Pop Rocks: Episode 2.7 LAST POP ROCKS OF THE SUMMER

Yeah, that's right, last week's episode was the last Pop Rocks! of the Summer and I didn't even realize it until a couple of days ago. I had this whole "Songs of Summer" thing planned but now it's shot! I guess it will have to wait until the middle of August when Fall programing kicks up (and at my new time, 2-4 PM! Yeah!). Anyway, I'm not gonna lie, I felt off during this show. I had planned to play songs exclusively from the two Harriet records compilations ("Friendly Society" and "The Long Secret") and the myriad of Sarah Records comps, but it was far too nice outside and I got distracted. So, anyway, here it is!

Linda Smith - All the Umbrellas in London (Friendly Society) (Magnetic Fields cover)
The Cat's Miaow - The Phoebe I Know (The Long Secret)
Hula Boy - Work it On Out (Friendly Society)
The Magnetic Fields - Plant White Roses (The Long Secret)
Shy Camp - Spinster (Friendly Society)
The Ampersands - My Favourite Jumper (The Long Secret)
Hutch and Kathy - On the Way to Work (Hutch and Kathy (Note: Hutch and Kathy of

the Thermals!)
The Mountain Goats - Duke Ellington (The Long Secret)
The Takeovers - Father's Favorite Temperature (Bad Football)
Tullycraft - Look Who Killed the Riot Grrrls
Heavenly - So Little Deserve
The Pumpkin Fairies - You Make Me Feel (members of Slowdive)
Portastatic - Sour Shores (Be Still Please)
MK Ultra - Goodbye Max! (The Dream is Over)
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - Vanessa From Queens (Pig Lib)
Felt - Sapphire Mansions
Electrelane - Cut and Run (No Shouts No Calls)
Belmondo - Girlfriend's Revenge (Going Against Maz's Advice comp)
Tilly and the Wall - A Perfect Fit (Wild Like Children)
The Close Lobsters - Paper Thin Hotel (Airspace Vol. 2 comp)
Unrest - Make Out Club (Perfect Teeth)
The Dentists - She Dazzled Me With Basil
The Clouds - Jenny Nowhere
Del Amitri - Nothing Goes
Heavenly - P.U.N.K. Girl (Goal Ferry Bridge comp)
Destroyer - Foam Hands (Live at the Sled Island Festival)
The New Pornographers - Unguided (Challengers)
John Vanderslice - White Dove (Emerald City)
Another Sunny Day - Rio
The Gothic Archies - The Abandoned Castle of My Soul (The Long Secret)
The Ampersands - Affected (Friendly Society)
Balloon Chase Team - The Other Shoe (Friendly Society)
The Lodger - Kicking Sand (Grown-Ups)
BOAT - Illustrate the History (Let's Drag Our Feet)

BAND OF THE WEEK

Red Pony Clock


Usually I don't look too much into bands playing at the Replay Lounge if I'm unfamiliar with the name. And usually I pass them over. However, after being alerted by my girlfriend that the songs on Red Pony Clock's myspace were "really good" I checked them out and ended up listening to them over and over during my archiving shift at the shack. And yeah, I paid the two bucks and checked them out tonight and was very, very pleased. It was like a small scale version of the Dark Meat show I saw a few months ago, and they had that whole Elephant Six vibe going (lots of horns, lots of upbeat dancey tunes, lots of love and fun) and yeah, it was a great old time. So, the name, RED PONY CLOCK, if you see that they're coming to your town GO GO GO!

REVIEWS

Bodies of Water – Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink (Self-Released)
Review: 9/10

This album is pretty fucking spectacular. I keep muttering things to myself like “this is so good!” “Oh man, this is the first suggested track,” “No! THIS is the first suggested track,” etc. My ears are filling with glorious, orchestral chamber pop and every time I blink I see these lush, gorgeous colors and images of blue-gray skies and seas. This is one of the most majestic and dynamic pop records I’ve heard in a long time. Full of swirling harmonies and a mix of sunshine pop, neo-folk, and psych-rock, it’s akin to bigger artists like Sufjan Stevens or Arcade Fire, but I can’t imagine having to stand behind a hundred kids with cameras if I were to see this band live. I highly recommend the seven-minute epic “It Moves” if you have the time, but if you don’t, all of the other songs are great too. This is an insanely gorgeous album.

