Album Review - Shearwater

Shearwater – Rook
[Matador; 03/06/2008]

Without too much notice from music listeners around the world, Shearwater have been trekking around for the last five years. Up until now, frontman Jonathon Meiburg has kept busy with Okkervil River, but with his main band attracting more and more attention, he has now left Will Sheff and Okkervil' to concentrate more on this project (despite Sheff actually being a part-time member of Shearwater, too). Shearwater extract a more folk orientated form of music as apposed to Okkervil River and their fifth album, Rook, displays this trait quite contently.

The noise levels abrasively rise at times, with opening track 'On the Death of the Waters' portraying this nicely, but for the most part Meiburg croons to his listeners in an attempt to melt hearts ('The Snow Leopard' and 'Hunter's Star'). 'Rooks' moves in ebbs and flows with Meiburg's thick vocal the standout, while 'Century Eyes' is a more intense rocking affair that moves away from the rest of the album.

In a lot of ways Shearwater's music is very similar to Okkverill River's ('Leviathan Bound' and 'Home Life'), but with more of a gracious representation. Meiburg chooses to sooth his listeners with grandeur and lust, as apposed to jumping out of the speakers and shaking them like his Texan cohort, Sheff. At times this is commendable on Shearwater's behalf, but at others it can a little tedious and difficult to engage with, with the music sounding more like candle light dinner material as apposed to Gothic folk.

Rook is an album that needs your undivided attention, which makes it a tough journey if you're not in the mood. Along with a set of headphones - which are an essential if you're to fulfil the album's potential – patience is a virtue. There maybe something festering here and although things may not come to fruition from the outset, it's still worth sticking around, because like all good albums, things could just take a little longer to burn.

By Simon K

Album Review - My Morning Jacket

My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges
[ATO Records; 10/06/2008]

My Morning Jacket is a band that attracts respect from all quarters. Not necessarily because they make amazing albums, but more so because of their diversity and their ability to immerse from static creativity, which a lot of their contemporaries fail to do. They've had their fair share of success in the past with album's such as At Dawn and Z topping many listeners' favourite polls, but the one thing MMJ have always lacked is quality control. They rectified this situation with the latter album, however there were still some weak tracks that lay within the release.

Z was a shift in gear, with a longevity of experimental guitar jams and stomping riffs two of the many great features MMJ decided to embark upon within their music. Smashing their boundaries, the band continues on underlining their intentions to move forward, with their latest album, Evil Urges.

Jim James mixes up his vocal range throughout this album, with more of a pop glee at the helm. 'Highly Suspicious' is the aptly titled track where James' falsetto does its best to unsettle the listener and is the high point of the band's change in musical climate.

'Librarian' is a cleverly worked lyrical parade which seems a lot easier on the ear than a lot of the band's previous works, while 'Looking at Working' flows in much the same vein. 'Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 2' is the epic closer that flows on the back of guitar reverb and James' beefy shrills, which never grow dull.

Many will disagree with me on this point, but Evil Urges is arguably the most enjoyable MMJ album that can be listened to from front to back. It's the band's ability to inter-surf within the genres of rock and alt-country making no one track sound alike, which is a complete contrast to the majority of work they've previously released. Much like the steps that Wilco took with A Ghost Is Born and even to a lesser degree with Ryan Adams on Rock N' Roll, MMJ don't care about pleasing; they care about moving forward within their own sound, creating something that makes the listeners brain tick just that tad faster. Evil Urges is definitely that something.

By Simon K

Album Review - Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
[Sub Pop; 03/06/2008]

After the release of their Sun Giant EP earlier in the year, it seems the indie world went into an upward spiral for more sounds from Seattle outfit, Fleet Foxes. In the name of Internet leaks, the indie public's wishes were granted, with the band's self-titled debut album shortly following in “digital format” onto various music blogs for all to enjoy and seemingly wank over.

Fleet Foxes have been branded as the best thing since sliced bread and it's quite apparent, with their sound the equivalent to the summer sunshine. Unlike some bands who get crucified for pilfering sound templates from others, the Fleet Foxes seem to gain praise for it. Some are comparing their sound to the Animal Collective making pop music, but in my opinion this is quite a stretch off the mark.

If anything, it seems as though frontman Robin Pickenhold has sedated My Morning Jacket's Jim James and extracted his vocal chords from his throat with a scalpel. Yes, it's a more conventional sound than his American brother's, however it seems as though the market for these bands is becoming quite congested due to these types of scenarios occurring on a regular basis.

Yes, Fleet Foxes could have done a lot worse with their self-titled debut and despite the praise this album will receive from the masses, there's no escaping the fact that this is rehashed from their modern contemporaries, albeit delivered with a sweeter pop sensibility. The majority of music listeners will be swayed by critics' reaction to this album. Sorry, but I'm not one of them.

By Simon K

Album Review - Grey Daturas

Grey Daturas – Return To Disruption
[Neurot Recordings; 22/04/2008]

Melbourne's Grey Daturas have been around since the commencement of this era's noise faze, with their debut album Dead in the Woods comprising of sounds that would aptly fit the aftermath of a car wreckage. The twisted grinding dins presented by the Grey Daturas were something new to the listener, despite sometimes veering off on a tangent and creating an easier listen, such as the elegant post-rock number, 'A Japanese Romance'.

