Album Review: Their / They're / There - Their / They're / There

Album Rating: B+

Their / They're / There's EP is essentially the creation of indie punk. Mike Kinsella of Owen joined together with Evan Weiss of Into It. Over It and Matthew Frank of Loose Lips Sink Ships to hang out and play some music, and it turned into this six-track indie gold. The record uses the past musical experiences of three very large names in indie rock and meshes them wonderfully, with creatively progressive rhythms and melodies that more than tip their hat toward emo bands of the 90's.

Artist Of The Day: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Possibly the most well-known indie band around the world alongside Modest Mouse and Bon Iver, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs nevertheless still have their same quirky charm in 2013 as they did over a decade ago. From their self-titled EP and Fever To Tell, though, they've advanced quite a ways with their songwriting, and lost a bit of their punk origins, and 2009's It's Blitz includes more electronic than any of their other albums combined (which is still essentially zero). The recent single off of their newest album, however, portrays a nice compromise, echoic electronic effects over a garage-rock styled, head-bobbing melody, along with excessive lyric repetition in true Yeah Yeah Yeah's style ("Maps," am I right?). An interesting addition to Mosquito's "Sacrilege" is the gospel-like choir towards the end of the song, which sounds incredible due to the way you can vamp on and expand off of a repetitive line in gospel music. The song is a great change of pace for the band, and it brings interesting foresight to the rest of the album, which comes out April 16th.

Further updates are posted pretty consistently on their Facebook page and their own website.

Album Review: Owel - Owel

Album Rating: B+

Where to begin with Owel is difficult. It usually is - post-rock and its close likenesses need an individualizing concept in order to keep themselves afloat, new, and apart from the rest of the industry. However, the band takes it a step further by introducing a different instrumentation and allowing the natural flow of a different sound take its own effect in the songs. Thus, when they produce something like their self-titled, the violin, cello and keys in addition to a traditional setup creates something altogether separate. Owel utilizes these sounds, as well as a strong control over song flow, in order to maximize an emotional effect in the listener and build up to big moments to make them even larger.

Artist of the Day: Again For The Win

Again For The Win was a small band who released a big album and garnered a ton of attention. It was a very make or break album, and the band scored so hard, they were snagged up by Deep Elm very quickly after release, and Bonus Deluxe Version was re-released on Deep Elm, to much acclaim. But we really have to delve - what made Bonus Deluxe Version so good? How did the emo band coming 10 years too late still manage to make it in a genre that died out?

Jukebox: The Early November - Never Coming Back

When I started listening to The Early November, The Mother, The Mechanic, and The Path struck me as an incredible album. It's actually a triple album - a rare event in musical history - and a well written one; in addition to this, the entire album is a concept album dedicated to a beautiful idea. The first two sub-albums are indie rock and acoustic rock, bluntly generalized. However, the third is a spoken word album telling a story, with a couple of musical tracks adding to the tale that sound so rough cut that they're almost demo-esque. There's one that stands out in particular, however. "Never Coming Back" is focused on the character in the story sitting by his grandmother's hospital bedside, taking care of her in her final hours, and the song is incredibly thought provoking. It's beautifully well written, and really summarizes the grief and loss we feel from losing a loved one.

Artist Of The Day: The Fashion

Sometimes, you stumble upon a great artist that was before your time, or that you found out had broken up before you'd heard of them. For me, today, that was The Fashion. Akin to a musical clusterfuck of Beastie Boys, LCD Soundsystem, Head Automatica, and The Rapture, the band had a creative blend of sounds going for them. Often centering around a quick drumbeat and vintage guitar tones that are naturally sweet to the ears like honey to the taste palate, I can certainly say that I wish the band was still around, so there would be at least a possible, glimmering hope that I could catch a live set, because there's so much life that The Fashion brings to their music.

Artist Of The Day: The Early November

With the end of an "indefinite hiatus" behind them, a signing with the slightly-too-scene Rise Records, and a new album due towards the beginning of next week, I figured it would be a good time to feature The Early November. I know, if you've followed my posts, you know this is a very strong deviation from the material I normally feature. However, The Early November has some really homespun roots, and I think that attribute plays into their music being simplistic and true, instead of excessive and gaudy like a lot of pop-punk and alt rock is in the present day and age. The sound that the band lends to the music industry is much closer to indie pop, despite the similarities in instrument tone, vocal timbre, or facile song structure.

Album Retrospective: Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record

Album Rating: B+

As summer rolls in, there's a lot of music that really fits the mood of relaxing and keeping cool, or being active and alive and joyful. I think music is an important part of making these activities memorable, and making a good experience out of something as simple as driving on a beautiful day, or playing frisbee in the park. While we don't connect with these albums on a deeply emotional level, they can make something trivial into something momentarily grand, an attention grabber that can make our day. I think Broken Social Scene's latest and final effort really fits the bill beautifully. Forgiveness Rock Record has some special qualities about it that would simply and easily make a summer day into a musical delight.

