Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career (2009 4AD)

The Scots are doing something right over there. Dolly the sheep, Craig Ferguson and now Camera Obscura? That’s a solid track record. There must be something in the water (and I’m not talking about Nessie).

My Maudlin Career expertly combines indie pop songcraft with the “vintage” aesthetic that’s so prevalent lately – essentially, this is what M. Ward was probably shooting for with the She & Him album. Tracyanne Campbell’s delicate vocals are tastefully coated in reverb, like she and her band are headlining the bill at some old-timey music hall. And with caffeinated string arrangements, courtesy of Bjorn (of Peter Bjorn & John), the band’s “classic” sound makes the leap to “classy.”

For a band that has more or less made a living off of singing about sadness (hence this album’s tongue-in-cheek, self-referential title), Camera Obscura don’t exactly sound so down in the dumps. Think of it this way: Bright Eyes generally sound sad. Wilco sometimes sound sad. Radiohead quite often sounds absolutely miserable. Camera Obscura, however, pull off a strange hybrid: morose lyrical themes juxtaposed against consonant melodies, laid over textures of syrupy strings and pretty guitars. Melancholy has never sounded so good.

In fact, there comes a point when the band’s saccharine sweetness becomes almost sickening. The hook to “Swans” could be the theme to a trendy, Scottish version of “Sesame Street” – not to mention that the timbral combination of organ, electric guitar and glockenspiel is so sugary, you might walk away with some cavities. “Honey In The Sun,” though more mature, is an unfailingly bouncy and upbeat affair that plays through like the Turtles after a few Red Bulls.

Ultimately though, the band’s amalgam of emotions is infectious, and by opening the album with lead single “French Navy,” they’re sure to have you tapping your toe for the rest of the day. Furthermore, the record is sure to please a wide range of listeners – from fans of British Invasion-era pop (like the Zombies or The Hollies) to the younger, hipper crowd (who live for Fleet Foxes or Grizzly Bear) and even the casual radio listeners (who sing along to Adele or Amy Winehouse).

Overall: 8.5/10

Trophy Scars – Bad Luck (2009)

I first heard of Trophy Scars (henceforth colloquially referred to as “T. Scars”) in June of 2007, when my old band played with them at the Tigers’ Den in Brockton, MA. At the time, I was more interested in their Michigan-based tourmates, The Natalie Fight. I was drawn to them because they were a little more eclectic in their music style and especially Nigel’s vocal inflections.

But my, how the tables have turned – The Natalie Fight broke up shortly after that tour, and now T. Scars have come out with Bad Luck, a conceptual post-hardcore masterpiece showcasing a myriad of almost-theatrical influences. It’s so seamlessly put together, I’d be so brazen to claim they’re reinventing the genre (whatever it may actually be).

When aggressive bands take their music in a more grandiose, less straightforward-heavy direction (as opposed to jugga jugga jud jud jud), it’s very much a love-it-or-hate-it affair. In the case of Bad Luck, though, I love it. A fairly loose concept surrounding hired assassins is present, but more suggested than explicitly stated, and even this is a thematic step ahead of the average hardcore band. It helps that the production is so clean on this record that the vocals are emphasized enough to be intelligible. Don’t get me wrong though, T. Scars still do plenty rocking-the-fuck-out. The use of non-traditional arrangements (pianos, horns, etc.) is tasteful – not overbearing and spaced throughout the tracklist enough to keep it an interesting listen.

This is probably going to be the best heavy-music album of the year, so make sure you go out and buy this somehow – it’s self-released. Support this band.

Standout tracks: “Anna Lucia,” “Toronto,” “Years So Much”

Overall: 8.5/10

The Appleseed Cast – Sagarmatha (2009 The Militia Group)

Sorry for the lack of posts lately (not like anyone reads this or cares, anyway), but there just hasn’t been a lot of new music I’ve gotten around to hearing.

That said, it was a real pleasure to finally get my hands on the new Appleseed Cast record. Low Level Owl (both volumes) is one of my favorite albums, and it was especially nice to hear that Sagarmatha would be mostly instrumental, tracing back to their earlier post-rock influence. The inherent problem with this is their transformation since LLO - the accessibility of Two Conversations, the general disappointment of Peregrine, general line-up changes - for them to regress to their early style is a risky move. The integration of the new style into the old sound is fairly successful, but not without its detriments. The beauty of LLO was that it was more like one long, flowing piece. Sagarmatha is certainly cohesive, at least to a degree, but is far less of an extended composition. Don’t get me wrong! That’s okay, but it might even be the fault of the hefty-length songs or movements.

