The Films Ditch Label, Debut America

The native South Carolinians will release their debut album Don't Dance Rattlesnake in the U.S. on September 25th. The album was released in the U.K. back in June, at which time there was no scheduled date for a U.S. release. Apparently it took ditching their label to do it.

The jangly indie-rock quartet aren't exactly a mainstream rock band. Still, Warner Bros. navigation of the band's career seems naive at best (and vastly asinine in all probability). The Films are radio-friendly, lyrically clever and, well, let's just say their looks aren't exactly holding them back, either. A three-month wait for a U.S. release, from a U.S. band, is absurd. Even apart from the U.K., Don't Dance Rattlesnake is also currently available in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Japan. So why no U.S. release?

Ostensibly, the band got tired of asking the same question, so they've split from Warner Bros. and are releasing the album on their own. Now, that is fooking impressive. When is the last time you've heard of a band telling a major label to shove it? Especially a band that at this point, and no doubt partly because of said label's mismanagement, is currently under-the-radar? That takes balls.

And so to their musical talents we add an old-school, punk rock sensibility -- not so much inyourface as it is enveloped in a southern gentility. What could have been publicized drama for other bands has instead become a simple by-product of The Films' musical goals. Their concern is the music, and releasing it, finally, in the U.S. It will be interesting to see how the album is received, by critics as well as the masses. Something to look for in the future . . .

You can listen to The Films at their Myspace page, and pre-purchase Don't Dance Rattlesnake here. The first 1000 orders will receive a limited-edition copy of the album, which includes companion album HORSEFORCE!, an acoustic reworking of ten of the songs from DDR, plus one bonus track. More about HORSEFORCE! straight from The Films' blog:

"the label" wanted us to go to a studio and make acoustic versions of all the songs on the record. since we are not big fans of "boring", we instead decided to rearrange the songs and make completely different versions of them embracing the theory that 'a good song is a good song no matter how you arrange it'. we sped up some of the slow ones, slowed down some of the fast ones, changed the instruments up, and basically did whatever we wanted to mess with the arrangements and still do justice to the songs.

Check out the video for "Black Shoes" below, and have a listen to "Belt Loops" in Aural Laurels in the side menu. Also, for a more in-depth analysis of The Films' sound, see my review of "Belt Loops," written for a Welsh music 'zine in early June.

Electricity in Our Homes EP Out Today

The limited-edition 7" EP, The Shareholder's Meeting, is the first release of any kind for the band. Only 200 copies were printed, so it's bound to prove worthy of its name: rising in value as the band gains popularity and acclaim. If cockney punk or post-punk lights your fire, then EIOH is highly recommended.

Track Listing:

1. More Minimal
2. Some Marvels
3. Are They Doing Something Nasty?
4. We Don't Need Honesty*


Go here and get one of the few remaining copies, or here to listen to the EP online.


*Stand out track

Kevin Drew, Broken Social Scene to Play Next Myspace Secret Show

Musicians with actual talent selected for one of the Secret Shows! Go figure. The concert will commence BSS's fall tour, Broken Social Scene Performs Kevin Drew. Drew, one of the co-founders of the sixteen-member, musical soiree-turned-coterie, will release his "solo" album, Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew, Spirit If . . . on Sept. 18.

According to Drew's website, Spirit If . . . will be the first in a series of Broken Social Scene Presents releases. Brendan Canning, BSS's other co-founder, is currently at work on his "solo" project, to be released next year as the second album in the series.

The widely-advertised-and-so-unsecret Secret Show will be played next Tuesday, Aug. 28th, in Boston. Lucky Bostonians. DC gets teeny-bop sensations Good Charlotte. Alas . . .

More details on the show are here. And watch a promo vid for "Backed Out On The . . ." right now:

Zoo Time! Finally: Mystery Jets Announce U.S. Tour

Excellent news from the Mystery Jets camp, indeed, after visa issues forced a cancellation of their U.S. tour earlier this summer. Even better: Klaxons join them for five of the shows, though almost exclusively on the west coast. According to their website, the set will combine the best from their debut LP (Zoo Time in the U.S./Making Dens in the U.K.), along with new material from an as yet unnamed follow-up album. How utterly thrilling! See you at the Joe's Pub show . . .


