You Should Know
I've got a neat website to plug over at www.theyshootmusic.com. The Viennese videoblog project shoots indie bands and artists in uncommon locations in Vienna. The latest video on the site is from Get Well Soon, the moniker of Konstantin Gropper, whose wonderful album Rest Now, Weary Head is well worth your time. Go visit the site to watch his videos. Other notable videos include: Two Gallants, Scott Matthew, Phosphorescent, Final Fantasy, Blitzen Trapper, and Bishop Allen. Plus there's a couple bands I'm unfamiliar with, so you can expand your musical knowledge a bit as well. This is such a cool idea for a website. I'm bookmarking it. You should too. -- Capt. Obvious
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5.31.2008
Theyshootmusic.com
Okay: Huggable Dust (2008)
New Wax
Set aside for a moment the fact that Marty Anderson, the artist behind the Okay moniker, suffers from Crohn's disease, is hooked up to IV's, and is more or less confined to his house. Just listen. Listen closely to his eccentric brand of eerie indie pop, and I openly challenge you not to be deeply moved by it. If you can delve into his new album Huggable Dust and come out emotionally unscathed by its depth and honesty, then my friend, your heart is made of stone. As far as the thematic content on the album is concerned, it's all in the title: Huggable Dust paints a brilliant visual of someone trying to grasp onto something that only slips through his/her hands. Ah, the fleeting nature of mutual love. Laid over synths, acoustic guitars, ukelele, and a variety of lo-fi instrumentation, Anderson's voice is scratchy and unique. To put it bluntly, many of you will probably be off-put by his voice, which is just unfortunate because this album is beautiful. I won't speculate on the circumstances behind the material on Huggable Dust, but it's pretty blatant that Anderson is in love with a woman who can't return the emotion. He lays it all out there on the opening track "My" : "More than you know/ more than I can show/ It's my heart you got." One can only assume that the girl on the other end of the phone on the next track "Only," is the object of Anderson's affection. After harmonizing with Anderson on the track, the woman hangs up with a nervous "Okay. All right. Bye." It's a heartrending moment on an album full of them, and Huggable Dust is easily one of the best records I've heard all year. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: Okay - Only
MP3: Okay - Loveless
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5.30.2008
Carissa's Wierd
You Should Know
Carissa's Wierd (Weird being deliberately mispelled) was a Seattle band formed back in 1995 that disbanded in 2003. I had heard of the band quite some time ago but have only recently begun to delve into their material. Admittedly what propelled me to seek out some of the band's albums was their connection to Band Of Horses, which was started by Mat Brooke And Ben Bridwell, both of whom were one-time members of Carissa's Wierd. Brooke has since departed from Band Of Horses to form his own band, Grand Archives. Another notable one-time contributor to Carissa's Wierd is Sera Cahoone, whose top-notch alt. country album was reviewed here at Captain Obvious. Very different musically from any of its spin-off acts, Carissa's Wierd's sound was disarmingly melancholic and utilized a haunting mix of male and female vocals. I'd recommend starting off with the Chris Walla-produced album Songs About Leaving and working your way backwards into their small yet consistently excellent catalog. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: Carissa's Wierd - Ignorant Piece Of Shit (from Songs About Leaving)
MP3: Carissa's Wierd - All Apologies And Smiles, Yours Truly, Ugly Valentine (from You Should Be At Home Here)
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5.29.2008
Weinland
You Should Know
Not every Neil Young-influenced band is worth a crap, but that certainly isn't the case with Portland's Weinland. This folk-rock five-piece band creates hushed arrangements perfectly suited for lead singer Adam Shearer's fragile songs. Many of the tracks on the band's newest album La Lamentor sound like lullabies with the focal point being Weinland's gentle lull of a voice, which sounds like a countrified rehashing of Elliott Smith set to folksier instrumentation. Perhaps the album's strongest track, "Sick As A Gun" is built on shuffling drums and an acoustic guitar riff. Lap steel guitar, pianos, and cello lend nuance to the track, which contains a melodic chorus bound to get stuck in your head. Released on Badman Recordings in March, La Lamentor is now available on iTunes. The band is also set to visit Daytrotter's Illinois studio in June, so be on the lookout for a free Daytrotter Session. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: Weinland - God Here I Come
MP3: Weinland - Sick As A Gun
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5.28.2008
