Carolina – Ancient Cat Society
After learning Ancient Cat Society contains members from the band Buxton I couldn’t pull Youtube up fast enough. With a quick search I found “Carolina,” a song about a girl. Their clever lyrics and catchy tune aren’t the only thing that caught my attention and made me hit the reply button many times over; The song and accompanying video’s video simplicity feels more like old friends chatting instead of a band playing.
With a guitar and feet tapping out a beat on the cement, Ancient Cat society begin their tale of a heart trapped by a girl’s smile. “With her eyes it’s so fantastic / With a nose you’d swear it’s plastic” Armed with a beautiful face I fear for any guy who is lucky enough to see her pretty smile. Their romance starts with something small, a gift to show his affection. Flowers, perhaps? Her eyes light up and spark a smile to die for. Before he knows it, he’s buying one gift after another just for another glimpse of her smile. But does it ever end? “Took her shopping back in Bristol / She bought diamonds by the fistful.” The extravagance of presents is escalating with every purchase and soon he finds himself in trouble but helpless to stop. He just needs to see her smile. “Exotic chocolates from Sweden / dear I swear my wallets bleedin’” Before his mind says no, “Buy this for me darling / As I reach for my last cent.” He cries out “What do I do?!” Haley Barnes leans over and whispers what he can’t do but is unable to stop himself from doing: “He gets it.” Forced to choose between a cute girl’s smile and having no money the smile wins EVERYTIME. The poor guy never had a chance.
Ancient Cat Society minimalistic technique uses the melody of their voices and storytelling to make up for the lack of instruments. When Haley Barnes isn’t providing backing vocals she lends her cute mousey voice to Carolina, giving the characters more depth as well as helping to add to the already believable environment “Carolina” creates. Ancient Cat Society’s “Carolina” is my personal summer song of 2012.
Much to my surprise, it contains no synth at all! That breaks the streak of techno-pop dominating my summer songs!
P.S If you liked their music check out more here! http://ancientcatsociety.bandcamp.com
We are Bonnaroo (And you can, too)!
Hey! In preparation for my own and Mr. November’s exciting Bonnaroo trip this coming week, we prepared our first podcast for all listeners! In it, we talk about what bands we are excited to see, upcoming plans for the blog, and what we are currently listening to (Hint: It rhymes with: Screech Mouse). Expect fewer posts in this coming week because we will be traveling down to the farm by car. However, we will be taking our newly purchased flip camera to record set reviews by ALL THREE writers, keep you up to date on exciting events during the festival, and maybe even film a trip down the waterslide! Anything and everything is possible! Depending on the availability of an internet connection, we aim to have video(s) up each day of the festival. Oh! And we moved to a new domain! Three cheers for URL mapping! Hip! Hip! Hooray!
Love Interruption – Jack White
I know “Love Interruption” was released before Blunderbuss but I honestly didn’t listen to it more than once before the album actually released. It wasn’t until recently that I truly thought to myself “Wow! This song is really good” and I am not just saying that because I am a huge Jack White fan, either! Love is a topic found in all genres, it isn’t hard to write about because it is, for the most part, universally understood and appealing. Whether your idea of “Love” includes gooey romance and star crossed lovers, or just finding someone to share the thrill of sex and who accepts you for you, the appeal of love is shared. But when love is done well, whether written, sang, or acted, love becomes more than just appealing, more than just an idea; instead love becomes a physical, tangible feeling that you see every day.
The song opens with piano and the lyrics “I want love to roll me over slowly / Stick a knife inside me and twist it all around” with White’s soul filled voice and fantastic backing vocals by Ruby Amanfu, “Love Interruption” starts with a shot to the gut, literally! I can’t speak for anyone else but I know that personally that feeling is all too familiar. Seeing the pretty girl I’m crushing on unexpectedly, or having my hopes dashed after risking it all to ask her out only to be rejected creates an unpleasant feeling like my stomach has just dropped a few feet. This effect isn’t always unpleasant however, when everything is going right and a simple phone call with a cute girl turns into staying up all night talking, instead of my stomach falling, I get butterflies. Jack White describes these feelings with a gore filled metaphor; each twist of the knife is literally gut wrenching. Love is an emotion someone shouldn’t have to question, you don’t need to ask is this love, you just know, right!? Isn’t that what people say, but Jack doesn’t repeat these boring lines, he doesn’t say I’ve fallen, rather her soft face and sweet words have “gently” picked up his hand, and before you know it…SLAM! Love is sudden and abrupt and painful!
Jack White’s unique approach to love has more than just drawn my attention, “Love Interruption” has become one my favorite songs to release in 2012 so far, and he did it without drums!
