popwreckoning

London indie folk pop outfit Noah and the Whale have just released the promo video for “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.”

The track is from their forthcoming third album, Last Night on Earth, to be released on March 7 on Young and Lost Club in the UK (we’re not sure about the US release date as of yet). The tune is classic Noah and the Whale – primary singer/songwriter Charlie Fink‘s fragile yet life-affirming vocals backed back equally impressive folk-tinged pop instrumentation.

If you live in Los Angeles, New York City, or Toronto, you’re in luck: the band will be making appearances in those cities in the second half of March.

Tour Dates
Mar 15 – Troubadour / Los Angeles
Mar 21-22 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City
Mar 24 – Mod Club / Toronto

Noah and the Whale: website | myspace | The First Days of Spring review | @ black cat | interview with:

Grouplove‘s humble beginnings sound like something from a Hollywood script. Hannah Hooper and Christian Zucconi, the band’s principal lead vocalists, met by chance in New York City and instantly felt a connection. So much so that the two shortly went to a little island in Greece together, where again serendipity stepped in, allowing the two to meet their future band members: London guitarist Sean Gadd and two childhood friends from California, Andrew Wessen and Ryan Rabin. These five people couldn’t have been anymore different, but they felt such a strong bond that they all packed up from their respective homes and went out to Los Angeles to try and record an album together. The result is the Grouplove EP, six songs that prove their friendship translates to musical harmony.

The EP opener, “Colours,” is currently on BBC 6music‘s playlist and getting a lot of airplay, a coup for any band. Zucconi’s lead vocal is brash yet fun, an indication of things to come, and it’s augmented by Hooper’s winsome harmonies. I’d seen the song title a long time ago, assuming that the band had to be British. The band recently supported Northern Ireland’s Two Door Cinema Club and Welsh indie band the Joy Formidable this past autumn, and while I missed their appearance with Two Door in DC, I did catch their energetic set in November with the Welsh rockers. Imagine my surprise that 4/5ths of Grouplove was American.

My next hesitation about Grouplove was that here in front of me was another band trying to cash in on the American / California surf pop boom of 2010, a movement that I’ve generally avoided like the plague because everyone sounds like retooled Go-Go’s (girl-fronted bands) or Beach Boys (boy-fronted ones). The difference with Grouplove is that here are five friends who really enjoy each other’s company and making music together, and this is obvious when they play live. They don’t sound like they’re trying to ape some other band’s catalog. Sure, there is the sun-dappled cheerfulness of “Naked Kids,” which has angelic vocals that make you think of ’60s surf pop bands; it’s the perfect tune to queue up on your convertible sound system on the way to the beach.

But there’s also more meditative moments, like “Gold Coast,” a melancholy look back at one’s life, and “Getaway,” another slower one where Yosemite Sam lookalike Gadd takes lead vocal duties. Despite its title, “Giddy” is anything but: it’s a slow, swirly, enjoyable track. But the best moment on this EP is “Don’t Say Oh Well,” the song I can totally see as soundtracking this summer with a raucous count-in and all of its hand clapping, foot stomping, free-wheeling guitar pop glory. Grouplove are the kind of friends everyone wish they had as best mates.

Tracklisting
01. Colours
02. Naked Kids
03. Gold Coast
04. Getaway
05. Don’t Say Oh Well
06. Giddy

The Grouplove EP will be released on January 25 on Atlantic / WEA.

Grouplove: website | myspace

Edinburgh indie folk band Broken Records will be touring America this winter in support of their new album, Let Me Come Home, to be released on January 11 on 4AD (the album was released in the UK in October 2010). This American tour follows dates in the UK and Europe.

To learn more about Let Me Come Home, watch snippets of performance and interviews with the band below.

