. Actually my friend’s roommate was working the lights that night, and he told us that the Northern didn’t make any profit until 16 people bought tickets. And at $8 per person, you can guess how much each show cost them to put on.

Hey, now’s a good place to recommend that you donate to your local all-ages venue, because like the Northern, most don’t have a lot of money and some are close to being shut down.

After the 20-or-so-minute intermission, Olympia locals Broken Water took the stage to a much more subdued performance, featuring psychedelic vocals and fuzzed-out guitars fit for an Olympia rainy day, reminiscent of early Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine. Seriously, Broken Water at times sounded like they were channeling Thurston and Kim from Sonic Youth, but it a good way.

Broken Water’s throwback garage rock was actually quite refreshing. And their presence was much less “dude let’s get wasted” and more “we’re such music dorks,” as their on-stage (makeshift stage, I might add) banter was quite endearing.

“I vote we raise some money to get this place a proper PA system,” drummer Kanako Wynkoop proclaimed to the exuberant crowd.

There set was much longer and more enjoyable than White Fang’s, which seemed cut short. I suggest you go find their debut LP Whet, which came out last year.

As they stepped off the wooden two-piece stage, more people arrived in the dingy storefront-turned-venue. At this point, people tried to actually get close to the stage, but it wouldn’t have really made a difference either way.

The Thermals are such lovely people. Honestly, during both the opening bands’ sets Kathy Foster and Westin Glass were off to the side of the stage listening and bopping their heads along with everyone else in the venue. It’s just too bad I didn’t get a chance to stay afterward and hang for a bit. It was a school night, and I still had homework today.

Jumping right into the first song was a bit trickier than it originally would have been. Literally four beats into it, Glass’s pedal broke. The chain just snapped in half. I guess he started so furiously that the pedal couldn’t handle it.

Frantically, Glass called on the members of Broken Water to see if they had left yet. And meanwhile, people were shouting from the audience to Kathy, “tell a joke!”

“Nooooo. This isn’t a comedy club,” she said cheekily.

Thankfully Broken Water hadn’t left, so The Thermals got their bass pedal, and the music recommenced.

From then on, the show went off without a hitch, unless you count Westin shouting at some guy shoving people around up front. I have to admit, that was kind of awesome.

As you can notice with the set list I posted above, The Thermals played through their whole catalogue, not just the new stuff. It was great for the newer younger fans and the old-school Olympia punks that came out on Sunday. Starting with “A Stare Like Yours” off Fuckin A was a perfect way to begin a fun and quite sweaty night.

As I helped hold up the speakers while people were thrashing around up front, I didn’t even care that the lighting was virtually impossible, because a.) I’d seen The Thermals twice last year, and b.) they’ll be playing the Sasquatch announcement party next month, so getting good photos was the least of my worries. The Thermals are too much fun to even care what’s going on around you, even if that means a speaker is going to fall on your head.

Not that it happened. A few people standing around me periodically grabbed the stand the speaker was sitting upon, because it was certainly moving around.

Hey, that’s something donations to the All-Ages Movement Project would help – getting proper equipment for these places that make it their goal to bring good music to all-ages crowds all the time. I’m all for that.

After an hour or so of the short and infectious hits from the last 8 years of their existence, The Thermals made it seem as if they weren’t shoved on this tiny stage in the middle of downtown Olympia. They made the best of it, and it definitely secured my love for them, as well as a new respect for the fledgling venues out there. Seriously, more bands need to be like The Thermals and book the venues that no one else will.

The more venues where everyone can see live music, the better.

They say that selfish lovers are terrible, and the same can be said for selfish musicians.

The Damned Things performed a lackluster set Friday evening while opening for Buckcherry as part of the Jägermeister Music Tour at the Midland Theater in Kansas City, Missouri. This heavy metal “supergroup” was collectively distant to their audience and each other.

For the majority of their set they remained in their fixed positions, minus lead singer Keith Buckley (Every Time I Die), who wandered around the stage but stayed at least two feet away from the edge of the stage and barely let go of his mic stand. Perhaps he was afraid he would fall into the crowd of unenthused audience members. Rhythm guitarist player Joe Trohman (Fall Out Boy) seemed especially uninterested. During their set he rarely moved, but stayed close to bass player Josh Newton (Every Time I Die). They very well could have just turned their backs to the crowd for the entire set and it would have been about the same. The only members who seemed slightly interested in putting on a show for the audience were Scott Ian (Anthrax) and Rob Caggiano (Anthrax).

