Electric Sunset

"Soda"

Alright, almost caught up.  This time I'm bringing you Electric Sunset's self-titled album, a solo venture from Nic Zwart.  Zwart formerly played with Desolation Wilderness, but decided to branch off and self-produced "Electric Sunset" out of KP221.  The overall feeling of "Electric Sunset" is incredibly light.  Each track carries an overload of ambient sounds on top of a mellow rock and roll sound.  The entire album is fairly moderate paced, only picking up and slowing down on a few tracks.  Unfortunately, Zwart doesn't dive into varying tempos enough and a majority of the album seems to blend together.  Some beats from certain songs even produce a bit of deja vu (which is a big no-no in my book) and the auto-tune and voice alternation begins to take its tole over time.  However, the negative points aside, there are some very strong moments within "Electric Sunset."

"Soda" comes midway through the album and definitely breaks any monotony the listener might have been experiencing.  Whereas most of the album consists of long, flowing melodies and echoing vocals, "Soda" is a bit more pointed and warped.  A background bass beat produces a constant staccato through the song which not only provides for a more funky rhythm than on the rest of the album, but really contrasts Zwart's floating lyrics.  What "Soda" does for the album is something several other songs should do.  It lacks drawn out ambiance, yet still manages to sound uplifting and light hearted throughout the entire track.  In "Morning City," while paralleling the overall sound of the album, the vocals here seem to match up with the instrumentals better than in any other track on the album.  The sound is also very reminiscent of The Shins with this particular track. 

As a whole, "Electric Sunset" could stand to switch it up a bit.  "Soda" is a great example that Zwart has the potential to do so, it is just a matter of actually doing it.  Luckily, this is a debut album, so there is time to iron out the kinks and experiment a little bit more with the direction he's trying to go.  Aside from the monotony that at times really plagues this album and the ambiance that can be overwhelming, the overall sound is creative and manages to work together to form a successful electronica album, something that is definitely a firm stepping stone in Zwart's solo career.  Take a listen here.

Personal Life

I'm back!  I know its been a while since my last review, but worry not my few readers!  I've been busy settling into my new, awesome apartment, figuring out my classes, and, most importantly, I've started volunteering for the student run radio station here at CU: KVCU 1190.  This, my friends, is incredibly good news because 1) I have a whole slew of brand new, independent music at my finger tips 2) I may be able to start writing long reviews for KVCU and may get some more people trekking through my blog and checking it out and 3) I'm going to be listening to and writing reviews for a significant amount more music.  With that being said, I got my first CD to review a couple of days ago and I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised.

"There's nothing we can do if I don't believe you..."

When I got The Thermals' album "Personal Life," I was a little skeptical.  The person that gave it to me at KVCU said it was one of her favorites and the review that came with it was spotless.  Now, its not that I didn't trust these sources, but I definitely didn't want to be let down.  Suffice to say, I should have believed them because The Thermals definitely made me a fan with their fifth LP.  Immediately from starting the album I was surprised.  The album definitely has a strong sound, in part due to Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla who helped produce the album.  The sound is more than enjoyable for casual listeners, but will also be enjoyable for audiophiles seeing as how a majority of the album was recorded live to tape, the album was mixed to tape, and the vinyl was mastered straight from the tape.  Furthermore, The Thermals definitely have a more successful punk, pop, almost garage sound, something that hasn't drawn me in for a long time.  

The Thermals typically tackle ideas of love in their albums here and there, but "Personal Life" in its entirety is devoted to the concept of love as can easily be seen in the track list with songs like "I'm Gonna Change Your Life" and "Your Love Is So Strong."  However, what is nice about The Thermals is that, while they have sort of a grainy,  fixed punk sound, they manage to twist and turn it so that each song has a different feel.  My favorite song on the album, "I Don't Believe You," has a string of bouncy guitar chords strewn throughout with soft percussion occasionally coming in strong to fill the vocal silence.  While the song is simple lyrically, it is incredibly catchy and will definitely strike that foot tappin', head bangin' nerve in your spine.  

Complimenting the first song, "I'm Gonna Change Your Life," is the track "You Changed My Life" at the tail end of the album.  The slow steady bass line and almost apologetic vocals of Hutch Harris really show how The Thermals' sound can morph and make you feel something entirely different.  Instead of head bangin', you're definitely going to want to sway back and forth to this track.  The lyrics in this song are a bit more complicated than in "I Don't Believe You" and provide an interesting juxtaposition of feelings with those expressed in "I'm Gonna Change Your Life."

