One Word Review: Ikiru

85: Weighty

Thursday Youtube: Practice Your Spanish Edition

One Word Review: Mondovino

54: Slow-aged

First Blush: Dinosaur Jr. - Farm

What was originally just the experiment of "getting the band back together" for Dinosaur Jr. soon became the restart of the group's career and a new album. Lead singer/songwriter/guitarist J Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow, and drummer Murph are apparently getting along like peas and carrots these days, and a tour is imminent. We did a First Blush on 2007's Beyond the day it came out, and generally liked it a lot before Serge brought us back down to earth with some poignant comments. This comes a few weeks late after release thanks to the whole living in Argentina thing, but here's the take on their latest effort, Farm. Anyway, enough of my yakkin, let's boogie!

Track 1 - Pieces
A quick pop from Murph brings us to some heavy strumming and we're on our way. The production seems too slick. Vocals feature something about "the pieces of our love" repeated many times. It's a low-intensity track which seems like more of a vehicle for some decent J Mascis guitar solos. I'm intentionally avoiding the word "boring." Not a bombastic opener.

Track 2 - I Want You To Know
Really fuzzy guitars, even for these guys. It's like they hired the guitarist from The Black Keys for overdubs. There's much more of a groove now, and at the 1:30 mark, the pace picks up a bit. This could be a really fun one live. It's more reminiscent of the Where You been era that didn't feature Barlow, but with some of his influence mixed in just a bit."Hey I want you to know, stay with me, I can't let it go. Hey, you put it in my head, stay and see, you know what you said." This is not J's most shimmering lyrical moment.

Track 3 - Ocean In The Way
On the one! We get a great downbeat opening with all instruments at once. Then J starts singing in a slow honky tonk. Obviously, Dino is always trying to push the boundaries of feedback fuzz, but right now this is not sounding very clear for me. I heard rumors that some of the CDs pressed for this release had some "sound issues", and right now I'm hoping that I didn't get a lemon. Hopefully it's just lousy headphones, though I didn't know these were lousy. The song breaks down at 2:16, a chance to catch our breath. J croons, "Come on down," but not at all like he did in Puke + Cry. There aren't a lot of hooks in this track, but I've enjoyed the mellow ride.

Track 4 - Plans
Really digging this one, and I don't even have much to say about it. It's like a classic Dino track, each guy doing his thing with a steady beat behind it all. It's gone on for over five minutes now and I have nothing new to say. Just that I'm enjoying it. I don't even know what this song's about.

Track 5 - Your Weather
We get our first Lou Barlow track, and it's got some punchiness to it. This is the first one we've heard that actually sounds "new." It started a bit dark, but by the 1:20 mark it's building to something else. "If it's rainin on your island, how am I deciding, why can't you?" Not sure if I heard that right, or if it means anything at all. Best track on the album so far.

Track 6 - Over It
J is wanking like crazy! Please read that in the cleanest possible interpretation. But this again just feels like he's going through the motions. Things get skippy around the 2:00 mark, but then we settle back in 30 seconds later. J's vocals sound sleepy. I guess I'm looking for something extra and just not getting it so far.

Track 7 - Friends
This is as Thin Lizzy as Dino can get. Murph is busy, but the snare is definitely popping on every 2 and 4. There's a certain singalong aspect to this tune, though it's in J's high, whiny octave. This is Rock and Roll and not much else. "Even if you don't see me, I promise I'll be here. I wanted you to lose control, I wanted to reheal my soul, and nothing seemed that strange, and my goal was in range." Man, these are bad lyrics. What happened? J used to be able to turn something simple and poignant at the same time. Now he's throwing out utilitary rhymes like the dude who wrote Miss Saigon. Great solo near the tail end of this one, though.

Track 8 - Said The People
The second-longest track on the album starts off with some promising darkness. It feels heavy in an intense way. "Of all the people to let me down, Of all the people while I'm out. Saaaaave me." This is the first track on the album where J acts like he cares what he's singing about. And it makes a difference. With a different band, this song could be a cheesy stadium rocker, complete with lighters hoisted aloft. Here it feels more meaningful. Halfway through, we hear sounds reminiscent of "Not the Same." They are welcome. There's a lot going on here (finally), and this track is definitely a keeper.

