Archive for the ‘2005’ Category

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British Sea Power- Open Season

October 23, 2007

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British Sea Power
Open Season
April 4th 2005
Rough Trade Records

So this will be a rare one-paragraph review. I know that is short, but I have other things to do…like delete the album I am about to review from my media player. I was at Sound Fix Records buying my regular Tuesday’s dose of music when I came across Open Season by Brighton based British Sea Power. I was happy with the price and with the CMJ marathon impending, I added it to my stack. What a mistake. Nearly every song on Open Season seems contrived and is entirely too accessible. I have trouble understanding what aspect of the band has appealed to the hip masses across Britain and the States. Victorian Ice has some style. It is tinged with an American-Midwestern beat and reminds me of when I drank moonshine at dusk on my porch in the summer while the cicadas buzzed and the lightning bugs swarmed. For that I am thankful. It’s just that I had to wait through some of the most ill-conceived pop songs ever recorded before my nostalgia was triggered. As for the rest of the CD, just because someone shamelessly lifts the melody from the verse of Love Will Tear Us Apart and inserts it into synthed-over distortion it does not make them post-punk.

Okay, maybe another paragraph. I am a fan of layers, textures and orchestrations, but British Sea Power’s add-ons don’t mask the underlying problem. Scott Wilkinson‘s vocals are boring, lifeless, and uninspired. What’s worse is that the lyrics sound as if they were written by the Charmin Teddy Bear on a binge of ketamine and Pop-Rocks. Some of the more positive reviews circulating must be either well paid or part of an international conspiracy to leech trouble making youths of their sub-culturally subversive spirit. What ever the case it is clear that they did not deserve to headline the World’s Fair curated showcase for CMJ at the Bowery Ballroom. In all reality I am convinced that it’s a joke. I mean, I think that this whole bit is supposed to be ironic…a farce. Sure they sound like Journey, The Cure, Joy Division and Morrissey all rolled up into one…No, really…

3/9


Other Records
Remember Me EP- 2003
The Decline of British Sea Power- 2003
The Spirit of St. Louis EP- 2004
Krankenhaus EP- 2007

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Posted in 2005, 3 Points, Bands, Britsh Sea Power, CMJ, England, Indie, Manhattan, Music, Music Review, Rough Trade Records, Sound Fix Records, The Bowery Ballroom, UK, World's Fair | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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Crush The Clown- Extra Sensitive

September 12, 2007

JerickNickGreg

Crush The Clown
Crush the Clown Box Set
Extra Sensitive: super thin for more feeling
Disc 1 Potato Pop EP/BMG Demo
Disc 2 Self Titled
Disc 3 So We’re Going to Hell
Disc 4 Sick Love- Songs of Heartache and Despair
November 27th, 2006
Unsigned

The Renfields
Misconceptual Art Rock
2005
Unsigned

As this blog descends upon a quiet Midwest town in the heart of America, the clouds part barley revealing the stop lights changing colors on the streets of 14th and O, green, yellow, red and then red to green. Around the corner an establishment of some repute, both blessed and otherwise, collects $3 as cover charge for the musicians about to take stage. Tall-boys of Old Style are cracked and foam slides down pint glasses griped by the hippest of bar flies. This bar, or tavern as it is called, is home to a banquette of barely known bands. Featured this night is a musical troop quite twisted and psychedelic. This band has played this stage since its infancy. An orgiastic love child of The Beatles, The Who, The Sex Pistols, Pavement, and David Bowie circa 1971, Crush the Clown knows how to write a good pop tune. Songs whose accessibility shuttles somewhere between Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band or Eleanor Rigby and Cracked Actor or The Bewlay Brothers. More than simply a stylistic revival, Crush The Clown has made psychedelia relevant again.

The band, comprised of Nick Westra, Jerick Olivetti, and Greg Joyce, has been a local favorite of the Lincoln music scene for nearly a decade. Their production is the very definition of independent, most of the music having been recorded and mixed by the band themselves. Live performances reveal Crush The Clown at their purest and best. Here in Brooklyn, I often tell myself, if only these people could hear Crush The Clown. Tracks such as Neverbuzz, Her Lovely Brainwaves, and Sunshine define for me their incredible talent. They rock their audiences while singing melodious ballads about forest creatures and the emotional ineptitude of blood suckers. If there has ever been a band that needed a right time or a right place, it is Crush The Clown. For those of you who’d like to take a listen, visit their Myspace page. I believe they only have a single song posted, which I hope will someday change. They have a wealth of recorded material to offer up. Given in a purple Durex 24 pack, these records are a true testament to what talent, creativity, and patience can accumulate.

Nick Westra, Crush The Clown’s singer and guitarist, is very active in the Midwest music scene. Not only has he recorded bands in his basement laboratory, he has produced his own records. One such record is titled Misconceptual Art Rock under the name The Renfields, for which he played nearly all the primary instruments. The songs are brilliant orchestrations and stand apart from Crush The Clown in style and aesthetics. This record was very ambitious. I can’t say enough about the creative force invested in Misconceptual Art Rock. With The Renfields, it seems as if instead of band members, Westra’s different manic and depressed personalities feed off one another. I hope that this creative interplay continues to be productive. It is with an exercised relationship with the imaginary and a deep sense of romanticism that both projects succeed.

