The Beardless Hipster

just keep pushing

2010-09-17T13:14:00.000-07:00

Will a Delorean fit through a normal set of double doors? What do you think?

my new favorite celebrity

2010-09-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

In case you don't know who he is, this is Donald Glover. I caught onto him via Community (the best new sitcom on TV, and just in time to replace Scrubs). Since then, I have discovered this guy does it all. He does music under the name Childish Gambino, writing original music as well as rapping over indie rock tunes we all know (all available for free at his blog). He was a writer for 30 Rock. His stand up, excellent. Actor, obviously. Do yourself a favor and check his blog and see whats cracking. iamdonald.com

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/5377476?secret_token=s-2c8F1"]

Coming soon...

2010-09-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

to a theater near you. I know many people will say I shouldn't be excited about this movie. But Robert Downey Jr, Zack Galifianakis and a french bulldog are a first step to winning my heart.

Really iTunes?

2010-09-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or is the new iTunes logo just awful?

Old - nothing amazing, but far superior

New - hmmmm

New Orleans Ladies...

2010-09-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

Classic New Orleans song, oh yeah and I work with the lead signer's son.

it's been a year...

2010-09-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

So, ok. Say it... I suck. But it's been a year, it's time to get back to it.

meet my pup, Percival Winston

Auto Draft

2010-09-16T16:25:00.000-07:00

Hello world!

2010-09-16T16:24:00.000-07:00

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

BLK JKS : Addicition

2009-08-28T11:29:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I took a little break, I know. I AM LAZY.

But I am here today to tell you about a band that I am absolutely hooked on - BLK JKS. Funny thing about this band is that I saw them months ago at SXSW. Unfortunately, it was after seeing about 8 other bands prior and I just was spent.

About 2 months later, I got reintroduced to them. I was going on the road with BRCM for a weekend of out of town dates and I made a mix. I put the song Lakeside as the first song on that mix. Everytime I hear this song its like the most complicated dance party I have ever been a part of. Its swaying tempo and tribal breakdown in the middle moves me. Ask my girlfriend, who catches me singing this song to myself and dancing quite often, to which she laughs, obviously.

Since I have picked up on their other stuff, and seriously dig the shit out of it. They are a South African rock band, so they do a great job of mixing their vernacular sound into a rock sound that is fresh and sharp. Their new LP After Robots comes out Sept 8th.

I know I downloaded Lakeside somewhere on the internet for free (it may have been on NPR's SXSW free sampler) but not sure where to find it now. Check it out here, entitled LS.

Here is a link to download another one of their songs. Molalatladi

Website

Radiohead Song Leaked?

2009-08-13T09:18:00.001-07:00

Nothing has been officially said, but this new song popped up on a popular Radiohead fan message board this morning.

Is it real? sure sounds it.

Take a listen to "These Are My Twisted Words"

new music makes me happy

2009-08-12T14:37:00.001-07:00

This week some of my favorite artists have realized some new material, even if it be side projects from their main bands.

To start Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver fame) released "Island, IS" a track off his side project Volcano Choir's upcoming album Unmap. Download it from Pitchfork.com here. Anyone who has hung out with me in the last year knows that the Bon Iver album has been one of the most played records I own, and falls into my top 3 albums of 2008. I will be picking up Unmap on Sept. 22 for sure.

Second up is CYHSY's Alec Ounsworth's solo release under the name Flashy Python. This is apparently the second record Alec has recorded solo, but the first to be released. You can get it from his website in vinyl, cd and digital format. Groovy shit. And you can listen to it right here.

Skin and Bones:

01 Let Us Hallucinate Together
02 The Lady Is a Ghost
03 Ichiban Blues
04 Skin and Bones
05 Obscene Queen Bee
06 In the Darkness
07 Cattle's New Clothes
08 Avalon's Snake Breath

BTW, the whole download from Pitchfork thing probably seems lazy and guess what, it is. I haven't had time to setup another hosting site for my files yet, so until I take the time to do that, pitchfork can enjoy the added traffic.

Lollapalooza - Beardless Style

2009-08-11T19:47:00.001-07:00

First off, sorry I didn't do a day 2 or 3 recap blog the day of, honestly getting back after the heat of the day, drinking and packing made it pretty much impossible.

