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10 March 2006

Jose Gonzalez, Stay in the Shade EP (Hidden Agenda/Parasol) Rating: 8
Jose Gonzalez grabbed me with "Crosses" and refused to let go. His debut album, Veneer, was all slow-picked wonder and soft beauty -- witness sleeper hit "Heartbeats", The Knife turned all unexpected beauty and loss. On his new EP, Stay In The Shade, Gonzales doesn't tinker too much with the successful formula; though, if anything, veering more towards the classical, on patter-patter ballad "Sensing Owls" and the closing instrumental track. The highlight is Kylie Minogue cover "Hand On Your Heart", worth the asking price alone; forget for a moment it's KM reinvented and focus on the reinvention: Gonzalez' voice sings sorrow with keening immediacy, and the song's sentiment - simply overwhelming. No doubt about it, Gonzalez is on his way up -- "Stay in the Shade" hummed recently over a shot of a teenager beneath crystal water in The O.C.. Even without the marketing push, he's more than worth a listen -- fragile, exquisite constructions of songs softly slide into your heart. — Dan Raper [Insound]
MySpace: [multiple songs]

Sonic Syndicate, Eden Fire (Pivotal) Rating: 6
Swedish sextet Sonic Syndicate might be a bunch of young pups, most of the band not even past their teens, but on their debut album, they're already showing us they have the ability to surpass every American metalcore pretender out there. Drawing heavily from the classic melodic death metal style of Swedish greats Dark Tranquillity and In Flames, the band isn't content to toss off a bland imitation like their stateside counterparts, instead using that template as a starting point for their sound. Like metalcore faves Bleeding Through, keyboards add a refreshing dimension, and while the melodic guitar riffs draw us in, it's the little surprises that hold our interest, be it the black metal atmospherics of "Where the Black Lotus Grows" and "Zion Must Fall", bassist Karin Axelsson's melodic vocal turn on "Enhance My Nightmare", or the pure Soilwork-style muscle of "Jailbreak". The album doesn't misstep as much as it tends to slightly overextend its reach every so often, but for a band barely out of their teens, this is a very encouraging debut, a sign that big things could be in store. The seed has been sown, that's for sure. [Insound]
      — Adrien Begrand
"Jailbreak": [MP3]

Don's Teeth, A Resounding Boo for the Suits (Altstream) Rating: 4
"I cashed out my 401k today/I can't sell my soul for another day" declares singer Jeff Nelson at the outset of Don's Teeth's booing session. That's right, it's the yuppie blues, and Don's Teeth has had enough of corporate life. That opening track, "Pledge Allegiance and Pray," manages to work, due to a lullaby-like melody and its brevity. The subsequent title track also proves effective, with its quietly seething lyrics about the "suits" hiding behind pop songs-"there's a suit behind you, too," Nelson reminds us. Alas, from there things go downhill quickly, as Nelson's acoustic venting grows tiresome and obvious. "It's a hard thing to discover/Ambition doesn't matter within the corporate structure" he sings, and indeed, it is. Of course, most of us make that discovery around the onset of puberty; did Nelson miss, say, Office Space, Wall Street, and every other entry in the massive "corporate life is a shallow, soul-shredding shell game" genre, as well as the Enron, WorldCom, and other scandals of the past few years? He recoils from "all this coke and infidelity" as if he were expecting a grandfatherly CEO to pat him on the back and give him some kind words of wisdom. It's either hopelessly naïve or self-servingly disingenuous, and either way it makes for stultifying music. There's a girl who broke Nelson's heart in there, too; isn't there always? Maybe on their next album Don's Teeth can uncover some more shocking truths: Republicans are hypocrites! Baseball players use steroids! Bland, overly obvious acoustic rock makes critics use more venom than its mediocrity warrants! — Whitney Strub [Insound]
"Pledge Alligiance and Pray": [MP3]

Modern Skirts, Catalogue of Generous Men (self-released Rating: 7
Adding to the already lengthy list of impressive bands from Athens, Georgia, Modern Skirts write and record the lush type of piano-based music Five for Fighting wish they had invented. Grandiose reverb and Beach Boy harmonies are the standard on this album. The songs are instantly memorable and impeccably structured. Modern Skirts could pass for an adult contemporary band, but that label doesn't do justice to their consistency. Track after track, melody after melody, Modern Skirts produce gorgeous pop music that has no qualms about its majestic style or its often sentimental subject matter. It's refreshingly indulgent, like splurging on the chocolate mousse even though it's loaded with calories and saturated fat. You know Catalogue of Generous Men has its fare share of nutritional horrors, but it's so damn rich and delicious that you can't help but eat the whole thing. [Insound]
      — David Bernard
multiple songs: [MySpace]

The Everlasting Arms, The Everlasting Arms (self-released) Rating: 4
The Everlasting Arms debut album (available on vinyl and CD-R) contains eight tracks of lo-fi post-punk. The group doesn't avoid hooks altogether, but they largely forego melodicism for a steadily-enclosing atmosphere. The band sounds best when it keeps its performances moving (as on the start of the record); some of the tracks bog down in their own pauses, leading them to sound drawn-out instead of slowly-paced. The Everlasting Arms do work that tension well in "Man Down" in which a simple bass groove gives way to a freakout. These guys are still finding themselves, and right now it's unclear if they're on the trail of anything interesting. — Justin Cober-Lake [Insound]

.: posted by Editor 7:23 AM