Honest I's - Anatomy Of A Lightbulb

Last week's episode of the Zygiella podcast featured a song that immediately caught my attention by a newer local band called Honest I's. The featured song was a powerhouse called Wristwatches, and what grabbed my attention was the raw power that the tune possessed. I really appreciated the way that the song covered a melodic range of emotions, while the vocalist's rough voice was spit out in a forceful gob-in-yer-face type of way. I figured that if the band could keep that energy going throughout the course of an album, then they'd certainly be worth my time. Well I guess I'll just have to wait for a complete full length, but I've listened to the EP entitled Anatomy Of Lightbulbs and it has definitely kept my interest high. Its originality lies in its ability to combine hardcore emotions with jazz rock ecelecticity and punk rock sensibility, all the while remaining far away from being pigeonholed into any of those genres. The band themselves likes to describe their sound as a sort of trance-blues, although the immediate point of comparison for me would be The Minutemen's Double Nickels On The Dime. This is high praise since I consider that to be one of the best and most original albums of all time. In much the same way, this EP gives off the impression that Honest I's have an interest in stretching musical boundaries, and it'll be interesting to see where that desire leads them when the time comes to release a full length debut.

Honest I's are playing PWYC Weds at Rancho Relaxo on Wednesday April 29th and I've heard that they are one of the most underrated live shows in the city. Let's change that, shall we? Also on the bill are The Ministry of the Environment and Airheart.

Download: Wristwatches mp3

Myspace: Honest I's
Above photo by Andrew Carver

Other stuff:
With all of the Ticketmaster shenanigans that have been surfacing recently, k-os has decided to pull a Radiohead, and introduce a name-your-price idea to the live stage. The entire story is over on Billboard.biz, but in a nutshell, for the current k-os tour, fans will have the opportunity to pay what they want after witnessing the show. Risky but interesting. k-os' latest album YES! was released on Tuesday. [Myspace: k-os]

Kevin Sheilds continues to dole out information concerning the future of My Bloody Valentine in tiny little increments, the latest of which is in Clash Magazine, indicating the possibility of adding another member. [Myspace: My Bloody Valentine]

Rolling Stone gives us "13 Things We Didn't Know" about Kings Of Leon. They play Air Canada Centre with The Walkmen on April 21st. [Myspace: Kings Of Leon]

Chart has an interview with Patrick Krief from Black Diamond Bay. They will be playing Sneaky Dee's on May 1st. [Myspace: Black Diamond Bay]

And finally, remember to support your local record store tomorrow (April 18th). I'm not sure how many RSD exclusives will be available here in Toronto, but Pitchfork's Douglas Wolk gives us the lowdown on some of the sweet rarities that he has come across. (A live Tom Waits 7" featuring a Leadbelly cover? Drool, drool...) [Official Site: Record Store Day]

Vesta Varro - Exit Here

The current wave of 'stadium' bands that are not quite large enough to play stadiums yet, all seem to follow a similar pattern. That is, that they generally come charging out of the gate fast enough only to be shot in the leg at the beginning of the next race. In other words, the debut album is usually powerful and promising, while album #2 showcases a band that seems content in simply mailing it in, so to speak. Thankfully there are exceptions to the rule (for me, Muse comes to mind.) Of course it's too early to tell which category Vesta Varro will fall into, but for their debut Exit Here, they definitely have the potential to be nothing short of legendary.

Vesta Varro has been garnering some notable praise in their hometown of Limerick, Ireland since their album was released around this time last year, but they've been collecting their fair share of Canadian love as well. In fact, they were the winners of 2007's Indie Week Canada, which allows them to headline the festivities this year, running from October 7th to 11th. They've also made quite the splash at this year's CMW and NXNE festivals too. However, while this is all well and good, if I didn't like the album, I wouldn't be talking about them right now. And the album is very very good.

