Courtney Drant – SAL Contributor
Jawbox – For Your Own Special Sweetheart Re-issue
Life and Times – Tragic Boogie
Future of the Left – Travels With Myself and Another
Young Widows – Old Wounds
Metric – Fantasises
Sylvie – Trees and Shade Are Our Only Fences
Art Brut – Art Brut vs Satan
Brendan Benson – My Old, Familiar Friend
The Mountain Goats – The Life Of The World To Come
Big Business – Mind the Drift
Archers of Loaf anyone? The Poles hail from Asheville, NC so I guess that influence should come as no surprise. Lead singer Todd Lemiesz’s vocals lay somewhere in between the rasp of Eric Bachmann (Archers of Loaf, Crooked Fingers) and the cool of Scott McCloud (Girls Against Boys). Oh and not to mention former Archers Of Loaf/Band Of Horses bassist Matt Gentling is now in the band. Musically, The Poles deal in slower tempos overall but still resemble the angular precision of the Chapel Hill indie rock heroes. For fans of Shiner and the post-Shiner band, Life And Times, The Poles should be a welcome addition as well. This is dark and moody psych/indie rock that powerfully delivers with swaying dynamics and a confident precision.
Label: Doubleplusgood
Michigan instrumental outfit, Lights At Sea bathe themselves in randomness and in turn grace us with lists of their many loves and influences. The band is currently writing music for their debut full-length which they hope to have ready by Winter 2009/Spring 2010. You can check out my review of the band’s fantastic Self-Titled debut here.
Who? Gods And Queens
Where are they from? Brooklyn/Philadelphia
What do they sound like? Gods And Queens are about as easy to categorize as a relationship between two people with commitment issues. Gods And Queens began from the ashes of the short-lived but awesome Versoma. While the dark echoes of Versoma remain, Gods And Queens are much more expansive. This is haunting, noisy post-hardcore with definite shoegazer tendencies…reminds me a little of The Life And Times. The band’s debut is out now on Robotic Empire in the USA and Adagio830 in Europe.
Untitled (Song #2)
The Life and Times Tease You…
Callum Robbins was born on Janurary 27, 2006. The son of DC indie rock veteran J Robbins and Janet Morgan, Callum was diagnosed with a genetic motor neuron disease called Type 1 SMA, or Spinal Muscular Atrophy 8 months after his birthday. Almost immediately after this was announced the indie rock community responded in the best way it knows how, through music. One example is the 2 Disc, 32 track compilation appropriately named For Callum. Released through the efforts of The Cultural Society, Catlick Records, & Letterbox, For Callum greets the listener with written praise for the mother and father by Robbins Bff and Jawbox drummer, Zach Barocas. It is then off to the music collection.
Thrity year old indie rock fans like myself will be happy to see veterans such as Jawbreaker and Mission of Burma. The former contributed a demo version of their track “I Love You So Much It’s Killing Us Both”. Originally released on “Dear You”, this track has a more cathartic bridge and rougher sound overall; a nice addition to any Jawbreaker fans collection. Mission of Burma contributes a live version of their Cream cover “NSU.” The song starts with a simple pulse on the toms but then quickly blazes into Mission of Burma’s brand of rock noise. The album also features an unreleased track from a personal favorite, The Life and Times. Slow and simple, this track focuses on the bands love affair with their Moog and its humble and ethereal drone. Another favorite track (please no comments Will) is a previously unreleased track from Channels. Channels is Robbins and Morgan’s band completed by percussive wiz kid Darren Zentek. Sweet and sad this track is uncharacteristically Robbins. Multiple guitar tracks torment the listen with poignant pitch bends that are resolved by some of J’s strongest vocal work to date.
The compilation also features several great Minneapolis acts. Icy Shores contribute the melodic rocker “Backseat”. With its powerful vocal hooks, it reminded me of some of post-punkers Juno’s more rocking tracks. Halloween, Alaska’s track “Halloween” makes great use of digital effects against subdued vocals, all carried through multiple song movements. As for Self-Evident, they just plain rock. I found myself listening to “Word As A Verb” over and over again. It is asymmetrical, dissonant and heavy on the drums. Of course I could go on and on about this comp. With over 30 tracks there is going to be something for every type of Indie Rock fan. Do yourself and a beautiful family a favor, buy it.
Genre: Indie/Rock
RIYL: Indie Rock
Label: Catlick
For more information about Callum Robbins, please visit:
www.callumrobbins.blogspot.com
www.desotorecords.com/cal
For more information about SMA, please visit:
Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation: www.smafoundation.org
Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy: www.fsma.org
