Review: Ace Enders & a Million Different People, "When I Hit the Ground"

Ace Enders & a Million Different People
“When I Hit the Ground”
(Vagrant)

First of all, has Drive Thru rendered themselves to the point where they have do these joint releases with Vagrant? What did the Reines siblings do (or not do) exactly? In either case, bravo for Rich Egan.

Through the albums he’s done with the Early November and I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody’s Business, Ace Enders has proved himself to be a rather a prolific and eclectic songwriter. If you’re in the mood for some pop-punk or some country-tinged indie rock, Enders has probably written a song that you’ve liked at one time or another. Personally, I thought he was going to continue the folk-y feel of “I Can Make a Mess…” with his latest solo release, “When I Hit the Ground.”

Taking a cue from 90’s balladeers like Goo Goo Dolls and Third Eye Blind, “When I Hit the Ground” is a more radio-ready pop-friendly rock record. Not to take anything away from Enders and company. In fact, this might be his most consistent work to date.

Through songs like “Sweeter Light,” “Bring Back Love,” and “When I Hit the Ground,” Enders captures modern heartbreak in a way that this album should resonate with teeny bopper kids who are graduating from Plain White T’s to sardonic hipsters.

2008 Rewind: Music Sucked; if it were a Child, it Should Be Put into Time-Out

It’s been a minute since I did these of the year recaps, but it allows me to take a breath and look at everything that was wrong with the calendar year so we can avoid it at a later date, so let’s get to it.

Gym Class Heroes put out another record that I would typically lampoon, except for the fact that compared to other rappers, Travis McCoy doesn’t actually sound that bad. Here is a list of “rappers” that are worse than McCoy:

Lil’ Wayne
T-Pain
Asher Roth
Kanye West
The Cool Kids
Etc.

For every Wale, Ludacris or Jake One record that came out, there were about five mixtapes that sucked terribly and have no reason to be associated with hip-hop in anyway. I actually thought that 2008 would have a sense of promise as Blu and Exile release a very sick record, as did Little Brother. But instead, it’s just another year of mostly shitty albums and some good ones sprinkled in between.

It wasn’t just hip-hop that sucked this year, though. Rock music took a very giant hit to the face as musical abortions, Brokencyde, Millionaires and Cash Cash continue a reign of terror that will ensure a new generation of fresh-faced teens to turn into 20-something douchebags whose sole goal is to stay stagnant in a suburban nirvana of extending their collective childhood.

Brokencyde, for those of you who aren’t in the know, is a crunk/screamo band. Yes, finally!!! Someone has taken the two worst musical offshoots in the last six years and combined them so we can only have one band to hate! Thumbs up…no wait, thumbs way down. Brokencyde – with their neon colored shirts and stupid haircuts – remind me of the kind of dudes who own like three rap records, but who are generally afraid of Black people. I’d be willing to bet that the reason they got on this gimmick is because they couldn’t find a drummer.

Millionaires is basically a rip off of Fannypack, with some really young looking girls fronting the group wearing what you would expect from an American Apparel ad. I believe there are two reasons why this group is popular: one, they’re “hot” (by generic scene standards, I guess); two, nobody remembers Fannypack.

Cash Cash isn’t worth any mention beyond my feelings that they’re really, really awful.

All that being said, I’m holding out hope for 2009. One of the most underrated emcees of all time, Freeway, has been throwing out some serious jams lately, as has Big Pooh from Little Brother.

The hardcore band, Horizon, put out a pretty awesome demo and Boston’s A Loss for Words has something bubbling for the new year. All in all, 2009 could possibly erase all the crap we’ve had to put up with, or just turn into another year of stupid music.

Come Widdit: Empires

Empires
Location: Chicago, IL
Sounds Like: Your new favorite band

I don’t think I did a very good job trying to describe Empires, but they’re really one of those bands that you’ll get into once you listen to them. Having gained an instant fanbase by boasting a former member of the Academy Is…, Empires is not your run-of-mill pop-punk band. Shit, they’re not even a pop-punk band. On their self-released album, “Howl,” they wear their influences all over their collective sleeves: “Modern Love” is equal parts Elvis Costello and the Police, “Believe” sounds like the Beatles redux, “Spit the Dark” is a less frenetic take on Joy Division or Depeche Mode. That being said, Empires is also one of the most refreshing rock bands in some time.

