When the grunge rockers were worshipping all things Black Sabbath and Black Flag in the early 1990s, Jon Spencer and his Blues Explosion were busily peeling back the layers to reach the raw throbbing heart of rock ‘n ‘roll, and like The Cramps and The Rolling Stones before them, Spencer and crew worked out that at the core, which had already absorbed so many teenage wet dreams, resided a pulse that was messy, decadent and nicotine stained. Spencer had previously done time in Pussy Galore, a band that rejected outright all those steady rhythms and pretty melodies which sustained popular music. It was much better to seek out the primal grunt with squealing guitar and banging stick as musical accompaniment. But Spencer was too smart to let raging hormones off the leash for the mere sake of it, and figured out that if the artist paid enough attention to the best bits in rockabilly, funk and punk rock which deeply penetrated that throbbing sonic heart, the potential unholy racket would sound like it made perfect sense and was as it should be. So it goes for Year One which, as part of a Blues Explosion reissue series, compiles 38 tracks from the first two albums plus a few loose singles. The listener knows that when Spencer shouts, “I’m going to write a number one mutherfuckin’ hit song” on the aptly named track Write a Song, the dude means business.
The Like - Release Me [Downtown]:
Ah, the timeless battle between mod and rocker. Back in the ‘60s, these two subcultures clashed over style and musical sensibilities. But The Like are a fickle band and clearly wanted to try both of the opposing sides on for size. The band’s first release in 2005, Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking?, was an alternative indie rock record – five years and a significant line-up change later, The Like have gone retro. Now not a twee tough-rock group, they are a tough girl-pop group. Inspired by classic girl groups and ‘60s female songwriters, their new sound features hand-claps and Brit-pop guitar.
The new sound is a little sweet, but it never turns sickly. While the girls sing predominantly about boys and relationships, it’s tough: less about true love, and more about making the boy who broke your heart wish he were dead. Opening track Wishing He Was Dead establishes the sound for the rest of the record, and songs Fair Game, Catch Me If You Can, and In The End all feature great girl group harmonies.
The album does tend towards becoming slightly same-same, and about half way through the album the tracks begin to blur together somewhat. But each song is still a candy-coated guilty pleasure, so I’m not really complaining. It’d be easy to criticise The Like for being too twee, or super sweet. But when the music is this enjoyable, you might as well like The Like.
Useless Children are one of those bands that are undoubtedly better live than recorded. Through a stereo they can be a little confusing and all together confronting, but their short-sharp abrasive sound will fill a room, making the walls buzz, strip your bones of marrow and fill them with hyperactive aggression, yet never actually want to make you beat up on anyone.
The Melbourne trio have gigged relentlessly since their 2008 birth, and make the current venue crisis all the sadder, as they are the epitome of bands that belong in live venues. Having such successful underground fame can always make the recording process all the more challenging, as there’s always a fear that the frenetic energy might not quite translate – however in this case it absolutely does, and brilliantly at that.
Skin is an abrupt release that plays jerkily and struggles to keep up with the fast pace set by front woman Cinta, with her proving on opening track Skin there’s more to being a leading lady than following the obvious Karen O route. Part of her wildly impresses me, the other part scares the shit out of me, but no one likes a fence sitting singer, and that she does not do.
Second track Namesake slams you into the wall and has an epileptic fit all over your ears leaving nothing but a bleeding mess and five seconds to recover and jump back into the final track, People Come, People Go. It’s a short and sweet recording, but encapsulates everything you need to know.
Over-Reactor - Lose Your Delusion Vol. 1 [Independent]:
Scale modellers and furry animal lovers rejoice! Like a movie monster who keeps coming back, Ezekiel Ox, the angry, hyperactive frontman of bands Full Scale and Mammal, has returned! Well known for climbing over crowd barriers to spit wrathful lyrics into the faces of unwary punters, he’s as full of vitriol as ever. This time he’s teemed up with ex-Dukes of Windsor drummer/programmer Cory Blight to form a hardcore punk duo. For a two man team, they push out an amazing full-on sound with eye jabbing vocals, bone jarring riffs and spine tingling programming.
