The Horrors: Skying (XL)

The Horrors: "Moving Further Away"

Ballyhooed British band The Horrors returns to the limelight with its third full-length, Skying. Clad, as always, in black, and playing every bit the part of androgynous emaciated rock stars, the band’s five members manage to justify their self-conscious style with a pitch-perfect throwback shoegaze record.

At least part of the British press’ infatuation can be traced to sheer familiarity; The Horrors is so clearly a descendent of seminal UK post-punk bands. The moody, murky atmosphere of reverberated guitars ensures the genre’s requisite pallor, yet, like the band’s outwardly anemic aesthetic, there’s far more than meets the eye. This is sharp pop songwriting under a veil of hazy psychedelia.

Lead singer Faris Badwan croons with supreme confidence, his voice resting comfortably atop undulating washes of fuzz. Skying avoids the production trap of instrumental mush and manages to showcase each element in equal measure. The drumming pops, the synths grind and twinkle, and occasionally, the horns add muscle. Like its title suggests, Skying evokes a feeling of floating, enveloping the listener in a state of rock-n-roll serenity, far above the hype.

- Text by Kyle Gilkeson.

Cuckoo Chaos: Woman (Lefse)

Cuckoo Chaos: "Just Ride It"

Say what you will about Vampire Weekend, its presence in the modern musical landscape is inescapable. It introduced a new generation to the Afro-lite rock of Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon with its snappy, kid-friendly guitar lines and collegiate lyrical affectations. The debut album from San Diego five-piece Cuckoo Chaos, Woman, follows in similar footsteps, making music that’s best served on a yacht with a piña colada.

Kicking off with “Jesus Flag American Fish,” — a reverb-heavy ditty driven by dissonant guitar lines, a bouncy bass line, and hushed harmonizing — the tone is set for a half-hour swim through warm pop-rock waters. It’s clear that Cuckoo Chaos knows how to play tight and fast, and what it lacks in adventurousness, it makes up for with delivery and polish.

Beneath the jangly, Unicorns-esque sheen, there’s a clear indebtedness to ’80s icon The Smiths — a connection most clearly heard on the track “Bad Bad Man.” It’s no “This Charming Man,” but Cuckoo Chaos clearly aiming for something far more lighthearted. Lyrics like “I could taste you like a midnight snack / I could feed you to my razorback” are a reminder that Woman is a little like a vacation: cheesy, indulgent, and fun.

- Text by Kyle Gilkeson.

Honorable Mentions

Diamond Plate: Generation Why? (Earache)

Trivium: In Waves (Roadrunner)

Vale of Pnath: The Prodigal Empire (Willowtip)

Secret Cities: Strange Hearts (Western Vinyl, 3/29/11)

Secret Cities: "Love Crime"

The economic landscape is a desolate, lonely terrain these days. Throughout the country, there have been bailouts, bankruptcies, bank failures, and business closings. There is, however, always a bright side to things. Thanks (oddly enough) to the down economy, Fargo, North Dakota-based trio Secret Cities was able to craft a gem of a record with this year’s Strange Hearts.

With a seemingly firm resolution to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump, the band occupied the basement of a recently abandoned bank in Kansas City, Missouri, to record its follow-up record. Serving as the band’s makeshift studio, the deserted space (equipped with bulletproof glass and a gigantic vacant vault) helped the members — Charlie Gokey, Marie Parker, and Alex Abnos — to hone in on their creativity, focus their efforts, and play to their many musical strengths.

Coming off a solid debut with last year’s Pink Graffiti (which garnered a good amount of buzz across the blogosphere), Secret Cities’ second effort shows the band emerging a little older and a little wiser. Though Pink Graffiti is chock full of blissful, hook-riddled songs, the album comes off as a bit scattered, and for good reason: it took five years to write and record. So there should be no surprise that ideas formed and fizzled in the writing and recording process. The result is an interesting bit of psych folk that had many notable moments, but — despite the immense talent that the band possesses — it evaded a truly cohesive sound and experience for the listener.

This time-intensive approach to crafting a record wasn’t what Secret Cities had in mind for Strange Hearts; it decided to write and record the new record within three months. The result is a much more coherent, concentrated effort that still possesses the versatility and integrity of the band’s debut.

Strange Hearts mixes a number of different sounds without running the risk of sounding too random. The album features bits of Americana, indie folk, chamber pop, and psych minimalism, creating a haunting concoction of crackling, reverb-heavy, lo-fi gold. The haunting “Brief Encounter” mixes xylophone with horns and a death-march drum pattern; album opener “Always Friends” has undertones of tropicalia; and the up-tempo, fun-filled “Portland” is a nice contrast to hypnotic songs like “Ice Cream Scene.” Instilling layered percussion and haunted-house organs beneath melodic falsettos and harmonies, Secret Cities is one part Beach Boys, one part Panda Bear, one part Vampire Weekend, one part Camera Obscura — but recorded on tape and played in a boom box submerged into a vat of reverb and delay.

