popwreckoning

In preparation for their upcoming gigs at SXSW and the release of their new album, Mansions just released a new acoustic video for “Close That Door.” This track is featured on their upcoming sophomore album, Dig Up the Dead, which will be available April 5^th.

Frontman Christopher Browder says this about the video: “The video was filmed in the Bronson Caves in Griffith Park in LA.  I was a huge fan of Batman growing up, especially the old 1960′s TV show with Adam West… When I heard that you could hike up to the caves where some of the Batman TV show was filmed, I was all over it.  Lyrically the song has a lot to do with forgetting the past and starting over, so it was a suitably nostalgic place to perform, not to mention the great reverb.”

Mansions – Close That Door from Billy Maddox II on Vimeo.

SXSW Dates:

Wed, March 16
Maggie Mae’s Showcase
Set Time: 3:00pm
With: We Are Empires, In Tall Buildings, Goldheart Assembly, Quadron

Sat, March 19
No Sleep Records / Atticus Black Day Party at Red 7
Set time: 1pm

For more dates and information go to:
www.mansionsmusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/mansions

Innerpartysystem
Reading, PA
innerpartysystem.com

With the recent release of their second EP Never Be Content, Innerpartysystem is starting to set some serious standards for themselves. With the new EP came a new sound, a little more mixed, a little more DJ then their previous releases, and they finally nailed down a unique sound of their own. Now they are hitting SXSW in Austin next week to spread their infectious dance music to even bigger crowds.

I’ve been keeping an eye on them since their first EP (The Download) back in 2007, after seeing them tour with Kill Hannah, and they just keep getting better and better. Ever since then, their live shows have become more expansive and more technical, developing into full dance parties during their most recent tour opening for Pendulum. They released a self-titled full length, in September 2008, that hinted at the new directions the band was taking, but they have exceeded expectations with both the new release and their live shows.

IPS has remixed everyone from Katy Perry to The Killers, 3OH!3 to Lady Hawke. Not only do they have live shows that are borderline sensory overload, but they also do live DJ sets, spinning everything from 80’s pop to 90’s rap, new Skrillex releases and some seriously filthy new trance tracks, with a little bit of their own style thrown in. Soon they will be challenging longstanding techno masters like Deadmau5 and Skrillex or even possibly hitting up the UK scene a la Gatecrasher.

The trio will be playing three days in Austin. That’s three chances to dance to some of the most innovative and groundbreaking dance music around right now. I plan on catching them at least twice. Catch them now and again either in their upcoming European or US tour dates and be amazed at the amount of new creative ingenuity they can work into their shows in a short amount of time. I promise- you’ll have danced, clapped, and been to one of the best parties you’ve ever been to, and you won’t regret it.

15 Mar, 2011 @ Texas Media Temple Party @ Stubbs – SxSW
16 Mar, 2011 @ Prague – SxSW
19 Mar, 2011 @ Dirty Dog Bar – SxSW

These days when I think of great Irish bands, there are three that come to mind immediately: Two Door Cinema Club, the Script and the Coronas. If you’ve been keeping up with what I’ve written here at PopWreckoning, you know I am not shy in proclaiming my love of both Two Door and the Script, and I feel validated now that both bands have enjoyed well-deserved success here in America. The Coronas don’t have a record deal in the U.S. as of yet, but I became completely convinced Tuesday night watching them live that they will soon be offered a deal worth their talent. (If there are any label bosses reading this article, definitely check them out. And sign them. You won’t be disappointed.) The Dublin rock/pop quartet Washington to deliver a solid set to an appreciative crowd at Red Palace.

The opening band for the night was New York City-based band the Kin. I looked them up prior to the gig, bemused with their “alternative / pop / shoegaze” genre label on their MySpace. Not exactly what I envisioned as support for the Coronas. Turns out the band is actually brothers Isaac and Thorald Koren, originally from Adelaide, Australia, but who have found themselves in the Big Apple working on their dream. Both brothers sing (and sing harmonies very well, I might add), with Isaac playing keys and synth and Thorald playing guitar. While travelling around New York by subway, they found a busker named, inexplicably, SHAKEALEG and decided he was the live percussionist they were looking for. He doesn’t play drums the way everyone else does; he has a very unusual setup with a conga drum and high hats and does not use sticks, only his hands, fingers wrapped up with athletic bandages. The live result is highly dynamic, and the band manages to effortlessly switch between pop, rock, and soul genres. “Wind Over Southern France” had a soulful bent, the instrumental intro of their closing number sounded like a homage to the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows”, etc. etc. etc., you get the idea.

