AWmusic

Most music that is heavily punk influenced can sound very similar. It can be really good but in the end they all have a common sound to them. Electro punk, Post-punk anything punk can get a little boring at times. Yet if there was ever a punk influenced band that could break that stereotype it is defiantly Kiss Kiss.

Kiss Kiss is a New York based progressive post-punk rock explosion. The only true way to describe it is awesome. (I am going to write the remainder of this review as a excited 14 year old kid). They are awesome, in every sense of word. Their latest album The Meek Shall Inherit What is Left is an amazing explosion of sound that is just awe inspiring. There are elements of punk, electronic, prog and all out rock sound to it that makes an incredibly unique sound. It sounds almost like new wave punk James Bond music. I would like to be able to compare it to something but unfortunately I don’t know what I could it just sounds so different.

The album is beautifully constructed with perfect build-ups and drops that make it so that the whole album is an experience. The album has a completely different range with each song having a different feel to them. For example the song “Hate” has a waltzy communist Russia feel to it works out so beautifully, whereas the track “All The Draw” sounds like it could be the soundtrack to a fight scene a cyberpunk movie. Within each track even there is a range of sound to it, the track “Through the Day” starts off as a slowed down simpler song with a nice steady build only to suddenly change into an awesome power rock extravaganza.

Really this is just an awesome album, I cannot emphasize that enough. It is a fun perfectly constructed album that will defiantly surprise you. If you like awesome things or consider yourself awesome then you need to hear this album, or else you just aren’t as awesome as you think you are.
Kiss Kiss – All The Draw
Kiss Kiss – Hate
Kiss Kiss – Through The Day

Kristeen Young is an experimental group made up of Kristeen Young on piano and Baby Jef White on drums. What stands out Kristeen Young from other piano plays is her amazing use of dissonance. She plays the notes that shouldn’t go together in any way but makes it work beautifully. It doesn’t seem like she is fallowing any kind of rule what so ever but it makes some awesome music. Her latest album Music for Strippers, Hookers and The Odd-onlooker does this beautifully does everything wrong perfectly right. The album will blend notes from all over the keyboard to make an amazing mix.

The piano isn’t the only great part of the album, Baby Jef white has keeps it going with an awesome steady drive using over powering drums. This combined with the spastic piano playing makes for an amazing wall of sound. This is all over top of Kristeen’s awesome vocals, sounding a lot like Kate Bush or Tori Amos at times. Her voice is extremely powerful and booming and just adds to the awesome mix. The Lyrics are pretty good as well, although a little hard to make out at times, with some fairly heavy Morrissey like themes in them.

Overall this album isn’t really like anything I’ve heard in a long time. I know I might say that a lot but really it is completely different. It’s not like some albums that are different that are only a blend of two groups this is something completely different and extremely awesome. It may not be for everyone but everyone should still at least give it a listen.
Kristeen Young – Son Of Man
Kristeen Young – Everybody Wants Me To Cry
Kristeen Young – You Must Love Me

Affinity’s first self-titled EP has a surprising sound to it. There are times when has nearly maidenesque solos, other times that sounds almost identical to Paramore, and other times closer to Evanescence. They may not seem that far off from each other but you can hear the differences in the EP. For the most part it sounds so similar to these things that it doesn’t seem like they are trying anything new. Also they don’t always blend together, sounding a little scattered at times; but they pull it off on a few songs. Take for instance the opening track Second Chance, the first half of it sounds like a Paramore song, yet once the solo kicks in it sounds like Maiden. It seems kind of strange, a little scattered but it still works on some level.

The vocals need to be mentioned at one point. The singer Ashley Curtis has an amazingly powerful voice. The lyrics aren’t exactly imaginative, but she could sing the script to Gigli and I’d listen. Also when the male and female vocals mix it turns out crazy well, but they are also good to not over do it with the harmonies only happening in a few tracks.

