from kickstand #8
Music Reviews|
Allen Clapp Brown Formica Table 7” (Elefant) Allen Clapp is my hero. He’s some kind of genius. I love “The Sunset,” which has some wild and crazy Gilligan’s Island and Beverly Hillbillies references. Perfectly bouncy and clangy and awesome. I! Love! Allen! Clapp! Beanpole one-sided 12” (Black Bean) This is seriously the sweetest thing ever. I always feel happy when the cover of an album fits its inside, and this one does. Imagine a green construction paper sleeve with a cute little drawing of a dress on a panel on the front and the names of the songs printed in lowercase on the back. Now try to imagine music that sounds like green construction paper, and there you go. Beanpole is Verna from Holiday Flyer, and these cute songs are just her sweet voice and some quiet, uncluttered music to go with it. I especially love the cover of Neil Diamond's “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You.” It’s too bad the other songs aren’t as good as the cover (cover of the song, not cover of the record!), but what can you do? Creeping Jenny En Marchant cass. (self-released) What a pleasant surprise. This is a boy and a girl making the prettiest synth-pop music. You can tell this is cute from the song titles alone. At times it’s reminiscent of the Magnetic Fields, because of the keyboards and Sarah’s pretty voice. It feels homemade, but in an entirely good way. Look at the instruments: synthesizers, bell kit, organ, shaker, guiro, penny whistle. I think this is the best demo tape I’ve ever gotten. “Mouse Bite” is totally cute, “Kitten in the Cabinet” is the raddest instrumental and there are three more where those came from. Cute indie labels are gonna snap these kids up, so watch out! Cuckooland All the Rage 7” (Candy Floss) Don’t ask me why the first song starts with a Beatles lyric, but this is fun time bouncy frothy girl pop! “Hey just listen to that happy sound all around/ the sun always shines.” Mike from Candy Floss describes it best: “female harmonics over buzzsaw pop guitar protest songs with ace lyrics.” Yow! Garagey rad pop! “You can’t join in if you’ve got no style.” Diskothi-Q Waterworld CD (Shrimper) This CD is so . . . orange. It's totally pleasant. Waterworld is excellent, sometimes giving me a sort of Luna2 feel. It's that "guys and their guitars" sort of sound, and there are a lot of touching songs with clever lyrics. I love it more each time I listen to it; I like the laid-back feeling and the Pet Shop Boys cover. Very very good, and so nice and orange. Eggplant I Believe in the Loch Ness Monster 7” (Candy Floss) All the songs are conveniently located on one side! Uh, yeah, Arianne. This is fast, short, punky pop with sweet girl vocals. You know you want it. A sonic sugar rush, and very well done at that. Elevator to Hell Pts. 1-3 CD (Sub Pop) Now that the legendary Eric’s Trip have broken up (amicably, don’t worry), we Trip-hungry fans have to focus our attention on all the other related bands. So this one is Rick’s and it has its moments of excellence. The best parts are very Eric’s Trip-y and you’re guaranteed to love them. Julie sings on one of the songs, and Chris helps out and it’s not quite Love Tara all over again, but good enough. Unfortunately, there are the annoying songs, the ones where weird xylophone sounds waft in and out for no reason and stuff like that. I hear this CD is just sort of unreleased demos. Some of the songs are so unbearable that I have a list of tracks I always leave out of the program when I spin the CD. Worth it, though! For songs like “Physically Unaddictive Mind Change,” “Elevator to Hell,” and “Three more weeks.” This is 27 songs! Elliott Smith Either/Or CD (Kill Rock Stars) I’m flipping through the promo stuff here, and the review in Spin (yes, you can feel free to do a double take after that sentence, but really, it’s to be expected) is making me laugh; “if he gets any more charismatic, his label might have to kill him.” Funny, but not really accurate. Elliott is anything but a rock star. This new album is amazing, though. It has less of the anger or somberness or whatever of the last one, and more upbeat, pop-style stuff. Some of these songs make me feel happy; and it’s not all the same soft acoustic stuff either -- halfway through “Cupid’s Trick,” the band comes blasting in and you’re going, “hey, where did Heatmiser come from?” In fact, this song kills me. I always have to turn it way up and careen around my room to it. Why aren’t Heatmiser like this? The most touching song is obviously “Say Yes,” sung in a nearly heart breaking voice -- “I’m in love with the world through the eyes of a girl/ who’s still around the morning after.” This CD is becoming necessary to me. I come in the room, hit play, and heave a sigh of relief. It wraps me in a warm blanket and tells me stories about hurt and sadness and love. Future Bible Heroes