As usual for most live gigs, I bet everyone was here for the headliner; I don’t think too many people had even heard of the Kin. But by the end, everyone was behind them, singing along to songs that they had just learned. After the fifth song, all three of them left the stage without an explanation. Where did they go? They jumped into the crowd and did two songs entirely acoustically. Well, I use the word “acoustically” very loosely because SHAKEALEG brought his beats via…tapping on a clipboard. That’s right, a clipboard. Check them out.

This is the Coronas first headlining club tour of America, but lead singer / acoustic guitarist / keyboardist Danny O’Reilly reveals to us before the band plays the unusually titled “Tony Was an Ex-Con” that they were over here doing a very small scale tour of North America before. During that tour, they retained the services of a driver who they would later find out was actually a former convict, and his name was Tony. Too funny. There’s something disarming about O’Reilly and really, all of the band, as the whole gig feels very comfortable, as if we were sitting in someone’s living room and the band were playing for friends. It also happened to be the birthday of their guitarist Dave McPhillips, which made things feel even more festive. Their years of playing for growing crowds of fans in Ireland has obviously paid off, as they look very relaxed performing for a new audience while they trot out hits from the two best-selling albums released back home. There is also definite onstage chemistry between all of the band members, smiles all around.

The DC crowd got the special first listen of a new song, “Dreaming Again,” and as pointed out by my gigging companion, it has a Two Door Cinema Club quality, owing to Graham Knox’s relentless bass line. But the highlight of the night for me was the one song that has remained my favorite Coronas song to this day, “Someone Else’s Hands.” O’Reilly left his guitar behind to position himself behind the keys and begin singing what quite possibly is one of the most beautiful songs written about heartbreak to date. But I don’t want you thinking that all they do are lovey-dovey swoony tunes, though mind you, they do that type of song very well.

If the Script are said to the current best Irish soul pop band and Two Door Cinema Club are the current best Irish indie dance pop band, then the Coronas are the current best Irish rock pop band out there. I’m a stickler for lyrics, and the Coronas have excellent lyrics to go with great guitars and the occasional piano chords. They have introspective numbers – see “All the Luck in the World” and the inspirational “Heroes and Ghosts” – but can accept and laugh at themselves, as evidenced by the song that broke them, “San Diego Song,” explained by O’Reilly as embracing the stereotype that the Irish are drunks. He said this not flippantly but with an honesty that the crowd ate up. I couldn’t believe it but it felt like everyone in the venue knew the words and was singing along. And the Coronas can rock out with the best of them with songs like “Listen Dear” and “Far From Here,” the latter with O’Reilly’s voice taking on a jaunty, dancehall quality, the others joining in on harmonies and Conor Egan’s pounding drumming driving the song along. I can’t imagine ever going away from a Coronas’ gig without a huge grin on your face.

The Coronas Set List
Far From Here
Won’t Leave You Alone
Listen Dear
Heroes or Ghosts
What You Think You Know
Dreaming Again (new song)
San Diego Song
Someone Else’s Hands
New song tentatively titled “The Rainbow Song”
Tony Was an Ex-Con
All the Luck in the World
//
Warm
The Talk

Tour Dates
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 and Tavern / Cleveland
Mar 17 – Lincoln Hall / Chicago

The Coronas: website | myspace
The Kin: website | myspace

Looking at the track list for the Dears new album Degeneration Street, I thought to myself, “Wow, 14 songs? They must be short songs.” I was mistaken, because only four songs on the album fall below the four-minute mark.  Most people would think, “hell yeah, the more songs the better!” Sometimes that’s the case, but sometimes with that many songs, you lose the album, especially if, stylistically, it’s all over the place.

