Okkervil River have given fans a Christmas gift a few weeks early. The Austin-based rockers released a free covers EP, Golden Opportunities 2, today. Download it here. The sequel to their 2007 covers collection of the same name, Golden Opportunites 2 is “intended as [gifts] to fans”. It was recorded in one day using a live-to-tape setup, featuring covers of songs by Ted Lucas, Jim Sullivan, The Triffids, and Bill Fay. The first two tracks are my favorite:

01. It is So Nice to Get Stoned [Ted Lucas cover]
02. U.F.O. [Jim Sullivan cover]
03. One Soul Less On Your Fiery [the Triffids cover]
04. Plan D [Bill Fay cover]
05. Dry Bones [Traditional]

The covers EP follows the band’s full-length earlier this year,  I Am Very Far.

Official Site / BUY

The post Free Okkervil River EP appeared first on Obscure Sound: Indie Music Blog.

Two new tracks from Wolf Parade‘s upcoming third album, EXPO 86, made the internet rounds today. “Ghost Pressure”, a thumping piece of electro-rock, and “What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had to Go This Way)”, a typical Krug triumph, are seamlessly furthering the hype for EXPO 86, which should be one of this summer’s talked-about releases. Wolf Parade have never struggled to find an output for their music, and the immediate accessibility of these two tracks should solidify their status as staples of college radio. Wolf Parade serves as an expression of the most conventional material from Krug and Boeckner, who often tread breathtaking artistic territory with their primary efforts in Sunset Rubdown and Handsome Furs, respectively. This output, while classified as conventional, is imaginative and sprawling enough to remain constantly engaging, representing some of the most cohesive songwriting of their carers. EXPO 86, which will be released June 29th, looks to be continuing the stellar fashion of the band’s previous material. Nothing here sounds particularly surprising… it is just the same stellar songwriting we have come to expect from both Krug and Boeckner at this point.

EXPO 86 will play as followed:

01 “Cloud Shadow on the Mountain”
02 “Palm Road”
03 “What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had to Go This Way)”
04 “Little Golden Age”
05 “In the Direction of the Moon”
06 “Ghost Pressure”
07 “Pobody’s Nerfect”
08 “Two Men in New Tuxedos”
09 “Oh You, Old Thing”
10 “Yulia”
11 “Cave-o-Sapien”

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Wolf Parade – Ghost Pressure

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Wolf Parade – What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had to Go This Way)

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Sub Pop Records

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The post Wolf Parade Debut Two New Songs appeared first on Obscure Sound: Indie Music Blog.

Spontaneity is a trait that all fine artists have, regardless of whether it arises daily or once every few years. Immediately connecting with an emotion, object, or individual is rare enough, so to produce a work of art from it requires the most gifted of abilities. This type of spontaneous chemistry was evident between Deidre Muro and Paul Hammer from the get-go. That the two would conspire to create an epic concept album over the short span of a weekend is indicative enough of their ambitious similarities, but when the two started recording it became apparent that their collaboration was unique. The sessions resulted in The Adventures of Mr Pumpernickel and the Girl with Animals in her Throat, which was a strong debut EP that flashed an act with no frontman or singular creative force. Rather, a true collaboration of sorts was shown in motion that was impressive even without knowing it took only a weekend to accomplish. After that recording session and the subsequent formation of Savoir Adore, the experiment-turned-project began to pick up some buzz around their native Brooklyn. A few notable shows had impressed, as the two multi-instrumentalists always put forth a factor of unpredictability. They share singing and instrumental duties, each doing so in an equal manner that becomes reliant on their two abilities alone. In that case, it is hardly surprising why their new album, In the Wooded Forest, is their best yet.

Following the oddly titled but successful The Adventures of Mr Pumpernickel and the Girl with Animals in her Throat, the success of In the Wooded Forest should have hardly been a surprise to fans. Its predecessor was put out before Savoir Adore even officially formed and it was impressive enough, so one could correctly assume the new effort is one of studied and cumulative experience. The truth is, while The Adventures of Mr Pumpernickel showed their potential, this will be one of those cases where the debut will be overshadowed by a massive follow-up. Sunset Rubdown’s Shut Up I Am Dreaming is a recent example, one where Spencer Krug excelled his blatant talent to dizzying heights over a short span of time. In the Wooded Forest is engaging partly because it shows the development of two songwriters instead of just one. The Adventures of Mr Pumpernickel showed some individual quirks – like Muro’s delicately intricate use of keyboards or Hammer’s impressive rhythmic structures – but In the Wooded Forest expands upon this even further by making their sophisticated songcraft now available in addition to an already-impressive use of keyboards, percussion, and other backing instruments.

While they do occasionally bring out bare accompaniments of keyboards and percussion that is bound to draw up comparisons to The xx and others of that recent mold, Savoir Adore implement more variety in their works even if it sacrifices the accessibility as a result. It is a bit contradictory in saying that because the hooks throughout the album are excellent, but arriving there often takes some interesting maneuvers that prove beneficial despite any initial qualms. “The Scientific Findings of Dr. Rousseau”, for instance, steadily evolves from serene electro-pop minimalism to richly produced indie-rock. Personal tastes may cause some to stop halfway through and others to skip to the halfway point, but those that admire both the attempted styles of electro-pop and generalized alt-rock will find great pleasure here. Identifying the true hooks here is entirely subjective due to the revolving stylistic nature, which is a wonderful attribute of many tracks throughout In the Wooded Forest. Their songwriting now seems inspired by the musical chemistry Muro and Hammer had upon meeting; it is a chemistry which is still kicking and stronger than ever.

More conventional efforts like “We Talk Like Machines” tout clever analogies concerning humanity’s slow descent into automation, all while emitting an amiable sort of indie-rock that resembles more chamber-pop than alt-rock with Muro’s cooing vocals and Hammer’s steady percussion. The guitar work is rarely shown beyond a few repeating chords, but intricacy is not the allure here. As any diligent students of electronic music would do, the marvel here is in the multiple layers of constructing sound. The different tones of guitars clash with synthesizers of a higher pitch to distinguish their masterful overlapping even more prominently, which serves as one example of great production on this album. Concluding moments bring to mind groups like the Postal Service and others that opt for occasional post-rock progressions within accessible indie-rock. The flair of that is added nicely on “We Talk Like Machines” before concluding with a repetition of the chorus. The rest of In the Wooded Forest is much like this, a collection of delightful three-minute efforts that enjoyably sit the fine line between electro-pop and indie-rock. They blend the reverb-filled pop of groups like Beach House and Grizzly Bear with the chilly electro-pop tinge of Air or The xx, resulting in an exceptional debut full-length that may appear as a surprise on many year-end lists.

RIYL: Beach House, Grizzly Bear, The xx, Postal Service, Broken Social Scene, Menomena, Hot Chip, Clues

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Savoir Adore – The Scientific Findings of Dr. Rousseau

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Savoir Adore – We Talk Like Machines

[audio:http://mineorecords.com/mp3/sadore-wet.mp3]

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Savoir Adore – Sarah’s Secret

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The post Savoir Adore appeared first on Obscure Sound: Indie Music Blog.

Nathan Pemberton refuses to abide by the DIY stereotype. He records in his Florida garage with an economical home studio, which supplies just enough firepower for him to make his innovations come alive. But despite the allure of lo-fi minimalism that comes attached with these modest circumstances, Pemberton is pursuing the most majestic sound possible in accordance to his personal repertoire. He is a multi-instrumentalist in the truest sense, using his experience with a multitude of instruments to encompass his material in its entirety. There are few collaborators to be heard, only the ideas of Pemberton and his five friends/roommates as they flow gracefully in a mixture of epic jams and dreamily intricate indie-rock. They go under the alias of Holiday Shores, a name that will certainly be reputable by year’s end. Hip-hop, punk or metal, and lo-fi pop have always seemed to be the easiest to tackle with a home studio due to their respective forays in sampling, tremolo riffs, and bare minimalism, but Pemberton, Holiday Shores’ songwriter, seems to have crafted a winning combination with doses of heartfelt pop nostalgia and contemporary indie-rock wizardry. He possesses the ambition of a jam band or post-rock experimenters, all while retaining the pop sensibilities that fellow genre-mashing contemporaries like Sunset Rubdown and Deerhunter have flawlessly exhibited throughout the past several years. But do not overly associate Holiday Shores with these acts. After all, their greatest strengths are in their own ideas, not the inspiration of others.

