The Icarus Line - Black Lives At The Golden Coast

Hey, it's a fairly solid rock album. It's about ten minutes shorter than the last one. The production is less distorted and in-the-red, for one thing. And there are some genuine pop songs this time around. "Slayer," "Victory Gardens," "Black Lives At The Golden Coast," all awesome. A lot more of a JAMC/PRMLSCRM thing going on here, rather than just trying to be as face-slashingly abrasive as possible. I'm down with it.

The songs that aren't all breezy and dreamy are pretty much the same 'ol hookless messes, though. The fuck is up with that? If I want to hear plodding, pissed-off Stooges-lovin' noise-rock, I'll dig me some 'ol Jesus Lizard, Brainbombs, Clockcleaner, etc. These dudes just don't have the tunes for that stuff. Sad, really, 'cause I love that kind of shit. Guys, just keep rocking the acoustic guitars/melodies. I believe in y'all.

Rating: Several genuinely enjoyable rock songs. Somehow, it all holds together. I can listen to it all the way and enjoy myself. Pretty good record. They're getting better.

Song: THE ALBUM!!!

The Grateful Dead - Anthem of The Sun

Can I just say that my review of the new Akron/Family album was way fucking off? I'm pretty sure that even in my earlier stages of listening that I didn't hate the album, but man, does the review make it seem like I did! It's not bad at all. In fact, it's awesome. It's not like they don't still sound like the greatest band in the world, after all. Now more than ever, actually. Those melodies just creep up on you after a few listens, which eventually helps you appreciate how hard and hilariously those songs rock a fuckin' bitch.

I saw them live last night, by the way! It might have been the best show I've ever attended. Let's just say that they played for two hours and that one of the songs was a 20 minute cover of "Turn On Your Lovelight." I was in the front, sweating my dicks off with drunk teenage girls, completely losing my shit to the Blessing Force. This dude behind me had these huge Grateful Dead pants and was shrooming like crazy. The amazing thing is that before Ak Ak's set began, he observed that nobody around us was moving during the opener, and he and I agreed to help everybody else "feel the love." But every time I looked back at him during the A/F set, he was barely swaying, due to being fried out of his mind. Awesome.

What with A/F being a band of bearded sexies whose duty seems to be to blast the wholesome sounds of the Dead, Neil Young, and the Band into the 21st century (suck one, Wilco), I found myself pretty inspired to throw on Anthem of The Sun and tell you a little about it. It's from 1968! Really! The Dead want to show you that they're not just a normal rock 'n roll band, that they're all about experimentin' and being "avant-garde" and "pushing the boundaries of what could be done in a recording studio." So they give you an album with FIVE SONGS because they think they're fucking King Crimson or something, the shits.

But the "prog explosion" hadn't really happened by this point, had it? So don't expect these "multi-part epics" to be all that ultra-serious and academic. A lot of it is just a bunch of dicking around! They'll play an actual part of a song with actual melodies and stuff, and then they'll splice in a live tape of them "jamming" in the good 'ol live concert environment. So it's "complex" music, but only in the sense that it's slightly more complex than using only concert tapes or just doing it all in the studio.

In fact, the "boundary crushing" production ends up just being one huge fucking mess, some of the funniest, most laughably excessive hippy nonsense crap you'll ever hear. Fortunately, the SONGS themselves are pretty good. The opener on this is "That's It For The Other One," which is completely awesome. It's a classic for a reason! It's a "multi-part epic" or something, and multiple parts of it do slay hot bitches. Phil Lesh's "New Potato Caboose" is okay, too. And then "Born Cross-Eyed" is just the fucking tits, mang. Bob Weir just fucking BRINGS IT with this song. Brief and rocking. Good shit. "Alligator" is pretty okay. "Caution (Do Not Stop On The Tracks)" doesn't have jack-shit going for it except for some noise at the end. But man, there's no song in there, really. Just ignore it... use it as time for you to reflect on how much better the rest of the album is and naked fucking sluts, also. They're all over this album. Mickey Hart, for example. Why am I reviewing a Grateful Dead album, lol.

Rating: The songs are actually pretty good, as are the jams. Put together, though, it all makes for quite the enjoyably horrible mess. It's the Dead at their "experimental peak," so it's at least interesting to hear them at this sort of phase in their career, trying to bring the "mind-expanding" aesthetic of their jams into their studiowork. Akron/Family looks up to this album, they do. You can definitely hear it in their longer songs like "Moment" and "There's So Many Colors," which clearly show an appreciation for the compelling ridiculousness of Yes and Gentle Giant, but also make it pretty obvious that their hearts are in the smelly American hippiness of the Dead. They clearly wish that "Roundabout" sounded more like Anthem of The Sun, and really, that's what they're trying to do, when you think about it! And they succeed. Oh, yes, they do. And their work is a shitload more focused than the music on this here album. Like Yes, they're down with melodies. Melodies upon melodies. And when they jam, the focus is less on some boring shit-jazz fusion guitar soloing and more on just making a big 'ol noise for God to beat one to. Love that fucking band. Anthem of The Sun is pretty cool, too. If you think it's cool to SUCK, that is! Aaaaaaaaaaggggggghhhhhhhhh2hhhhh>0%p[o38h!!!!!!!!!!!

