 by James Plante
 Dear Machine,
Self-Titled
Self-Released
Dear Machine, (the comma’s part of the name) traffic in the kind of straight-ahead rock chock full of easy rewards that we’ve come to know and love from other TC bands like the Hang-ups and the Honeydogs. Singer Jason Shannon’s voice bears a striking resemblance to Eddie Vedder’s, but it’s not because he’s a gravelly baritone.
He’s pitched a bit higher, and
it’s something about the way his voices dies at the end of phrases, or
the way he enunciates lines like “Don’t gimme no shit” on
standout track “Somehow the Smile” that make the comparison stick.
The band blends in some old-school R&B and saxophone with their sterling
hooks to keep things interesting. Ed Ackerson’s production is outstanding
per usual, and it’s the kind of thing that can make or break an album.
Big pop hooks plus tinny sound equals nothing much at all, but here everything
falls nicely into place and you get a solid mainstream-ish effort that’s
either bound for widespread commercial glory or local diehard fandom.
Twisted Linguistics
What I Seen, What I Done
Interlock
 Twisted
Linguistics have been around a long time, a founding group of Saint Paul hip-hop
collective Interlock. Back in the day, the classic lineup was 3SB and Muad’dib
with DJ Anton, although Muad’dib’s involvement with fellow Interlockers
Heiruspecs means that What I Seen, What I Done is largely the project
of 3SB and Anton. The lyrics might not be breaking new ground, running largely
to warnings about mass communication and racism and paeans to shorties and freestlying,
all while big-upping Saint Paul and the Twin Cities, but the music is refreshingly
creepy, strings sneaking in behind sometimes stuttering drums, and much of it
is put down by real-live musicians, resulting in a looser and more organic funk
to tracks like “Drivin’” and the dancehall jam “Sunshine.”
Guests include Kanser, Golden and Isaac Russell and Muad’dib’s turn
on “Ride Tonight” brings a refreshing New Jack swing to this largely
old school outing. Interlock formed in the shadow of Rhymesayers and has watched
Doomtree become the next big thing in Twin Cities hip-hop, but they’re
still holding it down, partying like it’s 1999.
 Friendly
No One
The Cleveland Specials
Self-Released
First of all, this album looks great, even if the CD completely nicks the on-disc
art from Conor Oberst’s Desaparecidos. It’s nice to see a band pay
close attention to crafting a package that makes you psyched to slip the disc
in. The album’s impeccably recorded, especially for a band-recorded effort,
and if you like indie rock delievered with clean arpeggios and urgently hushed
vocals that break into grindy off-kilter choruses, you’ll be hooked by
the second track, “The Seconds That Hurt.” You’re probably
thinking Dismemberment Plan, and you’d be right, although Scott and Atom’s
vocals are less of an acquired taste than Travis Morrison’s. If anybody
remembers Cold Water Flat, they’re a little like them in their fondness
for rolling rather than jackknifing their rhythms although they play the loud/soft
dynamic card a little more dramatically. Indie rock aficionados take heed; everyone
else, you’ve probably stopped reading this by now.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Self-Titled
Self-Released
 If
you’re an avid reader of PitchforkMedia.com
or Salon, this comes as no shock to you, but
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is pretty damn great. Which is unusual enough for a
band with as much hype as CYHSY has going, but doubly so for an unsigned band
with no distribution. True, the music bears a certain resemblance to the Walkmen
and Interpol at times, and Alec Ounsworth’s vocals are reminiscent of
Thom Yorke or David Byrne, but despite all that, it really comes together into
something fairly unique. The closest whole-band approximation is the Arcade
Fire, although if their album was the Funeral, then CYHSY’s debut is the
Irish wake. They’ve managed to put together an album with nary a throwaway
tune that hang together as a whole, something that bands like Bloc Party and
the Strokes haven’t managed. Standouts include “The Skin of My Yellow
Country Teeth” with its careeningly infectious melody and four-on-the-floor
done right rhythm and “Over and Over Again,” whose breezy arrangement
ties down a melancholy disenchantment featuring lines like “You look like
David Bowie/ but you’ve nothing new to show me.” Check their website
clapyourhandssayyeah.com to order or find out when they’ve hit it big.
 Jose
Gonzalez
Veneer
Hidden Agenda
Jose Gonzalez’ Veneer comes with promo materials touting him as
part Joao Gilberto and part Nick Drake, but mostly, he’s a guy alone with
an acoustic guitar. It’s a bit of a straitjacket; I can’t say how
many guys I’ve seen with acoustic guitars over the years, and with such
a stark background, it basically comes down to the tunes and the voice. Gonzalez
has a solid, if unspectacular voice. Don’t expect Jeff Buckley heroics
here, but he also has a good ear for melody and it’s enough to keep you
engaged, at least passively, perhaps while reading a book in the early evening.
He’s Swedish, so the cross-cultural marketing opportunities seem endless,
and he’s smartly chosen to cover fellow-Swedes the Knife’s “Heartbeats.”
The Knife play synth-pop straight outta 1981, and their “Heartbeats”
is one of the best electro-dance tunes to come out in recent memory. Gonzalez
transforms it into a gentle acoustic number effortlessly, not unlike Iron &
Wine’s version of the Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights,”
and his version is worth the price of admission alone. If the future of music
is electronic, guys like Gonzalez can always do a brisk trade in making stripped-down
versions of dance hits. ||
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