Album : Raymond Byron and the White Freighter : Little Death Shaker

Go ahead.  Start off with crisp beats and a knowing male vocal with just a hint of cornpone to it. Tack on some power chords and tick-tocking percussion. Add unison group vocals. “Allegiance,” the first track on Raymond Byron and the White Freighter’s Little Death Shaker, is an attention getter, and an inspired kettle of psych/rock/gonzo/folk sensibilities.

But “Allegiance” is just the beginning of this stimulating set. The title track adds color from one of my fave styles – Merseybeat. “Don’t That Lake Just Shine” is an exercise in honky tonk atmospherics. “Some of My Friends” is a kickin’ reverb fest; a hallucination Johnny Cash might have had. There’s the refreshment of Talia Gordon’s vocals on a cover of Kate Wolf’s classic folk composition, “You’re Not Standing Like You Used To.”  And “Turnpike-Bedsheet” is a starkly appointed wonderland of cry-in-your-Heineken lyrics. It makes alienation into something much grander than the reality of shouldering a bulging knapsack next to a highway at 11 p.m., ignored by a stream of traffic.

I don’t imagine any of this will come as a shock to followers of Ray Raposa’s other project, Castanets.  Me, I’m kinda confused: usually it’s the woman whose name is more likely to change after a divorce.

MP3 : Raymond Byron & the White Freighter – You’ll Never Surf Again
MP3 : Raymond Byron & the White Freighter – Allegience

Little Death Shaker comes out next week, courtesy of Asthmatic Kitty.

Post by Mary Leary

Album : Détective : However Strange

Détective was originally envisioned as a studio project by former Guided by Voices member James Greer, with Guylaine Vivarat (Useless Keys, Tennis System).  Apparently the project’s taken flight beyond the studio.

I love the lo-fi feel of the band’s first full-length, However Strange. It takes me back to the excitement of the first bands I ever saw in someone’s basement, at long-ago parties. There’s an obvious commitment to making pretty rock – the guitar sound sometimes reminds me of the Feelies and the Velvet Underground. At moments, especially those when Vivarat does the lead warbling, Detective ascends to swoon-inducing heights, as is the case with “Mouchette.”

What seems likeliest to keep Détective in the spotlight is its dichotomous mix of melancholy with cheer – the music’s laid back while exciting.

Keep an eye out for Détective on a stage near you – the band’s touring with Guided by Voices in September. And However Strange is out now, as a cassette and digitally, via Burger Records. I’ll take fries with that cassette.

Post by Mary Leary

Album : Pan : These are the Things I Love and I Want to Share Them with You

Surrounded by balloons; ecstatic guys in party hats and masks, having a circa-elementary school birthday party: That’s the cover pic that made me want to know Pan. The album, which could masquerade as a Mardi Gras souvenir, doesn’t hurt, either. And what eternally youthful birthday party crasher wouldn’t love the story behind the band’s name? It was inspired by the idea that “happy thoughts make you fly” – apparently Ian Flegas, Nate Stewart, Ryan Hutchens and Dylan Dickerson share a liking for Hook.

But the thing that interested me most is that in 2010 this quartet of then-unknowns started off with a goal of creating almost completely instrumental music – kind of like, “I think I’ll do some rock climbing with a couple of toothpicks.”

Those toothpicks are sturdier than they look – industrial strength. And there’s no hiding the fact I’m pretty taken by Pan.  Even with its ???? genre classification stab (“post-rock”). And titles like “Leave Your Body,” “The Rhode Island Lucky Few,” and “Mom and Me Versus You and Dad” (my only quibble: an entire album could probably be devoured by that last subject).

MP3 : Pan – John From New York

Fans of Fang Island, Explosions in the Sky, and Mogwai may already have this invigorating album on repeat. For everyone else, here’s a link to Post-Echo, which is releasing These Are the Things I Love and I Want to Share Them With You on August 28th.

