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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Coming Soon to a CD store near you . . .
Thursday 18 September @ 12:51:31 |
 by Celeste Tabora
Puffy AmiYumi - Nice (Bar None)
Dandy Warhols - Welcome To The Monkey House (Capitol)
Rachel’s - Systems/Layers (Quarterstick)
Mojave 3 - Spoon and Rafter (4AD/Beggars Group)
Audio Bullys - Ego War (Astralwerks)
Death Cab For Cutie Transatlanticism (Barsuk)
Deerhoof - Apple O (Kill Rock Stars)
The High Llamas - Beet Maize & Corn (Drag City)
90 Day Men - Too late or Too Dead +2 EP (Southern)
Stars - Heart (Arts & Crafts)
Portastatic - Autumn Was A Lark EP (Merge)
Her Space Holiday- The Young Machines(Mush/Dirty Loop)
Puffy AmiYumi
Nice
(Bar None)
When it comes to today’s independent music scene, there’s no genre cuter than Japanese pop. Puffy AmiYumi is right up there with Japan pop predecessors Cibo Matto and Shonen Knife in the cuteness factor, though they don’t actually sound much like either group. This duo sounds more like the Japanese girl version of The Cars; slick new-wave power pop typifies Puffy AmiYumi’s approach. This is the kind of optimistic music that can put a spring into your step—even if you can’t understand a word they’re saying.
Dandy Warhols
Welcome To The Monkey House
(Capitol)
Just when you’re ready to give up on rock and roll, here come Portland Ore.’s Dandy Warhols to remind you exactly why you fell in love with the genre long ago. Monkeyhouse producer Nick Rhodes, of fab-pop forebears Duran Duran, helps the band add some electronic elements to their bratty sound this time around. With Monkeyhouse, the Dandy’s show themselves to be more than capable of keeping up with the rest of the new wave revival, and in fact posit themselves as possible leaders. This is possibly the most accessible DW release in their decade-long run.
Rachel’s
Systems/Layers
(Quarterstick)
Release date: October 7, 2003
Louisville, Kentucky’s Rachel’s are an avant-garde experimental indie-rock outfit. If you can pardon the tag-line description and just listen to the disc, you’ll probably be at a loss for a quick description as well. Regardless of what anyone calls them, you’ll find this trio’s music to be beautiful and haunting. Collaborating with New York theater group the SITI company—Rachel’s provide a serene soundtrack to the make-believe black and white movie in your head showing all your memorable life moments.
Mojave 3
Spoon and Rafter
(4AD/Beggars Group)
Release date: September 23, 2003
Mojave 3 was born out of dreampop band Slowdive’s disbanding, when singer/guitarist Neil Halstead decided to pursue a more earthly-bound muse. You can still hear elements of Slowdive’s remains within the M3 releases. Their quiet, somber tunes lie somewhere in between Sadcore and Dream Pop, with a sprinkle of alt. country in there for spice—Spoon and Rafter could comfortably lull you to a sweet slumber if you let it. God, it’s beautiful!
Audio Bullys
Ego War
(Astralwerks)
Is there some good shit coming out of this label or what? Well, here’s another enjoyable disc to shake that ass to. It’s like the EMF for today with great rhymes and awesome beats. Songs like “Face in the Clouds” and “The Tyson Shuffle” are pure audio energy. Please do your next party a favor and buy this record to spin for your guests.
Death Cab For Cutie
Transatlanticism
(Barsuk)
Release date: October 7, 2003
There aren’t any big changes to the Death Cab For Cutie aesthetic with this new disc, but the band has managed to diversify its sound enough to avoid repeating themselves on album No. 4. Though Ben Gibbard’s songs possess similar lyrical content (almost always centering around lofty ideals, lost opportunities and delightful life experiences) each song gets a distinct musical treatment. Another beautiful album from this ever-steady college rock favorite. (Has anyone ever noticed the similarities between this Seattle band and Twin Cities locals Love-Cars? Someone hook these two bands up, they would make a fabulous show if they played together.)