RIYL: Danielson Famile with less screeching, Bowerbirds.
Suggested: 3, 1, 7, 4, 12, 5, 8, ALL!!!
-Ian Hrabe, July 23^rd, 2007

Sebadoh – The Freed Man (Domino)
Review: 7.5/10

“This record was intended to be a mess, a stinking garden of delights.” –Lou Barlow

That quote up there pretty much sums this up. This is a reissue of the first Sebadoh record and they’ve bumped it up to 52 tracks from the original 31. This is Lou Barlow and Eric Gaffney recording their songs into a Tascam 4-track in 1988. A lot of this is unlistenable, and this might be the only record where that’s a surprisingly good thing, considering that all of it is interesting (given that it’s the beginning stages of one of the greatest indie rock bands ever). Most of this isn’t really suited for radio play, since a lot of the pleasure comes from finding the little chunks of genius buried amidst spoken word excerpts recorded from television, tape hiss, feedback, and, well, the sounds of a couple of dudes fucking around with a 4-track. It’s pretty much exactly what the “Director’s Cut” of Guided By Voices’ Bee Thousand is…except, there is much MUCH more crap here. But like I said, this is an album that warrants exploration. Sadly, a lot of the best tracks (i.e. “Crumbs,” “True Hardcore,” “Healthy Sick”) are DNPs, and you’d think on a record with 52 songs it wouldn’t be a big deal, but man, it really limits what’s actually playable! For reference, most of the suggested tracks are preceded by weirdness which you can play (and it will still be awesome) but if you want to get straight to the pure pop glory of Lou Barlow’s “K-Sensa-My” you’ll have to skip it forward a little. As for what to play, some of the suggested tracks are affixed with exclamation points (tracks I really really dug), but all of those listed are playable.

Suggested: 3!, 12!, 13, 20, 22, 26!!, 29, 30, 32, 34!, 40!, 41!, 42, 44, 49!, 50, 52
DNP: 1, 6, 18, 24, 33, 35, 36, 43, 45, 47, 48
-Ian Hrabe, July 23^rd, 2007

Tiny Vipers – Hands Across the Void (Sub Pop)
Review: 4/10

This might be some pretty decent neo-folk female singer/songwriter music if this woman would try to not sing like Joanna Newsom. Ok, ok, so maybe she was singing like this long before Joanna Newsom (a la the Michael Bolton dilemma from Office Space) but the thing is, when I listen to this, I can’t disassociate the two and since Joanna Newsom is much better than Tiny Vipers, Tiny Vipers has to take a hit. All of her songs even stretch on like Newsom’s, most of them approaching or past the six minute mark. The thing is, this music is actually pretty nice. Really sparse, haunted acoustic guitar music. It’s just not doing anything that new. And the pretentious cover Art (as well as the Art in the booklet which lacks, of all things, a tracklisting. I guess they figured some pictures of the Tiny Vipers chick with a lantern was good enough) isn’t helping either. And the fact that the longer songs (like “The Downward” and “Swastika” in particular) aren’t nearly dynamic enough to warrant their extensive running times. Of the shorter ones that might actually get played, “Shipwreck” sounds like a weak Joanna Newsom outtake (as does “Aron,” and who am I kidding, just about every song here!). Boring.

RIYL: Ladies who sing like Joanna Newsom
Suggested: 1, 2
DNP: 4
-Ian Hrabe, July 23^rd, 2007

Mount Eerie – Mount Eerie Pts. 6 & 7 (P.W. Elverum & Son, ltd)
Review: 8.5/10

This is the latest release from Phil Elverum, and his second release this year (with the “Don’t Smoke”/”Get Off the Internet” 7” he released as the Microphones). While Elverum may never be able to top his masterpiece, “The Glow Pt. 2” (as the Microphones), everything he puts out is either very good or at least interesting. While No Flashlight was maligned for being boring, or whatever, it was a record that actually forced me to sit down (on the carpet with the GIGANTIC fold out cover art) and think. I can only assume that Mount Eerie Pts. 6 & 7 is a continuation of the Microphones Mount Eerie, which presented five tracks over forty minutes full of rich warmth and experimentation. These songs are fairly straightforward, even if they are each roughly twelve minutes long. The first 6 ½ minutes of “Part 6” are slow, methodical, and dirge-like, sounding a lot like the bulk of No Flashlight. The second half picks up with rolling drums and highlights Elverum’s uncanny ability to write incredibly lush pop songs, before the song dissolves into the sound of rain hitting a window. Where “Part 6” feels like two parts of the same song, “Part 7” builds on itself and morphs gradually over its twelve minutes. It’s much darker than “Part 6,” and when the song isn’t exercising in industrial percussion, the pipe organ that carries through the entire song is almost always present. Mount Eerie Pts. 6 & 7 is a 10” picture disc with a 132-page hardcover photo book that sells for $64. I really wish I could afford that, and if it was half the price, I would probably be really tempted to buy it. However, the lofty pricetag might be fitting considering that this is the most compelling work Elverum has released as Mount Eerie to date.