Being seemingly aware of your past and present is simply one of Pemberton’s strengths, as concocting an original sound from a variety of influences is not the only ingredient required for success. Songwriting and flow are both elements that are overlooked by many groups new and old, not necessarily because they disvalue it but because it is so difficult to combine great and captivating songwriting with a sound that is entirely your own, whether it derives from past successes or not. Pemberton accomplishes this tricky venture with rare precision, making the best of his garage studio to unveil his enigmatic voice and compositional prowess in a manner that should mark Holiday Shores as one of 2009’s breakthrough acts. Pemberton’s pop sensibilities often result in songs barely exceeding four minutes, but both his capitalization of minimal resources and extremely impressive grasp of several instrumentals combine for unconventional endeavors that make four-minute efforts feel epic in the best way possible. For instance, the sputtery “Days Drag” uses the echoes of guitar distortion to craft an initial feeling of rough-edged repetition, only to be beautifully complemented by a twinkling bundle of keys. The transitional phases that this song encompasses, like many others on its album, are always one step ahead of their subsequent outcomes, resulting in an album full of replay value.

On Holiday Shores’ debut album, Columbus’d The Whim, the initial development always turns into something extremely gratifying and precise, like the keys in “Days Drag” or the evolution of muffled percussion into expansive hi-hats in “Tremor Rolls the Peak”. These turns are unexpected, but Pemberton’s strong pop ties often make the ideas sound extremely appealing after the second or even first listen. A beauty like “Edge of Our Lives” requires only a few minutes to recognize its brilliance though, sounding like the perfect mash of a lost ‘60s classic and today’s indie-pop breeziness. I would be surprised if it is not a college-radio favorite by year’s end. Between Pemberton’s tranquil voice, the interweaving guitar arrangements, and explosive hook that the chorus crisply generates, this is a surefire accomplishment in every regard. That it is difficult to spot the hook I am referring to is part of the song’s allure; there are so many different methods of achieving melodic greatness here that describing only one is an injustice. There also seems to be a slight undertone of jazz in the use of keys and guitar, again beckoning to jam bands of the past and their tendency to unveil pop hooks under an intricate cast of evolving instrumentation. This may be one of the album’s more accessible tracks, but there are few that show the group’s apparent high level of musicianship as well.

Comparisons, as I mentioned before though, are a bit extraneous in regard to Holiday Shores, as so many influences can be found in their sound that it eventually becomes influentially indistinguishable. However, as a songwriter and vocalist, Pemberton seems to recall the ingenious ability of Tom Verlaine most vividly. Like many up-and-coming indie-rock acts these days, the work of Verlaine and Television is a strong influence in Pemberton’s sound. This is most notable in his songs’ ability to evolve into full-scaled epics, usually with the innovative pushing of a particular instrument (most often in a soaring guitar solo or trickle of keys). He also emits a similar croon, finding a warm place between nasally elegance and brittle yelps over series of concise guitar progressions and hectically implemented keyboards. It all depends on the track though, as Columbus’d The Whim is so enthused with its own ambition that it achieves greatness on its innovation alone. But considering it IS a pop album at heart, the stellar songwriting of Pemberton certainly helps the cause. Both fans of modern indie-rock and nostalgic pop music will likely embrace Holiday Shores because of this, not only because it can remind them of their favorite bands, but also allow them to discover a new one in the process. I consider Columbus’d The Whim one of this year’s must-haves. It is an enormous accomplishment for any album, making its status as a debut album that much more impressive.

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Holiday Shores – Edge of Our Lives

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Holiday Shores – Tremor Rolls the Peak

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Holiday Shores – Days Drag

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Two Syllable Records

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The post A Holiday Shores Getaway appeared first on Obscure Sound: Indie Music Blog.

Summery indie-pop, intricate art-rock, and a little bit of blues were the mainstays this month, featuring a bunch of new faces apart from Sunset Rubdown. Their new album, Dragonslayer, is fantastic and their track on this month’s best-of is one of the best Krug has ever written, which is quite complementary considering his prolific work ethic. The likes of Klum and Alligators offer up a similar style of art-rock, showcasing plenty of clever hooks with a modernistic edge that grants them plenty of great moments. Pomegranates, Wild Moccasins and Armen Firman offer up a summery style of indie-pop that is suited perfectly for June, while Robert Bradley and T. Nile prove to be more traditional with some soulful blues. Dubious Ranger and Bowerbirds offer up something different, with the former showing some infectious comedic chops and the latter exhibiting some of the most beautiful folk harmonies I have heard all year. Plenty of gems were covered this month, so here’s hoping that June is just as strong.

01. Sunset Rubdown – Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh! (post)
02. Klum – Nonbeliever (post)
03. Alligators – Original Fear (post)
04. Bowerbirds – Beneath Your Tree (post)
05. Armen Firman – Porch Dweller (post)
06. Dubious Ranger – Weapon (post)
07. Wild Moccasins – Spanish and Jazz (post)
08. Pomegranates – Corriander (post)
09. Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise – Alabama (post)
10. T. Nile – Reverie (post)

DOWNLOAD ENTIRE COMPILATION>>> (55.8 MB, .RAR)

The post Obscure Sound: Best of May 2009 appeared first on Obscure Sound: Indie Music Blog.

Comparisons are futile for Spencer Krug. His rare capacity to manufacture several releases per year is impressive in itself, but Krug’s work ethic is not the direct cause of his esteemed status. His prolific tendencies naturally tend to result in additional opportunities that allow him to dabble in everything from subdued key-based electronica to fiercely empowering rock music; this stylistic multifariousness has enhanced his eclecticism and creativity, not to mention the avid work ethic that created these accommodating circumstances for him in the first place. Consequently, his approach is presented with new variations that have been both subtle and prominent. His main projects – Sunset Rubdown, Wolf Parade, and Swan Lake – all represent differing styles and approaches in some manner, but even the different albums within each project encompass a separate style of instrumentation or thematic focus upon each release. Krug’s renown has derived in some part from his eclecticism, but it is his ability to simultaneously remain eclectic and thematically focused that has made his name synonymous with the quality indie-rock of this decade.

To hear Krug’s constant brand of eclecticism in action, Sunset Rubdown’s discography offers chronological progression at its finest. Each of his albums under the moniker have played cohesively despite their ambitious tendencies, and each album seems to explore new trends while not entirely dismissing the past. Sunset Rubdown’s second full-length, Shut Up I Am Dreaming, emphasized a minimalistic disposition of drum machines and synthesizers, while the subsequent Random Spirit Lover beautifully juggled newly exposed art-rock intricacies with the minimalistic trends displayed previously on Shut Up I Am Dreaming. With each passing album, Krug explores new stylistic territory without neglecting his past successes. Some artists remain stuck in the past, while others are too ambitious for their own good (and the audience’s). Krug is one of the rare few that have found the middle-ground, making nothing certain about the distinctions of his future works. The only thing we can be certain of is his incomparable nature, as using comparative practices to identify an artist that ceaselessly and successfully alters their output is useless and potentially insulting.

2008 was the first year without a Sunset Rubdown album since their formation, but the absence can be attributed to an arduous work ethic as usual as Krug continued to tour with his various groups and work on the acclaimed sophomore albums for Wolf Parade and Swan Lake. How he managed to find the time to tour and create these three albums should impress even the most active musicians, but what is even more impressive is how all three albums are remarkable in their own right. The album designed for Sunset Rubdown, with the interesting title of Dragonslayer, may take the cake as the most accomplished though. Wolf Parade has long been regarded as Krug’s most accessible and commercially successful project to date, while Swan Lake is most notable for its collaborative emphasis on both ambitious experimentation and conciseness. Neither Wolf Parade nor Swan Lake have explored seven-minute epics or altered their stylistic approach significantly like Sunset Rubdown, leaving little doubt as to what Krug’s most adventurous project is. Ambitiousness does not always result in success, but Krug has meticulously crafted an album that surpasses all of his previous releases in terms of creativity, focus, and even accessibility. Before Dragonslayer, I rarely heard tracks exceeding six minutes that were completely effortless to enjoy and appreciate. Such focus in an extended period of time is a trademark of Krug’s songwriting and Dragonslayer is a near-flawless example of his astute ability.