Deerhoof
Apple O
(Kill Rock Stars)
Deerhoof are too structured to be aptly called noise rock, although their sound is undeniably loud enough to qualify for the title. Apple O also lacks pop hooks and is too schizophrenic a disc to be donned merely a rock disc. Deerhoof make me miss The Shaggs’ intentionally bad brand of innocent pop music. Apple O feels like the work of rebellious but talented children and it could make for a fun listen if you’re feeling adventurous and headache-free heading into your listening session.
The High Llamas
Beet Maize & Corn
(Drag City)
Release date: October 7, 2003
The very second the Beatles dreamt up Sgt. Peppers seems to be the same second Britain’s High Llamas are taking their inspiration from. Perhaps a comparison to late ‘60s-era Beach Boys is more appropriate for the High Llamas’ main man Sean O’Hagan. Wait—before I commit to that, let me also mention Air, Stereolab and Belle & Sebastian. Truthfully, you can hear all these influences and more on Beet Maize & Corn—yet it’s hard to pinpoint exactly which one is dominant. One thing remains steady within this band: the beautiful melodies, refreshing instrumentation and earnest storytelling.
90 Day Men
Too late or Too Dead +2 EP
(Southern)
Release date: October 7, 2003
For some reason whenever I think of how to describe this EP, I keep thinking back to Faith No More, although I am aware it sounds quite nothing like that band. Perhaps my memory sticks solely to the piano parts of FNM’s lone hit single from the early ‘90s (Editors Note: 1990’s “Epic,” which features the unforgettable closing video clip shot of a fish flopping around on stage and slowly dying). Let me at least do the band some justice and say that 90 Day Men outdid FNM by a long shot. Though this is merely an EP, it shows some nice evolution from last year’s 90 Day Men release, To Everybody. The EP’s combination of lush piano sounds atop driving primal beats makes this EP inexplicably enjoyable. Why are you still sitting there? Go out and get this disc!
Stars
Heart
(Arts & Crafts)
Release date: September 23, 2003
Unlike their first EP, Lot of Little Lies for the Sake of One Big Truth, Stars don’t have any dancable hits on Heart. They’ve grown into a mellower outfit—relaxing and ethereal. This Montreal-by-way-of-New-York band features vocalist Torquil Campbell (an actor as well whom you might recognize from “Law & Order” and “Sex & the City”) and Chris Seligman (an established orchestra member who’s worked on Broadway productions) as the anchors of the band. However, all four members are multi-instrumentalists, and their performing duties in the liner notes could be considered a short story. Not satisfied at stopping there, the band also recruited a handful of guest musicians to boost their pretty soft-pop music. Already released in the UK to critical acclaim, it’s our turn to praise this sophisticated disc.
Portastatic
Autumn Was A Lark EP
(Merge)
Release date: October 7, 2003
Superchunk’s singing guitar player, Mac McCaughan, calls his sideproject Portastatic, and over the years the entity’s morphed from a one-man bedroom project to a full-fledged band (the group mounted their first tour this spring supporting Yo La Tengo), beginning in 1993 with a couple sprinkles of singles and eventually a full-length album a year later. This release is Portastatic’s seventh release in the 10 years it’s been around—and its second one this year at that! A “maxi-EP” consisting of five studio cuts and eight live acoustic radio session tunes. Covers abound on the album, including Ronnie Lane’s “One for the Road,” Badfinger’s “Baby Blue,” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Growin’ Up,” in which McCaughan sounds like Pee Wee Herman doing a karaoke alternative version (and I mean that in the most endearing way possible). In a surprising turn of events, given Portastatic’s origin, a number of the tracks on Autumn Was a Lark actually rock harder than Superchunk’s decidedly mellower recent album.
Her Space Holiday
The Young Machines
(Mush/Dirty Loop)
Release date: September 30, 2003
Marc Bianchi (Mr. Her Space Holiday) seems to be delving more into the euro-lounge end of the electronic-speared music spectrum on his latest disc. Aside from more typically dark shoegazer soundscape moments, The Young Machines does show off some happier musical moments on tracks like “Something To Do With My Hands” (even though the lyrics are somewhat dour). I often wonder why HSH releases are filed under “rock,” when it simply can’t be categorized as thus with its synthesizer bits, drum programming, strings and robust guitar sounds. Don’t be afraid to call something electronic just because it isn’t techno! For the record, this is the finest HSH release I’ve heard.
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