Album Review: Narrow Stairs

Narrow Stairs is quite like last year's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank by Modest Mouse. Both of these albums are follow-ups to very commercially successful releases (despite negative reactions from long time fans including myself). Both were highly anticipated. Like We Were Dead..., Narrow Stairs debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200. Both were released in springtime. Perhaps with hopes of their singles becoming summertime anthems? Finally, while neither are essential albums, they are both very good.

Narrow Stair's first single, "I Will Possess Your Heart" has been described by the band as a "ten minute Can jam". It combines the breadth of "Transatlanticism" with the persistence of "Movie Script Ending". If anything, the band picking an 8+ minute song as their first single is a statement against everything that Plans stood for. However, fans of the band's softer side are not deprived on Narrow Stairs; tracks like "Your New Twin Sized Bed" seem to pick up almost exactly where "Brother's On a Hotel Bed" left off.

"Long Division" brings a new calculation to a sound the band really hasn't featured since Photo Album. For me, this alone makes picking on vinyl when Barsuk releases it in September.

The bottom line - This a good album by what is possibly the best songwriter/producer duo in music today. Overall, the album seems to be on middle ground much like Transatlanticism. Transatlanticism was on the verge of departure to Plans, whereas Narrow Stairs is a band's sensible return to their roots with new tricks learned and new friends found along the way.

You can catch Death Cab for Cutie (along with most of the Ohmpark crew) on the last day of Bonnaroo. Too bad that you'll have the sacrifice the end of Broken Social Scene's set to catch the beginning of Death Cab for Cutie. Their sets overlap by 30 minutes.

Death Cab For Cutie : Narrow Stairs : Long Division

Buy Narrow Stairs here

Death Cab For Cutie website

Album Review: Third

Portishead: Third



Let’s get this little bit of relevance out of the way without wit: it was in excess of 10 years between albums. (holy shit)

Do you ever catch yourself in the checkout line waiting on that old bag up front to finish writing her damn check, look over, see that candy you REALLY liked as a child, get instantly nostalgic, and buy it? Later, you take a big, feel-like-a-kid-again bite only to exclaim, “It used to taste better.”

Welcome to Portishead’s Third, at least for the first bite.

The first track “Silence” sets the tone for the entire album: despondent lyrics (as usual), haunting rhythms like you’re being chased in a dream (this record is not about kittens or sunshine or ice cream), and an abrupt ending (the shock treatment will continue.)

Beth portrays a very passionate, yet demure lady on “Hunter” and her vocals really stand out here – it’s everything you like about her voice and the years have not treated her poorly in this regard. It was here that I really started to settle into the album, only to be up-ended soon afterward.

“The Rip” is another exercise in surprising the listener. The first half of the song totally lulls you in with what I will characterize as 2 minutes that could pass as Stevie Nicks with Lindsey Buckingham (acoustic, mind you.) Then Bang! For the last half of the song you find yourself asking questions like, “How long can Beth really hold her breath? When did I start dancing? Is this the same song?” One of the true gems on the album, for certain.

Occasionally, you’ll get a cockroach leg in your Wonka bar. The placement of “Deep Water” in the tracklisting is questionable at best. In truth, it’s obnoxious with its delicate little ass nestled between two of the more driving tracks on the album. It reminded me of that drug-induced nonsense “Wet My Bed” on Stone Temple Pilots’ Core – similarly placed between “Plush” and “Crackerman.” A forgivable rookie mistake for the Pilots, but I don’t expect such from an album – debut or not – when the band has had ten years to decide whether the children’s tune belongs to the remaining mature, cohesive whole. (side note here: Yes, artists/bands can subtly showcase their versatility. However, the aforementioned infractions do not qualify.)

“Machine Gun” is an opera singer meeting an angry drum machine in an industrial showdown. This speaks to the feel/image provoking nature of Portishead’s arrangements and it is one of the brighter feathers in their cap.

“Magic Doors” leads seamlessly into the closer, “Threads.” It’s here that you’ll find the track (outside of “Hunter”) most reminiscent of the Portishead you remember. The final lyrics, “Where do I go?” leave us with an appropriate question. After a delicious and frightening romp through maze-like sound and imagery, we are left alone, lost.

It was always dark, but now it’s gloomy with no hope for escape. The lyrics throughout their history have centered around various relationships or worldviews not exactly going to plan – and it’s no different on Third. That’s the unmistakable nougat you’re chewing on, same as it always was.

In all, despite the 93 second intermission of “Deep Water,” Third is a very original and cohesive piece. Just don’t push too hard for those beloved trademark scratched samples. They’ve been replaced by more ambitious noise experiments. However, Beth is still sultry and the music is resurgent, yet progressive. The album may actually be more accessible to those who don’t bring their 1997 palates to the table. Further, another layer down, the returns are boosted through additional listens on account of the initial shocking nature of certain tracks – I’m looking at you, “Plastic.”

So, there’s a guy in a nice office somewhere. He’s the suit that decided to import the cocoa from a different country because of tariffs and such and he’s why your candy bar “don’t taste right.” Cut him some slack though. The times have changed and so have you.

And what of your precious trip-hop?

