"Deflecting Your Accolades"

Reviews of Beth In Battle Mode, Chance and Dead Leaf Echo

So many CD's, so little time. And judging by the fact that we still have new releases coming up this year by Midlake, Divine Comedy, Editors, Richard Hawley, Kings of Convenience, Sonic Youth, etc, etc, etc, it's becoming painfully obvious that covering all of that ground is not going to be an easy task. (It's not a good sign when I find myself actually being relieved that I don't like Peter Bjorn and John's latest CD since it means that this is one less release to worry about. Pretty sad 'eh?) Anyways, here's a sampling of a few releases that have been out for a little while that I do quite enjoy.

Beth In Battle Mode - Hot Science

This local band continues on the course they charted with their intoxicating debut by upping the ante and proving that their ability to write the catchiest songs around was no mere fluke. From the opening guitar and heavily cowbelled opener of I Want You (Outta Here), BIBM gets the party started with a sound that is still steeped in all the wonderment that 80's new age has to offer, but this time turning the rock up just a little bit. While their sense of fun is still in tact, there is a definite newfound maturity displayed in songs like You Found A Cause, and the more downtempo Secret/ Weakness which shows that the band is certainly capable of mixing up the vibe from time to time. Still, they shine the brightest when performing keyboard heavy pop songs that contain the hookiest chorus's imaginable. The title track is awesome, boasting a solid key line, a mildly atmospheric bridge, solid backing vocals and Edward Maher's authoritative high pitched near falsetto. Another standout is A Little-Known Fact which is probably the song that comes closest to harnessing the explosive energy that the band is capable of administering on the live stage. Hot Science is a great album that should provide a suitable soundtrack to a party filled Saturday night.

Myspace: Beth In Battle Mode
Stream: Hot Science (entire album) is being streamed at CBC Radio 3
Photo by James Pattyn
Download: A Little-Known Fact mp3

Chance - Famous Words and Alibis

The music of LA musician Chance has always been that of a subtle beast. At first listen it comes across as standard alt-rock complete with feedback and roaring guitars. But as the songs burrowed a steady hole into my head, I consistently found myself revisiting them time and time again, as his affable eccentricity becomes more and more apparent with every listen. I've described his music in the past as unclassifiable and the same holds true with his first real full length. What makes him a real enigma of sorts is the fact that although the songs are very difficult to pigeonhole into a genre, they're by no means weird. The songs may stand in a definite league of their own, but they are still very accessible and catchy. The opening track Happening hypnotically sucks you in, as the lyric "no one even knows what's happening" becomes all the more swirling and anthemic as the song reaches its sweet crescendo before blasting into Ambulance Chaser, one of the album's many rockers. Chance can rock with the best of them, but I personally find the more atmospheric cuts to be the standouts. There is a vulnerability in the vocals accompanying Ripped, Torn, Broken, which is a truly progressive sonic adventure. You is a power ballad wherein Chance unashamedly enlists a complete vocal choir to accompany him, lifting the song to heights that it may not have reached otherwise. And speaking of crescendoed heights, Life And Life Only ends the album in a stadium worthy manner, boasting a guitar sound that brings me back to the grunge meets pop stylings of the mid 90's. Overall, Famous Words and Alibis is admittedly a grower, but once it does, its subtle charms are impossible to ignore.

Chance releases his music 100% independently and you can purchase 'Famous Words and Alibis' on his website.

Myspace: Chance
Video: Life And Life Only on youtube
Above photo is on his myspace page
Download: Happening mp3


Dead Leaf Echo - Truth

After being incredibly impressed with last year's Pale Fire EP, Dead Leaf Echo have done it again with another lush production of atmospheric shoegaze on this brilliant six song EP. This time around they've enlisted the production know-how of John Fryer, who has worked with Cocteau Twins, Depeche Mode and Lush. Much like their previous release, the band chooses to approach their style with a careful reverberation, as opposed to the large wall of noise that is presented by other notable shoegazers. This allows them to have a more melodic sound that encapulates a feeling of melancholy. The highlight track is Act Of Truth, which opens with a swirling backing vocal that continues throughout the course of the song. The echoey guitars chime in at a pleasant tone giving the song a real soundtrack feel, evoking images similar to the ones that Psychedelic Furs have done in the past, and M83 has accomplished more recently. The EP also ends on a very powerful note with Trial, where the vocals and instrumentation work closely together to create a soundscape of warmth and beauty, coupled with a frenetic leaning towards the inauspicious.

Myspace: Dead Leaf Echo
Photo is on myspace
Download: Act Of Truth mp3

Morrissey - Years Of Refusal

A new Morrissey review? Anybody who knows me is likely surprised to see this since if I'm blogging about it, it means that I probably like it. And the truth is, to be honest, I had written off Morrissey many years ago.

The Smiths are easily one of my top ten favourite bands of all time, and I stayed loyal to his solo work for a few years as well. In fact, I stayed loyal longer than many of my peers in the sense that I rather enjoyed his mild foray into prog with 1995's Southpaw Grammar. However, I thought that 1997's Malajusted was just plain bad, and ever since then I found it hard to succumb to any of the 'comeback' assertions of his post-2000 material. I gave both 2004's You Are The Quarry and 2006's Ringleader Of The Tormentors a brief perfunctory listen, but nothing really grabbed my attention in the way that Morrissey once did, so I moved on to other things.