Langhorne Slim: Langhorne Slim (2008)
New Wax
While 27-year old Sean Scolni, better known as singer/songwriter Langhorne Slim, has a fine full-length debut and a few EP's under his belt, his new self-titled album is leaps and bounds above his previous material. Classifying Langhorne's music isn't easy, but he draws from a number of genres including Americana, roots-folk, and rock. Backed by his energetic band The War Eagles, Slim's songs are folk-rock gems glimmering with varied instrumentation that includes cello, violin, accordion, tuba, bells, and piano. The tracks on Langhorne Slim range in tempo from the steady standup-bassline of "Restless" to the slow-dance blues of "Diamonds And Gold," but there is a pervading sense of optimism at play throughout. Lyrically, Slim takes a humanistic approach by focusing on love and loss. On "Rebel Side Of Heaven," Slim muses: "I know we have sinned all of our lives/ But we ain't goin' to hell/ We're goin' to the rebel side of Heaven." Even when the subject matter is a failed relationship on the opening "Spinning Compass," Slim chalks it all up to experience: "Time once we could agree/ It's too bad you find fault with me." While the album has its share of missteps, Slim's overriding optimism and the positive energy of his backing band makes Langhorne Slim a pleasurable and worthwhile listen. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: Langhorne Slim - Restless
MP3: Langhorne Slim - Rebel Side Of Heaven
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5.27.2008
The Diggs
You Should Know
Seems like revisiting the past is all the rage in the indie music scene. While Brooklyn three-piece The Diggs have a decidedly mid-90's indie rock sound, they pull it off as good as any new band I've heard. Led by lead singer Timothy Lannen, The Diggs pull from shoegaze and early emo. In fact, a lot of moments on the band's new album Ctrl-Alt-Del reminded me of Sunny Day Real Estate and Knapsack (look them up if you've never heard of them, another fine 90's indie band). The album's nostalgic sound comes to life with the help of Howie Weinberg (Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Oasis), who mastered the album and Rudyard Lee Cullers (Ryan Adams' Rock N' Roll, Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Isis EP), who lends his mixing expertise. While The Diggs aren't exactly doing anything new with Ctrl-Alt-Del, they do what they do very well and their music recalls some of my favorite 90's bands without coming off as gimmicky or insincere. The album is on repeat. Lovely. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: The Diggs - Ctrl-Alt-Del
MP3: The Diggs - Recovery Forever
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The Strugglers
You Should Know
Hailing from North Carolina, Brice Randall Bickford has been making music under the moniker The Strugglers since 2001 and has released three full-lengths and an EP. His newest album, The Latest Rights marks his fourth full-length, and with the help of violinist Daniel Hart (John Vanderslice, St. Vincent) and a slew of other accomplished North Carolina musicians, the album's nine tracks are expertly crafted. Bickford is a bit vocally reminiscent of Mark Kozelek both in emotional pull and timbre, while musically the songs have a bit of an early REM feel with a dash of alt. country vibe. The opening track "Morningside Heights" is a particularly strong track. Bickford weighs the carelessness of youth against the burdens of adulthood: "You shared a bed for a time up in Morningside Heights/ Long enough to see what it was like to forge a home/ You might have stayed if it weren't for the curse of your age." Overall, The Latest Rights is an album full of clever imagery, and Bickford's ability to retrace past moments with a deft storyteller's pen is undeniable. Definitely worth a careful listen. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: The Strugglers - Morningside Heights
MP3: The Strugglers - The Latest Rights
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May Mixtape
SIDE A
1. Mates Of State - My Only Offer
2. Beck - Chemtrails
3. The Dresden Dolls - Night Reconnaissance
4. A.A. Bondy - Oh The Vampyre (Daytrotter Session)
5. Haley Bonar - Big Star
6. Pomegranates - Whom/Who
7. The Pharmacy - Little Toys
SIDE B
1. Dosh - If You Want To, You Have To
2. The Hold Steady - Sequestered In Memphis (link removed per request)
3. The Silver Jews - Strange Victory, Strange Defeat
4. Okay - My
5. Bon Iver - Blindsided
6. Dolorean - Morningwatch
7. Natural Snow Buildings - The Spears Of The Wolf
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Blog Roundup 5.27.08
Props
Photo by Royce Wagner
Hey readers, as you can see our hosting account got shut down, so we are working on finding new hosting. Things should be up and running soon. Thanks for your patience. In the meantime, visit some of our neighbors:
Aquarium Drunkard has an excellent interview with Southern-gothic folksinger Jim White.
