AWmusic

“Best song to play on a road trip”
#91 Constructive Summer by Hold Steady (myspace)
Me and my friends are like “constructive summer”?
#92 Ghosts by Ladytron (myspace/video)
Schizophrenia?
#93 House Music by Cadence Weapon (myspace)
Best song on Afterparty Babies.
#94 Creeper by Islands (myspace/video)
Video is odd.
#95 The Old Days by Dr. Dog (myspace)
“Let go of the old ones, we’ve got new ones.”
#96 Jodi by The Dodos (myspace)
Jodi my dear, this is a song you must hear.
#97 Battle Royale by Does It Offend You Yeah? (myspace/video)
A catchy instrumental for one of my favorite movies.
#98 I Wasn’t Made For Fighting by Woodhands (myspace/video)
They were actually made for dancing.
#99 Heaven (Narctrax Remix) by Health (myspace)
Health’s Disco has amazing remixes.
#100 Dawn Of The Dead by Does It Offend You Yeah? (video)
Critics hated on the wrong album.

For all the hype Crystal Stilts has received, I was still much more interested in the headliner last Sunday. Allan and I had been set to ride this show in style, with free passes and all; except when we got there we were treated to a glaring frontdoorwoman, her evident distaste in our attempts at free entry, her insistence, “no, you’re not on the list,” before experiencing the heavy silence of a long-distance contact who never picked up his phone. Screw this, we decided eventually, and paid the thirteen bucks each.

There were some notable mentionables, of course, concerning the rough-and-mumble, Holy Grail reverb-heavy, Pitchfork-vogue sound of Brooklyn’s Crystal Stilts: the decidedly deadpan American attitude of the frontman, whose hair fell precisely over his eyes, and their drummer who had recently departed from the equally trendy Vivian Girls, to start. And in fact, I liked the first few songs, thought Brad Hargett’s voice was buried in the mix just right. Thought the third number was okay too but sounded like something I had already heard. After the fifth, however, I had to admit, goddammit: every song sounded exactly the same to me. Was I deaf, or daft or something?

Frankie Rose left her tambourine taped to the drum during the entire set, and its timbre grew increasingly annoying after a while, falling out of time in parts. I looked around at the people moving with as much intensity as can be expected from Toronto indie audiences, which is not that much, frankly. (The rents are too high in this city; thusly, obviously, people can’t afford enough alcohol at shows and are not in as good a mood as they could be.) Nursing my beer, I wondered: what is the big deal with this band anyway, and waited for Love is All.

I had first heard about Love is All sometime after the release of their debut album Nine Times That Same Song, at a time when I was experiencing a deep affection for certain varieties of European music. I had befriended a cute Swedish girl while traveling in North Africa, who had introduced me to The Knife and Jens Lekman, and anything Scandinavian was a go. The intensity was the first thing I noticed about the act. Lead singer Josephine Olausson has a voice few can match; she can croon, she can yell, communicating the ambiguity of her lyrics, pitting levity against their gravity, with superb style. Markus Gorsh, the drummer, is a rhythmical machine, never missing a beat, while reading the others in the band perfectly, always. The guitarist Nicholaus Sparding’s angular style truly embodies the art-punk/indie rock monikers the band occupies, while Fredrik Eriksson’s saxophone adds a density to the sound which defies explanation.

Though their set barely cleared the forty minute mark, the band pumped out not-quite mega hits like “Wishing Well,” and “Felt Tip” (a fantastic track to save for the encore), and added a surprising and spirited rendition of Flock of Seagulls’ “I ran,” at which I nearly freaked out, turned to Allan, pumped my fists, and yelled, “Flock of Seagulls, man! Fuck!”

Love is All – Talk Talk Talk Talk

Love is All – Wishing Well

With their release of “A Hundred Things That Keep Me Up At Night”, I was pretty excited to hear what Love Is All could pull off this time around. After hearing their first song “Wishing Well” I was pretty optimistic. Just like the previous album (Nine Times The Same Song), I tend to enjoy the songs near the end of the album much more then the first half. Instantly the first song I liked was “A More Uncertain Future” which has a simple but catchy wind instrument tune while Olausson and Sparding exchange vocals for a fun romantic-craved duet.

Anyway, Love Is All show off a lot of similarities to their previous release despite changing topics of being bored to being worried. One of the first things I noticed is that they really like challenging the ear drums to kick things off. By challenging the ear drums, I don’t mean its bad in anyway but they play an incredibly loud and dirty sound on New Beginning and Give It Back comparable to Talk X4, and Ageing Had Never Been His Friend. It does revert back to simple clean indie pop by the time Last Choice plays. I don’t really have a problem with the first two tracks, it’s still good music it’s more likely that because I prefer the poppy-er tracks compared to the more aggressive ones that the tracks later in the album I find better.

Overall it’s a very strong album, that doesn’t quite match their debut but that’s only due to nitpicking. I personally don’t like the album as much but it doesn’t mean there isn’t as much to like. The music is similar to what made Love Is All popular among blogs and critics. It’s rough around the edges style mixed in with pop sensibilities allow Love Is All to give off a vibe that many bands simply can’t find. The creative edge will always be there for Love Is All and that simply makes them stand out.

Rating: 4.25
Very good album, perhaps narrowly missing on a best of the year nomination.

Love is All and the Crystal Stilts are in town for a show on Thursday night. I definitely need to get out of the house and check this show out.

A More Uncertain Future by Love Is All
Wishing Well by Love Is All