Full dates and venues:

September 18, 2007 - Abbey Pub, Chicago

September 19, 2007 - Magic Stick, Detroit

September 20, 2007 - El Mocambo Club, Toronto

September 22, 2007 - Music Hall Of Williamsburg, Brooklyn

September 23, 2007 - Paradise Rock Club, Boston (with Klaxons)

September 24, 2007 - Joe's Pub, NYC

September 25, 2007 - CineSpace, Los Angeles

September 26, 2007 - The Music Box @ Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles (with Klaxons)

September 28, 2007 - The Fillmore, San Francisco (with Klaxons)

September 30, 2007 - The Showbox, Seattle (with Klaxons)

October 1, 2007 - Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver (with Klaxons)

www.myspace.com/mysteryjets
www.myspace.com/klaxons

- L.A. Bryan

Intense Psych-Rock from Caribou, Other 8/21 Releases

Andorra
Caribou
City Slang

Immensely-talented Daniel Snaith looks rather like a Comic-Con attendee than a rock star. Imagining him queuing up for a Joss Whedon autograph is considerably easier than imagining him on stage leading Caribou (his solo project that uses three other musicians during live performances) in its brand of lush electro-rock. But in Andorra, he unites 60s organic psychedelia, electronica and seriously funky beats with entertaining results.

"Melody Day" starts the album off in a ripping, whirling psychedelic assault. "Sandy" picks up from there, mixing marching-band rhythms with opulent melodies, and "After Hours" evokes the sounds of 13th Floor Elevators with beats ripped right off The Who.

But the album's appeal begins to decline after that. Quite frankly, the intensity of Andorra's sugary 60s sounds can be wearying. The middle of the album sags beneath its own weight – the songs seem rehashed and become tedious. "Irene" and "Niobe" are primarily electronic, and serve as intelligent contrasts to the 60s immersion, but their placement at the end of the album is stupefying. Clearly, they are meant to be paired together, but placing them in the middle of the album would have cushioned the impact of Andorra rising from its own ashes one too many times.

Caribou could have put out a five-star EP with those five songs: "Melody Day," "Sandy," "After Hours," "Irene," and "Niobe." Still, Andorra is one of the year's most unique releases. Yes, it's throwback. But no one else is doing anything remotely similar at the moment. Think of it as a prescription for the tired sounds of paired-down, indie rock that currently dominate the musical landscape.



www.caribou.fm



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Other Releases this Week:


Planet of Ice
Minus the Bear
Suicide Squeeze

Minus the Bear's second album, Planet of Ice, is a contradiction of hits and misses. Think mellow Circa Survive with a hint of soul in the vocals. Hits seem to come toward the latter part of the album ("Dr. L'Ling," "Throwin' Shapes," "When We Escape") but, ultimately, Planet of Ice merely threatens to break the bonds of mediocrity without ever doing so.



www.minusthebear.com



Under the Black Lights
Rilo Kiley
Warner Bros.

Under the Black Lights, Rilo Kiley's fourth full-length release, showcases an assortment of astoundingly dull alt-country songs. Cliched? Check. Devoid of meaning? Check. Cloying country-fried vocals? Check. Seriously, this shit is fodder for people who buy their music from Starbucks and college kids who mindlessly absorb Spin Magazine's sentiments because it makes them oh-so-cool. But it also makes them stupid, particularly in this case. Cool and stupid is no way to go through life, dear readers. Avoid this musical travesty at all costs.



www.myspace.com/rilokiley




- L.A. Bryan

8/13 Releases . . .

Forget the manufactured vacuity of Eisley. These are the real releases you should be checking out this week:

8/13 - London is alight with talk of trio Hatcham Social. Rightly so, as their double A-side single "Til the Dawn/Penelope (Under My Hat)," serves up indie rock so mod it should be delivered on the back of a Vespa.

8/14 - Chicago's ARKS release their latest album, The International. ARKS is perhaps best described as uniquely dark post-punk. The album is riddled with beat changes, key mutations and subtly brilliant drumming. Fans of Wire should love it.