Like Phantom Planet, Empires is really difficult to peg down in terms of appeal. They can play for the hipsters as much as they can play for the Warped Tour set; they could be your brother’s favorite band or your mom’s. I don’t think I’ve heard too many bands like these guys who can have such a wide fanbase. It’s possible that due to Tom Conrad’s role as guitarist, it would be easy for some narrow minded person to say, “Hey I bet that will sound like that other pop-punk band,” and they’ll spend their career dodging the pop-punk bullet (like Brand New). But I don’t see that. Empires have taken a huge risk by not only self-releasing a record, but by creating a record that is so chameleon-like in nature, I doubt people will try to ask them to play Blink 182 covers.

Related Links:

Empires (Official Site)

Empires Myspace

Review: Death Cab for Cutie, "Narrow Stairs"

Death Cab for Cutie

"Narrow Stairs"

(Atlantic)

I make it no secret that I've watched these four dudes grow into a monolith of a rock band for the last 10 years. I'm pretty fortunate to hail from the city that is their current homebase, to have been able to watch their organic change from small-town openers to arena rock monsters. Even some of their misses, like the last half of "Plans," are still highly respectable records. So what else can Death Cab for Cutie do? Probably make the best record in their career.

There's no hyperbole in that statement: "Narrow Stairs" is the best Death Cab record.

Before I continue on, I'll say that a) my favorite record of theirs will probably always be "We Have the Facts, and We're Voting Yes" and b) nothing will change that. But the overall earnest aesthetic of "Stairs" is hard to shake. Whereas the band's first two albums were really esoteric and pretentious and "The Photo Album" lingered in a sort of a pop-music limbo, "Transatlanticism" marked an era of Death Cab that had Ben Gibbard spilling his guts all over Chris Walla's cache of 2" tape. As the band has aged, their albums have become more personal -- and though some people can call it a regression, I'll side with the band and offer it as quite the opposite.

The thing is, as we get older, we tend to get better at hiding our feelings and we get better at speaking in metaphors and vague phrases. "Transatlanticism" and "Plans" were, to me, Gibbard saying, "Fuck that," and making the most non-punk punk rock records. "Narrow Stairs" is an evolution of this progression. Lyrically, Gibbard seems to have fallen back to writing some vague songs, but for the most part, the record as a whole comes off as earnest. The best part of the record is Walla's impeccable production. Walla has always been a so-so producer, but, as exemplifed on Tegan and Sara's "The Con," his overproducing and addiction to textures really fleshes out these songs and molds them into living organisms.

Like I said, "Narrow Stairs" is the best Death Cab album thus far. It was so great, I don't even need to write about the individual tracks.

Reviews: Portishead, "Third"

Portishead
"Third"
(Some Major Label)

Beth Gibbons, that one DJ guy and the guitarist who looked like Joe Strummer's (R.I.P.) illegitimate love child have abandoned their hiatus in favor of bringing us another album full of Gibbons' impeccable range of singing and the group's collective love of drug-den music.

Personally, I love "Portishead," "Dummy," and the "Glory Box EP." When music writers talk about encapsulating a moment of time within the context of audio recordings (see also: Bob Dylan, The Beatles/Beach Boys, Woody Guthrie), Portishead's albums from the 1990s fit snugly into that category. But for their first foray back into the new century, there's a considerable tumble that Beth Gibbons and gang face: the passing of time.

Unlike the likeminded Morcheeba and Supreme Beings of Leisure, Portishead's absence from the music scene only served as a detriment. While the afforementioned Morcheeba and SBoL were able to grow and implode in their own right, Portishead's vanishing act made them a "Hey remember that band staple" instead of cultivating a cult status like someone like Bjork or Eddie and the Cruisers.

This sentiment is reflected in Portishead's "Third" which acts more like a continuation of their beaten-to-death contribution to the trip-hop genre. "Third" would have worked really well in 1999 to 2001. But in 2008, it sounds dated and doesn't even harken back to nostalgic days. If anything, it seems like a really sad cash-in.

What I'm most disappointed is that the album sounds like one, long song. It could be argued that Portishead's previous efforts also rang of a similar continuity, but "Dummy" and "Self-Titled" seem to be more geniune. The songs are really difficult to distinguish from another and honestly, I would've preferred another Beth Gibbons solo album, rather than this sad ghost of an album from an equally sad group of musicians.

