Image

Track Reviews

Akron/Family – Sun Will Shine (Warmth of the Sunship version)

akron-set-em-free

Akron/Family – Sun Will Shine (Warmth of the Sunship version)

Released in February off of Akron/Family’s fourth album Set Em Wild, Set Em Free, this tune soars..

buy me

Rating: 7.5
brown85

reviewed by
05-11-09

Art Brut – Slap Dash For No Cash

artbrut11

Art Brut – Slap Dash For No Cash 

Matt Mason points out a brilliant quote for any aspiring or established musician in his book The Pirates Dilemma:

“Here’s one chord, here’s two more, now form your own band” – Sniffin’ Glue Magazine

The punk generation thrived on the idea that music doesn’t need to be intricate, have glamorous production, or be politically correct, it just needed to mean what it said.

“Slap Dash For No Cash” may have more than three chords, but it communicates that very basic nature of rock and roll. Eddie Argos sings his take on music, “I love the sound of background noise. I wanna hear the crack, in the singers voice.” Round of applause. Isn’t the essence of a tune more important than the minor hiss of an amplifier or the sound of breathing during a vocal take? Any way you look at it, you’ll find the lyric in this tune is damn witty.

Their new album Art Brut vs. Satan says what it want’s and means what it says. Chill the fuck out Brian Eno

buy me

Rating: 8.1
brown84

reviewed by
05-10-09

Hot Chip – “Sexual Healing”

fail

Hot Chip – Sexual Healing

marvcomic1

reviewed by
05-10-09

Handsome Furs – Evangeline

handsomefur2

Handsome Furs – Evangeline

At first I was unattracted to its refined “raw” quality, but with a few plays I’ve come to like that exact abrasiveness. Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade and Atlas Strategic, and his wife Alexei Perry, released Face Control on Sub Pop in February.

buy me

Rating: 7.2
brown7

reviewed by
05-09-09

Brakes – Don’t Take Me To Space (Man)

brakes-cover

Brakes – Don’t Take Me To Space (Man)

Brakes sing the proper battle cry to our killer tape monster. So, since British Sea Power performed with trees and a variety of taxidermy on stage, does that mean that Brakes should perform with space age shit? This track rocks it. And it’s what you could only hope for from this hodgepodge of a supergroup.

buy me

Rating: 8
brown83

reviewed by
05-08-09

The Veils – “The Letter”

veils

The Veils – The Letter

“the letter” is the lead single off the veils’ third album for rough trade “sun gangs”. we dig it! love that prechorus/afterchorus hook! she wrote the letter!

buy me

rating: 7.5

brown7

reviewed by
05-07-09

The Kid Daytona – “The Engine”

daytona

The Kid Daytona – The Engine

shit is ill. love the beat on this (esp. the cymbal tones). double-o on production.

rating: 7.7

brown8

reviewed by
05-06-09

Magistrates – “Make This Work”

magistrates1

Magistrates – Make This Work

the melody on this is crazy. if not for naff vocals & boring as fuck drums, this track could be SOMETHING! magistrates hail from essex. the blokes’ myspace cites prince, bowie, talking heads & ATCQ as influences. don’t believe me? check it here

rating: 7.0

brown7

reviewed by
05-05-09

Flap Your Arms Like A Duck!

quag-and-marsha4

Marsha Gee – Pop Peanut Duck

Marsha Gee gives the performance of her career. Literally. Since this tune, she has disappeared and nobody knows where or who she is because Marsha Gee wasn’t her real name. The “Pop Peanut Duck” won’t make you want to dance or flap your arms, as she requests, but it will make you laugh. There is some proper mid-60’s tripping balls on this track, most notably during the vocal take and specifically at the end when Marsha has an orgasm of supposed sounds that ducks make when they dance. I stand by my instinct, and swear that I hear at least a few ‘giggitys’ in there. Tracked sometime in the 60’s, the “Pop Peanut Duck” will leave you asking yourself what people have been wondering now for decades, what the hell is this?

buy me

Rating: 5
brown4

 

 

 

 


reviewed by
05-05-09

Sergeant – Swiftly Does It

sergeant_626x352

Sergeant – Swiftly Does It

While they are a another new band with not a new sound, the Scotts of Sergeant do know how to write a moody brit-pop song – as heard on their new single “Swiftly Does It”. Their bad live’esque music videos won’t be stopping me from attending their show when they finally journey across the pond for a tour. Yes, I do believe that “official” music videos which are montages of past live shows, but synched with audio from the studio recording, are 97.9961% of the time a sad and lame disaster. For some reason this band’s entire video catalogue is comprised of these. Either way, they are now part of the Another Music = Another Kitchen label, and knowing their track record, things should only be getting better

buy me

Rating: 8
brown81

reviewed by
05-04-09

The Maccabees – “No Kind Words”

maccabees

The Maccabees – No Kind Words

huge step forward for this band. great fucking song. the maccabees’ sophomore lp “wall of arms” is out today.

buy me

rating: 9.0

brown9

reviewed by
05-04-09

Brakes – “Eternal Return”

brakes

Brakes – Eternal Return

by the power of my ’03 car stereo cd rotation, the forces of two of my favorite bands (british sea power & the electric soft parade) combine to form BRAKES on “eternal return” the brighton quartet put on for east sussex by marrying a distinctly american rhythmic figure with decidedly english melodic sensibilities. ace as fuck!

buy me

rating: 8.0

brown8

reviewed by
05-03-09