While the album is pretty short (only ten songs, barely an LP), and some of the tracks don't seem to carry the same weight some their stronger songs do, The Thermals manage to convey a wealth of emotion and sound within the short track list.  From the uptempo guitar licks of "I Don't Believe You" to the more mild mannered, empathetic tone of "You Changed My Life," The Thermals carry the listener across the pains, warmth, struggles, and treasures of love.  I would definitely recommend picking up The Thermals' "Personal Life" when it comes out on September 7th and enjoy a sound that is seldom seen in the popular music light.

XXXX

No, I'm not reviewing an adult film... I wonder how that would go over though...

The album I will be reviewing today is You Say Party! We Say Die!'s new album "XXXX". We're going up Nort' for this band; they're canucks! They released this album in Canada last fall and just released it here in the US on February 9th, 2010. So far, its received some pretty good reviews: an 80 in both All Music Guide and NOW Magazine, and with an overall Metacritic score of 73.

This band falls all over themselves with concerns to music genres; they can be tossed into rock, indie, alternative, and pop. For me, personally, the pop and rock stand out for me most. When it comes to female vocalists backed by a rock ensemble, its hard not to fall into the idea that all female vocalist rock bands sound the same. Fortunately enough for You Say Party! We Say Die! they bring to mind other successful female bands, reaching as far back as the 1980s with The GO-GOs and more recently to The Donnas. "Glory" is very reminiscent of The GO-GOs hit "We Got the Beat". Almost immediately I thought of The GO-GOs while listening to that song. It has a very poppy, upbeat rhythm to it, that definitely brings out the pop side in YSP!WSD!. Their song "Cosmic Wanship Avengers" draws more from The Donnas with a bit of a more "we're strong, rebellious women" attitude. This song definitely draws up from their rock attitude with a consistently fast guitar line and drum beat, accompanied by the anthem like lyrics that definitely gives the idea that a mob of women are singing the song.

Throughout the album, the rock side of YSP!WSD! is definitely brought out more than the pop side. The song "Make XXXX" is a bit more poppy than some of the other songs, but still has a very strong rock quality. After that, they do start to bring out their alternative side a bit more, in fact, for the whole last half of their album entirely. Whereas the first half was more rock and pop, the last half is definitely more alternative and indie. "XXXX/ Loyalty" seems to be the lone standing "rock" song within the last half of the song. Now, do they do a good job of balancing this? Yes, for the most part, they do. They definitely lean more towards rock and alternative, shying away from the pop and indie side a bit, which is unfortunate because "Glory" is definitely one of my more liked songs on the album. Their last song "Heart of Gold" definitely shows why they can some times fall into the indie category. Its a very soft song and if you didn't know better, you'd would think its an entirely different band, falling somewhere along the lines of A Fine Frenzy or even Enya.

As far as the album as a whole goes, I like it. However, there are some parts I like more than others. Like I said before, this band is literally tripping all over itself in the genre department: they fall into rock, indie, pop, and alternative. This, however, isn't an advantage for them. They do the rock and the alternative really well, however, I think they're rock/pop is almost their strongest factor. If they're still trying to figure out what their sound is, its evident from the album that they're leaning towards rock/alternative. Personally, I think that's unfortunate because I do like their song "Glory" so much and it is so reminiscent of The GO-GOs. "Heart of Gold" although its a pretty song, really doesn't fit into the album; YSP! WSD! really should not venture into the indie realm, especially when the whole rest of the album is rock/alternative. Their pop aspect fits in because they manage to merge it into the rock/alternative, but "Heart of Gold" sticks out like a sore thumb and is a very disappointing end to the album.

Although they draw on many female vocalists, The Donnas and the GO-GOs among them, I think that You say Part! We Say Die! is still really trying to figure out where they fit into the picture. If this were their first album, I would understand more, but its their third. They may catch a break because it is, however, their first album to be released into the US. Also, if anyone decides to give them a listen, in the songs "There is XXXX (Within My Heart)" and "Make XXXX", try to see if you notice a sort of howling noise they make. Its supposed to be a bird, I think, but regardless, if anyone has listened to Shakira's "She Wolf", it definitely sounds like it was inspired by her "howl"; I just thought it was funny. In the end, You Say Party! We Say Die!, although they draw from several female vocally led bands, whether inadvertently or not, they struggle to find their own sound. If they don't find their own sound soon, they'll soon fall into that idea that all female vocal rock bands sound the same and will be quickly forgotten. Overall, I give the album a 74. Give it a listen here.

Coming up tomorrow: "Crazy Heart OST"