Category: Reviews

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Earthquake Party! – vs. Pizza (2011)


Earthquake Party!
vs. Pizza
2011

Are you looking for three short bursts of super-saturated, hook-laden noise pop? Do you want to top it all off with perfectly paired boy/girl vocals? Earthquake Party! has just the thing for you!

vs. Pizza is 5:01 of fuzzed out bliss. “Pretty Little Hand” is a straight-up power pop tune riding a gorgeous wave of distortion. The guitar and synth blend perfectly. Earthquake Party! then proceeds to blast through “Nails&Hammers” in a mere 49 seconds. Songs that clock in under a minute and still feel complete have a special place in my heart. This one has a guitar line that will be stuck in my head for days. “Brains” closes things out; its vintage vibe meshes perfectly with the band’s noise aesthetic. I love this.

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We’re All Gonna Die – Kiss The Ground, Curse The Sky (2008)


We’re All Gonna Die
Kiss The Ground, Curse The Sky
2008

We’re All Gonna Die brought the thunder on Kiss The Ground Curse The Sky. The album opens with “Brown Rabbit.” The instrumental serves as a fitting intro to the dark, heavy rock on the rest of the album. “Bled Out” is in the number two spot. It has a sludgetastically catchy hook that most metal bands would kill for. Damn near perfect. The bulk of the record flows from the same vein. Heavy riffs, gritty solos and powerful grooves are the rule here. “Elevator Down” has Kiss The Ground Curse The Sky‘s most devastating guitars and a swaggering vocal. “Burn” and “Shank” are as a brutal as their names imply. It’s not heavy for heavy’s sake, though. These are bona fide songs. Good ones at that.

Jim Healey and company also knew when to pull back a little. “Nothing To Say” has a Jimmy Page-esque guitar part. The dark ballad “Dusk And Done” uses female vocals to nice effect. The melody of “On The Sea” lingers long after the record ends. These are not power ballads; think Alice In Chains in EP mode. These are melodic songs with lots of tension.

We’re All Gonna Die was a powerhouse band. Kiss The Ground, Curse The Sky is a testament to that.

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Velah – Black Olympia (2012)


Velah
Black Olympia
2012

When I caught Velah at TT’s last month, I was impressed with how well-formed the young band’s sound was. I knew their lineage. I appreciate the work the band’s members did in Static Of The Gods and The Acre. I had high hopes. I also know a band’s early work can be a bit disjointed as they find their legs. Black Olympia flies that notion out the window on a breeze of shimmering guitars.

“Wanderlust” opens this EP with an elevated level of urgency. The immediacy of the song defies the shoegaze tag that is often placed on the band. We’re introduced to the vocal interplay, intertwining guitar parts and clockwork drumming that will define these recordings. Each song steps out from there. The chorus to “Calm Down” is pure pop. The EP’s title track is majestic. “Glass Heart” threatens to drown in its own delay-soaked layers before breaking the surface in a triumphant crescendo. It all works. Let’s see where Velah goes next.

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Cask Mouse – Cambridge Sessions (2011)


Cask Mouse
Cambridge Sessions
2011

So no no don’t you worry
Someday I’ll settle down
But this fire in my belly
Is burning hot right now

Cask Mouse profess their wanderlust on “Astronaut,” the opening track of 2011’s Cambridge Sessions. It’s a feeling that will pop up again and again throughout the EP. This is a stomp-and-clap-along number filled with hope. It sucks me in. The drawl. The hook. The positivity. Cask Mouse are masters of emotional manipulation.

All of that optimism quickly turns into sentimentality. “Brick On Brick” is a slow, reflective number featuring some of the gorgeous vocal harmonies that have become one of Cask Mouse’s trademarks. Everyone in the band can sing with conviction. Bonnie Parks takes her turn on “Time To Breathe.” It’s a devastating number that revisits the theme of locational restlessness.

The places I’ll go
The things that I’ll see
Never really mattered that much to me
I’m leaving home
I won’t come back
I won’t come back
I won’t come back

That songs gets me every time. It’s brutal. I crash. “Smokin'” is the big hangover. This ode to hard living settles in with the slow burn of resignation before kicking up some dust. Cambridge Sessions closes with “Radio,” which pleads Cask Mouse’s case for displacement one last time.

Baby, turn off the radio
The sun is coming up
And I feel I have to go

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Muy Cansado – “Predisposed” (2012)


Muy Cansado
“Predisposed”
2012

Muy Cansado are on a roll. Hot on the heels of the fantastic “Not For Nothing” single, the band recently debuted “Predisposed.” It’s another gem. This one opens with call-and-response vocals filling the gaps between sparse guitar chords. The tension builds into some tight harmonies before busting into a laid back indie-meets-disco groove. Muy Cansado have a knack for marrying disparate musical styles into unique, cohesive songs. “Predisposed” is no exception.