Their second album falls somewhere in the middle of the two extremes created with their debut affair. With the results a little easier on the ear, but still managing to render a sound as vicious as ever, Return to Disruption is truly one of the great surprises this year will bring.

Despite the title track and 'Undisturbed' holding onto the unconventional spasms of noise the band's debut album presented, it's numbers such as 'Answered in the Negative' and 'Demarcations Disputes/ Unity' that embark on a journey of rolling feedback and washes of noise sending the band's music into overdrive.

Return to Disruption is the Grey Daturas unleashing their cacophony of freight train colliding noise, but in a more melodic fashion. You just feel the band was treading water with the ways of the world with debut opus, but this time an underpinning of sound has given the band more of a solid framework, resulting in one of the noise albums of the year.

By Simon K

Album Review - Weezer

Weezer – Weezer (The Red Album)
[Geffen; 03/06/2008]

When Weezer told the World that their latest effort was going to be titled “The Red Album” many thought the band's music would dramatically coil back to the good old days where geeks felt truly liberated when hearing the guitar crunches of Rivers Cuomo and Co. Then this whole “this is out most experimental album” quote pushed the boat out even further with anticipation, which seemingly felt like it was the highest it's been for the band for quite some time. So, Weezer (The Red Album) is here and guess what? I think you know the result.

Just when a nice little rhythm sequences and those Weezer guitar chords get going, Cuomo comes out with some lame rant that brings the impotency to the table for all to hear. 'The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)' and lead single 'Pork and Beans' – musically – are Weezer showing signs of strength, but it's left to Cuomo to butcher proceedings with his lack of solidarity on the songwriting front. Let's be honest; who really gives a fuck about the fame of Timbaland?

'Dreamin'' is one of the higher points of the album, with Weezer expanding on their guitar pop sensibility, with that vintage melody making itself known. 'I Thought I Knew' has guitarist Brian Bell at the heart of the vocals, which results in a half decent pop number, while 'The Angel and the One' sees Weezer dropping gears in the tempo, resulting in one of Cuomo's finer constructed songs on the album.

With quality in very sparse amounts, it's evident that Weezer are running out of steam in the ranks of creating something fresh. Although The Red Album seems to be an improvement on the band's 2005 affair, Make Believe, this still doesn't touch the band's back catalogue of work, with 2002's Maladroit culminating in anything of true importance when associating with Weezer.

Simon K

Album Review - Spiritualized

Spiritualized – Songs In A&E
[Universial Records; 25/05/2008]

It's been one tough ride for Spirtualized's Jason Pierce. Literally staring death in the face with bilateral pneumonia, the former Spaceman 3 member has lived to tell a story about the roller coaster ride he's entailed over the last three years and that story is behind the orchestrated soundscapes of his latest album, Songs In A&E.

'Sweet Talk' kicks off the doctrine of events in true Spiritualized fashion, slowly shifting into gear for 'Soul On Fire', which is undoubtedly one of the singles of the year. With its lyrics clearly alluding to Pierce's dabbles with certain substances barely extruding the words “there's a hurricane inside my veins and I want to stay forever”, it's nothing short of a renaissance.

'Baby I'm Just A Fool' is yet again a number that Pierce establishes his near anti-metaphor beliefs, with his fragile vocal running at a parallel with a swathing riff, while 'Borrowed You Gun' is Pierce once again laying groundwork of his song-smith qualities with a symphonic twirl sifting below the vocal mix.

With the sequences of brass noise through Harmonies one to six, this breaks the album up at regular intervals, initially leaving it a little hard to break through. Despite this not really reflecting on the album's bona-fide song-craft, had these little noisy interludes been culled from the tracklist, the album itself would flow better, despite the adamant intention for their inclusion, it seems.

Like many of his previous releases, lyrical topics fail to take the exit route from the highway, and although people may see it as contrived or wish to brand Pierce as merely a one-trick pony, the solitary trick that the man himself performs is rendered in a way that's as good as any other in the business. How he can get away with this time and time again is one of music's great mysteries, but he still manages to come out smelling of roses time and time again. Songs In A&E is really no different.

By Simon K

Album Review - Earth

Earth – The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull
[Southern Lord; 26/02/2008]

It's hard to transform your feelings into words when encountering drone/experimental music. As one of the pioneers of the genre, Earth continue their journey in stripping down singularly notes and altering as much out of them as humanly possible on their sixth long player, The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull.

On a personal note when it comes to listening to drone, Earth have always stood out. Barely shifting out of their comfort zone, they still manage to improvise with little margin for error within their music, yet still maintain maximum results.

'Rise to Glory' and 'Miami Morning Coming Down II (Shine)' are numbers that hit down the low end but keep the listener intrigued with the guitar twangs of frontman Dylan Carlson instilling a psychedelic aesthetic. 'Engine of Ruin' is more of a confined heat generating affair that moves towards more of a stoner jam frenzy that edges around guest guitarist Bill Frisell's chunky riff. 'Omens And Portents II_ Carrion Crow' also features Frisell and his sleepy riffs leading the line, this time, for more of a doom waltz, while 'Hung For the Moon' sees the band moving into more of a post-rock frame of sorts with higher pitches of piano replacing showers of low tuning bass.

The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull is yet another string the bow for Earth. Although maybe not as dissonant as previous releases, you may find yourself listening to Earth before going to bed rather than using the band's music as a wake up mechanism, which - at the end of the day - is a progression of sorts.

By Simon K