Suggested: 1, 2
DNP: None
-Ian Hrabe, July 23^rd, 2007

Cub – Betti-Cola (Mint Records)
Review: 9/10

When Nick told me the reissue of Cub’s seminal twee-Vancouver-girl-group classic Betti-Cola had come in the mail I’m pretty sure I giddily started jumping up and down and hyperventilating. This is what the kids call “cuddlecore,” which takes the sound and lo-fi aesthetic of punk rock and runs it through a twee filter. So instead of songs about, I don’t know, the government or something, Cub play cute love songs (“Little Star” <3!) style="">

Suggested: 19, 22, 8, 1, 7, 14, 6, 9, 11, 12, 18, 25, 26, ANY!!!
DNP: 24 (no bad words, just silly filler)
-Ian Hrabe, July 23^rd, 2007

Casiotone For the Painfully Alone & the Donkeys LIVE at the Jackpot Saloon!

Yesterday was entirely strange. I spent most of the day planning on going to a party which was to be held at Yello Sub, our local sandwich joint which had been unceremoniously shut down and set to be demolished for some high rise apartments and/or a hotel. So the folks who ran the place decided to, you know, throw a killer party and trash the place.

ANYWAY, as I'm telling Sean after the music staff meeting that I'm gonna see him at the party later, Annie reminds me that Casiotone for the Painfully Alone is playing. And somehow, I completely forgot. "Scattered Pearls" from last year's Etiquette was one of my absolute favorite songs of last year, and CFTPA (aka Owen Ashworth) is one of the finest indie pop artists playing music in the present time. So, Annie went to make some spots for the radio station and I went to the show just as local band Ample Branches were finishing their set. I drank some whiskey, and then the Donkeys played. And goddamn were the Donkeys fantastic! It's been an insanely long time (probably since I saw Immaculate Machine open for the New Pornographers last year) since I've seen an opener that I really, completely and utterly enjoyed. And of course, any band that seems to generally be having a great time on stage automatically wins me over. The music was fun, sweet indie pop, exactly what I wanted to hear at that moment in time. The slightly sappy, but completely forgivable and wonderful "Be My Girl" stuck out in my head and I was totally thrilled to find it on the Casiotone/Donkeys Split 7" that I bought after the show.

At one point, the Donkeys announced that they would be playing their "slow jam" and that couples should slow dance. I grew sad, I wished I had a lady to dance with me right then and about 3/4s of the way through the song Annie showed up and my spirits got even better. The Donkeys finished up and it was the first time in forever that I wanted to see an opening band play an encore.

We got a nice spot up in the corner at the front of the stage for Casiotone. What I'm about to write is not hyperbole, and it's written in some sort of weird pop-loser-fandom code, but I will do my best to describe how great this set was. He started off with a song I can't remember, but was really nice and got me really excited. Next was "Nashville Parthenon," the song off of Etiquette that I played the most last year while it was in rotation after the next song, "Scattered Pearls." I had no expectations here. I didn't know how he would do it but when that synth line lit up and he started singing it made perfect sense (although I called a youtube version of the song with Owen on vocals "awkward" earlier this year, I admit, I don't know what the fuck I was talking about) and, I shit you not, I learned how to dance. Some weird hipster thing I'm sure, but it made my body move in a way its never moved before. My body kept producing new fluid movements for the rest of the night.

Halfway through the set he announced that the Donkeys would be joining him on stage as his backing band after the next song, a special request for his cover of Paul Simon's "Graceland." I'll be honest, when I heard it a few months ago it didn't really do much for me but live, it was fucking wonderful. And then the band joined in and they played stuff like "Jeanne, If You're Ever in Portland" and more songs that sounded so familiar that I can't recall. It's always tough going to see an artist that you're not as familiar with as you'd like to be. Usually, after an amazing show I'll get really into them and WISH I'd been that into them when I saw them (see also: Destroyer). But, you know, whatever. The much shouted for "Bobby Malone Moves Home" was set to be their last song before rampant shouts and calls for encore (the first time I've ever heard an audience audibly chant "encore! encore!"), after which they played the second most shouted for song, "It's a Crime." The song eventually broke down into an impromptu, solo-filled jam session in which Owen Ashworth left the stage to applaud the Donkeys with the rest of the audience. It's so much better when touring bands are actually friends, you know?