Now I’m not saying Degeneration Street is all bad. Oh contraire, songs like the soft opening synth-tinged groove “Omega Dog” and bluesy track “Lamentation” are quite good. “Thrones” is also another high point, a retro rock hit with completely radio-ready hooks. The shortest song on the album, “Torches,” at a mere 1:50, is a nice interlude between “Lamentation” and “Galactic Tides,” a track that hints at the past and future with synthesizer as well as classic guitar riffs. “Stick w/ me kid” is a slick and mysterious track, heavy on staccato and distortion as well as Murphy Lightburn’s distinctive vocals driving the song to the epic finish. And while there are those quality songs that you’re sure to remember, a large portion of the album seems like filler.

As I was on my third listen, I’d been listening for three straight hours. Each song was relatively long, around 4:30 on average. By the time I was at track eight, a completely out of place track “Yesteryear,” one that starts with an awkward surf-rock hook, I thought to myself, “It’s almost over right?” I know that sounds harsh, but in most cases, less is more.

We’ve gotten so used to albums that are anywhere from eight to twelve songs, that fourteen is almost too long, especially when a large majority of them are four to five minutes long. Why not downsize and save the extra tracks for b-sides or for a later album? Cutting out the so-so tracks would have definitely made Degeneration Street have more of an impact. The way it is right now downplays the greatness of the standout tracks and makes the album sadly forgettable.

Track listing:
1. “Omega Dog” – 5:01
2. “5 Chords” – 3:34
3. “Blood” – 4:09
4. “Thrones” – 4:33
5. “Lamentation” – 4:20
6. “Torches” – 1:36
7. “Galactic Tides” – 4:38
8. “Yesteryear” – 3:51
9. “Stick With Me Kid” – 3:28
10. “Tiny Man” – 5:04
11. “Easy Suffering” – 4:33
12. “Unsung” – 4:15
13. “1854″ – 5:23
14. “Degeneration Street” – 4:57

Spoils (n.)– Goods or property seized from a victim after a conflict, especially after a military victory (Freedictionary.com).

The four-track EP Spoils of Wars from Bravefellow leaves no doubt in anyone’s mind that they are authentic determined and capable. From the first moment that Brad Allen Johnson’s voice is heard in the opening track “Cold Blooded Lovers” the talent and ingenuity has begun. Pulling from the towering vocals of Muse’s Matt Bellamy and Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars, Johnson’s thoroughly in tune and vivid timbre carries the EP from beginning to end.

Guitarist Andy Fox plays in a style reminiscent of U2’s The Edge crafting simple riffs and solos, relying more on the color and texture through effects rather than the technical, showboat playing. This is most evident on the final track “You Will Never Know.” In fact, the entire song sounds very close to U2’s “With or Without You” by way of the chord progression: I-V-vi-IV. Only, instead of moving from the submediant (the sixth note of the scale) to the subdominant (the fourth note of the scale), Bravefellow changes the progression to I-V-vi-vii, moving from the submediant to the leading tone; a very clever and interesting twist on the overly used I-V-vi-IV chord progression. Yet, even with this change, The Edge is still clearly heard in this track.

Bassist Shaun Alexander and drummer Michael Krueger do not get over the top with the foundation they lay down and keep things straightforward, allowing the spotlight to focus on Fox’s guitar, and Johnson’s soaring vocals.

“You Will Never Know” is no doubt the fan and live favorite of Bravefellow and is an admirable closing to Spoils of War. This EP is just a teaser of what is to come and promises good things for the future.

Spoils of War is available on iTunes.

4 out of 5 stars.

I have good news and bad news. Bad news: Departing doesn’t blow the first Rural Alberta Advantage album out of the water like some of us were hoping. Good news: it’s still pretty great.

I often think of RAA as beat centric folk music. I’m pretty sure this has more to do with the way the drums on the first album, Hometowns, were placed higher in the mix than anything else. It was something that took me a half dozen listens to notice (never call me perceptive), but quickly became one of my favorite things about the album. It’s something that can be heard to a certain extent on the second song, “The Breakup”, but it’s mostly dispensed with here. “The Breakup” is a wistful (this band does a lot of wistful) song about the end of a relationship. The drums kick aggressively against a single mournful keyboard chord before the vocals. The way the lyrics are sung reminds me of old Death Cab. “I held you tight. We were waiting for the breakup.” My heart breaks a little each time I listen. These are sad songs sung as anthems.