Memories of Love CD (Slow River) If everyone paid half as much attention to the presentation of their product, the world would be an entertaining place indeed. It comes with a sixteen page booklet and is modeled after those puzzle books that have a million different puzzles in them. On the cover, you unscramble anagrams to find out the name of the band and then you unscramble more letters and put them in blanks to get the title. There are lyrics to each song, but they’re all different puzzles -- jumbles, cryptograms, rhymes. They’re not easy puzzles either -- massive effort is required! I love how this looks! Oh, the music. Well, as you may or may not know, this is Stephin Merritt and Claudia Gonson from the Magnetic Fields along with Christopher Ewen. So duh, it’s excellent. Bubblegum synth-pop with Stephin’s morose, bored vocals and Claudia’s wistful ones. The lyrics (once you unscramble them, ha!) are all so cheesy and quirky that they make me die. Especially “Memories of Love,” so clever! My favorite is “She-Devils From the Deep,” I think. I’m all for this kind of silliness! Heatmiser Everybody Has It 7” (Cavity Search) So I’m always listening to Elliott Smith and I figured it was time to hear Heatmiser. Actually, this 7” was my reward for not going crazy and killing my friend Chris McNett for looking through every single record in Mod Lang when I took him on a tour of Berkeley. So anyway, I really like the A-side, which is the Elliott side, but I don’t remember being that fond of the flip, which isn’t. So when Heatmiser functions as Elliott’s back up band, everything’s Kool Moe Dee. As far as I can tell from the two whole songs I know. Helium No Guitars EP (Matador) Don’t fear the title -- there are plenty of guitars. This is a spooky creepy little CD about dragons and forests and bees. The music is all “once upon a time, long long ago...” and makes me think of wizards and enchantments and jousting. Can you imagine it? The catchiest is “Dragon #2” and Mary’s voice is just as sexy as always. “Can you feel the snake bite you in your mind?” I wish there were more songs on here; I’ve decided I like this themed songwriting. Argh, this is beautiful! Hushpad Dear Jenny 7” (Goodbye Virginia) I actually got this at a Softies show in CT from John who does Goodbye Virginia. It turns out he’s a Kickstand fan! Crazy. This is slow laid-back music with a high male voice that kind of reminds me of Allen Clapp. Like if Allen Clapp sang slowly and quietly for a soft little record. Usually quiet stuff doesn’t grab my attention, but there’s something about this that I really like. |
Joe Christmas/Kincaid 7" (Kindercore) First off, Kindercore packaging rocks. I love it. However, this 7" is a little annoying to extract from its sleeve, 'cause it's folded in half and then has an extra little bit folded over with pictures on it. That probably didn't make any sense to you. Sorry. Joe Xmas is catchy with whiny boy vocals and Kincaid's "Eleanor Roosevelt" is too fucking cute to miss! Wait one second -- how come Kincaid are so great and I hadn't heard of 'em until they came and found me? This world is unjust. On tasty clear vinyl. The Jordans Katydid CD (Sonorama) Beautiful, moving songs from A.D. of the Steinbecks. If you've heard the Steinbecks, you pretty much know what this sounds like but I don't feel like I know enough Steinbecks songs to compare. My favorite song is the one about the girl whose heart is like a garage, "let me put my four wheels in that space." Clever. There's nothing much to say about this, really; it's low-key while still being catchy. The lyrics are rad. Junior Varsity Ice Cream Social 7” (Peek-a-Boo) Okay, the idea here is that the band dresses up in cheerleader outfits and it’s a 50’s garage-pop revival type thing. Which is good; but the first song is unbearably stupid. The first song on a 7” is supposed to be the best. “Wizz Bang Boy” rules at first, but then the words “wizz bang” start to annoy me. For some reason, the best song on this record is the last one, which has a totally rad guitar line and the only lyric is “La Tapatia.” Rad, but not as authentic as, say, The Donnas or Nikki and the Corvettes. Still, there will always be a place in my heart for that magical bobby sock decade. Kincaid Good Citizen of the Month CD (Kindercore) A+ to the packaging. Very cute. Elementary school rock. I hesitate to say “schoolhouse rock,” ‘cause that would be a dumb thing to say. Having heard no Kincaid hype, I wasn’t sure what to expect - let the hype start here! This is some cutie pop music. Male vocals with simple music (not being a musician just yet, I mean “simple” in the sense that it’s easy to hum), this is kind of that slower sadder type of indie pop. It has a reminiscent, “good ol’ days” feel to it, from the packaging to the songs. The “two secret untitled bonus tracks” thing at the end is annoying. Nowhere else