My Favorite Albums of 2013: One Blogger's Opinion ( No Arcade Fire or Daft Punk inside)

1- Warm Soda “Someone for You” (Castleface Records) - In 2011 I had the 70’s AM radio-sounding Power/Pop band Bare Wires on my list. Guitarist Mathew Melton’s new band Warm Soda makes the jump to the FM dial with a fuller sound and even sharper hooks. This was definitely my favorite release of the year.

2- Mixtapes “Ordinary Silence” (No Sleep) - Punk guitars playing pop hooks with crystal clear male and female vocals singing tongue-in-cheek sarcastic lyrics. Plus they like to curse a lot. Why have I never heard of this Cincinnati band before?

3- Palma Violets “180” (Rough Trade) -

While The Vaccines inherited The Libertine's guitar hooks, it seems The Palma Violets inherited their drunken swagger. Throw in a bit of a Lloyd Cole and the Commotions influence and you have a great debut album.

4- Iceage “You're Nothing" (Matador)- In 2011 everyone put the Denmark band Iceage's debut album “New Brigade” on their Best of lists leaving me scratching my head and wondering why. Sometime within then and this year's ‘You're Nothing” I finally got this (Early) Cure meets Christian Death-inspired band. Anxiously wait for what they do next.

5- The Maine “Forever Halloween”(Rude) - The Goo Goo Dolls started out as a fun thrash band. Somewhere in the middle of their transformation into the hugely successful rock band of today, they released the very good Power/Pop "Superstar Carwash" album and most people missed it. Thankfully The Maine did not. This Brendon Benson-produced album is literally a million times better than The Maine’s previous releases.

6- California X “S/T” (Don Giovanni) - There are only two things in a song I like more than loud driving guitars. Anathematic vocals and strong hooks. Luckily this Amherst, Massachusetts band possesses all three. I can’t wait to see them live in February.

7- The Strokes “Comedown Machine” (RCA) - Sometimes you just have to hear an album in the right place before it clicks. When this album was released in March, I thought it sounded weird, kind of disco-y, and a bit unlistenable. It wasn’t until July when I was in Vancouver’s Zulu Records and heard this album playing throughout each room that I realized how good it was.

8- Oblivians “Desperation” (In The Red)- There is no arguing this Oblivians "reunion" album is tamer than the raucous garage rock/demented blues of the Memphis, Tennessee band's nineties output. But Jack, Greg, and Eric Oblivian are a decade older and calmed down a bit. Even at the lesser intensity, the Oblivians would still blow most of the bands playing this genre today right off the stage

9- Crystal Antlers “Nothing Is Real” (Innovative Leisure) - 

You could look at

Crystal Antlers have been unlucky because Touch and Go folded shortly after releasing their 2009 debut or lucky enough to have released an album (and an EP) on such a great label at all. Either way, after a short stint on Recreation Records, Innovative Leisure picked up the reins and released this album full of Sonic Youth-influenced noisy guitars and Trail of the Dead psychedelia.

10- Vampire Weekend “Modern Vampires in the City” (XL Recordings)- I really wanted to like Vampire Weekend after lead singer Ezra Koenig sang the Descendent's “Parents" during F*cked Up’s 12-hour show a few years back but could not get into the “trying too hard to be The Police” fake reggae of their first album. The super annoying song “Cousins” on their second album “Contra” almost made me give up on the band forever. Luckily on “Modern Vampires of the City” they have replaced most of the reggae sound with a cranked-up bass and loud drums. Great album that has me dancing all the way to the train.

With so many of the same bands ending up on people's lists year after year, I try to keep my list to ones that have not been on my before. But there are two which have been who that deserve at least a mention:

11- Milk Music – Cruise Your Illusion (Fat Possum) - On the new album this Olympia, Washington band further expands on their Dinosaur Jr/Neil Young/ (early)Buffalo Tom style buzzing guitar hooks that made their 2011 debut album “Beyond Living’ so special. Only this time because of Fat Possum’s RED distribution, this one you can actually find in a store.