It grew up and made friends.


Portishead : Third : The Rip


Portishead : Third : We Carry On


Buy Third Here

Portishead Myspace

Album Review: This Piano Plays Itself

This Piano Plays Itself: This Piano Plays Itself



Local Atlanta's This Piano Plays Itself just released a self-titled EP that takes the listener through an impressive variety of tones. Their "Explosions-in-the-Death-Cab" sound is highlighted by some electronic muscle that stretches their sound out of the worn idea of guitar rock, and although their influences may be somewhat transparent, this self-produced first effort shows huge potential. The opening minute or so of the record, a series of reverb-heavy synth loops, do a great job of setting up the first real song of the record, Day of Symmetry. From there, the record continues to display more guitar than synthy rock, but there are a couple electronic music-esque production tricks thrown in, like on Post Haste the Proletariat Waits and Awake/Asleep. Throwing on the reverb thick on both the guitars and vocals give the shoe-gaze elements of this band's sound an other worldly quality. Having seen the band live a couple times, the record surprised me by accomplishing a more calculated and in the pocket feel alongside their normally raucous and Godspeed!-type spastic parts, exemplified in the closing track of the record, These are Segments of Revolving and Revolting.

The record throws some serious wall of noise guitar bashing in with the peripheral electronic experimentation while not feeling gimmicky, or as if searching for filler. The biggest problems with this record are minor and the same as any other young band: transparent influences and production values. Impressive in its own right, this is a self-produced first recording, which rarely, if ever, turn out this well. This band's thick sound shows huge potential and I am psyched to hear them move forward with more tunes.

This Piano Plays Itself : Day Of Symmetry


This Piano Plays Itself : Post Haste, The Prolitariat Waits


This Piano Plays Itself Myspace

Album Review: You Know People I Know People

Morning State: You Know People I Know People



Morning State finally released their debut full-length album last week after having to scrap the first recording due to their label collapsing. You can read all about that Yankee Hotel Foxtrot-esque storyline here. The album released is actually from a second, separate recording session earlier this year with Asa Leffer (The Whigs, Dark Meat, The Pendletons) at DARC in Athens, GA over an 11 day span.

The album opens with "Sad Is When I'm Driving" and is the perfect intro track to this band. At moments it is melodic and reserve, others it is rocking hard delivering the best of its collective members. Sweet and concise guitar riffs, driving rhythms on the drums, straightforward, catchy hooks from vocalist Russ Ledford, and a tease of their bottled up potential to jam out. The album builds up momentum with the short second track, "Hurry, Hurry", before they drop one of the obvious hit songs, "Never So Strange." The version of this track seems so much more laid back and tentative from what I remember of it live. It helps with the overall flow of the album, but something about the song itself seems lacking.

"Grown Up (Atlanta)" is up next and is my favourite song on this record. I usually go back and listen to this one again every time I put You Know People in my CD player. It channels everything I enjoy about bands like The Foo Fighters and Queens Of the Stone Age. The jam at the end of the next track,"On A Walk," really sells the guitar work on this album. Evey riff they employ seems to be the right decision for the particular feel they are trying achieve.

After a bit of a slow down, another standout tune,"That's Quite A Rash," picks up the velocity and really highlights the things that appeal to me most about this band. The two tracks that close out You Know People make for an interesting finale. As I understand it, "What Did You Want" was a newer song that wasn't on the original recording. The extended jam in it seems so uncharacteristic for these guys, but feels so right. "Knives" ends an album that always seems stronger when its louder, bigger, faster, harder with their softest, most downbeat tune. The paradoxical ending accentuates both the potential this band has and exposes the quirks in its identity.

The biggest problem with this record is that the somewhat derivative, '90s rock aesthetic might discourage someone with a progressive taste in music casually listening from digging deeper into the nuances and depth You Know People possesses. At the same time its idiosyncrasies may prevent it from being gobbled up in radio-pop land. The line they ride I think is a very interesting experiment in the current music climate, and I'm intrigued by both how it will turn out, and where these guys will go next. Even the way the album ends feels more like a question mark than an exclamation point. I'll be patiently awaiting the answer.

Morning State will be at The Star Bar Tomorrow night for a CD Release party with Casper And The Cookies.

Morning State : You Know People I Know People : Grown Up (Atlanta)


Morning State : You Know People I Know People : That's Quite A Rash


Morning State Myspace

Buy You Know People I Know People here

Record Review: Russian Spy Camera - Mutiny In The Kitchen With Knives

Russian Spy Camera has recently posted their new record, Mutiny In The Kitchen With Knives, for free. It is a quirky collection of classic rock influences as well as some more contemporary shout-outs. The opener is an epic, Television - inspired jam that stands out as the most indulgent and longest track on the record. As the record progresses, more straightforward tracks like "Cryptology" wear out the Bowie and Clash worship through some great piano work and Strummer-esque vocal noodling. Electronics-tinged tracks like "Hotels" takes a stab at some groove-inspired rock that Muse began to touch on their latest record; an audible hip hop influence. "Cults" further professes the band's love for Muse as synth arpeggios layer over a riff that sounds like it came off the Stills' first record. The record even tackles a few acoustic ballads, like "The Obsolete Man" and the album closer, "Pickpockets" (presumably shooting for a Weezer - Butterfly type vibe). The pace is consistently fresh. Mutiny In The Kitchen With Knives changes gears confidently, quickly, and to great effect, with tunes that are impressively broad in scope and yet retain the tightness of a pop rock record.