Unlike its predecessor, Strange Hearts’ assorted ideas don’t result in a lack of focus. Rather, the album pulls from what the band does best and puts all of those elements in a blender. The songs gel thanks to common musical threads featured on each track: Gokey’s wonderfully meandering falsetto, Parker’s angelic vocals and well-suited harmonies, Abnos’ intermittent yet incessant drumming, and the trio’s layers of acoustic guitar, keyboard, and sporadic percussion that adorn the songs in spontaneous explosions.

Overall, Secret Cities’ music balances pop sensibility with something just off-kilter enough so that it never comes off as predictable or contrived. Instead, it comes off as a band that has retooled its sound and is still surprising itself by what it’s finding. It’s a real treasure. If only the economy could help bring about more albums like this.

Tapes 'n Tapes: "Freak Out"

It wasn’t too long ago when Tapes 'n Tapes was indie rock’s next big thing. And there certainly was reason for the hype. The Minneapolis-based quartet’s 2006 effort, The Loon, is chock-full of raw pop hooks and a DIY sensibility that has often propelled forward the best that the genre has to offer.

And back in 2006, Tapes 'n Tapes certainly seemed destined to become one of the elite. When the everyday no-namers decided to self-release a bad-ass concoction of Pixies-style rock songs that were just as upbeat and catchy as they were introspective and self-exploratory, something new and refreshing was at hand. The band came out of nowhere, really, garnering a buzz that thrust it onto a major label, and it was crowned as indie’s great new hope.

Then, like many heavily hyped bands, Tapes 'n Tapes fell victim to the dreaded sophomore slump. Its first effort on a major label, Walk It Off, in 2008, fell short of reviving the youth and vivacity that dripped from every track on The Loon. Gone were the rough edges and hook-laden pop songs; instead, the album featured a collection of songs that seemed intent on missing the mark. Aside from the album’s standout track “Hang ’Em All,” Walk It Off seemed unable to capture what The Loon did.

It lacked that same freshness, that same energy that the band was somehow able to bottle on its first album. The band no longer offered its sparse yet frenzied melodies that helped each song gleam. Each song purged on gluttonous arrangements and instruments, an indulgent examination of what the band should have done with a major-label budget. And so Tapes 'n Tapes became another victim of hype — so much promise, but so much pressure. And it fell to the wayside, for better or worse.

Now, the band’s 2011 effort, Outside, finds Tapes 'n Tapes trying to get back to basics. Abandoning the ambitious approach it took on Walk It Off, the band has instead embraced the stripped-down arrangements and instrumentation that made The Loon such a gem. Album opener “Badaboom” sounds like a song that could easily fit somewhere on The Loon, with its sporadic drumbeat, simple guitar riff, and pop melody. The Tropicália-esque “One In The World” evokes eccentricities that, given the popular music climate, might be likened to the sound of the much less quirky and over-hyped Vampire Weekend. “SMW” is more accessible than anything on its debut. And “The Saddest of All Keys” finds singer Josh Grier channeling his inner Black Francis — a tendency so precious when the band first got its start.

A majority of the songs are driven by DIY rock basics — guitar, bass, and drums. These are the moments when the band is at its best. While there are a few adornments of keyboards, organ, and horns, Tapes 'n Tapes is more than willing to keep things simple and keep things moving. (There are, however, a few instances when the album slows down that just seem useless; “Hidee Ho” neutralizes the raucous energy that “The Saddest of All Keys” so energetically built up.) But for the most part, Tapes 'n Tapes rediscovers what made it such a big deal in the first place.

To be fair, though, the band isn’t trying to put out another Loon. Though the attempt to reconnect with what worked might be at the heart of this album, it’s apparent that Outside is full of a matured, wiser musicality. The band’s brash youthfulness isn’t as apparent as it was on its debut, but it usually works to the band’s advantage; an older, more experienced Tapes 'n Tapes is at the helm.

With that “new for the sake of being new” buzz out of the way, the band has placed its focus on the songs themselves in an attempt to construct something that goes beyond youthful indifference. This not be the return to form that some fans were hoping for, but it is the evolution of a band that has seen both success and disappointment, and is content with the way it is now — whether others like it or not.

Coheed and Cambria
Ben Folds
Rise Against
Andrew Bird
TV on the Radio
Dan Deacon
Lou Reed
Ben Harper
Thievery Corporation
Snoop Dogg
Vampire Weekend
The Decemberists
Neko Case
STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9)
Animal Collective
Band of Horses
Of Montreal
Arctic Monkeys
Fleet Foxes
Silversun Pickups
Kaiser Chiefs
Crystal Castles
Bon Iver
Santigold
Atmosphere
Dan Auberbach
Cold War Kids
Deerhunter
Lykke Li
Robert Earl Keen
Peter Bjorn and John
Heartless Bastards
Gomez
Glasvegas
Federico Aubele
Passion Pit
The Raveonettes
The Gaslight Anthem
The Airborne Toxic Event
White Lies
Ra Ra Riot
No Age
Asher Roth
Los Campesinos!
Bat For Lashes
Chairlift
Gang Gang Dance
The Virgins
Amazing Baby
Portugal. The Man
The Knux
Ida Maria
Delta Spirit
Friendly Fires
Manchester Orchestra
Constantines
Ezra Furman & The Harpoons
Hockey
Miike Snow
Alberta Cross
Hey Champ
Sam Roberts Band
The Henry Clay People
Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam
Cage the Elephant
Living Things
The Low Anthem
Blind Pilot
Langhorne Slim
Other Lives
The Builders and The Butchers
Eric Church
Joe Pug
Kevin Devine
The Green Cards
Carney
Thenewno2