Tracks abound with political messages and the thoughts of Chairman Zeke. Track 11 could easily have been written about himself with its message of “Always got a point to push”. There is no quiet ballad lurking at the tail end of this generous 17 title track listing, as the fast and furious rampage continues throughout. The only minor breaks are a bit of surprise scatting in Honey Girl and anguished vocals accompanied by just the echoing tattoo of sticks on steel drums in the weird Cry Yourself Hard. From the head banging anthem The Chemical Sound to the hip grinding rhythm of Alienation Song, this is brilliant. Anyone hoping for a change from Ezekiel’s previous incarnations will be disappointed, but fans of his previous bands will love this. I can imagine how dazzling this would be to see live. Please visit Canberra soon guys.
When prodigal sons Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith returned to the Maiden fold at the end of the last century, the band set about writing a ‘classic’ Maiden album – 1999’s Brave New World- and were so successful in achieving their aims that in one fell swoop they removed the turgid taste of Dickinson’s replacement Blaze Bayley from the mouths of their worldwide legion of fans. Then something went wrong. The next two albums, 2004’s laughable Dance of Death and 2006’s A Matter of Life and Death were massive backwards steps that saw the band retreating to the neo-progressive tedium that we’d hoped they’d thrown out with Bayley and his bathwater. Has the downward path been extended in 2010?
Thankfully no. At least half of TFF is Maiden in full-frontal top form, with tracks like the monstrous Coming Home effortlessly rekindling memories of classic mid-eighties Maiden, without ever actually ripping themselves off as they have tended to do on occasion in the past. El Dorado features a marvellously schizophrenic vocal performance from Dickinson, whilst The Alchemist sees the band in heads-down, no-nonsense mood a la Be Quick or Be Dead. It can’t last of course, and the second half of the album is weighed down by overlong ‘epics’ which all follow the same template; quiet start, metallic middle, quiet end - when a bit of light and shade, or, more pertinently, some thought to pacing - would have been helpful. Good, but not great.
Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP [Asthmatic Kitty]:
Sufjan Stevens made his mark with Come on, Feel the Illinoise. For years everyone was waiting for his next best thing. Surely his efforts to produce an album for all 50 United States meant more releases than Ani Difranco could fathom! (I wouldn’t put it past her - Ed.) Bootlegs like Majesty Snowbird and Barn Owl, Night Killer suggested a beautiful turn in form. Meanwhile, the BQE silly orchestral album suggested that he was too busy trying to remove formula to the point where the listener didn’t understand or care what was going on. It seemed that Sufjan, dismissing his 50 states project as a joke, had slipped into a funk.
Finally, a new EP can be purchased from the Asthmatic Kitty website for $5. The union of beauty with the overtly experimental works; the album sounding very folk driven, more like his album Seven Swans than Illinois. Heirloom and Enchanting Ghost are very Simon and Garfunkel basic folk. Meanwhile, All Delighted People (Original Version) borrows Joanna Newsom’s talent for building instrumental and choral arrangements over a ten plus minute song, reaching climax midway. Sadly, the striking Majesty Snowbird didn’t make the cut. Barn Owl, Night Killer (now titled The Owl and the Tanager) adds a brooding piano-centric balance to the EP.
His time may have come and gone but Sufjan still knows how to swell the emotion of his listeners, even though we all may still roll our eyes at his pretentious inattention to us.
Midnight Remember might be the most surprisingly exceptional album of 2010. Not because we were expecting a poor album from Little Red, but because on this, their sophomore LP, they’ve abandoned almost completely the ‘50s-rock, Happy Days guise that brought them so much success on their 2008 debut. But then again, the ‘50s shtick would have worn off soon enough, and the group’s courage in breaking cleanly from the style they perfected so well has paid off immensely. Midnight Remember explores a vast spectrum of rock-orientated styles; beginning with poppy, quasi-electro indie that brings to mind Phoenix and elements of Cut Copy, it then works its way through Van Morrison-influenced jazz and blues, a flourish of steady indie numbers, and climaxes in a whirlwind of The Pogues, Dylan, and REM-influenced brilliance. Word is the group was experimenting with dance beats and diverse instrumentation prior to their debut, but didn’t have the confidence to pull it off. Well, if they didn’t then, they certainly do now. Even if Midnight Remember doesn’t please everyone, it sets the group in good stead for what can only be an even more breathtaking third album.
