Archive for the ‘Album’ Category

Gypsy Cab Company — Zoetrope (2012)

Posted: November 13, 2012 by Is This Revolutionary? in Album
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This album was a lucky find. Well, it wasn’t so much “found” as it was “sent to us via the email that we’re supposed to diligently check,” but before you jump down my throat, that email, up until a few weeks ago was so full of clutter, it could have had its own segment on Hoarders. Anyway, after countless times glancing over the email with this album, I finally realized it was a music submission, checked it out, and immediately decided it to be my next review.

Gypsy Cab Company is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Jordan Miller. Jordan is also a founding member of math rock duo-turned-trio Time Columns, whom we reviewed back in June.

Zoetrope intertwines organic performance with computer-generated instrumentation in an entrancing sonic weave. In my short time with ITR?, I’ve listened to a ton of music submissions, plenty of which have used synthetic instruments. I’ve deleted most of them. I don’t care for them much. I’m fine with very obviously synthesized sounds. The ones that are intended to sound like real instruments, I am not so keen on. I find the timbre grating most times. Zoetrope is a glaring exception. One of the most endearing qualities of the album is the use of the synthetic instruments alongside the organic performance. A great example of this is the fifth track, “Nebulous.” The use of the MIDI vocals against the live electric guitar produces this bold, tantalizing texture that pulls you in close with the vocals’ sweet, curious allure, just to get you to the centre of the blast radius of the heavy, distorted guitar chords and blow you right back. Combine this with the subsequent soft wails of the guitar, and you have just a small taste of the highly dynamic interaction of the instrumentation. Point being, this album demonstrates an adept approach at aural multimedia.

I first listened to this album on Bandcamp through my phone, so the first track I heard wasn’t the first track on the album. It started me with the third track, “Underneath It All.” I had no idea what I was listening to, but I knew I loved all of it. The structure of it, as well as a lot of Gypsy Cab Company, is similar to many of the artists in the category previously mentioned. The difference? He does it right. The transitions are logical. The timbres are pleasing. Most importantly, GCC breathes life into a medium petrified with lifelessness.

So…? There are many artists that attempt what GCC does. I know of few that do it well, and fewer still that do it in the realm of efficacy seen here. My biggest complaint is that the album takes a while to get going. “Pulse” and “Mute” are okay tracks, but they seem to lack the passion of the rest of the album. On a six-track album, that is an issue. That said, the other two thirds of the album are still great, earning this album three and a half kegs.

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-A.

U.S.S.A. Pleasuredome- Icon (2012)

Posted: October 16, 2012 by Is This Revolutionary? in Album, Reviews
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The best part about reviewing bands is getting to know the people who submit their hard work and talent into you. Meeting one of the men behind U.S.S.A. Pleasuredome may have kicked Is This Revolutionary? back into full gear. A word that you can’t ignore while describing him is “genuine”, and that part of his personality certainly extends into his music. Not flashy or weird for the sake of being edgy/unique, Icon is an album that’s purely original thought and emotion.

The wide variety of drums and chimes used in the first song, “Intro/Sunspots”, gives it more character than most songs I’ve heard sporting the name “Intro”. Although the instruments are unique and the pace is upbeat, it doesn’t hit full stride until about 4:20, when this awesome sounding guitar enters the fray. “True Arctic Blue” juxtaposes the previous song with a more ambient and empty. This sets up the powerhouse of a song, “The Misadventures of Lou Smashfoot”, a song that’s duration matches the size of its skill and giant presence: 7:47 (like the plane, you know?). For the first three minutes, it carries this driving drumbeat with a great wall of sound, and after 2:45 or so comes in with a guitar solo that would normally be the focus of any late 70′s rock song, but fits in so well in the background. This then warps into a electric Arms & Sleepers sounding part, with almost a dubstep sound in the back, that I fell in love with on the first listen. I got chills at around 6:50 when they introduce another guitar solo, and I was in utter disbelief that I just heard something so eclectic and beautiful. “Ghost Smoke” features this trippy beat that sounds like something out of an old movie set in the Persian deserts, showing how unique they can be without jumping off the deep end. The last track, “Dreampool Ecstasy”, I believe I got to hear live, and it sounds just as good on recording. The little bit of vocals at 4:00, my jaw literally dropped; it’s so hard to explain how incredible it sounds without listening to it yourself. This album just makes you feel.