I have been to music festivals before. I had not, however, been to Lollapalooza, or Chicago for that matter. This was a weekend of firsts.

First night in town, we got acquainted with basement abode for the weekend and Oak Park. Very nice part of Chicago and very convenient for the travel into town. Had some drinks at a local bar and prepped for day 1.

Anyone who has talked to me about festivals for longer than 5 minutes knows my stance on Voodoo in New Orleans. I go, but I have my clear stance on why I think it could far better. Lollapalooza is an example of my stance. Its a festival that caters to a particular audience, and due to this, people travel across the country to come spend their weekend here. Rarely was there a gap in my schedule where it was my clear cut time to grab food or use the restroom. Instead, it was a constant bouncing back and forth between artists that I have been dying to see or bands that I had seen that I knew would blow me away.

Day 1 was just that. Even with the constant rain, the bands I saw made me forget how wet I was. For a full descripiton, read my day 1 recap. I realized I pretty much said it all there. The one thing I will restress was that was a day that saw the best bands that I had not seen before. The Knux absolutely killed and I am still listening to Remind Me in 3 Days. The best performance for me, however, of the entire weekend was Bon Iver. This is a show that will stick with me forever. He's soothing voice, matched with graceful harmonies made for a no nonsense performance. It moved me.

Oh yeah, Wicker Park struck me a very clean version of Brooklyn/Williamsburg.

Day 2, dry and HOT, was a day of being wowed by repeat offenders. I had seen quite a few of the artists playing Lollapalooza this year already. Delta Spirit started my day, and did so in wonderful fashion. They played some new material and apparently will be releasing a new album sometime around January. I still prefer them in a small smokey club. Los Campesinos and TV on the Radio both upped the bar for themselves, however. Both put on high energy shows, but Los Campesinos really made you feel it deep down. Its obvious these guys and gals are having the times of their lives doing what they do. Animal collective would definitely have to be the dissappointment of the weekend. I only heard 2 actual songs. While a club show may be a good time to do a lot of ambient instrumental jamming, a festival is not the right place. Arctic Monkeys played a great show. It was during this show that I experienced one of the highlights of my entire weekend, and it was unrelated to music.

While waiting in line for the port-a-potties, I heard 2 loud thumps. I look over and see a guy and girl had climbed the fence behind them, gotten on top and jumped down into the festival, obviously trying to skip the steep ticket price. The guy made a clean break. The girl, however, was quickly chased by two security guards. She turned a corner with the two of them closing quickly on her and I never saw the end result. Then while my back is to the port-a-potties witnessing this, I hear about 30 more thumps. All of sudden there is a mass of teenage boys doing the exact same thing. Apparently, the 2 security guards were the only ones, cause all of these people made it over quite easily.

Day 3 had no excitement of that level. In fact, a late start due to taking some time to enjoy hanging out with our great hosts and an impromtu water fight had us getting to the fest around 2:30. We relaxed while listening to The Airborne Toxic Event who I had never heard of, but put on a decent show. With Dan Deacon coming to a small club in NOLA in October, we decided it would be better to listen from afar and stake out a spot to up close for Vampire Weekend. I had seen them at Tulane's campus right when they broke out, but this show was far superior. They played new material which has me excited for their next release, and they played their set flawlessly. Cold War Kids put on a good show but are still on my list of bands I need to see at a club. Snoop was cool, I mean he is snoop. Deerhunter was cool. Caught a bit of Lou Reed, which I feel good that I did. Band of Horses were the perfect band to slot for the sunset time slot. They wrapped up my weekend with a solid performance that was beautiful. Its unfortuante that Lou Reed ran late and Band of Horses and Jane's Addiciton overlapped at the end. The Killers were like dessert. Rich, flavorly, but you can only handle so much of it before it would make you sick. We saw the perfect amount of their vibrant light show matched with the right amount of the first album to quench my sweet tooth.

That was my Lollapalooza. Thank you to Caitlin for meeting up with us and having a good time with us. And a special thank you to Kelly for doing this with me for the first time.

