I really like Passion Pit's 'Manners,' sound like an asshole. Deal.

I'm going to sound like an asshole saying this, but I'll say it anyway : I don't like jumping on the bandwagon or fueling the hype machine. Yeah yeah, I know, I said it. Deal.

It's pretty unavoidable, though – often I find myself with one foot in said wagon, with or without having meant for it land there. I suppose everyone could argue the same point, but whatever. Such is the case with Passion Pit. I found out about them pretty organically – my friend's brother told me about them. I checked them out. And at the time, I thought, "This is something I could really get into," while the rest of the collective blogosphere collectively went nuts over their debut EP, Chunk of Change. How to reconcile that? By not being in love with it. I hadn't recklessly dedicated my heart to this Valentine’s gift-turned-band because I thought, gasp!, maybe I didn’t really like it all that much while everyone else seemingly did.

And then along came Manners. Oh, Manners. You just might be everything I wish for in a pop record. I know seemingly every other blogger out there is saying the same thing, but allow me to layer on my adulation as well.

I'm a lover of melody, an adorer of hummable riffs and lines, and on Manners, Michael Angelakos and company amped up the pop sensibilities from the get-go. "Make Light" and "Little Secrets" burst in with such poppy enthusiasm, the sort that makes me forget that I have the attention span of a gnat and not notice the fact that the latter clocks in at nearly four minutes, the former at nearly five. The refrain of "Make Light" doesn't even hit until halfway through the song, but the climax is perfect. (I mean, hello, did I mention that I have the attention span of a gnat?)

After the Super Mario Brothers-synths-on-serotonin stomp of "Little Secrets," "Moth's Wings" is almost unexpected, with its more sober, piano-driven lines and heavier lyrics ("Dear friend as you know / Your flowers are withering") that still manage to be eternally optimistic ("Put down your sword and bow / Come lay with me on the ground"). The first release from the album, "The Reeling," turns the club beats and 80s feel back up with a vengeance. (Seriously, I think I heard that riff coming from my parents’ stereo when I was wee, but like, it's cool.) And the next three tracks do the same thing, swimming back and forth between styles and overall sounds : The sparser "To Kingdom Come," with is toned-down falsetto and sad refrain matched with sing-along na-na-nas; the slow-dance of "Swimming In The Flood"; the return to the 90s dancefloor in "Fold Your Hands" that ends with overload. The middle of the disc is mutable in feel yet analogous to itself in a way that works.

And then "Eyes Like Candles." Admit it, the first ten seconds make you want to sing out "I'm not a perfect person" à la Hoobastank circa 2004 (I know I do...), but move past that and we're given sing-songy refrain and horns, a pretty moment to reflect. We're barely past the intro and my heart is already soaring. It's easily my favourite of the record, building upon itself and then backing off to solo guitar before the perfect slide into "Sleepyhead." Oh, "Sleepyhead." This was, inexplicably, one of my least favourite tracks from Chunk of Change, but here's it's the climax of the record, unbeatable, infectious and bursting by in less than three minutes, the shortest track in a record where most songs hit the four-minute mark, and its brevity is its strong suit. It's over before it's even begun, and I find myself constantly hitting "repeat."

The last two tracks, "Let Your Love Grow Tall" and "Seaweed Song," hold their own, avoiding the sense of trailing into nothingness that plagues so many other records, although after the teaming up of "Eyes" and "Sleepyhead," it feels a moment to sit back and relax after the previous nine or ten songs.

Don't let my admiration fool you – it's not a perfect record. Angelakos' vocals aren’t for everyone. Speaking of vocals, when I first heard that the band had gotten a children's choir to sing back-up on some of the tracks (watch the video here), I thought, "Well, that makes sense," yet, as endearing as small children are, I haven’t decided if I love or loathe the effect. It's more toned down, more pop-attuned than its predecessor. But in terms of buoyancy, optimism, and enthusiastic beats, all of which Passion Pit hands out in copious amounts without becoming twee or saccharine, well, you really can’t beat Manners.

Besides, when's the last time you fell in love with someone – or something – completely perfect? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Passion Pit - "The Reeling"
Passion Pit - "Sleepyhead"

Passion Pit are currently on tour in the US support of Manners. Dates include 18th June at The 'Dise in Boston, and the 19th and 20th at Bowery Ballroom in New York, all of which are sold out. All dates are listed here.


