Small Band Makes Big Noise: My Review of Chvrche's Second Record

Chvrches

It's been a couple of years since I reviewed Chvrche's debut album, "The Bones of What You Believe".  Initially, I had given these darlings of Sirius Radio a good review.  But it was so sickeningly sweet that it eventually went saccharine.  Truthfully, I wasn't that excited to check out the sophomore release, "Every Open Eye".  But my own personal music guru, Nikki, said that it was really good.  So I decided to check it out.  And I am glad that I did, as this has become one of my favorite albums this year.  In fact, my kids have complained that I keep playing it in the car.

Not much has changed.  This music is straight up synthpop, taking a page from Vince Clark, from the early Depeche Mode days, but more from Yaz or Erasure, but without the throaty vocals of Alison Moyet or Andy Bell.  Instead, Lauren Mayberry's voice is still angelic and waifish, reminding me a lot of Harriet Wheeler from The Sundays.

Except that this time, it works for me.  This upbeat and crystal clear pop music transports me back to prom on a warm spring night in some John Hughes movie.

The album has spawned three riveting singles, the opener "Never Ending Circles", sounding like an anthem to teen angst, as well as "Leave A Trace", showing the band's strength is relying more on the surprising power of Mayberry's vocals and placing the synths in the background.  The third single, "Clearest Blue", has that Erasure vibe that I was talking about, starting out shimmering and effulgent, then ending in a groovy rhythm and celestial harmonies.

There are a lot of songs on this record, so it took me a while to get familiar with all of them.  My personal faves are "Keep You On My Side" which is furious, Mayberry complaining about a jilted love, a familiar theme on "Empty Threat".  The somber and languid "Down Side of Me" is probably my favorite song, especially when it plays with layering vocal tracks towards the end.  "Playing Dead" is a fantastic example of how this band spins such a huge sound bound up with so many swirling feelings with only three musicians.

The whole album is really great.  As I listened, I had to refrain fro going on Facebook every five minutes to rave about it.  Hopefully, the novelty doesn't wear off after a bit of time, like Chinese food, like the first album.  Hopefully, this is one that will have me coming back for more.

Phantogram Finds Their Voice

Phantogram

This is another late review.  But, right off the bat, I will say that this was my favorite album of 2014.  It is ethereal and dreamy with trip-hop-y electronic sounds mixed with feathery, swirling guitars frosted with Sara Barthel's breathy vocals.  Phantogram have so much as admitted that Cocteau Twins are one of their main influences, and that makes me like them right off the bat!

In 2013, I reviewed their self-titled EP, and you can read about it here.  Shortly afterwards, their second album, "Voices", was released.  The new album featured all four songs previously released on the EP - the spooky "Black Out Days", the New Order-inspired "The Day You Died", the upbeat "Celebrate Nothing", and one of my personal favorites, "Never Going Home". sung by Josh Carter, that starts out subdued like "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Colins, and then ends with a wash of sound that is reminiscent of Cocteau Twins.  These songs really are the backbone of the album, although there are some other really good songs on here.

"Nothing But Trouble" was the second single off this collection, It is harsh and biting, and, really, a bit gothic.  "Howling At the Moon"is a hook-laden exploration of lunar bliss.  But my personal favorite song is "Bill Murray", which makes it onto every CD mix I do.  It is, by far, their most Cocteau of songs.  Sweet and gentle, chiming guitars held together with a buzzing bass keyboard, and Barthel does vocal gymnastics that would make Elizabeth Fraser proud.  It is a beautiful song.

This band has a really great sound, and I am glad to see them do so well in the mainstream.  Proof that good music can and does come out in our present day.

Metric Conversion: Metric Measures Up On "Pagans In Vegas"

Metric

If you have ridden for extended periods of time with me, you know.  If you have ever have received the ubiquitous CD mix from me, you have probably figured it out.  Metric is one of my favorite bands.  The ultra new wave "Fantasies" is probably in my top ten albums of the the last ten years, and I gave "Synthetica" rave reviews a few years ago.  Metric really measures up on their sixth studio album, "Pagans In Vegas", released on September 18th.

And how do I measure an album?  Before the review, I download the whole album to the phone, and, when I am done with my critique, I delete everything save the songs that I like.  I will be keeping this whole album on my phone.  Metric has done it again.

