Seachange
(Matador)
Why does it seem that almost every band from the United Kingdom produces good music? These bands slowly cross over to the United States where people are finally able to appreciate music from overseas. Muse recently released Absolution in the United States; Damien Rice created a wonderful album appreciated by Americans and The Frames are slowly gathering a U.S. following. These success stories give hope for other European bands trying to cross over. The British band, Seachange, with their new release, , may start to create waves in America.
Seachange's music incorporates many different, powerful musical elements. The six-member band pulls out all the stops with heavy drumming, bass riffs and guitar chords all topped with a violin. Seachange produces sounds similar to bands such as The Vines and The Hives, but their songs go into much greater depth and detail than their indie counterparts. Not only do they provide listeners with a variety of instruments, but they display insightful instrumentation.
Lead singer Dan Eastop displays wonderful dynamics through his lyrical style. Not only is Eastop able to sing mellow songs, but he is also able to display loud, passionate vocals on different tracks such as \Forty Nights"" and ""Do It All Again."" Not many singers can change style from mellow to intense, but Eastop successfully does so adding variety to the album.
The guitar sounds fashioned by Dave Gray and Adam Cormack also add great depth to the songs and complement the lyrics. ""Nightwatch"" and ""AvsCo10"" demonstrate the experimental and powerful guitar sounds many albums fail at or are afraid to create. Intense, distorted guitar solos throughout create an amazing combination between the other instruments and the lyrics. Seachange is obviously not afraid of the guitar as they incorporate many interesting and strong guitar sounds, which strengthen the album.
Although Seachange incorporates a violin, which adds depth to the music, the violinist needs to become more comfortable with the instrument. It is obvious her violin solos are weakly played and somewhat out-of-tune. When the violin is added into the background, however, it sounds much better and fits well with the primary sounds. Perhaps the style of the violin is the rough sound Seachange is try to create.
Through the variety of instruments and Eastop's ability to change his vocal style, Seachange is able to magically create many different styles that keep the album exciting. The band is able to use its musical talent and artistry to capture different sounds, from mellow to intense, creating an exceptional, deep album. While many bands unsuccessfully try to vary their style, Seachange is able to generate many sounds through a variety of instruments that complement the lyrics.
Seachange's is definitely an album that should catch on in the United States. The band proves its talent and its ability to effectively change its style throughout the entire album.
-Beth Wick
Bright Eyes/Neva Dinova
(crank!)
The Bright Eyes/Neva Dinova split EP begs two immediate questions: First, who seriously uses the word ""vessel"" anymore? Second, just who the hell is Neva Dinova?
Bright Eyes, a.k.a. Conor Oberst et al, is just the kind of baroque songwriter who would use the word ""vessel"" with a straight face. Oberst has always had a weakness for embellishment, most clearly on 2002's acclaimed-and grandiose-Lifted, Or The Story Is In The Soil Keep Your Ear To The Ground. Anyone who gives their album two titles is at least borderline pretentious.
There are other reasons for a self-respecting music critic to dislike Bright Eyes/Conor Oberst. He's far too tortured sounding and depressive for a middle-class white kid from Omaha, Nebraska who hasn't even toiled 25 years in this cruel world. He's dated, of all people, Winona Ryder. Some critics have ridiculously likened him to a ""young Dylan.""
But to overlook Oberst because of these transgressions is to miss an exceptionally talented and unconventional songwriter. Often eschewing the verse/chorus template, Oberst writes lyrically heavy narrative poems with some stunning extended metaphors that are guaranteed to bring you down. Or at least keep you company, so you don't have to listen to R.E.M.'s ""Everybody Hurts"" on repeat after another failed relationship.
It's likely that most listeners, who will no doubt buy this EP largely because of Bright Eyes, will be thrown by the opening track, ""Tripped."" The song is written by Neva Dinova and features their Jake Bellows on lead vocal instead of Oberst's trademark quivering, desperate-sounding voice. ""Tripped,"" with its gentle, acoustic sweep features a strong melody and clever lyrics that perhaps play off of Oberst's last album title: ""With my ear to the ground, I loved what I heard/ And I couldn't dream of leaving while you're feeling down.""
The two bands alternate songwriting duties on the EP and each plays backup on the others' songs, but listeners might be surprised that Bellows edges out Oberst by singing lead on four of the six songs.
But the second track, ""Black Comedy,"" places us firmly in Bright Eyes territory. With lyrics such as ""Like coffins dropped into the earth/the saddest song we ever heard/we sang along/we sang it: Take this weight away,"" it's clear that Oberst hasn't given up his preoccupation with death and misery.
""I'll Be Your Friend,"" Oberst's tale of a drug-addled, co-dependent girlfriend, will also sound familiar to his fans, except for the striking, unexpected saxophone runs.