Rating: I waited on this album for such a long time, and it’s a shame. I wish I could have brought this to the public sooner. For an album that says so little, it screams so much emotion and raw talent. Icon deserves 4/5 kegs, and I will never regret that rating.

 

 

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B.

PS- The download card I got from him you can plant in the ground and sprout wildflowers. If you think there’s anything cooler, you’re wrong.

Joe 4 — Enola Gay EP (2011)

Posted: September 2, 2012 by Is This Revolutionary? in Album
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Coming across this EP was a pleasant experience for me. I haven’t listened much to punk since high school, so I always love coming across a new punk band. Joe 4 is a four-piece punk outfit from Zagreb, Croatia. I’m not sure what exactly to call them, since “punk” is a little vague for my likings. I’ll call them hardcore punk, since I find it relatively fitting. The Enola Gay EP was released last summer, and precedes what I understand is a new release due soon.

The seventeen-minute EP features some fierce duality. Play it in the background while doing chores or talking to friends, and you’ll hear a pretty typical punk EP. You’ll hear the coarse, throaty vocals. You’ll hear the highly punctual rhythms. You’ll hear the aggressive, minor tonality in the heavy guitars. If you listen in passing, you’ll likely mistake them for a typical New York hardcore punk band from the eighties. Don’t be fooled, though. These guys know a thing or two about technique. Take the opening riff for the first track, “Pigman”. It’s this huge riff that pulls you right in. It features a simple Rage Against The Machinesque melody, and while this seems like a typical ploy of a punk band, you may notice that the opening, as well as a large portion of the EP, is not as much about the melody as it is about the rhythm. It’s in 5/4 rather than 4/4 (for those of you that are unfamiliar with time signatures, most pop songs you’ll hear are in 4/4. If you can count from one to four comfortably in accordance to the rhythm of a song, it’s probably in 4/4. Four beats per measure. Fairly simple. 5/4 breaks that up a little by extending the count an extra beat). While I have nothing against common time, a great way to win me over is to play with time signatures. I am by no means shy in my love for math and progressive, so it’s no secret that I love to hear this stuff. It’s what gets me going back to listen again. You see more of the like in the second track, “Postman,” where the first section is a three measure grouping with one measure in 4/4 and the second two in 10/8 (arguments can be made for 8/8 and 5/4 respectively; I am admittedly a bit rusty in my music theory). These examples aren’t even the most complex ones on the EP, but I don’t want to get too deep into the intricacies of the time signatures. If none of this made any sense to you, try tapping your foot or walking to the beat, and you’ll get it. Kudos to the drummer.

Enough about rhythm. Melodically, the EP is pretty sound. This is where you get your punk fix. There is a lot of approximation of pitch, which is damn near a necessity to good punk. It gives the vocals, as well as the song as a whole, character. With respect to the instrumentation, the melodies are relatively cyclic and simplistic. While in some music, this would prove to be a detriment, you can feel while listening to the EP that it serves to keep the tracks coherent and enjoyable, given how much is going on with the rhythm. It also gives the music its drive. It’s what gets your foot tapping and your head banging.