Brits Mod Mania Short But Sweet

"Til the Dawn/Penelope (Under My Hat)"
Hatcham Social
WaKS Records

Little known yet already critically-acclaimed, London trio Hatcham Social serve up two delightfully quaint pop songs on their latest release, the double A-side single "Til the Dawn/Penelope (Under my Hat)." The trio, comprised of brothers Finnigan and Tobias Kidd and their friend Dave Javu, has blended the Left Banke and the Kinks for a sound straight out of Antonioni's Blow-Up. "Til the Dawn" is a kaleidoscopic menagerie of falsetto warbling and jangly guitars – just as catchy as it is psychedelic. Meanwhile, "Penelope (Under My Hat)" is a bizarre story wrapped inside mellow beats and whipped cream harmonies. Altogether, the release adds up to just under five minutes of music. Yes, the songs are short. But they're a gas, dig? Charlatans' frontman Tim Burgess produces his first songs with the release, and Faris Badwan – shy art student by day, maniacal Horror's lead singer by night – provides the cover art. The single debuts Monday (8/13) in the UK on 7" vinyl and digital formats.




- L.A. Bryan


www.hatchamsocial.co.uk
www.myspace.com/hatchamsocial

Happier with Stage Names (But Not too Happy)

The Stage Names
Okkervil River
Jagjaguwar


It would be an understatement to say that Will Sheff is a man with demons. As lead singer and lyricist for folk rockers Okkervil River, he is seldom at a loss for writing material. Count that as one of the few benefits of demons, because, luckily for Sheff, he was destined to be a rock star. Demons don't synthesize as well with other professions as they do with music. Think about it: would you want an emotionally distraught dentist hacking at your teeth?

Musicians are an exception, though. Actors, writers, sculpters, poets, film makers, entertainers . . . they are all allowed to work with and through their demons. It is accepted that profound insight, in the forms of artistry and creation, can be gained through emotional and mental instability. Whether this is true or not is entirely irrelevant to this review. But it might explain why Sheff chose these people as protagonists in The Stage Names. Perhaps he felt closer to them, was drawn to them in some intangible way.

Still, Sheff seems to be more at ease with himself these days. While 2005's Black Sheep Boy was a wrenching, jangling catharsis, The Stage Names is more comfortable in the pitch of its emotions. There's room to breathe here, to wander freely in one's introspections and emotions – a controlled process as opposed to a roiling, uncontrollable mash of emotions that was Black Sheep Boy.

"Our Life is not a Movie or Maybe" opens the album with head-bopping rhythms intrinsic to Okkervil River. A flourishing melody gives way to an eerily stark instrumental section before regaining control by the end. "Unless it's Kicks" is quite possibly the best song on the album. Lyrics like, "your love isn't lost/my heart is still crossed," would be written off as cloying if played by lesser bands, but the combination of Sheff's melodramatic howls along and Travis Nelson's frenzied drums pulls it off superbly. The energetic track then melts into a sparkling ending that sounds like the musical equivalent of a leisurely summer picnic.

In "A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene," the listener gets the sense Sheff is either winding up to or coming down from a volatile temper flare. But the accompanying music is so utterly bouyant, complete with camp hand-clapping, that it's heedless to worry. In contrast, "Savannah Smiles" is an arresting confessional from the point-of-view of a father reflecting on his relationship, or rather, lack thereof, with his daughter. Like its protagonist, the song is subdued and pensive.

A lyrical triumph more than anything, "Plus Ones" gives an identity to the lost extras throughout musical history. The list includes: Question Mark and the Mysterians' 97th tear, the Zombies' 55th cell, and the Crests' 17th candle. There are plenty more, but half the thrill of "Plus Ones" is in finding them . . .

"A Girl in Port" is a pure melancholic slice of americana. Sheff might have fictionalized this protagonist, but he's channeling Neil Young. It's also here that Sheff's fragile, cracking voice is at its best. And while it's true that there's not a bad song on the album, "You Can't Hold the Hand of a Rock and Roll Man," is the weakest. No doubt it suffers from being sandwiched between two of the best tracks on the album.

