AWmusic

I’ll prove some mp3s along the way and you can share your own shuffles.
Invasion by Eisley
The Longest House of My Life by Everybody Else
Lousy Reputation by We Are Scientists
Lost At Sea by Eisley
Lions of the Kalahari by Sam Roberts
Who You’d Kill Know? by Frightened Rabbit
100 Degrees by Shout Out Louds
Hysteria by Muse
Burn The Witch by Queens of The Stone Age
Hello, My Treacherous Friends by Ok Go

Wow I dodged some big bullets. Songs that I will keep a secret but I have quite a bit of guilty pleasure. This list is actually a list I could listen to on occasion.

I came kind of late (intentionally) and was surprised to see another band opening the show. It ended up being Vedera which I caught about half their set. There were only a handful watching them with the stage about 1/8th full and a small crowd actually listening/caring. They were actually pretty good live and I’ll say that they were probably the performance of the night. Kristen May was singing at the top of her lungs and really giving out her best effort even if the crowd didn’t care. The guitarist was pretty good too actually, skilled enough to say hey they definitely don’t suck. May also displayed some pretty good stage presence (could argue that it’s easy to do in front of a small crowd) and when she decided to improvise after not being able to tune her guitar she still put on an excellent performance.

I personally don’t like the songs too much after listening to them on their myspace page but they were good live and had the small crowd cheery more loudly then the next act The Myriad.

The Myriad was pretty crappy…I couldn’t hear ANY vocals (I was standing close to the stage but the vocals were really subpar) and they switched up instruments trying random things but it felt gimmicky as they didn’t do anything amazing. They did have some amazing sounds, but I felt it sucked and the crowd barely responded. The highlight was the Tom Delonge look-alike using a bow with his guitar to ring out some decent sounds. Ultimately it was forgettable though.

Everyone was there for Eisley and the crowd filled out nicely as the night moved on. Eisley wasn’t as good live as I expected but they were more along the lines of decent. The vocals were pretty good but I heard a lot of guitar muting and unfortunately the instruments overpowered the vocals which is an utter shame. From the videos (the sound quality is what I remember) you can tell the performances were good it’s just that they could’ve been better being stripped down. Stacy also kept bobbing her head back to the beat of the music and “ruined” some moments as her vocals were not constant. As great as she was into the music, I would’ve preferred her keeping her head still. Eisley themselves didn’t really say much to the crowd, it was just simple Thanks Yous and the typical it’s cool to be in Canada. The crowd was quiet at times as a result. The best moments were during the encore, when Garron the bassist signaled for the crowd to begin clapping. The crowd was actually quite loud then…why didn’t they do that before? The last song was great as it was just Stacy and Sherri singing and you really got to see how good they were.

Here’s one of the songs:

Come Clean by Eisley (I chose this song because I realized how…dirty “come clean all around me” sounds)

The Falling Kind by Vedera

Find all the other pictures and the other video below:
(more…)

Anyway whenever I do a concert, I do like to talk about the band and so my post will be looking at Eisley’s 2005 release Room Noises, their debut.

I first heard about Eisley with their tracks I Wasn’t Prepared and Golly Sandra those tracks in itself displayed excellent female vocals that I tend to be drawn to. It’s clearly their strongest quality, with two great singers in the band, vocals can carry their songs anytime.

However, this group of siblings from Tyler, Texas has together made more then an album just with “singers”. Instrumentally they do keep it rather simple but that makes it stand out from other bands with great singers. They make it seem more relaxing and make the vocals stand out. Telescope Eyes and Brightly Wound get a push forward as they add to the song but it remembers to stay in the background.

Lyrically they are no slouch…at least compared with other mainstream acts. You get songs that are none too difficult to understand but ultimately display originality and not too many moments where you would way say they are repeating themselves too much.

Definitely the album was not as strong lyrically as Combinations but this album in itself is as strong musically. Keeping their debut simple proved wonders.

The album won’t challenge you by any means but this band probably deserves more respect from the indie crowd. They are a pseudo-indie band (a term I’m using for a band that is with a major label but everyone calls them indie rock) meaning their music diverges a little bit from the mainstream crowd but not quite enough for the indie crowd to see as cool. Eisley probably isn’t the coolest band to like, whether it’s by fans of their ex-boyfriends bands or even on indie blogs, they are still very talented and you can’t fault for them that.

With the break-ups the band has gone through they probably will continue to have emotion on their albums.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5.

Trolleywood by Eisley

Golly Sandra by Eisley

They titles are pretty self-explanatory with what I’ve been experiencing.

1. It’s Not Over Yet by The Klaxons
2. I Felt Like Smashing My Face Through A Clear Glass Window by Of Montreal
3. Skip To The End by The Futureheads
4. Date Rape by Sublime - I felt raped after my biochem exam FYI.
5. Wish I Was Dead by The Shout Out Louds
6. The Devil Never Sleeps by Iron & Wine
7. Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying by Belle & Sebastian
8. I Wasn’t Prepared by Eisley
9. I Need Some Sleep by The Eels

I also need a laugh (the annoying devil is related I guess)

We all make mistakes but it’s really about admitting them!