Pan on Tour:
9/02 – Lion’s Lair (Denver, CO)
9/04 – Quixote’s (Denver, CO)
9/13 – Metro Art Gallery w/ The Lion in Winter (Baltimore, MD)
9/14 – Studio LuLoo w/ The Lion in Winter (Oaklyn, NJ)
9/15 – Arlene’s Grocery w/ The Lion in Winter (New York, NY)
9/16 – The Living Room w/ The Lion in Winter (New York, NY)
9/22 – Richland County Public Library (Columbia, SC)
10/07 – New Brookland Tavern (Columbia, SC)
10/12 – The Chop Shop (Charlotte, NC)

Post by Mary Leary

Album : River City Tanlines : Coast to Coast

Anyone who’s crying over having missed the Runaways may have a new dream queen in the eternally teenaged vocals and impassioned axe shredding of Alicja Trout. River City Tanlines is rounded out by the adhesive rhythms of Terrence Bishop/bass and John Bonds/drums – they’ve also accompanied R.L. Burnside, Jim Dandy/Black Oak Arkansas, and Jack Oblivian. Which says something about Trout, who’d be a rising star in a world more about all things rock ‘n’ roll. She’s still doing pretty well -  most notably, in 2009, as part of  MTV’s Five Dollar Cover series.

Coast to Coast opens with the loping bass lines of a Johnny Cash song. Any expectation of cowboy boots is rapidly extinguished by Trout’s querulous punk vocals: “I don’t get it, I don’t get it, I don’t get it – the way you are.” But RCTs are about more than punk rock – band likes to boogie. Rich, often distorted chords are repeated, fast or slow, for a varied enough song menu  – the punk pop of “Stop My Heart,” the Ramones/Dolls-flavored punk of “Can’t Stand You Anymore,” the almost-speed metal of “Dark Matter,” and the slow, circa-‘70s head-down boogie of “You Shot Me” —  to keep bodies bangin’ and gyratin’.

Coast to Coast is out now, on Big Legal Mess Records. To learn more about RCTs and get Coast to Coast, visit the BLM site here.

MP3 : River City Tanlines – Stop My Heart

Post by Mary Leary

Album Review : Edmund II : Floating Monk

For me, anyway, Edmund II (nee Edmund Pellino) stands out from the beginning. First, there’s his stage name: Does it mean he feels like royalty? The next thing that makes me go “Hmm…” is that Pellino’s first band was called “Utah!” Who names their band Utah, let alone “Utah!”? Guy’s also collaborated with Megafaun, Bowerbirds, and The Rosebuds. Must be talented. But is Edmund II as quirky as the first two things noted above might lead one to believe?

Not so much. With occasional artsier interludes, Edmund II is about lovely, rock-based sounds, which may start with a few electric chords or acoustic notes and mount to intensely emotional whirlwinds. You could call it ‘90s emo if Pellino didn’t have an unerring feel for a sort of urgency that makes everything sound too immediate to be consigned to any former decade or musical movement. If pressed for references, as in, “If you like ___, you’ll probably like E II,” I’d throw out The Cure, David Bowie with Brian Eno, and Todd Gautreau (Crushed Stars, Sonogram).

No particular track pokes out of the moody, evocative ether, shouting, “hit” or “must download.” Pellino’s first solo affair, Floating Monk is a moving trip of beautifully appointed textures. Pellino sings and provides guitar, bass, keyboards, electronica, and percussion. With Jeff Gensterblum on drums and Alex Cox playing bass and percussion, Pellino recorded the album in New York City before releasing it himself. It’s out now. You can procure the whole album here, as well as having a listen: http://edmundthesecond.bandcamp.com

MP3 : Edmund II – Riptide
MP3 : Edmund II – Golden Lung

Post by Mary Leary

EP Review : Drivin’ n’ Cryin’ : Songs from the Laundromat


Kevn Kinney and the Drivin’ n’ Cryin’ crew employ such a ferocious attack on the first two Songs from the Laundromat tracks (“Dirty,” “Ain’t Waitin’ on Tomorrow”), they verge on heavy metal. The five-song EP could be an exercise in well-edited, concise rock songwriting and precision. And for anyone who doesn’t get fired up about hard rock, “REM” (a tribute to the band) has the mellow (while driven) vibe of a classic REM piece. “Baloney” is a tasty bite of punk rock that goes by in a millisecond. The closer, “Clean Up,” is a balmy, mid-tempo affair: Its burbling guitars brew a modest masterpiece.