The dynamic writing style is lost a bit too: where some pieces should fade in and steadily build, AppCast tends to lock into ethereal, almost mewithoutYou-esque grooves and just loop them. This monolithic tendency toward repetition isn’t necessarily bad either, but it doesn’t so much suggest Sagarmatha (or Everest – the tallest mountain on Earth, for those of you who don’t speak Nepali [not that I do]).

Odd pacing dominates the album. The closer, “An Army of Fireflies,” is even a little anticlimactic…strangely truncated, considering the three 8-minute opening tracks.

Enough with the complaints though! Not only is this one of my favorite bands, but for this album they’ve reunited with Ed Rose, who’s one of my favorite producers. The sound is crisp and clean, but most importantly, it’s pretty huge. The mix really accentuates songs like “A Bright Light,” which has probably the best riff in the band’s entire repertoire. After the John Congleton-produced Peregrine, I had thought AppCast were going downhill, but Sagarmatha is a satisfying return to form, even if it takes a few listens to sink in.

I also overwhelmingly approve of the heavy use of glockenspiel, especially as the cover art.

 

Overall: 8.5/10

Earth – The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull (2008 Southern Lord)

Before I heard this record I didn’t listen to Earth. If you had told me that this band was the inspiration for drone-doom masters Sunn O)))…I might have believed you. This record is pretty far-removed from the ambient metal that Earth pioneered in the early ’90s, but you know what? It’s better. Yeah, I said it.

Huge clean guitars, dark pianos, swirling organ and big drums, all trudging along at glacier speed, suggests more Pink Floyd or Sigur Rós (!) than Burning Witch or Khanate. Despite this, Earth retains their trademark heaviness – it’s just harder to discern. Though the repetitive and seemingly-aimless compositions might irritate some, just crank it and let yourself be mesmerized. As Earth protegés Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley say, “maximum volume yields maximum results.”
Overall: 8.5/10

Innerpartysystem – Innerpartysystem (2008 Island/Def Jam)

In likely contrast to Good Old War, this band WILL be bigger. They’re already blowing up in the UK, thanks to Fallout’s well-timed releases of their advance singles. But like Duffy, their singles paint a somewhat-inaccurate picture of their full-length. Don’t get me wrong, it’s VERY good. But people know Innerpartysystem for “Don’t Stop” and, to a lesser extent, “Die Tonight Live Forever”: fierce, loud, synth-driven dance-rockers that are dirty as fuck. But the self-titled album contains more than a handful of – and I use this term loosely – ballads. They’re poppier; they’re slower; they’re more accessible. It doesn’t mean they’re bad though. Quite the contrary. The A-list team of producers that worked on the album, combined with the masterful programming/songwriting of the band members, create interesting soundscapes in conjunction with the musical elements to make a gratifying listening experience. See “Structure” and “This Empty Love.” But to truly understand Innerpartysystem, just see them live.

Overall: 8.5/10

Verse – Aggression (2008 Bridge Nine)

I’ve always liked Verse, or rather, the idea of Verse: a modern trad hardcore band that wasn’t afraid to do things a little differently. Even their first LP contained hints of melodic instrumentation and dynamics that their peers wouldn’t dare try. Their latest offering, however, refines these elements and merges them almost flawlessly with the true spirit of hardcore punk: Aggression. Musically, this is their tighest record yet, which says a lot particularly because of how much depth is hidden beneath its surface – “Scream” goes from a roar to a whisper without warning, but without jarring the listener. They also seem to have reached new thematic heights with “Story Of A Free Man” – a fierce and animalistic six-minute exercise in tension and release, divided into three parts, presumably so as to fit within the hardcore spectrum. I see what you did there, Verse. Nice going, though. So far, I think this is the best hardcore record of the year. Take that, Blacklisted and Have Heart.

Overall: 8.5/10

The Reign of Kindo – Rhythm, Chord & Melody (2008 One Eleven)

I really like this album and will likely grow to love it. “The Moments In Between,” “Great Blue Sea,” “Nice To Meet You” and especially “Hold Out” are key tracks that channel the best parts of their self-titled EP and expand upon them. I do enjoy all of the songs – TROK’s sound is unique enough that they’re all excellent and well-crafted – but I’m only dismayed at how poppy some of them are. They do pull it off and add a bit of TROK flair to what could otherwise be an unremarkable song, but in doing so they’re honestly selling their collective talents short…though the vocals are strong enough to carry even the least impressive tune. Also, the sonic quality and engineering of the album would have benefited from a more jazzy tonality – the drums in particular. That’s a fairly minor detail though, I suppose.

Overall: 8.5/10.