Also, if you like this sort of thing, you should totes check out Yes Giantess. I should probably write about them, too.

You're What We Came For : Franz Ferdinand at the Roseland, 5/7/09

It's been two weeks since I saw Franz Ferdinand play at the Roseland in New York. It's been four months since their third LP, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, dropped. Nine months since the radio edit of the first single, "Lucid Dreams," was released. And more than three years since last I'd seen them live at the Hammerstein with Death Cab for Cutie (what odd bedfellows!) and the Cribs. This review is nothing if not a labour of time and space, if not a study in contradictions.

When Tonight dropped, I couldn't find the words to express my own opinions of it. I could regurgitate what the band has said about the record. (That it's the soundtrack to a night out, filled with dance beats and synths and ending with the acoustic fadeout as the morning comes.) I could regurgitate what Pitchfork has to say on the matter. ("More so than stoking the band's current commercial prospects, Tonight is an exciting record for what it could potentially spell for Franz Ferdinand's future...as it turns out, their return is perfectly timed to remind us that, in a world where UK rock is so uninspired the Brits were forced to make superstars out of Kings of Leon, you really can have it so much better.") Or what my brother had to say on the matter. ("There are no guitars! Where'd the guitars go! I miss their post-punk revival sound.") I agree with all of it.

At the end of the day, while the record has grown on me – I can't stop listening to "No You Girls" at the moment, "What She Came For" makes me shout-along happy, the fat bass of "Can't Stop Feeling" no longer feels like a betrayal of the original version – I still find myself feeling ambivalent. Or perhaps apathetic. Franz Ferdinand and You Could Have It So Much Better were chock-full of singles-ready tunes that may not have created a cohesive whole but could certainly stand on their own. This collection seems to run into each other in a blurry, alcohol-fueled rush. But maybe that's what the band was going for.

So it was with equal parts anticipation and ambivalence that I approached my first Franz Ferdinand concert in three years. Nostalgia reigns in memories of April 2006. I was in high-fangirl mode at that time in my life, but had spent so much time and energy fangirling about other bands that, upon seeing Franz Ferdinand play not once but twice in the same day, I felt I was slapped in the face and promptly reminded of how much I fucking love this band. At the most, I was hoping that would happen again; at the worst, I was eager to see how the new electronic-based tunes would be played out live.




Born Ruffians. Warning that these photos are not my best. ie, pretty terrible.

I thoroughly enjoyed openers Born Ruffians' set. My brother, who has seen them several times before, said they were more sedate than usual. I still thought there was a great vibrancy to their set, even without their being balls-to-the-wall. The vocals caught my attention – as if someone’s gone and placed a wailing folk rock singer’s voice, something you might expect coming out of John McCauley of Deer Tick, in a skinny boy in a garage band and let them have at it. Possibly an odd combination, but given my recent reenchantment with vocals à la Deer Tick, I liked it. Point being, would I pay to see them again? Definitely.








Franz Ferdinand

And then, of course, Franz Ferdinand. The show got a bit fancy this time, adding a keyboard / synth set-up right in center stage and a huge light screen behind them, playing trippy video sequences and projected images of the boys, in lieu of the usual banners of themselves. Nick hobbled onstage in crutches to sit at the keys because apparently he’d gone and broken his foot somehow.

The setlist (as seen in that really dark photo above, if you can read it – "Jacqueline" was not played) was a good mix of old and new, not too heavy on any one record if with a slight (and understandable) predilection for the tracks off Tonight. The songs from their self-titled and So Much Better got their post-punk revivalist searing guitar treatment, and the tracks from Tonight were layered with electronics, and so the band bounced back and forth between the two. (Slightly to my chagrin – I wanted to see the new songs played on guitar, too.) My brother pointed out the emphasis placed on Nick McCarthy, who had plenty of time in his own limelight, versus the other times I've seen them – at the end of "Tell Her Tonight," he declared, "That's the first time I've sang that by myself!" Tempo was obviously, and interestingly, played with – songs that are already slow ("Walk Away") got drawn out into near-dirge territory, others that were already fast ("The Fallen") were sped up to the point of rendering it nearly impossible to sing along. "40 Feet" and "Outsiders," at the end of the main set, were tweaked, drawn out, messed with, filled up with sound as Alex Kapranos (still, I maintain, the sexiest rockstar I can think of) had the crowd chanting back to him in call-and-response. And at the end, good old "This Fire," never one of my favourite tracks on record, but a captivating song when played live.

