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

Tapes 'n Tapes w/ Ladyhawk & Harlem Shakes @ The Abbey Pub

A wise man once said, “Beer is the reason I get up every afternoon.” I can relate to that notion – and while I like beer, I am more into the pursuit of quality rawk. After spending Friday night getting 1.5 hours of sleep on a steel bench in the Warsaw, Poland airport, one could argue that I’m crazy for wanting to catch a show on Saturday. But thankfully the Abbey was hosting Tapes 'n Tapes for both early and late shows which meant I could hit the early one and still get home in time to crash by 11:00. What I’m trying to say is, it was absolutely worth it.

Harlem Shakes opened with a peppy set of songs that got better and better as their time continued. Early in their performance, I was thinking that something was missing – and not just a belt, shoes, and socks for lead signer Lexy Benaim, though they were noticeably absent. The first thing you notice about Harlem Shakes is that guitarist Todd Goldstein and bassist Jose Soegaard appear to be in a facial gesticulation contest. I mean they really go for it. And Goldstein is clearly the winner. For several songs we were simply mesmerized by his “astonished tortoise” gestures. Most of their better tracks feature falsetto backing vocals which fit nicely beneath the rest of the sound. The two standout songs were “Carpetbaggers” and “Red Right Hands” (not a Nick Cave cover). Generally, Harlem Shakes has the feel of a “little band that could.” Which kind of doesn’t make sense since they’re just starting out, but they were thoroughly enjoyable. The already somewhat full crowd gave them a nice ovation when they were finished.

Vancouver’s Ladyhawk has no clear relation to the 1985 Mathew Broderick/Rutger Hauer movie, but I’m not sure why you would name your band that if you didn’t want to create such a connection. They came out loud and stompy, seeming genuinely happy to be playing in front of us. Frontman Duffy Driediger is a short, but burly fellow who spends most of the show with his eyes closed. He was also lacking a belt, and at various points we were given view of his plumber’s crack. What’s with no belts tonight? Bassist Sean Hawryluk’s long hair seemed to move in slow motion as he played – much like 80s metal bands perfected their headbanging skills, Hawryluk has his headswaying technique down. We again got a lot of harmonies with this group, mostly coming from drummer Ryan Peters. The band didn’t pay much attention to the crowd – they could have been playing in their basement in Canada, but it didn’t matter much. Comparisons to Neil Young are apt, and the set had enough fire and energy to keep the crowd engaged. I bought their album after the show, and it’s quite good, if a bit short. It’s somewhere between Young, the Old 97s, and the Black Keys if that helps.

According to the people I know that have played there, the sound guy at the Abbey is notoriously difficult. He does what he wants and doesn’t want to hear much input from the performers. He’s also like 6’4”, so he can probably get away with that more easily. I bring this up because Harlem Shakes set was somewhat quiet, Ladyhawk’s was probably the prefect volume, and Tapes 'n Tapes was a bit too loud – particularly the bass drum. I had earplugs in, but every time Karl Schweitz hit that thing, I could feel myself being pushed back a step from the soundwaves. I don’t know why you would give the bands different volumes, let alone why the bass drum would be at such a level so that it could knock over people’s beers. “Just Drums” opened the set, and the band kept things moving along. Frontman Josh Grier sported one of the worst haircuts I’ve ever seen, but it didn’t seem to bother him as much as it bothered me. They played their songs pretty similarly to the album versions, but the vocals got way more intense and passionate. Included in the set were at least four new tracks which ranged from potentially great to decidedly meh. But I won’t pass judgment until an album comes out. Towards the end of the set, some woman came in late to meet her friends and kept whacking me with the purse she had draped over her shoulder. It also bothered me that she was dancing like my mom dances to rock music. My mom is 70 years old. Young people shouldn’t dance like that. She was better than her friend who was doing something precisely halfway in between the hippie dance and the robot. It didn’t make any damn sense. I repeatedly knocked her purse off her shoulder, but she was undeterred in her efforts to ruin the show for me. Perhaps I was getting a bit cranky and intolerant from the lack of sleep, but these were annoying chicks. I hope they read this and feel badly about themselves. In any event, the set closed with rousing versions of “Insistor” and “Jakov’s Theme” (in Soviet Union, rawk show watches you!). The two shows in one night thing probably kept all the sets a bit shorter, but that was not problematic as all three performances were great.