As their set continued on, Keith Buckley was off pitch and the group seemed as though they didn’t know how to move to their own sound. Both of these incredibly important components shouldn’t have been a problem for these veteran musicians.The stench of musical entitlement was in the air, as though their previous accomplishments in their respective bands should grant them some graces.

Maybe they will be able to get their act together and make a name for themselves and not fizzle out and become another has-been “supergroup,” but until that happens I wish I could erase them from my memory.

The Get Up Kids are back with new record There Are Rules, but for a band that has long been touting ‘kids’ in their name, this is a testament that they’ve grown up. Lyrical themes focus on experiences and the wisdom that comes with age and reflection. Now, this is still the Get Up Kids fans first fell in love with, especially when listening to the frequent driving drum beats over fuzzy guitars and characteristic vocals, but these battered music veterans have a new perspective.  

There Are Rules is the band’s fifth studio album, and the first lp since 2004′s Guilt Show and the much bemoaned hiatus/break-up. With There Are Rules, the band returned to longtime producer Ed Rose and Bob Weston, who produced their 4 Minute Mile debut fifteen years ago. After some label struggles in the past, the band worked to put this record out on their own Quality Hill Records.

As previously mentioned, wisdom from experience is a prevalent theme on this album. And with that theme come some other motifs such as lies and feelings of doubt and betrayal. While others albums might have focused more on relationships and surroundings, this album is more reflective on past interactions and their repercussions on the future. Several of the songs seem to specifically focus on the band’s break-up and the events that brought that about. On “When It Dies,” Matt Pryor sings “Let it go, when it dies,” which is basically like saying don’t drag something out when it isn’t working – part of the reason for the band’s absence for the last five years. Then on “Rememorable,” Pryor sings, “Look how far we’ve come and you’ll send us 10 steps off.” The plural subjects makes it pretty obvious that this isn’t a song about the group of the guys getting discouraged over time. But the reflective narration fights to the end of the song on a wave of fuzzy guitar riffs before entering a prose that could be a self-conversation or a conversation to fans or peers. “Wish this was over,” and then the narrator seems to retort a “no”: “We’re in it for the long haul.” Yet another response, “Why don’t you go away?” The challenging struggle to keep making music even when support isn’t always apparent? That’s just one of many possible interpretations.

Aside from the lyrical theme being a major change for the band, the other thing that stands out is James Dewees has really stepped into his role in this band. The fuzzy guitars and heavy reverb were always common for this band, but the synths are more apparent on this album than Guilt Show. The opening track “Tithe” could have easily worked as a Reggie and the Full Effect tune.

If you listen to any song off the album, it should be “Rally ‘Round the Fool.” This is the one that you won’t be able to get out after your head long after you hit the stop button on whatever device you’re using for listening. This song is so great not just because it is catchy, but because it seems to be a culmination point – a rally point, if you will – for the album’s themes. Remember that the theme about wisdom that comes with age and experience? Yep, that’s here in full force as Pryor’s voice darkly sings, “Rally ’round the fool, we all fall.” There’s lots of ways to envision that line. In a more metaphorical interpretation, I picture the innocent children’s game of Ring-around-the-Rosie. Now picture it if it weren’t so innocent. Like maybe the kid’s are playing it on a volcano’s edge. There’s a danger there that is only present to those watching, while the kids playing are completely blind to it. It’s a lot like life. You can be drawn into something blindly and see no harm, but it could lead to your downfall. This reflection could be carried over into different parts of the band’s career, and now with the wisdom of experience, they recognize the various fools. “It’s all over,” Pryor repeats at the end over a galloping rhythm guitar and a wailing bass drum. Not only is it great to listen to on recording, but it will undoubtably be the ace in the pocket for their live show.

Now, there are bound to be some haters – you know, those people who cling to a band’s first release and consider everything else crap – but give this record a chance. There’s a surprising amount of diversity on it (“Shatter Your Lungs” was a bit of an instrumental surprise” and “Automatic” felt like something off a John Hughes soundtrack), so no matter when you got into the band, you’re bound to find something you like.

Whatever people say though, this reviewer is glad that the Get Up Kids are back.