Song: The Frogs - It's Only Right & Natural

Travis Morrison Hellfighters - All Y'all

Alright, so this isn't bad at all! Remember when his last record got a 0.0 from a certain online "indie rock" publication? Did it deserve such a low rating? Nah. I mean, I can see somebody accusing it of being "laughably horrible," but I can also see somebody saying the same thing about Emergency & I. Music that is flamboyantly obnoxious certainly does have the power to divide audiences like nothing else. But man, Travistan had a few perfectly enjoyable songs, remember? So how is it the worst thing ever? I don't know. Then again, these are the people who actually think that Wolf Parade is a listenable and not shitty rock band.

So let me just say that All Y'all is quite the improvement over Travistan, which despite an awesome song or two, sounded like shit and contained quite a plethora of awkward moments. Not enough to warrant a 0.0, mind you! It was kind of like a shity Paul McCartney solo album in that it's not that he was half-assing it, but instead just showing too much of an uninspired lack of restraint. This new one is solid, though! What does it sound like, hmm? Well, don't expect those early Plan-style freak-outs. Think more along the lines of Change. Remember how "Sentimental Man" and "Superpowers" were totally smooth and groovy? This is more of that. Except he takes it even further! That's right, dude actually presents a logical sort of progression of an earlier established sound! There are lots of electric pianos on here, which makes everything sound like Steely Dan-style "yacht rock." Seriously! And it's an interesting path to take, I feel.

Which brings me to one of the reasons that this thing really impresses me and why Travis the Solo Artist doesn't deserve the bad rap that has been unfairly thrusted upon him. Do you people really expect him to just make Dismemberment Plan records? They're not a band anymore! Lots of things you loved about the Plan will not be found in these Travis records! Travis, while clearly the central figure of the group, had as much to do with their sound as all the other dudes in the band. Looking for that classic D-Plan chemistry on these records? It's not there, sorry. So don't look for it. It's all Travis now. This is the sound of one (the most noticeable, at that) element of the Dismemberment Plan doin' it all on his own.

And it sounds great, in my opinion. Sure, he's got all of these chilled out yacht rock things goin' on, but he also does a lot of really cool, interesting shit that makes your ears perk up and go, "Huh?" The Sun Ra Arkestra-style horns in "I'm Not Supposed To Like You (But)," for one thing! They're awesome! He didn't have to throw them in for five seconds! But he did! And "Catch Up" is actually sort of proggy! The jazzy melody sounds like something the Soft Machine or some people would have played the shit out of, there's this one awesome, sudden change in the second half, all this shit. And there's a rapper in the chorus! And it all WORKS, goddamnit! That's the thing, this music sounds pretty normal, but it's just normal enough for him to be able to do all this cool shit like the twin guitar lines in "I Do" (sounds like Steely Dan again!) and not fall completely flat on his face. Or better yet, get the shit beaten out of him outside of a Gap! Which according to a certain online "indie rock" publication, is what all of Travistan is about. Except the songs about the presidents. And the one about all of those animals. And pretty much all of the other songs except for one. No, I will not let go of this.

Rating: These melodies really grab me, you know? I've been listening to this thing a lot... been really excited about going back to it. Just really good idiosyncratic pop music from a guy who knows a thing or two about making really good idiosyncratic pop music. I'd say that it's "a pretty competent pop/rock album," but that would be a lie, 'cause All Y'all is a hell of a lot more than just that. This shit stands on its own, mang. Good job, Travis.

Song: A video of Talking Heads playing "Cities" in Rome! AWESOME!!!

New Order - Substance

Disc one has the greatest songs of all-time all the fuck over it. "Ceremony," "Bizarre Love Triangle," and of course, the immortally fantastic '87 remix thing of "Temptation." "Blue Monday" is on here, too. "True Faith" is awesome. "Shellshocked," "Who's Joe," "Shame of the Nation," and "The Perfect Kiss" all rule a bitch. The rest of the songs are pretty good, too. "Everything's Gone Green" is basically "Blue Monday" if "Blue Monday" was written and assembled in such a way that no one would ever actually give a shit about it, and hey, it's still damn good. Essential listening, all of these things. Especially "Temptation." Oh god, "Temptation."

Sadly, the second disc is largely a bunch of boring "club mixes" or something and I never listen to it. Oh, well.

Rating: I don't know.

Song: The Groundhogs - Thank Christ For The Bomb