Album Review: Gates - You Are All You Have Left To Fear

Album Rating: B+

There's something really special about picking up an album you know nothing about, and lighting up after the first few, fantastic moments where the ingenuity of the artist really dawns upon you. Gates really brings the power of instrumental rock to a more traditional rock setting, combined with truly raw vocals that, while perhaps not completely in tune, bring so much heart to the music that it becomes an irresistible spell, from wavering croons to throat-shredding screaming. If one was really to describe Gates accurately, the first thing that comes to mind is throwing Jeremy Enigk or Mineral's Chris Simpson in with the creative minds of Moonlit Sailor - that would be slightly scratching the surface of what Gates really is.

Artist Of The Day: Modest Mouse

Modest Mouse is of significant importance to the indie rock scene of the Pacific Northwest. Isaac Brock, Eric Judy, and Jeremiah Green helped guide Modest Mouse through its early years, with Isaac Brock's unique vocal style - sometimes screaming, sometimes crooning softly, but always satisfying - leading the way. With early records like This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About and The Lonesome Crowded West, some fans had been garnered around the small indie band. However, it wasn't until The Moon and Antarctica that the band began breaking out into mainstream success. It was their first record with a major record label, and it was well promoted, which is why it really helped them move towards bigger audiences.

In 2006, the lineup started changing for the first time. Johnny Marr, formerly of the Smiths, was tacked onto the roster, as well as Joe Plummer and Tom Peloso. These gentlemen were recruited for the recording of We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank in 2007, an impressive follow-up to the band's 2004 masterpiece, Good News For People Who Love Bad News. They took three years to enjoy the success of Good News, and also to work and evolve musically. We Were Dead didn't disappoint fans, since such care was taken with the record to ensure a second genuine success. The band has since released a B-sides EP titled No One's First and You're Next in 2009, and are in the process of recording a new album, so we'll see from them soon.

Featured Album: The Moon And Antarctica

As I said before, The Moon And Antarctica really helped Modest Mouse achieve their first major successes with audiences that weren't already loyal fans. It's a neat listen, because it's a transitional album between the band's true, underground past, and the well-known, indie rock band many people know Modest Mouse as today. Tracks like "3rd Planet" and "I Came As A Rat" help show of a little more of the former, while just about any Modest Mouse fan of today could rock out and have fun to "A Different City". It's a well-written and enjoyable record, and I think it's a good start for any new listeners out there.

Look out for news on their website, and go ahead and sample their music on MySpace.

Artist Spotlight: The Interstate Life

The Interstate Life is an interesting little project that consists of two guitarists, Giorgio Fareira and Tim Bittar. I think it's actually gained most of its renown not from their music itself, but the viral video featuring Giorgio at a Sonic drive-in. However, though many may fall in love with Giorgio's passion and carefree demeanor on the video, the real emotion is behind a demo recently released by The Interstate Life. For example, the first song on the demo, "Woe Is Me Without You," is one of the sweetest and truly most meaningful love songs I've ever heard, embodying heartbreak and the emptiness that couples with it only to, in the end, be a song sung to an Xbox. At first, I did a double-take. And then, slowly, I realized that the song made perfect sense, with lyrics like: "I'm turning you on / but you're shutting me down" and "I've been crying / Because I want you back / But I can't afford to make it work." The lyrics are pure genius, and the music that couples with it is really moving. The recording in lo-fi adds to how genuine the feeling behind it is, and how it really strikes to home. Definitely take a look at this little gem of indie rock, because there's sure to be more from The Interstate Life, and even in the fledgling stage, this band has mountains of promise in store for them.

You can listen to and pick up the demo on their Bandcamp.

Album Review: Cursive - I Am Gemini

Album Rating: A

Cursive is one of those bands that has thrived through a couple of generational musical shifts, editing their sound and adapting it to reflect their own personal lives. A couple of stops along the way were the instrumentation around cellist Gretta Cohn in The Ugly Organ, to the facade of perfection portrayed on Happy Hollow. However, I Am Gemini absolutely tops all of those prior releases. The album is ominously light, and airily dark. Lyrically, there are many references to angels, demons, and detailed metaphors to suit the mood perfectly. Musically, the album is wonderfully creative, with each song being individualistic, but blending into one another with immaculate ease, to a place where the separation of tracks is undifferentiable, or more so, unimportant. I Am Gemini brings a whole new Cursive to the table, and with it, a perverse tragedy that redefines the detail and beauty of the concept album.

Album Review: Good Weather for Airstrikes-To Have Our Hearts Emptied, To Be Left As We Came

Post-rock has been my genre of choice for a number of years now. She's treated my well these past years, giving me some of my fondest musical memories. But it must be said that I've become disillusioned with the genre as of late, with copy/pasted formulas becoming commonplace, and ingenuity becoming rare. Yet every so often a band comes along and reminds me why i fell in love with post-rock in the first place. Good Weather for Airstrikes is one such band.

