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Posts Tagged ‘Built To Spill’


05.01.2010

Best Of 2009: Volume One

posted by Will

in Year End Lists
11 Comments

I have decided to combine LPs and EPs together into one big end of the year lovefest. No rankings til I get to my Top Ten. Click on the album cover for any more coverage.

Cheap Girls “My Roaring 20’s” (Paper + Plastick)

While it might not live up to the charm of their debut, My Roaring 20’s eschews any real sophomore slump and cements Cheap Girls as one of the brightest young bands around today.

Witches “Self-Titled” 7″ (Salinas/Mandible)

Simply gorgeous and mesmerizing songs and I can’t wait for a full-length.

Wooden Birds “Magnolia” (Barsuk)

Not better than AmAnSet but equal to at least. Welcome back Andrew Kenny. We missed you.

Grown Ups “Songs” EP (Kid Sister)

So many great young bands springing up and Grown Ups are one of the best. Pop punk with noodles!

Sleep Bellum Sonno “Judge Us By How We Lived Our Lives, Not By How We Made A Living” (Self-Released)

I understand that a lot of people probably won’t get these guys but I swear if you give this concept album time it is a moving experience. Proggy, arty hardcore with balls and intelligence. If you miss how mewithoutYou once sounded you should listen to Sleep Bellum Sonno.

Certain People I Know “4 Songs” EP (Self-Released)

I don’t understand why more people don’t talk about this band. Hell, it’s members of Braid and it basically sounds like Hey Mercedes with the addition of female vocals.

Communipaw “Self-Titled” (Self-Released)

The supremely talented Brian Bond and his band play a smooth and confident brand of indie rock laced with alt country and brit pop influences. These kids sound wise beyond their youthful ages.

Teenage Cool Kids “Foreign Lands” (Protagonist)

Built to Spill – The Jammy Parts + More Hooks = Teenage Cool Kids

Latin For Truth “We Are Sick of Not Having The Courage To Be Absolute Nobodies” EP (Pitfall)

I listened to this EP non stop upon first receiving it. Fast paced pop punk with definite hardcore influences throughout.

Dude Japan “Self-Titled” Demo (Self-Released)

Husker Du-ish Lo-fi indie power pop. These songs just have a way of slowly finding traction and before you know it they are on repeat in your head for days.

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29.12.2009

Matt (from Everyone Everywhere): 2009 Top Ten

posted by Will

in Year End Lists
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Matt Scottoline – Bassist for Everyone Everywhere who put out one of the best seven inches of 2009.

1 – David Bazan – “curse your branches”
2 – Cheap Girls – “my roaring 20s”
3 – Built To Spill – “there is no enemy”
4 – Dinosaur Jr. – “farm”
5 – Phoenix – “wolfgang amadeus phoenix”
6 – Sufjan Stevens – “the bqe”
7 – Japandroids – “post nothing”
8 – Sonic Youth – “the eternal”
9 – Weezer – “raditude”
10 – Passion Pit – “manners”

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23.12.2009

Look Mexico’s Best of 2009

posted by Will

in Year End Lists
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Look for Look Mexico’s new album, To Bed To Battle, early next year on Suburban Home. It’s already on my Best of 2010 list.

Modest Mouse – No One’s First and You’re Next
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Dave Bazan – Curse Your Branches
mewithoutYou – It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All A Dream! It’s Alright!
Various Artists – Dark Was the Night
Fake Problems – It’s Great to be Alive
Michael Jackson – This Is It
Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything to Nothing
Built to Spill – There is No Enemy
Frank Turner – Poetry of the Deed
Wilco – S/T

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11.12.2009

SAL’s Best Albums of 1999

posted by Will

in Year End Lists
4 Comments

Last year Jayme had a great idea of making a list of our favorite records of ten years ago…way back to 1998 to be exact. Eric at Can You See The Sunset and I of course followed right along. Well, we are back again and hopefully making this a yearly feature for all of us. This time we explore our favorites of 1999. So, here we go again! This list ended up being 30 albums cause I could not stop thinking of great albums to recognize…1999 was a great year. I did not list any descriptions so if you want more info on a band or an album just ask in the comments and I will be happy to wax nostalgic on some of the lesser knowns.

Read more

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08.12.2009

Band Spotlight: Forming

posted by Will

in Band Spotlight
5 Comments

forming

Who? Forming

Where are they from? Long Beach, CA

What do they sound like? Guitar-influenced indie rock akin to Built To Spill crossed with a bit of emo influence it seems. This is really great laid back stuff that patiently unfolds in a particularly charming manner.  Forming pulled me out of a funk the other night when I was in desperate need of something good to come along and give me some motivation. The band’s debut EP, Sleep Like A Dog, is available now!

Forming “The Metric System”

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19.03.2009

Stephen Steinbrink: Ugly Unknowns

posted by Will

in Music Reviews
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Normally going under the moniker of French Quarter, 20 year old singer/songwriter Stephen Steinbrink recently released the first album under his own name, entitled Ugly Unknowns. The album is full of dark bedroom pop that at first may seem completely harmless. However, upon repeated listens Steinbrink’s songs reveal a much deeper depth and a greater purpose.

Steinbrink’s vocals are reminiscent to Doug Martsch of Built To Spill and that is as good a starting point as anything…minus the guitar histrionics of course. The Shins also come to mind and I keep half-expecting to see “produced by Phil Ek” somewhere in the liner notes. Granted Ugly Unknowns is more lo-fi and lacks those certain production qualities. Though, that is actually beneficial to Steinbrink’s songs for they need no real studio embellishments to flourish and touch the listener at their very core. Steinbrink’s lyrics don’t deal in the abstract as they favor a literal “realness” instead. That directness brings to mind early Mountain Goats and The Microphones. The bold honesty that Steinbrink offers on Ugly Unknowns is infectious and hard to ignore.

