Cougar Microbes

California Wives are a four piece from Chicago offering hope filled and shoe-gazey indie pop that we’re actually quite enjoying.

Title track ‘Tokyo’, nodding to its namesake, taps into an undeniable Eastern feel. It’s light, clean and feathery. Simple vocals provide an 80s synth pop sound that isn’t burdened with a heavy emotional weight. Likewise ‘Photolights’ maintains that same oriental style but is far grungier having been beefed out with some lo-fi reverb guitars.

Elsewhere ‘Blood Red Youth’, despite suggesting a testosterone and adrenaline induced rush, is instead decidedly placid with a nice symmetry to the chorus and verse. The result is a hazy summer glow as opposed to a sweat covered solstice.

The defining feature of this band is their earnest sound and old fashioned charm and we can’t get enough. With the obligatory South By Southwest performance under their belts ‘California Wives‘ are certainly making a name for themselves.

You’ll be hard push to catch them in concert on British shores just yet but you can happily purchase their LP ‘Affair‘ which is out now.

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Post by the rambunctious Ruby

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TRACKS:

I’m not a huge fan of singles from most bands–especially bands I really like, oddly enough. I’m always waiting for the rest of the album, because the real creativity, to me, rears its head in those songs that aren’t being played on repeat by various music channels. So against my better judgement—The new single holds its own.

Frontman Tim McIlrath has always had a gritty rawness in his vocals that carry the songs to near perfect emotion. “Help Is On The Way” is no exception—the heat of the single comes not from any ingenious guitar hook, but from Tim’s sensitive delivery.

Surprisingly, I had to listen to “Help Is On The Way” roughly four times before I got caught up enough to started bopping along with the use of my gammy leg. Usually a Rise Against song has enough hook and energy to grab me on the first spin, but not so here. The reason is pretty easy to spot: the song is massively over-produced compared to their records of past. There is slight counterpoint in the song however, but that amounts to nothing really as the song still has enough energy and excitement even with a producer’s heavy hand to add some great modern punk rock to Rise Against’s discography.

The lyrics obviously mean something to the band or its frontman, unsurprising as a number of their songs are either about socioeconomic decline or environmental disasters. The band are heavily involved with PETA and so have a plethora of material for songs pointing out mankind’s faults.

Rise Against have undoubtedly been at their best when playing and singing about the gut-wrenching realisation of failed love (see: “The Good Left Undone”) or the fear of failed dreams and failed lives (“Rumours of my Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated”). Check out their albums ‘Siren Song of the Counter Culture‘ and the outstanding ‘Suffer and Witness’. None of the songs there will disappoint.

And if you want the stripped-down, explosive Rise Against of years past, you only have to see them live and away from the studio. I just hope that the hidden gems are yet to come on the rest of Endgame.

Now go skate.
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Post by Henry ’29yrs and 364days’
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TRACKS:

I’ve said before on these pages that for me the perfect mashup is one where I am familiar, and preferably appreciate, the source material.

Illinois producer Amiland doesn’t big up his work and likes to keep a low profile, instead he lets his mixes do the talking…

Which is fine because his Beck Vs NaS effort comes across loud and clear!

TRACKS:

Amiland – Life’s A Bitch, Loser (Nas vs. Beck)

An old Chevy van has its windows smashed. Shattered glass litters the pavement, reflecting the yellow sodium streetlight above. The thieves quickly vanish into the darkened alleys with their loot.

Following the robbery outside a concert venue in Seattle, the band So Many Dynamos were left without any guitars and seemingly unable to make the scheduled performance that night, let alone continue their ambitious nation-wide tour.

This was not the end, but the start of what was to become the ‘Loud Wars’ album. To the rescue came Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla, who lent them the equipment, and a few years later collaborated on the album, specifically the track ‘New Bones’.

The song has a similar style to The Postal Service, with clear vocal melody, and a strong overlay of electronic sound effects to the quasi-dance beat. The choruses take you on a merry-go-round and then return to the angular and rhythmic verses. It almost sounds like a remix, with its gunshot snare, keyboard bass lines, and beeping in parts.

Perhaps the instrumental is a little over the top in places, taking center stage to the singing at times, but this is a song that shows off both song writing and studio creativity. The prowess lies in combining both elements, and they have done it to a T.

Formed in Edwardsville, Illinois in 2002, the band named themselves after a famous palindrome (look that one up), and have been branded a mixed bag of  dance-punk, math rock, and indie-pop.

So Many Dynamos set out on a mini European tour in February taking in some UK dates as well as performances in Norway, Belgium, Holland, Germany and France. Catch them live and make up your own mind.

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Guest post by the indefatigable Dorian

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TRACKS:

So Many Dynamos – New Bones