Speaking of the crowd, quelle horreur. I honestly cannot remember a crowd that made me more unhappy than this one, except maybe for that time I saw We Are Scientists at Irving Plaza and the 15-year-olds decided it was time to mosh into me the whole time. Seriously. At one point, I turned to the screaming girls behind me and demanded, "What are you, fourteen?" The guy behind me took upon himself to (unintelligibly) shouting the lyrics. A fight broke out during "Michael." Really. I'm all for enthusiasm, but that was a bit much. Does that make me a stick in the mud?

At the end of the show, I wound up walking away feeling more ambivalent than I had before. It's difficult to determine if I really didn't enjoy the show because I was too bothered by the people around me, or if I simply didn't enjoy the show that much. Maybe it would help to see it again. Maybe I should follow Franz Ferdinand around on tour instead, just to see. Maybe I was just expecting too much of one performance. Maybe it’ll be better next time.

In that case, I should probably get on shelling out the $52 for their November show in Paris.

I just don't get it. (There, now I said it.)

Oh, Bishop Allen. Why must you make things so complicated?

I came across Bishop Allen back in mid-2007 when a friend told me to "go download every free mp3 on their website." Said friend has impeccable taste in music, so I did as I was told, and the rest is a long, complicated, emotional history of the past two years and the people and places in-between. Chances are if there's a poignant moment in that period, I've commemorated it with a Bishop Allen track. They have become – nay, have always been – a band that makes me cry, as the above friend once noted a few months ago, taking the proverbial words right out of my mouth.

Many complained that their second LP, The Broken String, released in the summer of 2007, was merely a "best of" their EP collection and ergo, nothing new, nothing gained. I disagree; while, on the whole, I prefer the EP versions of their songs to the album versions (something known as Demoitis), each version carries its own particular significance. It's hard to truly forgo one in favour of the other.

Enter anticipation of their third effort, the strangely but perhaps aptly-titled Grr.

I can’t really say anything bad about Grr.

That being said, I can't really say anything spectacular about it, either. An odd sentiment when one considers that it is an album of flawless pop songs.

The problem largely lies in the fact that the Bishop Allen formula has become predictable. The melodies are predictable, the harmonies predictable, the lyrics predictable. What was interesting, quirky or innovative on their freshman and sophomore efforts seems more contrived the third time around.

Not that this is damning at all. Remember, these are flawless songs, after all. Opening track, "Dimmer," is quintessential Bishop Allen, something that could sit comfortably among the tracks from The Broken String. The sparse orchestration of closer "Tiger, Tiger," with the haunting strings and percussion and not much else, ends the record on sobering, more mature note. In-between we’re treated to gems like "Dirt On Your New Shoes," swelling to its lyrical climax fifteen seconds from the end, or the lovely, pleading "Don't Hide Away" and "True or False." When I get past my dislike for the whisper-singing in "South China Moon," I’m greeted with a sweeping refrain and a richly orchestrated bridge.

But, while I like "The Lion & The Teacup," I’m forced to think why I should prefer it over "Like Castanets," "Oklahoma" over "The Chinatown Bus," "Cue The Elephants" over "The Same Fire."

These are perfect, joyous, sing-along friendly pop gems. But it all lacks the same, unpolished, raw feel from Charm School (and earlier punk project, Pissed Officers). It lacks the same emotional punch that made Broken String and the twelve EPs that preceded it so memorable. It's a little too polished, a little too refined and, well. A little too Bishop Allen. (Is it possible to be a little too yourself?) And while I'll take Bishop Allen's brand of predictability over a majority of bands' any day, it truly does equate to "nothing new, nothing gained" this time around.

