Sugarmen "Dirt" [single] (Poor Old Soul Records)

This is that rock n roll sound that has groovy bass lines and the vocals sometimes go back and forth between singing and speaking.    It is no coincidence that the name of this band is Sugarmen because it sounds like "Sugar High" by Coyote Shivers and just that overall feel of being part of the "Empire Records" soundtrack.    Will it be on my mixed tape?  Absolutely!   This song rocks.    I want more more more.

Danny Darko ft. Julien Kelland "Say Goodbye" (Original Mix) [single]

[https://soundcloud.com/dannydarko1/danny-darko-ft-julien-kelland-saygoodbye]

It's hard for me to describe the music going on within this song.   It's not full on "pop" in the way that you would think of something being on the radio and thus becoming obnoxious to me because the vibe is a lot more chill.   It's also not really rock, as there are beats and tones of bliss, but yet somehow I want to call this "pop rock" in the way that Blue October would make one of their songs (see: "Approaching Normal") rather than the more traditional route.    The vocals remind me a bit of Polly Scattergood but they do stand out as something unique and for that I do want to listen to anything with Julien Kelland in it now.

There are guitars but not in the sense that you might think of as being upbeat and annoying.   They're strummed along to the synth bass and this is just all around chill.   I'd call it chillwave but it might not be quite that but rather a combination of that, pop, rock and something else I cannot quite place.    Still, this song is a lot of fun and I'd put it on my mixed tape for sure so you should be listening to it as well.    Volume up, windows down.

The Boy I Used to Be "Grip" EP

[£4.99 for Cassette or Download // https://pieandvinylrecords.bandcamp.com/album/grip-ep]

Video for "Try": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XglvILdz6gY&feature=youtu.be

I spent quite a while trying to think of the name of the band that sings "All the little kids with the pumped up kicks" because it's been quite a while since I listened to that band, but luckily for The Boy I Used to Be their name is still fresh in my mind and so they shouldn't suffer a similar fate of being that one hit wonder (Though it could be more a case of them having one EP I review and then they go unnoticed and forgotten after that)

In fact, this EP, "Grip", should solidify them as some sort of great rock band and since they have a habit of selling out of cassettes you're going to want to get your hands on this one early.    It's somewhere between Wheatus and Local H, Soul Coughing and Replacements.    There is a bit more shoegaze on here than I remember previously but then again the song "Rust" also has hints of Marilyn Manson's "Lunchbox" so it kind of balances itself out, no?

With other bands such as Silversun Pickups present the one thing you need to know is that for all of their rock influences none of them are bad and this mix of them makes for a stellar EP at that.   I'm not really laughing at the song title "Pissy Elliott" (probably created before the Super Bowl) but then again they also have "Maucauly Sulkin'" so who cares about song titles anyway, right?

Texas Never Whispers "Texas Never Whispers"

[http://www.texasneverwhispers.com/ // http://texasneverwhispersband.bandcamp.com/]

The term Americana can get used far too often these days but it's what Texas Never Whispers reminds me most of still.   That and I can hear a lot of The Wallflowers in here and I've never been a big fan of Jakob Dylan and company but Texas Never Whispers just somehow makes it work for them.

Like something off of the "Empire Records" soundtrack combined with a honky tonk there are elements of Counting Crows in these songs as well as Phantom Planet and The Hold Steady.    The singer can really belt out these melodic songs about being poor and making music.    One of my favorite lines on this entire album is about "the words we never figured out, we still sung along" as it does hit home for me.

I think there are a lot of songs out there that I've heard growing up from Nirvana to Pearl Jam to Smashing Pumpkins even and I might not have known the exact lyrics to the songs so I'd just sing it my way- something I still do to this day- and I'm not sure why.    I remember only really looking up lyrics to specific Nirvana songs maybe three or four years ago and thinking, "Is that what he said?"

There is a sort of mystery in that though-- making up the lyrics yourself as opposed to singing the correct ones.    When you learn the actual lyrics it's like the reveal of a magic trick or something, right?    It has that peaking behind the curtain effect which sometimes can make things seem less fun.

Texas Never Whispers is actually from Texas and they have that sound that you would expect to find from such a great state when you think of any sort of rock n roll or country artist such as Robert Ellis.     They don't lean as close to the country and western side of things as most artists from Texas do though, and that's okay by me, and they're not really folk either so I'm hesitant to call them Americana so... is there a genre yet for Texacana?   That would be where I put them.

