Pop Rocks!: Episode 2.3: Sorta 7" Showcase!

So, I decided that I should play some of the 7's I've picked up recently. I also decided to raid the collection of 45s up at the shack and dug up some pretty neat stuff. I was going to do a whole show of it, but then I got tired and distracted. SO OH WELL! Next week I'll be making with another theme show! Not sure what yet, but it'll be themed!

The Wolfhounds - The Anti-Midas Touch (The Anti-Midas Touch)
Art Brut - Pump Up the Volume (It's a Bit Complicated)
The High Strung - Rimbaud/Rambo (Get the Guests)
The New Pornographers - Myriad Harbour (Challengers)
The Lucksmiths - Southernmost (Southernmost EP)
Tokidoki - Sock Hop (New Days 7")
Linda Smith - Gorgeous Weather (Gorgeous Weather 7")
Bright Coloured Lights - Leave You Behind (Open Your Eyes 7")
Cub - Pillow Queen (7")
The Summer Suns - All Away (All Away 7")
The Sedgwicks - Up Till Now (Up Till Now 7")
Erik Voeks - Throw Me Out a Line (Throw Me Out a Line 7")
Superchunk - Reg (The Majestic 7")
Guided by Voices - Mice are Nice (in My Bedroom) (Tigerbomb EP)
Guided by Voices - Surgical Focus (Surgical Focus 7")
The Cavedogs - Bed of Nails (Joy Rides for Shut-Ins)
Sugar - The Act We Act (Copper Blue)
Jason Anderson/Wolf Colonel - Jet Ski Accidents (Something/Everything)
The Aislers Set - Friends of the Heroes (Terrible Things Happen)
Jimmy Eat World - Game of Pricks (GBV Cover) (BBC Evening Sessions)
The Magnetic Fields - All the Umbrellas in London (Get Lost)
Aberdeen - Sink or Float (Homesick and Happy to Be Here)
Matt Allison - Hard to Look Perfect (Hard to Look Perfect EP)
A.C. Newman - Most of Us Prizefighters (The Slow Wonder)
Neutral Milk Hotel - Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone (On Avery Island)
Weezer - Across the Sea (Pinkerton)
Tullycraft - Our Days in Kansas (Disenchanted Hearts Unite)
Luna - California (All the Way) (Bewitched)
Low - California (The Great Destroyer)
The Sea Urchins - Please Dont' Cry

Reviews!

Voxtrot – Voxtrot (Playlouder)
3/10

After releasing three absolutely stellar EPs, Voxtrot were poised to become one of the best indie pop bands of this modern age. While they were obviously influenced by the Smiths, they sounded even more influenced by Sarah Records and that since forgotten brand of pop music. And now they’ve put out their debut EP and…it kind of sucks. I say that out of love though, because I still believe that these guys have enough talent to put out a great record, it just isn’t this one. Their sound has matured and in turn they’ve lost the youthful energy and the sense of fun that made their EPs so enjoyable. Although singer Ramesh Srivastava sings “I have to lose my idols to find my voice,” he’s simply replaced his Morrissey-esque vocals with more modern influences. For instance, his howl on “Kid Gloves” makes him sound EXACTLY like Dave Grohl and “Blood Red Blood” sounds EXACTLY like a Ted Leo song (in particular, “The Angel’s Share). Sadly, those are two of the best tracks. The saddest thing is that almost all of these songs have compelling aspects, but none of them (with one exception) are compelling as a whole. “Easy” is an incoherent mash-up of what sounds like the group trying to cram three different songs into one where the piano-pop number “Stephen” just sounds lazy and boring. The worst is the ballad “Real Live Version,” in which initially sounds similar to the gorgeous song “Sway” from the Your Biggest Fan EP, but ends up being tacky and sentimental, especially when Srivastava goes into a falsetto at the end. It’s really fucking lame. However, I would argue that the gorgeous, mid-tempo track “The Future, Part 1” is one of Voxtrot’s best songs to date and if the rest of the record sounded as honest and innovative as that song, it might be a masterpiece. “Introduction” is another great mid-tempo number while “Firecracker” best captures the energy of the EPs and accentuates Srivistava’s razor-sharp songwriting. Hopefully they will take their time with the next record, and hopefully it will be as successful as this one should have been.