Track 9 - There's No Here
A wild solo can barely be heard over the driving guitar and drums. And then it goes on like that.

Track 10 - See You
This track is called "See You" and right now sounds almost exactly like "What else is new" which begins with the lyric "I'd like to see you." I'm not complaining, just noting. Kind of a sweet, simple one that finally matches J's laidback approach to vocals on this album. This is a nice song. Nice. Now we come near the end and it kicks just a bit. Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

Track 11 - I Don't Wanna Go There
A thick sheen of rawk greets the opening of the last J Mascis track on the album. "You're the one who told me what to say. Would you come and hold me? Would you come and show me right away?" Again, these lyrics are simply vague. I don't think anyone would be able to connect to them. But this is the longest tune on the album, and they're making the most of it. Murph is filling in a lot of sound around what I can only imagine is three or four overdubs of guitars. I was raelly bored at first, but this album is making a comeback! J takes the last four minutes to completely shred his guitar. I am thankful for the shredding.

Track 12 - Imagination Blind
The other Barlow track sounds straight outta 1999 or so. Or at least whatever the hell I was listening to in 1999. It's got a decent fuzz to it, but really just passing time until the album ends. Which is soon!

Man, at first I was really, really worried. I thought this whole thing was giong to fall flat. But then things started to pick up at least a little. It seems clear that as a songwriter J Mascis is past his prime, but he can still play like dynamite, which is probably the most important thing. This certainly doesn't pass Beyond, and I don't think it will hold up in comparison to their heyday output, but on the whole, it is at least a decent record, and I look forward to getting to know it better.

Thursday Youtube: Child Labor Edition

...because I didn't want to call it the 10,387,395th MJ Tribue Edition. This comes by request from Winston Wolf. In The Wolf's words, "How does a 10 year old sing with this much emotion about a girl he 'broke up' with?" He also says, "If only they didn't put those silly lyrics in there." You'll see what he means. Enjoy.


Bonus Thursday Youtube - 10,387,396th MJ Tribute Edition. I heard the rumors that Stevie brought the house down. Of course he did. He's the most amazing performer I can think of. As sad as everyone seems to be about Jackson's departure, when Stevie goes I know I'm going to be despondent for a month. Here he is performing one of his most passionate songs (also one that Jackson chose to cover). Enjoy.

One Word Review: I Love You Man

63: Rushed

One Word Review: Milk

64: Customary

Heard These Guys Yet? - June 09

Per our usual every two month tradition, I've polled our expert music fans looking for the bands that have recently turned them on. We had to take some time off this spring, bringing this to you a bit late, but the gang is back with some new recommendations for you. Check 'em out!

Recommender: Biz
Band: The Life and Times
Blurb: The old axiom is that writing about music is like tap-dancing about architecture. So, this is my tap-dance about the Life and Times, a great band that I have enjoyed live on a multiple occasions and they were always fun to see. Unfortunately, I haven't come up with eloquent words to describe their music. I feel like describing them as a mix of, I dunno... "old school emo" and "shoegazer" but still pretty rockin' all around, also very polished and precise in their playing. All this seems like the usual words which still don't really do them justice. The Life and Times is very much a proper rock band that rocks in the way you want to see a band rock, with a big loud sound and awesome drumming. There is something ambitious to their sound, like they should be as "big" as Radiohead, even if thus far they're not. Maybe they're good in a way that just isn't interesting to write about. I like their first album from 2005 the best, Suburban Hymns, but their latest freshly-released album, Tragic Boogie, offers may tasty things for the ears, and it's growing on me. Their albums are meticulously well-crafted, almost too perfect sounding at some moments, so you might need to experience them live to appreciate how good they are, in real life... and in real times, of course. I had the pleasure of playing in the opening band when they played at the Note a couple years ago (not to mention the pleasure of playing at the Note before it closed). The Life and Times is Allen Epley's band, formerly of Shiner, and I tend to think of them as a local band to Chicago, but they are actually more local to the Midwest. On New Year's day this year I saw them play at the Double Door and open for Hum, a band that is sonically similar, and yet still quite different. Anyway, I suggest you stop reading and give them a listen yourself.
Reminds me of: Hum, but not really
File Under: That reverb your mad-libs are lacking
But don't take my word for it: The Life and Times at Myspace

