posted by Rachel on October 22, 2008
The Dandys should be a household name by now, but they’re far from it. While they became bigger than big in Australia and UK, it didn’t quite happen in the States. Instead, the Portland band just released their 6th album on their own label, Beat The World Records. Like earlier albums, “Earth to the Dandy Warhols” sounds different from each one before it. “Come Down” is a study in shoegazing, while “13 Tales of Urban Bohemia” found the band channeling the Rolling Stones with their uber hit “Bohemian Like You.”
“The Legend of the Last of the Outlaw Truckers AKA The Ballad of Sheriff Shorty,” in addition to vying for the Guinness Record for longest rock song title, is a tour de force of growling rockabilly. “Now You Love Me” is poppier and the lyrics are less strange but the music is just as interesting. Both tracks draw on very different influences; Reverend Horton Heat on one end of the spectrum and My Bloody Valentine on the other. Somewhere in the improbable space in between, The Dandy Warhols have emerged and created their own unique sound.
The Legend . . .
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Now You Love Me
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(11 votes)
Loading ...posted by Tina on October 21, 2008
I’ve been following these guys for quite some time now and I’m always amazed how each new album tops the last one. The band’s latest project is releasing songs as singles, posting each one to their website and selling them iTunes-style for 99 cents. But for a display of pure musical ability, it’s worth a few more bucks to see The Guns live. Bain Mattox, lead singer and songwriter, can mesmerize you with his accordion—no small feat in these cynical times—and then shift effortlessly to the mandolin minutes later. His talent is never ending. Just as impressive are the band’s fans, who all seem to know the words to every track. It’s the best kind of singalong. The band’s latest and greatest is Horns and Halos, which combines softly wailing guitars, soaring voices and heartfelt lyrics. Find more like it on the band’s Myspace.
Horns and Halos
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(12 votes) Loading ...posted by Leigh on October 20, 2008
What’s not to like about a band with adorably cartoonish album covers and free glowsticks at every show? And Plushgun isn’t all image; they also offer thoughtful lyrics embedded in a mix of synth beats and solid guitar riffs. The three-member Brooklyn band produces a full sound, all the while energizing the audience. Lead singer Dan Ingala sounds like an upbeat Robert Smith mixed with a bit of Benjamin Gibbard, set to a back-drop of synth beats reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem. Plushgun can also rock heavy, with punk influences mixed in with old-school blips and bleeps.
“Impolite,” from the band’s EP, is an instant hit, and could easily headline the soundtrack of any indie flick. The lyrics will resound with anyone ever involved in a relationship (especially one gone awry), and the track serves up one catchy phrase after another, including the chorus: “I walk the line like Johnny Cash/I made the bus in seconds flat/I called your line too many times/I’m not obsessed just impolite”
If “Impolite” is any indication, Plushgun’s upcoming full-length is worth waiting for. Until then, check out the EP and catch them live if you can; with or without a sea of glowsticks in the background, you’ll enjoy the show. The rest of the EP is on Myspace.
Just Impolite
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» Meaningless labels: Catchy • Clever Lyrics • Danceable • Male vocal
(17 votes) Loading ...posted by Patrick on October 14, 2008
When you run a music blog, everything you write about is supposed to be The Brightest New Thing. You can’t pick favorites. If I could though, I’d pick Gentleman Auction House and their new album “Alphabet Graveyard.” Like Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s, The House manages the neat trick of extracting clean, hook-filled, and inventive indie pop from a sprawling cast of seven members playing instruments from flute to trumpet to guitar. Oh, and there are three drummers, somehow. (I can just imagine the Three Bears discussion behind that decision: Four drummers was too many, but one was too few). It’s not the band’s size that sets them apart though; it’s the way they mix tempos, lyrics, and random sounds into a cohesive, distinctive but still poppy package. The two tracks below illustrate the band’s range. “Book of Matches” is driven by a looping guitar lick, while “A Good Son” burns slowly until the three-and-a-half minute mark, when it devolves into something entirely different. I have no idea how all these pieces fit together live, but I can’t wait to find out. More tracks on Myspace.
The Book of Matches
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A Good Son
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(11 votes) Loading ...
August 15th, 2011 at 8:42 am
I searched a bunch of sites and this was the best.