DJ sets and performances at Perry's Place:
Bassnectar
MSTRKRFT
Simian Mobile Disco
DeadMau5
Boys Noize
KiD CuDi
Crookers
A-Trak
Hercules and Love Affair (DJ Set)
The Bloody Beetroots (DJ Set)
LA Riots
Kaskade
The Glitch Mob
Hollywood Holt
Rye Rye
He Say, She Say
Car Stereo (Wars)
Dark Wave Disco
Moneypenny
Yello Fever
Animal Collective (DJ Set)

Instrumental(-ish) Boston group Irepress has completed its sophomore album, Sol Eye Sea 1, which will be released February 17 on Translation Loss (a new song can be heard here). The group's mathy, melodic, chugging, epic songs can be heard on a five-week US tour that begins March 4.

Les Claypool has announced a four-week traveling mini festival, scheduled to begin in early March, that is officially titled The Oddity Faire: A Mutated Mini Fest. The fest's outstanding lineup is different depending on the city; guests include Secret Chiefs 3, Saul Williams, DeVotchKa, Yard Dogs Road Show, O'Death, and The Mutaytor.

And speaking of Secret Chiefs 3, the incomparable Indian/surf/metal group has a concert DVD being released in March on mastermind Trey Spruance's Mimicry label.

Hardcore trio Young Widows has announced a major list of tour dates that run from February through April. See the list here.

Dan Deacon has announced a six-week tour, starting April 3, that will feature a full ensemble in support of Bromst, his new album due March 24 from Carpark.

Marking its final recording with long-time member Reed Mathis, the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey has made a new studio album, Winterwood, available for free downloading on its website.

Next Tuesday, February 3, Tibet House US hosts a benefit concert and dinner at Carnegie Hall. Performers include Philip Glass, Antibalas, Keb' Mo', Vampire Weekend, The National, and more.

Nile linchpin Karl Sanders has another solo album in the works, this time to be released through The End Records. Titled Saurian Exorcisms, the album will be out April 14. Some awesome preview tracks are already posted on Sanders' MySpace page.

Despite comments from main member Tobacco that the group was on indefinite hiatus, dreamy hip-hoppers Black Moth Super Rainbow have a new album, Eating Us, that will be released on May 26 via Graveface.

New York jazz group Dred Scott Trio has a live album being released via Ropeadope on February 3.

Hardcore group Pulling Teeth has a new album, Paranoid Delusions | Paradise Illusions, that takes a crushing and despairing direction. The album is available today to preorder from Deathwish Inc. and its official release date is March 31. Hear a preview track, "Foreshadowing," here.

Grindcore group Agoraphobic Nosebleed will release its fourth full-length album, Agorapocalypse, through Relapse on April 14.

Drone, Drugs, and Harmony

I Love You (a.k.a. Yah Tibyah La Blu, apparently a phonetic rewriting of the sentiment expressed by their more prosaic name in Russian), like many rock and postpunk bands since the late ‘70s, find inspiration in the cavernous depths of dub, but distinguish themselves by peppering liberally with the polyrhythms of classic Afrobeat, a la Fela Kuti.

If Paul Simon appears to represent the path from African music to Vampire Weekend, I Love You appear to have traveled by way of Peter Gabriel, with droning, proggy numbers like "Pigs on Horses" recalling the darker moments of Peter Gabriel [3]. But what drummer Jeffrey Schlette and singer/guitarist Justin Randel do with Afrobeat mirrors what postpunk bands like Joy Division did with dub and glam: find the negative spaces and where the syncopation lands, while eschewing any hint of its tropical warmth.

The bass booms and echoes, while the drums skitter about the space like ravenous beetles. Guitar is appropriately art-damaged, touching on the rhythmic base and leave burns. It's all remarkably danceable, and careens with the frenetic energy of early Neu!.

With more attentive production, a few more songs, and more mature songwriting, Drone, Drugs, and Harmony might have been I Love You's breakthrough album.  It's no insult to say they're not quite there yet. For now, it's exciting enough to imagine it possible. Drone, Drugs, and Harmony signals a turn for the conceptually daring in both dance-punk and art-rock; I've never had so much fun listening to a band's reach exceeding its grasp.

-Lyam White

I Love You: www.yahtibyahlablu.com