The record starts out with a finger-snapping jam named "Lie Lie Lie" where Emily Haines (who also performs with Broken Social Scene) sings the bitter, sarcastic lyrics with a sickly sweet voice.  The harmonies make it even more dangerous.  "Fortunes" begins mid-tempo with a Casio-sounding keyboard.  Only a band like Metric can make that sound work, and only Metric can load their songs full of hooks like their main single, "The Shade".  "Celebrate" explores their penchant for electronica with its sweeping chorus.  "Cascades" is probably my favorite song on the album - pure synth pop, complete with robotic vocals, yet avoiding sounding too cheesy, and actually turns out to be quite a beautiful tune.  "For Kicks" is their New Order rip-off, complete with a high-end, Peter Hook-style bass line.  Yet they pull it off, so we'll forgive them.  "Too Bad, So Sad" is their quintessential "Pagans In Vegas" song.  It sounds like a night out on the Strip.  If Metric gave a nod to New Order, then "Other Side", featuring James Shaw on lead vocals, is their homage to early Depeche Mode from their "Speak & Spell" days.  "Blind Valentine" is another Vegas song, except this one imagined in the bedroom.  "The Governess" once combines Haines's delectable harmonies with saucy lyrics.  The album finishes out with "The Face Part I" and "The Face Part II", two ethereal instrumentals.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you make the perfect album.  Metric is well-versed in crafting the rich and full-flavored pop songs.  They proved this a long time ago, and I have known this since I discovered them six years ago.  Metric makes new wave much more cool than it was in the '80s. At this point, they can rub our noses in it - they are good.  And they know it.

Coldplay Simmers Down on "Ghost Stories"

Coldplay

So this was another one of my downloads from last year that I never reviewed.  And, quite honestly, I didn't even listen to it at all until yesterday.  Why?  I was afraid that it would suck.

In the last decade, Coldplay was one of my favorite bands.  I absolutely loved them, right from my first listen of "Don't Panic" and "Yellow" off their debut, "Parachutes".  The first time I heard "Politik" off of "A Rush of Blood To the Head" with its shoegaze-like Cocteau Twins sound, I was hooked.  That album was a masterpiece, and "X&Y" was their magnum opus.  But then, like many bands, they started settling into a slump.  "Viva La Vida" - while one of the band's most popular releases - was only "okay" to me (whereas their "Prospekt's March" EP was genius).  And "Mylo Xyloto"?  Ugh.  Don't even get me started.  There were only one, or two, songs that really grabbed me on that one.

So yeah, I was afraid to listen to their sixth studio album, "Ghost Stories".  I had already heard the album's two singles - "Magic" and "A Sky Full of Stars" - and, frankly, I was underwhelmed.  (I don't mind them now.)

So after my first listen  my fears were both confirmed and baseless.  This record does not have the innovation of "Rush of Blood", and it doesn't have the passion of "X&Y".  But it is still not a bad album.  It's very subtle.  Nowhere does it get loud and wild.  It's not going to clear any rooms, but it will stand insistently in the living room, clearing it's throat incessantly until you notice its fine points, which are.. subtle.  It has an understated pop vibe that reminds me of '80s act, The Blue Nile.  Much of this album is full of nocturnal washes of hushed ambient sounds with Chris Martin's quiet vocals pairing in a way that really makes me think of Sigur Ros.

The album is strongest on "Ink", a catchy little tune, and on the dreamy "Another's Arms".  My absolute favorite song is "Midnight" with its faint rhythm and computerized harmony that gives it an Imogen Heap vibe.

So, all in all, not a bad record, bit certainly not their best.  Coldplay is in the studio now, finishing up their seventh and, what they say will be, their last album called "A Head Full of Dreams".  They say it will be their "last Harry Potter book" of an album.  I will definitely be reviewing that when it comes out.  I hope they go out with a bang.

Meg Myers Wows Us With Her Debut Album

Meg Myers

Meg Myers is one of the most promising and most exciting artists to come out in a long time.  Earlier this year, I reviewed her two EPs, and you can read about them here.  These two EPs were the best thing I had heard in a while, so I was pretty excited for her debut album, "Sorry".

The only complaint that I have about the album is that there was not much new music here, but several tunes taken right off of her EP, "Make a Shadow".  Of course, the title track and main single, "Sorry", is a pop powerhouse that I have already reviewed.  But there is also the sexually charged "Desire", "Make a Shadow", and "The Morning After". which remains one of my favorite Meg Myers song with its music box waltz tempo.  I guess I can understand why artists do this.  Myers was breaking the scene with her EPs.  She wants to expose her music to a larger audience.  But I dislike this tactic.  I don't feel like I am getting new album, but rather another EP.

But the new songs - wow!  The thing that is fantastic about this artist is the amount of raw personal experience and emotion she puts into her music.  "Motel" is a strong opening with a beat that is at once melancholic and uplifting.  The only thing I dislike this track is the key change at the end, which is superfluous and redundant.  The song is already emotionally charged enough.  It doesn't need a key change.  "A Bolt From the Blue" is a jostling, happy pop tune that is uncharacteristic of Myers.  But she gets right back to the moodiness with "I Really Want You To Hate Me" where she uses the crashing waves of her voice to unravel her bitter emotions.  "Parade" is one of my favorite tracks, a somber ode to the uncertainty of love.  The second single is "Lemon Eyes", which was just made into a music video.  This is a good example of Meg Myers, and it really reminds me of "Mandika" by Sinead O'Connor.  The final track is "Feather".  This song is amazing.  I would buy this whole album just for this one song - the combination of her flitting vocals with a doleful guitar that explodes mid-song into fury.  I love it.