My favorite track is number three, “Under the Knife”. Its folk music you can dance to, I swear to god. The beat plays against keyboards and the vocals are slightly nasal, but totally gorgeous. “Oh, the kids are never right. Oh, the kids will never find us”. I’ve listened to this song something like thirty times in the last couple weeks, and it’s already made its way on to one mix. It’s definitely the best thing here.

Track four is “Muscle Relaxants”, and finally a fast one. It’s a song about drugs and, of course, love. The electric guitars twitch, the drums kick, and the whole song kind of swings.

The only thing I don’t really like here is “Goodnight”, the final track. It feels a bit unfinished, and kind of annoys me. It’s an acoustic number that doesn’t really go anywhere. It’s a weak finish to a pretty enjoyable album.

This is recommended, for sure. It doesn’t really light anything on fire, but it’s pretty soothing. If RAA do the same thing for a couple more records, I might get annoyed, but as a sophomore record it works. They’ve found a sound and they’ve settled into it. I just hope next time they bring more to the table. I’d love to be as excited about their next album as I was about their first album.

Track Listing:
01 Two Lovers
02 The Breakup
03 Under the Knife
04 Muscle Relaxants
05 North Star
06 Stamp
07 Tornado ’87
08 Barnes’ Yard
09 Coldest Days
10 Good Night

You gotta love those shows that pleasantly surprise you. Well recently I saw the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. in Lawrence, KS and was pleasantly surprised at the utterly enjoyable time I had.

Their music is simplistic and light, while still managing to evoke an undeniable groove in its listeners.

The duo of Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott took the tiny venue of the Jackpot and infiltrated it with their 80s pop-esque melodies. Adorned in NASCAR apparel, the gents and their tour drummer drifted through hits mostly off of their recent album Horse Power EP.

While their music could be thought of in a mellower limelight if heard in the mp3 form, however, once on stage it took on a completely different style. Still remaining primarily synth-focused and guitar-laden, the boys took those elements and kicked them up a few notches.

Take the song “Simple Girl” – through the sounds of headphones, the song is catchy and airy, however not quite laced with energy. Yet when this song popped up on stage, the harmonies took hold of the guitar hooks and danced around the room. Before you knew it your head was gently swaying back and forth and a giant smile had come across your face.

Most of the numbers in their set started off delicate and once the beat dropped or the chorus waltzed in, the crowd was entranced. “Nothing But Our Love” was a great example of a slight hip-hopped beat acting as a backbone to the song and bumping up that aforementioned energy level.

A few patriotic and hometown shouts sprouted up throughout the evening essentially fueling the individuality this band obviously has. Their music is on the infectious level of Vampire Weekend and the like. Actually if you put VW together with their recent tour support Beach House, you’d get something like Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. It’s an equation that works out well.

-Rachel Fredrickson

I recently had a conversation with a KEXP intern about The Cave Singers. Her basic argument was that “everybody” loves the band. This is true. It’s hard to live in Seattle and not acknowledge the fact that they have a substantial fanbase here. At the same time, bands who appeal to a large demographic tend to do so by doing a lot of things kind of “okay”, while not doing anything really well. The band’s music would be okay at a party, I suppose, but if I’m listening to music by myself, it gets a bit repetitive.

No Witch is at least more interesting than the last album, Welcome Joy. It’s also nice they’ve signed to Jagjaguwar, as it’s one of my favorite labels. The songs here skip along and I occasionally glimpse moments of excitement, but then I make the mistake of paying attention to the lyrics.  From the first song, “Gifts and the Raft”: “Even every field that we freed/Even all the days in the haze in the heat/Nothing causes more alarm than your absence from my sheets/Can we agree/Can we agree now/Cheers and gratitude to all and God bless ya/Tears and gratitude to all but who’s listening/Cheers and gratitude to all and God bless ya.” That is just downright painful.