Dan Deacon "Gliss Riffer" (Domino)

When I first heard of Dan Deacon he had just released "Spider-Man of the Rings".   As I look back at it now, I can see that was released in 2007 (really?) and so it's been about eight years since I last wrote about Dan Deacon.   I listened to his album that came before this, "America" (from 2012), but apparently didn't write about it.

From what I remember there was a lot of electronic experimentation on "Spider-Man of the Rings" and that doesn't seem to come out as much on "Gliss Riffer" or at least not right away.     On the first song this is more of a traditional distorted electronic rock with elements of pop and even female vocals accompanying him at times.     There are drum machines that offer up dancing beats and it kind of reminds me at times (on the second song at least) of "The Safety Dance".

But as this goes on it can shift from that rock sound of, say, Modest Mouse to what I remember in that far out way from Dan Deacon.    But I think the moral of the story here for me is that there were two albums released between "Spider-Man of the Rings" and "Gliss Riffer" so I should probably familiarize myself with both of them and maybe even the ones that came before "Spider-Man".

I don't remember much about "America" and am not even sure if I heard the one that came before that ("Bromst") but I will go back for them.     All I know is that I liked "Spider-Man of the Rings" and this seems like a bit of a jump from there (Again, missing pieces for me and all) but I still enjoy the hell out of it.

A Place to Bury Strangers "Transfixiation" (Dead Oceans Records)

I've reviewed A Place to Bury Strangers twice before but both times have been brief and comments about them on the whole rather than the specific album I think.   So I felt that this was as good a place as any to give A Place to Bury Strangers a sort of proper review if only because this is that type of album that makes me want to give it a proper review.  (I could say that they've grown or evolved since I started listening to them but I'm not going to get into something that cliche)

With fuzzy guitars APTBS lands somewhere between garage and psychedelic rock n roll.    They remind me a lot of The Doors at times, yet on a song like "Deeper" they can get even darker and bring out a Marilyn Manson influence.     As other songs can have the static trembling in the guitar notes, "Deeper" also breaks down into sheer pandamonium by the end.

On a song such as "I'm so Clean" the Priests influence definitely comes out.   I also really like "We've Come So Far" if only because the way that the chorus is broken up into "I feel / right now / we've come / so far".     It' just another demonstration of how A Place to Bury Strangers manages to walk that fine line between commercial appeal and not.

Whether you listen to something on the modern rock radio charts or "college radio" (which seems to take on its own genre) or even if you're like me and are all over the place with what you happen to listen to musically (and how) then I still think there is something within these songs you can come to appreciate.  

Now the question is whether or not this is the first time that I've been able to write such a review about this music simply because it is the first time that I've heard it become this good.   Either way, this could be one of my favorite albums not just of 2015 but of all time.

Desperate Journalist "Desperate Journalist" (Fierce Panda / Minty Fresh)

[£12 // Edition of 250 // http://desperatejournalist.bandcamp.com/merch/desperate-journalist-12-album]

Falling somewhere between the 1980's and the present, Desperate Journalist combines a good number of sounds to craft one their own.   From Duran Duran, Blondie, Concrete Blonde and R.E.M. to The Cranberries, The Box Tiger, Heart, Thursday and The Cure these songs are somewhere between punk and not because they can be fast paced at times while other times not as much.

It's a musical complexity as there are guitar notes galore and precision drumming and bass lines combined to make something that you might not otherwise think possible.   The songs have this appeal to them where the choruses tend to have hooks that get stuck in your head so in that way I'd also say they're a little pop but I can get metal riffs stuck in my head just as easily so don't quote me on the pop part.

I became a fan of Desperate Journalist listening to this album and hearing the various influence of other artists that I like, and even those which I don't like I can think of this as being a better version of them.    I only truly began to appreciate this though when I realized that for all of its influences I can name this still just stands tallest on its own merits.

Meat Wave "Brother" (Brace Yourself)

Meat Wave brings forth seven songs of punk rock n roll that can be anything from Trail of Dead and Local H to Foo Fighters.   Elements of Cadillac Blindside can also come out in these songs, which feel like a step above something you'd hear on Burger Records, and it just has that heavier side to it as well, so hence the emphasis on the word ROCK.

Boom Said Thunder "Summer Twin"

[Name Your Price Download // http://boomsaidthunder.bandcamp.com/album/summer-twin]

I'm not sure what helped me find these two new songs by Boom Said Thunder, but Bandcamp is dropping the ball by not telling me that they were released.    Much like with their full length album this is just vocals belted out amidst complex rock and distortion.   It's somewhat like K's Choice and yet also somewhat calmer than certain songs found on their full length.    It kicks in a lot though and reminds me of Hum in other ways.

