[shh]out like a lion.

when a band is capable of taking an annoying everyday sound such as a car alarm and manipulating it ‘til it gets you shaking your hips a bit, they’ve pretty much got it made in the dance/punk scene. but unlike a lot of newer bands, the yeah yeah yeahs aren’t just another name you hear hipsters drop just to guarantee getting laid by other hipsters. people have actually heard their music, and they even like it!

for the four or so short years they’ve been around, they yeah yeah yeah's have created quite a stir, even if most of their press is shamefully misdirected, often bypassing the band’s music to gossip about karen o’s quirky fashion sense, wildly drunken onstage antics, and/or her romance with liars frontman, angus andrew. seriously though, the yeah yeah yeahs deserve all the hype they’ve gotten and their loyal following has backed them with the kind of confidence that many new bands lack, allowing them to take a big risk with their second full length album.

show your bones does just that, exposes the bones of the band, which are definitely solid but not nearly as hard as you might’ve expected. remember when KISS took off their makeup? okay, well it’s not that bad, but almost as shocking. if before the band conjured images of a rabid jaguar, now they’ve gone gold lion. sure “maps” is a good song, i can’t deny it without my pants lighting fire, but, i’m sort of disappointed by a new album full of similar-sounding slowed down songs.

the howling and hardrock breakdowns are still there, you’ve just got to listen more carefully. just do yourself a favor and skip over “dudley” (a painfully embarrassing ripoff of the lullaby, mommas gonna buy you a mockingbird). instead, check out songs like "phenomena," "honeybear," "mysteries", and "turn into." trust me, we’ll all get used to this. i can feel it in my bones.

want more?
http://yeahyeahyeahs.com/

the gossip heart nyc. ditto.

the gossip/no dynamics
@ the knitting factory : 3.25.06.


is there anything better than being unexpectedly floored by some no name opening band? after seeing no dynamics, i think not. imagine what an orgasm would sound like if it were a song, slowly building up to a steady throb and ending in the most insanely cathartic release ever. now imagine that this song is being sung by some sort of demonically possessed voodoo goddess convulsing in rhythmic perfection in the best red dress you’ve ever seen. sure the songs themselves were strong, but the delivery was uncooked perfection, bare bones hooks and raw red meat lyrics (“i want you and if i can’t have you, i want nothing”). you could tell just by looking at them that these canadians are so cool they’re actually getting bored of it by now. even if the dorky drummer admitted to living out his junior high fantasy by suckering the audience into a twisted sister sing-along at The knitting factory in new york city!

and man, the gossip’s got guts getting a band like that to open their show. still i doubt beth, brace, and new drummer hannah, were hiding backstage biting their nails. it’s just not possible to upstage the gossip who just put out their third and best ever full length album, which has not left my cd player since its release earlier this year. opening with "standing in the way of control," (the title track of the latest lp, which the increasingly annoying murray hill desperately tried to ruin with his own tap dance inclusive mock rendition), the gossip blew through their set with all the down home southern sweetness and pure punk confidence you’ve come to expect of them. stopping only so beth could catch her breath and spread the fat girl love, they broke out all the dance classics, flawlessly nailing both new songs (jealous girls, your mangled heart, keeping you alive, listen up) and familiar favorites (jason’s basement, swing low). still not impressed? well what if i told you that the after party was at the beauty bar and le tigre was sure to be there?

you can check out both bands on myspace or go here:
http://www.geocities.com/nononodynamics/
http://www.gossipyouth.com/

little disc, big disc.

finally, something interesting in my inbox. on may 1st, island records will release pj harvey's first dvd, pj harvey on tour- please leave quietly. the upcoming disc promises lots of live concert footage from the recent uh huh her tour, interviews, and other rare goodies, including previously unreleased material. songs include some of my favorites like, "dress," "who the fuck," and the ever-crazy "taut." trust me when i tell you that i am truly looking forward to wearing out the pause button on my dvd remote in an effort to capture the perfect still shot of those sexy stick legs, but without "rid of me," she still might leave me dry. yeah, right.

different strokes.

remember in 2001, when the strokes built the post-pop garage bandwagon for bands like the killers and franz ferdinand to hitch rides into the scene upon? remember when you first heard "last nite" and fucking loved it, but it's overly obvious radio-friendliness caused you to snub them in public, until eventually the guilty pleasure just spread like indie wildfire and the strokes became sort of endearing in that bad habit sort of way?

well, fast foward five years. it's the future and i'm officially sick of the strokes and the hundred other bands that sound just like the strokes. it's simple physics, folks. backwards motion tends to make people nauseous. and the strokes' third album is like a well-intended time warp gone awry, as it tries to whisk us back to a time that has barely passed us by. first impressions of the earth could only be excusable if it were actually created by inhabitants of another planet, truly alien to this redundant bullshit sound (which happens to abound in sickening amounts here on planet earth).

i admit that i was briefly shaken awake by the first single, "juicebox," and it's relentless serial-killer guitar riff. for a second, i was almost fooled into believing that maybe the strokes got a little bit bad ass! but then the bratty bastards slipped back to their boring basics, with fourteen tracks of bland music and repetitive fourth grade lyrics, like, "my feelings are more important than yours" and "i hate them all. i hate myself for hating them." i'm not even joking.