12- Wild Moth “Over Again” (Asian Man)- This San Francisco band follows up their two “Revolution Summer” influenced 2012 EPs with a louder and more mature full album, 

Iceage - You're Nothing  - One Blogger's Opinion

In the past I have been pretty hard on the band Iceage I actually never heard of them before everyone started putting the Danish band’s debut album The New Brigade on their “Best of 2011” lists. Then when I gave the album a listen I was shocked to hear how unlistenable it was.  I thought they sounded like The Cure’s Robert Smith singing in the shower while bassist Simon Gallup, really needing to get used to the facilities, repeatedly bangs his bass guitar on the door (“White Rune”, “The New Brigade” and “Total Drench”). I could not figure out how this album was lauded by so many when I thought songs like “Eyes” and “Count Me In” made New Brigade sound like the worst train wreck in Denmark's history since the Vigerslev train wreck of 1919.

 

Soon I would be eating crow, or how they say it in Iceage’s native Danish, Jeg ville være at spise krage

 

Sometime during the fall of 2012, after countless attempts to like New Brigade, it finally clicked. I still thought they sounded like “The Cure: The Shower Demos” but somehow it worked. And that train did eventually get back on track. Especially the triumphant album closer “You’re Blessed”.

 

Now when I found out Iceage was going to release their new album You’re Nothing on Matador Records I was “spændt” for its February release.

My Review:

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The first twenty seconds into “Ecstasy” may scare you that the band has gone shoegazer on us. Then the drums kick in and Iceage announces they are back but when singer Elias sings “Pressure, pressure. Oh god no”, you can’t help to wonder if the band is up to the challenge of following up such a well-revered record as New Brigade. “Coalition” (Track 2), faster and catchier than anything the band had recorded before, proves they are.

 

 After a mysterious one-and-a-half-minute track, the very Bauhaus-esque “Burning Hand” comes on. There are even some My Bloody Valentine fly-buzzing guitars during the chorus. You can really hear the desperation in singer Elias’s voice, especially when toward the end of the song he asks, “Do you hear me?”.

 

“In Haze” is where the album really takes off. Thick and almost melodic guitars guide the strong drunken vocals as they knock down everything in their path as the song moves forward. Those ringing guitars return for “Wounded Hearts” (Track 8) and the drunken vocals show their face again on the pounding and very urgent “It Might Hit First” (Track 9)

 

 Now I have heard Iceage compared to so many different bands from Christian Death to Black Flag and The Necros to Killing Joke and Wire (who doesn’t get compared to Wire these days) but I have not seen anyone else compare them to the band which to me is an obvious influence: The Cure. “Morals” (track 6), although a bit harsher, could just as easily fit alongside  “The Funeral Party” on The Cure’s Faith album,

 

Very Black Metal photo

The (pre-Big Country band) Scottish band The Skids is another band I am surprised no one has ever brought up. Listen to The Skids “Scared to Death” album (available on iTunes and Spotify) and you will see exactly where I am coming from.

 Just two albums and an EP in, Iceage is still working out their own sound. You can still hear pretty well where their ideas and influences for some of these songs are coming from. If you ever wondered what Mike Skinner’s band The Streets would have sounded like if they were a punk band instead of a hip-hop band, “Everything Drifts” (Track 7) will give you a pretty good idea. The chorus sounds like it’s taken right out of that band’s Original Pirate Material album. On “Awake” the band goes almost all out indie guitar rock. The guitars even verge into Dinosaur Jr territory.

 

Honestly, how many bands are there out there that had their own sound worked out at such a young age?

 

The album closes with “You're Nothing” where they take all the aspects of what made the other 11 songs stand out and have them come crashing down on top of each other all around you. This, along with “In Haze” and “Wounded Heart”, is my favorite song on the record.

 

Although I like to keep this blog positive, there are two things just slightly bringing down my overall enthusiasm for You're Nothing 

 

Upcoming New York City shows

The first is I can’t figure out why the band would want to place a minute-and-a-half industrial factory-sounding “Interlude” just three songs into the album. It totally breaks up the continuity of the album. I could understand if there were one or two more interludes on the album equal distance apart on the record but just the one sounds awkward and out of place.

 The second is that Iceage chose to sing track 10 in it’s their native Danish language. “Rodfæstet”, which I think translates to “Deep Seated”, and it almost sounds like it does not belong on the album. The song is to smooth and zippy. It’s as if the band loses their uncomfortable edge because they feel more secure singing in their first language. The uncomfortable edge it what makes me like the band.

