I love a consensus.
Teenage Kicks
Philadelphia * Kansas City
Thursday, March 08, 2012
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
# 11 (TM) - The Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing
After an avalanche of hype and well-deserved love showered
on Hometowns, their minor masterpiece of a debut, The Rural Alberta Advantage
returned in 2011 with a barely noticed follow-up, the even better Departing.
The RuralAlberta Advantage -
"Eye of The Tiger" (Survivor cover)
Finding a soft spot between the mopey bleat of Conor Oberst
and the boozy, urban strum of Deer Tick, the RAA are warm and inviting like a
best friend's patience, but they hold you at arm's length while they luxuriate
in winter's icy loneliness. And they seem to like it. Singer Nils Edenloff's nasal stabs at breakups and breakdowns are somehow comforting, because who doesn't want the last word in a split? Especially when it's "Good Night", a woozy, elegiac album closer that leaves everything behind except the possibility of love.
The Rural
Sunday, March 04, 2012
#11 (MA) Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo
Listening to this album is like enjoying a nice Scotch. The amber glow, the slow burn, the smoke, the hazy, stray notes that reveal themselves over time. Smoke Ring for My Halo is a gentle record that implies violence, riding the line between Neil Young and Lou Reed. It's a dark record that casts off light. It's a nighttime record that can carry you to morning. In short, a gem.
Thursday, March 01, 2012
# 12 (TM) - The Head and The Heart - The Head and The Heart
The Head and The Heart are a loose-limbed collective of indie folkies whose "Sounds
Like Hallelujah" sounds like Rufus Wainwright leading a midnight reverie with
Mumford and Sons. The Seattle group join a growing list of young bands (Fleet
Foxes, Bon Iver, Avett Brothers, Felice Brothers) who sound like old souls
blending acoustic roots music and heavenly harmonies to create nu-folk sounds
that can reach across generations. Lovely.
For all you haters and Pitchfork nerds, keep pretending tUnE-yArDs is listenable.
The Head and The Heart - "Sounds Like Hallelujah" (from The Head and The Heart)
The Head and The Heart - "Rivers and Roads" (from Fuel/Friends Chapel Sessions - 3/12/11)
For all you haters and Pitchfork nerds, keep pretending tUnE-yArDs is listenable.
The Head and The Heart - "Sounds Like Hallelujah" (from The Head and The Heart)
The Head and The Heart - "Rivers and Roads" (from Fuel/Friends Chapel Sessions - 3/12/11)
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
#12 (MA) Telekinesis - 12 Desperate Straight Lines
Whereas Army Navy (Trip's number 13) hail from power pop's retro jangle division, Telekinesis approach the form from the overdriven post-punk point of view of Redd Kross and the Cure, complete with stomping beats and jagged, sludgy guitars. This is cotton candy with a kick, part shiny sun, part ominous moon, all songs that buzz around your skull without asking permission or forgiveness.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
# 13 (TM) - Army Navy - The Last Place
Power pop lives on in the skinny jeaned, parallel striped
shirt world of Army Navy. Lead singer Justin Kennedy writes about affairs of
the heart and sings with the airy, well-scrubbed breeziness of Glenn Tillbrook.
Their sophomore release, The Last Place, finds our hero at Relationship's End
(what a perfect band name) with someone who might be a celebrity and might be
married. Every sad-sack song is crafted for maximum sing-along-ability, blurring
the acidic effects of heartbreak like greasy burgers ease hangovers.
If you like Squeeze, Teenage Fanclub, early REM and the dB's
(especially the dB's on "I Think It's Gonna Happen"). you will love
this record. If you don't like these bands, maybe it's time you started seeing
other blogs.
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