The 405 is a great new addition to the blogroll. Check out their reviews of the new Hold Steady and Weezer albums.
Obscure Sound has an in-depth, not-so-positive review of the new Mates of State record Re-Arrange Us.
Nine Bullets is just an awesome blog with tons of music I've never heard of before in the country/folk/americana genres. You should go check it out now.
Six Eyes always has good mixes, and they've got a new one up with 4 rare songs from one of my favorite bands, The National.
Tags: Blog Roundup, Captain Obvious
5.22.2008
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy: Lie Down In The Light (2008)
New Wax
Either this came out of nowhere or I wasn't paying close attention, but all of the sudden there is a new Bonnie 'Prince' Billy album out, and its cover looks like it was drawn by a 7th grader. Everyone knows that Will Oldham can effortlessly pen a dark folk song, and he's done so with unrelenting brilliance on albums like I See A Darkness. With Lie Down In The Light, Oldham essentially flips the script. Easily Oldham's most collectively upbeat material to date, the album still contains his familiar poetic lyricism while exhibiting a newfound brightness that Oldham pulls off with casual ease. On "You Remind Me Of Something" (Don't worry, it's not another R. Kelly cover), Oldham sings in a Southern lilt: "You remind me of something/ The song that I am/ And you sing me back into myself." More on display than ever on Lie Down In The Light is Oldham's voice. I can't recall ever hearing so much range and variety in Oldham's vocals. Backed by a cast of wonderful musicians and backup vocalist Ashley Webber, Oldham proves to be equally adept at delivering hopeful and warm material as he is at delving into the darker side of humanity. Sorry friends, Oldham's record company doesn't seem to want any singles off the new record posted, but here's a couple songs from previous albums. -- Capt. Obvious
5.19.2008
Shearwater: Rook (2008)
New Wax
Ornithology in the house. Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg has an obvious enthusiasm for birds, and his band's new album Rooks with its title and Hitchcockian album cover extends this predilection. Formed by former Okkervil River bandmates Meiburg and Will Sheff and named after the long-winged seabird, Shearwater now serves primarily as Meiburg's songwriting vehicle, and the band creates music that's a good bit more delicate than Okkervil River's. Rather than Will Sheff's manic vocals, you'll hear Meiburg's gorgeous croon, which covers the gamut in range and can build into an epic falsetto at the drop of a dime. Meiburg has officially left Okkervil River in order to focus on Shearwater, and considering the critical acclaim of 2007's Palo Santo, the amicable split doesn't come as much of a surprise. While it's an album that demands repeated listens and a more thorough examination, let me assure you that Shearwater's newest album Rook does not disappoint and will undoubtedly find its way onto some critics' "best of" lists. Meiburg's voice is breathtaking as usual, but the instrumentation on Rook is equally noteworthy with its flawless implementation of strings and piano. Rook will be released June 3rd on Matador Records but an advance copy is available in digital format over at eMusic. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: Shearwater - Rooks
MP3: Shearwater - Century Eyes
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Mono: Gone (2007)
Albums Revisited
For those who don’t know: Mono describes Tokyo’s premiere batch of post-rock virtuosos. Their sound is too elegant to be mistaken for Pelican, yet too rich and evocative to be confused with Explosions in the Sky. Their newest release, Gone (which technically isn’t new at all), chronicles the band’s EPs, spanning their 2000 formation to 2007’s The Phoenix Tree. Most of Gone’s appeal comes from its function as a sort of Mono time capsule. The result is a fascinating account of the band’s dramatic musical evolution (the somber “Yearning” actually hails from a split EP between Mono and Pelican, and clocks in at over thirteen minutes). Gone allows for an engrossing instrumental voyage from the static-fried and downright unsettling sonic landscapes of “Black Woods” to milder climes, where the symphonic orchestrations of “Gone” and “Little Boy (1945-Future)” swell from sparse string and xylophone arrangements into heaving seas, evoking a sublime sense of violence and awe. -- Kilgore Trout
Listen:
MP3: Mono - Gone
MP3: Mono - Little Boy (1945-Future)
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5.15.2008
Wolf Parade: At Mount Zoomer (2008)
New Wax
Canadians really are cool, despite South Park’s best efforts to suggest otherwise. Speaking of cool Canadians, our Montreal indie-rocking brethren from Wolf Parade are set to release At Mount Zoomer—a new album named after the studio they occupied for the recording, which is itself apparently a reference to both psychedelic mushrooms and brilliant post-rockers A Silver Mt. Zion.