 

Again I apologize to guys in Iceage for once saying they sound like The Stone Roses after their van drove off a cliff. You’re Nothing proves this band will continue to be a “twinge” in the punk/noise world.

 

(All Danish translations are brought to you by Google)

   

Your Favorite Trainwreck - Self-Titled Album - One Blogger's Opinion

When I told my wife I was going to write a blog entry about Your Favorite Trainwreck, she replied "That's you"!  While I could not really argue what she said, I assured her it was also the name of a new band with a couple very influential figures of the punk/hardcore/indie world.

Gameface and Farside were two bands I could never really get into when they were still around. In the 90's Gameface's music was just a little too poppy and singer Jeff Caudill's voice just a little to clear compared to the harsher more punk sounding bands on Dr Strange Records. By the time the band made to the move to Revelation Records in 1999, they had long been off my radar.

With Farside's band members having a history in various hardcore bands, including at one point Inside Out/Rage Against The Machine singer Zach De La Rocha on guitar, they were signed to Revelation from almost their beginning. The only thing was when I thought of Revelation Records I thought of  hardcore bands. Gorilla Biscuits, Bold or Underdog to name a few. Bands I could sing along to real loud. When I bought Farside's Rochambeau album alternative/indie/guitar rock was what I found. Lead singer Mike had a very original voice but still not what I wanted to sing along too. When Rigged was released in 1994 I gave Farside one more chance but again I found out it just wasn't my thing.

Around 2006 I finally got into both bands when I found an album by each one in the last few remaining discs at a going out of business record store. For Gameface it was their 2000 album Always On. Their music on this album was much mature then on those Dr Strange albums. Plus this time Jeff's clean vocals just clicked with me. For Farside it was their 1999 great Monroe Doctrine album. With it's awesome loud guitar hooks and very personal lyrics sung in Mike's totally original voice, plus a few fun different style songs  mixed into the 17 tracks, in my opinion it's one of the best albums out there. I would go into the styles of the songs but I do not want to ruin it for anyone. If you like music you owe it to yourself to check out Monroe Doctrine.

Farside had broke up in 2000, not too long after Monroe Doctrine had been released. Gameface had called it a day in 2003.

But now with Jeff and Mike together in power pop rock and roll band Your Favorite Train Wreck, we get the best of both worlds.

The album kicks off with "Let's Get Wrecked" and right away the band has their theme song. The rocking song has a seriously revved up first minute getting you all ready to go before Jeff and Mike start singing half way through. The two of them singing on the same song is an awesome way to get the ball rolling.

When Jeff takes the lead on the power pop of "Bounce Back" his vocals sound fuller and more powerful then on those old Gameface record. Mike's lower voice singing the back ups compliment Jeff's vocals perfectly.  Jeff returns the favor when Mike takes over the lead on "Late Expectations". The main thing which makes the album work so well is the way each singer puts their ego aside and supplies backing vocals when the other singer is in the spotlight.

The band also knows how to bring it down a bit like on the Mike sung "Broken Pieces". The acoustic guitars with a slight twang segue perfectly into the slightly more upbeat "Forget How To Live", this time with Jeff on lead vocals.

With songs like the super fast "The Reason Why You Sang", the driving "On Tonight" and the all out rock and roll hooks of the album closer "Roll Out The Barrel" there is not a clunker to be found anywhere on the album. This is definitely one of my favorite  albums so far this year.

But don't just take my word for it. Your Favorite Trainwreck has their whole album availiable for streaming right here. You can also buy it on RED vinyl straight from Revelation Records here

Soul Asylum - Delayed Reaction CD - One Blogger's Opinion

It's no secret that ever since I picked up Soul Asylum's 1986 album Made To Be Broken because it shared a record label with another band I had just discovered named The Replacements, I have been a big Soul Asylum fan. By the time I first caught their video for "Cartoon" off of their great 1988 Hang Time album they were among my all-time favorites. I first saw them live in 1993 at the Academy in New York City where they debuted a brand new song entitled "Runaway Train". 