Shut Up I Am Dreaming toyed with minimalistic electronica and rock, while Random Spirit Loverwas a showcase of multi-layered art-rock expansiveness. Both albums had their stylistic exceptions that did not serve as stylistic disruptions due to their cohesiveness, but the difference in songs between the two albums was clear. For Dragonslayer, Krug resorts to his hardest-rocking repertoire yet and it results in eight very infectious tracks that maintain their flexibility and separable qualities throughout. Contrary to the abundant use of varying effects throughout Random Spirit Lover, Dragonslayer utilizes little in terms of studio additives. In regard to the instrumentation and content, this is one of Krug’s rawest albums yet. However, instead of coming across as sloppy or uncoordinated it feels the most alive out of all his releases. The instrumental flexibility has allowed for a higher capacity of expression, and it results in some of Krug’s most ardently successful tracks to date.

“Idiot Heart” evolves from the rhythmic strum of muted guitars to an anthemic sort of disposition with roaring guitars, chanting xylophones, and a build-up that rivals the likes of “The Men Are Called Horsemen There” (which Krug reminds listeners of before heading into the chorus of “Idiot Heart”). The lyrical-musical juxtaposition is excellent as usual, especially when Krug proclaims the following: “Now I was never much of a dancer, but I know enough to know you gotta move your idiot body around.” Immediately after speaking of an inability to dance, percussion appears for the first time and the track reclaims the rhythmic infectiousness that the introduction did not initially emphasize. The line seems ironic at the time since the progression that follows is irresistibly danceable like few Krug efforts before it, just going to show how thought-out and thematically effective the tracks on Dragonslayer really are. Excluding the concise ode to “The Men Are Called Horsemen There” after the first section, “Idiot Heart” has three sections that differ dramatically from one another. Krug’s songwriting shines though, as the contrasts find subtle similarities that allow for the cohesive management of each segment. Instead of a song with three or four highly contrastable sections, “Idiot Heart” is an outstanding effort that shows Krug’s ability to combine unconventional intricacy with surprising accessibility, resulting in a track that rings with the excitement and ardency that fans of Krug have come to expect.

Dragonslayer’s opener, “Silver Moons”, does not have the roaring guitars of “Idiot Heart” or the distorted exuberance of “Black Swan”, but it stands triumphantly as a masterful opener that combines Krug’s soft-spoken balladry with his rock-based enthusiasm. The verse begins with a lush piano and an echoing guitar, with Krug’s familiar yelps and quivers topping off a fantastic chorus where Krug and Camilla Wynne Ingr lament over days lost and forgotten. Since the album contains no true ballads to speak of, “Silver Moons” establishes itself as a sentimental favorite from the get-go with romanticized metaphors and piano-centric melodies. In addition to her role in “Silver Moons”, Ingr appears more prominently on Dragonslayer than any of Sunset Rubdown’s other albums. Her poppy vocals in the fantastic “Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!” supplement the power of the second chorus, though the song’s western-y twang and Krug’s outstanding vocal work reach greatness on their own. Calling this track one of Sunset Rubdown’s best efforts would not be an understatement, whether one looks to the irresistible chorus or the outro where Krug and Ingr present a series of slick guitar progressions and catchy chants. Like most Krug efforts, the song is fun to analyze and the ambiguity simply adds to the allure. It exemplifies his ability to write accessible gems without resorting to generic simplicity, as “Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!” succeeds tremendously despite its prevalent hooks and conventional structure.

The length of Dragonslayer is a respectable 49 minutes, but Krug’s endless output will likely cause listeners to crave for more once the album’s epic “Dragon’s Lair” concludes. One could consider this a counterpoint to “Kissing the Beehive”, though “Dragon’s Lair” is more diverse in its overall structure and thematic touch. The growls of Krug are powerful as he sings “so you can take me to the dragonslayer, or you can take me to Rapunzel’s windowsill”, preparing the way for an energized guitar solo and a series of high-pitched synths. The “woah”s and “ah-hu”s over the guitar solos are sincerely effective, as is the medieval-feel of the overall track in the primary melody and key accompaniments. “You Go on Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)” and “Nightingale / December Song” are both successful in their interesting rhythmic build-ups (muted chords and electro loops), and the latter takes on a brooding Decemberists-like folk feel that has Krug singing of yearning for the Nashville skyline over music that feels like 1700s pirate music. As odd as that comparison sounds, Krug’s enthralling vocals and songwriting ability creates imaginative material like this that is both stylistically alive and contemporarily relevant. Krug shows he can create vivid folk on “Nightingale / December Song”, nostalgic arena-rock on “Idiot Heart” and “Dragon’s Lair”, and fist-pumping anthems in “Black Swan”, but stylistic multifariousness is not the sole reason for Dragonslayer’s apparent success. It is the consistency, thematic focus, and sheer ability throughout the album that makes this one a potential classic. If anything, Dragonslayer will eventually serve as a reminder of Sunset Rubdown’s dominance after their days are over. After all, this decade deserves quality representatives. 9.0/10

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Sunset Rubdown – Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!

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Sunset Rubdown – Silver Moons

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The post Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer (2009) appeared first on Obscure Sound: Indie Music Blog.

by Mike Mineo

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20. Ra Ra Riot – The Rhumb Line

Losing a member of a band to death can be devastating. No matter how many arguments and fistfights were initiated in the past, it is a fact that many groups tend to form a family-like bond after years and even months of touring and working together. When Ra Ra Riot’s original drummer, John Pike, was found dead on June 3rd of 2007, his former band mates were stunned. “This has felt like the unraveling plot of a tragic piece of fiction,” they said in a press release. However, about a month after Pike’s death, the band announced that they would continue the group in Pike’s memory. A string of tour dates and the eponymous EP in 2007 brought the group increased recognition as they prepared their debut full-length album, The Rhumb Line. The album itself serves as a fine example of the group’s potential, with their flashy style of art-rock serving as both an accessible and contagious interpretation of contemporary indie-rock. The New York-based group works with tinges of post-punk and punk, implementing both cellos and violins over a zealous display of dazzling guitars and tenacious rhythm sections. Vocalist Wesley Miles emits a sharp, slightly high-pitched tone that is reminiscent of vocalists in the vein of Nick Stumpf (The French Kicks) or a more subdued Hamilton Leithauser (The Walkmen). All together, it creates a very convincing sound that proves memorable despite its common originations. In addition to his role as a co-songwriter on a handful of tracks, one notable posthumous contribution from Pike on The Rhumb Line comes in the form of lyrical content. With Miles, he wrote “Dying is Fine”, a gripping track that wholly capitalizes on the group’s stellar mixture of strings and guitars. With an E.E. Cummings quotation serving as the main hook, the topic is emotionally ironic and the melody is addictively consuming. The mournful “Ghost Under Rocks” also makes excellent use of strings, guiding yet another captivating chorus as Miles yelps in perhaps his most emotionally resounding vocal performance on the album. “Here you are, you are breathing like little ghosts under rocks,” he sings, speaking of romanticized suffocation in mildly poetic form. When compared to the regretful – though dynamically vigorous – yelps and moans of “Ghost Under Rocks” and “Dying is Fine”, Miles’ vocals in “Winter ‘05” are appropriately more somber as the strings increase in intricacy and the percussion subtly adds several shuffled components. Along with a cover of Kate Bush’s “Suspended in Gaffa” making the cut, it exemplifies how The Rhumb Line serves as an enjoyably eclectic album within a fused genre that desperately needs it these days.