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Parlour Bells – “Airwaves” (2012)


Parlour Bells
“Airwaves”
2012

There’s a big show at The Paradise on Saturday night. Some former WFNX DJs are putting together an event to celebrate the WFNX that was.* Parlour Bells are on the bill for good reason. They are a band that has always championed radio as being essential to the local music scene, even in a time of readily available digital downloads and internet streaming. They are tireless supporters of Boston Emissions, Boston Accents and any other radio program devoting time to playing Boston artists. They even performed on the resurrected WBCN rock bus. I believe Glenn DiBenedetto when he sings “now my radio dial is missing two front teeth.” He means it.

“Airwaves” is a sentimental reflection on the state of Boston radio in June of 2012. It strikes a chord by revealing the emotion of a specific time and place. “Airwaves” is a song about how fans of Boston radio feel right now. It’s immediate. You can’t listen to Nate Leavitt’s delay drenched guitars and not be reminded of the countless U2 radio anthems broadcast by both of our recently departed rock radio stations. It’s a consoling echo. I’d be lying if I said the song wasn’t playing in my head last night as I lay in bed. The sound of the Metropolitan Chorale** was ringing in my ears as prepared for a new day.

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You can also watch a mini-documentary on the making of “Airwaves” right here.

* See what I did with the link there? Garvy J And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance are part of the show, too.

** Kerri-Ann Richard, Richard Bouchard, Anngelle Wood, Michael Marotta, Chris Mulvey, Lisa Libera, Leesa Coyne, Adam Ritchie, Rishava Green, Matt King, Michael J. Epstein, Sophia Cacciola, Jessica Sun Lee, Adam Anderson, Michael Gonzales, Ken Marcou, Tom Roppelt, Joel Edinberg, Rachel Blumenthal, Sarah Rabdau, Peter Moore and Dan Nicklin all lend their voices to the song.

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Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance – “Celebrate” (2011)


Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance
“Celebrate”
2011

Garvy J And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance were one of the standout bands of the 2012 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble. This song was one of the big reasons why. “Celebrate” bristles with life both in a live setting and on this recording. It’s an upbeat Summerteeth-era Wilco tune with an adventurist twist. It’s a kinetic Flaming Lips track with a smooth vocal delivery. It’s vibrant. It’s vivid. It’s vital.

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Streight Angular – “Muhsheenz Machines Meschynes (We Were Machines)” (2012)


Streight Angular
“Muhsheenz Machines Meschynes (We Were Machines)”
2012

Sometimes a band is so surprising that you forget to be surprised by their surprises. Then there are bands that are even more surprising than that, surprising you with their ability to surprise you even when you thought you found their surprises unsurprising. If I’ve followed myself correctly, Streight Angular falls into the latter category. After an EP of fuzz guitar freak-outs and a Beach Boys-inspired Christmas number, the band has released a synth-heavy new wave single. What? A Streight Angular tune without buzzing guitars? They’re still there, but they take a back seat to the sounds of the electronic gizmos. “Muhsheenz Machines Meschynes (We Were Machines)” does sport a pair of Streight Angular signatures: a snappy beat and a simple vocal hook that will have you singing along in no time. I guess the least surprising thing about this song is how much I love it.

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The Daily Pravda – “Ziggy Stardust” (2012)


The Daily Pravda
“Ziggy Stardust”
2012

I’ve got to hand it to the guys in The Daily Pravda. They sure know how to do a Bowie cover. They treated us to their pass at “Moonage Daydream” back in January. Earlier this week, the band released a vibrant take on “Ziggy Stardust” to honor the 40th anniversary of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Do The Daily Pravda offer some new insight into this David Bowie classic? No. Do they offer up a version that is full of spirit? Do they give the source material the respect it deserves? Absolutely. These guys are obviously big fans and it shows in the best possible way.

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The Russians – EP.02 (2007)

The Russians
EP.02
2007

The Russians are the brainchild of Scott Janovitz. On this 2007 EP, Scott and his comrades-in-rock created 17 minutes of musical escapism.

The songs here are exceptional. Scott’s songwriting has always been a cut above. These songs ranked among his finest work at the time. “Your Only One” is an instant attention grabber with its piano and vocal intro. “Taking Noise Away” has a beautifully evolving chorus. “Talking To Yourself” has a gentle verse and a power pop chorus.

Pianos, guitars, accordions, handclaps and “aaahs” weave an intricate musical tapestry. It’s a complex mix and The Russians make it sound easy. The vocal layers call Brian Wilson’s production to mind. The seamless song transitions wouldn’t be out of place on Wish You Were Here. The guitar leads in “Your Only One” sound like they came straight off of Revolver, the bassline of “Crashing The Party” from Abbey Road. The Russians look to the past to create their modern rock sounds.

Half of this four song EP would end up on 2010’s stellar Crashing The Party. The other two songs, as well as the thoughtful sequencing, make EP.02 worth checking out.

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