Deer Tick - Black Dirt Sessions

Partisan Records
2010

I fell in love with Deer Tick back in February. I think. Whenever they came through and played a show. It was on a Sunday night, and I had a few of their records in my iTunes that I had listened to a few times because my old roommate Ian told me I'd probably dig them. They were playing a show at the Jackpot, and wasn't all too familiar with their music. What a great show! I listened to Deer Tick obsessively afterward. I fell in love with Born on Flag Day first and War Elephant came shortly thereafter.

This album has taken longer for me to love it. Much much longer. I've put it on a few times while I was at work or driving around, and it just doesn't have nearly as many jams on it. I could put Born on Flag Day on any time and rock out to that one song "The Ghost" in my car, or more appropriately for this time of year, "Straight into a Storm." Black Dirt Sessions has fewer songs that you can really rock out to. Some songs feel way way stripped down. The first two songs are pretty catchy. "Choir of Angels" is a good opener, I kinda dug the organ and the weird harmonies on it. I'm listening to "Twenty Miles" right now, and it's a really solid Deer Tick jam, with a fun little bass line that sounds like it's played with a bow instead of being plucked out. After that song, the record gets kinda quiet. For the next few songs it's John McCauley III and a piano, and some song about the Sun being sad, which has to be one of the cheesiest/worst songs that this otherwise great band has written. It picks up a bit with the song "Piece by Piece and Frame by Frame" which is a nice pick me up after "Goodbye, Dear Friend"- it has some fun harmonies. After "Mange," which is a good summer jam, the album picks up a bit with some more upbeat songs that you'd expect from Deer Tick.

So what do I think of this record? It's probably the weakest record this band has done. It's not all bad songs, but there's a lull in this record that makes you skip over part of it. I could have really done with out that song "Sad Sun" and the new rendition of "Christ Jesus." There's really only about 3 songs that get in the way, the rest are really quite listenable. I think that I should probably put this record on again around October, because it kindof has a creepy vibe to it.

So yeah, I'm going to give it 3.5 out of 5 steering wheels. It has some good jams on it, but you have to wade through some crap to get through it.

Ghosty - Answers

OxBlood Records
2008

So this isn't a new record. It's been around for two years or so, but it's new to me. Ghosty kindof fell off of my musical radar in 2006, partially because it seemed like they played fewer and fewer shows. This seems to be a recurring theme as of recently- bands fall off of my radar, and then somehow I stumble upon that new record that was released somewhat recently. I'm pretty sure this is a good thing, because it reminds me of why I liked these bands in the first place. Often times I go back and listen to their older material, and it's totally baller.

Anyways, on to this record. It's full of some pretty great pop songs, with catchy and interesting guitar riffs and some interesting drumming. It's pretty much a build on "Grow Up or Sleep In," except that record was way better. The songs on here have potential, some of them are actually pretty great jams, like "You are a Big Screen" or "Dumbo Wins Again", but it just doesn't have that same charm that the old record did. Maybe it's because I liked the reverb on that song "Big Surrender," or maybe it's because the songs fit together better on the last record. Don't get me wrong, there's some good tunes on "Answers" - but it doesn't seem to fit together as well as "Grow Up or Sleep In." That one song "A Good Customer" is so awful it almost ruins the record for me. The chord progression on that song a) doesn't fit in with the rest of this album and b) really pisses me off. They used to play that song live, and I hated it then.

So yeah, this record isn't a sophomore slump for these guys, but it's not their best work either. It's not like Vampire Weekend's "Contra," which might be the biggest disappointment ever. Maybe they should play more shows here in town, so people are actually interested in their music again. Or maybe they broke up. Who knows what this band is up to these days. I haven't seen a Ghosty show in like 4 years, and I'd like to go to one. I guess that's my main beef with this band- they release this record and I haven't seen any advertisements for shows on Lawrence.com or anything. Then again, this thing came out two years ago. Man, I really am falling behind with my music.

I'm going to give this thing 3 out of 5 steering wheels. It's okay, but nothing really to go raving about.

Rogue Wave - Permalight

Brushfire
2010

I put this on the other night and drove around to it. It was like Wednesday so it was really slow. I really like Rogue Wave. I listened to Asleep at Heaven's Gate and Descended Like Vultures quite extensively. I get those two records confused because they sound kindof similar, which isn't a bad thing in my mind. They are both really good records to rock out to, with a few acoustic jams thrown in there for good measure.