Anyway, the show was a total blast. Something I might call "the Show of the Summer," and as far as I can remember, the best show of the year. I cannot urge you enough to go check these guys out and let them know you love them if they swing through your town.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Scattered Pearls

The Donkeys - In the Morning

Pop Rocks!: Episode 2.6

Ten minutes before leaving my house to go do the show, I read online that my friend Cecile Hernandez, a girl I'd known since sixth grade, was killed in a car crash. She was in the main group of friends that I hung out with in high school and even though I didn't know her that well, I still felt kind of paralyzed. I threw the CDs I'd made for the show into my bag and when I got to the shack I didn't know what to do. I certainly didn't want to do the show I had planned to do (one focusing on the two compilations released by Harriet Records featuring various tunes I've been obsessed with over the past few weeks (this will be on next week). I didn't have the energy. I grabbed some stuff. All I really wanted to do was listen to sad Sarah Records bands, but I didn't really have any around. It's just fucked up, and I really wasn't prepared to deal with something like this. No one close to me has ever died, no one that I've known. And the thing is, even though I didn't really know Cecile all that well, I knew that she was a wonderful person and that she honestly lived her life to the fullest. My friend Judy got me this patch for my bag while she was in Sweden, and since she goes to Notre Dame, I never really had a chance to get it from her. Last Winter or Spring Break she gave it to Cecile to give to me and I never got around to picking it up and it bums me out that I didn't. Anyway, this show sort of turned into a weird mix of emotions. It's a sort of examination of what happens over two hours after finding out something utterly horrible. Eventually, after an hour, I started to feel less awful, but I still didn't really feel like being there, so I attempted to make myself happy (culminating in a short Tullycraft set at the end). Anyway, here's this. Normal programming resumes next week.

Andrew Bird - Heretics (Armchair Apocrypha)
The New Pornographers - Streets of Fire (Twin Cinema)
Low - Cue the Strings (The Great Destroyer)
Destroyer - Foam Hands (Live at the Sled Island Festival)
The Mountain Goats - Shadow Song (Peel Session)
Guided by Voices - The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory (Bee Thousand)
Okkervil River - The Velocity of Saul at the Time of His Conversion (Down the River of Golden Dreams)
Jeff Buckley - Je N' en Connais Pas La Fin (Live at Sin-e)
Elliott Smith - Can't Make a Sound (Figure 8)
John Vanderslice - Dear Sarah Shu (Pixel Revolt)
Neutral Milk Hotel - Two Headed Boy Pt. 2 (In the Aeroplane Over the Sea)
Heavenly - So Little Deserve (Fountain Island comp)
Even as We Speak - One Step Forward (Fountain Island comp)
Spoon - Black Like Me (Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga)
Get Him Eat Him - The Coronation Show (Arms Down)
The Wrens - This Boy is Exhausted (The Meadowlands)
The New Pornographers - Challengers (Challengers)
Wilco - In a Future Age (Summerteeth)
Trembling Blue Stars - Idyllwild (The Last Holy Writer)
Slowdive - Some Velvet Morning (Souvlaki (Bonus Track))
The Swirlies - The Vehicle is Invisible (They Spent Their Wild Youthful Days in the Glittering World of the Salons)
Felt - Sapphire Mansions (Let the Snake Crinkle Their Heads to Death)
Unrest - Make Out Club (Perfect Teeth)
Kleenex Girl Wonder - Don't Wait Up (Ponyoak)
The Close Lobsters - Paper Thin Hotel (Airspace Vol. 2)
The Field Mice - Fabulous Friend (Shadow Factory comp)
Tullycraft - Wild Bikini
Tullycraft - Mental Obsession
Tullycraft - Polaroids From Mars
Tullycraft - Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend's Too Stupid to Know About
Tullycraft - Our Days in Kansas

REVIEWS:

John Vanderslice – Emerald City (Barsuk)
Review: 8/10

Since the breakup of MK Ultra in 2000, John Vanderslice has been putting out one stellar solo album after another and become one of the most consistently great pop songwriters. While he’s always toyed with electronic manipulation in the studio, on 2005’s Pixel Revolt it seemed like his sound was going to be overcome with drum machines and boops & beeps. And in typical JV fasion, he’s done something completely different here. Well, maybe not completely different, but Emerald City is the most stripped down record he’s put out (aside, maybe, the Suddenly It All Went Dark project, in which he recorded all of the songs from Pixel Revolt into a two track (something Jason Molina did with the Magnolia Electric Co record) using only an acoustic guitar). There are electronic elements and traces of studio noodling throughout, but overall this is his most organic sounding album since Cellar Door. Lyrically, nearly every song pertains to the war or post 9/11 America, a topic that was prevalent on Cellar Door and even more so on Pixel Revolt. The title itself is a reference to the green zone in Baghdad, the center for coalition troops in Iraq. The songs are filled with paranoia (From dusk to dawn/Dawn to dusk/The sky will fill/With vaporized dust raining…), war (It was written years before/Same names, same war), references to 9/11 (We ditched out the paradde/And what was there to commemorate/And wahat was left to remember/Not sure what really happened on that day) and the old JV fallback, prescription medication (A tablespoon of codeine/Will put you right to bed). While the songs aren’t as immediately appealing or upbeat as those on previous records, they’re some of the most lasting tunes he’s ever written.

