Every time I get a message on Twitter or an email from Jeff Caudill I still get a little giddy. He's such a nice and down to earth "regular" guy, but I've been a fan of Gamface (and now his solo stuff) since I was in high school some 13+ years ago so it's understandable, right? Anyhow, Jeff sent me a copy of his (at least for now) unreleased CD of demos, home recordings, covers, and other miscellaneous tracks and it (as I expected it would be) is great. Caudill has the ability to [...]
With great and instantly memorable songs, impossibly wild guitar solos, and a familiar feeling of confident slacker cool, Dinosaur Jr's new album, Farm , (their second since the reunited lineup of J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph got back together) is on par with anything the band has ever done. Despite not sounding radically different than some of their albums from almost 25 years ago, there is something fresh, vibrant, and energetic about Farm that makes it, like 2007's Beyond , a joy to listen to. It's strange, really, that this band (J Mascis [...]
Wow! Putting Dumbwaiter on during a mundane Thursday afternoon at work was like a much needed shot in the arm. This debut release from Boston's The Cold Beat is full of 6 songs with that worn and weathered rock-n-roll aesthetic and just enough punk rock spirit seeping through. The melodies are catchy and the choruses are memorable. The vocals as strained but not pushed past their breaking point; it adds a bit of tension that keeps things interesting. This is raw and passionate music that makes me want to have a [...]
The Curtain Calls (who were formerly called No Action) are a pop-punk-rock band from Omaha, Nebraska that just happens to feature my old friend Chris Crutcher on vocals and guitar. He (as a teenager) played in Juniper 9 with some of the guys who went on to start The Carraways and Moped Band (discography forthcoming at Chris' request). It's refreshing to hear that not all the musicians I've played with have settled down and started families even though that's cool too. I guess you'd call this living/listening vicariously through Chris. [...]
Chuck Ragan did it. Tim Barry did it. Chris McCaughan did it. And now Chris Wollard has released his first solo album after spending years in punk/post-hardcore giants (and one my favorite bands ever) Hot Water Music. But don't be fooled by all these guys, after playing in the (albeit lesser-known) pop-punk band Allister, I self-released a solo acoustic album called The Simple Life back in 2002. I'm the pioneer! LOL ! Anyhow, Chris Wollard & The Ship Thieves recently released their self-titled debut on No Idea [...]
Scream Hello put out a pretty good little EP called Smart & Stupid as a sort of preview for their debut full-length from last year, but unfortunately the album that followed isn't quite as good. Everything Is Always Still Happening does feature some pretty decent pop-punk tunes as well as some longer and more meandering songs that almost sound a little like The Ataris trying to play Promise Ring cover songs as weird as that is (and strangely accurate too). It also seems like overkill for there to be three songs longer than [...]
Before listening to their most recent album Underneath The Owl I'd never really given The Riverboat Gamblers much of a chance but this new album of theirs is pretty slick. It is some rockin' punk-n-roll that sounds (a lot) like it could be plastered all over so-called modern rock radio. Their sound reminds me (quite a bit) of Communique/American Steel and other bands in that vein. The one thing about Underneath The Owl that is readily apparent right from the get go is that they love huge choruses; big, soaring, anthemic, sing-a-long, stadium-sized [...]
The Heartless Bastards played Chicago earlier this year and, if their new album The Mountain is any indication, I wish I would have been there to see it. On The Mountain the trio dishes out some seriously blues-driven roots rock that certainly references Led Zeppelin and the early 70's in more than a few places. The guitars and grooves are think like molasses and aside from the howling vocals of singer/guitarist Erika Wennerstrom (easily the most remarkable part of the band), the most noticeable thing about the band is their pacing. [...]
It was almost three years ago that I reviewed a double EP from Syracuse, NY's Merit and said I heard "a talented band that hadn't yet found their identity" and that the record was good and "significantly more cohesive than their previous release" but that it "still retains a little of that 311 meets Incubus groove-oriented party rock vibe" of their 2004 debut album When We Fight . Well, that was then and this is now, and their new album, Arson Is For Lovers , shows that Merit has grown by leaps and bounds as [...]
Only Thunder is a band from Denver, CO that features members of Pinhead Circus, Ghost Buffalo, Blackout Pact, and many others. Their debut album , Lower Bounds , is (well) a thundering record that isn't overly emo, isn't overly post-punk, but isn't straight ahead punk rock either. Eh? Something like that. I've been listening to Lower Bounds since the week before Christmas and have returned to it many times trying to find out if I was missing something, but I've never been wowed . The band is technically good and avoid a lot of [...]
If there were any true justice in this world, Ben Lee would be a pop star instead of the crap that gets pushed down the American Idol watching throats of America. As someone who has been a fan of Ben Lee for as long as he has been making records (that's damn near 15 years now) I'll be the first to admit that many of his songs are full of cheese and corn but, there is no denying that the guy has a knack for melody. On Rebirth Of Venus (his eighth full-length solo album) Lee [...]
