Spider Bags

Goodbye Cruel World, Hello Crueler World

(Birdman; US: 25 Aug 2009; UK: 25 Aug 2009)

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Goodbye Cruel World, Hello Crueler World makes one thing clear: We need more bands like Spider Bags. There is absolutely nothing careful about this album, which is what makes its ramshackle, rocking feel get you so worked up. There’s the psychedelic, stretched-out guitars jams like “Trouble”, the frayed country balladry of “Swimmer on a String”, and even the funky, sawdust blues of “Long White Desert Rose”. Spider Bags tackle each sound with a ragged confidence and meld them together into a cohesive, infectious soundtrack for your favorite dive bar.

There are barroom anthems like “It Always Loved to Happen”—where the band declares,“Life is spent between cigarettes and regret”—and the boozy shuffle of “Lord Please”. But quieter moments can be found, like the haunting, fuzzy closer “Here Now”, that the band pulls off with a brilliant restraint that doesn’t sap one ounce of the album’s momentum. These sweat-soaked songs are what rock music should be—worn at the edges, frantic, and coursing with whiskey-thinned blood. Sure, the band may push too far in small moments—“Que Viva el Rocanroll” is a pretty goofy sing-along—but the charm of these guys comes in its inability to pull it back. While the reigning the Hold Steady keeps the kids warm during those frigid Minnesota nights, Spider Bags will make them melt in North Carolina.

—Matthew Fiander

Kreng

L’autopsie Phenomenale de Dieu

(Miasmah; US: 7 Jul 2009; UK: 22 Jun 2009)

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L’Autopsie Phenomenale de Die translates quite simply as The Phenomenal Autopsy of God and is not only the kind of record one would expect from the cold and eerie Miasmah records, but it’s also the type those of us who have been patient with the label have been waiting for. It’s an album with a very unsettling disposition. It’s bleak and hazy, but not quite as arid as other Miasmah releases and not nearly as in debt to post-classical pit ideals about chamber instrumentation. Most of the work, in fact, is sample-based, although it feels as organic as paranormal experience.

It’s an album of dark corners and alleyways, lurking and deep rather than frenzied and panicked. Hence, more Badalamenti than Morricone. It’s soundtrack work for experimental theater, in this case the disturbing horrorist Belgian collective Abattoir Fermé, that has been fashioned into a long-form album of whims rather than shrieks, although a few of the latter pop up, too. Leitmotifs arise such as the desolate wail of the plaintive horn in a hollow night; percussion that is as textural as it is rhythmic, such as the rattle off a snare rim; elegiac piano anempathetic to the sounds of suffering around it; and the contrapuntal collision of sounds, such as the Theremin that turns into an opera singer. Overall, the bubbling tension feels as if it’s just above or below the surface of the real source of anxiety, like a body beneath the floorboards or a hypnagogic dreamer about to awaken to a real nightmare. There’s no payoff, no smoking pistol, just a vague sense that you’ve not only been a witness to something but also a party to it.

—Timothy Gabriele

The Homemade Jamz Blues Band

I Got Blues For You

(Northern Blues; US: 9 Jun 2009; UK: 27 Jul 2009)

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There are new kids on the blues block, and it seems they’re here to stay. If there was a grain of skepticism left after the Homemade Jamz Blues Band’s critically acclaimed debut Pay Me No Mind last year, a calling card from the youngest blues band to score a recording deal with a major label, it has been crushed by the band’s follow-up, I Got Blues For You. At the family’s home studio in Tupelo, Mississippi, the Perry siblings, vocalist and guitarist Ryan (age 17), bassist Kyle (age 14), and drummer Taya (age 10), along with their harp-blowing father Renaud, play tight, modern electric blues with such feeling and maturity, especially Ryan’s gravelly vocals, that you wonder whether they might’ve paid a midnight visit to the crossroads. Highlights include the strutting blues groover “Rumors”, the earthy juke-joint Delta-country gait of “Loco Blues”, and the funky “King Snake”, which sends sparks flying from its homemade guitars constructed out of automobile parts.