Although I will always prefer the more loud and fast pre- Grave Dancers Union material more, I do love almost every song Soul Asylum has released. There is even a previous Audiolore entry right here where I "explore" their underrated and often ignored ...And The Horse They Rode In On album. Now that Soul Asylum has released Delayed Reaction, the bands first album in six years, I have to give my opinion on this album by the band I have been a huge fan of for the past twenty six years.

"Gravity" kicks off the record in fine form. Although not as powerful as "Someboy To Shove", a song I consider one of the best album lead off songs (Grave Dancers Union), it still has those pattented Soul Asylum hooks. Lead singer Dave Pirner's voice does have a noticeble raspy tinge not on the previous albums. I am not sure if this is from years of cigarettes or just from growing older.

"Into The Light" and "The Streets" are two great driving songs with fantastic sing a long chorus. The former a bit slower but bouncy while the later is faster with an awesome guitar solo about halfway through. Both songs sound like the band is having a great time in the studio while playing them.

"By The Way" and the piano spotlighted "Cruel Intentions" a little later down the album show Soul Asylum still know how to effectively bring it down a notch. Both songs are slower and quieter but by no means boring.


Track 12 "Let's All Kill Each Other" is my favorite song on the album. It's definitely the most rocking. Right up there with "Easy Street" from ...And The Horse They Road In On, "Just Like Anyone" from Let Your Dim Light Shine or even "Ship Of Fools" way back on 1986's Made To Be Broken. I've been singing this song on my walk to work since I first got Delayed Reaction last Tuesday.

From reading this blog it should be pretty obvious I have a strong love for New York City. Any song about or even mentions the city I live in get's a huge boost. It also helps that "Take Manhattan" at track 9 is a very good song.

"Should Have Stayed In Bed" proves to be a great pick for the end to the record. The slow swirling build- up perfect conveys the feeling of attempting to rise out of bed, almost making it before giving up and going back to sleep.

On Made To Be Broken, that first Soul Asylum album I bought so long ago, there is a line in "Never Really Been" where Dave sings "Where will you be in 1993?" At only 14 years old 1993 sounded so far away to me. Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine Soul Asylum would still be putting out great music even 20 years later.

Billy Raygun - S/T Album: One Blogger's Opinion

Ever since sometime 2010 when I stumbled upon their Bandcamp page, Portsmouth, New Hampshire's Billy Raygun has been a band I have kept a close watch on. What originally peaked my interest was the similarity of their name and one of my favorite bands, Naked Raygun. Figuring they may have been influenced by the great Chicago punk band I gave it a listen. Instead of finding that Naked Raygun/Chicago sound so many bands have tried to duplicate, I found this band opting for a more simple revved up pop punk sound. But not “Pop Punk” in the way you may think.

It would be easy for Billy Raygun to go for the “Pop Punk” sound of The Queers, especially since they share the same hometown, Instead the band has a sound more influenced by another band from the area. I am not sure it was intentional or even if the guys in Billy Raygun have ever heard of them, but I definitely hear the influence of the very underrated 90’s New Hampshire band Sinkhole as well as the pre-Sinkhole and even more underrated A.G.’s.

Over the course of a few comp tracks and Eps, by themselves and split with other bands, Billy Raygun has released many catchy punk rock songs with "Asheap" and "Clone", both off the 2010 split with Georgian, being two of my favorite. Each one built around a single tight power riff. Pretty good sounding but also pretty simple too. Keep in mind these guys were still very young when most those songs were recorded. As each release came out the band matured a little bit each time. The new Self titled album is the one exception. On this album the band has matured a lot.

The songs on  the album definitely get a little looser and a little more comfortable. Instead of that stiff single riff, songs like "Stale Smoke", "Ex-Friends" and "Color Me Distressed" have guitars and loose strings going everywhere in the vein of Crimpshrine or Fifteen but both Billy Raygun singers have better and clearer voices then (Crimpshrine/Fifteen singer) Jeff Ott. I'm going to make a few enemies with that one. 

Halfway through the album is the song "Tituba". It is a harder, almost metal instrumental song which serves as a great intermission to the album before the side Two gets going. Every fun punk band needs their own "Go nuts and smash things up" song. With lyrics like "I don't want to sleep right now. So smash it down and burn it up" the song "Silkworm" is Billy Raygun's.