This reviewer is happy to report that if Wolf Parade’s 2005 Apologies to the Queen Mary felt a bit same-y to you, then Mount Zoomer will probably make for a more engaging experience. Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner share vocal duties again, such that the album feels a bit divided at times. In congruence with Queen Mary, tracks such as “Soldier’s Grin” and “Language City” indicate a preoccupation with escaping the entrapments of modernity before they collapse over us. Despite the rather contained feel of the nine tracks, “California Dreamer” sprawls out to plumb slightly more abstract waters, and feels like an ode to The Doors, while “Kissing the Beehive,” perhaps the album’s brightest gem, clocks in at just under eleven minutes.
The band maintains its trademark quirky instrumentation with grooves that feel very retro and perhaps even a bit stale on tracks like “Fine Young Cannibals.” Sorry, but corny keyboard sounds are about as rare as silk-screen T-shits these days. None of the new cuts boast the sheer celebratory gusto of Queen Mary’s “I’ll Believe in Anything,” but Wolf Parade makes up for it by creating a more dynamic listening experience. Within the context of indie rock, I certainly wouldn’t call Wolf Parade innovative, but their lyrics do evoke a rather compelling series of landscapes.
Essential line: “In my head is a city at night / Static cage with the rush and the lights.”
-- Kilgore Trout
Listen:
MP3: Wolf Parade - Call It A Ritual
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Vetiver: Thing Of The Past (2008)
New Wax
I like covers as much as the next guy, but when I heard that San Francisco freak-folk band Vetiver was opting for a full album of covers rather than new material, I could't help but cringe. I really enjoyed their self-titled 2004 debut and their 2006 album To Find Me Gone, so I was hankering for some new songs. Luckily the band's new album Thing Of The Past isn't filled with instantly recognizable material. In fact, unless you're well-versed in 60's and 70's Americana and have a serious classic vinyl addiction, the tracks on Thing Of The Past will sound as good as new. The album opens with "Houses," a wonderful take on an obscure song from Elyse Weinberg's 1968 album Elyse which guest starred Neil Young. Backed by folksy acoustic guitars, lead singer Andy Cabic's voice is a gentle lull bridged by electric guitar riffs. Another highlight is a faithful yet more sonically eclectic rendition of Townes Van Zandt's "Standing." I won't pretend like I've ever heard of any of the other songs on this album, but the fun thing about Thing Of The Past, besides it being an example of quality folk music, is that it makes you want to seek out information about the original artists. Expanding your musical knowledge is never a bad thing. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: Vetiver - Houses
MP3: Vetiver - Blue Driver
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5.14.2008
Death Cab For Cutie: Narrow Stairs (2008)
New Wax
One word to sum up the new Death Cab For Cutie album: different. While Narrow Stairs might alienate a few casual Death Cab listeners and perhaps displease some record executives over at Atlantic Records, it's a reminder of just how good Gibbard and company can be when they get it right. If Narrow Stairs wipes out the 16-year old hipster fan-girl denomination that picked up a copy of Transatlanticism after they heard some song on The OC, well then... hallelujah. The first single released off the album seemed like blatant foreshadowing of a shake-up. "I Will Possess Your Heart," which sounds like a stalker's anthem, opens with a nearly five-minute-long instrumental intro that's bass-heavy and has a sort of The Cure vibe to it. Needless to say, not many bands of this stature would be brave enough to release a first single that's nearly nine minutes long. The most noticeable trait of the album is its decidedly more muscular "band in a room" sound, as opposed to the multi-tracked sprawling slow-burners of their last few albums. Narrow Stairs feels full yet imperfect, and its little moments of feedback and chaos only add to the album's strength. Lyrically, you won't find any nods to immortal love like you did on Plans. Gibbard seems to have delved into the darker recesses of his mind to create characters dealing with doomed relationships, fruitless commitments, and lost optimism. The excellent alt. country vibed "Cath..." weaves the tale of a girl in an unhappy marriage: "She stands with a well intentioned man/ But she can't relax with his hands on the small of her back." While Narrow Stairs still has its heavy-handed moments (it's not a Death Cab album without a few of those), it's the band's most mature effort and for the first time the music doesn't take a backseat to Gibbard's lyricism. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart
MP3: Death Cab For Cutie - Cath...