So these guys finally overcame all of their health problems and released a new record after being off the music radar for like two or three years. While I don't hate this album, it's definitely not as awesome (read: rockable) as the last two they put out. There's too many drum machines and other electronic gadgets on here, and I'm sorry, it just doesn't work for these guys. I really like the opener "Solitary Gun" because there's not a whole lot going on that isn't Zach Rogue on his guitar and Pat Spurgeon on drums.

The second track is okay, it doesn't really have that much pull on me. The third track "Sleepwalker" has this really neat chord progression that I dig. The next track "Stars and Stripes" is also pretty good. After that, the songs are kindof forgettable until you get to the last song "All That Remains," which probably one of the best closing songs I've heard recently. Basically, what I hate about this record is that it sounds way too over-produced. Even for a band like Rogue Wave it's too polished. I mean, some degree of sound engineering would be expected for this kind of band, but this just takes it too far. There's too much auto-tune in here, or atleast something that sounds kindof like it. I don't really like the drum machines and electronic bits, but maybe it's because I've always had a bias against electronic music. To compound this, the lyrics are kindof corny. "Can you feel the fear itself?" C'mon, those are some pretty weaksauce lyrics. Part of what made Rogue Wave so awesome like 5 or 6 years ago was that the lead singer guy had just lost his job and everything in the dot com bust and you could kindof hear that sentiment in his music. Now they sound like a cheap version of Death Cab for Cutie, complete with awful Ben Gibbard style lyrics. Maybe Zach Rogue needs to lose his job again, because when people sing about losing jobs and going through hard times, people can relate to it more; it seems more real. It's part of what makes Born To Run so awesome (or Bruce Springsteen in general).

Anyways, this record isn't all awful. Maybe it will grow on me, but for now it gets 2.5 out of 5 steering wheels.

-San

Broken Social Scene

Arts & Crafts
2010

The last time I listened to Broken Social Scene was 2006 I think. I can't really remember. I saw them one Halloween at the Granada, and it was honestly one of the most fun shows I've been to. Either way, this album leaked like a week ago or something like that. I was pretty pumped when I heard there was a new BSS album about to come out. I think this thing is going to be this summer's jam album, which is good. We haven't had a good Broken Social Scene album since You Forgot it in People, which was a pretty baller record I must say.

So the great thing is that Broken Social Scene decided to stop fucking around with those "Broken Social Scene presents: so and so" albums. Honestly, nobody cared about that shit. I forgot these guys even existed because for the last 3 years (wow has it really been that long since they last released something awesome?) Anyways, this album definitely tops their self titled album. There's tons of stuff going on here, and overall this thing sounds very poppy compared to some of the stuff BSS did earlier. I'm listening to Texico Bitches right now, and it has this really fun guitar riff with some keyboards and shit layering over the top of it. I guess what sets this one apart from You Forgot it In People is that it sounds like there is more usage of electronics here, and not so many people on stage. I remember one of the fun things about seeing these guys live was seeing like 12 people on stage. I don't think we'll see that as much when BSS goes on tour. I guess they are down to 7 people now, with the usual revolving casts of guests, including that one hipster bitch from Metric and Leslie Feist. What has she been up to recently anyways? Last I saw she was on Sesame Street doing that really annoying 1, 2, 3, 4 song with Oscar the Grouch.

So this album has more sound textures going on on it than the last one they put out. I guess I've been seeing that more in records. I'm listening to "Art House Director", and for some reason it sounds like one of their old songs when it starts out. Oh now it changed. I think that's what's going to make this album really take off this summer. It's interesting. It keeps changing. It takes Broken Social Scene new places.

I can't wait until it warms up a bit more, because I can guarantee this shit will be on repeat, with the windows rolled down. I think this thing has the potential to be that one summer defining album, but we'll have to wait and see.

Almost mind blowing. I'll give this thing 4 out of 5 steering wheels.

The Get Up Kids - SImple Science

Flyover
2010

So last night I was at the Bourgeois Pig drinking some fine whiskey. Somehow my friend Quinton and I were talking to the bartender about the Get Up Kids and he showed this new EP to the two of us. I was like "wow, I had no idea the Get Up Kids made a new EP." Indeed, it has been a long time since these guys put out anything, what with Rob Pope being all cool in Spoon and Matt Pryor writing kids songs. I don't even know what the other three dudes are up to. I was riding through downtown Eudora a week ago and saw that the Black Lodge Recording Studio was for sale. I guess that was a bust. oh well.