Twin Shadow – Five Seconds
It’s that sort of time of year again. You’re rummaging through your car trying to find some CD you can annoyingly blast with the windows down. You cut yourself on a wayward piece of metal under the seat and scream obscenities at it. No matter, the night is young and you’re on top of the world. Summer is brilliant, no? And yet, it does pose the question of “What song will epitomize my summer?” Surely it will be uplifting, heavy in base, a bit celestial with a sprinkle of pop goodness. Goodness. I’m swamped again. Drowning in too much choice. Yet, something just has to pop out and be truly stellar. A song that exemplifies all of those qualities. Mostly, it has to be memorable, and tied to memories of summer. So here it is, my song of the summer for 2012. It’s probably subject to change, but for now, Five Seconds by Twin Shadow stole my heart. With the slightly new wave feel, I’m left melting in my boots. It ticks all the boxes for me. What’s your song for the summer?
Hold On – Alabama Shakes
Until middle school I listened to country music exclusively. Before you fumble for the back button, I assure you that I am not going to attempt to convert you to the poppy byproducts of Nashville. I listened to country because, well, there isn’t much else to listen in the middle of Minot, North Dakota, Killdeer, or even Mohall. What can I say? The six other people in the state don’t own anything but Toby Keith, Lonestar, and Hank Williams. I didn’t listen because I had a burning passion for the steel guitar, twang, or songs about dirt roads. I listened because it was the only music I knew existed other than classic rock. So, you may be asking, why have I brought this up and potentially torpedoed all the rep I have as a music fan and reviewer? Well, after 13 years of listening to songs about domestic troubles, dogs dying, and sexy tractors, I have an affinity for steel pedal guitar, southern rock guitar attacks, and a healthy obsession with blues-rock. I’ll repent for my love of Rascal Flatts, the boy band of country, and I’d be the first one to ridicule the fact that I know the “deep cuts” of Molly Hatchet but I will not shy from admitting my love of the chrome tear drops that spill from the strings of a good steel pedal guitarist or showing up to a Drive-by Truckers show in orange huntin’ gear. My past makes me who I am so I might as well embrace the good stuff.
The Alabama Shakes are “the good stuff.” They are the kind of southern-rock/fiery blues that has me cranking up my stereo as I drive past rows and rows of the expectant faces of sunflowers the whole fifteen miles into town. Their first single, “Hold On,” starts out with a pleasantly rambling guitar riff that shifts to a quick-footed sprint to catch up to Brittany Howard as she struggles and wails during the chorus. The ramblin’, smilin’, and slidin’ southern guitar is as refreshing as a dip in the crick after an afternoon of fishing but the real pull of the song is the inimitable voice of Howard. The girl’s voice is a force of nature, both gentle and tremendous, and its overwhelming force sends ripples throughout the song.
The whine in her voice during “Bless my heart, bless my soul, didn’t think I would make it to 22 years old” perfectly communicates wide-eyed surprise and grateful relief. Her voice transforms the first thought of anyone waking up without memory of ever going to sleep into something remarkable. Howard’s gratitude to continued life against all odds of her own construction turns into pining for some kind of purpose, “don’t know what I’m gonna do.” Howard despairs that she can’t just skip to the reward of heaven without any of the struggle and screams “YEAH! YOU GOT TO WAIT! BUT, I DON’T WANNA WAIT! I DON’T WANNA WAIT…” in protest of her continued earthly agony and uncertainty. After searching for meaning, Howard realizes that she IS blessed by whoever is up there watching over her and she “has so much to do and ain’t got much time.” Howard’s newly confident, impossibly strong voice churns the calm waters of “Hold On” into frothy rapids by the third chorus. Right before she demolishes the “Wait!” the guitar seems to catch and shiver from the utter force of her voice. Her powerful voice knocks the guitar of its tracks and its previously clean tone buzzes, exposed as if it was a power line that was toppled by a tornado, until the end of the song.
Country music shares a lot of aspects with gospel music and spirituals and the very best country manages to tap into the larger-than-life power and incredible joy of its origins. Brittany Howard and the rest of Alabama Shakes transform the universal Sunday morning thoughts of a 22 year old into an insight of the emancipating purpose of creating Heaven on Earth one good act at a time with all the awesome power of the most riveting homily. It’s enough to make me fall on my knees in wonder.
Sunburn EP – Baio
If Vampire Weekend is like being a tourist in Africa then their bassist Chris Baio’s solo EP is like being a tourist in Cyprus. Cyprus, for those who didn’t have to memorize all the European countries in 5th grade, is an island nation off the coast of Turkey that, because of its position between the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, has a unique mix of all three cultures with Greek or Turkish culture being the most influential. Baio’s Sunburn EP has a mix of the rapid bongos and interlocking rhythms of Africa, a dash of the drum strikes, handclaps, and vocal emotes of the Middle East, and the guiding hand of a European heavy electronic bassline and a propulsive electronic-driven beat. Geographic and cultural lessons aside, Sunburn EP’s three songs are fun, sunny, and distinctly not Vampire Weekend. While Baio’s music is the result of mixing and matching different musical styles from around the world like his daytime job with Ezra, his heavily rhythmic world travels stay a little bit more northern than Vampire Weekends’ escapades.
