Friday, March 28, 2014

Vol. 5 Episode 11



The Black Keys have also put out the first single in support of the new album. It is called Fever and may see a spot on next weeks post.

Other than that there is not much new news that I have felt was noteworthy since the last post a few days ago.

I have gotten in the new album from The Faint two weeks early though. Excited to hear it, just got it in literally today. Thanks to Insound for that one.

Here we go...



This is one of two EPs released last year. It was originally released on Melters Records. It has recently been re-relased through Slumberland Records. Slumberland has released this on Cassette and on translucent red vinyl. I think that the cassette is translucent red too but I can’t pinpoint any text stating this. What I do know is that there will be a full length album out on slumberland later this year. This EP is super short clocking in at just over 12 minutes long. I am still not sure if this is punk genius or complete laziness in music history.

The shortest song on the album is the lead off track, Nowhere To Go. It is a whole 48 seconds and totally reminds me of a snip-it from a Weezer track. I think this is one of my favorite tracks on the album.

The second track is called Change My Ways. This also has a lick of the Weezer sound. in the guitars. It is a longer song but not by much. The vocals are multi-tracked giving the vocals more presence.

The sixth track, Sick Ass Riff, is another short track but you get a nice acoustic solo part that is completely unexpected considering everything has been distorted guitars up to this point. It is a nice quick break from the distortion.

The Way Things Are follows in the multi-tracked distorted guitar theme that seems to run through the EP. The guitar solo on the track is truly brilliant. I think that I can pick out three separate guitar parts but there could be more that that.

The last song that I want to mention is another acoustic track called Wondering Boy Poet. My favorite lyrics are when he sings, “This is not reality, this is just formality.” It reminds me of my job that pays the bills. It is another short track at 47 seconds but the lyrics are genius and the acoustic guitar is a welcome change.

If you like punk and 90s alt music this is the best combination of both styles of music that I have ever heard.


This is the second album from Withered Hand. It has been released through Slumberland Records in the US and Fortuna Pop! in EU. The EU limited version is gold metallic vinyl, like the 7” single that was released, in a gatefold black sleeve. The US limited version was pressed on gold and black splattered vinyl with a chip board sleeve. Slumberland offered a special bundle that included the first album from Withered Hand, Good News. Since I still have yet to hear anything from Absolutely Kosher Records, the company that put out Good News on vinyl in the US, I decided to get the bundle from Slumberland Records. I still can’t express how annoyed I am with Absolutely Kosher Records that I still haven’t heard anything from them since November of 2013. When I first heard that this album was going to be released last year and heard a couple of songs from the album I was really excited. I was so excited in fact that I researched the group and got a few singles from them.

The first single released from this album is called BlackTambourine. It features Pam Berry of seminal 90's US noise-pop band Black Tambourine on the track Black Tambourine. The song is sweet and fragile at the same time. The electric guitar is clean and clear with the acoustic just underneath supporting the electric guitar. The electric guitar solo on the other hand is distorted but fun and short. The vocals work so well but come off a bit sappy.

The second single from the album is called Horseshoe. I had this to say about this song recently in Vol. 5 Episode 8, “It is mainly an acoustic based track with organ and piano floating in the back ground. The drums come off very big sounding and take over most of the track. The drums are simple but big. There is also electric guitar but it is kept simple to focus on the vocals. The vocals are the star of the show next to the big drum sound. It is a good song that I can get use to hearing quite frequently.”

The song Heart Heart was previously released as its own 7” EP in 2012. I talked about this one in Vol. 4 Episode 50, “It is a great crowd chanter if the crowd is smart enough to catch when to yell the words as it is done musically by every other word not by full phrase. The song is a lot of fun.” The version on the record is a little different though. This new mix has the piano part further forward on the mix. I am not sure if I would like this version more had I not already heard the previous mix.

This is a really great album. It does get sappy in some parts but for the most part it is a happy loving album. I just hope that the group comes to my home town so I can see them play live.


This is the first full length album from Nothing. It was released early in 2014. Previous to this album they had released three EPs one of which was on cassette. I found out about the group from one of my favorite bands, Whirr. The album was released through Relapse Records. The vinyl version of the record was released in many different colors; black, white, half black/white and clear. The clear version is the most limited version and the black and white version was for the deluxe package. I had no idea what the band was going to be like so I opted for the standard black version. I think that the group are a great band for noise rock but not exactly the best. It is very hard to match the likes of My Bloody Valentine for example. But, for the new crop of Shoegaze music that has come about in recent years they sound very good. The first few times that I listened to this album I listened at quieter volumes. The last time I listened to the album I turned up the volume a bit and found the music to be somehow better. I am not sure if it is that I have gotten to know the music and then to have the volume louder somehow engages me more or if it is something else within me that I can’t describe.

There are no official singles from the album. This seems to happen with Indie groups. It is like they know that there will be no radio play so why bother putting something out as a single. There are some great songs on the album though. One of my favorites is called Get Well. The vocals are what make this song for me. The music is just a hard rock song but the male whispered vocals make the song stand out as something to listen to. It is just perfect.

I also like the slow song on the album, Guilty Of Everything, for the clean guitars and the continued breathy vocals. The music for the song reminds me of the song Under The Bridge from The Red Hot Chili Peppers. I think that it is the drums that lead me that way. The song changes direction a bit when the full band plays during the chorus. It really just gets louder during the chorus though.

The third track that I really like is called Beat Around TheBush.  This is also a slower song but the distortion on the guitar is near perfection. It has that alternating current feel to it. The vocals also continue with that breathy style that seems to run through the whole album. This is a consistent sound through the album keeping the group grounded even though I call the vocals airy they have also got this earthy quality about them. I guess you could call the vocals airy but swirling with lose dirt, like a dust bowl.

Anyway, this is a great album that I have enjoyed listening to over the past few weeks. I waited so long to write about this one because I wanted to be sure that it was something that I liked. So, it kind of grew on me.

That is all I have for now...

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