Matt Pond PA - The Dark Leaves (2010)

Matt Pond PA has fashioned a decade-long (and counting) career out of giving us things we’ve heard so many times before. The Dark Leaves, is by no means a bad album. It’s pleasantly poppy, has a warm, approachable feel to it, is often rather tuneful, and the music and vocals lend it enough emotional depth for it to feel somewhat relevant. All in all, this makes for good pop music. I rather like Pond’s vocals, in fact. The only real fault is that this album feels somewhat unfulfilling. It delivers on the one front of being musically competent and having a nice atmosphere to it, but it lacks any real defining characteristic. There isn’t one aspect of the music that sets it apart or above the rest of the pack. There also isn’t any one aspect that is annoying or feels out of place. While there really aren’t many highs and lows, “Remains” and “The Dark Leaves Theme” are especially good songs, and this album wound up being far more enjoyable than I expected.

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Dr. Dog - Shame, Shame (2010)

Shame, Shame is a delightful album of sixties-flavored pop that has a very friendly quality to it. If this band is concerned primarily with writing fun music, they’ve succeeded entirely. The vocals have a nice spirited delivery, at times featuring very nice harmonies. My concern is that their style may give the illusion of a lack of personality, and thus limit the staying power of this album, but for now this should serve as a reminder that pop music is quite enjoyable when it is concerned with delivering catchy melodies.

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Across Tundras - Old World Wanderer (2010)

This is sludgy post-metal. The songs are long and progress slowly, so this feels very post-rock in that sense. The guitars create a murky atmosphere, but I especially like the solos.

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Here We Go Magic - Pigeons (2010)

This was released quite soon after their self-titled debut which was a very pretty psychedelic-pop album. It had a sunny, cheerful feel to it, while keeping the sound relatively fresh and interesting throughout. 15 months later, they’ll have released a second album, and it’s immediately clear they wanted to accentuate their pop sensibilities. They have done a fine job, writing songs that are genuinely catchy and tuneful, but not sacrificing that cheery psychedelic glaze that really defines the band. This new album is more immediately accessible than their debut. Their aesthetic is beautiful, and here they apply it to strong pop songwriting. The vocals tend to be in an almost-falsetto style, but aren’t so high in the mix as to dominate the songs. Instead, the textures created by the instruments is the real attraction. Some tracks, like “Hibernation” and “Old World United” are built around bouncy bass lines, while others use guitars and synths to create the mood. There are some slower tracks, like “Father Figure” (which is mislabeled in the mp3s posted) and “Land of Feeling,” which work just as well as the upbeat ones. With songs that are more immediately gripping than on their debut, I expect this album to stand out a bit more in the long run, but as it is, they have written two very strong albums in less than two years.

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The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt (2010)

It’s exciting to have a follow-up to his debut, Shallow Grave (2008) coming out next week. The Wild Hunt is certainly a worthy successor to that wonderful album. Shallow Grave showcased some really nice, intricate guitar playing, that was interesting enough to carry the album. It spoke volumes about his talent that he was able to make interesting music with just his voice, a guitar, and a banjo. In 2010, he’s doing the same thing. The most striking difference is that he seems to be actually trying to sing. His voice has a shrill quality to it, and on his debut he embraced it but here he sometimes tries to strain a bit, as if trying to hit notes out of his range. This doesn’t exactly sound bad; and, though it just took some getting used to, there is such genuine emotion in his voice when he does this, it is a joy to hear. The guitar playing is still beautiful, always suiting the music so well. He still delivers great vocal hooks to keep the music interesting (see “King of Spain” for the best example). On the last track of the album, “Kids on the Run,” the guitars are replaced with a piano for a surprisingly disarming ballad. The Bob Dylan comparisons I keep reading are, at least, somewhat valid, since both artists had ways of communicating very common feelings in creative and uncommon ways, through their lyrics and the general emotion their presentation lent the songs. The Tallest Man on Earth is an artist to keep an eye on, for sure. If this is worse than Shallow Grave, it’s only so by a little bit.