Redux: Fear Before the March of Flames

So a few years ago, my old band played our first few shows with this relatively unknown band called Fear Before the March of Flames. They straight killed it. Better than the headliners (Anatomy of a Ghost). Fast forward to a few years later and they're probably one of the best bands in hardcore (or whatever).

Even though I've purchased their last couple records, I found that they're not as immediate as their debut, "Odd How People Shake." Over the last few weeks, I gave a second spin to their last record, "The Always Open Mouth" and I have to say that the shit is genius. It's not like they're doing anything that's groundbreaking, per se, but it's probably the closest to Botch they've gotten.

So for my obligatory post for the week, do yourself a favor and check out "Art Damage" and "The Always Open Mouth" (and maybe "Odd How People Shake") if you haven't already. And if you do own those discs, then give them a listen and know that we are all a little weird.

Bonus Videos:


"The 20th Century Was Entirely Mine"


"Should Have Stayed In the Shallows"


"Taking Cassandra to the End of the World Party"


"On the Brightside, She Could Choke"


"My (Fucking) Dear Hunter" with Anthony Green

Dear Meghan McCain...

While it's clear with my job and my general political leanings, I'm as far away from a Republican as possible, I've entertained the notion of John McCain being president since the 2000 elections, most notably because he was pretty hard-nosed about campaign reform. Now he's a pretty visible frontrunner beating out both a Mormon and an Evangelical, which I can't help but smile about on the inside.

Still, because I have the card, I'd much rather see the youngblood that is the B.O. takeover, if only to someone that is a reflection of the America that I've grown up in (i.e. surrounded by brown folks).

With that said, I've been lurking Meghan McCain's (John McCain's daughter) blog. It's pretty fascinating just to see the campaign experience from the eyes and perspective of someone there who isn't running for public office.

The most entertaining part of Meghan McCain's site is her list of songs that she's really into. There are some surprising entries in her playlist: Bad Brains, Dead Milkmen, Girls Against Boys and Sleater-Kinney (my former arch-rivals). But for the most part, it seems to be some pretty pedestrian, entry-level college kid indie rock: Band of Horses, Kasabian, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Decemberists, etc.

Meghan, I think you could use a bit of an overhaul on your playlist. I mean, you're probably tired of listening to the same songs that Pitchfork was raving about two years ago, right? Here's a list of records that I think you could get down to:

Method Man: Tical
Meth's debut solo record has songs like "Release Yo Delf," "Bring the Pain" and "Meth Vs. Chef" which are all tunes that you could start a riot with, but more importantly, get you hyped up.

Death Cab for Cutie: We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes
DCFC's least self-absorbed record has concept songs about Kerouac, smoke filled apartments and loves lost to marriage. It's probably one of the best road-trip albums of all time.

That Dog: Retreat From the Sun
That Dog's poppiest record, Retreat From the Sun, has numerous fun jaunts that you can rock out to while you try to ignore the trappings out the real world.

The Don't Tells: Our Reunion Is Pending
A quirky band featuring Casey Prestwood (aka Spacey Casey) and his wife, Don't Tells play '60s styled pop songs about smoking pot and random sex. I'm not sure if Meghan McCain would like the content of the lyrics per se, but it's an awesome record nonetheless.

Fall River: Lights Out
Since Ms. McCain has the new Rilo Kiley (blah) and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on her rotation, I figured she could benefit from listening to Fall River, one of the most underrated hardcore bands out there. Widely known because they were fronted by Allison Bellavance, whose vocal growls could stand up next to Coalesce's Sean Ingram, Fall River was a technically savvy hardcore group who've moved on the equally engaging Spark Is a Diamond.

just another 4 letter word: chasing coolness annual valentine's day mixtape

i'm too lazy to put together artwork, or provide links, but i'm sure if you go on limewire or whatever random torrent site, you can find these songs. or you could actually buy them. whatevs.

"just another 4 letter word"
1. the riverdales, "back to you"
2. brand new, "untitled 1"
3. waxwing, "where did the time go"
4. brighten, "ready when you are"
5. crime in stereo, "...but you are vast"
6. headphones, "shit talker"
7. the pharcyde, "otha fish"
8. gang starr, "ex-girl to next girl"
9. hunter revenge, "who's gonna love u now?"
10. name taken, "we give up sometimes"
11. mona lisa, "can't be wasting my time"
12. leeni, "perfection interrupted"
13. nightmare of you, "you don't have to tell me i was a terrible man"
14. whiskeytown, "under your breath"
15. tegan and sara, "call it off"

enjoy.