As a whole, the EP has a few shortcomings. For starters, if you were to put the EP on repeat and just listen to it for a few hours, or shuffle the playlist and play the tracks in a randomized order, you would have no idea where you were. The tracks lack distinction from one another. Having listened to the EP a couple dozen times, I can recognize “Pigman” relatively easily, but beyond that, I’m pretty much guessing. Next, there were a few melodic sequences, things as simple as particular progressions, that could have been written to suit the encompassing music a little better (the sequence in “Johnny” at 2:03 is one that sticks out the most to me; it’s literally a matter of one pitch that sets the chord to be unsavory). While of course it’s a matter of stylistic choice, I can’t get past it. My biggest issue with the EP was that the music never really peaked. If it did, it was not as big as it could have and should have been. There was a stagnation within each song and across the EP that I just could not get over. This opinion of mine has softened to an extent over my numerous listenings of the EP, but the sentiment still stands.

So…? I got really excited when I first started listening to the Enola Gay EP. I really did. It felt like listening to the introduction to At The Drive In’s “Arcarsenal,” which is a phenomenal way to start a song and an album. Joe 4 has these tidal waves of force. Unfortunately, I felt like the waves never broke, unless they were the ones that splashed your ankles, maybe your calves, and it left me feeling unfulfilled. However, like I mentioned earlier, it is my understanding that there is a full-length release due in the near future, and I am genuinely excited about this. The Enola Gay EP gave me a taste of what Joe 4 is capable of, and I want more. They’re clearly capable musicians, and they have a great, unique sound. I want to see where they will go. Three out of five kegs.



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-A.

Satellites- Ghost (2012)

Posted: August 20, 2012 by Is This Revolutionary? in Album, Reviews
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One of the many projects of Erik Nava, A.K.A. DJ Egadz & the man behind Matterhorn, Satellites takes Mr. Nava’s already established electronic talent and gives it a new direction. Ghost is an interesting fusion of hip-hop and indie, at some points sounding like an instrumental version of The Postal Service, and at others, an up-beat dish of atmospheric electronica and dubstep that is too messy for its own good.

The best part of Satellites’ premier album is that never hits that oppressive, bass-thumping point that generally makes me shut off my music. No silly and boring club mixes on this album. Instead, Ghost contains many complex beats and arrangements that are both though-provoking and energetic at the same time. If Big Gigantic drank a Marley’s Mellow Mood and just hung out for a bit, this would be the result: a fun and interesting album that takes much of what DJ Egadz has to offer, and makes it more palatable to the more casual listener or one who is not a fan of hip-hop.

However, due to the toning down of many of the background beats that one can’t help but notice in regular electronic music, they blend in all too well with the main driving lines in a few songs. A perfect example of this is the song “Triple Helix”, which has this swirling sound throughout the course of the track, which leaves the song a wet mess when it meshes with the constant dubstep line in back. The proof is in the pudding, because when the dubstep is taken out at the very end, it cleans up impressively well and leaves me curious of what the song would sound like if it was less busy.

Up to this point, you may be thinking you may not even want to give this a chance, but that would be a sad mistake. Along with a few mishaps, Satellites provides for a bunch of breathtaking moments that I wasn’t even expecting. First and foremost, “Here’s a Ghost You Can Find” is an absolute killer track, my top from the album and probably one of my favorites from Kid Without Radio. It’s so explosive and attention-grabbing, it was hard not to take notice of it during my first play-though of this album. The higher notes make for a sound that reminds me of a woman’s choir that’s equal parts eerie and epic. In addition, the first song, “Paradoxi”, is light and playful, yet never losing seriousness, and it makes for an incredible way of opening up the album. The ending was so crisp and well-executed that it was almost tear-provoking.

Rating: With a few lows, some major highs, and most songs coming in at about midway, Ghost by Satellites is a promising foundation to build upon. Ghost provides an example of some of the best technical song-building skill Erik Nava has ever demonstrated, hands down. On the other hand, many of his other songs became to experimental and strange to even enjoy listening to. If you balance out the good with the bad, you land with a solid 3/5.

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B.

Oculesics — Never Odd or Even (2011)

Posted: August 2, 2012 by Is This Revolutionary? in Album
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It’s been a month and a day since The Night Wears A Sombrero, where B. and I had the good fortune to meet and watch a performance from Oculesics. I guess now would be a good time to get this review going.