Suggested: 4, 5, 2, 1, 6, 7, 3, 8, any
-Ian Hrabe, July 16^th, 2007

Interpol – Our Love to Admire (Capitol)
Review: 2/10

Shut up. On their major label debut, Interpol seem to have set their hearts on making the most boring record that they possibly could. Granted, I maligned Turn on the Bright Lights when it first came out, but grew to love it after the immediate joy that came out of Antics. Of course, in retrospect Turn on the Bright Lights is by far the superior album, but Antics took their moody Joy Division aping and turned out some killer, stripped down dark pop songs. Here, every song sounds like a template for “song that sounds like Interpol.” I've read so many reviews that say this sounds just like The Cure's "Pornography," and it seems like it is impossible for anyone to describe a facet of Interpol's sound without comparing it to another group. This record should sound like Interpol's "Our Love To Admire" but I guess no one really thinks it does. Personally, I think the first two albums are fine, "Turn on the Bright Lights" for it's atmospherics and "Antics" for its unabashed pop-hooks. But this one just sounds tired. The more atmospheric tracks feel stifled by the brighter production and the pop tracks feel like they're trying too hard to please the mainstream radio people. I guess my point is does the world really need this album, and will anyone remember Interpol (much less this album) in ten years? Or is this just an alright, but totally unoriginal, album that reminds us of a couple dozen different bands and albums?

Suggested: 9, 2, 1, 4, 3, 11
-Ian Hrabe, July 16^th, 2007

Against Me! – New Wave (Sire)
Review: 3.5/10

Against Me!, tell me now do you compromise yourself like that? I know it’s clichéd to harp on a punk band for signing to a major, but Against Me? Seriously. I really liked this band a lot and now it sounds like they’ve run their course. This album doesn’t really do anything new (except present their sound through hi-fi production equipment). I guess there is one song where Tom Gabel does a duet with Tegan (who is in a kind of shitty band with her sister Sara) Quin that I actually kind of liked. It’s kind of in the same vein as the Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York” and maybe it’s taking two things that I don’t really like and somehow making it work. It’s the only song that sounds believable, the only song with any real emotion. The rest has been carefully been removed by ace producer Butch Vig (of “shooting Nirvana to superstardom with Nevermind” fame) who has made sure to make a “commercially viable Against Me! Record. And considering that the kids today only like watered down punk rock, he knocked this one out of the park. Some of these songs are OK. The single, “White People For Peace,” although it has pretty generic verses, it also has a fucking incredible chorus. I’d kill to hear this song about the futility and need for protest songs two years ago when it might have meant something. If you don’t pay attention, though, it sounds good. Against Me!’s sense of melody has always been their strong suit and it’s probably the reason why they’re in the position they are now. They write catchy fucking songs with incredible pop hooks. “New Wave” is a pretty good tune. “We can be the bands we want to hear…Are you ready for brave new directions,” Gabel sings. Although punk was sort of born out of major labels, there’s no way these guys are going to be the next Ramones or Sex Pistols, and this album still sounds like a raw deal. (A longer, more futile diatribe can be found inside).

Those anarcho-punks are so…predictable. I feel like a lot of the punks are going to say that this album is great. That Against Me! Should be commended for “trying something different” and even though this is being put out by a major label, it was ultimately the right move for them to make. The move they needed to make. You know what? Fuck that. Why does Against Me! Need to be on a major label? Much like Anti-Flag signing to a major, it makes absolutely no fucking sense for a group so into politics (even if Against Me! Sing about them with their tongues firmly planted in their cheeks) to have their record put out by corporations. I know it’s easy to hark “Sell out! Sell out!” whenever a punk band signs to a major, but for fucks sake what are these guys trying to prove? What are they trying to prove by having Butch Vig (who made Nevermind palatable for the general public and probably, in a roundabout way, drove Kurt Cobain to blow his brains out) suck all of the heart and soul out of their music? The production is pristine and slick, but Against Me!’s sound is not nearly dynamic enough to benefit from it. Their last three albums (even Searching for a Former Clarity) all had songs that were meant to be screamed at the top of someone’s lungs. Regardless of if you liked the band or not, it was impossible to deny that Tom Gable gave a shit when he was singing. His voice is still gravelly during the verses and smooth during the choruses, but he sounds utterly vapid here. And I don’t give a shit about what he’s singing. “We do what we do to survive,” he sings in “Thrash Unreal.” Maybe if the songs were better this album might be forgivable, but seriously, who is going to see this CD at Best Buy and buy it? Who is going to hear the single on the radio and be compelled to buy the album? Considering that they’ve pretty much alienated their audience in favor of selling more records OR, as punk bands like to say, “getting their music/message out to a wider audience,” have they really done what they needed to do to survive?