Okkervil River are almost perfect on "Title Track," whose subject is The Stage Names, and whose tongue-in-cheek naming ironically negates the possibility of it being, in fact, the title track. But listeners won't be focusing on that. Rarely has bittersweet wistfulness sounded so divine. It's the song that most wholly encompasses the album's lethargic melancholy, and in that sense it truly is the definitive title track.

"John Allyn Smith Sails" is a final salute to stage names as the faint, snaking melody slips into a rollicking pseudo-cover of the Beach Boys' "Sloop John B." Smith was the pen name for mid-century poet John Berryman, whom Sheff has credited with influencing his confessional style of writing. No stranger to writing about death, Sheff spins an affecting take on Berryman's 1972 suicide. It's apt way to end an album about artists, and as the song dies in spasms of "I want to go home " the limit of stage names is decidedly clear: they can shroud identity from others, but demons are forever.

Stylistically, there are no surprises with The Stage Names. Aside from a somewhat airier sound than their last LP, Okkervil River are in familiar waters. The lighter mood makes for a more accessible sound than much of their previous work, but, contrary to what many reviewers would have you think, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. No, the biggest disappointment with The Stage Names is its short running time, ending at just over 41 minutes. Fans will be scrambling to hear more, certainly, but it is a staggering feat that the follow-up to the critical smash Black Sheep Boy is disappointing in just this one aspect.





- L.A. Bryan


Click to listen to "Unless it's Kicks"

www.okkervilriver.com
www.myspace.com/okkervilriver

Warning: Ulrich Schnauss May Induce Rapturous Daydreams, Sex

Goodbye
Ulrich Schnauss
Domino


The truest test of shoegaze greatness lies the material's ability to accentuate two of life's greatest pleasures: daydreaming and sex. (Not at the same time, mind, unless you're willing to accept the couch-sleeping consequences.) As long an album or song can claim this feat, it has fully earned its greatness.

Ulrich Schnauss, largely unknown outside of ambient and down-tempo circles despite having made music in under various pseudonyms since 1995, has crafted a luxurious follow-up to his 2003 release, A Strangely Isolated Place. Furthering his turn away from a predominately electronic sound, Goodbye is, essentially, shoegaze resplendence-on-a-disc: replete with time-delays, distortion and indecipherable, organic vocals. Most apparent, however, are the substantial layering effects, creating the expansive orchestral sound that carries throughout the album. At points during the recording of Goodbye, as many as 100 simultaneous tracks were used.

Long-time Schnauss collaborator Judith Beck was tapped to perform vocals on the album, a choice immediately substantiated as the listener drowns in folds of seamless vocals on the opening track, "Never Be the Same."

Despite velvet male vocals on "Shine," its glib lyrics and saccharine melody could incite one toward guitar-smashing ala Belushi's Bluto in Animal House. Thankfully, the brilliance of next track will sedate even the most incendiary guitar-smashing zealots. "Stars" dips Beck's diaphanous vocals first into a fervent Chapterhouseian melody, and then into twinkling synths reminiscent of Cocteau Twins. Indulgent? Oh yes. And listeners are all the better for it, whether daydreaming or . . . you know.

The middle of the album, however, slides into languid monotony. "Einfeld" and "In Between the Years," while not offensive, are crashing bores. Interest returns in full after that, especially beginning with the aptly titled "A Song About Hope," a forceful gem of a song that seems to be trying to create hope from naught but it's own tenacity.

Goodbye's standout track is "Medusa," whose dark and turbid stylings are unmatched elsewhere on the album. "Medusa" assimilates lush melodies and deranged, electronic torques with a haunting, visceral wall of sound made famous by The Jesus and Mary Chain. It's a mind-tripping six minutes, and itself nearly worth the price of the entire album.

The title track is as good as any song not named Medusa, opening with a cascade of bells and drums and keeping the pace for an ethereal Belle & Sebastian vibe throughout.

Goodbye, for all its exquisite intonations, evokes undercurrents of discontent, of sorrow – even aggression at times. You may dig the hundreds of musical layers, but it is these underlayers of emotional complexity that linger. Transitional albums, because of their inherently experimental nature, are often underdeveloped and directionless. Goodbye, for the most part, avoids this through the sheer sweeping beauty of its orchestrations. Here's to indulgent sex and daydreams . . .




www.ulrich-schnauss.com