Track Listing:
1. Tithe
2. Regent’s Court
3. Shatter Your Lungs
4. Automatic
5. Pararelevant
6. Rally ‘Round the Fool
7. Better Lie
8. Keith Case
9. The Widow Paris
10. Birmingham
11. When It Dies
12. Rememorable

One of the most exciting bands of the moment, Pendulum, are touring in North America right now. The Australian/British drum and bass and electronic band are playing a series of shows as support for Linkin Park, as well as headlining some of their largest shows of their own on our continent to date. I had an opportunity to ask Gareth McGrillen, bassist and co-founder of the group, some questions during a rare moment of free time while they’re on the road. He tells me how the band’s move from Australia to Britain was pivotal to their success, about their crazy fans that “destroy each other,” and how Immersion, their latest album just released this week in the U.S., differs from their two previous albums. Read on.

MC: Tell me about the beginnings of Pendulum. What was it like growing up in Perth, what is the music scene like there? How do you think it contributed to the way your band sounds and your songs?
GM: Because we started out in such an underground scene as drum and bass, but came into the scene at such a late stage, and because we had come from Perth, I think we didn’t have such strong ties to the culture of the genre. This enabled us to break the rules so to speak, and I think that’s how the sound developed so quickly. We didn’t feel out of place putting guitars and other influences we grew up with into the music, where as if we had grown up in the UK, it would have been something we’d have steered clear of.

MC:Who came up with the name, and how does it relate to what your band does musically?
GM: [Band co-founder] Rob [Swire] and I put a list together and just shortened the list until we agreed.

MC: In 2003 you moved your band from Australia to the UK. Why the UK and not America or elsewhere? Did you have any reservations/worries on making such a long distance move?
GM: At the time we were in an underground dance music scene, we had just written our first song and it blew up in a huge way in the UK (the home of electronic music), so it was an inevitable move for us, Australia was too far away from everywhere else. It’s always hard to pick up and move to such a harsh place as London when you’re young, and it was a massive struggle for a few years, but the harshness tends to push you to succeed.

MC: Did any of these worries actually come to light? Conversely, what things happened that you think would not have if you had stayed in Australia?
GM: We’d have not gotten anywhere if we had stayed in Australia, the move for us was essential. Australia is far to relaxed it makes me lazy, we needed to be pushed by a place like the UK where the music scene waits for nobody.

MC: How did you find the other members of Pendulum in the UK? Was it by newspaper advert, word of mouth, recommendation by a friend, etc.? Your music is so dynamic, I have it in my mind that you really have to have a group of people who are really in sync in order to make music that works.
GM: I had been working with Ben Verse [Benjamin Mount] as my MC in DJ shows for quite some time, so introducing him into the live show was a natural step. Perry [Peredur ap Gwynedd] had played on some of our early tracks and played guitar on other drum and bass tracks in the past. Kevin [Sawka], we found on YouTube, haha!

MC: To someone who has never heard your music before, how would you describe your sound?
GM: If you like rock and metal you’ll hear that in the music, if you like electronic music and heavy bass you’ll hear that. I think that’s why we attract so many listens from across genres – the music hits many styles all at once.

MC: I like both hard rock and dance, and I find my favourite songs of yours combines the best of those two worlds. Some of your oldest fans have stated that you have abandoned the drum and bass genre for a more commercial, alternative rock / electronic sound? How would you respond to that?
GM: The very second track we wrote had guitars and full vocals from Rob in it, back in 2003. Our first album had the guitarist and basses from the metal band Karnivool playing on it, as well as Perry playing on “Girl In The Fire,” we didn’t abandon anything, we just got more and more bored of doing the exact same thing and felt we had earnt enough of a creative license to start introducing our greater influences into the music. The fact it got big and the fact it all blew up was a secondary event. We had already done it and it turned out a lot more people wanted to hear it than we had anticipated. Selling out for us would have been continuing to write the tracks that people around us wanted us to write over and over again.

MC: I had the chance to see you play at Arena at Roskilde Festival last summer (2010). Before you got onstage and the front pits opened, fans were actually pushing and shoving each other to get the best, closest spots to the front of the stage. I got injured the night before at Biffy Clyro in the pit at the same stage, so I opted to watch you guys from a distance (probably a wise decision, as I’m small!). Is this usual for Pendulum concerts?
GM: Yes, our audiences destroy each other, it’s incredible to watch!

MC: Who does your lighting? I thought the visuals plus music were really amazing, a consummate experience.
GM: Lighting is a very important aspect to the show for us, we put in so much time and effort into the sound, so it’s also important to do the same with the visual aspect of the show.

MC: You guys have such an energetic live set. I had no idea the Scandinavians were as mental over you as the Brits. Were you surprised?
GM: All across Europe and the UK, as well as Australia, we’re getting that same reaction. I think it’s just some kind of gene we excite in people that makes them want to destroy each other.