The next song is “Swim Club”. I kind of like it. The lyric “I can feel the future, baby” is great, except that it’s followed by “I can feel it tumbling down your chin” The guitar is a nice noodle of a thing, and the song is pretty typical of the sound of the album. It’s mostly gentle folk music, with an occasional soft edge. The songs here are all warm voices and simple repetitive riffs. If the Cave Singers do anything well, it’s stick to a formula.

The Cave Singers started garnering attention for themselves in 2007 after rising from the ashes of Pretty Girls Make Girls Graves. They played a KEXP live session I was really excited about and garnered a huge buzz. Their first record Invitation Songs came out shortly after and it was more potential than anything else. There were some great songs there, but this is what really bums me about the band: they’ve kind of settled into a groove, and it’s a bit bland. I expected great things from them, I expected innovation, but instead they’ve settled into a niche. Bummer. There’s also another thing: the bloody hippie mentality, communal living and such. If I listen too long that crap starts to seeps into my brain.

I do not want to be taken to the river. I do not want to raise my hands or jump up. What I do want is something new. While I think this album could be enjoyed by a lot of people, I feel that the Cave Singers have outgrown their welcome. It’s time for them to either evolve, or go away. If I have to listen to another album of this crap, or continue to have to hear my peers sing the praises of mediocrity, I think I might have to start throwing things at someone.

Track Listing:

1. Gifts and the Raft
2. Swim Club
3. Black Leaf
4. Falls
5. Outer Realms
6. Haller Lake
7. All Land Crabs and Divinity
8. Ghosts 9. Clever Creatures
10. Haystacks
11. Distant Sures
12. Faze Wave
13. No Prosecution If We Bail

City and Colour
Canada
Acoustic/Folk
cityandcolour.ca

Need I really say more?

Official SXSW Showcase Dates:

Thursday March 17 at 12:15AM
St David’s Historic Sanctuary (301 E 8th St)

Friday March 18 at 9:30PM
Stubb’s (801 Red River St)

I’ve been waiting for a new Danielson record for years. 2006’s Ships was a masterpiece. It was a distillation of everything founder and leader Daniel Smith had done to that point, under various variations of the Danielson name. It encompassed all that was Danielson and managed to make it go down relatively easy. Danielson is not always easy to listen to. The vocals have sent more than one person I’ve subjected them to screaming. There is a joy in the music, however. The sense of family is always apparent, and the songs are usually very complex under the sugary surface.

I’ll say the obvious first: The Best of Gloucester County is not Ships. Ships was kind of a cohesive piece. The Best of Gloucester County is sequenced as a classical two sided vinyl record.  The first half contains the poppy songs, the second contains slower songs, mixed in with ambient acoustic guitar stuff.

We begin with “Complimentary Dismemberment Insurance”. It’s a classic Danielson love song, full of joy, and I can imagine Smith singing as much about Jesus as about a lover. That’s another huge aspect of the entity that is Danielson: it can be ignored on occasion, but their music is often heavy with Christian overtones. It’s something I can usually ignore, but it is there.

My favorite song on the first half is probably “But I Don’t Want To Sing About Guitars”. It’s a little heavier than most. It contains a few nice experimental rock licks in the background, against pounding piano. “Come one and all, celebrate with all our might”. Like the rest of the first six songs, it’s Danielson in its purest form.

The really weird stuff starts with “Olympic Portion”. If you’re a big Animal Collective fan (I’m not) you might really like this. Voices sound disjointed, and the instruments use strange tunings. It’s great as background noise, but I’m not sure if it’s great for much else.

Ultimately, if you’re a Danielson fan you’ll dig this. If you’re not, and you’re a fan of outsider music, go find a copy of the Trying Hartz compilation. Personally, I love this album, but it’s definitely not for everyone.

Track Listing:
1. Complimentary Dismemberment Insurance
2. This Day is a Loaf
3. Grow Up
4. Lil Norge
5. But I Don’t Wanna Sing About Guitars
6. People’s Partay
7. Olympic Portions
8. You Sleep Good Now
9. Hovering Above That Hill
10. Denominator Bluise
11. Hosanna In the Forest