Suggested: 6, 1, 4, 3, or whatever.
-Ian Hrabe, July 16^th, 2007

Bottom of the Hudson – Fantastic Hawk (Absolutely Kosher)
Review: 5.5/10

This is some pretty straight up indie rock. I feel like the best records I’ve been listening to lately have me wondering how, exactly, they were put together. Every piece seems to be so completely appropriate and complicated, that I wonder how certain songs (say, songs on the new New Pornographers and Spoon records) manage to exist. With this album there is no mystery. I can hear exactly where everything is: guitar, drums, bass, singer. Pretty standard, and while bands can do great things with just those four elements, these guys don’t. I guess these guys used to be a super lo-fi band like Guided by Voices, and you can hear that in the nice studio production, but I feel like if this had been recorded in a bedroom it would sound a lot better. A song like “Rusty Zippers” would sound amazing through a four-track with tape hiss, you know?

Suggested: 4, 3, 8, 10, 5, 12
-Ian Hrabe, July 16^th, 2007

Au – Au (Aagoo/Oedipus)
Review: 8/10

This is a pretty gorgeous avant-folk-pop record out of Portland, OR by a musical prodigy guy named Luke Wyland. It’s full of pastoral instrumentation (banjo, fiddle, saw, mandolin, etc) run through a series of contemporary, slightly experimental filters. The songs range to straightforward avant-pop tunes (“Sum”) to lush soundscapes like “Shelter,” which utilizes Wyland’s skills as a pianist (he’s classically trained) in a very unique way. Despite a number of the tracks being filled to the brim with sound (verging on shoegaze), songs like “Death” and “Honeybee” are stripped down and haunting. Tracks 5 and 8 are instrumentals.

Suggested: 2, 3, 8, 1, 7
-Ian Hrabe, July 16^th, 2007

Oh No! Oh My! – Between the Devil and the Sea (Dim Mak)
Review: 5/10

This is some OK indie/twee pop. Kind of sappy (the first track starts out “yes you are my only hope” sung like some top-40 singer), and not in that good sappy way (i.e. I’d never put it on a mixtape for my girlfriend because she would think I was lame). A certain amount of sentiment is good, but the band needs to A.) Know how to pull it off and B.) Have better lyrics. I’m a complete indiepop dork and I think this is pretty boring. Take that to mean whatever.

Suggested: 3, 4, 2, 5
-Ian Hrabe, July 16^th, 2007

Blitzen Trapper – Wild Mountain Nation (Long Duck Dong)
Review: 7.5/10

“Wait, hasn’t this album received a ton of positive press?” I thought to myself after pulling this record out of the giveaway bin in the music office. Of course, with so many CDs coming in, a few great ones are bound to slip through the cracks, and I am really glad I rescued this one. Considering that the first track is pretty much noise rock and the second is a country fried southern rock jam, I was easily taken aback. But after track three, “Futures & Follies,” a wonderful little pop song, I was won over. Blitzen Trapper’s range and diversity, and their ability to master a handful of different genres, is what makes this a great record. Track 5 sounds like an Animal Collective song, track 6 is a pseudo-lo-fi indie rock tune (that breaks out into Nintendo-esque electros towards the end), track 7 is a backwoods redneck banjo jam (complete with jaw harp!), and track 12 sounds like the Grateful Dead or something. Anyway, these dudes are a bunch of weirdos and you should play their record.

Suggested: 3, 6, 8, 9, 4, 11, 12, 5, 13, 1
-Ian Hrabe, July 16^th, 2007

Pop Rocks!: Episode 2.5: GIRL GROUPS SHOW!

That's right, to offset the boys and their girl songs from last week, I thought I'd dedicate this one to the ladies. All of the songs in the first hour and forty minutes of the show were culled from this fantastic three disc compilation I found called "A Million Dollar Girl Groups," highlighting dozens of obscure doo-wop girl groups from the late 50's and early 60's.

The Miller Sisters - Please Mr. Disc Jockey
Ann Gibson & Group - It Hurts to Be in Love
The Shondelles - Why Do Fools Fall in Love?
The Gleams - Give Me a Chance
The Petites - The Beating of My Heart
Shirley Ross & Group - Girl in Love
The Velveteens - Please Holy Father
The Teardrops - I'm Gonna Steal Your Boyfriend
The De-Vaurs - Teenager
The Four J's - Will You Be My Love?
The Taylortops - I'll See You Somewhere
Barbara Perkins & Group - Unbelievable
The Sweet Marquees - I Love My Baby
Baby Washington & Group - Congratulations Honey
Penny & the Overtones - What Made You Forget?
The Belletones - All My Love
Hartsy Maye & Group - As the Years Go By
The Pearlettes - Never Be Another Boy Like You
Barbara Joy & Group - Do This Do That
Pearl Galloway & Group - Think it Over Baby
The Contessas - You're a Hard Guy to Please
Venus & Group - Walkin' & Talkin'
The Duchesses - Every Boy in Town
Ruby Lee & Group - I'm Gonna Put a Watch on You
The Dew-Drops - He Was Out With a Lady
Lenore Bifield & Group - Lies
The Baby Dolls - Is This the End?
Verna Williams & the Sharp Cats - Mine All Mine
Mimi Allen & Group - Do You Miss Me?
Dorothy Forbes & Group - My Love is Just For You
The Miller Sisters - You Know I Can't Live Without you
The Charmettes - The Deed to My Heart
The Cordells - Dream Boy
The Brooktones - Cute & Collegiate
The Gingersnaps - Bald Headed Papa
Renee Higgins & the Vontones - Bald Headed Man
Sherry Ray - Say LIttle Star
Nita Hammond - Mighty Fine