Tour Dates
Feb 20 – Black Cat Backstage / Washington, DC
Feb 21 – North Star Bar / Philadelphia
Feb 22 – Mercury Lounge / New York City
Feb 23 – Rock Shop / New York City
Feb 24 – Brighton Music Hall / Boston
Feb 26 – Schubas / Chicago
Feb 27 – Triple Rock Social Club / Minneapolis
Mar 02 – Tractor Tavern / Seattle
Mar 03 – Mississippi Studios / Portland
Mar 05 – Rickshaw Stop / San Francisco
Mar 06 – Satellite Club / Los Angeles

Broken Records: website | myspace

As first reported by Wayward Blog, via Capybara‘s blog, local band Saharan Gazelle Boy has appeared in a graphic for Apple’s Application Store. The screen shot seen below is of the blog Paper Brigade, who recently covered the band.

For more on Saharan Gazelle Boy, Capybara or other bands from The Record Machine, feel free to click the following links:
The Record Machine
Saharan Gazelle Boy
Capybara

Since November 2009, The After Party have achieved a lot. They’ve dropped their debut EP All The Wrong Places, toured with Rookie of the Year, and played shows supporting Cartel, Runner Runner and All Star Weekend. For some bands that would be enough to hang up their hat happily and call it a day. The After Party however are just getting started.

Come Spring of 2011, look for the band to drop their second EP which will simply be self-titled. Produced by Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount (All Time Low, Mayday Parade and Cartel), PopWreckoning expects nothing less than Top 40 success from featured songs “Don’t Wanna be” and “Secret Lover.” Those songs will be found on their purevolume starting tomorrow, January 7.

Take some time and check them out!

For those of us who don’t like to completely reevaluate artists every two seconds, there are those bands that have a formula and stick with it. Sometimes they do it better than others, but in a world of artists like Lady Gaga and Muse where they’re constantly trying to up their own ante, a band like British Sea Power can be very refreshing.

It’s a wonder that British Sea Power has released three studio albums since I saw them live back in 2005 opening for The Killers. Sure, one of them was the reworking of the soundtrack of the 1934 documentary film Man of Aran, but you gotta love a band that consistently puts out albums. It keeps them relevant, rather than a band like Maroon 5 (I know, terrible example) – that puts out one album and then tours for it for four years slowly drifting into a place where nobody really cares anymore.

Now, I’m not comparing British Sea Power to any of these artists (Gaga especially), but I’m trying to make a point. With Valhalla Dancehall, BSP stuck with what they’ve been doing since The Decline of British Sea Power, the experimental arena indie post rock (ironically titled since it’s their first album and the most progressive of all of them). I apologize for the ridiculous classification adjectives. I figure I’d get the buzzwords out of the way in case you’re one of those readers that ‘skim’ rather than read.

Valhalla Dancehall begins on a high note, the impeccably catchy “Who’s In Control,” which led me to believe that this record would be far closer to the “dancehall” the title proposed, but after that we’re taken back to the arena post rock (abbreviated for rhythm) we’ve been hanging with since 2002. “We Are Sound” feels like a bit of a filler track, one that I’ve surely heard on 2005’s Open Season or 2008’s Do You Like Rock Music?, the former I enjoyed more than the latter. “Georgie Ray” is a soft and lovely piano ballad, “Stune Null” is a dark and perplexing track, one that most parallels the jolty beats of the first album. But the stand out track on Valhalla Dancehall is “Mongk II,” a sequel to “Mongk” off the Duets EP. “Mongk II” features Yan’s fuzzy distorted vocals, the dense instrumentation (with a banjo cameo, I might add), and complex lyrics.

“Luna” and “Baby” feature Yan’s low whispery vibrato rather than the loud and distorted tracks that came before them. They’re much dreamier too, ones that you might slow dance to in a low-lit bar in Brighton somewhere. The first single “Living Is So Easy” is by far the sweetest song on the record. Like a real good piece of baklava, whereas the rest of the songs on the album are more like cheese danishes or poppyseed muffins. “Living Is So Easy” is almost too sugary, which made it a weird choice for a first single because it is SO far outside of the darkness of the rest of the album. After that, we go from another dancehall track to punk to the experimental post rock you’d most expect from BSP, but it all fits under the umbrella of their style, whatever style that may actually be. So maybe Valhalla Dancehall won’t create waves with any monumental genre-bending genius, but it sticks with what British Sea Power does, and what they do well.