So about this EP-basically, this EP sounds alot like Guilt Show. I mean the songs are laid out the same for the most part. The first song, "Your Petty Pretty Things," has that same drum beat as pretty much all of the songs on Guilt Show do. The guitar parts sound pretty much the same too. I guess Matt Pryor and Jim Suptic decided to use a little more distortion. Most of the songs here sound a little more grungy and not as clean as on Guilt Show. I guess what surprised me the most was how similar these 4 songs sound to Guilt Show, even though that album came out like what, 6 years ago? And forget comparing this stuff to Four Minute Mile and Something to Write Home About, this shit's still way toned down. It's like after On A Wire was released and Matt Pryor started the New Amsterdams, the Get Up Kids became more restrained and more of a pop band. Not that that's a bad thing, but I'm sure some of us miss the high-energy stuff that this band, and many many others made so popular back in the late 90's/early 2000's.

So I've listened to this thing twice today, trying to figure out how I feel about it. My computer is fucked up, so I've listened to this shit at home since it won't recognize my iPod for some reason. Thanks Apple! I can't really think of anything else other than comparing it to their last record, since they sound so similar. It's not bad, it's listenable. This thing is just kindof, well, boring. It doesn't really go anywhere. Who knows, I may listen to it more in the coming weeks and change my mind, but for now this thing just kindof makes me go "meh".

Three out of five steering wheels.

-Sam

Spoon - Transferrence

2010
Merge

Okay, so I put this record on and heard the first song. My initial reaction to this new Spoon album was "there's no way this is going to live up to the awesomeness of GaGaGaGaGa." For the most part, I was pretty much right. This record takes the minimalism that Spoon always toys around with to a new level, which I guess is pretty cool, but overall it kindof makes this record sound boring. Oh well. I was excited to put this on late at night and just run the record the whole way through. It seemed like it'd fit in with the late night work I do, since overall I think this record is toned down. I mean, the first song on this record (Before Destruction) is so quiet and minimalist that it might lead you to believe it. It's pretty much Britt Daniel singing with his guitar with some synths and shit thrown in. The second song on this album, I don't even remember what it's called, because honestly I skip over it ever time I listen to this album. The third song, "Mystery Zone", is classic Spoon. It's pretty much the best song on this album. Jim Eno's drumming really carries this song along and it's pretty damn catchy. Who makes your money is a good follow up to that. After that, this record is weak sauce, until the last like 2 0r 3 songs, where it picks up again. Fucking Rob Pope lays it down in "Nobody Gets Me But You." What a catchy ass bass line. Hiring him to take the place of that one guy was probably a good idea, as was leaving The Get Up Kids behind.

Either way, this record doesn't quite suck, but sometimes it comes pretty close. In some ways some of the songs on here sound like b-sides from GaGaGaGaGa. It's pretty fun to drive around to, but you pretty much just want to put Mystery Zone on repeat. The rest of the songs don't really add up. And why the hell did they make "I saw the light" the single? That's like the most boring song on this whole album. Anyways, I think this falls into the category of "Should have been an E.P." or some shit like that. There's really like five or six really good songs on here, and the rest is boring as hell, and it really kindof detracts from the good songs (holy shit, Mystery Zone).

I'll give it 3 out of five steering wheels. It has its moments, but doesn't add up. You'll end up reaching for your iPod and becoming distracted while driving, since you'll want to skip songs.

-Sam

New Purpose!

So, I 've been kicking this idea around for a while: I drive all night long for my job. I drive all over the city picking people up and dropping them off. It gives me atleast 5 hours of solid car+music+road time. Additionally I usually drive somewhere in the week, or crap I might even just drive around for the hell of it.

Surely, with so much time behind the wheel, it would make me an expert on what's best to rock out to while you're stuck in traffic or riding off into the sunset, just like in the movies. So I figured, why not start reviewing records based on how well they go with driving a motor vehicle? Holy crap, what a brilliant idea, right? I can put the whole record on my iPod, and then listen to it while I'm driving. I can then meticulously break it apart while I'm driving, and see how well the record matches my mood and the mood of my passengers, and also how it (possibly) affects my driving (does this music make you want to lean your seat WAY back and cruise around at 10 MPH below the speed limit? Does this music make you want to drive like you are running from the cops in GTA 4?). I will then come home at 4 AM and try to remember how the record made me feel and if that little camera thing in the car went off and recorded me singing. Crap.

Anyways, I'd like to start by asking everyone what their favorite artists are to listen to while they are driving around, be it just cruising around the city dodging potholes or in a full on mad rush at 90 MPH down the turnpike to get to Topeka to meet your family because you told them that you would meet them at Olive Garden at 12:30 and you left Lawrence right before 12:30.

I'm going to leave the political posts up here still....maybe. I'm sick of political crap.

-Sam