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Red Sparowes - The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer (2010)

So many post-rock bands are content to just run with a pretty melody for 8 minutes without it really going anywhere, or else write songs that go from point A to point B through seemingly arbitrary melody changes. Red Sparowes, who spell their name this way on purpose, are about to release their third album, and first since 2006. I can say, without hesitation, that this is their strongest album so far. In more ways than one the band has cut out the fat, so to speak, producing a leaner, more substantial set of songs than before. The song lengths are shorter this time around averaging just under six minutes (not counting the short intro), while before they averaged almost nine minutes. They use the time better too. Never does it feel as though a song is stretched out just for the sake of it. “The Sixth Extinction Crept Up” from their debut, At the Soundless Dawn (2005) is a whopping 19 minutes, but it takes over five minutes to get give us anything more than a singular repeating guitar note then after the 11½ minute mark it suddenly gives way to a minute or so of silence and then random echoes for the duration. If you need to skip around to hear a select six minutes of a 15+ minutes track, it isn’t worth it, beautiful as the meat of the songs may be. This isn’t a problem anymore. New track, “A Hail of Bombs” is a good showcase for this new approach. The guitars immediately set the mood with a pleasant, surprisingly intricate, melody that shifts subtly throughout the four minutes of the song. Not a note is wasted just lingering on an isolated stretch of pretty sounds. The very first seconds and the final few seem as relevant to the songs as the very middle. These songs immediately get down to business and end before they’ve worn out their welcome. In terms of actual sounds, they creating a tense, moody atmosphere, but also deliver plenty of gorgeous ringing guitars with a lot of haziness and reverb. This atmosphere is more tense and ominous sounding rather than being pretty in a shiny sort of way, but it isn’t overly aggressive or downright depressing. Another bonus–a rather superficial one–is that the unnecessarily long song titles from past albums are no more. Instead of titles like “And by Our Own Hand Did Every Last Bird Lie Silent in Their Puddles, The Air Barren of Song as the Clouds Drifted Away. For Killing Their Greatest Enemy, The Locusts Noisily Thanked Us and Turned Their Jaws Toward Our Crops, Swallowing Our Greed Whole,” we have “As Each End Looms and Subsides” on the new album. It’s a bit easier to take the band seriously now, with this less annoying surface quality and a more streamlined sound. They do what they do really well, and it’s great to hear them step it up. Aside from being Red Sparowes’ best album, it’s also one of the best of the genre in recent memory.

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Caribou - Swim (2010)

In 2007 Caribou’s fourth album, which was his second under the “Caribou” moniker was really more of an ambient pop album that used electronic elements but wasn’t completely dominated by them. That was a first from him and it resulted in a more coherent album than his other Caribou album or either of his two under the name “Manitoba.” Swim is predominantly an electronic album but it is hard to pinpoint exactly what style of electronic music it is. Sometimes it’s clearly ambient techno, other times it has an atmospheric vibe like Autechre. Some tracks, like “Leave House” are closer to the poppiness of Andorra, which I loved. Overall, this is a good album with a lot of pleasant sounds that don’t sound overly derivative, but listening to it, it may be difficult to know exactly what you’re listening to.

Murder by Death - Good Morning, Magpie (2010)