Steinbrink’s songs, while entirely subtle, are rich with cunning melodies. Ugly Unknowns is heartbreaking in its delivery and startling in its confrontational nature. All the while, Steinbrink writes within the rickety, imperfect framework of a lo-fi pop song. Therein lies the simple brilliance and beauty of Ugly Unknowns.

Genre: Indie/Singer/Songwriter

RIYL: Elliott Smith, The Mountain Goats, The Microphones

Label: Gilgongo

Breath Of Fire

01%20Breath%20Of%20Fire.mp3

Overpassing

02%20Overpassing.mp3

www.myspace.com/frenchquartermusic

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28.10.2008

Mock Orange: Captain Love

posted by Will

in Music Reviews
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Mock Orange have had quite an odd little career. The band has been on four different labels in the US alone. This being the band’s fifth release, it’s curious to wonder why the band has yet to find a real home. Maybe they finally have with upstart indie label, Wednesday Records. Perhaps the reason for the band’s label instability has something to do with the band’s ever-changing sound. From the pop punk of Nines & Sixes (1998) to the mathy emo of The Record Play (2000) to the wide open indie rock frontiers of Mind Is Not Brain (2004), the band has rarely stood still for too long.

I have often referred to Mock Orange as a musician’s band. I know a few people who absolutely love this band and of course they are musicians themselves. Obviously, the band are great players who have an incredible wealth in talent. They prove that with their innate ability to expand and move their sound at any given time. So where does the band’s new album, Captain Love, stand?

With Captain Love the band has finally chosen to expand on a sound rather than move to a different place altogether. Captain Love picks up where Mind Is Not Brain left off. The band’s sound can be described as progressive indie guitar rock with similarities to bands like Modest Mouse, Built To Spill, Pavement and Dinosaur Jr. Front man Ryan Grisham has a familiar drawl that is reminiscent of Jeremy Enigk (Sunny Day Real Estate/Fire Theft) or Doug Marsch from Built To Spill. His voice works remarkably well with Mock Orange’s fluid and experimental approach towards what is in essence, pop music. Mind Is Not Brain clocked in at 50+ minutes and the band seemed to dabble far too much with their brand of guitar pop. However, Captain Love succeeds at being more succinct while still expanding on the sound of the band’s previous record. While I might always be partial to the band’s first few releases, Captain Love is yet another fine addition to the band’s extensive discography. And Mock Orange continue to be one of the more underrated indie bands of the past decade.

(A few album notes: The American version of Captain Love does not contain “Mommas And Babies” and “Til The Morning” which are on the Japanese version. But, it does contain “Beauty Of A Scar” which is exclusive. And the artwork by Kathleen Lolley is fabulous. She did the artwork for My Morning Jacket’s Z as well.)

Genre: Indie/Rock

RIYL: Modest Mouse, Built To Spill, Dinosaur Jr.

Label: Wednesday Records

Song In D

02%20Song%20In%20D.mp3

Captain Love

01%20Captain%20Love.mp3

www.myspace.com/mockorange

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23.09.2008

The Very Most: Congratulations Forever

posted by Will

in Music Reviews
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Who says Built To Spill is the only Idaho musical export worth a damn? The Very Most hail from Boise, Idaho and offer a healthy dose of mature indie pop with a little twee thrown in for good measure. With vocals that often recall Lou Barlow (Sebadoh, The Folk Implosion, Dinosaur Jr.) the band sounds comfortably familiar. The male/vocal interplay is a nice touch and the band has a penchant for crafting memorable pop songs with elegant instrumental flourishes. Indie pop has become a dirty word in my vocabulary over the last few years. With so much garbage crowding the genre, it sure is nice to hear a band that realizes the subtlety of a pop song is perhaps its greatest strength. Even if I don’t find myself reaching for Congratulations Forever that often, The Very Most are impressive and I thank the band for giving some hope to this jaded listener.

Genre: Indie Pop

RIYL: Sebadoh, Voxtrot, Belle And Sebastian

Label: Self-Released

Profoundly Imperfect

07%20Profoundly%20Imperfect.mp3

Good Fight Fighting

01%20Good%20Fight%20Fighting.mp3

www.myspace.com/theverymost

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24.04.2008

Teenage Cool Kids: Queer Salutations

posted by Will

in Music Reviews
2 Comments

Sometimes you hear a band name and you have a good idea of what they might sound like before even listening. Teenage Cool Kids were one of those bands for me. Granted the name sounded more pop/punk to me at first. But, with a name like Teenage Cool Kids it just had to be a fun, right? And I was correct. Queer Salutations flashes by in a garagey lo-fi haze that recalls the great, but tragically underrated Scared Of Chaka. The band hails from Denton, TX but geography certainly plays no part in the band’s sound. Echoing bands as diverse as Meneguar and The Thermals to Built To Spill and Superchunk, the band is covering ample scenic territory here. But, where the band makes the greatest impression is when they slow the tempo down. On songs like “Reasons Why” and “Prose” you can see those Built To Spill comparisons truly coming to life. Other than a few songs that show a real depth, Queer Salutations is just a fun stab at lo-fi rock n’ roll. Teenage Cool Kids might come off as a bit amateurish but that is the band’s charm as well. This is all in good fun but it certainly is not going to change the world. I suppose with a name like Teenage Cool Kids, that was never the band’s purpose though.

Genre: Garage/Pop/Punk

RIYL: Meneguar, Oxford Collapse, Built To Spill

Label: Protagonist Music

Reasons Why

04ReasonsWhy.mp3

www.myspace.com/teenagecoolkids

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