The Long Winters
Putting the Days to Bed
Barsuk
originally published August 2, 2006
At first listen, Putting the Days to Bed seems like it’s coming out at the wrong time. The taut power pop songs that open the record sound much more like a natural follow-up to 2003’s When I Pretend to Fall than the more morose and experimental Ultimatum EP from last year. But even though it was exciting to hear Long Winters frontman John Roderick try to go all studio-strange on Ultimatum, this new record satisfies in a way that the EP never did.
Not that this is a straight-up rock record; there are a few slow dances in the middle and at the end. Like all The Long Winters’ output, this record is packed to the gills with clever indie rock, smart lyrics and Roderick’s uncannily memorable melodies. The big difference between the band’s older output and Putting the Days to Bed is a kind of stripped-down immediacy. While on previous records he worked with a diverse group of collaborators, and top-shelf producers like Chris Walla, Ken Stringfellow and Tucker Martine, Putting the Days to Bed finds Roderick finally in the producer chair, joined by not much other than bass player Eric Corson and new drummer Nabil Ayers (easily the best the band’s ever had). The results might've sounded a little tough and power-trio-ish if Roderick didn’t temper everything with tasteful keys, as well as his by-now patentable dense vocal harmonies.
Putting the Days to Bed is a summer record, and proud to be so. I used to wish that The Long Winters would go back to the claustrophobic and strange mood of their debut The Worst You Can Do is Harm, but I could listen to records as warm and welcoming as this one for years.
Sam Gunn John Roderick is playing Team Clermont's Summer Festival at the Go Bar on Saturday, Aug. 5 at 3 p.m.Various Artists
Neurosis EP
Ozone Media 320
originally published August 2, 2006
I was into drum 'n' bass precisely between the ages of 20 and 20, and I'm way older now, so perhaps I'm not the best choice to decide the fate of Athens newcomer Neurosis. Drum 'n' bass seems to be a dead genre by most standards. I'm sure there'll always be a club scene, but as far as "true" art, I can't think of any legitimate artist still working in the field. One could say it topped out in 1997 when Roni Size/ Reprazent's album New Forms beat out OK Computer for the Mercury Prize.
AP Bolan's "Slater" leads this 4-track EP off, and it's pretty standard Skylab/ Dieselboy fare, as a one-hook dark synth pattern rides the typical beat for nearly eight minutes. Natural Kauses' "Underworld" is more downtempo and inventive, although it falls back on the tired trick of movie sampling, and I actually bobbed my head to the beat for a minute. "Cheapshot" is the second track from Natural Kauses, and it sounds like the backing track to a Yin Yang Twins song if they tried to out-"B.O.B." Outkast and failed miserably. Break Frequency's "Body Rock" has a little glitch and grit to it, and is really the only track that earns its long running time.
Neurosis could have fared better if each track had been condensed and if a few more had been offered up. But this kind of thing has been done so many times before, and that was my same opinion more than 10 years ago. I hate to sound like I'm reviewing the entire genre negatively, and thus the above caveat. If you wig out to this kind of stuff, give it a go. A respectable amount of time went into this locally released EP, but I can't say it's worth yours.
Michael WehuntLYLAS
Lessons For Lovers
Fictitious
originally published August 2, 2006
I have no choice but to focus on the music here, since the vocals on Lessons For Lovers are buried in the mix and the lyrics sheet makes use of the infinitely irritating practice of printing all the songs' lyrics jammed together start-to-finish lengthwise across the inside of a three-panel booklet. (Note to bands: don’t do this kind of shit if you want anyone to actually read your stuff.)
Okay, whew. Just had to get that out.
Lessons For Lovers is a decent foray into soft-hearted, dream-pop, country-laden tunes; overall, though, it winds up sounding like Of Montreal mixed with Lambchop. The problem is that LYLAS doesn’t reach the cosmic absurdity and pop sensibility of the first or the gorgeous melancholia of the second. The band just kind of reaches this big “blah” area known as take-it-or-leave-it-land.
But listen, the album is not a disaster. It’s meticulously played and it’s obvious that lots of thought went into the record. Some songs (“Lesson One: Saying 'I Love You,'" “Teenage Phantasm” and “Lessons For Lovers”) are nicely conceptualized, pretty and gentle songs with tender acoustic instrumentation. As for the rest, see above. Take it or leave it. LYLAS is an example of how good players are not necessarily good songwriters. It’s not horrible and it’s not great. It’s simply lukewarm, and we all know what the Bible says about that.