MC: That said, it seems like the UK music scene has been more welcoming of your music than other countries – agree or disagree, and why?
GM: The UK was initially the home of what we were doing (drum and bass) so we’ve spent the longest time there, I think that’s mostly why we’re biggest in the UK. The UK in a lot of ways is the center of the universe for *new* music because of radio stations like Radio1, so a lot of new bands are broken in the UK first.

MC: Do you have a favourite show / festival moment from last year? What do you remember about it / what makes it so memorable to you in your mind?
GM: Reading Festival and Sonisphere were amazing, They all were.

MC: Your last album Immersion was released in the UK last year but is just getting released in America this month. You have some real big heavy hitters in the business on this one – Liam Howlett of the Prodigy for the track “Immunize,” for one. How did this collaboration happen?
GM: We put together a list of artists we’d like to work with and our management set about contacting them. With Liam however, we cross paths with the Prodigy guys a lot, so we were hanging out in Australia and decided to do a track to show the world we don’t hate each other.

MC: How do you feel Immersion fits in the Pendulum story so far? What are your plans for future material, are you working on new stuff now?
GM: Immersion was the best parts of Hold Your Colour and In Silico taken to the next level, we drew on our previous albums for inspiration on the third.

MC: What’s a surprising fact about you or your band that most people don’t know?
GM: We’re Australian? Many still don’t realize this.

MC: You are about to go on an extensive tour of North America, opening for Linkin Park for some dates and headlining your own shows on others. Where are you most looking forward to visiting / playing and why?
GM: America is a tough place to crack, so we’re looking forward to the challenge.

Tour Dates
Jan 28 – Xcel Energy Center / St. Paul*
Jan 29 – Sprint Center / Kansas City*
Jan 31 – Wells Fargo Center / Philadelphia*
Feb 01 – TD Garden / Boston*
Feb 02 – Guvernment / Toronto#
Feb 04 – Madison Square Garden / New York City*
Feb 05 – Irving Plaza / New York City#
Feb 07 – Bell Centre / Montreal*
Feb 08 – Air Canada Centre / Toronto*
Feb 10 – Verizon Center / Washington, DC*
Feb 11 – Mohegan Sun Arena / Uncasville, CT*
Feb 16 – Ogden Theatre / Denver#
Feb 17 – In the Venue / Salt Lake City#
Feb 19 – Showbox SoDo / Seattle#
Feb 20 – Commodore Ballroom / Vancouver#
Feb 23 – Fillmore / San Francisco#
Feb 25 – Wiltern / Los Angeles#
Feb 26 – House of Blues / Las Vegas#
Mar 25-27 – Ultra Music Festival / Miami
#with Innerpartysystem
*supporting Linkin Park

Pendulum: website | myspace | Immersion review

Kansas City rock group Red Line Chemistry played a hometown show at Crosstown Station. They shook up their usual set by performing acoustically.

Photographer Todd Zimmer was there and shares these photos reliving the event:

You see? This is what happens when we let publications like Pitchfork and Stereogum become the tastemakers. Do we really need more mumbling Brooklyn lo-fi? Did we need any of it to begin with? For the life of me, I can’t see the appeal here. I suppose “Funeral Song” would appeal to the Hot Topic crowd, especially those who still enjoy cutting themselves, but do we really want to be encouraging them?

I fussed around on the internet for a while, and found some of the accolades Minks have somehow acquired. They are being compared to early Cure. That’s just insulting. Pornography is one of the greatest albums ever made, while By The Hedge would put a meth addict to sleep.

The one track I almost like on here is called “Ophelia.” The Cure influence (or rip-off) is pretty obvious. They seem to have managed to listen to “A Forest” more than I have which is the only impressive thing I can find about this album. Of course, the song wouldn’t be complete without the pedestrian lyrics “wherever people go/darkness always follows/there is no way to lead a quiet life.” It only gets worse from there.

This album is not worth your time. I hate to write an outright terrible review, but really. This band should not be encouraged. Shame on whoever told Minks they were doing well. It’s your fault I had to listen to this.

Track Listing:
01. Kusmi
02. Out of Tune
03. Life at Dusk
04. Indian Ocean
05. Funeral Song
06. Our Ritual
07. Cemetary Rain
08. Bruises
09. Boys Run Wild
10. Ophelia
11. Juniper
12. Arboretum Dogs