Bishop Allen - "The Ancient Commonsense of Things" [link]
Bishop Allen - "Dimmer" [link]

Bishop Allen are currently on tour in support of Grr from now through at least May. Tour dates - including 2nd April at Iron Horse, 3rd April at the Middle East down, 4th April at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and 5th April at Bowery Ballroom - are listed on their website, as I'm entirely too lazy to repost them here.

I'm glad you're not my ex-boyfriend (part two) : Tally Hall and The Republic Tigers at the Iron Horse, NoHo, 10/4/08 (Plus new records, etc.)

Iron Horse, NoHo, MA

Part one is over here.

I've explained this all before, but indulge me for a moment more: I saw Tally Hall in January '06 and wholly enjoyed their set, and then I put them on the back shelf in my mind and forgot about them until they recently announced a new tour and the rerelease of their debut record, Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum.

Like the Republic Tigers before them, Tally Hall played a laid back set: they were in a tiny space with less than 100 people there (I counted) and it was a late show. (Keep in mind that I'm also comparing this to when they opened to a sold-out crowd supporting OK Go at the much larger Paradise.) Regardless, two years has done them good: they're as solid and fun on-stage as ever.

Two years has done them good off-stage as well. I never had the original release of MMMM, but from what friends have said, it sounds fuller and better this time around. And goodness, what a good pop record it is. I think I had mentally marked Tally Hall as just one of those "quirky," "fun" bands, five cute boys who write songs about Mary Kate and Ashley ("Two Wuv"), tropical escapades ("Banana Man"), and selling themselves at auction ("The Bidding"). But this is one damn fine pop band. For every line like "I might rap like an English chap/Take you by the knickers and your bum I'll slap", you get something like "You fit just right right next to me" (from radio-ready "Greener") or "What if I told you I could show you something?/What if I told you I could make you live?" (from prettily acoustic "Be Born," my favourite of the lot). The sometimes-silly subject matter doesn't detract from the fact that these are catchy, cleverly-crafted songs.

Is it groundbreaking? Certainly not. But I don't think pop needs to be in order to be good. And with adorably good looks and fun tunes, it seems only a matter of time before Tally Hall becomes the new Next Big Thing, just watch.

But again, it's more complex than the surface lets on. Theme song "Welcome to Tally Hall" centers around playing in suburbia ("So kids pack us your mom's car,/Back up the Windstar/and arrive at the mega-mart...") and dismisses themselves as a mere "puppet show": "A quick distraction, a mechanic attraction/Got a penny in your pocket for the slot rock." In fact, they sum it up nicely in one line: "We think we're playing in a band." So what does that say about us, the listeners, those who are willing to pay a penny for to see this or any other marionette quintet? What is real about any band, anyway? Is it all just pipe dreams and rockstar fantasies?





You can sit there and ponder that out. Or you can just sing along. That's what I do instead.

Tally Hall - "Welcome to Tally Hall"
Tally Hall - "Be Born"

(Side note funny story: the first time I saw Tally Hall, mid-set I turned to my roomie and declared that Rob looked like my ex-boyfriend, Rob. When Tally Hall Rob introduced himself two minutes later, I was freaked out. I told Rob this story, and he was wholly apologetic about it, which was very cute. In an amusing twist of fate, I recently met up with the friend ex Rob left me for, and she agreed that they both look quite alike.)

I'm glad you're not my ex-boyfriend (part one) : Tally Hall and The Republic Tigers at the Iron Horse, NoHo, 10/4/08 (Plus new records, etc.)

The Republic Tigers, Iron Horse, NoHo, MA

I've just finished my last semester of college and moved back home, so you know what that means - I have a degree and I'm unemployed! Which, obviously, means time for updating and posting about all the stuff I meant to post about three months ago. Aren't you all excited?! Of course you are. Don't give me that.

Continuing : I sort of squeed on for a bit about how happy I was that Tally Hall was on tour again and how they'd rereleased their record and how they were coming to NoHo and that was awesome, etc.

I got a heads-up a few days before the show to check out openers The Republic Tigers, who have been getting loads of good press as of late, thanks to their showings at SXSW and their debut LP, Keep Color, released 6th May on Chop Shop. (Not to mention a recent showing on Letterman.) I usually show up for opening bands anyway, so I made it a point to see them.