I think this may become a yearly tradition.

Oh yeah, pictures to come, and maybe even some goofy videos of me. Kelly may even convince me to post the infamous "poncho video."

Lolla Day 1 Recap

2009-08-08T00:21:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to give everyone a quick recap of the first day of Lollapalooza 2009.

Other Lives played a great set. This was my 4th time seeing these guys since February of this year when they opened for Delta Spirit in Mobile. This show held up to all the previous ones, just wish they had more than 30 minutes.

Hey Champ (props to Michael Girardot for putting these guys on my radar) brought some synth pop rock to the fest that up to this point has not been to being matched. Pure fun time.

The only Hip Hop I will probably see now that Beastie Boys had to back out was quite the epic adventure. The Knux may have by far had the most crowd participation of any show I saw today. They even had 30 people on stage at point. All I could think is "security is shitting themselves right now."

Bon Iver. More than worth the down pour I sat through to see them for the first time. Truly magical experience.

Thanks to said downpour, there was a break for changing of shirts and purchasing of sweatshirts.

This cut a little into my Fleet Foxes set. Having seen them before, I knew just want to expect when I did show up and they did not leave me hanging. They brought their "A" game, their vocal harmonies could cut butter.

This rolled into the "Oh Shit, Lolla booked 4 bands that I want to see all into 2 hours." So I piece mealed The Decemberists (one thumbs up), Theivery Corporation (2 thumbs down, sorry I just wasn't into it), Peter Bjorn and John (2 thumbs up, Young Folks live, yes please) and Of Montreal (one up for the theatrics). Sorry Andrew Bird, I will see you at Tips in Oct.

I did my deed and caught a few songs of Depeche Mode. Not the greatest, but a hell of a visual show.

Kings of Leon were good at what they do now, but I so miss what they were 3-4 years ago.

Outside of the rain (which was nice, till it really rained) Day 1 was full of the great music, $5 beers and a happy me.

So...I've been a lazy ass

2009-08-05T12:59:00.001-07:00

That's right. There is no other reason to blame my absolute disregard for this blog.

Now be aware, I am by no means trying to claim it to be some important blog that hundreds of people read daily in the past, nor am I saying that is what it will become. If it does, SUPER. But really, I just want to do this as an outlet so that maybe some people (mostly my friends) find some new music, and maybe talk about it occasionally.

Now up to this point, everything I have done on this blog has been very formal. Just from this post alone, I hope you see that is going to change. There will still be the occasional album review which will continue to have a more formal tone, but there will be short blurbs about a song I am addicted to, the occasional youtube video, etc. Hopefully, I will also put up a bi-weekly digital mix tape for people to dig on. Just generally anything that I feel like throwing up here that is music related is the expected content.

Though less formal in verbal content, I do, however, plan on finally giving this blog a less standard look. It will probably have an owl or two, isn't that exciting?

I am heading to Lollapalooza this weekend and will use that as a means of getting this thing back on track. My first time in Chi Town. Everyone says I will love it.

So for those who actually read this, I hope you keep coming back and enjoy the things I put up.

**disclaimer** As I said in the beginning of this post, I am a LAZY ASS. Sometimes, I just don't feel like shaving on a regular basis. Some have taken that as means of me discrediting the name of this blog. In reality, the name comes from the fact that as much I would love to have a giant bushy beard, I just can't do it. Genetics have graced me with a pathetic patchy set of facial hair that half of which is too blonde to really show up anyway. Maybe one day I will have the St. Nick beard to go with the St. Nick physique I am rocking.

Caddywhompus EP FREE

2008-12-23T19:58:00.001-08:00

Popping in the burned copy of Caddywhompus’ EP there is one word that comes to mind…Raw. This is not to say that the duo’s 4 songs on the EP, which are also available online for a free download, are not refined or basic in sense. Instead, the rawness comes through in that of the production of the music (recorded in their living room), the packaging (those lucy enough get a burned CD with the names of the songs handwritten on the back of the white envelope) and most importantly the attitude of the songs. This is two guys, one with a guitar and one with a set of drums, making music together who absolutely love what they are doing. With bits of shoe gaze guitars, garage rock, melodic choruses and a hint of punk, it is no wonder where they dreamt up the genre Noise Pop to classify their music. This is a record that will constantly have you moving from uncomfortable “how is making that sound” to catchy sign along to knocking you over the head with a piece of scrap metal.

