Album: Stray Ashes Artist: JBM Label: Western Vinyl Words by Chris Do you hear that muffled howl in the trees? That’s a breeze of fresh air blowing into your grizzled, over-exposed eardrums. That’s the idyllic pain of JBM ’s new record, Stray Ashes , a relatively quiet and straightforward record that might not even be fully formed (in fact, a lot of this material could have been fleshed out for a more memorable [...]
[Welcome to Sophomore/Sophomoric, where we'll catalog the tiptoed journeys of the literally thousands of bands who have attempted, not all of them successfully, to navigate their way from debut success and past the proverbial "sophomore slump" into the rarefied air of "sophomore glory." Is that a term? It'd be better if it was alliterative. How about, "sophomore splendor"? That works better, yeah.] Words by Jacob Artist: Weezer Albums: Weezer [blue] (1994) & Pinkerton (1996) [...]
Photo by the inimitably prolific Hugh Twyman Words by Vicki Annie Clark is a badass. I’d already guessed as much from listening to her music, performed under the name St. Vincent . Her latest album, Strange Mercy , is filled with shredding guitars, brash and loud and confrontational, but contrasted with gorgeous vocals that can be oh so soft but also biting and angry. She commands strange, sometimes spooky sounds from her instruments that result in music that’s not [...]
Bright Moments + Jukebox The Ghost + Savoir Adore Mr. Small's / 06.30.2012 / Doors 7:00 / $13 Words by Brendan You might not know the name Bright Moments or the name of its mastermind, Kelly Pratt, but I guarantee you've been listening to him for years. Beirut ? Arcade Fire ? Coldplay ? LCD Soundsystem ? Heard of 'em? Pratt has played everything from trumpet to French horn to euphonium to flute for these bands, [...]
Nada Surf + Waters / Stage AE Club 06.20.2012 / Doors 8:00 / $17 Words by Brendan Dudes and dudettes, summer concert season is INTENSE. There are so many good happenings around town that we're bound to miss some and let some creep up on us. Never mind us, though, we're just here to let you know about the best of the best and hook you up with some sweet swag, when we can. (Is that a thing people say? I [...]
These United States + Dream Job + Polar Scout Brillobox / 06.23.2012 / Doors 9:30 / $10 Words by Brendan These United States are still pretty fresh off a couple of tours, and their most recent one with Trampled By Turtles brought them to Mr. Small's as an opening act earlier this spring. They're already eager to get back to Pittsburgh, though, and this time they're headlining at the Brillobox, playing with two local [...]
[Trackspotting is a reoccurring segment where one of us shares some recent single jams that make our feet tap, our toes tingle, our hearts melt, our minds meld, or something else just as wild and crazy. We'll share a handful of songs that fit some theme, plus a longer playlist of tunes that you can stream on Spotify. Sign up on their website and start streaming our picks!] Words by Cory It's not [...]
5 Songs is a weekly series where we point out the strange, the grand, and the unique connections between our favorite songs. Let’s get weird. Photo from The Twilight Sad 's Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters , courtesy of Fat Cat , a great album! Words by Chris Before, we listened to songs about sad ladies . Here is the sister column (er, brother column) to that, wherein [...]
tUnE-yArDs / Mr. Smalls / 6.12.2012 / Doors 7:00 / $17 Words by Vicki I’ve written about tUnE-yArDs in this space before, both in a New to Us piece last fall and on my year-end Top 5 lists , where the one-woman band took top honors with my favorite album of 2011. The brainchild of Merrill Garbus, tUnE-yArDs creates a unique sound by taking African-inspired beats and contorting them via looping pedals and Merrill’s own [...]
Bowerbirds + Basia Bulat Mr. Small's / 06.13.2012 / Doors 7:00 / $15 Words by Brendan If knowing that Bowerbirds was described by John Darnielle (he of Mountain Goats notoriety) as his "favorite new band in forever" isn't enough for you, by all means, read on. This band has matured and grown a lot over the short course of three records, and their latest release, The Clearing , shows a huge breakthrough for them. [...]
Song: "Into The Night" Artist: The Raveonettes Words by Brendan This tune starts out as some electro-pop take on the theme song of a Twilight Zone -style show then morphs right into a perfect Raveonettes sound. There's fuzzy yet shimmery guitars and synths and those somewhat high-pitched vocal harmonies they do oh so better than anyone else, all pushing around some catchy and singable lyrics about, well ... heartbreak, as they say. The EP for which this tune is epnoymous just barely slipped [...]