I never really got the strong U2 comparison that places like Pitchfork made (quite literally, rating Do You Like Rock Music? with a U.2… real clever, guys). Sure they’ve got the dense sound that fits into the arena rock, but so does Arcade Fire. Do you ever hear people comparing Arcade Fire to U2? No. What British Sea Power has that does set them apart is a garage rock attitude with 6-minute epic post-rock melodies and deep, oblique lyrics. And they’re from Brighton for crying out loud. That’s like the San Francisco of Great Britain – it’s laid back. That’s what I get from British Sea Power, laid-back arena rock.

Now that’s a faux genre I’ll stand behind.

To understand Cage the Elephant you have to first view them as a work in progress.

Unlike most musicians, Matt Shultz (vocals) and brother Brad Shultz (lead guitar) grew up vastly underexposed to music due to the strict religious views of their parents. It wasn’t until Matt was in high school that he was able to grab his first album, Jimi Hendrix’s Live At Woodstock, which went largely unnoticed thanks to the fog of the divorce his parent were going through. With those conditions it is a wonder that Cage the Elephant even managed to exist, let alone take their self-titled debut album into the top 100 of Billboard’s chart.

Seriously take a second and imagine beginning anything from scratch at that age. For example, let’s say on your 16th birthday you set off on your quest to learn how to read. No one would honestly expect you to crank out the great American novel within the next five years and somehow manage to have it work its way onto the New York Times Bestseller list. Yet, that’s basically what Cage the Elephant has done in their respective field of music.

However, fans of the self-titled release shouldn’t worry themselves that this departure will leave them missing a band they once loved. Cage the Elephant is absolutely still Cage the Elephant. This will most likely remain true as long as the Shultz brothers are in the band. Their music is a reflection of themselves.

Thank You, Happy Birthday without question retains enough of that “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked” sound to link the self-titled debut to their sophomore effort. Both cuts focus heavily on the ills of humanity and the social shortcomings of people. In fact, “Always Something,” the opening track from the newest album reminds me very much of “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked” in terms of story presentation.  Nevertheless, Cage the Elephant has taken that signature energetic sound that encompasses them and built on it. Think of it as an addition.

Thank You, Happy Birthday is a direct reflection of the band’s rapid growth.  Having had limitless time to sit on a tour bus spinning records and discovering bands, it is blatantly obvious that Cage the Elephant’s influences have multiplied. Expanding drastically from the 1990s grunge revival for which their self-titled debut waved the banner, their sophomore effort supplies a stronger, punk meets Pavement feel to it at times.  With their guitar riffs seeming slightly more spry and the in song changes appearing more dramatic, references to the next Seattle movement should start to dissipate, making way to praises including words like CBGBs and do it yourself. Frankly, tracks on Thank You, Happy Birthday sound very similar to songs John Cusack would put on a soundtrack. That’s a pretty good thing right?

Cage The Elephant’s Thank You, Happy Birthday hits shelves January 11, 2011. For more information on the release (and to play with their super fun painting pad) please check the bands webpage.

1. Always Something
2. Aberdeen
3. Indy Kidz
4. Shake Me Down
5. 2024
6. Sell Yourself
7. Rubber Ball
8. Right Before My Eyes
9. Tangled
10. Sabertooth Tiger
11. Japanese Buffalo
12. Flow
13. Shiver

4.5 out of 5 stars

The thought for this feature crossed my mind the other morning as I streamed the illegally uploaded Bright Eyes cuts from the upcoming Saddle Creek Records release The People’s Key. It just kinda hit me randomly how fantastic the Omaha, Nebraska based record label’s catalog is from start to finish. Seeing the talent this label has for scouting is as simple as it comes.

More difficult I found however was narrowing their catalog down to my ten favorite songs. They ended up looking something like this:

10. The Faint – I Disappear

If you can manage to listen to this song (and that bass line) without shaking your ass you’ve got more body control than I do. Every time I listen to it, I either have to skank or rush off to play Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland. Fantastic song from a fantastic band.