“This is Where We Blaze the Nuggz” starts the album with a simple guitar opening leading to a click off that immediately transfers into rim shots and hi hat. This all builds with the volume of the guitar with addition of kick drum with a sudden explosion that is nothing short of a punch to the groin. Unsettled by LOUD guitars and vocals that you will probably have to hear 3 to 4 times to understand, the listener is dragged along to a chant of Oh ohhh Oh, Oh Ohhhh oh followed by a melodic guitar. This leads to a moment where Chris Rehm;s fingers dance around the fret board like drunk girl at her senior prom. After another melodic build that alternates from vocals to guitars the song ends a climatic thunderstorm where there are screams of “Waaa Ahhhhh Ahhhh” added to the melody. This is nothing short of what is to come.

When bands are young and looking to produce material many times ideas are taken as individual songs and the end product is a slew of mediocre drawn out songs based on simple concepts. Caddywhompus, however, does not fall victim to such a short coming. Maybe it is their youth in age (Chris, 18 and Sean, 19), not experience, but one of the cleverest parts of the album is the way that each song seems to be composed of pieces of many different songs. “Fun Times at Whiskey Bay” is the perfect example of just how they do this. The heavy intro that steps down to a very simple mid section which is then abandoned almost instantaneously for a repeat of a short version of the intro. This all leads the repetition of what could possibly be one of the best lyrics of any local band this year: “I feel safe with you, and you with me my smile spreads till I can’t see. And you, you are the earth and I am your dirt, we seem to be for what its worth.” The seamless change into “Absinthesizer” again shows the maturity of Caddywhompus. The shortest song on the EP, this is the song where they say “fuck it” and let a great idea stand on very short legs, and that it simply does.

The EP closes out with “Untitled #7408”which stands as the most radio friendly of the album. With the tightest pop structure of all the songs it moves quickly and shows that while they are willing to take risks, they also know how to step back and draw people in.

This is by far one of the most promising local bands to be playing in New Orleans right now, and with a second EP coming quickly on the heels of the first and buzz that will hopefully get people flocking to their shows, make sure you keep your eyes and ears open to what they are doing so you don’t miss a beat.

Free Download
Myspace

Smiley with a Knife - How a Reign Comes to an End

2008-12-17T16:17:00.001-08:00

Smiley with a Knife’s How a Reign Comes to an End is an album that exists in the realm of duality. It is one thing and at the same time the antithesis of that same very thing. For an album that breaks almost every rule of the rock genre in its experimental nature, How a Reign Comes to an End manages to be a rock album. It provides emotion and tells stories without using a single spoken word. It allows the listener to feel free, yet pulls back with a head bobbing groove.

The album begins with a dark introduction, as if one is walking down a poorly lit hallway towards a door at the end with traces of noise around them. As that door opens, one is bathed in light that barely gleamed around the edges of it before and surrounded by sounds. Immediately, the air is filled with bouncy bright guitars, punchy bass and crsip drums. As the sounds grow the title “The Whole Town was Watching” makes sense. Without words, the listener begins to understand the town saw what happened, and now it is all a buzz with the passing of the story. Some are more than happy to continue to pass the story along, while others pause in skepticism. This theme of telling a story through the emotion of the instruments is carried throughout the album, though not are all as quite as airy and bright as the opening track.

“Until the Scandal Unveiled Her” slips into a darker realm where the guitars are forced into a much more rhythmic distorted pattern. Beginning with a drum roll, the bright guitars appear to ricochet from left to right off the straight forward bass, like the ball in a game of Pong. This continues until frustration builds and the guitars erupt into a growling roar.

The guitars are what truly speak through the music. They are the characters allowed to roam seemingly free at times expressing what they see and feel. They are the emotion. To maintain some order and not allowing the guitars to become too free in the space, the rhythm section lays down a solid groove, it is the scenery, the boundaries. The songs become more progressive tales than the standard repetition of parts as are most rock songs. The linear attitude to the songs juxtaposed to the tight bass and drums is clear example of the duality of this rock album – without the linear nature it would be just a rock album and without the tight rhythm it would be pure experiment.