Gordon Lamb LYLAS is playing Team Clermont's Summer Festival at the 40 Watt Club on Thursday, August 3.Muse
Black Holes and Revelations
Warner Bros.
originally published August 2, 2006
For those of you expecting Muse's latest album, appropriately titled Black Holes and Revelations, to be a feel-good, head-banging return to the radio-friendly rock that garnered the group so much attention with 2004's Absolution, guess again. Black Holes and Revelations is more of a political rock opera set in space, replete with distorted electric guitar, heavy keyboard synths and wicked-sounding drum and bass combos. Songs like "Take a Bow," "Soldier's Poem" and "Assassin" all suggest Muse has moved from the "We're just here to make music" to the "Let's overthrow the government" school of thought, and all without diluting its distinctive sound.
But whatever your political leanings, this album is not without a few gems. "Supermassive Black Hole" is a supremely dancey and infectious techno track, and the gigantic "Knights of Cydonia" is the coup de grâce of the album; with its spacey psychedelic synths and choir-like vocal harmonies that build up filling the void of space, it's a shame the song doesn't go on for five more minutes. The album is only 45 minutes long, but Muse fans won't have much to complain about. And for the rest of us, just put your seats in the upright position and get ready for a little space odyssey.
Charley Lee Muse is playing at the Tabernacle in Atlanta on Sunday, Aug. 6.Bob Hay & the Jolly Beggars
Tam Lin, And More Songs By Robert Burns
Independent Release
originally published August 2, 2006
A folk band in the strict sense, Athens' Bob Hay & the Jolly Beggars focuses solely on performing the songs of the late-18th century Scottish poet, songwriter and raconteur Robert Burns. On Tam Lin, And More Songs By Robert Burns, their second collection of Burns' work, Bob Hay (lead vocals, banjo), Bill David (mandolin), Dave Dowless (guitar), Ken Starratt (bass) and Diana Torell (fiddle) display a continued comfort with traditional music.
Hay's raffish whistle on "Whistle O'er The Lave O't" complements his seasoned vocal delivery found on most of the album's tracks. Most of Tam Lin's songs clock in with nimble efficiency - many under two minutes - though the title song is three or four times the length of many of its companions, allowing for an unfolding, rollicking narrative.
"Sandy and Jockie" offers a nice example of competing sides of Burns' music. While Torell's fiddle bows wistful, David's mandolin plucks light, lithe and lively; Hay's Jolly Beggars - many of whom were part of the early '80s Athens dance band The Squalls - know well that for every late-night drinking party there must come a morning after of repercussions. So, they suggest, why not just keep the party going?
Chris Hassiotis Bob Hay & the Jolly Beggars are playing at the Melting Point on Friday, Aug. 4.AFI
Decemberunderground
Interscope
originally published August 2, 2006
Call AFI what you will, just please stop calling it goth punk. Though some of the guys may like to dye their hair black, wear make-up and dress in leather, AFI’s music isn’t goth, and frankly, it isn’t even punk any more. With previous album Sing the Sorrow, AFI began to move away from the punk rock that marked the band’s earlier years, trading it in for a more melodic, more marketable sound. With such universal appeal, it boosted the album to platinum status. And on Decemberunderground, the band takes that concept a step further.
Actually, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that AFI has chosen to take a step backwards, right into the '80s. Upon first listen to Decemberunderground, it struck me as a very '80s (but credible '80s, if that’s not an oxymoron) synth-pop/ rock album, particularly with songs like “The Missing Frame,” a track that critics everywhere are declaring could have been written by U2 back in the day. Sure, that comparison may be hardly believable, but it’s true. While the band throws in a harder track or two, like the screamo “Kill Caustic,” the majority of the album demonstrates huge, swelling choruses that will stick around for days and hooks one would expect from a pop artist.
Tracks like “Summer Shudder,” “Love Like Winter,” “37 MM” and the single “Miss Murder” no doubt propelled Decemberunderground to the top of the Billboard charts in its first week. It’s refreshing to see a band that has worked so long and so hard achieve a level of success that it deserves.
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