Ra Ra Riot – Dying is Fine

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19. Gentleman Jesse – Introducing Gentleman Jesse and His Men

One of the most appealing aspects of power-pop is the ability it has to remain untainted in a world where stylistic alteration is often inevitable. While some may argue that the genre’s apparent lack of stylistic ambition is the cause for such sturdy pop ideologies, the crafters of such music never seem to be given enough credit for their reluctance to become submissive toward what is deemed as this week’s fad in the music industry. Gentleman Jesse and His Men, a talented four-piece based out of Atlanta, employ this highly accessible form of power-pop very well, but they are also quite unique when compared to other groups in the genre. Yes, they are comparably intent on hooking in the listener with exceptionally infectious choruses and stellar harmonizing, but Gentleman Jesse and His Men happen to be significantly more nostalgic in approach. Instead of employing a formula in which an overwhelming degree of varying styles clash within a comforting power-pop aroma, the four-piece instead opts to bring back what made the genre so great in the first place. Traditional punk and garage-rock are the main forces at work here, making comparisons to the early workings of power-pop greats Exploding Hearts somewhat unavoidable. Exploding Hearts certainly infused more elements of punk into their overall sound, but the approach and level of melodic alteration remains highly comparable in the sentiment that both groups rely on amiable simplicity to elicit a uniquely engaging charm in which the songwriting and consequential hooks sound freshly invigorating despite the minimal forces of instrumentation at work. On their debut, Introducing Gentleman Jesse and His Men, frontman Jesse Smith plays the role of accessible power-pop vocalist with apparent ease, extracting a youthful tone of amateur exuberance while simultaneously allowing his commendable melodic range to flow naturally with the brisk use of guitar-led instrumentation. This is perhaps best heard on “All I Need Tonight (Is You)”, a track that would likely have been considered a classic by now if it had been released 30 years ago. From the lyrics to the lead guitar progression, the approach is extraordinarily simple but the appeal arrives in the strong melodic form that Smith conveys with the utmost confidence. In conventional power-pop form, he utilizes a callback approach in the utterly irresistible chorus before embellishing the moment with an extremely concise guitar solo. “You Got Me Where You Want Me” and “Attention” also utilize this accustomed callback approach with surprising precision. Those who view most traditional power-pop as a one-trick pony will likely state the same about Gentleman Jesse and His Men’s debut album, but anyone who enjoys fantastic hooks guided by little more than a guitar and rhythm section simply needs to check it out. Intricate it may not be, but this album’s infectiousness is downright undeniable.

Gentleman Jesse – All I Need Tonight (Is You)

Gentleman Jesse – You Got Me Where You Want Me

Douchemaster Records

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18. Håkan Hellström – För sent för Edelweiss

Swedish listeners first caught a glimpse of Hellström in 2000 with his hit single “Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg”, with Hellström also releasing his debut album of that same name in November. Prior to the release, Hellström was only recognized as fans of the Swedish indie-pop band Broder Daniel as their drummer, a position he vacated between 1988 and 1994. He then rejoined the band in 1997 with a new role as the bassist, leaving in 2003 to focus solely on his solo career. By that time, Hellström had also released a second album, Det är så jag säger det, in 2002 and was in the midst of writing Ett kolikbarns bekännelser, his third album that released in 2005. Nåt gammalt, nåt nytt, nåt lånat, nåt blått, a compilation of b-sides, was also released the same year. After announcing that he had become a father and planned to take a short break, he emerged with his fourth album, För sent för Edelweiss, three years later in 2008. Though his first three albums exhibited a form of potential that only arrives once every so often in Swedish pop music, Hellström’s style sounded awkward with occasionally out-of-key vocals and repetitive arrangements. However, with För sent för Edelweiss, it looks as if the skilled songwriter has finally lived up to his wholesome potential. When an artist names an album after one of their own songs in particular, the conceptual intentions of the self-titled track take on lofty expectations. When it comes to “För sent för Edelweiss”, it serves as arguably the most pleasing track on both the album and throughout Hellström’s blossoming career thus far. It features the type of melody that will cause anyone – regardless of whether they understand the Swedish lyrics or not – to grin in pure delight, with the hauntingly beautiful instrumentation contrasting impressively with Hellström’s ardent vocals. The light plucking of an acoustic guitar initially finds itself underlying a graceful piano melody as Hellström’s voice quivers over the corresponding melody. When the twinkle of a new piano melody takes charge and establishes the chorus, Hellström’s voice takes on a melodic shift and crafts a devastating hook in the process. When the track concludes with a Sigur Rós-like instrumental recap over the crooning of Hellström, it simply reminds the listener just how elegantly stunning the overall result actually is. Since the title track will generally be recognized as one of the more instrumentally subdued songs on För sent för Edelweiss, first-time listeners of the track will likely be curious as to what Hellström sounds like when accompanied by increasingly noticeable instrumental fervor. As both “Kärlek är ett Brev Skickat Tusen Gånger” and “Jag Vet Inte Vem Jag är Men jag Vet Att Jag är Din” prove, the result is actually just as satisfying. Both songs implement guitar within a style of pop that is most reminiscent of accessible indie-rock, with “Jag Vet Inte Vem Jag är Men jag Vet Att Jag är Din” especially being resounding of the sentiment with a fury of electric guitars and reflective keys. They each remain insanely catchy in their own unique ways though, with “Kärlek är ett Brev Skickat Tusen Gånger” benefiting most from the vocal correspondence between a bluesy guitar, effervescent keys, and Hellström’s impressive vocal performance. With so many great Swedish releases each year, it is quite an indicator that För sent för Edelweiss is one of this year’s best from Sweden.

Håkan Hellström – För sent för Edelweiss

Håkan Hellström – Kärlek är ett Brev Skickat Tusen Gånger

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17. Thomas Function – Celebration

It would be premature for me to judge the chemistry in Thomas Function based on their music and online photos alone, right?. It could all just be a classic attempt to sell records. Well, considering that all pictures I have found of the members together depicts them having insane amounts of fun while at parties, playing shows, and in the studio, superficial corporate achievement seems to be the last things on their mind. In fact, It leads you to believe that these guys might even be having fun while making music together. And apart from the putting the “fun” in “function”, their music plays off just as naturally. Providing heavy doses of southern-rock and folk within a consistent showing of punk, the fact that Thomas Function are able to simultaneously provide odes to energized punk greats in the vein of Television and The Buzzcocks while delivering an array of styles related to folk and contemporary rock contributes prevalently to a style that is wholesomely unique and energetically engaging. The track that brought the four-piece arguably their biggest buzz in 2007 was “Relentless Machine”, a 7″ single that now once again has appeared on their excellent debut album, Celebration. Despite offering 13 tracks that are contained within a similar delivery, the boastful amount of hooks and instrumental variations provide for a form of excitement that most debuts only dream of. “2012 Blues” was a standout immediately for me from the first listen, as its acoustical folk origins are in stark contrast to vigorous punk-oriented gems like “Snake in the Grass” and “Conspiracy of Praise”, a style that reigns over most of the album. In a track like “Can’t Say No”, where a Pixies-like bass line is adjusted accordingly over an organ-led guitar progression that provides visions of classic Television and Velvet Underground, it almost makes for a colossal fusion of great indie-rock and punk bands who have made a significant mark in the past 30 years. The infectious “Can’t Say No” may be too hectic to make such past comparisons entirely spot-on, but the melodically charged energy that Josh Macero’s vocals convey makes the mixture of modernistic enthusiasm with past forms of punk and garage-rock a very satisfying blend. As for fans of The Buzzcocks or even Wire, one listen of “Snake in the Grass” should be convincing enough. Alongside “Conspiracy of Praise” and “A Long Walk”, it employs a concisely familiar form of catchy punk without being overly aggressive or manipulative in the process. With the rhythm section constantly impressing me with its tight coordination, the excellent guitar work making the comparisons to Television even possible, and Macero’s vocals being a constant source of hooks and youthful vibrancy, Celebration packs a very powerful punch that results in it being one of this year’s most satisfying debuts.