How a Reign Comes to an End exists in a time where so many bands are pushing the limits to the point past the recognizable, Smiley with a Knife achieves a sound that is free, yet grounded – allowing for experimentation while not letting things end up in another world. This duality combined with the emotionality is what gives How a Reign Comes to an End its vitality to stand.

Delta Spirit - Ode to Sunshine

2008-12-17T16:07:00.001-08:00

Rarely are there records that are exactly what you expect them to be, yet leave you feeling amazed. Delta Spirit’s Ode To Sunshine is one. My introduction to Delta Spirit was one of excitement and anticipation. I had heard rumblings of their amazing live performance from friends lucky enough to see them at SXSW or in other cities and waited restlessly for their show in New Orleans. To hold myself over till the show, I grabbed onto whatever tracks I could online and fell in love with the rotation of three to four songs. The show did not disappoint as the band delivered an energy that moved the room. Statements such as “I feel like I just went to church” and “I have balls now, and I am a girl. That just made me a man” were spoken in the crowd after the show. I bought the album and took it home.

None of the songs that I had not heard were far from my expectations based upon the short selection I had already heard and what I experienced at the show. Yet, every song grabs you. This is music that lives inside of you. With a healthy dose of Americana mixed to perfection with the gritty raw rock that sounds like the illegitimate child of The Walkmen and the lead singer of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Ode To Sunshine resonates with a listener. It is something familiar, yet at the same time quite different, and most importantly epic.

Of the eleven tracks on the album, the stands out are Trashcan, House Built For Two and People C’Mon. Trashcan comes in with a simple beat that draws the listener in and is then built upon keeping the verses simple. All of which is done to lead to the explosive yet, short chorus that screams out “My Love is coming, I can barely hardly wait…around.” While Trashcan is all about moment, House Built For Two, one of the few ballads on the album, travels, though as if it is a journey on an old rust bike with a slipping chain. The verses coast through with a simple rhythm. The chorus comes in and peddles a little harder, but slows back to the cruising level. The moment of freedom, where the listener takes their feet off the peddles and coasts down the hill, comes in the bridge when a chorus comes in with a simple “Nah, Nah Nah…” People C’Mon is definitely the thickest songs on the album, and the clearest anthem of the album. Grooving bass lines, drum beats and in your face vocals create a robust composition that delivers and as the singer’s raw voice belts out the line “If feeling what I am feeling come on, all you soul searching people come on,” notice how it grasps a hold of your tongue for days on end and come on.

Latest &/or Greatest: Wolf Parade - Call It a Ritual & The Control - Black Madonna

2008-05-06T15:59:00.001-07:00

Here is my first crack at telling you about the new tracks on the mix. These write ups will be short and the songs are attached for you...

Wolf Parade - Call It a Ritual
Since the day I bought Apologies To The Queen Mary, I have been waiting for new material from Wolf Parade - not because I was disappointed, but because the album was that damn good. I knew there was potential for so much more and sure enough... I was right. "Call It a Ritual" delivers exactly what you would expect from Wolf Parade - dramatic drums (and piano) keeping a marching beat, various instruments stepping in and out of the song, one of those 2 wonderfully awkward voices telling you a dark tale that makes you contemplate whether this is reality or a dream. But there is something else, something that is hard to place. There is a definite maturity that shines through, though the production seems to be, if anything, more subdue than before. It seems as if this song actually sounds darker, like it came out at night under cover and now hides in the shadows. Then when opportune - it snaps, injects you and all you are left to do is wait...

