Bombay Bicycle Club "So Long, See You Tomorrow"

Young British lads have the new record I said I was waiting on, and by golly, it's a keeper.  Not an immediate decision to do so by any stretch but one that initially found me confused on spin one, somewhat frustrated on loop two, grinning throughout the third rotation.  Certainly dissimilar from its more danceable predecessor, this album is desperately seeking to be different from the norm.  The band's front man likes to travel by himself, essentially couch-surfing with families in Japan, Turkey, The Netherlands and India before having the rest of the band join him.  Since their moniker is taken from a chain of Indian restaurants, they must love the country and a month there last year led directly to this single...



There are so many interesting elements within this album that it made me comment, "this is so smart it almost trips itself up."  Don't expect a bunch of "fa la la la's," " na na na na's" or "wooo woooo's" to sing along with......nope, this is a challenging listen but one with ultimate rewards.  I was reminded of one of my favorite English alternative bands of the late 90's, Mansun, a short-lived, but brilliant group who struggled with themselves and their direction.  A more current RIYL would be The Maccabees.  Many of the comparisons made by reviewers about this album were to Peter Gabriel.   

This album has ventured halfway up the Billboard Top 200 and went #1 in the UK upon release in February.  I passed on seeing them when they were here about twenty months ago playing a small club downtown.  After hearing this record and now seeing the video above, I've been kicking myself all day.  They are coming over the pond for Lollapalooza and to play a few other major cities with the most southern date, and final one on the current schedule, listed for Atlanta in October. 

Oh...please, please, please add Florida again to this tour.  I won't make the same mistake again...

I Break Horses "Chiaroscuro"

Saw the term "shoegaze" used to describe this band when I was poking around finding the Alcest from two posts ago.  When I hit the samples buttons I heard pure 80's synth-pop, certainly not shoegaze.  Admittedly, I was intrigued...I'm aware that 80's music has been swinging back into style with some current artists, and I like the trend, but this sounded like 100% 80's, not 50% 80's.  I had to hear it all...

...and after three spins I'm glad I did but two tracks are all I'll keep.  I swear there's not a guitar one used here so "shoegaze" doesn't apply.  Apparently, their debut was more along those lines while this sophomore effort layers synths on top of synths.  Now the fact that I can't understand a damn thing the girl is singing fits the terminology and since I don't get lyric sheets with my purchases I suppose I'll never know what she's moaning about.  From what I've researched, "happy" would not be an adjective used to illustrate the words.  I also used "pop" as a descriptor earlier........not a chance.  This is a dark, moody record that brought to mind This Mortal Coil and the Cocteau Twins, not Human League or Duran squared.  I think I heard some early OMD, too, not post-"Pretty In Pink" OMD...



The humans who enjoy this style of music truly dig this record with most all rating it four or five stars.  I just don't see myself pulling this out to play in its entirety ever again.

I wish I liked it more, though......

Big Head Todd & The Monsters "Black Beehive"

They obviously do something right as they've been around for 25+ years.  I have their major label debut from 1993 as do at least 999,999 others (please tell me you know that means "Platinum").  Never motivated to get anything else for the collection, though.  Saw them live (their given forte) a few years later but wasn't enamored like their fan base.  Still, I was pleased to see this arrive in a BKP early January care package.  I had heard of their 2011 tribute to Robert Johnson as the Big Head Blues Club but didn't pull the trigger on it.  Guests included B.B. King and Charlie Musselwhite.  Covers and invitees have always been in play for the band over the years but this new record is all originals with only a couple of notable contributors, Ronnie Baker Brooks and Steve Jordan. 

The album opened on a solid note...



...but then settled into typical BHT&M fare.......in other words, "eh, it's OK."  The lyrics are well-written and the music is fine but it just doesn't tingle my spine.  Long-time fans will dig it, though.  I'll keep one more track that must be influenced from the previous album as it has a nice bluesy break in it.

I was still glad I got to hear it.........

Alcest "Shelter"

Never one to shy away from music sung in a different language, I found this French band on a world chart with the descriptor"shoegaze" next to it.  Shoegaze means a lot of different things to different people and for me it means standing still on a stage while stepping on a bastion of effects pedals on the floor and a singer/moaner vocalizing unintelligible words.  Bands like Ride, Curve and Chapterhouse are a few in my collection.  Intrigued by a current band labeled with a twenty-five year-old subgenre, I bought it.  Yep, I can be that easy.

And there you have it...a wall of sound with that chiming, ringing guitar à la U2 and dredg, soft vocals buried in the mix enough to question what language they were in....certainly the audio portion of "shoegaze."  Let me look for a live clip for the visual definition...