Albums I was too nice on:

Hot Hot Heat – Happiness Ltd.
Original Rating: 4 out of 5
I must say I am not proud at all with giving this score…granted Happiness Ltd. was a decent album but it definitely wasn’t trash like some people are saying. I think I started getting tougher on albums right after looking at this album. Hot Hot Heat’s Happiness Ltd. does have a more mainstream sound and when I go back on the album it does give off a “meh” feeling despite how poppy it is. This album would probably get a 3 out of 5 from me. I liked it more then “Elevator” and there were some tracks I dug despite giving off that “emo” feeling. An average effort but in the end as I’ve moved on from liking HHH.
Harmonicas and Tambourines by Hot Hot Heat

Shout Out Louds – Our Ill Wills
Original Rating: 4.5 out of 5
The 4.5 out of 5 ranking doesn’t match what I wrote and still feel when I wrote the review for “Our Ill Wills”. I felt this album produced a lot of hits but as an album it didn’t quite gel together. It was a great progression from “Howl Howl Gaff Gaff” but I believe it deserves to be around a 4 out of 5. The first half of this album is amazing though. I think when I gave this score, I was a little bit biased as the Shout Out Louds are one of my favorite bands… Am I nitpicking at my own ranking here? Maybe but a 4 and 4.5 makes a huge difference from the very good to cream of the crop.
Blue Headlights by Shout Out Louds
Suit Yourself by the Shout Out Louds

Eisley – Combinations
Original Rating: 5 out of 5
A 5 out of 5 review would probably guarantee this album in my top 20 albums of ‘07 (if not my top 10) but I think this album just missed and that I was too high when reviewing “Combinations”. When preparing for this post, I went back to the album to get a better idea of what the score should be. I was reminded how good this album actually is despite the “blah” reviews. It’s not quite 5 material but I think it deserves a 4.5 out of 5 for being very good. Also while looking up the hot Eisley girls I found out Sherri Dupree’s marriage to New Found Glory’s guitarist Chad Gilbert has seemed to have ended. Not that I really care but Eisley fans might be interested.
Ten Cent Blues by Eisley
Taking Control by Eisley

Albums I was too harsh on:
Beirut – Flying Club Cup
Original Rating: 3.25 out of 5
3.25 out of 5 isn’t that bad of a score. Most albums I review will probably receive 3s but I must say I never gave this album a chance. I do recall songs being a bit too complex for me and I’d wish for songs to be a lot more simpler. I never really tried to get into this album even if from the outset I knew it would take some effort. I MAY do a re-review if someone requests but I just think I couldn’t really justify the 3.25.
Nantes by Beirut

New Pornographers – Challengers
Original Rating: 3 out of 5
Challengers was overall a fun album to listen to. I think the problem when I reviewed the album is that I fixated on the “filler” moments of the album and there were some great tracks that I will make my top 30 songs of this year. The album should’ve gotten a 4 out of 5 from me and I probably was in an upset mood or something for giving a poor score.
Myriad Harbour by The New Pornographers
Mutiny, I Promise You by The New Pornographers

Bishop Allen – The Broken String
Original Rating: 2 out of 5
Like, reviewing Beirut’s album I really didn’t give this album much time. Most of this album were remastered songs from the 12 EP project that they released for every month of the year. Corazon was arguably my favorite song by them and there were a handful of tracks that I dug stylistically. I think they went away from that for “The Broken String”. No fault of their own but I could’ve been less-biased and tried to use less of my own likings of some songs rather then complaining how they did this and that.
Corazon (original) by Bishop Allen

Battles – Mirrored
Original Rating: 1.5 out of 5
I can’t really defend myself here. I gave out a harsh review because the album didn’t fit into my style at all and it gave me constant headaches. Listening to Battles’ “Mirrored” was a mistake at the time I would say because I was not ready for their style of music. It still gives me a headache but I don’t think I should’ve written a review at all but I think I could look at it again to see how my views has changed. I’m thinking about doing a re-review but I need some motivation as I’ve got a bunch of stuff to cover.
Ddiamondd by Battles

With Eisley their vocals are great and they are pretty hot if you look at that picture! Sherri of the band is married to a member of New Found Glory and had been dating Brand New’s Jesse Lacey when recording the Room Noises album.

Anyway, Combinations hit stores on August 14th. I was actually awaiting to hear some of their new stuff as I checked out Room Noises and various singles before hand. This album sounds older and more mature compared to their older stuff. It sounds much easier to listen to and I really dug this album easily (only 2 weeks since I downloaded it).

I plan to purchase this album and I give it a 5 out of 5. It has already received some good reviews and rightfully so. Check out their video for Invasion and stream Ten Cent Blues.

Ten Cent Blues.mp3

Eisley – Invasion (music video).

I have been listening to it more recently and admittedly it has grown on me a little. I still find hard to listen to but at least there are some tracks that I really like right now. It’s just too different stylistically to like too much.

My favorite track (download/stream below) is called “Make a Plan To Love Me” which features band members of Eisley on backup vocals. They really add something special to this song and I doubt this album would get as a high of rating without this song. This album gets a 3.5 out of 5 from me.

Make A Plan To Love Me.mp3