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5.13.2008
Owen: The City On Film Split 7"
Rarities
I haven't done a rarities entry in a long time. What the hell is wrong with me? I sincerely apologize. Anyway, today's post contains two tracks from Mike Kinsella, otherwise known by his moniker Owen. Kinsella has been a member of influential Chicago bands such as American Football, Cap'n Jazz, and Joan Of Arc. With Owen, Kinsella creates intensely personal and brutally honest acoustic-based music that has expanded in scope over the years. These two tracks appeared on a 7" split with The City On Film and were released last year on white vinyl with a limited pressing of 500 copies. I'm particularly fond of the lyrics to "Top Shelf," which read: "There wasn't too much to say in the car on the way to our father's funeral/ That hadn't been said and better at that before/ After straightening my tie for the hundredth time, I turned on the radio/ too fitting to find 'Boys Don't Cry' by the Cure/ You sang along but you got the words wrong/ I didn't let on that I knew/ Cause the one thing I learned from dad besides the cheap stuff fucks you up just as much as the stuff on the top shelf does/ Is it doesn't matter what you say or think, or wish you said but didn't say/ Just what you do." Man, I love that. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: Owen - Good Friends, Bad Habits
MP3: Owen - Top Shelf
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5.12.2008
Russian Red
You Should Know
It's only a matter of time before you'll be hearing Russian Red songs on iPod and Yaris commercials. Russian Red is the moniker for Lourdes Hernandez, a Spanish avant-garde folk songstress that wisely chooses to sing in English. Vocally, Hernandez exhibits a similar sort of quirkiness to fellow female folkies Joanna Newsome and Marissa Nadler. Regarded as one of the most promising acts in Madrid, Hernandez was quickly scooped up by local Eureka Records and in April she released her debut album, I Love Your Glasses. While she's proud of her Madrid roots, you'd be hard-pressed to detect any inkling of an accent in Hernandez' songs. On the opening "Cigarettes," Hernandez muses on the nature of regret, delivering the refrain: "All the cigarettes that I have never smothered/ And all the letters that I have never sent." I Love Your Glasses is full of lyrical maturity you wouldn't expect from a 22-year old student, and Hernandez' vocals continually display both impressive range and real emotional weight. With songs like this, don't expect Russian Red to toil in relative obscurity much longer. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: Russian Red - Cigarettes
MP3: Russian Red - Nice Thick Feathers
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5.11.2008
BreakThruRadio.com Blogger Of The Week!
You Should Know
As your humble blogmaster here at Captain Obvious, I'm pleased and honored to announce that we've been nominated as Blogger Of The Week over at BreakThruRadio.com, a great source for independent music with a daily listening audience of over 1,000,000 listeners. This week we'll be contributing articles to BTR. A little more info on BreakThruRadio:
"BTR is the World's Source for the Best Independent Music on the Internet. Our motto, "Music for music lovers," perfectly reflects our eclectic playlists with music ranging from death metal to dance party mixes and everything in between. All the music we play is from independent and unsigned artists; music you could never dream of finding on commercial radio. BTR offers listeners instant, on demand access to exclusive content from all over the world. Thanks to the Internet, BTR has gained strong listenership in over a dozen countries. With our unique on-demand musical programming and focus on the best in new independent music, its no surprise BTR has garnered over 1,000,000 listeners daily, the majority of which are 18-24 years old.