Video #25: The Cure, "Lovesong"

Video #17: Brand New, "Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades"

Angels & Airwaves, "I-Empire"

Angels & Airwaves
"I-Empire"
(Geffen)

If "I-Empire" had come out as Angels & Airwaves' (AVA) debut instead of last year's "We Don't Need to Whisper," I think the reception to the band would've been much more positive. But Tom DeLonge's now legendary knack for hyperbole and ego has nearly eclipsed his post-Blink 182 band to the point that it's difficult to listen to their sophomore record without mocking them for attempting to be the next "U2/Police/R.E.M/Depeche Mode/The Cure/insert influential 80s band here." That said, however, "I-Empire" is surprisingly good.

There isn't much of a sonic difference between "I-Empire" and "Whisper" save AVA's newfound ability to shave minutes off of their songs, thus making DeLonge's nasal vocal styling much easier to digest. The first half of the album is hit after hit: "Everything's Magic," "Call to Arms," and "Love Like Rockets" are among the album's stronger songs. Towards the end, the album begins to lose steam and you have to wade through a few filler songs to get to some more decent tracks.

If "I-Empire" is any indication, Angels & Airwaves might be able to dig themselves out of the hole of self-publicized greatness to just be a good rock band.

capitolizing too late

[not on capitol]

I got to work this morning and I noticed that sitting in a box were two Jimmy Eat World CDs marked "Clarity: Expanded Edition" and "Static Prevails: Expanded Edition." And I scratched my head, baffled.

Quick history: Capitol historically led Jimmy Eat World to the slaughter by not promoting the two best albums that the band recorded under their watch. When Jimmy Eat World were let go, they took the masters of these two records to Nettwerk, who then rereleased them. Sales of these catalog titles, as well as a series of self-funded tours, allowed the band to record "Bleed American," and the rest is pop music history.

I haven't gone off on useless reissues in a while, but seriously, what the fuck is the point of these? The packaging is relatively the same, save some candid photos of the band in the "Static Prevails" liner notes. But for both releases, they contain songs that appeared in 2000's "Singles" compilation, so anyone who remotely likes Jimmy Eat World probably already has these songs. Even if they don't own "Singles," the Internet is fairly easy to navigate through to find these tunes.

This is why major labels are failing: if they're not releasing shitty, single hit based acts, they're "reissuing" records that never really went out-of-print, even moreso, with nothing new to offer. In theory, Capitol (how they got the rights back to these remains unanswered) will ship at least 250,000 units of each album, regardless of the fact that most Jimmy Eat World diehards already own these albums and the "bonus" tracks. This is like fucking "Pet Sounds" all over again.

Save your money, wait for Jimmy Eat World's new record in the fall and don't waste your money on Capitol attempting to recoup their funds six years too late.

shake the sheets: the 2k7 so far...

It's June, which means that we're at the halfway point of the year. It seems like a good time, if any, to compile one of those awesome lists that no one will give two shits about next week.

Best Pop Album
Tegan & Sara, "The Con" (Vapor/Warner Bros)
Guided by Death Cab guitarist Chris Walla, "The Con" finds the duo's brand of pop taking a turn for the darkside, Redman-stylee.

Rookie of the (Mid) Year
Dawhud
Brilliant lyrics, dope production. Dawhud's self-released album, "Basement Sessions," might be the best hip-hop album that you haven't heard yet. This dude has already blown up, it's just up to the rest of the world to catch up.

Best Hip-Hop Album
KRS-One & Marley Marl, "Hip-Hop Lives" (Koch)
It could be argued that these two heavyweights collaborated simply for the purpose of making a buck from nostalgic cats like me. It would've been easy for Kris and Marl to make a slap-dashed effort and a terrible, underwhelming release. But they didn't. They made one of the best hip-hop records in the last three years. In these days when dudes like T.I., MIMS, and Polow da Don are the go-to-guys for popular hip-hop, it's kind of nice to know that the older generation looms around the corner, ready to take these less-talented newbies down a peg or two.

Already Overhyped Artist
Lily Allen/Amy Winehouse
Aren't they the same person?