The Pipettes - I Like a Boy in Uniform (School Uniform)
Heavenly - Boyfriend Stays the Same (Heavenly vs. Satan)
Cub - Little Star (Betti-Cola)
Tiger Trap - Puzzle Pieces (Tiger Trap)
Maow - Mean Mean Man
All Girl Summer Fun Band - Video Game Heart (AGSFB 2)
Pony Up! - The Truth About Cats and Dogs (Is that They Die) (Make Love to the Judges
With Your Eyes)
Electrelane - To the East (No Shouts, No Calls)

Reviews

The Polyphonic Spree – The Fragile Army (TVT)
Review: 5.5/10

From the look of the little fold-out poster inside, it looks like Tim DeLaughter has replaced his backing band with younger, more beautiful people than I remember from the original Polyphonic Spree videos (or maybe he just cut them out! Since the Spree has been whittled down from 28 members to a measly 24!). Maybe that’s why this record isn’t nearly as good as their first two. I’m as big a fan of symphonic sunshine pop as anyone, and while this record has a few hit-you-in-the-guts-with-rainbows-and-sun-beams tracks, a lot of it sounds like DeLaughter doing a poor Wayne Coyne impression and the excitement of the best tracks is what is lacking on the others. Yes, I’ve listed the single “Running Away” as the first suggested track, but it’s the single for a reason, y’know? It’s the song I want to hear when I’m driving around on a sunny day in July. The other suggested tracks are pretty great, too. Perfect in small doses.

Suggested: 2, 5,12, 8, 9
-Ian Hrabe, July 9^th, 2007

BOAT – Let’s Drag Our Feet (Magic Marker)
Review: 7.5/10

More stellar indie pop form Magic Marker Records, the people who brought us records by Tullycraft, All Girl Summer Fun Band, and Galactic Heroes. This is music made by elementary school teachers and they play what they like to call “Sloppy Pop,” and have christened themselves the “Best Sloppy Pop Band in the World.” It is quite “quirky,” which usually “irks” me. You know when something is intentionally quirky, like that movie Little Miss Sunshine, and it’s trying to hard to be offbeat that it’s just stupid? Well, these guys, I feel like all of their quirks are honest and this is some really great offbeat, unpretentious pop full of whistles, kazoos, and other slaphappy instruments with cute sweet lyrics and weirdo song titles. Destined to be maligned by detractors of joy.

Suggested: 3, 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, all.
-Ian Hrabe, July 9^th, 2007

Pop Rocks!: Episode 2.4: GIRL'S NAME SONGS!

That's right, this episode of Pop Rocks! focused on the indiepop/twee staple: the girl's name song. For years, tormented young men have vented their infatuations/frustrations with members of the opposite sex by writing songs about them. This was one of the most fun episodes of Pop Rocks! I've ever done! Thank you for all of the wonderful calls and requests!