More of a collaboration between two bands that are obviously fans of each other than a split EP, the project comes across sounding something strangely close to early, acoustic Pedro the Lion, peppered with two quintessential Bright Eyes numbers. In other words, it's not an unpleasant listening experience; Bellow's vocals are smoother and more listener-friendly than Obersts'; the trade-off is that they are also considerably less interesting and evocative than Oberst's ravaged cry.
, showcases a promising band in Omaha-based Neva Dinova. At the same time, Bright Eyes fans will find plenty in these six new songs to keep them satisfied, even if Oberst seems more subdued here than in his previously more ambitious offerings (Read: less screaming). If anything, this EP shows how seamlessly two bands can meld their respective sounds into a surprisingly cohesive whole. Pity they stopped after only six songs.
-Adam Malecek
Bob Schneider
(Vanguard)
Bob Schneider's semi-confessional acoustic album resides midway between Beck and Neil Young's better-than-average work. As a singer-songwriter with surprising talent with words and satisfyingly spare use of solos, the album comes off as an early, easy achievement. Like many talented artists, his strength lies in revealing his understanding of weakness.
There is a tenderness in Schneider's words that is often surprising in the middle of his lyrical repetition. It is not the tenderness that is easily bought and displayed like that of many young, male singer-songwriters. Instead, it is a hushed sincerity that runs through the resignation and regret he captures and releases with apparent ease.
The first song, ""Come With Me Tonight"" observes the rule Bob Dylan laid down long ago: a singer can say, ""It's alright"" as often as he wishes if he says it convincingly. The song is grafted to the simple acknowledgment of the conditions the characters carry with them. Without judgment or jadedness, the resignation of the first track makes the rest of the album seem like it could slip into an experiment in melancholy.
Thankfully, Schneider never lets himself string together more than two songs of the same mood. By the third song he fills it with a mountain to climb and an ocean to cross. With ""A Long Way to Get,"" he makes it to an easy goal. He combines lyrics about long distances with a voice full of defiance.
After ""Long Way,"" it seems like Schneider can let the quality of his lyrics speak for themselves and use his voice to carry the production. His comforting way of crafting words sometimes sounds like he's dragging words from books with faded pages. For most of he is cleaning the cobwebs from his vocal chords. His voice may not be immaculate, but it gains character because it reveals its limits as easily as it showcases his ease with internal rhyme.
The title track does not exemplify the rest of album, but allows Schneider a moment to ramble through a few lyrics. He bursts through lyrics like ""Well the story goes things only got worse/Fell in love with a nurse/She smuggled drugs in her purse."" Lines like this have a way of echoing with a little more volume than others stated much more slowly. The tempo of "" takes a few dips, but always comes back faster with every passing verse.
With the last song of Schneider outdoes himself. ""Love is Everywhere"" brings an impressive album to a notable conclusion. The softly spoken portrait of young romance has grace in its crescendos and allure in the way Schneider turns whispers into wistful words. ""Love is Everywhere"" ends with nothing left to say, making the album and the song complete statements filled with tender eloquence.
-Ben Schultz
Le Concorde
Le Concorde
(Space Kitty Records)
Sometimes a band's first EP offers a telling introduction, giving listeners a sense of their potential, while fueling interest for an eventual full-length record. If Le Concorde's first self-titled EP, which features John Aston and Mars Williams of the Psychedelic Furs, is any indication, this band needs to hurry up and release a full-length record soon. Playing the EP over twice in a row doesn't make up for the other six near- perfect pop songs that a full-length album would contain.
The EP starts off with ""The Minor Chords Will Kill You"" with chugging guitar and a voice that admits indie-pop's debt to Brian Wilson. They also borrow Wilson's ornate production style with various instruments in the background, building up to a satisfying chorus backed by a fuzz-toned guitar. The distorted guitars add some muscle to a song that manages to capture great pop rocks and a few rocking guitar riffs in a concise and cohesive whole. This song alone covers more musical ground than other bands might cover over an entire EP.
They continue exploring different styles of music and slightly more downbeat emotions with ""The Sound of Your Name,"" which has a '70s game show melody intro that includes horns. The intro then quickly switches to ringing distorted guitars and delicate indie-pop vocals with synthesizers wrapping around the outer edges, helping the simmering verses build to a cathartic chorus.
Not once do they fail to build a song up to an instantly memorable sing-along chorus. Each song's chorus is approached differently, but as any great pop chorus should accomplish, they all lift the song up to a new ultimately satisfying plane.
All too soon the record ends with a few jagged minor chords that fulfill the prophecy of the first track, ""It's the Minor Chords that Kill You."" With these six satisfying songs, Le Concorde leave the listener yearning for more. Hopefully they will release a full-length record soon.
-Eric Van Vleet
