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reviews section is done by Tom Schmidlin. The opinions expressed are his and are
in no way official opinions of Cincinnatishows.com or others involved with the
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Posted 5/27/04 |
| Nada
Surf - Let Go (Barsuk)
Once in a great while it happens: a band achieves
huge commercial success with their first album because of a fluke single, then
releases a far superior second album that gets them dropped from their major label
like powdered mouse bones from a barn owl's ass (because as we all know, with
very few exceptions, quality doesn't sell), and finally, after a stretch of 'is
this whole music thing worth it' soul-searching, decides to go ahead with it anyway
and puts out the best album of its career on a midsized-but-decent indie label.
Such is the case with the latest Nada Surf release. This disc is tastefully written
with interesting sonic dynamics and melodies that are catchy but not overbearing.
I give them props for recording a song in French, even if it's the weakest on
the record. Recommended If You Like: Death Cab For Cutie, Superchunk, Weakerthans,
Jets to Brazil | | Dynamite
Boy - S/T (Fearless)
The songs on this disc are catchy, and as the band's
bio claims, this album is full of 'radio singles.' That's precisely the problem...the
music is bland and predictable, and the lyrics are so cliché and trite
that after one listen my eyes were sore from rolling back in their sockets. I'm
just sick to death of listening to yet another twentysomething suburban white
male singing about 'making it through the bad times,' or trying to find some marginally
clever way of using the phrase 'everything's all right.' It's insincere, tired,
lame, and just so fucking boring. But it sells, so there you go. Recommended
If You Like: The Ataris, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte |
| Down
To Earth Approach - Another Intervention (Vagrant)
Here's a shocker: the
newest Vagrant band sounds like a slightly better emo/pop/punk version of Dashboard
Confessional. Look, I understand that it's the business of a record company to
sell records, especially if you're at that crucial 'almost-a-major-but-not-quite'
stage like Vagrant, but it's the business of self-righteous disgruntled fan/critics
like me to bitch about it. This record is slick, polished, catchy, and would be
the perfect soundtrack for that lonely and angry drive home from your junior year
homecoming dance where your date spent the better part of the allotted three hours
cheek to cheek with some superbuff, mulleted jock who was rumored to have only
one testicle. And you bought that bitch an orchid. An orchid, for chrissakes.
Sometimes life just isn't fair, and growing up sucks, and maybe if we stick together
we can get through the hard times, my only love, we know right where we belong.
Hack! Pardon me. Must be all those Marlboro Lights. Recommended If You Like:
Dashboard Confessional, feelin' sad 'bout stuff, shopping at Pac Sun, going to
the big game but not watching it, etc. |
Posted 5/11/04 |
| The
Light Wires - S/T (Tiberius) 
The
Light Wires play refreshingly minimalist indie alt-country that's very easy on
the ears. The lyrics are simple, perhaps too simple at times, but Jeremy Pinnell
could sing bathroom graffiti to nuns and move them to sing along. This disc is
perfect for road trips, or warm evenings on the porch with rocking chairs, fireflies,
and bottles of beer. Go see them live...local talent of this caliber should not
be neglected. Recommended If You Like: Uncle Tupelo, Sun Volt, Wilco |
| Brazil
- A Hostage and the Meaning of Life (Fearless)
Finally it's happened! Progressive
rock and emo have met, had dinner, seen Along Came Polly (or some such inanity),
then sipped cooking sherry until third base was officially reached, my dudes.
Or, the members of Rush have had several illegitimate children that somehow found
each other and started a band. Either way, the listener wins. Cough. Well,
I guess I have to give Brazil credit for exploring the possibilities of their
genre, although Radiohead has already proved just how awful experimentation for
the sake of experimentation can sound. Recommended If You Like: Rush, Cave
In, overdone instrumentation, annoying vocals |
| Yeah
Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell (Interscope)
Meet the new glam rock, same as
the old glam rock. Except this time it's hiding under the laughable label of "garage."
This cd is barely listenable...it's like a train going by on rusty tracks outside
your window at 4am, while just beyond it an obnoxious woman is bellowing rock
and roll clichés through a Radio Shack megaphone. She's wearing a grubby
white t-shirt that says "hipster fad" in red spraypaint. Patience, my
friend...soon she and her kind will be gone...again. Recommended If You Like:
The White Stripes, The Vines, Interpol, black hair dye, not eating, pretentious
NYC thrift-store glamour, etc. |
Reviews
Archive
A
Faith Called Chaos - Forgive Nothing
Against Me! - as The Eternal Cowboy
Bagheera
- Twelves
Brazil - A Hostage and the Meaning of Life
Court
Date Monday - The Half-Life EP
Cross, David - It's
Not Funny
Down To Earth Approach - Another Intervention
Dynamite
Boy - S/T
Duvall - Volume & Intensity
Days
Like These - Charity Burns Green
Ee - Ramadan
Elvis Costello - North
Gamits,
The - Antidote
Get
Up Kids, The - Guilt Show
Helicopter
Helicopter - Wild Dogs With X-Ray Eyes
Jawbreaker
- Dear You re-issue
Lawrence
Arms, The - Greatest Story Ever Told
Light
Wires, The - S/T
Limbeck - Hi, Everything's Great
Lost
In Translation soundtrack
Nada
Surf - Let Go
Off
The Record - Nothing New
Punchline
- Action
Soviettes, The - LPII
Theraphosa
- Blondi
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell
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