Never Odd or Even is the Connecticut-based math rock outfit’s debut album, released in July 2011, and it has a ton to offer. The seven-track album is about thirty-four minutes long, and starts off with a one and a half minute-long track titled “There’s Only One ‘I’ In Selfish,” which is very telling of what the rest of the album has in store. In ninety-two seconds, it touches upon every section of the self-imposed “postexperimentalmathyjazzrock” label very nicely before it flows seamlessly into “Space Nails!.”

Seamless transition is a persistent theme throughout the album. Tracks like “So Strange A Noise. . .” and “Ed Booth’s A Scumbag. . .” break away from this theme, having very definitive ends, though as independent tracks, their dynamics necessitated these distinctions. They even served well, being placed in the middle of the album, to further establish the experimental theme of the album as a whole, allowing for a new form of variety. That said, I listened to this album a lot in circumstances in which I wouldn’t pay any mind to the track numbers, listings, or lengths, like while driving. As a result, I found myself frequently thinking “I wonder when this song is going to end.” Upon looking at my mp3 player, I would realize I was almost at the end of the next track more often than not. That is not to say the music at any point felt like it was dragging. On the contrary, I was so enveloped most of the time that I had no idea where I was temporally in the music. In writing Never Odd or Even, Oculesics was fully capable of seeing the forest for the trees, and what beautiful foliage they produced. It’s the type of forest whose landscape continually inspires you to keep walking, to pay no mind to how far you’ve walked or how late it’s getting, to take it in for all it has to offer. With the same sentiment, the album ends with a simple, unexpected (though not abrupt) release, leaving you content in knowing you’ve experienced the whole of it, though further content in knowing you can still go back and discover more. It’s a similar feeling to waking up after a long night of pleasant dreaming to the warm rays of a sunrise. It just happens, and it feels good.

So…? I wore my heart on my sleeve this entire review. They share characteristics of early Tera Melos (a cited influence of theirs) and late Flaming Tsunamis, which are my favorite stages of two of my favorite bands. They also fulfill one of my key factors in distinguishing good math rock bands from really good math rock bands, which is having at least one song that evokes memories of Metroid, which in this case is the transition from “Rotavator” to “Tulsa’s Mom’s a Slut.” Not to mention, the album title, as well as the last three track titles, are palindromes. AND the field of study from which they borrow their name could provide for conversation and contemplation for hours. Seriously, look into it. Everything about this band is cool. Four out of five kegs.

That's a lot of gunpowder.

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By the way, the album is available for free download from their Bandcamp profile, which I posted just above. I would strongly encourage getting your hands on it.

-A.

The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten (2012)

Posted: July 31, 2012 by Anthony in Album
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The Gaslight Anthem are back with a new album that is sure to please fans and newcomers alike. Following up from their last album comes Handwritten; an 11-song full-length that is teeming with melody and brokenhearted lyrics to boot. If you were turned-off by 2010′s American Slang, you’re in luck. Handwritten boasts a style that can only be described as a fusion of The ’59 Sound and Sink or Swim but adds in a new flavor all at the same time. The album as a whole has a very Hot Water Music-ish feel to it, but with more of a bluesy undertone on many of the tracks (which is to be expected of TGA at this point)

The album kicks off with “45″ and it starts with a bang. The track is incredibly catchy and driving, this will be one for the sing-a-longs for quite some time. The following 8 tracks after are all enjoyable as well, containing an array of melodic hooks (the title track is also quite good.) However, I think what stood out to me most were the last two tracks: “Mae” & “National Anthem” which I feel are the album’s strongest and a great way to close the album with an achingly melancholic tone. Bonus tracks also include a Nirvana and Tom Petty cover! The former was not expected but is certainly welcome.