The Control - Black Madonna
It only seems fitting that this song be paired with "Call It a Ritual." I will write a more detailed love note to this band soon in their own blog as they grow. For right now, all you need to do is listen to this song and imagine 4 guys and a girl on stage with a iMac, keyboards, a guitar, a conga and more wires than you can imagine. Oh yeah, and though it isn't there in the recording - a harp. I promise when I saw them, there was a harp, masterfully played. The steady beat starts the song at a quick pace that pulls the listener in, placing them in a trance. Layer by layer that beat is built upon. During this layering, Micah Mckee's ghostly smooth voice chimes in: "You only have to say two words/for me to understand you." If at this moment you aren't hooked, just wait till the chorus explodes with congas layered on top of everything else as he wails "So here's your Black Madonna/Here's the keeper of your children." At the end, after it has graceful deconstructed itself, the song leaves one with a desire for more. And imagine that is without seeing them live, which I promise is where the real magic lies.

Wolf Parade - Call It a Ritual

The Control - Black Madonna

http://www.myspace.com/wolfparade
http://www.myspace.com/controlthemusic

Latest &/or Greatest Mix: The Rules

2008-05-02T09:14:00.001-07:00

Hipster's love mix tapes, um mix cds, um playlists...

While I love putting on a great album and listening to music in the controlled environment that an artist put out as a total package, there is really is something great about putting those songs into your own controlled package. The parameters have changed over time that controlled said mixes - first there was tape (2 sides limited length), next CDs (limited time) and now the age of I Tunes and the I Pod(unlimited). This evolution has created a strange freedom and, at the same time, a complex problem. To this hipster, the point of a mix is to hear certain songs, in an order, and at some regularity. A few months ago, however, I figured out I had fallen into the digital trap, found a new song, dumped it on my latest and greatest mix without editing it. One day though I realized, there was no order and even more disturbing, the mix had reached an insane length of 200+ songs, meaning I was either selecting particular songs off the playlist, or just putting it on random (which I admit, has its value). This was the moment that I decided to create some rules for my mix.

Now I have many mixes, just as any other hipster does, but I will focus on the "Latest &/or Greatest" mix. Here are the rules:
1. Must fit on a CD - since I hate radio where I live, and my car is not mp3 compatible it just makes since. Plus it is good to impose limits on yourself.
2. Must contain no more 7 "greatest" tracks. - Let's be honest, I want to listen to what is new and hip, but sometimes you need an old favorite to keep things familiar. These tracks consist of any songs from an album I own that is older than a year old.
3. The remainder must be made of the "latest" - The latest include tracks off cds I have yet to get or off an album I own that is less than a year old.
4. No more than 2 tracks from one artist

I update this mix at most once a week, at the least once a month (very, very rare).

My basic goal is share what the "Latest &/or Greatest" mix consists of at any time and do a write up of why I am adding a track to the mix.

Fine, I will give it to you. You've got the rules, so here's the current mix:

1. Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You
2. How I Became the Bomb - Killing Machines
3. Vampire Weekend - Walcott (Insane Mix #2)
4. MGMT - Kids
5. Handsome Furs - Cannot Get Started
6. Wolf Parade - Call It A Ritual (+)
7. The Control - Black Madonna (+)
8. Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #2 (Laika) (*)
9. Antenna Inn - Ernest Brognine
10. Hallelujah the Hills - Wave Backwards to Massachusetts (*)
11. These United States - First Sight
12. Rogue Wave - Lake Michigan
13. John Michael - Every Night of the Year
14. Lightspeed Champion - Dry Lips
15. Bishop Allen - Like Castanets
16. Shout Out Louds - Tonight I Have To Leave It
17. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away (*)
18. The Strokes - New York City Cops (*)
19. The Meligrove Band - Everyone's A Winner (*)
20. John Michael - Not Much to Say
21. Antenna Inn - Stockholm Syndrome

So obviously, or maybe not so obviously, the * above stands for "Greatest." The + is the most recently added tracks (which there are two) which I will start off the addition blogs with this weekend.

Hopefully you kids like this, if not, oh well they're my mixes anyway.

Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell

2008-04-25T08:57:00.001-07:00

Tokyo Police Club’s EP A Lesson In Crime is still one of the first pieces of music I put my hands on when I just feel the need for a good time. There is just something about short songs that have so much energy in them that they are like caffeine in musical format. Their latest release (and first full length album released on Saddle Creek) follows quickly in its footsteps. The best part about Elephant Shell is the clear growth that has come along with the band, while not losing the pop that sucked me in at the start.