Even though the album doesn’t seem to do anything to different most of the time, but a few times they do and when they do it is good. The ambient filler song on the album, “Reflection”, is really good. It has a slight little build in it that leads into the last track “Running From My Mind,” which may not seem like much, but when the rest of the album just goes from song to song this small transitional song works crazy well. They also vary the track “shift,” which doesn’t just use distorted guitar, messing around with bass and simple ambient stuff, and sounding almost like Solar Powered People. It is the best song on the album, and its because its different.
Affinity – Second Chance
Affinity – Shift

Baxter, who hail from Sweden, take a slight variation on trip-hop, using less hip-hop inspired beats and pushing more towards a ambient/techno type sound. Whereas bands like Portishead use more straightforward drum lines and sampling, Baxter uses more drum loops and synth-based sounds. This works insanely well to give the album a much darker tone then other trip-hop, which already has a pretty dark tone. But they also change it up using piano and trumpet on occasion, for example on the track “Possible” where the song is driven by a very simple piano line over the looped drums.

The album itself is very well constructed and has a very unique dark distant feel to it, almost like a film noir soundtrack. This makes the album stand out quite a bit, despite the distant sound to it. The album also makes crazy good use of rise and fall in the album, with each song having a definitive peak, which makes every song stand out. The opening track “Television” doesn’t this seamlessly, with a slow build up and peaking with a powerful repeating chorus, overtop power drum loops. The Vocals on the album are particularly impressive, especially on the song “Political” that makes excellent use of over lapping vocal tracks.

If you enjoy Trip-hop you should defiantly check out this album, although it does vary on the typical Trip-hop sounds it still has the great elements to it as well. The album hasn’t gotten enough recognition since it’s release over ten years ago, but if you do enjoy trip hop then you really need to find a copy of it.
Baxter – Television
Baxter – Possible
Baxter – Political

It’s been a while since a really solid concept album has been around. Sure a lot of bands use running themes throughout albums today, but you rarely see a full story told in an album. But if there is anyone who would do that it would be The Decemberists.

Hazards of love, the fifth album from the iconic indie group, focuses around a story of the forbidden love between and woman and shape shifter, along with the two villains trying to stop them; the Queen of the Forest and the Rake, a child murder and rapist. What is interesting about the album is the use of guest vocalists to play different roles in the story. Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond plays Margaret the female protagonist, and Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond plays the queen of the forest, with Meloy playing William, the Male protagonist, and the Rake.

The story is interesting although it is a little hard to actually put together all the pieces in only one listen, but the construction of the album is amazing. Meloy employs a lot of recurring melodies to show various themes, which may on occasion might make it seem like the album repeats itself but after a few listens you can hear the variations. The themes are also pretty dark at times, “The Rake Song” is about a father killing his children because they pester him. The sound is a bit more rock oriented then previous Decembrists albums, using more drive especially in songs like “The Rake Song” and “The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing” which may turn off some Decemberists fans but given the chance and looked at in relation to the story it is quite impressive. It may be a bit different but they wanted to try something new, and frankly it worked quite well. Stark and Worden’s vocals are amazing as well, making them really stand out in the album, particularly Worden, whose voice is more powerful on this album then anything by My Brightest Diamond.

It would be hard to give a completely fair review of this album with going through the entirety of the story. The best thing is just to listen to the album from start to finish, the first time may not be that appealing, but given the chance the album quickly grows on you. The first time I heard it I wasn’t that impressed but it is quickly become one of my favourite albums by the Decemberists.

You can find a detailed version of the full story on the album here.

The Decemberists – The Rakes Song
The Decemberists – The Queens Rebuke/The Crossing

I don’t really know how to put it into words apart from saying the EP sounding Canadian, much the same way a Sam Roberts album does. But Frankencottage’s sound isn’t too much like Sam Roberts, with a sound much closer to Islands or Tokyo Police Club. In the title track of Frankencottage the vocals sound almost identical to that of Dave Monks of Tokyo Police Club. But instead of having that repetitive sound that Tokyo police Club album would have they keep it interesting with every song being able to stand out.