Eh, not really standing around staring at the floor, huh?  This clip also exposes much of what I learned during research.  This album is the band's fourth long-player and the earlier ones were called "black metal" and "blackgaze."  Yeah, I'm not fond of being screamed at or vomited upon by a vocalist so no, I didn't miss anything from the earlier records.  I understand why some longtime fans are disillusioned by this new release, though.  One reviewer I generally agree with calls it "a gorgeous-sounding record, almost perfectly paced and balanced...expertly crafted, inspired, vulnerable, and honest."  I wouldn't go quite that far but it is an enjoyable listen.  This is the only official video I could find...



That is fairly indicative of the overall feel of the album.  A thread of sameness runs through it on an end-to-end play so I'm going to keep the three longer tunes for my mp3 player and radio concept.  Apparently they play all of them in their live set so here is one...



They must play in the dark............maybe they ARE "shoegaze" now....

Neil Finn "Dizzy Heights"

It's no secret how much I love this man's work but it seems I never know something new is being released till it's already out, the Crowded House reboot being the only exception.  Back in late February, I get a musical care package from the very thoughtful BKP (I say this because I don't think he's the biggest Finn fan) with this title included.  See?  I hadn't the foggiest idea there was a solo album on the horizon.  It's been a dozen years since the last eponymous record but it's not as if he wasn't busy.  Besides the previously mentioned CH reformation, there are the 7 Worlds Collide releases, a live album with Paul Kelly (never looked into it but probably should), and started a band with his wife.  He also contributed to The Hobbit ST, played on son Liam's record and was a radio cast member of The Flight of the Conchords.  He's made a shitpot full of cash from having his songs covered by Susan Boyle, Jimmy Barnes, James Blunt and The Dixie Chicks (!) to name a few.  So I immediately commit this to a blank, no two-month waiting list for this one, and run through an initial spin on the road trip to see Les Dudek.

What the........??????

I wasn't sure if it was the circumstances of the trip (another musician and style) or the road noise or the time of day or what, but this album was so atypical of anything else he had done before.  His voice was hardly recognizable... I thought maybe I had his boy Liam's unreleased CD by mistake, certainly sounding more like the loinfruit than poppa. The only notation I allowed myself to make said, "weird...psychedelic...more Lennon than McCartney... was that a Curt Smith/Tears For Fears song?" A second spin a few days later was just as confounding as the first and I shelved the disc for three weeks, opting for a bit of research before trying it again. Many reviews said the same, how uncharacteristic this work was yet they all found plenty to like. So I waited for a situation where I could sit still, undisturbed, before giving the disc the definitive third rotation. Also decided to reward myself with a small party favour since I was planted with nowhere else to be for the evening. I made my first audio note during the third song:  "Now I get it! Everybody must get stoned!" "10cc" "...is that Yoko in there?"  "Damn, the son has influenced the father." "If the hooks aren't set by the time you've heard this three or four times then give it up and move on."  The song I reference is the title track...



Other artists that sprung to mind were Karl Wallinger/World Party and David Bowie. There are also sporadic illusions to latter day Split Enz, which is a good thing, indeed.  Neil's wife and two boys are along on the studio ride playing bass, drums and guitar and I hope you like strings because there are about a dozen different players involved, too.  Another extremely engaged human is Dave Fridmann, whom disciples of The Flaming Lips know very well (can you say "trippy?").  This guy has been an indie rock legend for the past twenty years working with Mercury Rev, Sparklehorse, Low and Tame Impala, to name a few.  So I've provided enough interest (God, I hope) for you to investigate for yourself.  Let me throw one of the complicated tracks at you in a live setting...



The CD is no longer in my vehicle.  It has taken up residence in the main system downstairs next to my headphones and Dugout.  This week's schedule allows for a couple of nights of red eyes and shit-eating grins...

Monster Magnet "Last Patrol"

Here is a band that I was surprised to see new music from, and just to prove I know less and less of what really lurks out there, they've never gone away.  Dave Wyndorf is still the mastermind of this band, truly one of stoner rock's pioneers from the early 90's, but I thought they had dried up and blown away.  Uh uh...  They've released new music every three years over the past twenty, but I missed the '04 album (I figured the '07 release was a "comeback") and the one from 2010, so I figured finito.  Wroooong!

The album opens a little clichéd but then the epic 9+ minute title track ups the ante.  The next two tracks sort of "call/hold" the action until track five pushes the rest of the album "all in."  The original lead video follows...



Just looking at him brings to mind John Kay of Steppenwolf.  Anyway, if you like what you heard, be sure to seek out the version with the two bonus songs.  Both are outstanding, no second rate material here.  I've seen the physical nine-track CD available for $10 but I got my eleven song mp3 for less......go figure.

"Last Patrol" is ridiculously superior to the latest from Rob Zombie and I'd take it over the last QOTSA, too.  If you enjoyed the recent Black Sabbath or Soundgarden, you should add this to your collection.