Fast & Furious (2009)

Don't see it.

Modest Mouse Live at Stubb's BBQ 3/4/09

After I was accepted to UT, I began hearing all sorts of neat things about how Austin is the "live music capital of the world," how it's THE place to be if you like live music. Sounded great to me. But, tragically, through all of fall semester, the only live music I saw was one measly day of ACL. Admittedly an awesome day, but that's a pretty pathetic accomplishment for a music lover living in the self-proclaimed capital of live music. Fortunately, soon after spring semester started, show after show was announced and I soon found myself broke after buying tickets to several shows, the first of which was Modest Mouse.

It was my first show at Stubb's BBQ, which is apparently a quite prominent small venue, and I liked the place. I didn't have a lot of time to look around because I arrived as the opening bands were finishing up, but it functioned perfectly well.

I would be lying if I said I'd always been a big Modest Mouse fan. To tell the truth, I only knew two of their albums well (The Moon and Antarctica, Good News For People Who Love Bad News). But I really do enjoy those two albums, and I'd always seen a lot of acclaim for the group, so I purchased a ticket to see the (unfortunately Johnny Marr-less) band. Thanks to my natural sense of impeccable timing and my lanky maneuverability, I arrived as the opening band was wrapping up, but managed to sneak into a quite respectable spot.

Speaking of getting good spots, this might be an opportune time to mention a few of my concert peeves. One: people who shove past you to get to the front. Fuck those people. If you can get through people without physically pushing them out of the way, if you don't touch them or only slightly brush them when passing through, that's okay with me. But when you're pushing your way through and forcing people to step to the side to let you through, that is fucked up shit, and really annoying. Two: people who stick their cameras into the air and take pictures during songs. Keep them down, or do it in between songs if you must. It is really annoying when half the bloody audience has cameras in the air.

But, Modest Mouse. How to put it...they rocked the fuck out. They played at least one song off every album of theirs, with the most represented album being Good News. I would've liked to hear some more of The Moon and Antarctica, especially Tiny Cities Made of Ashes, but you can't always get what you want, I suppose. Fortunately we were spared Dance Hall, possibly my least favorite song by them, which has been rearing its unfortunate head at the occasional show on this tour. We did get one of my current favorites, Paper Thin Walls, which was notable because the band randomly stopped midway through the song, had a smoke and a drink, and then suddenly jumped back in where they left off. It was a bit of a "WTF" moment, but in the best sense possible. They also graced us with two brand spankin' new songs, The Whale Song, and Satellite Skin.

The most memorable highlights were two epic centerpieces, the unreleased Whale Song, and Doin' the Cockroach. Whale Song absolutely blew me away; it started with a bass riff and a tight beat, and turned into a monstrous several-minute instrumental jam, with a short part with vocals in the middle, and an instrumental outro. I know Modest Mouse may not be the first band that leaps to mind when you think "epic instrumental jams," but the song absolutely blew me away. Hopefully the studio version will do it justice. Doin' the Cockroach was also fantastic, and it was easily lead singer Isaac Brock's most spirited performance (though he was consistently energetic and lively): his antics included throwing his mic stand and mic into the audience, thrashing around on the floor, and yelling into his guitar pickups at the top of his lungs. It was absolutely captivating.

Another interesting note was that the band was performing with two drummers; I felt that their music really shone live because of the much more prominent and powerful drumming and percussion that accompanies performances. While the dual drumming seemed a bit gimmicky, it was still neat to watch. Isaac Brock was quite charismatic throughout, and between songs he kept things interesting by wishing crew happy birthday, singing what appeared to be a Wells Fargo jingle, and, most memorably, holding an extended conversation with a pair of fans who were apparently following the band on tour. He was mostly wondering how the fuck they managed to pull that off. While he berated them, it was all in good fun, and it really helped keep the mood light and fun. The only major disappointment of the show was them apparently having to stop playing a song or two early, because of a noise curfew. Very weak.

Watching the band play was great fun and gave me a new appreciation for them; rest assured that Modest Mouse will top my last.fm charts for the next week or two. Highly recommended if you get the chance to see them.