9. Rural Alberta Advantage – In The Summertime

When PopWreckoning received the review copy of Hometowns I probably listened to this song 250 times. There is just something about the lyrics and the way they’re presented over a somewhat simple but strikingly beautiful orchestration of notes that seems to help this song grasp me with a white knuckle grip. It is simply beautiful.

8. The Good Life – Heartbroken & 7. Cursive – Rise Up! Rise Up!

In my humble opinion there is no one better at capturing dysfunction,  heartbreak and the all around angst than Tim Kasher. Though it was nearly impossible to narrow it down (hell, I could’ve just shoved the whole Album of the Year album on here and been pleased), Last.Fm claims these two songs to be the winners of my listening choices.

6. Bright Eyes – Easy/Lucky/Free

I think this song is a perfect example of how personal experience and relatability can alter the impact of a song. I listened to this song almost exclusively during the six week period in which I lost both my grandfather (who was also my best friend) and my mother. The line: “I never really dreamed of heaven much until we put him in the ground, but it’s all I’m doing now,” capsulized exactly what I was feeling and reminded me to keep it together.

5. Miles  Benjamin Anthony Robinson – The Sound

I think there are two types of people in the world: those who love this artist and those who have never heard of him. Seriously, I think that Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson is without a doubt Saddle Creek’s most underrated artist. Listen to “The Sound” and give it a judge yourself.

4. Azure Ray – November

The line, “I was afraid to be alone, but now I’m scared that’s how I’d like to be…,” grabs me like few other songs have. To this day the cellos give me goosebumps. This song is as flawless as they come.

3. Maria Taylor – Song Beneath The Song

Maria Taylor (also of the above mentioned Azure Ray) has a way with words that I find difficult to find in female musicians. She doesn’t hide behind her sexuality in order to sell records. “Song Beneath The Song” is a splendid example of Taylor’s magical gift for words.

2. Bright Eyes - Lover I Don’t Have To Love

Conor Oberst is a lyrical genius. He captures situations, depicting them with his words in a way most author pine to be able to do. In my opinion, “Lover I Don’t Have To Love” is Oberst at his strongest.

1. Rilo Kiley – A better Son/Daughter

This says it all:

“And sometimes when you’re on
You’re really fuckin on
And your friends they sing along And they love you
But the lows are so extreme
That the good seems fuckin cheap
And it teases you for weeks in its absence.”

So what about you? What are your favorite Saddle Creek songs? What did I leave off the list that you would have added? What are your top ten?

It’s been a year and a half since the passing of the  King of Pop: Michael Jackson and his popularity has soared to greater levels than one can imagine, like that of fallen musicians such as John Lennon, Tupac Shakur and Kurt Cobain.

I’m actually a Michael Jackson fan as I grew up with Thriller on vinyl. My parents had given me Dangerous on cassette and I wore it after three months. I was even chosen to attend his memorial service last year, only to give my tickets away to the one person who was a true Michael Jackson fan, and not someone trying to scalp the tickets for profit.

Now almost 10 years after the release of his last album Invincible, Sony has decided to put out Michael: a collection of songs that MJ had not completed, or stored them away due to the fact he wasn’t happy with them.

Now, to forewarn all of you that were hoping to see a masterpiece like that of Thriller or Bad, You’re going to be in for a huge disappointment. This album is nothing near of those masterpieces. Every MJ fan knows that he was the biggest perfectionist in the recording industry and was very anal about what was released and what wasn’t on his albums. Kind of like how Bruce Lee was when he was making his film The Game of Death which he never completed as a result of his unexpected death.