at least their website looks cool: http://www.thestrokes.com/index2.html

marshall has the power.

when it comes to chan marshall, people either adore her or cringe at the very purr of her namesake, cat power. something about her mopey demeanor and laidback crooning, leave little room for indifference.

we've all heard the stories. surely, you or someone you know or someone you wish you knew have witnessed one of her infamous on-stage breakdowns during which she stormed off or cried or spent the majority of the show hiding behind a flimsy curtain of hair, attempting the same song nine times in a row without ever getting it "right". well, relax. according to matador, chan has cancelled her recent tour due to mysterious health reasons, which is an absolute shame because the greatest is begging to be performed on stage.

the newest album draws on the same full sound present on you are free, only this time around there are a few new additions, mainly the plethora of instruments, including violin, viola, cello, saxaphone, trumpet! oh and don't forget the bluesy piano and country twanging geetars. it sounds overwhelming, i know. but buried beneath it all, chan's whole sappy lyrics/sultry voice combination remain completely intact. it's a trademark she will always own, no matter how hard beth orton tries.

though the album lacks any obvious standouts for airplay in weird stores like old navy, you might want to get yourself a blanket and some warm apple cider, and indulge in these last days of winter with tracks like empty shell, and the moon. you'd be wise to save songs like after it all for the long lonely haul of summer.

un-humdrum.

you know how when workers are doing construction right near where you're sleeping and you wake up cranky and ready to kill? well maybe the liars were making too much noise for me to really appreciate what they were trying to do. wait, what were they trying to do?

if their two previous albums were hammers and drills, then, drum's not dead (due out march 21) is at it's softest, spackling, and at it's roughest, a fine sand paper. i'm not saying i could curl up and sleep to this, but this whole less sound more music approach is definite daydream material.

let's face it, we're never ever going to hear any of these songs on commercial radio. mr. you're on fire mr. was their best shot and those days are long gone. still i'm sure accusations of selling out will abound from indie snobs without ears. yeah, the sound is softer and more approachable, but there's still plenty of weird effects and strange incantations to stick with the hip experimental/noise classification. at worst, die-hard fans might be turned off by this unexpected and seemingly wussy turnaround. i suspect they'll get over it. at best, less experienced listeners might scratch their heads at the peculiar sound instead of clawing off their ears in agony.

for international tour dates and other weirdness, go here: http://www.liarsliarsliars.com/

sole mates.

mates of state bring it back on march 21st with their fourth studio release. the first track, which extends over six minutes, winds down with both halves of the cutesy couple engaging in a "tired of singing" chant. but if the band is tired, you would never know it by listening to the rest of the album. whatever they've been practicing for the past few years, they have finally perfected it.

bring it back has all of the familiar components: the infectious keyboards, the unobtrusive drums, and the make-you-melt harmonies we've all come to know and love, but this time kori and jason seem out to prove that they can also hold their own. and they can. remember when jason covered nico's "these days" (for the eerily good wicker park soundtrack) and you thought to yourself, why is he not singing more? well, we've all gotten our wish. he gets his own song, "what it means," which is possibly the best moment of the album if only because it's stark, sparklehorse awkwardness and grandiose spiritualized choruses, stray so completely from the typical mos sound.

other noteworthy tracks include the catchy "for the actor" and also what i predict will be the live favorite "so many ways."

for tour/ticket information, go here: http://www.matesofstate.com/

how do they cram all that jam?!

andrew wood, kurt cobain, and layne staley are all dead. alice in chains, nirvana, soundgarden, all dead. i have single handedly donated enough flannel to the salvation army to warm the entire lumberjack community of the northwest, still i'm a sucker for pearl jam. waiting for their eighth studio album, i've been climbing the walls, like eddie vedder during a wicked porch solo back in the day.

the good news is that the self-titled album is due out on may 2nd, and you can download the first single, "world-wide suicide" from the ten club's brand new myspace page (for free!). but the best news is that beloved alt-country heroes, my morning jacket will be opening the first leg of the tour. after the vote for change tour, i was wishing this would happen and now i'm willing to travel into the bowels of new jersey just to watch jim james and eddie vedder compete for the honor of being my most favorite person ever.

for more information, including tour dates and ticket pre-sales go here:
http://tenclub.net/
http://www.mymorningjacket.com/

wolf creak.

in the upcoming winter months, an annoyingly large number of big bad bands dressed in wolves clothing will be taking a bite out of the big apple. wolf eyes, we are wolves, and wolf mother will all be playing shows in the nyc area.

um.. when the hell did this trend start?
have i been hibernating that long?

unless any of these bands are as good as wolf parade and are planning on devoting a significant segment of their shows to pay well-deserved homage to michael j. fox and/or jason bateman, well then i’m just not coming out to see them.

[addendum: ahem, wolf parade kicks off spring and marches right into webster hall in early april. i'll be there in all my hypocritical glory.]