If you've really ever read what I write then these two songs will be a nice companion to the full length you should already be rocking by Boom Said Thunder.    The thing is, these two songs aren't so much like a single as they are an entire EP because they're just full of so much.    But I wouldn't be surprised to see them released as a 7" or cassingle in the very near future.  (Please?)

Sleater-Kinney "No Cities To Love" (Sub Pop)

The best part about reviewing Sleater-Kinney is that I don't have to find comparisons to make because at this point in time Sleater-Kinney simply sounds like Sleater-Kinney and more importantly as I listen to this what I can hear is the influence that this band has had on its contemporaries.   Wow, so much of so many bands that came after SK come out in this and as such I suspect a lot of my comparisons this year will revolve around this album.

Regardless of how anyone might feel about this album- and I for one think it's rocking- you cannot deny the place of Sleater-Kinney in music history and if this album only serves as a way for someone who has never heard of Sleater-Kinney before to not only hear them for the first time here but also go back and listen to their older releases well then it all seems worth it.

Additionally, I know very little about the musicians which make up Sleater-Kinney as a band but considering their place in the history of rock n roll I highly suspect that none of them would have decided to release a new album if they didn't fully stand behind it and believe it to be that damn good.    I'm really a fan of this and it is in line as one of my early favorites for the year, but this should become like all other Sleater-Kinney music: timeless.

Animal Flag & Plainview "Things That Keep Us Up At Night"

[[Name Your Price Download // https://animalflag.bandcamp.com/album/things-that-keep-us-up-at-night]]

After reviewing two Animal Flag albums previously, I find myself listening to this split EP and only really thinking about how Animal Flag has acoustic based songs and electric based ones as well, yet whatever comes into my mind never really seems to matter anymore as Animal Flag has become its own entity to me.

It makes a great deal of sense since I've been hearing Animal Flag in other artists for quite some time now (and making note of it in the appropriate reviews)    That distinctive voice that I once tried to place just sounds like Animal Flag to me now.  

The song "Grown" is about how all of the bad stuff has helped make us who we are and in its own way it can be somewhat catchy.   It's more of the get up and dance track of the two because it is followed by "When the Victim is Played", which is the acoustic, sad number that for some reason sounds like it's raining in the background of throughout.

If you've still somehow managed to not hear Animal Flag then these two songs on this EP are a somewhat fair introduction to how the music can be electric or acoustic and just give you an overall idea of what to expect when listening to more songs (which you definitely need to, though saying it makes me feel like a broken record)

This EP does serve as my introduction to Plainview though, which as a name reminds me of a shortened version of Hidden in Plainview, who were never my favorite band.   The first of the two songs has this punk vibe underneath the otherwise tone of perhaps Forgive Durden and what I want to say is ska.   It's something like The Rocket Summer or The Academy Is, but really it just has that quality where you can say it belongs with those sorts of bands without actually sounding like one of them definitively.

The vocals have a way of being stretched out as so they're almost screamed and sometimes that primal scream does come out.    In fact, that bridge that does somewhat scream in "2338" (Which is odd because the instruments get quieter while the vocals grow louder) reminds me of I Am the Avalanche.

"Seasons", the second song, has an acoustic vibe to it that reminds me a lot more of, well, Animal Flag than anything else.   Yes, I do reference comparisons to Animal Flag in other reviews but, no, I didn't think I'd be doing it in this review as well.   There are still some Avalanche undertones though.    What can only be best described as baseball organs take us into a slew of lyrics about the winter and that actually does make this sound a little bit more like a Christmas song.

A dreamy guitar solo leaves me uncertain as to who to compare this to now, but I do picture Santa Claus playing the guitar and yet I still want to hear more from Plainview so that's saying something.   The way the song kind of draws out at the end here reminds me of The Honorary Title but it doesn't really resemble them in any other ways specifically.

So I'd go through my normal thing here and say that this is four songs and two of them I knew were good ahead of time and the other two I wasn't sure of because I'd never heard of the artist before, but let's be real about this, people.   This is an Animal Flag split and you can download it for zero dollars.   You knew I would be downloading this regardless of what the other two songs sounded like.    Thankfully, they're rather good and now I'm going to go look them up when my internet is done glitching.