Their ability to make each song stand out is one of the best things about the album, even with the EP only having four songs on it. They also make use of various instruments like banjo and slide guitar as opposed to sticking to the guitar bass drums model. Yet they are good to not overuse them, making sure to only use them when necessary to add power to a song. And this works crazy well for them especially in the track Lullaby where they create a fantastic build up to the climax of the song. The build-ups are also great in the album, with fantastic builds and drops that seem so smooth and natural, which is something that there really isn’t enough of right now.

Overall it is an amazing album, probably one of the best of the year. The best part is you can download the whole album for free as well from their website. I would highly recommend doing that as these guys are absolutely amazing, and it wont be long before you are hearing a lot more about them.
Dark Mean – frankencottage
Dark Mean – Lullaby

I’ll Be Found One Day is a great collection of youthful anthems, that all seem to work well as great drunken sing-alongs. Songs will be about things from puking at your girlfriend’s prom, to a kid pulling out knife at a party. But Streetcore completely pulls it off. It doesn’t have that feeling of angst you hear in so many teenage nostalgic albums. It doesn’t have the whininess you find in something like My Chemical Romance. Streetcore look back on those days with the best memories, focusing on the good and not the bad. This works out amazingly for them, it makes the album fun. It has a feel very similar to Flogging Molly, especially in the more heartfelt anthems like “Let’s Call it Even.”

Now I can’t say this album is for everyone, if your not a fan of pop punk there is a chance you wont like it. But it’s not like a whiny Blink 182 album, but it has some of the same feel which may turn people who have a hatred of pop punk off of it. Yet I still think anyone can enjoy the album because it is fun. Streetcore had a lot of fun making this album, and you will probably have fun listening to it, as it often leans much more towards the punk spectrum then the pop end. They are also well aware of how they sound, even mocking themselves with songs like “Four Chord 4/4”

Your best bet to find the album would probably be through their Myspace. Also If you are lucky to catch a show by them you can probably pick one up. Unfortunately they tend to stay in South Western Ontario, as they hail from the small town of Bayfeild. Yet I would still recommend checking out the album, especially if you want a fun youthful album that wont make your ears bleed.
Streetcore – Four Chord 4 4
Streetcore – David
Streetcore – Lets Call It Even

Their EP Just Got Paid lets get laid, starts off with the self title track, which has a introduction which is essentially that annoying chit chat you will hear on the subway around 9 on Friday from those girls who thinks everyone wants to hear their conversations. It is a good way to start out the album because you will then see that those girls are the members of millionaires. The album then does something I thought impossible and gets more irritating when the song actually begins. They begin to sing about how great they are, which seems to be a running theme in the album. Talking about partying, how hard they party, and how they party all the time. Towards the end they talk about how great they are for making shitty music. I’m not making that up; they actually say they don’t know why they are getting paid for doing it and frankly I don’t know either. The music is terrible too, it sounds like they whipped it together 5 o’clock on Friday, I honestly think whoever wrote the fabric land theme song spent more time on that then millionaires did on their music, and at least the Fabric land song is catchy.

The second track cleverly named “Alcohol” is the like the first only this time instead of talking about how hard they party they talk about how they party better then you. There isn’t much to say about this track compared to the last one. Only this one doesn’t have as much last minute over production on it. The 3rd track “I Like Money” is damn near schizophrenic; I have no idea what was going on half the time. I understand they are singing about the same damn thing they have for the last two songs but apart from that I cant make any sense of it (To be fair if I didn’t feel violently ill every time I heard the song I probably would have given it a few more listens to try and figure it out). It is actually kind of impressive that with every song they hit new lows.

In the fourth track “Talk Shit” they “sing” about how they are awesome (again) and if you don’t like it then you’re not worth their time. Oh yea and that they will cut you if you talk shit about them. Once again they mention how their own lyrics are stupid, yet it is same way “No homo” works. Yea their lyrics are stupid, but just because you say they are doesn’t make it ok. I’m fine with using stupid self-aware lyrics, but even then you have to do it correctly; Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head does it right, Millionaires couldn’t be farther from the point.