Murder by Death’s fifth full-length album is to be released on April 6^th. From the first listen, I immediately found it to be another strong addition to their catalog. Their most immediate quality is Adam Turla’s voice, which is rich, soulful, and very deep. The band’s use of an electric cello also adds immensely to their sound, lending it depth and creating a darker mood than the music would otherwise have. Good Morning, Magpie has more of a Western/Country feel than their past albums, although that style has always influenced their sound to some degree, though perhaps never as much as in their last two albums. Songs like “As Long as There is Whiskey in the World” and “Yes” are good examples, showing the band as blatantly western as they get, with catchy melodies, Turla’s great voice, and a moodier overall style. Some songs have a lounge vibe, such as “Piece by Piece” and “You Don’t Miss Twice (When You’re Shaving With a Knife).” On these songs they use horn sections and bass melodies to create something both upbeat and dark. “The Day” closes the album with a bang as the song’s lively percussion, rumbling bass, well-placed piano notes, and Turla’s relatively amped-up vocals all work together so well making it one of the best songs on the album, and in their discography. I once heard someone describe this band as a cross between Johnny Cash and Cursive, and although that doesn’t completely capture their sound, it’s not far off. Murder by Death create a tense atmosphere, with their cello and guitar sound, similar to Cursive. However, unlike Tim Kasher’s dramatic, highly emotional singing style, Adam Turla doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve. His songs, first of all, tend to be in the form of stories, rather than diary entries, and his vocals are understated, sung in a voice that is closer to talking than howling. When Turla does sing “loud” he still doesn’t sound like he’s straining himself to do so. Turla doesn’t exactly sound like Johnny Cash either, but like Cash, his deep, distinctive voice has an odd sort of charm to it. It’s really a joy to hear, although I tend to enjoy low-voiced singers. This album definitely has that old western feel, but it also has an ominous tone to it, which makes it unique and worth checking out. It's not easy to describe this band in terms of who they remind me of. It should suffice to say the music has significant depth to it, is often moody, but has a fun aspect as well, has the flavor of country music without being country, and uses its instrumentation to maximum effect. This band’s meticulous songwriting, coupled with their unique sound, and strong melodies make Good Morning, Magpie one of the best albums I’ve heard in recent memory. This isn’t just a unique album, but it’s one of five from a unique band, who have given me no reason not to expect their next album to be gold.

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Against Me! - White Crosses (2010)

I hate being the guy who complains about a band abandoning their old sound, but it’s difficult to avoid that sentiment with Against Me!’s new album. They have been my favorite band for about four years now, with their debut album Reinventing Axl Rose remaining one of my favorite albums of all time. Now, eight years after they released that album, something is different. Something is even quite different from 2007 when they released New Wave which was a great album despite being miles apart from their debut. Now, in 2010, the songwriting is definitely weaker. I keep feeling as though they’re trying to replicate their previous fury, but not quite nailing it. The lyrics feel a bit forced and are more general complaints than specific criticisms, as they used to be; they’re less hard-hitting. I should note, that in the hands of most bands, these songs would be far worse. Tom Gabel injects passion into everything he says, and his voice is capable of turning a bad song into a mediocre one, a decent one into a great one, and so on, in my mind. “White Crosses,” “High Pressure Low,” and “I Was a Teenage Anarchist” are all quite catchy. “Suffocation” is the best song on the album and fits nicely alongside my favorites from their back catalog. There are a few that I haven’t learned to like yet, but in time I’m sure I’ll come to terms with Against Me!’s changing sound and my opinion of this album will probably become more positive. I think that when they play these songs live, they’ll be performed with the same passion and fury as all of their material. This is certainly my least favorite album of theirs, but I remain a fan because they’ve given me so much terrific music. One album not up to their usual standards is not going to end my fandom, and if they want to play radio-friendly modern rock they’ll do it better than most of the bands doing that.

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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Beat the Devil's Tattoo (2010)

This is the first album by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club I’ve listened to and I immediately understand the widespread positive reaction to this album. It’s a creative take on post-punk, psychedelic, and garage rock that at times shifts closer to one style than the other, but is never easy to categorize. This album boasts a terrific, lively, guitar sound that lends some power to tracks like “Bad Blood.” The vocals tend to be in a lazy sort of drawl, akin to what most of those garage rock groups of the early 2000s went for. While it is a creative combination of rock subgenres, at times a given song will tread a little too close to a particular touchstone. This makes the band sometimes sound too much like their influences. This makes for enjoyable rock music, but it is hard to shake the feeling that they borrow a bit too much from their influences. Lyrics are a weak point (see “Evol,” for example), but since the music tends to either be very strong on its own, or else mostly drown out the words, this isn’t as much of a problem as it could be. Some tracks enter a sort of psychedelic/hard rock area, with “War Machine” especially reminding me of early Black Sabbath. Other times they will enter Velvet Underground territory on songs like “Evol” which makes me think of what it might sound like if Bono joined The Velvet Underground. The only true low point on the album is “Aya” which is an exercise in faux-goth brooding a la Marilyn Manson. I imagine I’ll skip that song more often than not. More often than not, they are an adequate modern day version of some of the more interesting musical styles of the past.

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