With Josh Hook laying guitar riffs that sound like they were lifted straight out of Albert Hammond, Jr’s mind, the bright guitar is sort of like that junior high school friend you had that you lost touch with for a while but quickly remember why you were friends in the first place. These fast pace guitar riffs coexist with the continued motif of thick bass lines and heavy drum beats that bounce you to and fro. Keyboards provide a texture to the sound helping it exist in the context of where Indie Pop is today. All of this is layered with Dave Monks high pitched and distinct vocals that really give the sound the edge it needs to stand out.

The album as a whole moves fast. As soon as you start it, it seems to end all too suddenly. This wholly makes sense when you take a second and look at the track length listings. While the album contains a full helping of 11 tracks, only one clocks in at over 3 minutes long. Luckily enough, this happens to be one of the best tracks on the album “Your English is Good.” On this track, TPC go back to the choral type chant that appeared on A Lesson In Crime. Once sucked in by the chanting of “Oh, give us your vote / give us your vote / if you know / what’s good for you” over a simple click of drum sticks and bouncing keyboard lines, the full song comes in true TPC style. With lyrics like “And until the tramp finds Christ / Injustice is my middle name,” you have to sit and wonder how something that has you dancing so gleefully can also exist with a dark side.

The only unfortunate piece of Tokyo Police Club’s latest work is the Limited Edition Bonus Remix Disc that came with it. It seems hard to imagine that an original song that would make you want to dance could be remixed into a song that makes you want to press stop. Maybe its just this hipster alone, but I don’t see where they were going with these, and are thankful they came on a separate disc from the actual album.

MP3: Your English is Good

http://tokyopoliceclub.com/
http://www.myspace.com/tokyopoliceclub

Hallelujah The Hills - Prepare To Qualify

2008-04-17T11:46:00.001-07:00

Occasionally, you come across a band that you feel has something truly special. Then you as soon as you found it that music is torn from you. You sulk. You cry (ok, maybe not everyone does). And you continue your search. Once in rare blue moon, that music comes back, though maybe not with the same name or band members, but the magic is still there. You rejoice.

This epic trial was exactly how my relationship with Hallelujah the Hills began. In the summer of 2005, I stumbled upon a band out of Boston called The Stairs. After surviving a week off of the limited songs I could find online, I purchased their album. The album lived in my cd player. Song after song, On Sleep Lab became a piece in the standard rotation of my life. Then it came, the obituary clipping via a bulletin online, telling me my new found staple would be closing up shop, just shortly after I had discovered them. And yes, I sulked, I cried, and I told everyone who could care less about my loss. I continued to listen to the album, but it was not the same

Then sometime later, I received another online bulletin from Hallelujah the Hills. Who? I did not know this band. Glancing over their information, it quickly became clearer. My heart raced. I rejoiced. HALLELUJAH! The Stairs had returned, or should I say Hallelujah the Hills had been born. The new songs grabbed me, and held me tighter than before. I ordered their full length freshman effort Collective Psychosis Begone. Track by track I discovered that HtH had surpassed what I could have expected. With the conglomeration of instruments, carefully crafted clever lyrics, and pop sense with an edge, songs such as "Wave Backwards To Massachusetts" and "Hallelujah The Hills" made it on mix cds for everyone I thought would care, and some I didn't think would.

HtH's latest release is an interesting one. A band that has gained so much regional success and making the push to become national players have just released Prepare to Qualify for free. Though only an EP, it is still a special piece. After a few solid listen throughs, the song that grabs me like much previously mentioned tracks do is "Nurses 5 Float Past." The clever lyrics still exist throughout, instruments still enter songs at just the right moment and leave in the same graceful fashion as before. This is a great pop Indie album, the kind of album you can put on a party where no one else had heard of them and everyone catches on, without out it sounding too familiar.

Be sure to grab your digital copy of this free EP, and prepare yourself for an adventure that will remind you of road trips as a child with your family - familiarity of your little brothers chatter in a new context, road noise as cars pass that change the usual patterns, and those quirky sayings from the off the wall gas station worker that seems to be in every town you stop - all wrapped up in a musical package that does more than deliver; it steers the ship.

MP3: Nurses 5 Float Past