1 day ago
The Dandy Warhols
The Best of the Capitol Years 1995–2007
Capitol
"Best-of" releases are a tricky affair. Does a group like The Dandy Warhols —which had maybe one or two hit songs in the U.S. (and that's being generous)—front-load such an album with the couple of songs that folks best remember them for, then follow up with 10 other forgettable, filler tunes? Or does a group like The Dandy Warhols play to its fanbase of yesteryear, which is now making babies and going to high school reunions, and attempt to remind those 30-somethings of why the Dandys were such a cool group in the first place—hit songs be damned?
The Best of the Capitol Years 1995-2007 goes for the latter approach. The result is a welcome dose of nostalgia for those of us in high school and college in the mid-'90s, and there are thankfully enough odd, seldom-heard tracks from the later part of the band's career to make the thing well worth buying. The Portland-based quartet has never made particularly challenging music, but the last time I checked, not too many bands were writing psychedelic bubblegum-pop tunes to any great degree either (Blur excepted). That was the Dandy Warhols' niche, their lair, and, boy, did they guard it well.
The Dandy Warhols are playing Center Stage in Atlanta on Nov. 11.
1 day ago
Efren
Always Been a Bleeder
Slo Pro
In a quiet eddy where gothic Americana, psychedelia and straight-up country swirl together, Scott Leon-O’Day of local band Efren sits holding a guitar. Armed with only his breathy voice, he sings of the hand he’s been dealt (“Check It Down”) and watches the brackish waters, at times assisted by a trio of instrumentalists.
But Always Been a Bleeder, the band’s new five-song EP, strays far from brooding rumination, proving more often celebratory than sober. Alternately stark and moving (“Rapids,” with its beautiful female backing vocals) or upbeat and kinetic (the pop-folk romp of “Potholes”), this is roots music unadulterated but without all the heaviness of a whole history’s weight—its roots grow in the here and now.
Accordingly, Leon-O’Day’s lyrics seem gleaned from the very fabric of his present-day North Georgia life. Equally strong are tactile descriptions like “Creeping thick like the August heat…” (“Potholes”) and emotion- or actions-based verses like “Cut the grass until I’m blue” (“Next Tuesday”) or “Small-town fame, let me see all of the sights” (“Check It Down”). They read like vivid snapshots, little moments imbued with information for all of the senses.
So, maybe Always Been a Bleeder explores nothing sonically new, but it’s earnest and bare-breasted and true. It’s a glassy pond that reflects Leon-O’Day’s expressive face back at us. As “Rapids” refrains, “Believe in these dreams/ They may be what they seem.”
Efren is playing Saturday, Sept. 18 at Farm 255.
1 day ago
Zoroaster
Matador
E1 Music
Although they’re not the household name that their game-changing brethren Mastodon are, this Atlanta trio is doing just as much to further not only the fertile Georgia metal scene but heavy music at large. Known by the cognoscenti as one of the form’s most convincingly intrepid bands, the horizon of their ever-expanding psych metal broadens each time they emerge from the studio, always testing the genre’s elasticity. And though Matador continues on their laudably mind-expanding path, it’s also more accessible. Considering the tar pits of doomed-out stoner sludge from which they emerged, their sound here is more noticeably kaleidoscopic, with heavier touches of psychedelic rock, hypnotic metal-gaze and gothic undertones.
Some of this album’s most definitive moments—“Odyssey,” “Old World” and “Matador”—play like dark ceremonies, pairing thick psych-rock sensuality with aboriginal groans. Equally heady is “D.N.R.,” whose nasty metal slither winds down swirling corridors of echoing gothic moans. And while the more conventional “Trident” proves that the band can still torch a hot-licking burnout, the ravaged “Firewater” features a vexed hive of fried noise effects swarming atop a muscular, narcotic groove. All told, Matador is a bold illustration that Zoroaster’s genius is in its ability to, thus far, provide listeners with the thrill of discovery without the fear of disappointment.
1 day ago
Sugar Dicks
Everybody's Dead
Expat Recordings
Once upon a time, garage rock had seemingly run its course. Everyone and their mother had an unoriginal, scruffy, slacker band, each one worse than the last. Then Athenians the Sugar Dicks came along with their lone effort, Everybody’s Dead, to remind us all how much fun music can be when indie is more of an ethic than a genre. And the funny thing is that it’s alarmingly simple. You really don’t need some heavy point to make. You just need a good sense of what fun, unpretentious music sounds and feels like, which means those making the music must possess those qualities within, too. And the Sugar Dicks seem to have them in spades. While down-to-earth tunes can sometimes be hard to come by in today’s world of woe-is-me songwriting, this band has managed to string together eight songs worth of fuzzy guitars and molten energy, bearing earnest comparisons to early '90s DIY heroes like Superchunk.
It really is a shame this album is a one-off. In a music-drenched town like Athens, it must be hard for a band to truly distinguish itself. The Sugar Dicks just might have had what it takes.
1 day ago
Bambara
Dog Ear Days
Emerald Weapon
Local power-trio Bambara is known for its blaring, intense live shows, but this EP showcases the band's deft handling of both volume and quiet.
Not that there is a softer side to Bambara. Even on this album's most gentle numbers, like "Drag Hesitation" and "Feed the Pigs," there is tension and anxiety. The latter song is particularly haunting, as Reid Bateh's hushed vocals fade into a horrific din filled with piercing tones and a low, ominous drone that sounds both like zombie moans and an encroaching swarm of killer bees. "Swim with Trees" is mellow in its pace, but the warped guitars are relentlessly abrasive; Bateh's soft voice all but drowns in his guitar's distortion, and the result is like a disorienting, slow motion, drug-addled meltdown.
