Review: The Thermals - Now We Can See

I've had this review sitting on the shelf for a while. After the Thermals pottery class, I thought I would bring it out. This album has been out for over a month and I've been digesting it since then. The Thermals last album The Body, The Blood, The Machine is probably one my favorite albums to come out in the last ten years. It's catchy, anthemic, and makes you want to drive with the top down. Now We Can See is equally anthemic and catchy. The move from Sub Pop to Kill Rock Stars hasn't changed their sound. The addition of a new drummer and a new producer hasn't either. This record is pure Thermals garage rock.

That's it. Nothing else needs to be said. This is both a good and bad thing. The record stands on its own, both simplistic and powerful, but it doesn't aspire to much greater heights. The title track has already grown to be commonplace for me. The production and the "oh we oh" chorus seems forced. I don't want to be one those fans who is like, "I like them better when they had that raw sound on their demos", but it is partially true. "I Let It Go" was the song that got me excited for this album when I saw a clip of them performing it on a short documentary about Portland music. They were in a basement, with no drummer, just playing.

This is a good album. Hutch and Kathy are great songwriters. My expectations were high, probably too high. I'm already excited for the next album and for when I finally get to see them live.

Highs: "I Let It Go", "Liquid In, Liquid Out"
Lows: "Now We Can See"

Mp3: "Now We Can See", "I Was Afraid (Demo)"

Rating: 7.7

Review: The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love

Much to my surprise, I arrived home on Wednesday to find a package from the Decemberists' Shop. It seems my pre-ordered copy of The Hazards of Love had arrived a week before the scheduled release date (no autograph though). Thanks to this album being put out by Capitol, there was no MP3 download code so I set about recording and absorbing this rock opera.

They weren't kidding about this album being a rock opera. All the necessary components are there. The album ebbs and flows, there are classical characters, and musical themes are repeated throughout the album. After listening to this album, I felt the need to listen to Tommy, The Who's 1969 rock opera. There were many similarities. The biggest similarity being the repeated musical themes to show the entrance of characters. The lecherous Uncle Ernie receives a lilting oom-pa-pa style intro, while the the Acid Queen has her seductive rocker. All the while, Tommy's voice is shown through the quieter sections, until Tommy himself changes and the music follows suit.

In The Hazards of Love, Tommy is replaced by our hero William. He can be heard pleading with his mother, the horrible Forest Queen, through "The Wanting Comes in Waves". The back and forth is shown dynamically with the Queen's rebuke being backed with squealing electric guitars. The Decemberists even brought in guest singers to make these characters real. Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark plays our hero's naive love interest Margaret. My Brightest Diamonds's Sharon Vorden plays the Forest Queen. Colin Meloy sings for both the protagonist and the antagonist of William and the Rake.

The album is great as a whole, but loses something in its parts. The album opens with the organ and bass heavy "Prelude" leading into the standout "Hazards of Love 1", a straightforward but rewarding Decemberists tune. The album goes throught the story from song to song to using lyrical pieces and instrumental ones. The second half (after the interlude, of course), begins with "The Rake's Song", a heavy rocker that tells the sordid tale the the Rake's past. From there, the album builds to its climax following the kidnapping of Margaret by the Rake and his confrontation with William. A great finish to the album complete with a children's choir of the Rake's spectral children. I had high hopes for this album and it nearly delivers completely on them.

This album grabs you early, but loses the thread soon after. It comes back, though, with a roaring finish. It has the opportunity to become a classic album if it can hold up through repeated listenings. An ambitious album to say the least with lush instrumentation and well orchestrated by all involved. The album simply fails to take off completely. It stands on the edge of prog-rock ecstasy. It will be interesting to see how this piece translates live. I have plans right now to see the Decemberists three total times in the coming months, so I should have my chance.

Highs: "Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone)", "Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)", "Annan Water", "The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)",

Lows: ""A Bower Scene", "The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)"

Rating: 8.1

Review: Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

2009 just got here, and the biggest record of the year may have already arrived. Merriweather Post Pavilion is the latest outing from Baltimore wierdos Animal Collective. It's already getting rave reviews from the major outlets. The album doesn't officially come out until January 20th. The vinyl version was made available last week. Is it all hype? If you want to decide for yourself, you can stream the entire album online now.

The album opens with the lush "In the Flowers" which gives way to "My Girls". "My Girls" is a sparse electronic piece that draws you in with its vocal harmonies and pounding drum beats. It's my favorite song off the album. "Summertime Clothes" is a rollicking, bouncy summertime song as the title suggests. "Guys Eyes" is a big song in every sense of the word. The album closer is the first song to be released from the album. "Brother Sport" is an even bigger song and a great way to close the album. Are there bad songs on the album? Not really. There are songs that don't grab me like the others, but I could grow to love them just as much as the others. "Daily Routine" and "No More Runnin" just didn't grab me.

The one thing I've found to be true of all the Animal Collective albums I've heard, is that it takes more than one listen. The songs can seem simple, but on the fiftieth listen you may hear something you never heard before. Even after that, you either love them or hate them and couple more listens can change that. Is this album really as good as everyone seems to think it is? Maybe, but I probably won't know until 6 months from now when it clicks together. I could write a review then and give a completely different score.