[The Lookahead is a monthly segment where we get to be all newsy and point out cool stuff going down in the next 30 days or so. We'll have cool Pittsburgh music shows and events, local album releases, and some national releases of interest. This is the good stuff we've heard about. Come back on the 1st of each month for more!] Lot of stuff going down in the Pittsburgh music scene this month! The Three Rivers Arts Festival is ongoing this week with [...]
Title: I Love You, It’s Cool Artist: Bear in Heaven Label: Hometapes/Dead Oceans Release: April 3, 2012 Words by Chris This record is a much more streamlined, digestible, decidedly more 80’s version of Bear in Heaven , which is both a little disappointing and pretty damn good, with the band commanding this different sound with comfort-it breezes by on the first few listens, no fancy introductions or closings, just a really energetic, at times joyful, neon-colored jolt. The songs [...]
Words by Brendan Hey everyone. Real talk time. You may have noticed-or not, perhaps, and maybe that's the point-that we haven't posted in over a week. Here's what happened. Jim and I had a face to face chat about what's going on here behind the scenes at Draw Us Lines. You might not know about the time and effort that goes into blogging. Keeping up with new music. Reading and responding to emails from bands and PR people. Writing all of these paragraphs to convey our enthusiasm. Don't get me wrong. "Wahh blogging is [...]
Damien Jurado + JBM / Andy Warhol Museum / 05.17.2012 Words by Brendan Whether or not you already know about Damien Jurado , he deserves your attention, and his music deserves your ears, hearts, and minds. He signed to indie stalwart label Sub Pop back in 1997 and has been releasing album after album of impressive material since then, continually reinventing his sound, from acoustic folk to punky garage pop to pyschedelia, on his latest, Maraqopa . We're pleased to announce that (a) Jurado [...]
Words by Rick OK, so when all else fails, start your album with feedback. Even that long-awaited disco album slaved over in your home studio deserves the added spunk of some hi-pitch amplified noise (plus friends will think you’re less of a dweeb for recording a disco album). On their new LP, Slices not only preps listeners with a shot of feedback but then accelerates into a punkified Thin Lizzy -like guitar riff on opener “Trying to Make a Living” after a muscle car revs its engine, as if signaling, “Fasten [...]
5 Songs is a weekly series where we point out the strange, the grand, and the unique connections between our favorite songs. Let’s get weird. Words by Chris If you look deep into a doggie’s eyes, you see either pure innocent love of life or the kill-or-be-killed instinct sewn into their DNA by their savage wolf heritage. Here’s some songs right on that line. [...]
Words and puzzle by Brendan Welcome back to this monthly feature! Be sure to check out the previous puzzles- Puzzle #1 and Puzzle #2 and Puzzle #3 -and their solutions are posted there, too. The theme of this here puzzle is on the harder side, but there are plenty of musical references and easy clues on the non-theme entries to get you started. I'll even give you a hint in the line below this one; just highlight the text to make it appear. Keep in mind [...]
Words by Brendan There's nary a moment of let-up in Royal Headache 's self-titled debut. Guitar, bass, and drums all kick in at 0:01 on opener "Never Again" with maximum energy and seriously hookiness, and exactly 30 seconds later, the vocals join in and grab you and you know you're listening to something new and special. Far from being an "in your face" heavy punk record, though, this is actually soulful garage pop, scuzzy and lo-fi and rumbling in all the right places, while the vocals are deeply steeped in Motown hits. Imagine [...]
Words by Rick OK, so The Ceiling Stares rocked their 73 release show at the Brillobox on April 13th (at least I think they did-a 24 hour stomach flu trapped me in bed), so fuck me if this review isn’t fashionably late. Don’t get me wrong-my first listen to their new single incited some immediate written praise, but I’m terrible at finishing things. (My stolen copy of The Red Badge of Courage from 9th grade still sits with bookmark in place. My apologies, Mr. Crane). At least a solid amount [...]
Draw Us Lines
CDCmixtape: ¡Lo Mejor de Abril y lo que va de Mayo 2013!
Video: “Man I Need” by Jagwar Ma