And then there are the loud songs. Bambara's attack will cut you like shards of glass. The ear-shattering guitar on "Stay Green," the album's most propulsive track, suggests the band learned a few tricks from tour buddies HEALTH. Unfortunately the low-end is lost in the mix here. In fact, it's a challenge to pick out the bass lines on most of the EP, but on this song even the drums are reduced to the crash crash crash of cymbals and snare. It's unfortunate that the track is so tightly compressed, as the ferocity of Bambara, when given the space to really sprawl, can pack an incredible punch. Even so, Dog Ear Days is not for the faint of heart.
Bambara is playing at the Caledonia Lounge on Friday, Sept. 3.
1 day ago
The National
High Violet
4AD
The Brooklyn-based band’s fifth studio album, High Violet, has succeeded in bringing a musically dynamic and emotionally complex follow-up to The National's two previously well-received records. Fans who admired the band's strong rhythms and introspective songs will not be disappointed in one of the year’s best indie releases. Matt Berninger’s songs, delivered in his distinctive baritone and backed by an excellent ensemble of players, show that thoughtful indie “geek music” can be rewarding, despite its bleak emotional tenor.
High Violet is filled with beautiful pop songs with enigmatic lyrics and the band’s familiar themes of loneliness, dark relationships, insecurity and paranoia. The opening song, “Terrible Love,” sets the tone with Berninger’s cryptic singing about “walking with spiders.” While some critics complain about his opaque lyrics and vocals, Athenians may remember that Michael Stipe got the same critique when Murmur was first released. Berninger likes images that are "blurry" and "suggestive," and his song narrators are riddled with ironic ambiguity. The lead single “Blood Buzz Ohio” shows the band’s characteristic charms as Berninger’s baritone belts that “I’m on a bloodbuzz.” “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks” concludes with a singalong and memorable refrain of “Swans are a swimming/ I’ll explain everything to the geeks.”
While The National’s lyrics are often depressing, the music is energetic. These songs are like a symphony unfolding. Berninger’s numerous shades of morose lead the tempo, countered by the rhythmic drumming of Bryan Dessner, the soft guitars of Bryce Dessner, orchestral flourishes, and background singing. This is producer Peter Katis' third straight album with the band, and he almost functions as a bandmember by providing layers of horns, strings and backing harmonies from guests singers like Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens. The band is made up of accomplished musicians, and the songs unfold in a subtle way, as opposed to musical overdoses that one hears in bands like Arcade Fire. The National has made a distinctive impact on the music American scene, and this CD is one of the most energetic and thrilling pop statements of the year.
The National is playing at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta on Tuesday, Oct. 5.
8 days ago
Autolux
Transit Transit
TBD Records
Because of the deep impact they left with their stunning debut Future Perfect and the subsequent six-year lull in productivity, the near-mythical notion of a follow-up by the L.A. gaze-rockers had become indie rock’s Chinese Democracy. Though all is absolved with the delivery of a great record, it’s a pressure-stacked, all-or-nothing circumstance.
The mysterious Autolux allure that originally seduced so many sprung from the dance between the band's dream-state drift and restless, throbbing life-force. But that critical latter element is largely muted here. Interesting new developments include the title track’s flitting Books-esque tapestry and the electronic minimalism of “High Chair.” However, the nuance comes at the cost of the torque and rock bellow that set Autolux’s pulse before. When not directly channeling Sonic Youth’s somnambulant side (“Census”), its ethereal moments can play like shuffles of half-conviction (“Spots”). Aside from the driving nocturnal elegance of “Supertoys,” Autolux’s commanding rhythm doesn’t fully awaken and sprout a pair until the seventh track. The album’s convincing home stretch is finally carried by powerfully carved songs like “Audience No. 2,” “Kissproof” and “The Science of Imaginary Solutions.”
This record’s a grower. But coming from a band that emerged so definitively, it feels like a concession. Hopefully, this is just a band out of practice and not out of step.
8 days ago
Spirit Hair
StarDon
Independent Release
From the opening chimes and beeps of “Bug Eyes” to the synth-beats of the closing tracks, Spirit Hair’s StarDon rarely allows a moment to get by without filling it with gleeful psych-pop with a dance twist. These happy hipsters know how to make a killer groove last for an entire album.
The band claims that the record was meant to be one of “skeptical hesitation,” but hesitate to listen to this album and you’re more likely to miss something great. In a single song, you can pick out bits of psychedelic rock, power-pop, blues, jam and Americana. “When the Moon Began to Fall” is an instant ear-worm with an incredibly catchy guitar riff that melts into a full-on jam-fest complete with noodley guitars and pulsing, tap-worthy beats.
“Oblique” is the odd track out here, throwing a slow groove into the middle of the dance party with special guest John Fernandes on violin. With a very quiet arrangement and introspective lyrics, it is reminiscent of mid-career Leonard Cohen. Thankfully, the transition to and from “Oblique” is as smooth as the sultry whispered vocals that mark the song. The vocals morph with each track but strike true every time. It never feels like you’re listening to a different band; each song makes its statement and moves on. Next time you hold a party, throw on some Spirit Hair and you’ll be guaranteed to have a great time.
Spirit Hair is playing Caledonia Lounge on Saturday, Aug. 28.
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