The Republic Tigers find themselves sitting somewhere between the organic and synthetic, creating a something that is cinematic in scope and yet homespun and earthbound. It's not necessarily a sound towards which I, Queen of Hooks-and-Harmonies, would gravitate, but they've layered all this on top an audible pop foundation. ("We’re not ashamed to say we love pop music; it’s not something to be embarrassed of.")

The band has already garnered a myriad of comparisons to The Shins ("Weatherbeaten," "Made Concrete," "Fight Song") and Mew, and I some hear Interpol ("Golden Sand", "The Nerve"), but there's a lot more to it than just their sum of "they-sound-like-so-and-so." Keep Color is the sort of record you can let wash over you, but also hone in on and find its details and introspective wisdom. ("We've been searching all our lives for something we've always had but have no eyes to see..." ; "Don't believe the scientists that tell you what to think...") The record starts with the melodic "Buildings & Mountains" and unfolds into the space around you, revealing haunting vocals, carefully constructed syncopation, and beautiful production, all while keeping you on your toes with unexpected chord changes and songs that open with "It's time for the party to make some sound" and then demand "How much responsibility do you bear for the uses others might make of your ideas?", songs that command "Evacuate now!"

Back to April: The Tigers played a low-key show at the Iron Horse. It was a late show, there was a small crowd, and the sound wasn't exactly spot-on for their set. But they kept up their charm, on-stage and off. (They're all terribly nice guys.) More importantly, they have manged to translate their cinematic sound with a five-piece band. Says Adam McGill, "If there are 12 keyboard tracks in a song, you can’t really play that many parts in a live setting...So we’ll pull the essential tracks and play our live instrumentation along with them."

A few weeks after I saw them, Keep Color and the video for "Buildings & Mountains" were both released:



It's a gorgeous visual work, and the ending image of the band, adrift in a desert, is wholly appropriate. We are, after all, doing battle with modern life: adrift in these cities that arise, this age of industry, the very same modernity that makes the band's partially synthetic sound possible. We should remember to stop and breathe the air while we can.

The Republic Tigers - "Buildings & Mountains" [link]
The Republic Tigers - "Fight Song"

Oh, and to top it all off, the lucky ducks are touring with Nada Surf this summer. Catch them if/when you can.

Upcoming shows:
25 May - The Spazzatorium Galleria - Greenville, NC
27 May - The Soap Box - Wilmington, NC
28 May - Village Tavern - Mt. Pleasant, SC
29 May - Local 506 - Chapel Hill, NC
30 May - Center Stage Theatre - Athens, GA*
31 May - Jack Rabbits - Jacksonville, FL*
1 June - The Social - Orlando, FL*
2 June - Studio A - Miami, FL*
3 June - State Theatre - St. Petersburg, FL*
5 June - Mercy Lounge - Nashville, TN *
6 June - TBA - Memphis, TN *
7 June - St. Louis, MO - Bluebird *
8 June - Ribfest Chicago - Chicago, IL*
9 June - The Music Mill- Indianapolis, IN *
10 June - The Basement - Columbus, OH *
11 June - Beachland Ballroom & Tavern - Cleveland, OH *
* w/ Nada Surf
29th May w/ The Helio Sequence

Stuck In My Head/Check This: Georgie James, Places

So, I think since the beginning of the month I’ve been unconsciously attempting to cram as much indie powerpop into my head as possible before falling over in a suger-coated, harmony-and-handclap-induced coma, all in a mad attempt to soothe that Scamper-shaped hole in my heart. (Try saying that ten times fast.) To wit: my latest record obsession, pop duo Georgie James’ Places, released last September on Saddle Creek.

When I mentioned to my friends that one-half of Georgie James is John Davis, former drummer of Q and Not U, I got some scrunched noses and funny looks. “I don’t really like Q and Not U ,” Jenn said, and Kim agreed. Indeed, I’m surprised that I like Q and Not U, because it’s really not the sort of thing you’d expect me to like. “Dinner table friends!” I said, “Fear not! Georgie James (comprised of Davis and friend Laura Burhenn) is about as different from Q and Not U as possible.” (Not that there's anything wrong with...okay, we've covered this.)

