popwreckoning

The music of David Bazan and, more specifically, his work with former band Pedro The Lion, has long been one of the culprits in my music library which causes my friends to teasingly accuse me of liking “sad bastard music.” While I like to believe that my musical tastes expand beyond such classifications, it is, however, true that some of the saddest and most depressing songs that I know come from directly from Mr. Bazan.

His first full length album, Curse Your Branches, starts off with beautiful piano music that is reminiscent of Keane and is quickly reinforced by some of the electronic elements that he explored under the moniker of Headphones. What Bazan starts eloquently crafting in the opening track “Hard to Be” continues throughout the rest of the album: painfully honest lyrics of betrayal and pain surrounded in the warmth of well crafted upbeat music.

I think the brilliance in Curse Your Branches lies is in the fact that he’s able to make an album that is easily listenable which also happens to be full of extremely painful subject matter. This approach is deliberate and you can definitely sense his humor while wading through such dense and dreary subjects, “When We Fell” ends with a hokey flourish that is immediately followed by a soundbite saying “do you want a stop for it like that?” and the contrast between subject matter and music is striking in “Please Baby Please,” a song imagining his daughter at age 23 killing a mother of three after a night of drunk driving.

This album is notably more matured than his 2006 solo EP Fewer Moving Parts. It’s textured and smooth sounding, full of his iconic grey pop, incorporating organic elements from Pedro The Lion and the electronic touch of Headphones.

Overall, I get a strong sense of betrayal in the songs on this album, it’s filled with not-so-subtle frustrations and confrontations on faith and God. It’s complicated and uneasy to pinpoint exactly, but Bazan grew up the son of a pastor in a highly indoctrinated religious environment and spent much of his musical career singing about faith and religion. Somewhere along the way, however, he began asking the tough questions and took a long hard look at things which ultimately led to this album. In “When We Fell” he sings, “If my mother cries when I tell her what I have uncovered / Then I hope she remembers she taught me to follow my heart.”

There is also a strong sense of helplessness, in “Curse Your Branches” he sings, “All falling leaves should curse their branches/ For not letting them decide where they should fall / And not letting them refuse to fall at all.”

The chorus in “Hard To Be,” a song in which he exposes the folly in the creation myth, is particularly powerful, singing softly, “It’s hard to be / Hard to be / Hard to be a decent human being.”

Full of wonderful tracks like “In Stiches,” “Hard To Be,” and “Lost My Shape,” Curse Your Branches is a brilliant album in which David Bazan wrestles with his demons and still stays compelling without dragging itself down too far into the dark.

Tracklisting:
01. Hard To Be
02. Bless This Mess
03. Please, Baby, Please
04. Curse Your Branches
05. Harmless Sparks
06. When We Fell
07. Lost My Shape
08. Bearing Witness
09. Heavy Breath
10. In Stitches

David Bazan: website | myspace

In the five years that I’ve lived in the Boston area I’ve not yet indulged myself in its rich local music scene. Not until the show at T.T. The Bear’s Place on Friday night in Cambridge. With four bands on the bill it was an exciting and gritty night of local music.

When I first moved to Boston I thought little about its local music; there were no big names that I was familiar with and I was too lazy and too intimidated by the new scene to do the digging myself. Over the course of the last few months I’ve opened my ears to the local music scene, discovering radio programs that spotlight local music, meeting people who are experienced in its scene, and, well, by playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

Harmonix, the half video game developer half musician melting pot that created Guitar Hero (1&2) and Rock Band is located in my very own Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mere blocks, in fact, from the music venue T.T. The Bear’s. Harmonix is unique in the fact that is employs a large number of musicians from local bands and features songs from the bands in the video games. One of these bands, The Main Drag, I got to experience live on Friday night.

If there was one thing that was predominate in all the performers that night it was the energy; Boston band, The Bynars started it all off with a fury of sound and each subsequent band kept up the pace. Next up was The Main Drag. With five members of the band also working for Harmonix, they brought down the house with their performance of the Rock Band 2 featured song, “A Jagged Gorgeous Winter.” Their set also featured a spirited cover of LCD Sound System‘s “All My Friends.” The Main Drag was one of the highlights for me and also won over my friends visiting from Los Angeles, we were particularly impressed with their adventurist guitarist who at one point attempted to play his guitar with a xylophone mallet. Insane.

The energy did not recede there, power pop magicians, The Appreciation Post, galvanized the stage next. They were the tightest performers of the night, with a high energy guitarist of their own really burning up the left side of the stage. The highlight of the set for me was definitely the excellent cover of Pinkerton-era Weezer, “Tired of Sex.”

Closing out the night was Brooklyn band, Plushgun. I really couldn’t imagine that the headliners would be able to push the energy level even further, but somehow they did. The lead singer’s vocals were compelling, channeling shades of Brian Molko, and we couldn’t help but notice his resemblance to mister Seth Rogan. Plushgun were handing out drum solos, foot stomps and high fives like candy and ended their set with a crowded stage full of dancing fans. It was a great way to end a supremely entertaining night of local and near local music.

The Bynars: myspace
The Appreciation Post: website | myspace
The Main Drag: website | myspace
Plushgun: website | myspace