I feel MJ would have been very disappointed in this album as would Bruce Lee would have been in Game of Death which ended up being a slap in the face to all his die hard fans.  This didn’t have the MJ magic or feel that you get when you first heard Thriller or Dangerous. Most of the songs feel like they were a thrown together at the last minute just to make this album in time for holiday sales.  Out of the ten tracks on this album, only two stand out, and that’s “Hold My Hand” (featuring Akon) and “(If I Can’t Make It) Another Day” (featuring Lenny Kravitz), which would have been perfect for a Greatest Hits compilation or box set instead of this record. Other songs like “Breaking News“ and “Hollywood Tonight“ are very sub-par and most of the time very boring; especially with “Hollywood Tonight,” which to me the title sounds like a bad TV gossip rag like that of Entertainment Tonight. There has also been reports that the vocals on “Breaking News” are not MJ’s. If this is the case, could they have pulled the same crap that was pulled with Game of Death?*

This album should have never been released to begin with! As much as I am not a fan of Will.I.Am, I have to agree with him that they should have left this alone. I have also noticed this trend happening for quite some time now with the likes of Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur. Now if this was an album that MJ had been working on before he died, then I can understand that. But to take songs that he wasn’t happy with, compile a sub-par record and put it out to make a quick buck is crazy.  On a side note, I am getting fed up with the MJ hype all because of his death. The same thing happened with Kurt Cobain and Tupac Shakur. I would rather enjoy their music as they had wanted it, and not because everyone is now jumping on the “dead singer” bandwagon and trying to make a quick buck by capitalizing off their death. On a side note, over the holiday weekend I overheard a family member talk about this record and that it had to be released because of MJ was dead… Only three words come to mind; GAME OF DEATH!

Track Listing:
1. Hold My Hand (Duet with Akon)
2. Hollywood Tonight
3. Keep Your Head Up
4. (I Like) The Way That You Love Me
5. Monster (Featuring 50 Cent)
6. Best of Joy
7. Breaking News
8. (I Can’t Make It) Another Day (Featuring Lenny Kravitz)
9. Behind The Mask
10. Much To Soon

* Since Game of Death was never finished and Bruce Lee had passed away after completing Enter The Dragon. The studio decided to finish the film by using body doubles that were clearly not Bruce Lee or even worse in some scenes they used cardboard cutouts.

Irish indie band the Coronas have won numerous music awards in their home country and their 2005 debut album, Heroes or Ghosts, released on 3u Records went platinum there as well. They recently released a second album, Tony Was an Ex-Con, in 2009, and their Irish fans bought it in droves. Yet you haven’t heard of them, have you?

I found out about the quartet last November when I was reading an Irish indie music website talking about both them and Two Door Cinema Club selling out big venues in Ireland, like Dublin’s Olympia (capacity: 1,600). Intrigued, I did some research and listened to some of their songs, quickly finding out that this band writes a good pop song and wondering where they’d been all my life. Lucky for me – and you all – they are going to be over here in North America in February and March on their first-ever headlining tour, no doubt showing off their performing chops.

The Coronas‘ winter tour of North America starts February 17 at the Doug Fir in Portland and ends – rather appropriately – on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, at Lincoln Hall in Chicago. For a taste of the Coronas‘ sound, watch the video for the exceedingly gorgeous “Someone Else’s Hands,” a hit single from Tony Was a Ex-Con, below.

Tour Dates
Feb 17 – Doug Fir / Portland
Feb 18 – High Dive / Seattle
Feb 19 – Biltmore Cabaret / Vancouver
Feb 22 – Blue Lamp / Sacramento
Feb 25 – Hotel Cafe / Los Angeles
Feb 26 – Casbah / San Diego
Mar 01 – Larimer Lounge / Denver
Mar 04 – Blueberry Hill / St. Louis
Mar 05 – 3rd & Lindsey / Nashville
Mar 06 – Smith’s Olde Bar / Atlanta
Mar 08 – Red Palace / Washington, DC
Mar 10 – Brighton Music Hall / Allston, MA
Mar 11 – The Craic @ Mercury Lounge / New York City
Mar 12 – North Star Bar / Philadelphia
Mar 15 – Beachland Ballroom & Tavern / Cleveland
Mar 17 – Lincoln Hall / Chicago

The Coronas: website | myspace