SFTL is a vibrant outburst that bodes well for Kinney’s “…five or six song recording(s) every three months, like a magazine subscription” project. The next EP is titled Songs About Cars, Space and the Ramones. I can’t wait.

Get the latest DNC news and music at the band’s site: www.drivinncryin.com

Post by Mary Leary

New Album Announced : Dinosaur Jr. : I Bet on Sky

Dinosaur Jr. released details of their 10th studio album, which is scheduled for release later this year. I Bet on Sky will be out on September 18th through Jagjaguwar. You can find the tracklist and their upcoming tour dates below.

Tracklist:
1. Don’t Pretend You Didn’t Know
2. Watch the Corners
3. Almost Fare
4. Stick a Toe In
5. Rude
6. I Know It Oh So Well
7. Pierce the Morning Rain
8. What Was That
9. Recognition
10. See It on Your Side

Tour Dates:
06/22/12 Chicago, IL: Subterranean
06/23/12 Chicago, IL: Green Music Festival
07/06/12 Des Moines, IA: 80/35 Music Festival
08/25/12 St. Louis, MO: LouFest 2012
09/24/12 Toronto, ON: Lee’s Palace
09/25/12 Toronto, ON: Lee’s Palace
09/26/12 Toronto, ON: Lee’s Palace
09/27/12 Detroit, MI: St. Andrew’s Hall
09/28/12 Cincinnati, OH: MidPoint Music Festival
09/29/12 Champaign, IL: Pygmalion Festival
10/01/12 Nashville, TN: Mercy Lounge
10/02/12 Atlanta, GA: Variety Playhouse
10/03/12 New Orleans, LA: Tipitina’s
10/04/12 Austin, TX: Mohawk
10/05/12 Houston, TX: Fitzgerald’s
10/06/12 Dallas, TX: The Prophet Bar
10/08/12 Flagstaff, AZ: Orpheum Theater
10/09/12 Santa Ana, CA: The Observatory
10/10/12 San Francisco, CA: The Fillmore
10/11/12 Eugene, OR, WOW Hall
10/12/12 Seattle, WA: Neptune Theatre
10/14/12 Salt Lake City, UT: Urban Lounge
10/15/12 Denver, CO: Bluebird Theater
10/17/12 Omaha, NE: The Waiting Room
10/18/12 Minneapolis, MN: Cabooze
10/19/12 Madison, WI: Majestic Theatre
10/20/12 Grand Rapids, MI: The Orbit Room
10/22/12 Bloomington, IN: The Bluebird
10/23/12 Cleveland, OH: Beachland Ballroom
10/24/12 Millvale, PA: Mr. Smalls Theatre
10/25/12 Washington, DC: Black Cat
10/26/12 Charlottesville, VA: Jefferson Theater
10/27/12 Philadelphia, PA: Union Transfer

Album Review : Masha Qrella : Analogies

Masha Qrella has an unusual affinity for melodies – even when she delivers a song with a mid-‘90s,  “just throwing it out there” feeling, she can’t seem to resist resolving it, at least at the end, as she does on “Fishing Buddies.” She also likes guitars a lot; adding layers of harmonic punctuation and sustained notes to the chunky rhythms which, for her, could be as much a trademark as they were for the Feelies. And the girl can write songs; shifting from one feeling to the next gracefully; almost continously – Analogies never sits still; never gets boring. Qrella makes up for her relatively everyday vocals with tasty little slices of dynamic pop just waiting for a life, or movie, or fantasy for them to work with.

Could Analogies change a life? Imagining a lonely 14-year-old, or pre-teen, or college student who somehow happens upon it: I think so. Even when Qrella’s in a gray mood, her melding of minor and major keys is lovely, with a buoyancy of its own. I don’t expect much less from the Berlin-based songwriter and arranger who wove intermittent brilliance from the well-worn fabric of musical standards with Speak Low: Loewe & Weill in Exile (2009).

Enter the Analogies/Qrella universe via Morr Music: www.morrmusic.com

Post by Mary Leary