This month has witnessed not only established giants Nine Inch Nails release a free record, but also local Athens band, Russian Spy Camera. Seeing brave moves like this from both the upper and lower tiers of the music business is exciting and speaks to the rapidly changing state of the industry; hopefully the trend will continue. It seems that the Nine Inch Nails endeavor was quite the success, so we can probably expect so (check out the behavior of The Raconteurs and even The Smashing Pumpkins). Russian Spy Camera have adopted a simpler pricing scheme ('pay us if you want to').

The record is available at their website: http://www.russianspycamera.com/

Review-"We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank" - Modest Mouse

I once made a statement that Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie was one of the greatest writers of our time. A friend of mine quickly shot back, "Pft, Isaac Brock can say in two words what takes Ben Gibbard a whole song". In this statement he was not bashing Gibbard, an artist my friend also had great admiration for, but was simply stating that none of Brock's contemporaries formed such clear thesis as "People are made of water and shit" or "We're put here just to make more dirt".

Prior to last week I would consider Ugly Casanova's "Sharpen Your Teeth" to be Brock's last great work. The 2004 Modest Mouse release "Good News For People Who Love Bad News" just didn't do much for me. Save for his circular ramblings about language on "Blame it on the Tetons", I found it lacking the core Modest Mouse essence that has separated the band from a Franz Ferdinand or a Wolf Parade. While the songs were still instantly recognizable as Modest Mouse, they lacked the darkness and simple complexity of their precursors.

Some would be quick to blame this fall from grace on the majors. However, this just doesn't seem to hold water; I dare you to deny the greatness of "The Moon & Antarctica", the band's major label debut. Others would point to Brock's personal problems; a stint in short stint in jail for a DUI and an attempted murder charge. While this sort of trouble would be enough to knock anyone of their game, "The Moon & Antarctica" was releases on the heals of rape accusations which eventually forced Brock to move from Seattle, WA to Gainesville, FL to escape a scene that had turned against him. To make matters worse, drummer Jeremiah Green, whose mesmerizing drumming defined some of the bands earlier work, had a break down during second day of recording and quit the band. Add to the mix new producer Dennis Herring, who the band had never before worked with, and it is a wonder this album was ever completed at all. For all its low points, the album "Good News..." stuck to very tight concept and found the band progressing from releasing a collection of loosely connected songs to creating a statement as an album. Not to mention it went platinum and has outsold all the previous Modest Mouse releases combined.

After suffering through a less than stellar and more than expensive live show from their second tour for "Good News..." I was ready to say good-bye. I wanted to hold on to the old Modest Mouse. I had no interest in anything that grew out of the same pot that "Good News..." was planted in. Upon the reading of the return of their drummer Jeremiah Green and the addition of Johnny Marr (of the fucking Smiths, WTF), I had shard of hope that Modest Mouse might be able return to greatness. When the new album was leaked to the P2P networks I couldn't resist; I had to have a listen (I have since purchased both the Deluxe CD and LP editions of this incredible album).

While those hoping for a return to the "Dial-a-Song" days could possibly still be disappointed by "We Were Dead Before the Ship Began to Sink", this album is far from the worst and very close to the best Isaac has ever penned. Songs like "Parting of the Sensory" not only close the curtains on the brightness of "Good News..." but they also mark the return of phrases like "Some day you will die and somehow something's going to steal your carbon". This album takes lessons learned in album crafting from "Good News..." and applies them to Brock's core competencies: musings of the universe, morality, and infinity. However, people expecting a second "Good News..." are not denied either. "Dashboard" has been aptly labeled "Float On 2" for better or worse. Anyone who can't make it through to "Florida" will probably declare that nothing has changed from "Good News...".

For me, Brock's best work to date is studies in the canon "Cat Faces" from his Ugly Casanova release "Sharpen Your Teeth". To a lessor extent this album revisits this application of layered vocals. The call and response and panned vocals add a width to the Modest Mouse sound that can't really be found anywhere else in rock today. However, I think the main strength of this album is how it draws on every previous version of Modest Mouse: there is the intensity of "Tundra/Desert" in "Parting of the Sensory", there is rarely shown sweet side of "Sleepwalking" and Trailer Trash" in "Little Motel". "Parting of the Sensory" seems to share the sonic landscape that made "The Moon & Antarctica" one of the most important albums of this decade, and "Fire it Up" and "Dashboard" take a page from the radio friendly songs found on "Good News...".

Whatever you’re looking for in Modest Mouse, chances are you will find it on this album (save for some of the very early antics). If you want to hate their commercial success and totally bash them for selling out; you will certainly find plenty of fuel to do that in the first ten minutes of this album. If your looking for return to their "glory days" it is here too, it just takes a little more effort. If your looking for a defining statement of what Modest Mouse is or a good introduction to the band, this is album is probably your best bet.