Thee Oh Sees - Carrion Crawler/The Dream

One of my favorite bands right now, not even in the garage rock scene exclusively, but in general, is Thee Oh Sees. If there's anyone that stands out in the garage rock scene more than anyone, it's these guys, especially thanks to lead singer John Dwyer's distinct vocal delivery.

Earlier this year, they released Castlemania, a departure from their familiar territory, as a chance to explore lead singer John Dwyer's intricate melody-making capabilities and acoustic side, and I really liked it. They knew that they needed a change at least once. But on Carrion Crawler/The Dream, we find these guys returning to their raw rock 'n roll spirit that can even date back to 2008's The Master's Bedroom. However, a lot of the songs here are much longer than we're used to with these guys, even reaching the 7-minute mark on The Dream. Now I'm all for long songs, but not when they stay the same throughout. That's what happened with the title track of their 2010 release Warm Slime, which started out awesome, then quickly lost my interest after 3 minutes. Basically, the long songs on Carrion Crawler are fantastic for the first couple minutes, then become tiresome, especially when we generally have one sound coming from these guys.

Also, it seems as though Thee Oh Sees are running out of ideas for hard-hitting tunes, so they just bang it away for 40 minutes, and after a while, the constantly banging drums and shredding, although spot on, starts to sound stale and monotonous. Each song sounds like a generalization of what The Master's Bedroom or Help sounded like as a whole. I can't say there are too many stand out tracks here because of that, but I do love the first two tracks a lot. Robber Barons is basically The Coconut, just duller, and almost nothing changes on Chem-Farmer. At least The Dream varies it up a bit, but still, why 7 minutes? The song could have been 3 minutes, and I probably would have loved it.

Carrion Crawler/The Dream, although fun, is just their previous efforts compiled together and made blunt and uninteresting. However I'm glad that they're back to their old selves, and I'm positive that their live shows are still amazing as ever.




-Julian

Tracklist:
1. Carrion Crawler
2. Contraption/Soul Desert
3. Robber Barons
4. Chem-Farmer
5. Opposition
6. The Dream
7. Wrong Idea
8. Crushed Glass
9. Crack in Your Eye
10. Heavy Doctor

Contraption/Soul Desert:

Kyle Bobby Dunn - Ways of Meaning

Ambient music is sort of one of those genres that can either make me lose interest pretty fast, or enthrall me completely and make me wish the sounds coming through my ears could somehow be received at a higher level. Sometimes it even depends on the setting I'm in. If I could, I would have listened to this album for the first time on an airplane, just as it was floating over the clouds, but alas. The best I could do was a late night drive through the city. I can't say that's the right mood that this album captures, but it made a difference, if only slightly.

Ways of Meaning is the follow up to Kyle Bobby Dunn's 2010 release 'A Young Person's Guide to Kyle Bobby Dunn', which I probably should have given a higher score now that I think about it, because I listened to quite a bit of ambient/drone music after that, and that album is among the best I've heard so far. This album is more or less the same sort of stuff that was going on on that record, although definitely simplified and toned down. Where 'A Young Person's Guide' varied with each track, some of the songs on Ways of Meaning sound awfully similar. I guess you could say it's more of an album as a whole, rather than an album with individual songs where you can point out each song by a defining characteristic. With this one, you just sort of play the whole thing, and absorb everything at once. Although the track Canyon Meadows is the one track that is pretty distinct among the rest, and it ended up being my favorite track here. The track I felt really bored of though was Movement for the Completely Fucked, even though it had a slightly darker atmosphere, like New Pures.

Another difference with this album is that each song has a reoccurring melody, or just simply a few chords that just repeat throughout the whole song, whereas his previous release was full of constantly changing melodies and ideas. I'm not saying that these tracks are boring though, in fact the ones that did have distinct chord progressions seemed the most interesting to me.

Although I generally enjoyed listening to Ways of Meaning, it didn't grab me like A Young Person's Guide did. While the atmosphere and intricacy is still completely there, ambition and ideas are lacking.




-Julian

Tracklist:
1. Dropping Sandwiches (In Chester Lake)
2. Statuit
3. Canyon Meadows
4. New Pures
5. Movement for the Completely Fucked
6. Touhy's Theme

Artist Feature: The Summer Knights

In recent weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of spending some time with Luke DeWilde and Chuckles O’Neill, the magicians behind San Francisco-based alternative act The Summer Knights. The duo have two releases to date, 2010’s Quest for California and this year’s Kairos EP. Shamelessly inspired by teenage heroes Blink 182 and Nirvana, DeWilde and O’Neill often channel the alternative punk vibe. However, TSK have a few more tricks up their sleeves than their punk role models, as Quest for California features even a Death Cab for Cutie Cover. While the band’s strengths are many, they are young and their work is not without its flaws.

We’ll start with the Summer in a Shoebox, the first song off Quest to California, The Summer Knight’s only full-length release to date. The opening track shows off the many strengths of the duo: aggressive songwriting, catchy guitar riffs, and great drumming. DeWilde dives right in to the album’s opener, Summer in a Shoebox, with one of the strongest guitar lines of the album. He never looks back. The Summer Knights turn up their amps all the way and keep them there. Fellow high-power tracks Seventy Five and You’d Think I’ve Changed are highlights of the LP. O’Neill is a constant presence on the drums, frequently adding some much needed depth to the band's sound sound.