Setlist (my favorites asterisked):

1. 3rd Planet*
2. We've Got Everything
3. Black Cadillacs
4. Here It Comes
5. The View
6. Fire It Up
7. Alone Down There
8. King Rat*
9. Baby Blue Sedan
10. Whale Song*
11. Paper Thin Walls*
12. Blame It On the Tetons
13. Ohio
14. Float On*
15. Doin' the Cockroach*
16. The Good Times Are Killing Me

Encore:
17. Satellite Skin
18. Parting of the Sensory

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (2009)

Well, a few days after starting my so-called music blog, I've reviewed more movies than I have albums. Dat shit ain't right. So, after doing a little brainstorming with my homies at M:RE, I remembered an interesting album that I had recently acquired which seemed perfect. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (henceforth "The Pains") are an inconveniently named band that carry on the delightful dream pop tradition of notable bands such as M83, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and of course the incomparable My Bloody Valentine.

The self-titled debut opens with pleasing feedback and quickly shoots into a fast-paced, percussionless opener entitled "Contender". The song features a really neat combination of guitar sounds that My Bloody Valentine used to great effect on tracks like Sometimes: a constant stream of fuzzy distortion laying underneath a strummed acoustic guitar. The acoustic guitar is ultimately drowned out, with the exception of the sound of the pick hitting the strings. Most of the songs on the album use some variation on this theme, but it's a really fun sound so it doesn't become repetitive unless you didn't enjoy it in the first place.

Immediately noticeable upon listening is that the album is consistently fast, and bright, a noticeable departure from most of The Pains' apparent shoegaze influences; The Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine were both rather plodding for the most part, and they had a tendency to be on the sad and wistful side. In this sense The Pains are akin to M83; however, I unfailingly get a headache when listening to M83 for more than a song or two, and I felt no such malady approaching even upon repeated listens of The Pains' album.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart is a short album, clocking in at just under 35 minutes. The length works well because most of the songs are to the point as well as on the shorter side. I've always had a weakness for albums that hit the spot and then wrap things up before their welcome is worn out. The length also prevents their admittedly unvaried sound from becoming stale. Of course, whoever heard of a shoegaze album with significant variety in sound? A prerequisite to flowing well as a shoegaze album is keeping the thickly distorted guitar and faint, subdued vocals. Any track attempting to mix up the sound significantly would stick out like a sore thumb. Their closest attempt to do so would be A Teenager in Love, which sounds stripped down during the verses; really, it's the same sound with most of the guitars simply removed for a period.

I would go so far as to say there are no weak tracks on the album. But, as I said earlier, they don't stray far from their poppy formula, so the lack of risk-taking could be critiqued. Their sound is really quite derivative and unoriginal, but the strength of the songwriting is more than enough to excuse them sounding a bit too much like their influences. The beginning of Gentle Sons is almost directly ripped from The Jesus and Mary Chain's signature "doom...doom doom, CH" drumbeat. It seems more of an homage than a ripoff, however, and though I almost forget that I'm not listening to that Scottish band from the 80s, it's a positive deception, if anything.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart's debut album is a concise, lighthearted effort that combines indie pop melodies and tight drumming with textured guitar and whispy vocals. It is ultimately far from innovative, but the weaknesses are easily overlooked for now, and here's to hoping that the band succeeds and manages to come into their own sound. Recommended.

Stream the entire album for free on its Last.fm page here.

Franz Ferdinand - Tonight (2009)

I suppose since I'm making a blog, and I love music, I might as well blog about music. Original and scintillating. Anyway, Franz Ferdinand. I first listened to these guys back in...fall of freshmen year of high school, I think. I was visiting a family friend in Austria, and he burned me a few CDs: Franz Ferdinand's self-titled, Bloc Party's Silent Alarm, and Mando Diao's Hurricane Bar. I would listen to these on repeat for longer than was likely healthy, because as a musical noob, I didn't have anything else to listen to. At any rate, Franz quickly became my favorite, and to my delight they followed up their debut with the awkwardly titled You Could Have It So Much Better (YCHISMB) the very next year, a promptness that you rarely find in modern music. But despite Franz being my first love, I quickly forgot about them when I was introduced to the wondrous Beatles, and so the band has largely remained on my backburner for the last four years. But now they have finally dropped back onto the radar, and I eagerly acquired the album at first leak.

Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is probably the band's most sinister album yet, but in ways, it's their most passive. Their debut drew you in with hedonistic cries of It's always better on holiday!, and YCHISMB blew you away with the zany, fuzzed out riff of The Fallen. Tonight, by contrast, slyly eases you in with the groovy yet laid back Ulysses, which also happens to be the first single off the album (not counting the unusual situation surrounding Lucid Dreams, to be discussed later). While singer Alex Kapranos is at first somewhat offputting with his whispered "Come on, let's get high!"s, when the chorus comes in, you know you're listening to Franz when you hear the trademark "La, la la la la, Ulysses!"

Ulysses is a mixture of old, catchy chorus Franz, with new, dark, synthy Franz, and as such, it serves as a delicious opener to the album, despite being hookless compared to its predecessors.

Franz returns to old style for the next two tracks, Turn It On, and No You Girls. Both delightfully catchy and full of hooks and hummable melodies, they are a welcome relief for any listener afraid that Franz would follow in Bloc Party's footsteps and experiment with their sound to the detriment of being listenable. The chorus of No You Girls is remiscent of their stomping debut, and it's great to see that they haven't left their roots behind.

Send Him Away marks another relatively new sound for Franz, featuring a spidery riff and a floaty, lightweight beat. As the previous two tracks reminded the listener of the band's debut, Send Him Away has whiffs of YCHISMB, but stays on track with a quiet "Won't you let me stay tonight?" reminding the listener of Ulysses's opening lines.

Twilight Omens marks the weakest step in the album yet, with a repetitive synth line and a forgettable melody, but Kapranos's wandering vocals keep the song interesting enough to avoid being a dud. The short length of 2:30 doesn't hurt either. Bite Hard, one of the more structurally interesting songs on the album, starts with an almost childish piano ditty, one that recalls Eleanor Put Your Boots On off their second album, but less than a minute in a threatening riff starts, and it turns into another groovy rocker, with possibly the best use of synth yet in the chorus.

The album falters a second time with What She Came For, which features an uninteresting beat and a needlessly complicated bass riff that goes nowhere. Kapranos' vocals are at their worst, and the melody is almost nonexistent. It's a somewhat intriguing stab at a different style but in my eyes it falls well short, being saved from utter mediocrity by a decent chorus (can the band even write a bad chorus?). Live Alone is the synthiest track yet found, and it is a fun song, but ultimately fails to impress itself in the listener's memory. Can't Stop Feeling finds reverb on Kapranos's vocals and a buzzy synthline that is catchy in its simplicity.

Lucid Dreams is easily the most interesting track on the album. The "original" version of the track was released as a single last fall, and was a delightfully catchy by-the-numbers Franz track. The (8 minute!) album version of the song is decidedly different. For one thing, it almost entirely omits the infectious chorus of the original ("There is no nation of you! There is no nation of me!"), and the verses are chopped and copied and pasted almost beyond recognition. Halfway through, things get even stranger when synth becomes more and more prominent, until it basically starts freaking out and doing all sorts of trippy stereo left-right speaker tricks. To be honest, the first time I heard the track, I thought it was a terrible and unprofessional remix of the original. But despite myself, I've grown to really enjoy the track, humming along to the skipping and chopped verses almost as easily as did to the original. I wouldn't want Franz to venture much further into this territory, but this experiment has to be labeled a success.

Dream Again is relatively uninteresting, but it works well as a cool-down track from the mammoth Lucid Dreams. Katherine Kiss Me is an acoustic ballad, and when I first saw the track described in "first listen" reviews, I was terrified of another Fade Together. Fortunately, this song is nowhere near as cringeworthy or stilting, and brings both Eleanor off YCHISMB as well as maybe even Faust Arp off In Rainbows to mind. A cute, understated closer.

Tonight was, to be honest, rather disappointing on first listen. But it is a grower, and Franz Ferdinand manages to tastefully integrate their new musical interests while retaining their dance-pop-rock sensibilities. Of note is the bonus cd, Blood, containing "alternate dub remixes" of the album's tracks, only retitled. If you love the reworked Lucid Dreams, the Blood cd is for you. Feel the Pressure, the evil twin brother of What She Came For, blows away the original, and the Ulysses remix, Feeling Kind of Anxious, is no slouch either. A very interesting look at what Tonight may have been if the band lacked self-descipline and restraint.