Recommender: PMaz
Band: The Little Ones
Blurb:Actually, I am hoping everyone HAS heard of The Little Ones because they are quickly moving up as one of my favorite bands. The ironic thing is I have had their first EP from 2006 for quite some time and never gave it much of a listen. But when I was listening to a Paste Magazine CD Sampler one afternoon last year and hit the song "Morning Tide", I thought, "Don't I already have something by these guys?" I immediately wanted to hear more and was very pleased with the entire album (also called "Morning Tide"). Since then, my wife has ALMOST wore me out on the new album and fortunately I found another EP prior to this album to occupy my time. Reviews I have read for them compare them to many twee bands like Belle & Sebastian, and I will say that the music starts and stays happy pretty much throughout - no angst here, move on. But I am not a big fan of twee and I personally feel that The Little Ones have more guitars and solid bass throughout. How else would they get invited to open for bands like the Kaiser Chiefs and Nada Surf? By the way, while the lead singer (Ed Reyers) and his brother are fairly short in stature, the band is named after Ed's two pugs.
Reminds me of: The Shins, The Beach Boys, and OK....Belle & Sebastian
File Under: Pug Pretty
But don't take my word for it: The Little Ones at Myspace

Recommender: Jonas
Band: Prefuse 73
Blurb: Finally, a review of a band that isn’t from Brooklyn !... well at least that’s how I WAS going to start the review. However, in researching for this review I found out that the great electronica sounds of Prefuse 73 are indeed from Brooklyn . For whatever reason I assumed Prefuse 73 was from Europe since it’s on the English label Warp, home to other electronic outfits such as Boards of Canada, Flying Lotus and Squarepusher. As one might assume with company like that, Prefuse 73 is in the same vein with decidedly downtempo rhythms, samples galore, and layer upon layer of sounds. Like so many other electronica bands, Prefuse 73 is one person, Guillermo Scott Herren. However his collaborators have run the gamut from underground hip-hop stars like El-P, Aesop Rock and Ghostface Killah to Blond Redhead and TV on the Radio. His music is very heavy on samples (ala Girl Talk), but he is very conscious of creating quality music to go along with it (unlike Girl Talk). He started in 2001 with ‘Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives’ and had a bit more of an underground hip-hop edge to it, and although that influence is still there, he’s really evolved into more of a downtempo ambient sound with his 2009 release ‘Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian’. The beats stay trippy and never really become “danceable”, which is an excellent thing in my book. Every album has an extremely high replay value due to the music’s composition combined with all the other elements he’s placed in the background. However I would explore Prefuse 73 in this order, start with ‘One Word Extinguisher’ from 2003, then 2007’s ‘Preparations’ and then the recently released ‘Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian’ mentioned above.
Reminds me of: The Soundscapes of A Cloud Mireya mixed with the sampling of Girl Talk and the beats of El-P.
File Under: Multi-layered for your enjoyment
But don't take my word for it: Prefuse 73 at Myspace

Recommender: Reed
Band: Harlem Shakes
Blurb: I must admit that I am somewhat cheating this month. I am writing about a band I've written about here before. But their first full-length album was recently released, and I liked them so much before that I can't help but sing their praises once again. I caught Harlem Shakes at The Abbey Pub when they opened for Tapes N Tapes. On paper, they're not the kind of band I would like. Their guitars don't fuzz very much, and lead singer Lexy Benaim has a somewhat thin, almost tinny voice. But the band has a bouncy energy that is inherently compelling. They really play as a unit, with subtle vocal harmonies and a clear connection on stage. While their new album, Technicolor Health, is receiving some reviews complaining that it is too laid back and dreamy, it still has plenty of their brand of pep. I don't expect it to burst them on to the national scene, but this is a band with a ton of potential, especially when playing live. The odds of them paying Argentina a visit are not very high, but I hope I can catch them in person again sometime soon.
Reminds me of: Koufax with a pulse and a wink
File Under: Rally round the campfire
But don't take my word for it: Harlem Shakes at Myspace

One Word Review: Terminator: Salvation

51: Blunt

One Word Review: Be Cool

57: Fatuous