by admin | Apr 25, 2011 | Album Review, British Bands, Uncategorized
ALBUM REVIEW: Captured nicely in the British neo-psychedelia vessels were alternative bands like Railway Children, The Mighty Lemon Drops and The Wonderstuff. All trying to sound in parts like Echo & The Bunnymen and sometimes unconsciously like the poppier side of Dinosour Jr. Years later it’s Two Thousand Eleven and enters Red Light Driver‘s 4th release. These Indianapolis, US rockers are as much a flashback to this sound as they are filled with spot-on swirly pop guitars like said music movement from the late 80’s. This band shows that they are actually from the midwest on tracks like “The Away Anthem” but I question their passport in a very British Sea Power kind of way (insert stuffy accent here) on the opening self titled cut “Celeste Celeste” and then later on “Diamond Rough” – leave it to some Americans to give you incomplete song titles. Anyway, this comparison mostly has to do with the call and response vocals and drums on choruses and use of twangy guitars and effects. The band freely admits this so no harm done. This combo is going to bring the genre back into vogue as they present their case in a oversaturated market of internet bands who care more care about how cool their beards looks than the music. This well groomed Celeste Celeste EP shines a bright light on the genre where the bands were veering away from punk in order to be pop-stars and who did not quite survive the grunge era. In this case each cut has the naughty rock-n-roll bits re-exposed and re-examined and not in a lame Jim Morrison kind of way.
Red Light Driver:
Celeste Celeste MP3
Diamond Rough MP3
80’s Brit Alternative Pop:
That’s Entertainment MP3 by The Wonder Stuff from Never Loved Elvis
Another Town MP3 by The Railway Children
Inside Out MP3 by The Mighty Lemon Drops (1988)
Bonus Cover:
Paint It Black MP3 Stones cover by The Mighty Lemon Drops
by admin | Feb 9, 2011 | Album Review, British Bands, new music
Firesuite - You're An Ocean Deep, My Brother
ALBUM REVIEW: Firesuite – You’re An Ocean Deep, My Brother delivers on all sorts of levels. Imagine postal workers being let loose in an empty warehouse full of your unopened mail. With so many possibilities in these communications this band is here to make the rounds. Their stories are told through chilling guitar notes and none are spared during the assault of this shoegaze firestorm and a fire suit is indeed needed! The machine-gun tactics of the track “Sammy Davis Jr Jr” will wake your ass-up in a Municipal Waste company kind of way causing a ruckus when your hung-over in a earthquake in-between the dreamy guitar and male/female singing inter-play spread throughout this record’s songs. They are fallen angels putting you in a rock trance direct from the ministry of Heaven. The track SDJJ is actually named after the dog in movie the Everything Is Illuminated and the tune will surely get your attention as it rocks you out of the pleasant scene of your dream into an entirely different level. The 2112 bass playing drives some Toolesque sounds with a healthy walloping of guitar flange in particular on songs like “Beneath the roses.” In all this music will uplift your day and make it go much better like a pleasant note from a loved one on the fridge. You’ll hear the choruses and before you know it you’ll nod out to that dream again where some hot actress is singing Sci-Fi Lullabys in your ear.
Firesuite’s story is a “normal” one. Connected by equal parts melody and noise. Chris Anderson (vox, guitar), alongside Chris Minor (bass), Sarah Griffiths (vox, guitar) & Richard Storer (drums) deliver some pretty thick music all in here. Anderson met Storer dressed in white (not sure if they were his summer whites) and Minor while they were both unemployed taking a music course. They were fans of Griffiths’s who sang in a band called Bolster and they asked her to join. She’s been playing with the group for better part of year now. Influence wise it’s a eclectic mix. Anderson been listening to soundtracks, recently like “Inception” by composer Hans Zimmer. Storer listens to a lot of Jaco Pastorius and Sufjan Stevens, Chris Minor and Sarah listen to oodles of 4AD bands and the songs from Pingu. Which I think is part of the magic when the music comes together in this warm cocoon because if we all listened to just the Ramones we’d look like Joey Ramone as a butterfly. I asked Anderson some of the bands they think are very cool or need championing and he candidly mentioned two of Aereogramme’s new bands; Athletics and The Unwinding Hours are very, very cool. Mogwai’s new material sounds wonderful and Vessels.” Much inspiring which leads us to their video/single “Amity” cut by newbie auteur “Euston Piret“, which is the musical alter-ego of Ray Russell. This very cordial tune reminds us of a noisy mix of Stereolab and Sunny Day on that alone you should all be all over this band like hippies are to the 60’s to this re-imagined homage to The 90’s.
Download some goods:
Sammy Davis Jr Jr MP3 By Firesuite [Name your Price]
Beneath The Roses MP3
This music reminds of:
Pillars MP3 by Sunny Day Real Estate’s How It Feels to Be Something On (1998) or anything of their s/t pink one like Friday MP3 [Buy]
Code Breaker MP3 by The Sleepover Disaster from their 2009 release via Devil in the Woods called Hover. TSD are from San Joaquin Valley in California and their music is vast like a desert storm.
Kyberneticka Babicka Part 1 MP3 by Stereolab from Fab Four Suture [Buy]
Knut MP3 by The Unwinding Hours
Relevant Shoegazer bands, reviews and links:
Album Reviews: The Sorry Kisses and The Joy Formidable
The Big Takeover Turns 30! w/ Mark Burgess from the Chameleons UK, For Against, The Mutton Birds and more Sleepover Disaster.
From Captain’s Dead: Sunny Day Real Estate live at Cat’s Cradle 11.98
by admin | Feb 23, 2008 | Alternative Rock, British Bands, British Sea Power, Indie Rock, Music reviews, Record Review
Damn the Admirals, Britsh Sea Power was my bewildered discovery on emusic this month. The secret service folks on the other side of the pond have known for years. This band has got all the qualities I enjoy from the past bands like Echo and The Bunnymen, The Wedding Present and yikes Blur. Their new Album asks the question Do You Like Rock Music? Which really is your basic marketing ploy, no frills promise from my pov, and they deliver without blinking. No illusions there. They are the real deal. They are dynamic like Echo, fast like Gedger, and are able to put their rock on like Blur could. Stand out tracks are “Atom” and “No Lucifer” which complete what seems to be their third full length album after a whole slew of 7″s and cd eps. I am thankful there is no Cheeky hit perse but I will probably take that comment back. I’ll have to dig for that but in the meantime what makes this record awesome is their walls of sound that are like acid based dreams. The kind of music drug that has no hang-over and fuzzy like the flaming lips. I dig it gentlemen. No contest. Welcome to the club and don’t forget to let me know when your visa clears. We will spin on the show soon.
Thanks, -djs
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