Flop - Anne (Anne 7")
The New Pornographers - July Jones (Electric Version)
Unrest - Isabel (Imperial f.f.r.r.)
Tullycraft - Belinda (City of Subarus)
The Magnetic Fields - Lindy (Live)
Of Montreal - Jennifer Louise (Aldhils Arboretum)
Kaleidoscope - Jenny Artichoke
*Requested* Stephen Malkmus - Jenny & the Ess-Dog (Stephen Malkmus)
Blueboy - Jennifer Yeah! (The Bank of England)
*Requested* The Embarassement - Elizabeth Montgomery's Face (Hey Day)
Beulah - Emma Blowgun's Last Stand (When Your Heartstrings Break)
*Requested* The Specific Heats - Are You For Real Mehgan O'Neill? (Aboard a Spaceship of the Imagination)
The Concretes - Diana Ross (The Concretes)
The Icicles - Margie (Pure Sugar)
The Apples in Stereo - Ruby (Her Wallpaper Reverie)
The Magnetic Fields - Abigail, Belle of Kilronan (69 Love Songs)
Guided by Voices - Esther's Day (Bee Thousand)
Daniel Johnston - Laurie (Artistic Vice)
The Ampersands - Annabel Bleach (Annabel Bleach 7")
The Sea Urchins - Pristine Christine (Stardust)
The Tony Head Experience - Debbie One (Sleeper EP)
The Field Mice - Emma's House
The Lucksmiths - Danielle Steele (What Bird is That?)
Rocketship - Naomi and Me (Hey Hey Girl)
The New Pornographers - Jackie (Mass Romantic)
Sleep Station - Caroline London 1940 (After the War)
Neutral Milk Hotel - Naomi (On Avery Island)
The Minders - Frida (Hooray for Tuesday)
Beat Happening - Nancy Sin (Dreamy)
The Go-Betweens - Lee Remick
The Vaselines - Molly's Lips
Of Montreal - Penelope
Math and Physics Club - La La La Lisa (Math and Physics Club)
St. Christopher - Natasha, I Know (Man, I Could Scream)
Sparrows. - Hey Kari G
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Vanessa From Queens (Pig Lib)

REVIEWS!

The National – Boxer (Beggars Banquet)
Rating: 7.5/10

True story: the first time I heard this band was on (gasp!) 96.5 the Buzz while I was driving around with my roommate (who listens to that station). “Is this the new Interpol?” I wondered aloud. “It sure sounds a lot like Interpol, except a lot more brooding. God what’s with all of these bands all of a sudden trying to sound like Joy Division!” I wondered some more. And then, after the song, one of those annoying little radio-voice-laden promos came on saying something like “THE NATIONAL…only on 96.5 the Buzz” playing clips of the song I just heard (“Mistaken for Strangers”). “So that’s the National, the band that’s been getting so much buzz lately like they’re some indie rock messiahs.” I picked up the album and started to listen. It sounded nice enough on the first listen. Not great, but pleasant and I didn’t want to turn it off, even though all of the songs sounded the same. Then I listened to it a few more times and, yeah, it started to grow on me. The singer has this Ian Curtis/Nick Cave voice that’s right up front in the mix that sounds rather enjoyable and although the songs all sound quite alike, they do a lot of pretty cool things. Like the percussion, for instance, is pretty interesting and the absence of guitars or the way they end up buried somewhere in the mix adds this wonderful atmosphere. This is a really good record.
Note: I just read on 96.5's website: "Like Interpol, meet your new favorite band!" and man I fucking HATE that shit. These guys are better than Interpol.

Focus: 1, 7, 8, 10, 3, 2
-Ian Hrabe, July 2^nd, 2007

Get Him Eat Him – Arms Down (Absolutely Kosher)
Rating: 6.5/10

Get Him Eat Him may also be known as “that-one-indie-rock-band-with-a-guy-from-Pitchfork-in-it,” but don’t let that dissuade you! While it’s far from perfect, I found something charming about this record. The sound falls somewhere between modern indie rock/pop and late 90’s synth-laced (think the Anniversary) emo. Sometimes it sounds like he is inadvertently singing for mainstream radio (“Diminutive”) but he seems good-natured enough. It’s a little boring, but more interesting than a lot of the nameless, faceless indie rock records coming out lately. And, for street cred, Matt LeMay (aka, the guy who makes it clear that this is HIS band in the liner notes) got Charles Bissell of the Wrens to play 12-string guitar on track 6 (I was WONDERING why it sounded like a Wrens song!) and Zach Condon (aka Beirut) to play his Neutral Milkish trumpet on tracks 1, 11, 12, and 13.

Note: I let this album sit for a couple of days and came back and now I really, really like it. I think "The Coronation Show" is one of my top 5 favorite songs of 2007 so far!

RIYL: Ted Leo, The Wrens, The Anniversary
Focus: 6, 1, 5, 11, 12, 13
-Ian Hrabe, July 2^nd, 2007

Bowerbirds – Hymns for the Dark Horse (Burly Time)
Rating: 9/10

Out of anyone in the world, John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats has the taste I trust the most. A month or so ago I read a post about his “favorite new band in forever,” Bowerbirds. Considering that Mr. Darnielle has turned me on to a number of great artists in the past, I downloaded it and was quickly blown away. “Only once every ten years or so does one hear a new band this good, this bursting with ideas, this audibly in love with music,” says Darnielle, and he is so absolutely correct. While Bowerbirds could be compared to certain artists in that whole “freak folk” scene, their music is not freaky. The music is rich and brimming with life, possessing an absolutely timeless quality, walking that line between heartbreaking and uplifting better than most.

Suggested Tracks: 4, 2, 1, 6, 8, 3, 10
-Ian Hrabe, July 2^nd, 2007