Unlike other radio stations, BTR offers on-demand programming; a first in Internet radio. Listeners can cater to their specific musical preferences, and at the same time discover the best independent and unsigned artists from across the world. BTR is constantly evolving, and 2007 saw the creation of a unique BTR Facebook application, making it possible for Facebook users to install a miniature version of BTR's unique media player upon their personal pages. BreakThru Radio services are available through virtually all of the major carrier networks in the U.S., including Nextel/Sprint, Cingular, Verizon, Alltel and T-Mobile."
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The Notwist: The Devil, You + Me (2008)
New Wax
While The Notwist's 6-year break between 2002's Neon Golden and their newest release The Devil, You + Me may not rival reclusive filmmaker Terrence Malick's 20-year break between Days Of Heaven and The Thin Red Line, it's still an extended period of time considering how frequently indie bands churn out albums. Perhaps the German band's disappearing act stemmed from a fear of following up Neon Golden, which has only grown in stature over the years and is credited as helping rewrite the rules of indie-electro music. While The Devil, You + Me isn't shattering any new ground, it does sound like a moodier extension of Neon Golden. Opening track "Good Lies" is astounding. Lead singer Markus Acher's vocals loom under a blanket of crackling distortion that bottoms out into a lone acoustic guitar strum. Acher repeats the line "Let's just imitate the real until we find a better one," and the track once again builds into a perfect union of instrumentation and deft programming. Other moments on the album range from the more glitchy and beat-heavy "Alphabet" to the acoustic-folk "Gloomy Planets." All in all, The Devil, You + Me is a reminder of just how good this band was, is, and will be, regardless of how little they change. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: The Notwist - Good Lies
MP3: The Notwist - Gloomy Planets
Tags:
5.10.2008
Dignan
You Should Know
Dignan hails from McAllen, Texas, a town whose population is 95% Hispanic. With an eclectic list of influences that looks North to Canadian bands such as Broken Social Scene and Arcade Fire, the band incorporates a wide variety of instruments that include xylophone, accordion, and trombone. The songs on the band's 2007 EP The Guest range in length from 4 to 8 minutes and exhibit a mishmash of sounds. With atmospheric guitars fit for a post rock band providing an intriguing backdrop, lead singer Andy Pena belts out the melodies while bandmate Heidi Plueger provides airy backup vocals on the epic "Officer," an 8-minute opus that embodies both the soft and the loud. Crawling along at the deliberate pace of a Jim Jarmusch film, Dignan's songs are slow-moving yet filled with subtle nuance. The EP's title track opens with a clean electric guitar riff that gives way to slow-motion instrumentation and Pena's smooth vocals, but the chorus builds both instrumentally and into Pena's half-scream. For fans of songs that start off slow but build, you definitely want to check this band out. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: Dignan- They're Outnumbered
MP3: Dignan - The Guest
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5.08.2008
5.07.2008
No Age: Nouns (2008)
New Wax
No Age is guitarist Randy Randall and drummer/singer Dean Spunt. Associated with the Los Angeles vegan grocery store/all-ages punk venue The Smell and building off the buzz of Weirdo Rippers (essentially a compilation of their EP's), the band makes their Sub Pop debut with this year's Nouns. The band's music has been described as noise rock and art punk, and fresh off a 9.2 rating from pitchfork, No Age is all the rage. Is the hype a little overblown? Probably. Is the band's new album Nouns any good. Absolutely. No Age's songs are painted with a thick veneer of feedback, and songs like "Teenage Creeps" are reminiscent of Bleach-era Nirvana, while other moments recall Superchunk. Most of all, No Age is noisy. With 12 tracks that clock in at a mere 30 minutes, Nouns is a little more riff driven and catchier than Weirdo Rippers, which I honestly had a hard time digesting, but these songs are still plenty raw. Nouns proves in all its fuzz and sloppiness that great music sometimes thrives in its most minimalistic form. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: No Age - Nouns
MP3: No Age - Teen Creeps
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Iron Man (2008)