As a final note, Nick Westra is also the bassist for the well known Chicago rock outfit Head of Femur who are set to release an EP in October followed by a full length next year.

8/9

http://www.myspace.com/crushtheclown

Related Sounds
David Bowie
The Beatles
Pavement

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Posted in 2005, 2006, 8 Points, Bands, Box Set, Chicago, Crush The Clown, Duffy's Tavern, Head Of Femur, Indie, Lincoln, Music, Music Review, Nebraska, Nick Westra, Psychedelia, The Renfields, Unsigned | Leave a Comment »

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Eagle Seagull- Eagle Seagull

September 7, 2007

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Eagle Seagull
Eagle Seagull
October 3rd, 2006- Lado
2005- Paper Garden Records

Marquis de Sade would have liked Eagle Seagull. I say this quite afraid that readers will believe that I am implying that Eagle Seagull’s music is lecherous, debauchery laden, sexually perverse, and morally deviant. Well…what can I say? Until now most of the “buzz” concerning Eagle Seagull’s self titled debut mainly deals with…the “buzz” around Eagle Seagull’s self titled debut. Much that has been written speaks of the dark yet poetic mood of the record or the epic vocals of Eli Mardock. Interviews often feature questions asking the band how they feel about comparisons to Clap Your Hands and Arcade Fire. Indeed, Eagle Seagull might be more aptly compared to The Cure, Pulp, or the dim and ethereal Blonde Redhead, but what does this really say about the band? Eagle Seagull will have a long time to define who they are as subsequent albums say more about their longevity and integrity, but their first one was quite a start.

The lyrical mood of Eagle Seagull is not simply dark. It is sinister, morose, morbid, and irreverent. I’ve listened to this record over a hundred times and I still think to myself, “Did he just say that?” The poetics of Lock And Key describe hearts “filled with doom,” and phrases like, “Won’t you just crucify me. Just kiss me and deny me. Drink my blood and eat my body. Come on babe just deify me.” from Hello Never demonstrate the noir themes pervasive in every tune. Holy sings the mantra that we’d all love to believe, that we are holy, that we are all angels. But hidden in short breaths and beautiful bells, Eli says, “You make me want to be a saint…who kills people.” Some tracks aren’t so reclusive in their violence. Your Beauty Is A Knife I Turn On My Throat has simply one of the loveliest choruses of all time. “Your beauty it is a knife…” This record is stunning in its romance with regret. Eagle Seagull’s debut contains love songs written from the recesses of the mind, narrating the human heart at its worst, while detailing its obsessive desire to be new again. This album is a rare feat. It is beautiful.

Also pervasive throughout Eagle Seagull’s basement ballads are deep and visceral melodies. They are heavy, contemplative and gorgeous, pulling the lyrical message out of the gothic darkness. Not since Boys For Pele have such delicate and desperate words been so easy to identify with. It is possible to treat these tunes as if they were buzz worthy pop songs only because the lyrics are matted within such a pleasing context. The guitars imbue the songs with subsurface tension, while the percussions abandon the post-punk model, seeking to add to the musicality rather than operate as a metronome. The intimacy felt in the songs reveal thoughts that we don’t and won’t admit we think. I greatly admire this band.

Eagle Seagull has two shows in New York City. In Brooklyn they’ll be down at Union Hall on Wednesday September 12th. On Friday September 14th they’ll grace the stage of The Mercury Lounge. I’ll be at both shows. I encourage all to attend. The last time my fiancée Hillary and I saw Eagle Seagull was at The Memories Bar in Chicago. As I recall, they followed a series of hard-core acts that blurted trite pleas to “Fuck the Government.” It was a little bizarre to see them play after a toothless 75 year old punk, bobbing up and down with his middle finger flopping around. Aside from Memories, I have not seen them perform away from their home turf. I wish them the best of luck in NYC and I hope that they get all the attention they deserve. Their upcoming record The Year Of The How-To Book, due out early next year, promises to be as phenomenal as their debut. I am not sure that there will be as much tenderness or vulnerability expressed, but I am sure it will not disappoint.

Read Review of NYC Shows Here

8/9

http://www.eagleseagull.com
http://www.myspace.com/eagleseagull
http://www.papergardenrecords.com

Related Sounds
Pulp
The Cure
Blonde Redhead
Wilco

Show Alert:
Union Hall- Wednesday September 12th, 2007
The Mercury Lounge- Friday September 14th, 2007

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Posted in 2005, 2006, 8 Points, Bands, Brooklyn, Duffy's Tavern, Eagle Seagull, Indie, Lado, Lincoln, Manhattan, Marquis de Sade, Music, Music Review, Nebraska, Paper Garden Records, Show Alert, The Mercury Lounge, Union Hall | 1 Comment »

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