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Posts Tagged ‘MewithoutYou’


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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30.12.2009

Brendan (from Perfect Future): 2009 Top Ten

posted by Will

in Year End Lists
No Comments

Brendan – Guitarist/Vocalist for Perfect Future

1. Fall of Efrafa – Inlé
2. Propagandhi – Supporting Caste
3. Portraits of Past – Cypress Dust Witch
4. Brainworms – II Swear To Me
5. The Black Atlantic – Reverence for Fallen Trees
6. Arktika – Heartwrencher
7. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) – What It Takes To Move Forward
8. Mount Eerie – Winds Poem
9. mewithoutYou – It’s all Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright!
10. Bomb The Music Industry! – Scrambles

Honorable mentions: Converge – Axe to Fall, Loser Life – Friends With a Demon, Castevet – Summer Fences, and Ruiner – Hell is Empty.

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23.12.2009

Look Mexico’s Best of 2009

posted by Will

in Year End Lists
No Comments

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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07.09.2009

Band Spotlight: Sleep Bellum Sonno

posted by Will

in Band Spotlight
1 Comment

sleepbellum

Who? Sleep Bellum Sonno
Where are they from? Long Island, NY
What do they sound like? Mike Patton fronting mewithoutYou with some hardcore singing thrown in for good measure. The NY band’s second release, Judge Us By How We Lived Our Lives, Not By How We Made A Living, is one of the more interesting and thought-provoking records I have heard in quite some time. I’m not going to front and say this is an easy record to get into cause it probably isn’t for most people. But if you give it time, watch out. The record tells the story of 12 characters who all intertwine to tell one larger story of a father who is leaving his family. This band builds layers upon layers and people who look for records to give them something new and fresh every time they listen will certainly appreciate what Sleep Bellum Sonno are bringing to the table. Give it a shot.

A House Of Spades Stands No Chance Against The Wind. (Gambler)
01%20A%20House%20of%20Spades.mp3

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06.02.2009

La Dispute: Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between Vegan And Altair

posted by Will

in Music Reviews
No Comments

La Dispute seems to have drawn a polarizing line in the sand with listeners who either love or hate the band. Frankly, it is perfectly understandable when listening to Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between Vegan And Altair. If the title did not give it away, the band is eccentric and overblown as they relentlessly push their own boundaries. Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River is frantic and at times a completely exhausting listen. However, if you get past the initial shock to the system you will grow to see a more nuanced atmosphere that the band is able to create. It is here the band shows off a grander scale that is breathtaking given the attention to detail and depths at which La Dispute operate.

No doubt, the similar vocal style and delivery of vocalist Jordan Dreyer to Aaron Weiss of mewithoutYou is difficult to ignore. But, it is the band’s instrumental intricacies added to Dreyer’s vocal eccentricities that allow La Dispute to penetrate the listener. Echoing the techy, mathy sound of a band like Hot Cross at times, La Dispute run circles around Dreyer’s hypnotic poetic verse. The band are equally adept at creating such a natural flow on Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River. This is an album in the truest sense as it slowly unfolds and each song compliments the entire piece. The only question is by the end of the journey have you crossed over from exhaustion into exhilaration? That will determine what your final prognosis of La Dispute’s Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between Vegan And Altair will ultimately be. I will take the easy way out and just say I am exhiliratingly exhausted.

Genre: Post Hardcore/Screamo

RIYL: mewithoutYou, Hot Cross, At The Drive-In

Label: No Sleep

Said The King To The River

02%20Said%20the%20King%20to%20the%20River.mp3

Fall Down, Never Get Back Up Again

05%20Fall%20Down%20Never%20Get%20Back%20Up%20Again.mp3

www.myspace.com/ladispute

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08.05.2008

Colour Revolt: Plunder, Beg And Curse

posted by Will

in Music Reviews
4 Comments

colourrevolt2.jpg

Plunder, Beg And Curse is a difficult album to latch onto. Whereas Colour Revolt’s debut EP was an emotional roller coaster that showcased the band’s penchant for melodies and emotion soaked rhythms, Plunder, Beg And Curse, takes the road less traveled. I am not quite sure what happened with the band’s label deal. The band originally signed to a subsidiary of Interscope to re-release their EP but Plunder, Beg And Curse appears courtesy of blues gone indie rock label, Fat Possum. And frankly, after listening to Plunder, Beg And Curse, I can tell why a major label would want to stay far, far away. They have no clue how to sell or market a record like this (or any records nowadays…hehe).

Lyrically, Colour Revolt have always been anything but light. That theme certainly continues on Plunder, Beg And Curse. The band is displaying some heavy lyrical imagery here. Religious and spiritual tones color the album’s canvas, almost to a fault. There are a few moments, like on the warm, atmospheric tracks “See It” and “Moses Of The South,” where the band chooses to come up for some much-needed air and brief levity. Much of the time though, Plunder, Beg And Curse is cold and suffers under its own weight. The band has a hard time adjusting the tempo and dynamics of their songs as well. Because of all this, Plunder, Beg And Curse struggles to make a lasting impression on the listener.

Colour Revolt are a challenging band and anyone looking for a cheap thrill from a rock record should definitely look elsewhere. Plunder, Beg And Curse suffers from the band’s complete shunning of what made their debut EP such a breath of fresh air. On the other hand, you have to admire a band seemingly unwilling to compromise their art. It is abundantly clear that Colour Revolt know exactly what they want and they certainly give it a valiant effort on Plunder, Beg And Curse. Perhaps next time, they can meet the listener somewhere in the middle.

Genre: Indie/Americana/Rock

RIYL: Modest Mouse, Archers Of Loaf, Brand New

Label: Fat Possum

Naked and Red

naked.mp3

A Siren

2.mp3

www.myspace.com/colourrevolt

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