“Sunburn Modern’s” punchy bongos and steel drums twists and wriggles around Baio’s bass beat like heat waves coming off a hot beach. Baio’s jaunty playing creates a tether and guide for the musical excursions later in the song. Whether the song floats off to a waterfall of xylophone notes, is touched by the cool breeze of steel drums, or lazily drifts down a river of softly chiming piano single notes, the bass is there to snap the melody back to its rushing rhythmic river. The song’s pleasant interplay momentarily slows the bass’ propulsive beat with gorgeous distractions and logical tributaries but each new melody always flows back into the main bass branch of the song’s rhythm. “Sunburn Modern’s” sun-bleached and idyllic pulse is simple yet sparkling like a beach made up of many individual grains of sand, each tiny part of the song works together to create an attractive whole.
“Anonymity 1” is the weakest song on the album because of the song’s predictability. That’s not to say that it isn’t pleasant. The song’s interplay isn’t as strong, its musical diversions aren’t as refreshing, and it doesn’t have the same winding musical evolution as “Sunburn” or “Tanto.” However, the song’s sighing synth creates a melancholy not heard elsewhere on the album and the bubbling synth near the middle of the song is my favorite section of any song on the album. First the synth is barely perceptible as it bounces the compressed notes of the melody back and forth, then drums alert the listener to the pressure building deep within the song until, finally, guitars push the melody to rush upwards like a geyser and peak for a couple seconds before collapsing back into bouncy piano. Most of the album capitalizes on simple beats that shift and branch out into small deviations on the main beat and so to complain that “Anonymity 1” is too simple may seem to contradict the same statements of praise for the other two songs, “Anonymity’s” interplay is weak and highlights are too few.
“Tanto” brings back the bongo drums and bright steel drumming of “Sunburn Modern” and binds it to a thumping bass beat. This is the first song on the album to heavily feature vocals and I was thrilled to see that Matias Aguayo, who sang on Battles’ “Ice Cream,” provides the chanting lyrics behind the rolling steel drums. Aguayo’s wordless, choppy, and energetic chants are fun and mesmerizing. Near the end of the song, Baio removes everything but the keyboard and Aguayo’s chanting so that the song drifts into silence in a self-propelled delightful state of quietly pulsating rhythm.
Baio’s Sunburn EP is too short to offer any hint of what is to come from his future projects but the album’s summer sounds and bouncy beat is a sure sign that Baio’s solo work will sit next to his bandmates in Vampire Weekend as one of my “go-to” summer bands.
Tee Pees 1-12 – Father John Misty
To hear Father John Misty sing, you’d think that California hands out crates of oranges, a smorgasbord of scrumptious looking pills, and your choice of flip-flops to every new resident of the state. Fleet Foxes’ drummer Josh Tillman’s move to California from Seattle must have changed more than his clothes because he is loose, charming, and funny while he sings about attending funerals and his nightmares. Sure, the subject matter may be dark but you wouldn’t know it from the warm, psychedelic folksiness of the music or the sly humor and abundance of charisma in the lyrics of Fear Fun. He shrugs the austere sound of his albums under his own name to show the jovial musician that joked, “the applause is really a precursor to the frantic tuning that takes place before the next song” during the Fleet Foxes I attended years ago. While he still sings about some pretty heavy subjects, gone is the lonesome acoustic guitar and drums to be replaced by handclaps and stories about running down the road with his pants around his knees in between swearing that “he’ll take his life back one day.” He’s still capable of gorgeous compositions but he’s much more concerned with studying the smiling faces, empty bottles, and sunset’s around him instead of his chewed fingernails and the stars above. Tillman’s music has taken on the feeling of a boisterous wake instead of a dreary funeral. Both are concerned with some rather unpleasant facts of life but a wake is something I’d actually look forward to attending. You know, if I had to. I’m not some kind of bizarro wedding-crasher.
My favorite track from the album has to be “Tee Pees 1-12” because any song starts with a woman commanding to “whip it out” has to have some promise. Then, in the second verse, Tillman admits that he was “terrified by the look in your eyes” but, hell, there’s a “lot to loving I don’t know.” And then he makes a bizarre and funny image of a ”Spirit guide” in the shape of a penis to which he responds with fear and the sheepish claim that, after his awful drug trip, “he is never going to sleep in a teepee again.” And then he narrates another drunken sexual adventure with a bizarre end. And then he jokes that he had to get “a skin graft from his ass” to get his face to match a girls. The whole is song is full of And Then’s and only half of them are culled from the lyrics. The honky-tonk dancehall strings and steel pedal guitar will get scuffed boots and converses tapping alike. My brother and I still use the jokes Tillman told in the Fleet Foxes concert in our own band practices and it’s nice to be able to share one song that communicates the quick wit, undeniable charisma, and merriness of Tillman’s personality and musical skill. While he is singing about drowning Neil Young, having sex on tombstones, and goofily acting the ladies man, he’s dealing with some serious thoughts on death, success, and confronting personal failure. A spoonful of sugar and all that. He’s a funny dude and I’m glad he’s not afraid to let his humor shine through in his music.
Marco Esquandolas
Mr. November
Valéry Giscard d’Estaing