I don’t know how to put this other than that I really really like this record. It bursts in with the peppy, driving “Look Me Up” and never really lets go from there, keeping the energy going right up ‘til the last track, “Only ‘Cause You’re Young,” which is just as perky and handclappy. (And what a relief! I find it disheartening when bands smoosh their best tracks to the first half of the record, leaving the end to trail off in a forgettable lack of liveliness.) Cuts like “Cake Parade,” “Long Week,” and “You Can Have It” take it down a notch; lead single “Need Your Needs” (probably my favourite of the lot), title track “Places,” and “Cheap Champagne” will make you want to dance again.

There are many lovely things about Places:

The whole thing is a work of contrasts: lively piano, Laura’s floaty vocals, handclaps, tambourine, sleigh bells, and super-addictive melodies are juxtaposed with lines like You smile about the ways which you made her suffer and Looks like a perfect day/To put our soldiers in an early grave.

The songs all flow in the same pop vein, but the never morph into each other because a slew of ‘60s rock influences (The Beatles, The Kinks, The Zombies, etc.) keep them from dissolving into an amorphous blob of twee. (Twee has its place; it’s not here.)

The wordplay is smart, even wise. (“The life of a genius is a sad one,” if you say so; They give us pretty pills to take the pain away/They let us wash it down with cheap champagne; Thunder is still a frightening sound/But we’re just finding things we’ve already found; You need your needs to get along)

The whole thing flies by in about 40 minutes, which may be a good thing or not, depending on how you look at it. I think it's good; for one thing, I have the attention span of a gnat, so the three-minute pop blitzes work for me, and for another, it leaves you wanting more. And isn't that what a good record should do?

It’s sweet, fresh, and openly joyful without being sticky, repetitive, or fluffy. In short, pop perfection.

Georgie James - Need Your Needs [link]
Georgie James - Cake Parade [link]

I know I've been paying attention to the blogosphere since late September, and yet, I can't remember any mention of this record. (Although the Hype Machine tells me otherwise.) Was I just not reading the right blogs? That's probably it. I hope that's it. In "Comfortable Headphones," Laura and John sing out, We think music is for the air/And our music is everywhere.

It certainly should be.


Georgie James has announced that they'll be playing SXSW in a few weeks.
Meanwhile, lala.com has a sweet deal for Places, through which you buy the CD and can download the record straightaway while you're waiting. Instant gratification! Joy!

MySpace it (maybe.): The Teenagers' Reality Check. Plus, some Stuck.

The Teenagers' (not of the Frankie Lyman sort, sorry) new record, Reality Check is up for listen on their MySpace until it drops digitally in America on 15 January.

The Teenagers are an electropop rock band from Paris. While I'm generally a fan of the French electropop rock thing, and although they have some peppy, dancey tunes (the cheekily-titled "Starlett Johansson" is worth a listen, I like the opening of "Ill", and on the refrain of "Love No" they sound like some British band, though I can't put my finger on which one) and have remixed the likes of Air and others, I really can't see (or, rather, hear) what the fuss is about. Apparently a shit tonne of bloggers are all about the Teenagers, but I'm not impressed and, frankly, a little bored. The heavily accented speak-singing and juvenile lyrics ("I fucked my American cunt/I loved my English romance," "I'm not in love with you/But it's okay to stay with you") make me think of Serge Gainsbourg reinterpreted as a 17-year-old guy, and not in a good way at all. Also, the constant repetition of "we're (the) teenagers, buy our t-shirts, talk about us everywhere" ironic hipsterish self-promotion bit is annoying after a while. Immaturity can be a fun breath of fresh air, but I'm not buying it here.

At least they're appropriately named, in any case.



And now for a French band that I actually like: I stumbled upon this little interview by Fluo Kids with Stuck In The Sound frontman José from August 2007, after they'd gotten back from a summer festival circuit (which included Fête de la Musique and Festival Fnac Indétendances à Paris Plages). It's rather short and basic, and also very much in French, but I adore that he lists Paris as one of their top five countries in which to play. (I just adore him no matter what.)

Here's the great remix of "Toy Boy" that they posted with said interview:

Stuck In The Sound - "Toy Boy" (All That She Wants TEPR Remix) [zshare]