The verdict: While this isn’t treading entirely new ground, Handwritten boasts a likely progression for the band and I feel it is their best yet. It’s great to see that a band who is on their 5th release not losing steam just yet. If you can catch them live, I strongly suggest doing so (if you can successfully wade through the rivers of people struggling to get a ticket)

4/5 kegs

 

 

http://www.thegaslightanthem.com

- Anthony John Czerwinski
anthonyjohnczerwinski@gmail.com

The Rest- Seesaw (2012)

Posted: July 24, 2012 by Is This Revolutionary? in Album
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7 dudes out of Canada making unpretentious indie-rock, The Rest are an easy band to love. The vocalist has a uniquely dreamy voice that fits in so well with the music they make. The first song I heard was the first off the album, “Who Knows”, and it was so incredibly executed that I immediately begged for the rest of the album. It was just a perfect mix of indie with almost a shoegaze element to it that took me back and made me hit repeat. When they sent it over, I had no idea what I was in for. More of the same, in a sort of Moving Mountains way? Completely different, diverting to a more traditional indie feel? What I got was actually a mixture.

“Hey! For Horses” is available for free off of their Bandcamp, and I love that combination of Adam Bentley’s Animal Collective-esque vocals against what feels like a Maps & Atlases influences sound. The cover of “Always On My Mind” was so unexpected, but they did an incredible job with it. “The Lodger” goes back to a calm, soothing landscape that I loved from the first song.

Rating: I didn’t want to describe this song-for-song because that would destroy all the surprises this album has in store for the listener. If you go into it thinking post-rock with vocals, you’re overloaded and left feeling let-down. If you go in thinking straight indie, you’ll be fulfilled at some points and bored at others. For those of us who love bands who teeter on the edge, this one is for you. 4/5 kegs.

 

 

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B.

Joy Wants Eternity- The Fog is Rising (2012)

Posted: June 28, 2012 by Is This Revolutionary? in Album, Reviews
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My fondness for Joy Wants Eternity has been in question since the first time I listened to them. I have often been accused of liking what some call “generic post-rock”; its actually one of the criticisms that I take to heart the most. In all honesty, I’m unsure what keeps pulling me in and listening with every album. Not as innovative as the bands that made it (the Big 4), they play a style of post-rock that’s so simple uncomplicated that it may be one of the most genuine sounds I’ve heard. They’re not showy or flashy, they’re not in-your-face intense, but rather they stick to the basics and perform them without mistakes. There’s something to be said about that.

The Fog is Rising is a slightly included album. Not flawless, but good nonetheless. Conceptually, I compare it to construction-grade diamonds. It’s solid, carefully crafted, and is perfect for its use, but at the same time, it lacks the luster that blows the viewer (or in our case, the listener) away. Similarly, The Fog is Rising brings a lot of talent to the table, with its peaceful soundscapes and calming atmosphere, but doesn’t provoke the kind of thoughts or emotions one looks for in an incredible post-rock album. 6 songs, 36 minutes of just good instrumentals, and no crappy vocals or odd instruments that make my teeth itch. Best song on this album is “Dark Heart of the King”, which gets very emotional by the end and is just an all-around fantastic work. “In Camera” was a bit of a wasted track: 3 minutes of piano may look good on paper, but for an album that’s short, sweet, and to the point, that’s better off being shorter and tacked onto the end of another song.

Rating: When I tell you you’ll enjoy it, you’ll enjoy it. This is a very good band for newer listeners to post-rock who want to be exposed to its purest form, without vocals or experimental moments. The For is Rising earns a 3.5/5 kegs for some entertaining easy-listening.

 

 

Joy Wants Eternity - http://www.joywantseternity.com
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joy-Wants-Eternity/75787420007
MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/joywantseternity
Last.fm - http://www.last.fm/music/Joy+Wants+Eternity

Digital Sales Available on iTunes or BandCamp
http://joywantseternity.bandcamp.com/

Vinyl and CD release available on Etsy
http://www.etsy.com/shop/joywantseternity

 

B.