Now here we are in 2009, and I'm exposed to so much music these days that a new Morrissey album hardly even registers on my listening radar. But I happened to catch this performance of Black Cloud, a song off the new album, on the Jimmy Fallon show and I was really impressed. I continued hunting and also found this performance of Something Is Squeezing My Skull on Jimmy Kimmel, and I continued to be impressed. His voice sounded good, the lyrics seemed witty and unforced, and the melody was pure Morrissey. This led me to obtaining Years Of Refusal and what can I say? Once again, I'm impressed, as this album proves to be worthy of its praise. In my opinion, this is probably his best album since Your Arsenal.

It's not a perfect album and, as once could expect, there are a couple of moments where Moz reuses and recycles a bit, but hey, what would you expect from a man on the verge of turning 50? Overall, the songs are very strong, containing some of his best lyrics in years. For example, Black Cloud contains the line, "I can choke myself to please you and I can sink much lower than usual but there is nothing I can do to make you mine." Classic! Add to that the fact that the tune boasts a powerful bassline and killer chords (courtesy of Jeff Beck) and it becomes pretty obvious that what I heard in Fallon's studio was much more than just an unusually good performance. I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris, the first single, proves that Morrissey is still very good at writing a decent pop song with a strong hook. Because his lyrics remain slightly left of centre, people never really acknowedge him as a pop song craftsman, at least not on this side of the Atlantic. But there's about five or six songs on this album that are sure to stick in your head once you've heard them. Besides the three I've already mentioned, All You Need Is Me also falls into this category. Apparently this song, (along with a lesser tune called That's How People Grow Up) were already featured on last year's Greatest Hits album, but the song was still new to me and I found it to be rather hillarious. Lines like "There's so much destruction all over the world and all you can do is complain about me," aptly conveys the idea of a lover who knows that his significant other needs him more than she loves him, but unlike earlier Moz hits like I Know It's Over, he actually sounds as if he finds the situation mildly humourous this time. By far though, the undeniable standout on this album is It's Not Your Birthday Anymore, one of the best songs that he has ever written. The lyrics are quite personal, as his hypnotic croon acknowledges that "your voice it might say no, but the heart has a heart of its own," before a huge bombass of a chorus blasts the question, "do you really think we meant all of those syrupy sentimental things that we said?" This song is energized and epic, and it climbs to levels that most modern day stadium bands should really strive to reach one day. If there has ever been any doubt as to whether or not Morrissey is still relevant (which, as I admitted earlier, there sorta was,) this song should shut us all up. In fact, the whole album is strong enough to do this, and I, for one, am glad to welcome him back to his rightful throne.

Above photo is from myspace.

Myspace: Morrissey
Video: I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris on youtube

Other stuff:

A few posts ago I was swelling with anticipation over the new Son Volt album, although my info was somewhat limited. Well, Billboard has all of the deets including the album name (American Central Dust), as well as its date of release (July 7th.) Exciting. [Myspace: Son Volt]

Junior Boys, who just played The Mod Club at the end of March, have just released their third album, entitled Begone Dull Care. You can hear a full stream of the album here. Their Mod Club show was reviewed at For The Records. [Myspace: Junior Boys]

Dead Leaf Echo also have a new record ready for release this month, entitled Truth. The song Act Of Truth is being streamed on their myspace page right now, and it's all kinds of shoegazey awesomeness. [Myspace: Dead Leaf Echo]

I have openly admitted to a handful of my closest friends that I don't think Britney Spears' Womanizer is all that terrible in a "I'll never put it on my ipod but I do tend to tap my feet when I overhear it elsewhere" sort of way. Well, obviously Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos shares my thoughts. More info as well as Franz Ferdinand's cover of the song is on Stereogum. [Myspace: Franz Ferdinand]

And the lineup for this year's Pitter Patter Festival looks pretty cool. It runs from May 28th-31st, takes place in 10 different Ontario cities and it's a pay-what-you-can affair which is undeniably cool. You can take a gander at the bandlist over here.

Dead Leaf Echo - Pale Fire

I'm only now getting acquainted with Dead Leaf Echo, a fantastic shoegaze band from New York. The band consists of LG (vocals, guitars), Mike DiLalla (bass), Liza B (keys, vocals) and it appears they might still be looking for a full time drummer. Perhaps? Anyways, The Pale Fire EP is their second release. I have not heard their first (entitled Faint Violet Whiff) so I've got nothing to compare this to, but this one is incredibly impressive. The EP opens with a little song called Warm Hands which is exactly that ... little. But you'll notice as the album progresses that this is just the dynamic that the band likes to deliver, dolling themselves out bit by bit, until they charge straight ahead with a steady charge of captivating guitars and tantalizing vocals. The second and third tracks are Thought Talk and Tears, which are both beautiful voyages in themselves, showcasing dense sounds, coupled with thought provoking lyricism. It's on the fourth song that things get really interesting. This one is called Cry The Sea, and it's a slightly upbeat little anthem with a driving drum sound and sweeping guitars. The last two songs, Pale Fire and Reflex Motion, take up more than half of the running time of this EP, but they are also the most satisfying songs of the lot. The first song is mixed by Ulrich Schnauss (yes, THAT Ulrich Schnauss) and it nails that shoegaze sound, in the same way that Serena-Maneesh did a couple of years ago. Both of these songs believe in the 'steady build' approach to song craft, which leaves me feeling slightly exhausted at the end, but in the same way that a huge delicious meal makes me feel. The fact is, Reflex Motion is about six and a half minutes long, but I found myself never wanting it to end. Dead Leaf Echo's Pale Fire EP has already been garnering a lot of rightfully deserved praise, and seeing as they completely sold out of the first pressing, you might want to snatch yourself up a copy of the second pressing before that's gone too.

Download: Pale Fire mp3

Myspace: Dead Leaf Echo