—Alan Brown

Ambarchi / Fennesz / Pimmon / Rehberg / Rowe

Afternoon Tea

(Black Truffle; US: 10 Nov 2009; UK: 26 Oct 2009)

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Here are the names: Oren Ambarchi, Peter Rehberg, Christian Fennesz, Pimmon (Paul Gough), and Keith Rowe, the last an improvisational guitarist and electronic artist who’s been making music for longer than most of the others have been alive. If none of those names means anything to you, then Afternoon Tea won’t do anything for you, either. For those who do recognize someone—anyone, really—on that illustrious list, Afternoon Tea is required listening. Afternoon Tea‘s original release happened in 2000, one day of which is also when the entirety of this re-release was recorded. Rather than include the day’s tweaking here, the added context of that night’s live performance is added in the form of two live tracks and one short track, previously released on an obscure compilation, that combines the day’s and the night’s improvisations.

There’s little difference, really, between the “studio” tracks and the “live” tracks; given a snippet of one or the other, a listener would be hard-pressed to tell the difference. Both the “Afternoon Tea” tracks and the “Live Tea” tracks demonstrate the rare collaboration that sounds like an exercise in restraint. Largely unidentifiable sounds slowly burble up from the ether, approaching and retreating like hostile insects afraid to be noticed. Slowly—ever so slowly—they start to layer on top of one another, combining to create a tapestry whose complexity reflects the many minds at work but whose minimalism keeps it from ever sounding like utter chaos. Those who’ve enjoyed Afternoon Tea in the past may appreciate the extension of the experience that comes from this release’s bonus tracks. Still, it’s those who’ve never heard it who are most likely to appreciate this fascinating little one-day-only meeting of the minds.

—Mike Schiller

The Headlocks

Cuckoobird

(US: 24 Sep 2009; UK: import)

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The Headlocks began as a lowly folk-rock group a few years back but decided to step up its game and recruited half of Staten Island’s music scene to create a local supergroup. After corralling a 17-member troupe into the studio, the question remains: Was it worth it? The Headlocks plan of attack is simple: two chords and a dream, or the Van Morrison approach. Guitarist Frank Duffy pounds away at his acoustic, while Rob Carey leads the choir on vocals. The basic achievement of Cuckoo Bird was to layer all the elements into a package that enhanced the songs rather than cloud them. Although some fare better than others, in total it’s mission accomplished.

One the most glaring examples of progress is pianist Steve Pepe, musician by trade, high school teacher by necessity. Pepe labors over an organ in the live setting but makes full use of a Baldwin stand-up on the record, and the clarity is markedly different, supplying a stunning array of piano fills on songs like “Shelter”, “Amen Good Charles”, and the rollicking folk tune “Another Flood”. The other remarkable feat on Cuckoobird was cramming all those backing vocals into one angelic layer of harmonies. On the opening track “Me or You”, Carey diffidently croons, “I used to never think twice about a fallen angel,” as the choir chimes in behind him right on cue. “Driving in the Dark” uses the old school shout-along method with similar success.

Cuckoobird balances the rowdy hoedown moments with soft-spoken contemplative tunes that veer on adult rock. “It’s a Wonderful Life” put Carey in the spotlight with his harmonica as Duffy’s guitar chugs along. The most surprising part of the album is how well the radio-friendly tracks hold up. If the Headlocks are trying to be heard by the widest possible audience, then the band has achieved its goal, at least on the recording end. With so many artists chasing the long tail of the market, it’s interesting to see someone take the opposite approach. If the Headlocks succeed, it will have to be done off Staten Island. As they used to say in spaghetti westerns: “This town ain’t big enough for the two of us.”

