Ethan Tufts of California (AKA State Shirt) has crafted some fiery indie rock in the sessions he’s spent in his room devoted to writing some epic tunes. These songs are expansive, longing, and sparklingly hopeful. It also sounds remarkably human for being just one guy. Imagine for a second The Stills, U2, and the Postal Service caught in a blender, that’s roughly the appeal that State Shirt has. Except it’s just one guy. Nuts, I know.
The Killers’ new album “Day & Age” marks their return to the sublime dreamy pop that got the kids excited in the first place. With “Sam’s Town” they tried to please the guy in the crowd that made fun of their make-up and suits, what they didn’t realize though, was that he paid to get in. They already had the backwards hat frat crowd. I remember when I opened my door for a doofy R.A. my freshman year and he saw my Killers shirt and couldn’t stop talking about how great the album was.
That said, this time around The Killers do push their style in ways that do succeed wildly. From the slow burning opener “Losing Touch” that makes excellent use of left over “Bones” horns, to the dance ’till you drop beats and synths of “Human”, to the most complete return to Hot Fuss Form “Spaceman”. The Killers set the tone early, they are back, and then they give you a tour of Vegas with reckless abandon. Like on the cowboy steel drum funk that is “Joy Ride”, the song is unabashedly fun, but Brandon Flowers’ earnest vocals ground the debauchery with the wide eyed wonder of a designated driver caught in the spotlight.
On “Sam’s Town” it felt like The Killers were spinning their creative compass, on “Day and Age” it feels as if they’ve thrown it out and just headed towards a star. Brandon Flowers still uses his more “salt of the earth” lyrical approach but this time around the music itself towers as tall as his words. Where as on “Sam’s Town” there was no monolith of sound to sweep up those hometown ambitions. That means, yes, they use the power ballad more than once, “A Dustland Fairy Tale”, “This is Your Life”, and “The World We Live In”, where they sound more like Duran Duran than they ever have before, and strangely enough it’s a good thing. “Day & Age” offers up a smorgasbord of obvious influences of the band in each song like the decidedly Talking Heads-esque “I Can’t Stay” to the Curish “Goodnight Travel, Travel Well” that uses circular synth patterns that sound an awful lot like “Pictures of You”, but they also imprint their unique stamp on each song and even make songs that have great potential to seem gaudy or redundant, “Neon Tiger”, and made it sound somewhat fresh and new. Even the album art fits perfectly with the warm glow that the album leaves you with. A glow warm and good enough to let me finish this review with the phrase; “All killer, no filler” and mean it.
The Killers – Human (Ocelot Remix)
The Killers – The World We Live In
This is really a momentous album. David Byrne and Brian Eno working together again for the first time in over 20 years. They of course worked on the famous “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” album, and a handful of Talking Heads albums, most notably the classic “Remain in Light”. This album was a great surprise to me as I enjoy the work of both men immensely. Brian Eno really revolutionized production and continues to do so in his solo work and with popular bands and musicians. Artists that Brian Eno has worked with over the years include Roxy Music, David Bowie, U2 and most recently Coldplay. David Byrne is of course an intellectual punk/funk visionary, whose later solo works, while satisfying, lacked a certain immediacy and relevance. It was nice to see him mellow out and his vocals are still as good as ever, but he needed to be pushed out of his comfort zone a bit.
That is exactly what has happened on “Everything that Will Happen will Happen Today”, Brian Eno once again carves a careful soundscape of melodies, beats, and whimsical genius, with the songwriting genius of David Byrne, present at a level we haven’t seen in over ten years. Important themes like violence in society, terrorism and domestic issues skirt around an album that beamingly is two musicians reveling in their craft. There are mostly mid or downtempo songs here, but these guys are seasoned enough to make every song an aural journey worth taking, whether it feels like a sweeping retrospective, a nice sit on the back porch in a rocking chair, or a casual visit to a night club, you can’t help but say “They’ve still got it!”
