Moroni's Review of Silversun Pickup's "Neck of the Woods"

I am always on  the quest for the album that grabs me.  Yes, most of the time I buy an album, I will really like three songs off of it, but not the rest.  If the it is really good, I might like five songs off of an album. But the experience of liking every single song off of an album is a rare thing for me.  So rare, that it is like a religious experience for me.  What I do is listen to such an album over and over again, until it finally starts to wear off of me.  But while it is in my mind - and on my phone - it is a faithful relationship from which I do not stray.

Every time I buy an album, I am hoping for this experience.  But it rarely occurs.  The albums that are like this are precious jewels that come along every so often.  Pixies' "Doolittle", Heather Nova's "Oyster", Coldplay's "X&Y", Muse's "Absolution", Modest Mouse's "Good News For People Who Love Bad News", Blue October's "Foiled", My Chemical Romance's "Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge", and Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled album.  These are a few of those special albums for me.  Every now and then, a band will do it a second time for me - like Modest Mouse's "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank" and Avenged Sevenfold's "Nightmare".  But that doesn't happen so often.  I always hope a band will capture the muse again for their next attempt, but they seldom do.

At the end of 2009, I was remodeling a hotel in Columbia, South Carolina.  I woke up at 3AM with insomnia and turned on the TV.  At this ungodly hour, MTV will actually play musical videos.  There was a band from L.A. that I had never heard of - Silversun Pickups.  The video was for their song "Lazy Eye".  It was noisy like a Sonic Youth song, but it was catchy like the Pixies.  I liked it instantly and downloaded the one song the next morning.

A couple of months later, I heard that they were up for Best New Artist at the Grammy's (which they didn't get).  I decided to do some further investigating.  I downloaded their album "Swoon".  The first song was a catchy rock jangle, and it was okay.  But then the song fades out into a swirling texture of sound as the "The Royal We" started.  "What's this?" I thought with alarm.  By the time the song ended, I was hooked.  The song moved me.  Every single song was like that.  And the whole album rotated for months in my car's CD player.

Instantly, Silversun Pickups was inducted to the handful of bands that I call my favorite.

Last year, I heard that they were working on their third album.  "Can they do it again?" I wondered.  I was doubtful, because that kind of creativity rarely stays with artists.  At the end of 2011, they released a three-song EP called "Seasick".  It was a hint of the album - very good.  I listened to those three songs over and over (until the wives got sick of hearing them.)

A couple of days ago, I was speaking to a friend and told her that I had to wait until my next payday to download Silversun Pickup's new album "Neck of the Woods".  She surprised me by buying me a download.  (Thanks, Becca!!)  So this morning, I downloaded it.  I struggled with it for a while, because I needed a program that could unzip it.  I finally found one, and I got my first listen.

So how is it?  Let me put it this way - the day is not even over, and I have listened to this album four times already.  This album is one of those rarities that I spoke of.  There is not a single bad song on it.  From the opening shimmer of sound on "Skin Graph" to flowery "Bloody Mary" to the electronic pulse of "The Pit", there is not a boring moment on this album.  My personal favorites are "Make Believe" and "Gun-Shy Sunshine".

This album is swirly and hard and haunting all at once.  There is a gritty, somber mood that permeates this whole album, and it definitely smells of teen angst.  Brian Aubert's singing style is an acquired taste.  At first, I didn't like it.  But it grew on me.  And all  the music is in good form - driving basslines and percussion, and the keyboards add great texture to the music.  Yes, they take their cue cards from My Bloody Valentine and Elliott Smith.  But this album assures them a place in the hall of "my favorite bands".  I would recognize this album to everyone.  Well, not everyone.  Not my mother.  Not my father-in-law.  But anyone who likes original rock and roll.

Moroni's Review of Neon Trees' "Picture Show"

What do you say about a band from the town where I was born - Provo, Utah?  And what do you say about a band that is all Mormon, like me?