Thomas Function – Can’t Say No

Thomas Function – 2012 Blues

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16. Beach House – Devotion

Like many of those who immediately latched onto Beach House’s fantastic self-titled debut in 2006, I kept my admiration for the release no secret. It was an atmospherically beauteous album, flawlessly transcribing humane emotions as diverse as regret, embrace, and heartbreak into a sound that was as much accessible as it was ravishing. Beach House, a two-piece based out of Baltimore consisting of guitarist/keyboardist Alex Scally and vocalist/organist Victoria Legrand, were certainly the center of attention in 2006, as their well-received debut was an album that seemed to find its way onto everyone’s year-end list (it took a respectable #37 on mine). This year, they have reclaimed that same spotlight, with an excellent second album in Devotion that proves even more fulfilling than their debut. Though it may be subtle, Beach House’s own namesake provides for a cleverly suitable effect. Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand craft a sound that ushers the listener away from the hectic rush of complex urbanity, with their style being ceaselessly relaxing without any stylistic mundaneness. Like the location depicted in their namesake, the lushly written songs provide for an escape from petty demands and harsh realities; think of Devotion as a $15, 44-minute vacation. The exquisite “D.A.R.L.I.N.G.” is reminiscent of a lost love ballad from the ’50s or ’60s. Legrand’s vocals and Scally’s guitar progressions are seemingly able to put listeners into an entrancing state, this time being aided by a guitar soaked in reverb and a set of subdued keys. As per usual, Legrand’s vocals are beautifully chilling, being airily husky but giving off a frail sense of imagery in regard to the alluring backing instrumentation. The percussive involvement is always minute, but the lack of involvement makes the delicate nature even more suitably presented in the process. Another aspect that is revived from Beach House’s debut is Legrand’s ability to create a hook using her vocal range alone. Like “D.A.R.L.I.N.G.” and the majority of Devotion, “Gila” is aided by a guitar supplemented by a mixture of keys and organs. Though the bare instrumentation is enough to solicit immediate enjoyment, the moment when Legrand shifts her vocals into a deeper, more sympathetic range by stating, “Don’t you waste your time, no-oh-oh,” it provides for an instant realization in regard to the sheer beauty that the songwriting of Beach House conveys. With songs like these, Beach House’s Devotion is an elegantly beautiful release that sees this talented duo somehow improve upon the excellence of their self-titled debut.

Beach House – D.A.R.L.I.N.G.

Beach House – Gila

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15. Department of Eagles – In Ear Park

A good majority of people have, at one point in their lives, been forced to live with someone who does not exactly coincide with their standards of life. Roommate horror stories can be as amusing as they are appalling, but everyone recognizes that it is a part of life that most unspoiled individuals have to go through in order to live without a larger financial burden. When Fred Nicolaus and Daniel Rossen were assigned by NYU as roommates in their freshman year of college in 2000, they likely went through the usual semi-awkward introductions. The first few weeks may have passed by without much chemistry, but eventually when they found a common bonding point in music, they knew that luck was on their side. After putting out three EPs and two LPs under the name of The Whitey on the Moon UK, the roommates changed their name to Department of Eagles. Their first two full-lengths, The Whitey on the Moon UK LP and The Cold Nose, saw some moderate success with a stylistic array of electronic pop and sample-based instrumentals, but critics often felt that the releases were too disjointed and cluttered to truly capture a consistent audience. Shortly after the release of The Whitey on the Moon UK LP in 2003, Rossen joined the up-and-coming Grizzly Bear as an additional songwriter and guitarist. However, the two returned to working together shortly, recruiting drummer Chris Bear and bassist Nat Baldwin earlier this year to focus on In Ear Park, the duo’s second album under Department of Eagles. While I was personally impressed with some material that Rossen and Nicolaus have collaborated on prior to In Ear Park, this album is a major stepping stone in both of their developments as songwriters. The album itself was written partly as an ode to childhood, with Rossen making it a tribute of sorts to his recently deceased father. The actual “Ear Park” is a park in Los Angeles in which Rossen and his father used to visit, a touching point of significance when the song is being played. A lo-fi charmer, the duo shuffles through a series of intricately composed guitar arpeggios as Rossen relays his tender voice through a midst of backing strings and twinkling keys. The melody and instrumental capacity is astoundingly beautiful, especially when the subject is in consideration. The following track, “No One Does It Like You”, captures the essence of ‘60s pop in extravagant form. Backing vocals are exceptional here, simultaneously adding to both the rhythm section and enthralling melody in the deep and heightened tones, respectively. “Teenagers” is another key-led spectacle that later bursts into a consuming array of subtle horns and strings, highly indicative of the duo’s impeccably placed value on songwriting and production.

Department of Eagles – No One Does It Like You

Department of Eagles – In Ear Park

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14. British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?

The “sophomore slump” is a term that has been applied a countless number of times for musicians, with indie-rock artists arguably being in that recent undesirable majority. It often proves difficult to attempt to pinpoint the cause for such drop-offs in quality, though I believe much of it can be accredited to the amount of pressure an artist receives from their label, the press, and the masses of fans who follow in their every step. In regard to British Sea Power, I admit that they initially set my expectations at a nearly insurmountable high. I consider their fantastic 2003 debut, The Decline of British Sea Power, to be one of the best debuts of this decade and I continue to give it a listen every so often. After the group released their follow-up, Open Season, in 2005, I found that the result was not something I was too personally enamored with. It was not a bad follow-up by any means, just a step back in the direction that the prevalently ambitious British Sea Power intended to go. With their third album, Do You Like Rock Music?, the album’s title seems hypothetical in relation to the brilliant content it conveys. With it, I have once again regained hope that British Sea Power could indeed be one of the most inventive indie-rock bands of the decade. It all begins suitably with “All In It”, a brooding build-up where a choral vocal accompaniment sings reflectively over the steady beat of a snare drum. Once the song begins to subtly fade out and the murmur of a church organ is the only audible presence, a burst of percussion and high-pitched guitar effects collapse onto one another, creating a monumental hook that sets the tone for the rest of Do You Like Rock Music?. The brilliant “Waving Flags” is arguably the best song that British Sea Power have written since the classic “Carrion”, crafting their trademark sound of epic, guitar-oriented rock into a state of pure bliss. Once the ardently grandiose chorus kicks in, any skeptics of the Brighton-based four-piece will likely cower away. Though the structure remains more consistent and the instrumentation more simplistic, the glimmering “Canvey Island” once again finds its strength in a explosive chorus, fully cemented by a preceding verse and bridge where the murmur of strings are presented over the slight strumming of an electric guitar. Depicting the great North Sea flood of 1953, the suitably named British Sea Power carry the song in full force, touching on feelings on disastrous disbelief as Scott “Yan” Wilkinson resoundly croons, “Don’t you think its strange, you know, the way it all works out? Brace yourself for storms and summer drought.” the beautiful “No Need to Cry” rounds off the album very nicely. Being somewhat of a new approach for British Sea Power, they pull off the sympathetic throwback love ballad with ease. Wilkinson turns his vocal intensity down a notch but compensates it with a lush assortment of guitars, subdued percussion, and cooing backing vocals. Unlike the stadium-sized intensity of the choruses in excellent tracks like “Waving Flags” and “Canvey Island”, “No Need to Cry” uses a more subtle approach in being uplifted by a simplistic sprinkling of keys. Regardless, the result is stunningly beautiful when a violin cleverly emerges from the layers of delicately crafted sound during the song’s final few moments. Do You Like Rock Music? opens, continues, and concludes in the same way: with consistent quality. So, if for some reason, the question of “Do you like rock music?” remains etched in your head, it should be quite easy to answer. In regard to this specific album, the answer is an unhesitant “yes”.