—Joe Tacopino

The Octopus Project

Golden Beds EP

(Peek-A-Boo; US: 14 Jul 2009; UK: 13 Jul 2009)

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The Octopus Project made its name in recent years with stomping, Theremin-spiked instrumentals and a worldwide touring schedule. The band’s five-song Golden Beds EP gleefully throws some visuals and vocals into the mix. While there’s plenty of the former, there’s not quite enough of the latter. The EP includes seven videos, six for songs not on the audio portion of the CD. Opener “Wet Gold” is the only song on the EP that has a visual portion—a wise decision considering it’s arguably the strongest song featured on the collection. Yvonne Lambert’s ethereal vocals and repeated electronic pulse on “Wet Gold” create a nice contrast with Toto Miranda’s lively drums.

The vocals continue on “Moon Boil” but disappear over the course of the three remaining songs, which resemble the bulk of the band’s previous work. The slow-building “Rorol” doesn’t miss the vocals once Miranda’s hi-hats crash in, but “Wood Trumpet” and “Half a Nice Day” practically cry out for them to fill in the sonic gaps. Like “Queen” from 2007’s Hello, Avalanche, “Wet Gold” and “Moon Boil” prove the band is more than capable of adding thoughtful vocals to beef up its sound. That said, Golden Beds is a generous little CD with the inclusion of videos, and the Octopus Project continues to maintain an intriguing combination of digital and analog sound.

—Craig Carson

Because Because Because

(Slumberland; US: 12 May 2009; UK: 11 May 2009)

Combining the fuzzy stomp of Nuggets-era garage rock with the scrappy sweetness of such ‘80s underground pop mavens as Beat Happening and the Pastels, Cause Co-Motion! has definitely established itself as one of the most unique bands coming from the post-hype Brooklyn music scene of the mid-to-late ‘00s. Following Slumberland’s release of It’s Time!, a critically hailed compilation of early singles and EPs from the band’s days on the What’s Your Rupture? imprint last fall, the DIY trio return with Because Because Because. This 10-minute-long, six-track-strong sonic blast also stands as the group’s most realized work to date, thanks to the help of Gary Olson of the Ladybug Transistor, who helmed the fruits of this one-day session at his Marlborough Farms home studio. Olson’s input helped Cause to open up its sound to a more streamlined approach, noted on the tight arrangements of tracks like “Is What You Say What You Mean?” and “You Lose”, which come off more like Stiff Records than K Records this time around. This vinyl-only release (it is also available as an MP3 download) also comes housed in a unique, hand-painted jacket with a silk-screen overlay, and no two covers are alike, making Because Because Because a collector’s piece well worth the trip to your favorite mom-and-pop record shop, just like the olden days.

—Ron Hart

Ox

Burnout

(Weewerk; US: 10 Nov 2009; UK: 10 Nov 2009)

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On Burnout, Vancouver’s Ox isn’t afraid to go where plenty of country-tinged rock bands have gone before. Not only that, but it commits fully and with gusto to that well-worn road. Heck, within the first two songs, the band declares—on the strength of stolen guitars—“I’m gonna rock and roll all night,” right before taking the prom queen dancing. From there, the band sings of A.M. rock on the radio, coffee and cigarettes at a late-night diner, and even an ‘85 Buick up on blocks in someone’s yard.

We’ve heard all this before, right? How, then, do these sawdust anthems sound so earnest and fresh? Maybe because on all of these songs, Ox moves twanging and clear through vast country soundscapes, all the while kicking up a hazy, psychedelic dust. Maybe it’s because, on top of that, Mark Browning’s vocals are sweet with melody but weighed down with heartache. Maybe it is because any one of these songs can get etched in your head for days at a time (seriously, give “Prom Queen” a spin and see if you don’t end up humming the chorus long into the night). No matter the reason, Burnout is a solid album. Ox is unafraid to dig sounds out of the soil of American music, sounds we know all too well, and grow them to maturity in its own backyard, morphing them into something distinctly its own in the process.

—Matthew Fiander