What first struck me about Good Weather for Airstrikes is that it derives its name from one of my favorite songs off of one of my favorite albums, Sigur Ros' brilliant Agaetis Byjurn. As if this weren't enough to win me over, Good Weather for Airstrikes proceeded to offer me interesting and provacative post-rock that I couldn't simply tag as an "Explosions in the Sky clone." Their debut, To Have Our Hearts Emptied, To Be Left As We Came, is a bold release from a band that has something to prove; an impassioned and energetic work makes me once again believe in the wayward genre I once adored.

Album Review: Wilco - The Whole Love

First things first--The Whole Love is way better than anyone could have, and should have expected. After all, Wilco has sort of been on a bit of a downward slope since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. To be fair, how couldn’t they be? After all, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was a defining release, helping shape 2000’s indie, as well as being a stunning album in its own right. Impossible to top, yes, but Wilco haven’t been anywhere near their A game since, release records to little fanfare, and mixed critical acclaim. Well, whatever funk they were in has ended, as Whole Love not only sees Wilco return to their former, amazing selves, but it sees them creatively invigorated, ready to prove they aren’t down for the count.

Artist Spotlight: Moonlit Sailor / Rhodes / Elk Split

Rarely do three-way splits come about, especially with three bands that have a lot to learn about each other and about their own musical progression. However, cue the EDiLS Records Split Series #2, a fantastic split between Moonlit Sailor, Rhodes, and Elk. With an exclusive new track from Swedish post-rockers Moonlit Sailor and two exclusive new tracks from Rhodes, who are centered in the UK, there's a lot of sound-good, feel-good music on this fantastic split. From dreamy, soaring post-rock to light, twangy, heartfelt, fun indie rock, it's impossible not to love this sampler from these three bands.

The split is released on Bandcamp on September 22nd.

Album Review: The Dangerous Summer - War Paint

A group of young men release a pop-punk/indie rock album and the world keeps on spinning. Well, a lot of times that is the case. Needless to say, musicians in the age between adolescence and adulthood usually produce pseudo-thoughtful, contrived and convoluted music which to sing about relationship problems. Here's a surprise--The Dangerous Summer aren't like those bands. They truly are thoughtful, and display enough musical and songwriting prowess to convince this reviewer that they are actually able to stand head and shoulders above the glut of nameless pop-punk acts.

Album Review: Restorations

Diversity in genre is a fantastic thing when it comes to music. When it comes to Restorations, their influences come from, effectively, just about everything from hardcore to shoegaze, hitting stoner metal, roots rock, hardcore, post-punk, and everything therebetween. The Philadelphia outfit exemplifies how you can have such diversity in sound, and still create a fantastic record. After a hard-hitting release on their Strange Behavior EP, Restorations comes back around for even more on this self-titled full length, keeping true to their keeping true to their punk / post-rock / indie sound.

Album Review: Black Wine-Summer of Indifference

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with Black Wine’s Summer of Indifference, and if things keep going the way they’ve been going, I’ll be enjoying it for quite some time. The record is simply amiable—fun, chaotic, and deliciously varied and unpredictable. Summer of Indifference really is one of the more listenable, and more outwardly easy things to listen to this year, making it the perfect companion in your “summer of indifference.”

Army Navy

I'd like to welcome Cody Nelson to the posting club here on MuzikDizcovery. Cody has been a great friend and musical acquaintance of mine for a while now, and I'm extremely happy to have him offering up his talents here. Love beautiful female singers or guilty pleasure pop music? Then you may want to follow Cody's posts in the future.

Now I've known about these guys for a few months thanks to the great music taste the Sklar Brothers have, but Army Navy is probably unknown to most people. An indie pop trio hailing from Los Angeles, Army Navy is the 1 part Steel Train, 1/2 part Beatles, and 3/4 part garage rock summer band that everyone has been looking for (and just hasn't realized yet). Infectious melodies in songs like 'Ode To Janice Melt' and 'Ignite' mesh perfectly with the oddly entrancing voice of Justin Kennedy, who, in two albums (the newest being The Last Place, which dropped today), has mastered the sad lyrics/happy music balance. Kennedy also shines on more bare bones songs such as 'The Long Goodbye,' that really focus on pushing the musicianship into the background, and pulling his vacant tones into the forefront. So for those of you who enjoy listening to music just because it puts you in a good mood, and you're not interested in listening to what's actually being said, give Army Navy a try. They're great at writing fun, infectious pop rock tunes that just happen to include deeper meaning for those looking for an added bonus. Check out a few tracks on their Soundcloud, and pick up their newest album The Last Place on iTunes.