PopMatters home | short takes home | archives

09 September 2005

Marathon, Marathon (Reignition) Rating: 7
Marathon is a group featuring former members of None More Black, De La Hoya and Spark Lights The Friction, and they have the radio-friendly Jimmy Eat World "emo" and Green Day-ish power pop/punk format down pat on "Painting By Numbers". It's an impressive, winding sort of number that slows near its final phase. However, they have plenty of tempo-changing hooks to keep you interested, including "I Don't Have a Dancing Problem" which is quite infectious. The test of any good album though is if they can maintain this high level of quality. "Some Lovely Parting Gifts" is on the mark and the bass line commencing "Don't Ask If This Is About You" is also rock solid. The intensity Marathon brings into each selection makes you believe that they are in this album for its entirety, sort of like, well, a marathon. "Gouge 'Em Out, They're Useless Anyway" is also quite fine that brings to mind a polished version of The Exies. As the band cites in the song "Where We Hide", they will these songs "tasty with sweet melodies" which they do in spades. Check out "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" which is probably the high point. "Jolly Roger" is the only cookie-cutter punk song, but generally Marathon sound like they want to be around for the long haul.
      — Jason MacNeil

Kelli Hanson, Lullaby for an Astronaut (Bigger Than The Barn) Rating: 2
How many times, sweet Jesus? How many times? If I had a dollar for every girl-woman who saw herself as the missing link between PJ Harvey and Kate Bush, I'd have a new pair of shoes, and a decent haircut every other month, that's for sure. Lullaby For An Astronaut is musical pinball without the speed, the fun or the opportunity to grind your groin against something hard. Kelli Hanson's second solo album tries just about every trick in the game to convince you it's special, hurtling around the playfield without regard for the rules of the game. Here a blue's wail drop target, there a space-folk gate, everywhere an eclectic multiball of nonsense and pretension. Yes, Polly Jean Harvey is ever so slightly eccentric, but she's also sexy and soulful as hell. And yes, Kate Bush is completely bonkers barmy and musically all over the place, but she's also one of the most intriguing and compelling songwriters we've ever had. Newsflash for Ms Hanson: if there was ever a need for a link between Bush and Harvey, and there isn't, the vacancy would've been filled by Tori Amos long ago. And to be blunt: Amos sucks, and you're nowhere near her class. Game over. No replay. Please.
      — Roger Holland

North Atlantic Explorers, Skylines (Anniedale) Rating: 5
Skylines is an album obsessed with distances, typified by the observation on the second track, "Blue Moon on the Rise": "Five miles in the rain is longer / Than 10 miles in the sunshine." At first I wondered which path the band would prefer, but now I'm certain they'd take the whole 15 regardless of the weather. North Atlantic Explorers are a band with patience. Glenn D'Cruze's massive ensemble takes over two minutes to set-up the epic opener "When My Ship Comes In". The mission, it seems, is to realize Gram Parsons' idea of "cosmic American music" literally". D'Cruze's voice warbles on the "Sweetheart" like a cowboy in a saloon eight miles high. The band wades through each piece with extreme deliberation, adding a fascinating array of tones and colors to songs that mightn't have carried such weight on their own. But the road is long, and Skylines shows a band committed to it.
      — Michael Metivier

Various Artists, Kittridge Records Presents: Homemade Hits Vol. 2 (Kittridge) Rating: 4
Music recorded at home, without commercial considerations, is often driven by a sense of creative freedom; if you're doing it for yourself, who do you need to please? Kittridge Records' Homemade Hits Vol. 2 celebrates that motivation for making music. These are recordings which were created at home, solely for the love of it. The feeling of the compilation is thus loose and inclusive. Indie-label rock and pop music is the focus, but styles and approaches vary -- melody and fuzz are one common denominator. Another is that the musicians truly love what they do, and would likely be doing it even if nobody else cared. There's a handful of bands who have name recognition, at least to those of us paying close attention to this sort of music -- groups like Boyracer, Sleepy Township, Rocketship. But there's also plenty of names that even the most knowledgable indie-rock nerd isn't likely to know. The compilation is filled with energy and variety, yet as a listening experience, it's somewhat of a mixed-bag. Take 27 disparate bands, and you're going to find songs you love and songs you hate. Part of the joy here, though, is being exposed to a really dizzying trip through music recorded in disparate locations, much of it at least interesting and some of it fun, powerful, and exciting. Highlights include a previously unreleased song by Busytoby (the defunct, lovely pop band that became the more rocking the Like Young), an explosive fuzz-blast/pop song from the Poison Control Center, and a catchy tune from Sweden's the State of Samuel.
      — Dave Heaton

Code Pie, This Habit (Flagless) Rating: 6
With Code Pie, former music critic (and PopMatters contributor) Salvatore Ciolfi finds himself on the other side of the business, but he and his five bandmates are up to the challenge. The arrangements split the focus between guitar and trumpet with cello adding atmosphere. While the band writes fine lyrics, they pay more attention to the musical side of songwriting, creating songs that build and shift, establish moods and release tension. That makes them sound like inheritors of their fellow Montreal artists at Constellations, but they've dropped the post in favor of the rock (and, on "Cement Truck", the jazz). Full of inventiveness and skill, the only thing the band lacked in creating this album was a recording budget. The production has a lo-fi edge to it that doesn't really match the songs. Let's hope they sell enough records to pay for a studio next time.
      — Justin Cober-Lake

.: posted by Editor 8:36 AM