Exit Here has an incredibly large sound, that grabs you immediately right at the start. And the album never lets up, not for a moment. Every song is a sharp blast of new wave intensity, complete with ringing guitars and pounding drums that help to emphasize the bands ultimate strength, which is the formation of powerful songs and anthemic choruses. Pyramid Clocks is one such example. The song wastes no time getting to the point, with lead vocalist Damien Drea starting the song at the same time as the rest of the band, engaging the listener in clever build up before the predictable but ultimately timeless power chords kick in for the chorus. The guitar solo is understated but still a nice lead in to the outro chorus. I love Shane Lee's drums in the song I Agree as they create a powerful backbeat of emotion that gives the song a slight air of mystery. Yellow Rooms comes charging at you with such grand ferocity that it is almost over way too quickly. As a matter of fact, this can be said of most of the songs on this release. The album is the type that demands that you start it over again as soon as it is done, as all great albums should. Hopefully the band will keep up the good work on album two. For now though, the challenge would be to see if they can replicate that high energy and massive sound to the live stage. From the reviews that I've read, they seem to do so rather successfully and as I've mentioned earlier, Indie Music Week will present several opportunities to see if the band can do so. Here are the dates:

Oct 7th @ Rok Boutique (invite only)
Oct 8th @ Tattoo Rock Parlour
Oct 9th @ The Rivoli
Oct 10th @ The Hideout
Oct 11th @ The Edge 102.1

Myspace: Vesta Varro
Video: Believe on youtube
Video Montage: Reaching Out on youtube

Other news:
There are some great (and not-so-great) reviews of the My Bloody Valentine show at the Kool Haus last week. You know, the one that I wasn't able to go to? Apprently, it was wicked loud!

Reviews at: Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, Chromewaves, Chart, Eye and Exclaim!
Myspace: My Bloody Valentine

Forbes magazine has published this years list of the richest rockers of 2008. It's as boring and predictable as always, but this year it warms my heart to see The Police at the top of the list 'cuz, I kinda like those guys.

See the rest of the list here.
Myspace: The Police

This is probably too late since most of you will likely read this tomorrow morning, but The Watson Twins are on Conan O'Brian tonight.

Myspace: The Watson Twins

And for those of you that will read this tomorrow, here are my personal top 5 most notable new CD releases for Tuesday September 30th:

1. Miles Davis - 50th Anniversary Kind Of Blue (reissued w/bonus tracks)
2. Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs (The Bootleg Series Volume 8)
3. Gemma Hayes - Hollow Of Morning
4. Mercury Rev - Snowflake Midnight
5. U2 - Under A Blood Red Sky (remastered deluxe edition)

Shmu L - Compendium

It’s difficult to take a little blog break when artists like Sam Chown are sending you CD’s. Under the moniker Shmu L he has created a double CD that is the most ambitious release I’ve heard since the Smashing Pumpkins released “Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” over a decade ago. However, while I was mostly disappointed with that album (especially since I thought “Siamese Dream” was brilliant), that is not the case with Shmu L’s “Compendium.” I really admire the guy for having the guts to come out of complete obscurity to put out a 31 song, 2 disc collection that is 1.5 hours in length. Of course, I’d be preparing a rant littered with words like “pretentious” and “huge massive conceit” if this CD wasn’t so stinkin’ good.

Sam Chown is a local area musician who’s been recording himself since he was very young. From what I can tell, he was briefly in a band called Of Thieves before committing himself to this huge undertaking. He’s a big fan of shoegaze music (as am I) but what really impresses me is the fact that I think this CD is still completely accessible, despite all of its explorations into sound and fuzz. The opposites attract relationship between his ethereal musical soundscapes and his incredibly smooth vocals is compelling. He describes his sound as CSNY meets My Bloody Valentine meets Steely Dan which doesn’t sound like it should work, but it does, and very well. There are many standouts (“Drain Your Vein”, “Quills”, “Dysfunction”, “I Wanted You”, just to name a few) but I feel that the album really does need to be listened to in its entirety for the full experience. Overall, it’s an amalgamation of shoegaze, jazz, folk rock, pop and psychedelic progression. He plays most of the instruments himself, and also looks after the overdubs, multi-layers and textures contained throughout. This release has been over 2 years in the making, it sounds like it has been a true labor of love, and I really hope that it pays off for him because he definitely deserves it.

Download:
Come Into My Arms mp3
Quills mp3

Hear more of his music on myspace.
I’m sure his CD will be more readily available in the near future but if you want to purchase a copy (which you should) then you should e-mail him at schown@berklee.net