With her debut album, Meg Myers secures her place as one of my favorite new artists, and it is a good way to introduce newcomers to her music.  I can't wait to see what she does next.

The War On Drugs Make You Reside In Dreamtime

The War On Drugs

There are several albums that I downloaded in 2014 that I never reviewed.  This is one of them.  So over the course of the next several days, I will be catching up on my reviews.

The name of the third album of Philadelphia's jam-rockers, The War On Drugs, is appropriate.  It's called "Lost in the Dream", and it's easy to get lost in this mood music.  This isn't just a dream pop album.  It's much more than that.

Upon first listen, it was hard for me to not draw comparisons to other musicians - most of them from the '60s or the '70s.  Even more difficult, I had to refrain from calling them hippies.  But this is definitely a jam band - along the vein of Grateful Dead or Phish - a lot of their songs unlacing into vibrant psychedelia clocking in seven or eight minutes long per song.  To a greater degree, when I listen to this record, I hear definite imprints of Dire Straits or Bruce Springsteen, or, even more recently, of My Morning Jacket.

This record is mellow and laid-back, probably more enjoyable while smoking the green, if you know what I mean, or while going on a really long night-drive.  The guitars are liquid and impressionistic, coalescing colorfully to form a tangled sonic portrait of soporific bliss.  It's all cloudy skies, light shimmering on water, and blowing leaves with this guys.  Many of these songs are allusive, drowsy explorations of aural sensations like "The Haunting Idle" or "In Reverse".  This record is not what one would call "catchy".  I meant it when I said this was mood music.  This is definitely not a pop album in the conventional sense, but it is nice to see newer acts - like The War On Drugs, like Phoenix - experiment in psychedelic rock.

There are a couple of really catchy tunes that will remain on my playlist - like "Red Eyes", "Burning", or "An Ocean Between the Waves".  This would definitely be a good band to see live.  Thanks to my friend, Mahesh, for suggesting this music to me.

Silversun Pickups Shift Directions on "Better Nature"

Silversun Pickups

So you know my blog is getting old, because this is the third review I have done for Silversun Pickups, one of my favorite bands.  "Better Nature" is the band's fourth studio album, and I have been anticipating its release for quite a while.

A couple of weeks before its release, they previewed the album by releasing a music video for the first single, "Nightlight".  Instantly, I was in love.  Not only was the band at the top of the game, but the video was beautiful and cinematic, filled with stark images and spoken word.  I was in a frenzy of anticipation.

Then the album came out, and I was a little taken aback.  The Pickups had changed their sound considerably.  It was less guitar-driven and more electronic.  Don't get me wrong - Joe Lester's keyboards, maybe under-appreciated, are a vital part of the band's sound, adding an ethereal texture that sets their music apart. I should have anticipated the change given 2014's single, "Cannibal", which was filled with electronic whistles.  They seem to be burying their shoegaze roots, and, whereas 2012's "Neck of the Woods" is arguably one of their most shoegaze records, "Better Nature" is probably one of their least.  What you have left is an undeniably pop album.

And that's not altogether a bad thing.  If this is a pop album, it's a beautifully crafted, well-written pop album.  If half of the pop music today was as interesting as this, the radio would not be the dismal wasteland it is today.

The strength of this album is the stream-of-consciousness way the songs flow into the next.  The opening track, "Cradle (Better Nature)", scintillates and shimmers into the next track, "Connection", which softly ebbs into "Pins and Needles".  It makes for a great concept album.  I suppose it is a good sign that they are growing as a band and musicians, taking their sound to the next level.  Brian Aubert's smooth vocals and outstanding guitar work are still there, just understated and diminished in favor of a more complete sound.  "Nightlife" is without a doubt the most "Pickups" of songs, and my personal favorite is "Circadian Rhythm (Last Dance)".  Nikki Monninger takes lead vocals on this track.  Her voice is a contrast to Aubert's powerful voice, having an almost fragile quality that really completes the song.  It is interesting to note that my favorite Pickups song of all time is also sung by Nikki - "Ribbons & Detours".

Of of the other songs, my notable favorites are additionally "Connection" and "Latchkey Kids".

After several listens, I have to say that this is a good album, as long as I don't compare it to other releases.  It is, after all, Silversun Pickups, and that makes it just about better than anything else on the planet.