British Sea Power – Waving Flags

British Sea Power – Canvey Island

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13. The Walkmen – You & Me

Whether or not The Walkmen regressed on You & Me is a topic with two sides to it. Yes, they returned to a style that was more indicative of their first two albums with a higher emphasis on heavily distorted guitars and angular vocal melodies, but there is still a glaring aspect of You & Me that separates itself from any of The Walkmen’s preceding four releases. While percussively aided keyboards were often at the forefront on Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone and distorted guitars and yelps comprised most of Bows + Arrows, You & Me serves as arguably the most stylistically multifarious album of their commendably consistent career. Their usual use of overpowering guitars, shimmering keys, and clashing percussion is predominant, but when looking at it by a track-by-track basis it becomes evident that efforts like “On the Water” and “Red Moon” contribute to an album whose stylistic scope remains unpredictably consuming. The swirling mixture of keys and horns in “Red Moon” creates some charmingly melodic circumstances for a topic as simple as romantic longing, while the beginnings of “On the Water” invokes the same sort of exotic imagery that songwriters in the vein of Tom Waits have been so known to generate. As the rumbling of bass underlies a glistening guitar progression, singer Hamilton Leithauser concocts a series of vividly appropriate lyrics. “All the years keep rolling, the decades flying by,” he sings as the guitars pick up pace and the track reverts from a mystical bass-led enigma into a hard-rocking fury. “But ahh, the days are long.” This lyrical realization is complemented superbly by Leithauser’s uniquely invigorating howl, an aspect that is aided by instrumentation that increases in intensity as the track progresses. “Red Moon” and “On the Water” are particularly excellent usages of the band’s tendencies to use natural imagery, an effect that supplements the occasional tranquility of both tracks superbly. In terms of each individual song, the songs are not the most structurally adventurous or melodically intimidating in the band’s catalog, but other gems like the anthemic “In the New Year” and the innovative use of percussion in “Postcards From Tony Islands” should convince listeners that the five-piece have clearly succeeded in crafting one of their most fascinatingly compelling releases to date.

The Walkmen – On the Water

The Walkmen – Red Moon

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12. Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer

Few bands manage to be as innovative and instantaneously accessible as Wolf Parade, the acclaimed joint project of Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner. The most impressive thing to me about the two collaborators, however, is not the infectious melodies they create or the constant critical acclaim that comes their way, but rather the stylistic transition that both are able to make seamlessly as they jump from project to project. Both have been renowned as a few of the busiest songwriters in indie-rock and their durability throughout the past several years can mainly attributed to the unique and melodically invigorating aspects that their songwriting triggers. At Mount Zoomer will hardly feel like a sophomore album to most listeners, as both Krug and Boeckner have been employing reminiscent styles in their respective projects of Sunset Rubdown and Handsome Furs ever since Wolf Parade originated. But it is also a common belief to state that Wolf Parade’s debut, Apologies to the Queen Mary, contains the most accessible material from either artist to date, an aspect that arguably derives from intentions to promote their material to a more diversified audience. Krug’s share of material on At Mount Zoomer appears most reminiscent to his work with Sunset Rubdown, with the eerily resounding flair of “Bang Your Drum” and “An Animal in Your Care” employing much of they key-oriented formula over the yelping vocals and consistently revolving song structures that made trademark Sunset Rubdown tracks so memorable. Keeping in mind that At Mount Zoomer comprises of a similar structure in that Krug and Boeckner contribute an even number of separate tracks, I am actually more impressed with Boeckner’s efforts this time around despite Krug’s showings also being expectedly strong. This can be primarily attributed to Boeckner’s increased instrumental virtuosity, as his use of keys and synths has noticeably become more prevalent. This is best evident on “Language City” and “The Grey Estates”, both tracks that utilize an array of sparkling keys in an infectious chorus that is also guided by guitars and rhythmic additives. Despite Boeckner providing for a more consistent offering of quality songwriting, Krug offers one of the best tracks in the excellent “California Dreamer”. Krug’s skills as both a songwriter and excellent keyboardist are in full display as he shifts a minimal introduction of singular keys and backing percussion into a chorus that is the most anthemic and memorable on the album. “I’ll be round, I’ll be round, I’ll be round,” he sings prior to the bridge. “Like a teenager in town where all the other young lovers are found.” It is a moment that is aided purely by the intensifying tempo of deepened keys, a technique that makes the exceptional chorus that follows even more satisfying. A few shrill chords on keys then follow as the fully bolstered rhythm section emerges for the first time. Boeckner’s “Fine Young Cannibals” also serves as a standout, mainly due to a catchy little guitar riff that manages to sound so seductively enthralling over a soulful blend of keys (à la “It’s a Curse”). As the steady delivery of a new wave-like guitar progression eases placidly over concise percussion, it takes over two minutes for the track’s greatest hook to appear. Signaled by the brisk entry of keys, a crescendo of chords flurry over the same guitar progression and intensifying quivers. Keeping in mind that a Krug-Boeckner release without some sort of epic would feel out of place, the concluding “Kissing the Beehive” makes use of both songwriter’s ability to craft alternating song structures within a familiar melody. Though the first several listen will treat nothing to the listener but a few unexpected melodic surprises, each new listen with a better comprehension of the structure provides more in terms of infectiousness and enjoyment. As that track ends, it is easy to note that Krug and Boeckner have once again collaborated for one of the most enjoyable indie-rock releases of the year.

Wolf Parade – Language City

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11. Portishead – Third

Unlike the majority of other groups during the mid ’90s in Britain, Portishead did not become legends by releasing a masterpiece or two alongside a dozen or so middling attempts at reviving glory. Instead, the trio’s status as one of the most mystifyingly ambiguous groups to have an undeniable influence on contemporary music was granted because of sheer quality, not because of an excess of tours or releases. Prior to this year’s release of Third, the group released two albums of new material in the span of 13 years. Both of them, Dummy and Portishead will forever be considered landmark achievements in the genres of trip-hop and atmospheric alternative-pop. Clearly, unless Portishead have something worth releasing, it is not going to see the light of day. This rare ideology continues with Third, an awe-inspiring release that ranks up there with the classic Dummy as being one of the most atmospherically brilliant releases of the past 20 years. Their arrangements are often initially sparse, such as in “The Rip” where only an acoustic guitar and haunting synth pad appears to back Beth Gibbons’ quivering vocals. Like many classic Portishead tracks though, the melodic and instrumental expansion of “The Rip” is what makes the group’s ingenious level of execution so irresistible. As a bassy synth arpeggio backs a lengthily stable croon from Gibbons, a simultaneous percussive ignition occurs as the track steadily fades to black. The vocally brooding nature of “Plastic” and the ethereal, guitar-based murmurs of “We Carry On” may provide indication that Third is Portishead’s least accessible album out of their three, but successive listens will reward even those who are reluctant of the trio’s atmospherically-based talents. Sure, there are less instantaneous hooks, but Third is a grower whose genius is slowly unveiled with careful audible precision. For immediate enjoyment though, a track like the appropriately titled “Machine Gun” (with its percussive bursts) and the melodically enchanting “Hunter”, the latter which proves to be one of Portishead’s most captivating efforts. Haunting is often a common word to describe Portishead’s atmospheric brilliance, and never has being haunted been so enjoyable. A sheer piece of atmospheric perfection, Third is an album to be treasured by fans of Portishead and newcomers alike.

Portishead – Hunter

Portishead – The Rip

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When monumental success is accomplished through means of distinctive locality, I imagine that the sense of pride for a group is indescribable. You grow up with a certain group of friends, talk and occasionally bicker with them about music to pass the time during class, and even form an embarrassing band or two during the same period; it is all a natural part of growing up for childhood friends that share a mutual love for music. With that being said, to make a flourishing career out of something that has positively taken hold of you for the entirety of your childhood can be a dream come true. To do it with those same friends that you grew up with is a rare sight to behold, but it is certainly not impossible to find. The Pittsburgh-based Ball of Flame Shoot Fire can certainly attest to this, as the entirety of their band is made up of a group of friends who grew to be the best of friends during their high school years. They were often simultaneously friends and bandmates, a mixture that can occasionally prove to be complicated due to the highly sensitive nature of an occupational relationship. As displayed in their music though, the chemistry for this five-piece in undeniable, allowing the five friends to maintain their composure and combine their talents for something that is truly and uniquely riveting.