Finally the last track “I move it” is about how hot they are, and this is actually the best track on the album (even though the sound of hitting a baby with a cat would still be more pleasant then this song). The reason it is most enjoyable is with lyrics like Bring me down ill bring it up/You know I’ll make you sore have endless possibilities for VD jokes. But even those aren’t enough to save this 5 and half minutes of shit.

Now I try to give everything the benefit of the doubt, but really I cant see anyway anyone could enjoy this album. But maybe I’m looking at it the wrong way, maybe the whole thing is supposed to be ironic. Maybe there is some bearded jackass in a black turtleneck reading this review and laughing, “Oh silly Pedestrian, you simply don’t understand it’s a satire.” Any Maybe it is, but if that is what is passing for cultural critique, or even comedy for that matter, then frankly I might just go up to the mountains and live the rest of my life as hermit.

Millionaires – I Like Money
Millionaires – Talk Shit

Farm has a bit of a different feel from Beyond, but it still is clearly a Dinosaur Jr. album. All the elements of Dinosaur Jr. are there, the screeching muddy guitar, the powerful drumming and of course the dry vocals. Yet there is something a bit different about the album. It seems almost a bit more grown up then previous Dinosaur Jr. albums, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it still is a bit weird. It’s really hard to a put a finger on what exactly is different about it.

It’s not to say that the whole album is like that, there are parts that seem like they are classic dinosaur Jr. At some points it seems to have a bit more of a classic rock feel to it, for example the track Friends. The main riff, which is used throughout the verses, has a feel that seems almost similar to something Fog Hat might but out, yet the opening riff seems like a classic J Mascis riff. Then there is the track See you, where opening and verse chords have an odd mid 90s adult contemporary feel to them. Yet once again the track will return to standard Dinosaur Jr. at parts.

Overall the album is still pretty good, Dinosaur Jr. have been one of those bands that seem to at the very least release a solid album. Its not that the album is bad necessarily but it just has a different feel from dinosaur Jr. albums, and if you loved other Dinosaur Jr. stuff there is no reason that you wont enjoy Farm as well.
Dinosaur Jr – Your Weather
Dinosaur Jr – Friends
Dinosaur Jr – See You

The thing about being gimmicky when it comes to anything is the only way to pull it off is to be completely self-aware. Crank 2 was one of the most gimmicky things I have ever witness but it was also one of the most awesome things I have ever witnessed because it knew exactly what it was. Gwar may be one of the most gimmicky things on the planet but they pull it off because they know what they are. If you take yourselves way to seriously, and think what you’re doing is awesome for all the wrong reasons then it makes whatever your doing loose all legitimacy. Anyway Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head is gimmicky and they know it.

Glistening Pleasure may be one of the most fun things that have ever to grace my ears. The songs will be about anything from getting with someone’s daughter to how awesome facial hair is. Yet they know exactly what they are doing, and thus they are awesome. Hell even their name shows how self-aware they are. Yet because of how self aware they are they can use they ridiculousness to their advantage. Take for example the track “Slow Motion Tag Team.” The track is extremely witty and gimmicky, but at the same time it critiques hipster culture perfectly.

The music too is just fun, with most songs based around extremely danceable pop beats, nothing fancy but it works. The songs are extremely catchy making use of heavy synth lines, poppy guitar and good house beats. The only way to really describe the album is fun. They may not be completely revolutionizing music, but they don’t want too. You can tell they just wanted to make music and have fun while doing that, and that might be one of the most respectful things a band can do.

Overall I think everyone should listen give this album a listen. Even if you aren’t into the overly poppy stuff it is still worth it. They are fun, no two ways about it, and unfortunately too many bands take themselves way too seriously. If everyone is trying to be the next Radiohead you are just going to end up with a lot of bands like Coldplay, and seriously what is more boring then Coldplay?
Natalie Portmans Shaved Head – Me And Yr Daughter
Natalie Portmans Shaved Head – Slow Motion Tag Team
Natalie Portmans Shaved Head – Beard Lust