Jackson United is a punk (well, sorta punk, I guess) band fronted by Chris Shiflett who is more well-known as the guitarist for Foo Fighters and Me First And The Gimme Gimmes. The band was formed as a trio in 2003 with Shiflett's older brother Scott (of Face To Face, 22 Jacks, Viva Death) on bass and Pete Parada (of Face To Face, Saves The Day, The Offspring) and shortly thereafter added second guitarist Doug Sangalang. After losing a few different drummers and a period of inactivity due to Shiflett's commitments to Foo Fighters, in 2007 the [...]
The Henry Clay People are a quartet from LA and they play loosely staggering indie-infused Americana rock music that sounds like a cross between A.M. -era Wilco, Pavement, and Tom Petty. So, yeah, there is a low-key slacker we-don't-give-a-damn vibe that makes me think these guys just say, "let's just get drunk and play some rock-n-roll music." Their album For Cheap Or For Free sounds like that. There is a twang but this ain't country music; this is rock-n-roll. Did I mention that this was released by Autumn Tone ? Yeah, [...]
A few months back, I reviewed Jeff Caudill's electro-pop project Floormodel , and now I've got (well, I've had it for awhile now) new solo record to review. How cool is that? Answer: very cool. So on Try To Be Here , former Gameface frontman Jeff Caudill (and a cast of backing musicians) play what should really just be your typical but slightly rootsy pop-rock (think Gin Blossoms or something like that) but it ends up being so much more. Perhaps it's Jeff's obvious passion for his music as that bleeds though. [...]
It was maybe a month and a half ago that I was at Metro waiting for The Acorn to take to the stage when the sound guy just happened to be playing Evil Urges between bands. It actually took me a few songs to realize that it was the new My Morning Jacket record even though I sorta (surprisingly) liked it. It's the kind of weird departure record that may have almost (or actually) killed any/all the momentum the band built up through their last few releases. I'm not sure how much sense [...]
The recently released album from Columbus, Ohio's Two Cow Garage is full of some seriously bitchin' no-nonsense rock n' fuckin' roll. Fuckin' A! This is an album that will have fans of Lucero, Drive-By Truckers, and Springsteen jizzin' in their pants and singing loudly. So yeah, the band can do it loud but also slow down the alt-country tempos when they need to. Some people might be turned off by the serious rasp of main singer/songwriter Micah Schnabel's vocals (which sound as if he gargles with shards of broken glass and washes it down with whiskey [...]
John Sebastian (who also records with his wife as The Color Wheels) is the songwriter and vocalist behind Poughkeepsie, NY's Paper The Operator and their quick six song Solemn Boyz EP is full of effortlessly catchy tunes that fall somewhere near the intersection of indie-pop, power-pop, and pop-punk. Now normally I wouldn't give a second look/listen to anything that has the word boyz or any other that's intentionally misspelled with a "z" but hey, I trust the dudes at Beartrap . Big guitars, catchy melodies, and sweet vocal harmonies find these Solemn [...]
So it begins like this. I first heard of Catfish Haven when their Please Come Back EP came out back in 2006. Since then I've seen the band totally kill it live on a number of occasions. With their latest full-length offering Devastator , the band is back with another healthy dose of their unique brand of neo-soul rock music that despite the extra brass, keys, and soulful backup vocals, still manages to sound a little ragged and raw. Modern classic rock if you will. [...]
Okay, so this may or may not be interesting to you. Low is a band from Duluth, Minnesota that my friend Jacob (most-likely) got me listening to (well, aside from when my dad bought Secret Name and gave it to me after commenting that the music, "makes me want to kill mydelf [sic]." But Jacob also just happens to be the main reason (or at least the main encouragement towards it) that I started this here blog called Can You See the Sunset From the Southside. Interesting, right? He also recently moved to Minnesota, where [...]
Le Switch has got a good thing going for sure. Falling somewhere between the dark Will Sheff stylized Americana of Okkervil River and the twang-pop sensibilites of Rhett Miller and his Old 97's. There is a certain wavering edge that Le Swtich's music so precariously walks on their debut album And Now... Le Switch . It is loose and bouncy. It is the edge of rock-n-soul music that is carried by horns, raucous pianos, organs, strings, etc... as well as the whiskey-soaked vocals of singer Aaron Kyle. The album was released by the folks [...]
Can You See the Sunset
A-Trak - "Round of Applause" / "Where My Money At" (MP3 Download)
Diplo - "Climax" (MP3 Stream)
Skrillex Uses Satanic and Homosexual Influence to Win Grammys
Check Out: Usher – “Climax” (prod. by Diplo)
Out This Week 2/14