This would have been amazing if it was "The Future Part 1" or "Kid Gloves" EP, featuring one of those on Side A and the other, along with "Firecracker" on side B.

Focus: 8, 1, 5, 11
Avoid: 10
-Ian Hrabe, June 11^th, 2007

Art Brut – It’s a Bit Complicated (Downtown)
8/10

Do I think all of the positive press that Art Brut gets is a bit overblown? Yes. Do I think they’re a bad band? Hell no. In fact, I really appreciate the snide brand of fun that they bring to the whole indie rock scene. Hell, the punchline of “Pump Up the Volume” is “Is it so wrong to break from your kiss and turn up the pop song?” Sure, they sound like an indie rock version of The Streets but shit, with a line like that I don’t even care. This is made by kids who spent their young adulthood alternating 45’s on their parents’ turntables (“Sorry if my accent’s flawed/ I learned my German from a 7-inch record”). They sound a bit more like Franz Ferdinand here than they did on Bang Bang Rock and Roll, where their influences were more admirable (eg: The Modern Lovers, Pulp, The Fall). This record is better produced, which takes away some of their charm, and there aren’t any songs as charming as “Emily Kane.” At times it gets a bit droll, but I am able to overlook this because most of the songs are just around the three minutes long, the perfect length for these bratty tunes. Note: “People in Love” is one of the better break-up songs I’ve come across in a long time.

RIYL: The Wolfhounds, a British version of the Hold Steady
Focus: 1, 4, 11, 9, 10
-Ian Hrabe, June 11^th, 2007

Trembling Blue Stars – The Last Holy Writer (Elefant)
7.5/10

I feel really weird when a band that should be broken up by now releases a new record. It’s not that I want the band to break up, it’s just strange. Especially when the band has a lineage stretches back to the Sarah Records days of yore. Trembling Blue Stars is Robert Wratten’s third band to my knowledge. After leaving the Field Mice he formed Northern Picture Library and, after the dissolution of NPL, formed Trembling Blue Stars. While all of these groups are essentially Sarah Records twee pop at heart, TBS is so lushly orchestrated and mature you would never guess that Wratten started out playing jangly guitar pop. His counterpart in the group is Beth Arzy (from now defunct Sarah group Aberdeen), who sings the gorgeous second track “Idyllwild” and two others, and her presence is what makes this album great. I feel like some of the best twee bands had both male and female singers (one of the reasons why I love the Pastels so much) and not only does it make this album more diverse, but it gives it a lot of depth. This is dream pop at its finest, and while this is their most mature record, they still have that fantastic early 90’s sound. It’s just too bad that this is being released in the Summer, because this is a perfect Fall record.

RIYL: The Field Mice, Northern Picture Library
Focus: 2, 7, 10, 3, 9, any.
-Ian Hrabe, June 11^th, 2007

Sea Wolf – Get to the River before it Runs too Low EP (Dangerbird)
7/10

Since the whole “Wolf Band” thing hit it big a couple of years ago, you have to wonder if these new wolf bands are only giving themselves names of the Canis variety out of irony. Shit, even I’ve been in a wolf band or two (see: Wolves, Underwater a.k.a. The Wolves Underwater, a project that my friend and fellow DJ Taylor Ford and I undertook right when the Wolf-craze hit. We “cut” two tracks in the basement of Hashinger Hall (before they cut all of the soul out of it), one a death metal song, one a country song (the topics of these songs are far too controversial to write here, you see, the thing was, we were a “controversial band,” that was our gimmick on top of cashing in on the whole Wolf thing)). Anyway, this is a wolf band that I can get behind. It’s produced by Phil Ek, who produced all of the best Built to Spill albums (from There’s Nothing Wrong With Love to Ancient Melodies of the Future) so you know it’s good. It’s pretty much straight up indie pop with strings (sometimes) that make them sound like the Arcade Fire (especially on track 3). Lots of nice hooks and melodies, stuff that makes you feel good when you’re listening to it. Ok, something that is more important. I just checked out Sea Wolf’s myspace, and on the “influences” the guy said that he “wanted to SOUND JUST LIKE” every wolf band he could think of, including Steppenwolf and Howlin’ Wolf. That wins my little heart over, that and the sweet melodies laced throughout this record.

Focus: 1.3.4.5.2
-Ian Hrabe, June 4^th, 2007