David Byrne & Brian Eno Official Site
The OaKs are a product of Ryan Costello’s journey through The Global Hope Network to Afghanistan to help the people there find creative ways of working the land. He was there for two years and became fluent in the language. After each days toil, Ryan would return to his place of residence and try to work out the basis of what had happened that day on his acoustic guitar. When he returned to his home of Orlando Florida in 2005, he reunited with his musical partner, drummer Matt Antolick, and they began to compile what would become the album ‘Our Fathers and the Things They Left Behind’. The Oaks partnered up with the The Global Network to release the album, which will donate half of the proceeds to help widows in Afghanistan, because of this, the Oaks were featured in Paste alongside other globally conscious artists like U2. You can read the article here.
Apart from it’s politically charged agenda, the music of ‘Our fathers and the Things They Left Behind” is quite lush, featuring mandolins, bells, trumpets, the usual indie rock instrumental fair as well as stunning vocals from both Ryan Costello and Melissa Reyes.
MP3 – For Hugh Thompson Who Stood Alone, Mai Lai Massacre – The OaKs
I’m writing a paper on electronic music and the influential popular artists and composers who brought attention and acclaim to the genre. One premiere artist of the genre is Brian Eno whose contributions to the musical world include collaborations with David Byrne of the Talking Heads, David Bowie, John Cale, U2, the B-52′s, not to mention his many solo albums. I’d listened to Eno’s album Another Day On Earth before (A couple years ago), but I wasn’t in such a place to appreciate it as I am now. He isn’t called the father of ambient music for nothing. When I say ‘ambient’ I don’t mean recording the sounds of the woods and playing them back, I mean absolutely beautiful melodies and spacious unobtrusive production. If ever I reach my goal of completely ‘zen’-ing out my living space, Brian Eno’s work will be played a great deal.
MP3 – Just Another Day – Brian Eno
MP3 – This – Brian Eno
Buy “Just Another Day On Earth”
I am a sucker for electro/post-punk music when it’s done well. Others may get tired of the trend and the new bands churning out every couple months, but as long as they remain as quality as White Rose Movement, Editors, and the Cinematics I say bring ‘em on. One such band that I have been anxious to write about and have been listening to all day is Go! Motion. They may sound like they’re from Manchester England but the jittery post-punk quartet are from Omaha Nebraska. So if a band is quality post-punk and is from the same home town as one of my favorite bands (The Faint) it seems like fate has decreed “Thou shalt like this band”, and you know what? I do.
As for the actual sound of the band, you can hear clear influences from Bloc Party, The Smiths, The Cure, U2, and even a little Bauhaus. All chopped, minced and brought to a boil in songs that are urgent and contemporary as well as carrying an echo of the past. The beats are frantic, the guitars chime and churn and explode into contagious choruses. “Different in Time” utilizes enigmatic synths to build up a mountain of sound before shifting gears and jumping off, without a parachute. “Somewhere Nowhere” is a song reminiscent of U2′s epic ballads mixed with the current dance-punk revival that creates a song that I would dance to at a wedding. Although I doubt anyone exists who would be hip enough to play this at their wedding. Perhaps the biggest standout would be the Cure-esque “Charm is Harmless” where Albert does his best to channel a snotty Robert Smith vocal to compliment the melodic plucks and swirling keyboards. Go! Motion doesn’t revolutionize the post-punk genre, but they do have a solid album that hits the sweet spot for a devoted post-punker like myself.
MP3 – Somwhere Nowhere – GO! Motion
MP3 – Different in Time – GO! Motion
Kill the Love Live:
The Omaha Nebraskan quartet Go! Motion, hearkens back to the early propulsive wailing of the Cure combined with the stop and go mayhem of Bloc Party’s dance rock aesthetic. Fans of White Rose Movement, Editors, and Interpol will find something to like here. Their take on the whole atmospheric urgent dance music is more linear and they’re not afraid to bust out homages to both The Smiths and The Cure in the same song, “Charm is Harmless”, which sounds surprisingly fresh for all of it’s Marr guitar and Cure plucks. The sustained notes of “Somewhere Nowhere” show that they didn’t need to find inspiration from U2 on their second album, like Bloc Party, they were ready out of the gates to emulate the edge while still retaining their own sound. The influences are easily deciphered on each track of Go! Motions’ debut “Kill the Love” but don’t let that distract you from the raw energy and the passion of the music.
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