but on CDs do people feel the need to do that. The worst one I owned was the Madder Rose CD that had about eleven songs or so, then 88 blank second-long tracks, then track 100 was the mystery bonus. Hitting “shuffle” made me go into seizures of anger. Fantastic Le Mans Un Rayo De Sol 7" (Grimsey) Swingy, bouncy music with jangly guitars, a tambourine, a horn, and keyboard! Female vocals in Spanish! Ooh la la. The first song makes me feel like I'm wearing a cute little red dress and dancing on a daisy-covered hill with my sweetheart. For real! The second song makes me feel like I'm sitting at the top of a warm stone tower, looking across the ocean and singing a song to bring him back to me, smiling into the sun. I know you think I'm a nutter now, but this music is very, um, evocative, okay? Oh the intense beauty -- this rules. You can pick which song ya wanna hear according to your mood. Mark Robinson et al MRG 100 CD (Merge) This is Merge’s 100th CD. Basically, there are six songs here that were previously released on Merge, by Superchunk, Spent, Butterglory, Guv’ner, Magnetic Fields, and Lambchop, which Mark Robinson got permission to twist into completely insane remixes! Woo! Mark is out of his mind. The Spent one isn’t too bad, but his version of Butterglory’s “She’s Got the Akshun!” really throws me. What’s with the backing vocals??? The huge organ over everything??? Don’t tamper with perfection, buddy. The Magnetic Fields’ “Smoke and Mirrors” is all super-techno and echoey! And what’s with the Superchunk song? Which, as Mark explains proudly on the promo sheet, “I mangled to the point that it now sounds like Joy Division.” He also got to do the packaging, which I think is extremely appealing. This is weird. It’s sort of a novelty CD -- I can’t picture myself popping it off the shelf to groove along to the new dance version of that Butterglory song. Mary Lou Lord Martian Saints 7” (Kill Rock Stars) Three songs, one by Mary Lou herself. Okay, what is with the theremin? I don’t know, I think it detracts from an otherwise good rock/pop song. Is it supposed to make me think of aliens? “Salem ‘76” is the standard Mary Lou song, which is not a bad thing at all. If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s a bittersweet, caught-in-the-past song from her. Less rock than “Martian Saints,” more rock than the songs that are just her and her guitar. Why does she feel like she needs a band? Who knows. The Elliott Smith song sounds so exactly like an Elliott Smith song that when she starts singing it’s a shock. Watch out for her major label debut! The Masters of the Hemisphere Going on a Trek to Iceland 7” (Kindercore) This reminds me of Wimp Factor XIV. I like it a lot. It’s jangly and laid back. On snow-white vinyl! Modest Mouse Broke 7” (Sub Pop) I admire a band that can pull off the switch from soft and subdued to loud and crazy with style. I enjoy Isaac’s voice. I love all of the variations of the meaning of the word “broke” on the A-side. Sub Pop has been going all out on the art on their recent releases -- I love the embossed lettering! Anyway, Modest Mouse isn’t really a band you can judge by their 7”s --they seem to be toss-offs compared to the album on Up. I dunno, this record doesn’t really bake my potatoes, I’m sad to say. Moon Socket The Best Thing CD (Sappy) I guess this is the newest Moon Socket thing - someone cool found it for me in the used CD bin. This is Chris of the legendary Eric’s Trip with more solo fuzz pop with drums in some of the songs. My favorite is “Somebody Else’s Love.” I like this better than Elevator to Hell - it’s less hit-and-miss. Reflective, honest, catchy, fuzzy songs about lost love, springtime, his wife having a baby, and other sweet stuff. Tres bien. the Mountain Goats Beautiful Rat Sunset CD (Shrimper) My Mountain Goats collection grows ever larger. I guess this is a reissue. Anyway, it’s eight songs, all of which are brilliant. “Itzcuintli-Totzli Days” is a crazy sing-along, “New Star Song” makes me think of all the waiting I did on my trip to see Chris, and I love the part in “Sendero Luminoso Verdadero” where he says it’s “oh nine oh five military time.” One of my favorite things about it is in the liner notes where they thank Aeschylus, “though he probably would have found this record confusing on a number of levels.” I have a hard time distinguishing between the Mountain Goats releases: I mean, I can tell the difference, but I tend to appreciate them all equally, so I can’t recommend this any more or any less than the others. Get ‘em all. the Mountain Goats Philyra 7” (Theme Park) Four brilliant songs, including what is one of my absolute favorites: “The Monkey Song!” For some reason it drives my sister insane when I sing it over and over (“the animal noises you used to make, the Andalusian coral snake...”). Life is a pleasant thing indeed when this record spins. |