Highs: "My Girls", "Summertime Clothes", "Guys Eyes"
Lows: "Daily Routine", "No More Runnin"

Rating: 8.0

Review: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - The Effects Of 333

Another band has thrown off the shackles of corporate oppression. Sorry for that melodramatic moment, but the Black Rebel Motorcyle Club has decided to follow the lead of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails and release their new album digitally on their very own label.

Like Nine Inch Nails before them, the BRMC chose to make their digital album entirely instrumental. There are only 10 tracks however as opposed to the 32 you get with the NIN release.

The album begins with three very similar tracks. They consist of nothing more than pulsing noise. It's intriguing yet becomes tedious. Just when you start to wonder whether you just paid $6 for an album of noise, the fourth track grabs you with some spacey guitar rock that you would expect from BRMC. This is the instumental prog rock I was looking for... but then it's gone again.

This is the story of the album. Uninteresting noise followed by brief respites of ambient guitar rock. The only problem being that there are more noise tracks than guitar tracks. Hey, if you can get into the noise more power to you, but to me it comes across as lazy. I appreciate the effort and price point, but I expect more for my $6. Nine Inch Nails gave us 32 instrumental tracks for $5 that were definitely more inspired. Maybe, I don't understand what the BRMC was going for. When you download the album, you recieve a link to charity that the BRMC supports. If you donate to them, you get a remixed track plus a way to decode the words in The Effects of 333. Maybe there is more below the surface. Either way, it is always refreshing to see artists try new things and find new ways to bring music to the masses. You can purchase the album from the BRMC website.

Highs: "And With This Comes", "A Twisted Side"
Lows: "The Effects of 333", "We're Not Welcome Alone"

Rating: 4.9

Review: The Mountain Goats - Satanic Messiah

Don't let the album title scare you. The Mountain Goats are not some Norwegian death metal band. The Mountain Goats are a folk rock band led by singer/songwriter John Darnielle. I had not heard much about the band before hearing this album.

Satanic Messiah is a series of four low-key piano rock songs. John will throw in an acoustic guitar here or there, but these are very simple songs for the most part. The music is simply a vehicle for John's great songwriting. He can tell simple stories or intense narratives, but both are delivered in his own quirky style.

The album starts off with a strummed acoustic guitar and single piano notes. John then draws you in with his unique staccato delivery. It's just different enough not to be boring and leaves you wanting more. Then the next song starts and you do get more, but it's more of exactly the same sadly. It starts with a simple, strummed guitar this time backed with a simple synth line. It's not bad, but it doesn't grab you like before.

These songs are not bad. They are all quite pleasant actually. It's just that they sound like the continuation of the same song and when John's songwriting isn't grabbing your attention, it can get boring. On the last song, "Gojam Province 1968", John's songwriting takes over and finishes the album with anthemic lyrics that draw you in.

The best part about the album is that you can get it for free or with a small donation here in MP3, FLAC, AAC, or AIFF (apparently the domain name satanicmessiah.com wasn't already taken).

Highs: "Sarcofago Live", "Gojam Province 1968"
Lows: "Wizard Buys a Hat"

Mp3: Album (.Zip)

Rating: 6.8

Review: Blitzen Trapper - Furr

I got this record in the mail yesterday from Sub Pop (a whole one day before the release!). I was already familiar with the record since the album was streaming from the band's Myspace (It isn't any longer, but you can stream it from AOL). I only recently got into Blitzen Trapper. I was familiar with their 2007 release Wild Mountain Nation. Since becoming addicted to the first single "Furr", I have seen them live twice and fell in love with their live show. Furr is their first release for the Seattle institution Sub Pop.

Blitzen Trapper's music is hard to describe. They draw comparisons to alternative country acts like Wilco and Drive-By Truckers, but they are not afraid to change styles track to track and sometimes in the middle of tracks. They inject a healthy dose of country twang into many tracks on this album. "Stolen Shoes & a Rifle" could be considered a straight forward country song by anyone from Nashville, and a good one at that. "Not You Lover" could be an outtake from After The Gold Rush.

Blitzen Trapper is at their best on this album when their influences aren't as easily discernable. "Saturday Nite" is a funky ditty with lyrics about "shakin' it on a saturday nite". Electric keyboard breaks and classical guitar interludes emphasize the point. "God & Suicide" has a driving piano beat backed up by a Ray Manzarek style keyboard line.

As much as Blitzen Trapper is great at writing powerful head-bobbing songs, the high points of this albumare when they slow it down. These are where vocalist Eric Earley's lyrics shine through. The first single "Furr" tells the story of boy turning into a wolf and back again with the help of folky guitars and a harmonica. This is my song of the year right now. The lyrics on "Black River Killer" could have been stolen straight out of Johnny Cash's diary.

"It was just a little while past the sunset strip, they found the girl's body in an old bent pit. Her mouth was sewn shout, but her eyes were still wide, gazing through the fog to the other side.

They booked me on in and threw me deep in jail, with no bail, sitting silent on a rusty pail, just gazing at the marks on the opposite wall, remembering the music of my lover's call."

Drew Laughery and Marty Marquis's keyboards are the driving force behind every song. They take the chorus of "Black River Killer" and make it their own. The lyrics on this album can change from catchy and fun to haunting song to song.

Highs: "Furr", "Black River Killer", "God & Suicide", "Saturday Nite"
Lows: "Fire & Fast Bullets", "Lady on the Water"

Mp3: "Furr"

Rating: 8.6