The list of influences that Ball of Flame Shoot Fire have appropriately compiled on their MySpace proves quite indicative of their modernistic approach. A few years out of high school, it is not surprising of them to list a few contemporary greats like Sunset Rubdown, Animal Collective, and Grizzly Bear as a few of their influences. However, their prevalent admiration for legends like Tom Waits, Harry Nilsson, and David Bowie also allows them to emit their veneration for past approaches. This ultimately results in a very flexible form of indie-rock that gravitates largely toward aspects that are largely experimental and occasionally psychedelic. A rather immediate comparison would be to that of Animal Collective, specifically displayed on the excellent “Mugs”, but Ball of Flame Shoot Fire are certainly no imitators of a particular style or group. Apart from the fact that their songs differentiate from one another vastly through melodic, instrumental, and structural variation, their songwriting is captivating in a way that calls upon both inventively plausible hooks and audible energy; this aspect of songwriting is what makes the comparison to Animal Collective the most accurate. Fitting in nicely with imaginatively unclassifiable indie-rock acts in the vein of Animal Collective, Man Man, and Frog Eyes (all influences by no coincidence), Ball of Flame Shoot Fire have the capability to become the next big thing in the world of creatively unpredictable indie-rock.

Though all five members were friends throughout high school who had participated in other miscellaneous projects, Ball of Flame Shoot Fire did not officially form until 2006. They have played primarily around Pittsburgh, achieving a startlingly emergent fanbase while opening up for acts as accomplished as Grizzly Bear, Man Man, and Mates of State. Listening to their music, it is quite easy to see why acts in the vein of Grizzly Bear and Man Man have sought out the five-piece to open for them too. Ball of Flame Shoot Fire do not only write songs that are somewhat influenced by the psych-folk of such groups, but their ardently expressive reliance on youthful exuberance is heavily prevalent. The same can be said for a group like Man Man that have made a name for themselves in being one of the best live acts around due to their highly energetic presence on stage and in the studio. Hot off some significant local recognition, Ball of Flame Shoot Fire released their debut EP, Grumpy Little Bird, in the fall of 2007 to some more consistent acclaim. Some local publications and sharp blogs were the ones to generate some buzz for this one, solidifying the group’s status as one of Pittsburgh’s most promising up-and-coming acts. Still though, the EP had yet to attract the national recognition that the group’s sound so genuinely deserved. To check it out, you can to listen to it for free here.

After devoting most of this year to writing new material, the five-piece has emerged with Jokeland, their debut full-length. Set to be released by the end of December, it may very well be one of the most prominent unexpected hits of the year if it is released in time for annual consideration. Keeping steady with the unique quality that all of the group’s members were good friends in high school, the album was actually produced by another one in Alex Herd; he went to elementary school with vocalist/saxophonist/keyboardist Peter Henry. Thanks to both this cumulative chemistry and the group’s undeniable level of talent, Jokeland looks to be a fantastic debut that stems nicely from the great potential displayed on Grumpy Little Bird. The aforementioned “Mugs” is utterly irresistible, seeing an alternating cast of vocalists pull off their best Avey Tare impression with a variety of melodically infused yelping and slurring over an onslaught of harmonic variations that serve as a nod to this five-piece’s songwriting ability. The track’s presence truly comes alive when the backing vocals enter to infuse some ‘60s psych-rock harmonies over an evolving assortment of guitars, bass, and keys. The vocal delivery transitions from freak-folk to a tribal chanting of sorts, structurally consistent enough to prepare the listener for each succession of this particular vocal-oriented hook. At the midpoint of “Mugs”, the back instrumentation explodes with fury as a series of guitar tremolos increase in audibility over the same charismatically infectious overlapping of different vocals that made the track so striking from the get-go.

Another one of the album’s tracks, “Bertie Hey”, serves as a good indicator of the album’s overall diversity. While it is still heavily apparent that the same band is behind the effort, the differing vocal approach and melodic ideology separates the track significantly from an effort like “Mugs”. “Bertie Hey” almost reminds me of Man Man’s “Engwish Bwudd” with its pirate-y melodic theme; this is especially true when numerous vocals collide simultaneously in accordance to a heightening pitch around 02:13. This is followed by a messily enjoyable guitar solo, another indication of this group’s alarmingly impressive flexibility. “Bertie Hey” concludes just as excellently, with a series of brass accompanying several ardently conveyed phrases like “you think I’m guilty, didn’t do it; got a voracious appetite for danger”. “Patience” brings us into territory more reminiscent of a group like Sunset Rubdown or Frog Eyes, where vigorously intricate keys lead the way over occasional falsettos and whimpers to establish over five minutes of pure art-rock bliss. When the distortion of the multiply layered guitars subsides after three minutes and a gentle electric guitar arpeggio emerges, it sounds as if it is about to practically evolve into a new song. The original melody swiftly returns though, as this new guitar arpeggio slides seamlessly into the gradual accompaniment. Based on these three songs alone, I personally cannot wait for the release of Jokeland. Though it is likely too early to make such claims, Ball of Flame Shoot Fire has the potential to be one of the most talked-about bands of 2009.

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Ball of Flame Shoot Fire – Mugs

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Ball of Flame Shoot Fire – Bertie Hey

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Ball of Flame Shoot Fire – Patience

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Emotional variability is an aspect of art that all musicians value. An artist limiting one’s self to a consistent set of emotions can be detrimental to a listener’s perception of the artist, primarily due to the fact that an entire discography consisting of sulking or romanticized longing can become repetitively dull and topically overwrought if not done correctly. You can look at some fine artists who can do this successfully – The Smiths, Mark Kozelek, American Music Club, etc. – and find that their musical styles and structures often diversify the songs enough. And if not, the vocal diction is varied enough to capture a consistent audience for decades. There will always be a small select group of people who opt to only listen to somberly reflective alt-rock or mindless sexually-driven pop music due to their linear perception of the art of music in general, but most listeners enjoy occasional doses of topical diversity in the music the dedicate a lot of time in discovering. To combat such linearly mundane approaches while simultaneously delivering a consistent theme and set of central emotions, Daniel Smith has become notable for crafting songs with rich imagery, brooding contrasting instrumentation, and – arguably most importantly – the ability to interweave the two aspect to craft tales of bleakly entertaining circumstances. Under the alias of Begushkin, his lyrical journeys prove both wildly engrossing and startlingly unique.

When Smith’s debut, Nightly Things, was released in June of 2006, critics took note of the young Brooklynite’s prevalent ability to emit a plethora of lyrically-led topics without overwhelming the listener. Lovelorn desperation, violence and angst, maddening loneliness, and self-inflicted emotional wounds were a few of the relayed emotions involved, all with a supplemented cast of fictional characters and exotic locales that would make even songwriters in the storytelling vein of Tom Waits and Lou Reed grin with approval. The release’s style was centered in folk, with a few other elements like gypsy-rock and glam making subtle appearances. Acoustics often led the melody in the unique of forms, usually in a blatant minor key due to the brooding topics and backing instrumentation involved. It was by no means a solely acoustical affair though, as strings and accordions also made cameos that added to the rich qualities of Smith’s songs in extravagant form. His vocals are on another as well; they quiver and moan with a likeness to two other Daniel’s who dwell in the realm of oddball folk: Dan Bejar and Danielson, though the latter Daniel Smith ironically has no relation to Begushkin’s Smith. The main difference between these artists and Begushkin, though, may lie in Smith’s stylistic bearings.

Treading on a path located somewhere between Middle-Eastern gypsy-rock and folk-based Americana, his wholesome sound and derived influences turn out to be wholesomely his own. For Smith’s sophomore album, King’s Curse, he has chosen to expand upon a sound that was already enticingly original enough for the acclaimed reception of Nightly Things. King’s Curse sees a larger emphasis on the shades of gypsy-rock that made Nightly Things – particularly on the bustling guitar-led “Hearth Light of Our Home” – so memorable. The emotional intensity of Smith’s quivering vocals has also heightened the aspect of zealousness that complements the increased ferociousness of his general stylistic demeanor. The self-titled track is highly representative of his newly initiated narrative approach, with this track in particular being one of the faster-paced efforts on the album. The tempo is in accordance with the song’s narrative focus, one that tells of ruthless hierarchical figures and creatures that would appear to fit well in medieval folklore. “The gypsy king at last is dead!” Smith pronounces with glee, followed shortly by the ghastly accompaniment of female vocals. “But his soul I couldn’t save and hollers like a lunatic from the diamond cave.” Such a vividly haunting conclusion is one component that makes Smith so memorable; he seems to always establish a song’s focus and carry through with it until the listener reaches an extremely satisfying conclusion.