I Can't Believe They Fell Off
Little Brother/Justus League
I still have pretty high hopes for Phonte and Big Pooh, but that crew mixtape they put out. Mediocre when compared to the genius of "The Minstrel Show." Hopefully they'll get their shit together soon.

Worst Hip-Hop Album (So Far)
There are so many, I can't really pick one. Lil Wayne? He probably has some album/mixtape out there that I can tear apart.


Worst Pop-Rock Album (So Far)
Fall Out Boy (aka Fallzouutboi69), "Infinity on High" (Island Def Jam)
If I have to hear another goddamn commercial with a song from this stupid, terrible album, I'm going to go to Wal-Mart and start kicking soccer balls everywhere in protest.

chasing coolness' 380th post of awesomeness

What's shakin' party people?

I haven't really updated in a bit because I have a million things to review for the two outlets that I contribute to on a semi-regular basis. Also, it's been pretty busy here at my 9-to-5, which leaves less time to hit ye ol' blogger.com. I have some reviews and some other BS to write about but until then here's a video of my favorite Weezer song:

no more pretty girls

News of the day: Pretty Girls Make Graves is done.

(Let's pause for a moment of silence)

Pretty Girls Make Graves was a bombastic band whose punk-meets-pop combination was a breath of relief in the smug, pretentious atmosphere of the Seattle rock scene. Even though their last two records, "The New Romance" and "Elan Vital" were less aggressive than the self-titled EP or "Good Health," they were still slightly more interesting than Blood Brothers' "Crimes" or Harvey Danger's reunion album. With that said, Seattle is still stuck with a bunch of second-tier Death Cab for Cuties and Aidens, but we'll always have the memory of Pretty Girls when we search for fond memories.

[Downloads]
"All Medicated Geniuses" From "The New Romance"
"Speakers Push the Air" from "Good Health"

the genius of anthony green

A few years ago (2003 to be exact), my friend James told me about this band called Saosin. I listened to their CD and dismissed them as another passing screamo band, which I had absolutely no interest in listening to, probably because I was in a band that was making similar music. I probably should've taken more notice, since Saosin's singer was Anthony Green -- whose previous outfit, Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer had long been a staple in my CD player for most of that year.

In the last two years, I've championed Green's latest full-time band, Circa Survive, and their genre-defying debut, "Juturna." I didn't really understand the genius of Green until I heard his solo song, "Stone-Hearted Man," on his Myspace alias, Moshtradamus. While it's the only song with lyrics, it's still heart-breaking and interesting, in that Elliot Smith sort-of-way.



(Stone-Hearted Man Live courtesy of YouTube and Refused TV)

2006 Rewind: When the Eems Started Dancing

The trend of all the emo/pop-punk/hardcore/screamo/stupid subgenre kids starting up nu-wave dance bands still continued to rage throughout the '06, which kind of makes you wonder when will these kids realize they've made a bad decision? I guess it's sort of like that girlfriend that you get all nostalgic about, even though you find all her little idiosyncracies so damn annoying and you can't wait to dump her. Ugh.

While last year brought us Head Automatica, The Killers and Panic at the Disco, 2006 shot us in our collective eardrums with Young Love (featuring Recover's Dan Keyes), Rock Kills Kid (who released a Jimmy Eat World-lite EP back in 2003), Plus 44, Shiny Toy Guns and many other disposable bands.

While I realize that the synthpop hits of The Killers and Postal Service reignited keyboard sales the last two years, there comes a time when we have to say enuff z'nuff. The Faint has been at this new wave revival for years and you know what? They're about a million times better than most of these bands. I'm writing this not to ride on the Saddle Creek coattails, but because it's merely a fact. "Danse Macabre" holds water not only as a pop record, but also as a socio-political album. I mean, if you're going to have a medium to speak your mind, you might as well say something meaningful, right?

I'm hoping that many of these dance bands will die out in 2007. Glassjaw (which is fronted by Head Automatica singer Daryl Palumbo) is taking another crack at hardcore for the new year and Good Charolette is releasing a dance/rap/rock record, which should pretty much murder the nu-wave movement all together. Here's to wishful thinking.

lessons in regret presales!!!

we have presale tickets available now for our show on sunday, november 19th...$7! instead of the $9 you would pay at the door. hit up our myspace to get in touch with myself, greg, sean or andrew so you can get your groove on.