Microfilm – AF127 (2012)

Posted: June 20, 2012 by Is This Revolutionary? in Album, Reviews
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Microfilm is a very unique, almost one-of-a-kind, post-rock band from France. From the first song I heard from them, “Andre”, I knew what talent they had, and it carried over to their newest release, AF127. Not the band for first time post-rock listeners, Microfilm’s experimental sound, more like Godspeed You! Black Emperor than Sigur Rós, is definitely one to behold.

With the first song you hear, “Flying Guillotine”, you’re rocketed into an explosion of energy, matched with very fitting sound samples (people screaming, gunshots being fired…etc.). Proving they’re not just one big ball of fury, Microfilm also encloses in their new album “Claude”, a 12-minutes jam fest that sounds like ambient gone haywire. What draws listeners more than anything is their extensive use of samples that range from French dialogue to scenes found in English films. It’s not so much the way the samples fit the music, but the way the band sound swirls around them, almost like they were made for the track itself. The most fitting example of this is “The Intruder”, featuring lines from the movie Bunny Lake Is Missing . As the situation of the missing child becomes more and more dire, the msic starts to pick up in darker notes and tempo. “Rio” has a smooth, almost jazzy feel to it with its bass line, dropped behind a conversation in French. The track that made me drop my jaw was “Beauregard”, an acoustic song with wind chimes and whistling and just…woah. For anyone who’s been listening to Microfilm for a while, yes, they did continue the “Dpt.” trend, this time with “Dpt. 7″, probably my favorite one to date.

Rating: I’ll be honest here, I do not understand this band at all. From the name of the album to the “Dpt.”‘s to their love for classic movies, I won’t even say I know exactly where they’re coming from. However, as much as the symbolism, the fascinations and the band itself is foreign to me, I truly love what they do and how they do it. And although songs like “Claude” were a little hard to get through, AF127 was an overall fantastic album. 4/5 kegs

 

 

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B.

Beware Of Safety – Leaves/Scars (2011)

Posted: June 12, 2012 by Is This Revolutionary? in Album, Reviews
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I’ll continue to write reviews for Mylene Sheath albums, even though they never acknowledge us.

The Mylene Sheath has been the home of some of my favorite post-rock bands for quite some time now, although recently, the latest editions to its line-up have been less than stellar. With my fears for the its future becoming more and more real, one band has helped shine a little light into the darkness: Beware Of Safety. With Dogs  seeming almost a century ago, I was more than prepared to listen to probably one of the best on their label. What they had to offer was equal parts intensity, grace and creativity, with all the mind-blowing  skill you’ve come to expect over the years.

Leaves/Scars was well worth the wait for any post-rock fan that likes to get a little dirty. If you want pretty elevator-music, you’ve come to the wrong place. Right from the first track, this album sucks you in with its technical skill, slowly swelling in energy until you’re being crushed by the incredible bass (check out the sweet solo at 3:34 of “Meridian”) and almost post-metal-like guitar riffs. And after all that noise, you’re brought down and soothed for a few moments,  just to be rocked in the eardrums by these primal screams that make you utilize all self-control to not start smashing things. Track two, “Kevin Spacey”, sounds more like the It Is Curtains Beware  Of Safety in the way that it’s still heavy, but doesn’t begin to edge the line of metal like the previous song. “Lowercase West” lulls like a generic post-rock song up until 5:08 or so, when they bring the ruckus with one of the best guitar lines I’ve heard from them yet. “Small Victories” plays like a track from the first couple This Will Destroy You albums, although it’s pleasant to hear in order to balance out the overall intensity this album brings.

Rating: By far my favorite Beware Of Safety album, and probably the best Mylene Sheath release of the past year or two, Leaves/Scars   leaves almost nothing to be desired, earning a 4.5/5 kegs.

 

 

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B.

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