"You're Always Right" shows the band knows how to write a broken hearted anthem with an awesome build up before the song's breakdown. The last lines of the song, with both singers singing their hearts out together is probably my favorite part of the all around great album.

"Go Somewhere", a song reminiscent of Jawbreaker's "Do You Still Hate Me" (off the 24 Hour Revenge Therapy album) closes out the album. The fact that such a young band can write an original song the same caliber of Jawbreaker at the peak of their career, shows how far Billy Raygun has come.

Right now the band has half their album streaming on their Bandcamp page here
but it will soon be available on iTunes and other online music stores. Check out Billy Raygun's Facebook page here here for more information on how to order a copy on CD or Vinyl.

Matt Skiba and The Sekrets - Babylon: One Blogger's Opinion

Let's face it. After 2003's classic Good Mourning, The Alkaline Trio became too polished and frankly pretty boring. I think even the band realized this when their last album was just rerecorded and acoustic versions of their older songs.

When I accidentally ran across Babylon, the new album by The Alkaline Trio's Matt Skiba's new solo band The Sekrets, keeping my expectation low I decided to give it a listen. Never really being a big fan of the songs bassist Dan Adriano sang on the Alkaline Trio albums, maybe Matt Skiba vocals alone on Babylon may actually be a plus.

The very powerful and very catchy "Voices" leads off the album. It's not too much different from the louder ones on the last few Alkaline Trio albums but it does have a little extra "oomph" to it. There is an (almost) annoying keyboard that probably could have been left out. Thankfully the keyboard sits out the next song. "All Fall Down", with it very strong full sound, could easily fit right in on the Some Kind Of Wonderful, Pretty In Pink or any other John Hughes movie soundtrack.

"Luciferean Dreams" tries to take the place of one of those Dan Adriano Alkaline Trio tracks. It's more laid back then Matt's usual scorchers. The songs title gives us this album's first taste of The Alkaline Trio's continuing "horror" lyrics and themes they first adopted years ago.The theme can also be heard in the lyrics to "Death of Joy" ("This crimson dripping off these hands of mine from all the time I've killed"), "You" ("Dreams of demons") and a few more places sprinkled throughout the album. I was kind of hoping Matt would skip the whole "horror" theme on this one...

"Haven't You" is a very New Wave sounding slower song. The keyboard is back and even attempts to hog the spotlight by show off with random noises here and there. The song does take off for the last chorus bringing back memories of "Continental", my favorite Alkaline Trio song. If you would like to check out this song, along with Babylon's "How the Hell Did We Get Here" and "Angel of Deaf" in their early stages, check out Matt's "Demos" collection from last year.

"You" is a fast moving song. In my opinion this is the best song on the record. Matt's voice takes on an evil tone. The pesky keyboard player decides to switch to a real piano and what do you know, it works! When before the last chorus Matt sings "Dance with me, dance with me" in a very sinister voice, I like to think he is paying tribute to T.S.O.L.'s classic 1981 horror/goth punk album of the same name.

For "Olivia" Matt returns to the friendlier voice. The song possesses a classic hook Alkaline Trio chorus which has had me singing along on my walk home from the train for the last two weeks. "Falling Like Rain" starts off with some scary Dark wave dance keyboard but the song really takes off with an ultra catchy chorus. Soon the keyboards returns but don't be scared, now they are not so dark!

By the time the album reached "How Did We Get Here" at track 9, I am actually missing those Dan Adriano songs that I used to fast forward through. The songs is very good. Powerful and filled with hooks, plus the keyboard is not so up front this time. But still this song made me realize Matt solo may have been better suited at just an EP's length.

The play on words titled "Angel of Deaf" closes out the album. Although it is a good song I feel Matt may be trying a little too hard to repeat "Blue in the Face", the awesome song that closed out Good Mourning eight years ago.

Overall Babylon is a very good album. It has been playing over and over again in my house for weeks. Even though there are about six of the ten songs that  really stand out, "You" and "Voices" stand out just a little further, ALL ten of the songs are pretty much better than anything Matt's main band has released in recent years. Horror themed an all

                      

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