Well, first of all, Utah has always had an unhealthy obsession with the '80s.  At first, it was because lack of things like internet as well as the isolation of its majestic mountains keeping the latest trends and fashions from entering Utah's fat valleys.  It always seemed to me that Utah was always behind the times by about three years.  Even though I was born in Utah, I was mostly raised in Arizona - which, someone pointed out to me, is not exactly a cultural mecca.  But we do somewhat bask in the distant lights of L.A.

In 1990, when I moved back to Salt Lake City to go to college, '80s fixtures like Depeche Mode and the Cure were all the rage, even though I had already outgrown that years ago.  In a way, the '80s never went out of style in Utah.

Of course, Utah is not so provincial anymore.  Not only has it enjoyed one of the largest economic booms in the last ten years, along with a growing computer industry, but it has produced some pretty cool bands - like the Used and Neon Trees.

Yes, Neon Trees is a very cool band.  They were discovered in 2008 by the Killers (and Killers' frontman Brandon Flowers is also a Mormon).  That said, this is a band that I have wanted to get into  - but just can't.  I have to admit - in 2010, when I started hearing the hype about this band, I downloaded their first album "Habits" (along with its overplayed hit "Animal") as soon as it came out, but it was an entire year before I listened to the whole album.  I just could not get into it.  It wasn't bad.  It just didn't grab me.

And I feel the same way about their sophmore effort, "Picture Show".  (I just love saying the word "sophmore".)  It is catchy.  It is all glittery.  But it lacks substance.

My whole '80's diatribe is about this - just about every song by Neon Trees has an undeniable '80s vibe.  Neon Trees does not only have an influence, sometimes it is just a plain rip-off.  "Moving in the Dark" could be Tears For Fears.  (And is it me, or does the opening verse sound just like Gaga's "Born This Way"?)  "Mad Love" is a really, really, really, really (to quote the song) great song, but it sounds JUST LIKE older New Order.  And "Trust" sounds frighteningly similar to "Everything Counts" by Depeche Mode.

There are some excellent gems on this album - "Teenage Sounds" rocks with a new wave splendor.  "Lessons In Love" and "Close to You" have hooks galore.  My favorite songs are "Hooray For Hollywood" and "I Am the D.J."

The main single is "Everbody Talks", which - not only sounds exactly like "Animal" - but it is so overplayed that I can't stand hearing it anymore.  One funny thing about this song - my three year-old Avery laughs really hard every time he hears the guy clear his throat at the beginning of the song.  It doesn't matter how many time he hears it, he laughs.

So this is an okay album.  It is catchy - even though Neon Trees sounds just like Anberlin, a band I really respect.  But it is unlikely this album will undergo heavy rotation in my car, on my phone - anywhere.

STAND BY TOMORROW FOR MY REVIEW OF THE NEW ALBUM BY SILVERSUN PICKUPS, WHICH I AM DOWNLOADING AT 12:01AM TOMORROW - SOOOO EXCITED!!!

Dubstep Summer

For the past four years, I have worked every summer with my brother-in-law, who is an airbrush artist.  He airbrushes t-shirts and is an amazing artist.  We travel all over the western states from fair to fair, camp in tents and live this wonderful bohemian life all summer.  His art usually appeals to the urban, hip hop crowd, and so most of our business takes place at night, the same crowd that comes for the carnival.

We learned early on that music was an essential part of our booth.  When we played music, we noticed that we attracted more people to the booth.  We bought a cheap little boom box, and since I am the music lover, I provided the tunes.  But I played music according to my tastes.  I learned really quick that this wasn't going to work.  One day, my selection of Serge Gainsbourg was snickered at by a teen girl.  I was going to have to cater to the masses.

The second year out, we started experimenting.  We discovered that some types of music attracted people, and some types of music drove people away.  Heavy metal, punk and alternative music repelled people.  Country music was neutral.  It didn't repel, but it really didn't draw people either.  Hip hop attracted people.  Techno attracted people.  And oddly enough, the Ramones drew people.