Though King’s Curse is more expansive and ardently expressive on a superficial level, “Murderer” demonstrates his more subdued attempts at plot-based thematic involvement in excellent form. “Cranberry wine, dripping down her spine,” he begins, backed by an ethereal electric guitar progression and the faint whirring of an organ. The chorus sees the rumbling of percussion enter with a sparse melodic shift; the song actually takes over three minutes to truly build up, resulting in a monstrously successful guitar solo that sees all formats of instrumentation enhance tremendously before the track reverts to its original subdued format before the conclusion. “Refugee & the Hag” is notable for Smith’s excellent vocal delivery and the guitar usage that contrasts it. He opts to use several sliding techniques in addition to his quivering snarls, a vocal element that appears most openly effusive in both “Refugee & the Hag” and “King’s Curse”. The last two tracks on the album, “The Beat & the King” and “Gone to Hell”, are easily the album’s most structurally ambitious. “The Beat & the King” recalls vintage Sunset Rubdown with its marching-band rhythmic pattern and increasingly volatile vocal accompaniment, while “Gone to Hell” sees some of Smith’s most commendable guitar work to date. Both exceed six minutes in length, but knowing Smith’s talents as both a storyteller and songwriter, he can make time fly by seamlessly. The bulk of King’s Curse is chock full of material like this; time just flies by so quickly when entertained by a master storyteller.

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Begushkin – Murderer

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Begushkin – King’s Curse

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Begushkin – Refugee & the Hag

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Few bands manage to be as innovative and instantaneously accessible as Wolf Parade, the acclaimed joint project of Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner. The most impressive thing to me about the two collaborators, however, is not the infectious melodies they create or the constant critical acclaim that comes their way, but rather the stylistic transition that both are able to make seamlessly as they jump from project to project. Both have been renowned as a few of the busiest songwriters in indie-rock and their durability throughout the past several years can mainly attributed to the unique and melodically invigorating aspects that their songwriting triggers. For the release of Wolf Parade’s second album, At Mount Zoomer, I knew that reviewing it also meant keeping mind of some pretty hefty expectations. Since 2005, some Krug-related project has peaked in my top 10 for the year. No other artist in the past few years has been as consistent with my personal appeal, though one of the main reasons for this is obviously that Krug releases material abundantly and often. Still though, within the boundaries of Sunset Rubdown and Wolf Parade, the fact that he seems to improve with each successive release leaves audiences constantly coming back for more.

At Mount Zoomer will hardly feel like a sophomore album to most listeners, as both Krug and Boeckner have been employing reminiscent styles in their respective projects of Sunset Rubdown and Handsome Furs ever since Wolf Parade originated. But it is also a common belief to state that Wolf Parade’s debut, Apologies to the Queen Mary, contains the most accessible material from either artist to date, an aspect that arguably derives from intentions to promote their material to a more diversified audience. This is not to say that they halt all signs of ambitiousness altogether though, as such a method would be impossible when applied to the likes of Krug and Boeckner. In fact, Krug’s share of material on At Mount Zoomer appears most reminiscent to his work with Sunset Rubdown, with the eerily resounding flair of “Bang Your Drum” and “An Animal in Your Care” employing much of they key-oriented formula over the yelping vocals and consistently revolving song structures that made trademark Sunset Rubdown tracks so memorable. In fact, out of Krug’s batch of 4 songs, the key-led thump of “Call It Ritual” is the only attempt that would feel out of place on a new Sunset Rubdown release. The bulk of the track is guided by a repeating piano progression and the occasional smattering of a guitar. The keys are prevalent throughout the entire duration, but the exceptionally unexpected bridge is signaled by a rush of newly attributed guitars and an increasingly intensified use of percussion. The rather straightforward direction of the track makes for an enjoyable effort, but it most certainly has the least staying power due to its comparative predictability.

Personally, when Apologies to the Queen Mary was released, I found myself to be more enamored with Krug’s half of the release. And while it would be a somewhat faulty method to singularly distinguish key-driven tracks as Krug’s work and guitar-driven tracks as Boeckner’s half of the pie, it remains noticeable on At Mount Zoomer that – despite the proficient multi-instrumental tendencies of both musicians – they appear to remain most comfortable in their respective instrumental tendencies. Keeping in mind that At Mount Zoomer comprises of a similar structure in that Krug and Boeckner contribute an even number of separate tracks, I am actually more impressed with Boeckner’s efforts this time around despite Krug’s showings also being expectedly strong. This can be primarily attributed to Boeckner’s increased instrumental virtuosity, as his use of keys and synths has noticeably become more prevalent. This is best evident on “Language City” and “The Grey Estates”, both tracks that utilize an array of sparkling keys in an infectious chorus that is also guided by guitars and rhythmic additives. The optimistically effervescent nature of “The Grey Estates” actually makes a cause for it in being the group’s next single, as the smorgisbord of fluttering keys combined with the accessibly minimal structure will likely be amiably enjoyed by those who have not even yet become acquainted with Wolf Parade. The accessibility reminds me somewhat of “Shine a Light”, another gem written by Boeckner that later proved to be one of the most recognizable efforts on Apologies to the Queen Mary.

Despite Boeckner providing for a more consistent offering of quality songwriting, Krug offers one of the best tracks in the excellent “California Dreamer”. Krug’s skills as both a songwriter and excellent keyboardist are in full display as he shifts a minimal introduction of singular keys and backing percussion into a chorus that is the most anthemic and memorable on the album. “I’ll be round, I’ll be round, I’ll be round,” he sings prior to the bridge. “Like a teenager in town where all the other young lovers are found.” It is a moment that is aided purely by the intensifying tempo of deepened keys, a technique that makes the exceptional chorus that follows even more satisfying. A few shrill chords on keys then follow as the fully bolstered rhythm section emerges for the first time. “And I think I might have heard you on the radio, but the radio waves are like snow,” he shrieks, revealing a line that repeats throughout the song that will undoubtedly be sung by fans over and over again at any randomly placed Wolf Parade show. The cohesive clashing of guitars and keys continue to carry out the remaining 5 minutes of the song, with the chorus being occasionally recalled in the midst of newly formulated bridges featuring both guitars and keys. On Krug’s part, “California Dreamer” comes to be arguably the album’s best song, while his “An Animal in Your Care” appears the most mundane. The best of both worlds, indeed, but Krug remains a vital part in the overall success of the album.

Boeckner’s “Fine Young Cannibals” also serves as a standout, mainly due to a catchy little guitar riff that manages to sound so seductively enthralling over a soulful blend of keys (à la “It’s a Curse”). As the steady delivery of a new wave-like guitar progression eases placidly over concise percussion, it takes over two minutes for the track’s greatest hook to appear. Signaled by the brisk entry of keys, a crescendo of chords flurry over the same guitar progression and intensifying quivers. Consequently, “Fine Young Cannibals” creates a very worthwhile blend of nostalgic new wave and contemporary indie-rock. Keeping in mind that a Krug-Boeckner release without some sort of epic would feel out of place, the concluding “Kissing the Beehive” makes use of both songwriter’s ability to craft alternating song structures within a familiar melody. Though the first several listen will treat nothing to the listener but a few unexpected melodic surprises, each new listen with a better comprehension of the structure provides more in terms of infectiousness and enjoyment. “Put the ring back on and take your husband home,” Krug pleads at one point over a stunning blend of hectic keys and guitars. “Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole!” It is a breathtaking closer that contributes substantially to the overall effectiveness of the album. On the masterful “Kissing the Beehive” and in the bulk of At Mount Zoomer, Krug and Boeckner have once again collaborated for one of the most enjoyable indie-rock releases of the year. 8/10

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Wolf Parade – California Dreamer

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Wolf Parade – Language City

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The post REVIEW: Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer appeared first on Obscure Sound: Indie Music Blog.