Dreamend – As If By Ghosts (Graveface Records)
One look at the elaborate and beautiful packaging of Dreamend’s album and I knew there was something going on here. This is an album where every detail supports a dark, dreamy landscape. Sure, this band may have spent some time listening to Death Cab For Cutie, My Bloody Valentine, and Ride, but as far as influences on a noise rock band goes, them’s the tops!
MP3s: “Of Raven and Winds” and “Passing” via Dreamend’s site.
Mark Lanegan Band – Bubblegum (Beggars Banquet)
“Hey, fuck you, lady…I’m just trying to do my job here. Do I come down to the 7-11 and unplug the Slurpee machine when you’re working? Do I go to the Greyhound station and kick in the bathroom stall when you’re trying to make a buck? You know, Mom, I know we’ve had our differences, but do you really have to do this?” — Mark Lanegan in response to a heckler, December 12, 2003
Years ago, in the liner notes to the Hype! soundtrack, a documentary of the Seattle grunge scene, Lanegan was described as as a “sensitive redneck poet.” He also happens to be incredibly badass. It is even rumored that Lanegan was once admitted to a hospital with a collapsed lung, only to immediately sign himself out because he refused to miss a gig.
Lanegan may appear cadaverous, but he’s certainly alive as his solo efforts prove: 2003’s Here Comes That Weird Chill EP and now the full-length Bubblegum in 2004. The album title, of course, is misleading, because listeners won’t find a pop song anywhere. However, Bubblegum proves addictive and is a great accomplishment. One can’t help but sigh at the Mark Lanegan Band’s lineup which includes Duff and Izzy (of GNFNR), PJ Harvey, Greg Dulli (of Afghan Wigs and Twilight Singers), Dean Ween, and even the impeccable Brian Deck. Lanegan is careful, however, to avoid the perils of other superstar lineups. He does not let his friends’ talent overshadow his, and he does not hide Bubblegum‘s loose charm with irritatingly precise studio magic.
Bubblegum is the first of Mark Lanegan’s solo work to effectively combine his experiences in the grungy Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age with his affection for acoustic music. Here, Lanegan’s perfect baritone graces both spare acoustic and dense electric tunes.
Concerned fans of the Trees and the Queens need not worry that Lanegan has left his hard-living life, and Bubblegum contains enough drug and alcohol references to worry listeners that Lanegan won’t be around to continue breaking ground. Nonetheless, as long as he lives, he will likely remain one of the fiercest singer/songwriters in rock and roll.
MP3 of “Cripple Creek” from the More Oar Skip Spence tribute available via Epitonic.
Zeldman eulogizes Bill Asp, promoter of DC punk and new wave bands and founder of Wasp Records.
Five Fifty –Get Clean (Exhaust Records)
Detroit rules. Fuck all you nay sayers. I grew up in Michigan and Detroit was that weird dude in the corner who obviously stayed up all night spinning on crank and listening to Sabbath. He’d kick your ass just as soon as he felt like it. Detroit gets lots of attention these days and it’s all focused on “garage.” Well what about the basement? That’s where the stoners hang out.
Get Clean is the self-produced debut from Detroit stoners Five Fifty. This is great music for guys who are sick of the sissy thin production of garage rock and remember what a Wall of Guitars is supposed to sound like. A photo inside the CD jacket shows Five Fifty opening for the now solo lead singer of Verve Pipe. I can just imagine the shock that washed over the faces of fans waiting for “The Freshman” as this gang of sound beat down on their unsuspecting heads. Priceless.
MP3 of “Your Generation” via the band’s site.
Sotheby’s is selling a bunch of amazing stuff from the estate of June Carter and Johnny Cash.
iPod vs. The Cassette. Guess who wins…
Pleasurecraft – Lost Patterns (self-released)
The bio for this Seattle foursome reads, “Pleasurecraft deftly blends synthesizers and guitars into a danceable landscape that mixes equal parts modern dance music and indiepop. This is electropop that doesn’t leave the guitars in the garage.” And that’s surprisingly true.
The eleven songs on Lost Patterns run along the same M-1 lanes as Electronic’s debut, combining synth beats, keyboard washes, and guitar riffs in a pleasant musicscape that wouldn’t be out of place on a mix next to the Marr/Sumner opus, “Getting Away with It.” But Pleasurecraft also shares the problem of uneven vocals with their English pals.
Overall, a strong release from a band still searching for its own voice in a genre soaked in vocoder.
MP3s of “Simplicity” and “Fixation” from Pleasurecraft’s site.
Meet Sharin Foo, the new CEO of KMart. Raiding her past brilliantly, the erstwhile Raveonettes bassist tapped the band’s “That Great Love Sound” to appropriately fizz up the embattled retailer’s rep with the kids, the muthafuckin’ kids. The resulting ad campaign depicts the dimpl’d and dishy stars of the WB’s “7th Heaven” and “Reba” smiling from behind their mom jeans and oxfords. Foo’s licensing coup proves that, if Yankee youths love anything more than belly shirts and Adam Sandler, it’s traditionalist Dutch rockers with a hard-on for the Ronnettes and the Jesus & Mary Chain. Sharin Foo – a girl for all seasons!
Continue reading 2004 Teen Choice Awards: Your Guide to the Fetal Position
The Damnwells – Bastards Of The Beat (Epic)
There’s a lot on the Damnwells’ Bastards Of The Beat that will seem familiar to fans of alt-country over the past decade. That can be both a good and bad thing. There are nods to the obvious: Westerberg, Wilco, Jayhawks, Whiskeytown and the Old 97’s, with leanings toward the poppier moments of americana-turned-pop acts like the Marah, Goo Goo Dolls and Soul Asylum. Most of the time I can’t tell if the Damnwells are playing it a little too close while they wear their influences on their sleeves or if they’re trying to figure out a specific formula for success and are studied in what has worked for a certain sect of bands over the past decade.
All the same, there are a handful of decent tracks on this album that warrant repeated listening and might even make it onto a comp for a friend. Although some songs are strong and stick with you, they don’t have enough of their own legs to stand on. The power pop of “What You Get” and rock and roll shuffle of “Kiss Catastrophe” takes a page out of the early solo Westerberg songbook. The more pensive “I’ll Be Around” could be a throwaway track from Being There-era Wilco. “Newborn History” sounds as if Damnwells’ drummer Steven Terry got his old bandmates from Whiskeytown to show up and cut a track for his new band.
The second half of the album starts to falter starting with “Sleepsinging” which actually crosses the line to AOR and falls a little flat. The decline continues with the next several tracks sounding like poor covers of 80s college root rock acts like the Bo Deans, dB’s, the Silos, and the Del Lords. Though before they completely wipe out they catch their step with the soft drone of the closing track “Texas” which actually stands out on its own and feels fresh against the backdrop it’s propped against.
Given the influences that shine through in the songs on this album, I’d expect to like it more, but the album comes across a little too studied and unoriginal. That’s not to say there isn’t a lot of talent displayed on this album. I’ll definitely keep my eye out to see if the Damnwells can step out of the shadow of their influences to create something amazing with their next album.
OK Go has written a nice how-to document for bands that want to get politically active but aren’t sure where to start: How Your Band Can Fire Bush (PDF too).