One of the problems is that - if your music is limited - you get sick of your music really fast.  You  have to listen to it all day, every day for weeks.  So I am always trying to improve my playlist.

Last spring (April, 2011), I was downloading music to prepare for the upcoming fair circuit.  Most of it was hip hop.  I use whatever means available to scour for music.  Browsing, but mostly taking suggestions from Facebook friends.

One of my friends (Martha from Chicago) posted a link.  It was to an artist called Skrillex, and her commentary was "Dubstep f****d my mind."  The track was named "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites".  I had never heard of dubstep, but I listened to the song.  My mind was totally blown.  This was electronic music for deejays.  It was so random, and there were so many changes in the song that one could barely keep up with it.  I was hooked.  I downloaded the song (along with a Skrillex remix of a Black Eyed Peas song) and added it to my playlist.

I am no stranger to electronic music.  While I was an exchange student in Belgium in 1988, I was introduced to the rave scene - before it was called rave.  Acid House.  New Beat.  Techno.  I brought this music back with me, and by 1989, all of the underground clubs were pumping this music.  I was totally into it.  We were clubbing four nights a week - all so that we could listen to the music.  I even wore the smiley face buttons.  I was a regular denizen at all of the raves in Phoenix.

I do believe that it was DeLaSoul that once said (rapped), "Everyone wants to be a deejay."  I was no exception.  I had no equipment, but I dubbed some very good mix tapes.  I had a huge vinyl collection.  I even deejayed a couple of parties.  My dream was to open a club.  I even had my eye on an old warehouse that would make a great club.  In 1990, I moved to Utah and auditioned as a deejay at Club DV8.  House music had not quite made it to Utah.  I didn't get the gig.

So 21 years later, I discover dubstep, and it has all of the electronic magic that acid house once had.  I found myself in a pickup truck, hauling airbrush equipment, on my way up north to start our fair circuit.  I put a CD in for my brother-in-law to show him my playlist.  He listened to Skrillex for the first time, and he - like me - was totally blown away.

Our first gig was a summer festival in Utah.  I only had two Skrillex songs in my repertoire, but I had a tremendous response from them.  Tremendous!  "Is that dubstep?!"  "Is that Skrillex?!"  The sounds drew crowds to our booth like none other.  I went home that night and downloaded the whole Skrillex catalog.  Plus, people would come up to me randomly and make suggestions of other dubstep artists - deadmau5, Nero, Bassnectar, Datsik, Mt. Eden Dubstep, Notixx, etc.  I was downloading music every night, updating my playlist.

By the end of June, we had the best booth in any show we went to - bright lights, a colorful display, my brother-in-law's mad airbrush skills, and the "sickest" music blaring out into the night.  Nobody else had a booth like ours.  We got praise every night - not just on the art, but on the music selection.  My brother-in-law was introducing me as his deejay.

What we didn't know was that we had timed this just right - the beginning of summer of 2011 was the beginning of the dubstep explosion in the United States.  And I was fulfilling my dream of being a deejay - at 41 years-old.  I was making sounds that were drawing in and amazing people.  It wasn't uncommon to have people start dancing in front of our booth.

At first, I was just using my phone connected to a speaker.  By July, in Wyoming, I was deejaying live from my laptop.

By the end of the summer, the dubstep craze was dying down.  And this is how you could tell - at the beginning of the summer, in June, the people that were coming to us and talking about our music were all college students.  By the end of the summer, by September, it was little kids who were asking, "Is this dubstep?"

But we caught it when it was just starting out, and that was exciting.  I don't think I will be going on the fair circuit this summer due to health issues.  (I wish I was.  I love the mad bohemian lifestyle.)  But I am certain that many booths will be blaring dubstep in the summer of 2012.  But we were the first.  We were innovators.  And  yes, I am saying that with a little pride.

So people asked me, "What did you do this summer?"

And I responded, "I deejayed hot music for thousands of people every day all summer.  What did you do?"