Celluloid
I was never into comic books as a kid, but it's hard not to appreciate the escapism of a good superhero flick. While I wouldn't call John Favreau's (yes, that guy from Swingers) Iron Man the pinnacle of the genre (I'll reserve that title for Batman Begins), the film's script has enough wit to please a thinking crowd while also catering to the mindless drones out there merely interested in seeing shit blow up. I do understand that the two are not mutually exclusive and some people like to think and watch shit blow up. The unequivocal highlight of Iron Man is Robert Downey Jr., and his performance as Tony Stark, a womanizing multi-billionaire weapons tycoon who gets abducted by terrorists and uses his ingenuity to escape, is grade-A. While the accomplished actor/former drug addict probably wouldn't come to mind as someone who would play a superhero, he absolutely nails the role and adds his much needed sardonic comedic flair. Downey Jr. is accompanied by an impressive cast of supporters that includes Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jeff Bridges. While I thought the soundtrack was a bit generic and cheesy, scenes like the retractable stripper pole scene on Tony Stark's private jet almost make that misstep forgivable. Overall Iron Man is a flawed yet highly entertaining blockbuster in a year that hasn't offered much in the way of movies so far. -- Capt. Obvious
Verdict:
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5.01.2008
The New Frontiers: Mending (2008)
New Wax
I've been hankering for a good alt. country album lately. I found it. Once known as Stellamaris, Dallas band The New Frontiers have been drawing hefty comparisons to Wilco, and while these comparisons are utterly ridiculous (it's pretty much the standard comparison for any young alt. country band the same way anything folksy is compared to Nick Drake), I am very impressed with the band's new album Mending. The strength in The New Frontiers approach is that they don't try too hard. This is no-quirks, unpretentious songwriting that focuses fully on the integrity of the song. Mending opens with "Black Lungs," which sounds like a brit-rock influenced take on Ryan Adams while exhibiting the kind of measured restraint Adams too often disregards. Lead singer Nathan Pettijohn's vocals are emotive yet never overdone, and his backing band is equally pitch-perfect. There truly isn't a bad decision or wasted moment on Mending, which is deliberate in its pacing yet never becomes a snooze fest. "The Day You Fell Apart" opens with sparse organ that gives way to acoustic strumming and silky vocals. It's in subtle moments like the slide-guitar bridge between verses that The New Frontiers really steal your heart and Mending reveals its true brilliance. This is a frighteningly mature album from such a young band. Absolutely top-notch material. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: The New Frontiers - Black Lungs
MP3: The New Frontiers - The Day You Fell Apart
Tags:
Boy Genius
You Should Know
Looking for some indie pop that could easily be more than a decade old but somehow still sounds fresh and new? I think I've found your band. Four-piece Brooklyn band Boy Genius creates shimmering pop music built on melodies, hooks, and simple yet catchy guitar parts. Their energy is comparable to older REM and they exhibit some of the loose slacker-rock sensibilities of Pavement. Mostly, Boy Genius knows how to pen a catchy song. Their new album Anchorage opens with "Radio Silence," a timeless track that sounds eerily familiar (in a comforting sort of way). With charmingly off-key lead vocals, garage-rock guitars and a smattering of unexpected horns and harmonica, the song sounds like a classic college rock anthem. "Talk About Love" is a shiny little pop gem laced with girl/guy harmonies that would be a blogosphere favorite if enough people heard it. Another strong track and possibly my favorite song on the album is "Great Lakes," which is built on an infectious reverb-laden guitar riff that will be stuck in your head for days. While Boy Genius seems unabashedly influenced by indie rock from the 80's and early 90's, they also add adventurous instrumentation that includes glockenspiel, trumpet, flugelorn, melodica, and cello. If you miss old-school college indie rock, I'd strongly recommend checking out Anchorage when it's released May 6th. You can purchase their CD at CDBaby. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: Boy Genius - Radio Silence
MP3: Boy Genius - Great Lakes
Tags:
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