However, Summer in a Shoebox is also the perfect platform to discuss the band’s weaknesses: thelack of a middle range end and limited vocal

explorations. Although DeWilde loves to noodle (and often crafts some great hooks) in the expansive gap between his mid-range vocals and O’Neill’s drumming, his guitar alone is sometimes not enough to fill the void. The Summer Knights are occasionally in need of a middle range. There’s one last thing. DeWilde’s presence at the mic is begging for some flavor.The group’s well-written songs are craving some harmonies, something that DeWilde, no matter how dynamic his performance in front of the mic may be, cannot provide for himself.

However, it is important to remember the big picture. DeWilde and O’Neill are both still youngsters on the music scene, and the amount of growth that we can see already is promising. These guys will do nothing but improve. I’ll definitely be keeping my eyes on these two.

-Owen

Tristan Clopet - Name It What You Want It

Tristan Clopet dove into the vast pool of independently recording singer-songwriters earlier this year with his debut LP Name It What You Want It. However, before I say anything about the record, I owe the guy I huge thank you. He mailed up not only a copy of his CD but also a pretty sweet custom t-shirt only to wait patiently while his CD racked up the plays in my stereo. Thank you Tristan, you're a gentleman.

There is a lot to talk about here, but I'll start with undeniably the strongest aspect of Clopet's music: his voice.It's been a long time since I've heard such incredible vocals. Clopet's voice rumbles over the piano's lower octaves in A Chat with My Brain, it gently pulls you through the slower ballad Idiosyncrasies of the Resolute, and it absolutely soars in Hold on Lover, Hold on Girl. The vocals on Name It What You Want It are near flawless. Clopet helps himself out; his well-written songs really help him show off his full range. Although harmonies make only a cameo appearance in the album, you can't find a much sweeter hook than in Summer in Sussex, the dynamic first track. Songwriting is very strong aspect of this album. Simply put, Clopet is a fantastic songwriter. Clopet's genre-bending songs are all absurdly catchy. Small hooks grab you at every turn leaving absolutely nothing feeling boring.

Clopet drives his music forward with a wide variety of percussion, and this leads to the only real problem I can find with Name It What You Want It. Especially on the closing tracks An Introduction… To Forward Thinking and Fife and Drum, Clopet leans on his drums just a bit too much to pull you through the song. Clopet obviously experimented the most with the last few songs and they still feel a little bit raw. Although unfinished, they are certainly not throw outs.

Regardless of the highs and lows of this album, Clopet has one ace that is unavoidable. This guy has great style. Not only are his songs well-written, well-sung, and well-orchestrated, they radiate cool vibrations. We can almost hear him crack a smile as he hits that perfect funky chord. For such a young artist, Clopet's intuitive sense of flair is impeccable. Clopet's verve adds an entirely new level to his work, one that allows you to keep coming back more and more.

Crafty songs, beautiful lyrics, and a great dose of panache characterize Tristan Clopet's debut LP Name It What You Want It. He is, without a doubt, one of the most promising young artists I have heard in a while. Well done, Mr. Clopet.

-Owen

Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Naming the follow-up single to your successful debut album Vomit is nothing short of an audacious move. However, Christopher Owens and Chet White of Girls did just that (it seems appropriate to mention that Vomit is just one song on a growing list of deliciously-named Girls’ songs, including standouts such as Big Bad Mean Mother Fucker, Hellhole Ratrace, and Die). However, the much lauded 2009 release Album introduced Girls’ jangly instrumentation and lyrical focus predominately on angsty teenagers. Girls’ relaxed surfer-style ballads won over the hearts of many. However, while Owens and White hit several enormous highs on Album, the overall work felt patchy and unfinished. In late 2010, Girls dished out the Broken Dreams Club EP, a superb six song album-ette that showed great stylistic growth and maturity. Two years after an intriguing debut, Girls have given us Father, Son, Holy Ghost.

Groovy, jangly, and catchy as fuck, the opener Honey Bunny is everything you could want in a Girls song. The cute riffs and sweet harmonies exhibited here characterize the album. Owens turns his amp volume up from his usual four to maybe five or six on Die, a song that tries hard to mix things up and throw some White Stripes-style heavy guitar at us. Simply put, the song is too pretty to give off any harsh vibes. Exhausted after going all out, the amps are quieted down and Girls settle down into a really solid five song streak, including my personal favorites Saying I Love You and Just a Song. Girls once again channel Elvis Costello on Magic, a song led by White’s strong drumming. Likely under-appreciated, White’s consistently great performances on the drums tie any loose ends on the album together, such as the closers Love Like a River and Jane Marie.

Father, Son, Holy Ghost is another great album from Girls. Owens continues to establish himself as a strong songwriter in a band that is settling into its own style. With the exception of some extraneous minutes that could have been cut out, this is album is fucking great. As reminiscent and sentimental as it is innovative and original, Father, Son, Holy Ghost is one of the most interesting listens of the year so far.

Tracklisting:

1. Honey Bunny

2. Alex

3. Die

4. Saying I Love You

5. My Ma

6. Vomit

7. Just a Song

8. Magic

9. Forgiveness

10. Love Like a River

11. Jamie Marie

- Owen