Gold Panda - "Good Luck and Do Your Best"

Gold Panda first caught my ears a few years back, around the time Charli XCX released her “True Romance” album.  The track “You (Ha Ha)” on their heavily sampled Gold Panda’s “You”, I checked out his debut album “Lucky Shiner” and I’ve been a casual fan ever since.  His persona has actually been really interesting, as he’s gone back and forth between a more airy, playful electronic sound, to a much darker sound on his later album “Half of Where You Live”.  I’m always interested to see in which direction Gold Panda goes, so here’s his latest album “Good Luck and Do Your Best”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su1wK7iCQfQ 

(Some older Gold Panda work)

This album starts off with “Metal Bird”, a glitchy electronic number with a very cool vocal snippet sample that gives the track a light airy feeling.  In the past few years since his last release, Panda’s sound has actually gotten a whole lot more spacious, almost earthy and natural sounding, and most certainly a little more ambient (The light guitar strumming that eventually shows up adds to this as well).  Now I know some electronic music is really hard to get into, and I know that some people right off the bat are going to write off “Metal Bird” as repetitive.  The beat even leaves us for a moment and Gold Panda gives us a small ambient break, but when that beat comes back it’s absolutely fantastic.  It’s not as bouncy as his material on “Lucky Shiner” or as club oriented as his stuff on “Half of Where You Live”, but it’s very spacious and free sounding.  Not to mention the strings sampled at the end are absolutely beautiful, “Metal Bird” is a really fantastic intro.  “In My Car” is up next, and it’s just as airy but this ones a little bouncier.  This one features even more string sampling, it actually works fantastic.  When the beat comes in, it’s actually super classy and very polished.  “In My Car” though takes it a step further by bringing in some vocal sampling as well, and honestly makes this one absolutely hypnotizing.  Now, the “music box” sounding keyboards that pop in a little over a minute in don’t really do anything.  If anything, I feel like that sound has just been so played out over the years and I’m just sick of it, you might just love it though.  Those keyboards don’t last long though, and the remainder of the track is actually really relaxing and beautiful, very classy so far Gold Panda.  So many of the instrumentals here are just so fascinating.  Gold Panda takes a lot of instruments and instrumental styles that you don’t hear too often and brings them into his bouncy brand of electronica for a really intriguing listen.  Take for example “Song For A Dead Friend”, which starts off with this really odd vocal sample and bongo drums.  The intro to this one is actually really intense and it comes out of nowhere, especially after how relaxing and laid back the earlier tracks where here.   This one isn’t exactly too upbeat, and certainly isn’t heavy, but it’s still a hard left turn from everything earlier on the album.  Not to mention, “Song For A Dead Friend” has such a unique sense of mystery to it that I just love.  Gold Panda on this track is just completely letting loose with instrumentals, to the point where you really don’t know what you’re going to hear next.  Some of the drum work here is legitimately intense, but the keyboards remain fairly playful, it’s definitely one of the more interesting tracks here.  Up next we have another mysterious number, “I Am Real Punk”.  This one starts off with these guitar notes that just sound other worldly to be honest.  He’s really just taking all these instruments that were use to hearing, and giving them a little twist to make them sound so unique.  The two layers of guitars here compliment one another so well.  Now this one here is one of the slowest tracks on the album.  But honestly, I don’t mind it one bit, it’s hypnotizing, and by this point in the album I have literally no idea what I’m going to hear from Panda next.  Gold Panda’s sound in the last few years has gotten even more massive, and when those keyboards come in here it just sounds monumental.  It’s spacey at times, it’s more ambient at other times, but more than anything it’s a real experience.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKeTlHlMpy4

Now for the most part, I think this is an absolutely solid electronic album, especially since Gold Panda hasn’t released anything in 3 years.  But there are a few tracks here that are a little awkward or boring or both.  When I first heard “Chiba Night” I enjoyed it thoroughly.  It was definitely interesting to hear Panda try his hand at more of a dance oriented song and it absolutely makes you move. However at a few times he does this really awkward pause in the song, only to make it sound like he “recovers”.  To be honest, it just sounds bizarre and out of place to me.  “Chiba Night” is far from a bad song, it’s actually super catchy.   But it’s far from as spacious sounding as other tracks here, which is why I enjoy those tracks as much as I do.  That being said however, it is interesting to hear Gold Panda mix things up a bit.  “Pink and Green” is up next.  Now one good thing I have to say about this one is that Gold Panda is just so good at making light, airy beats.  However, “Pink and Green” is just a bit too airy and light for my liking.  Like, the beat is solid, and the bells were a really nice addition.  But outside of that things here just sound so on top of one another.  It has pretty moments, but by the end of this I feel like everything just floated by and I took absolutely nothing from it.  Later on in the album, Gold Panda does a little “old meets new” with “Autumn Fall”.  This track starts off with some vintage sounding crackling before a much glossier beat comes in behind it.  While it’s definitely cute and interesting, I feel like the piano’s that come in are a little too distracting.  When the piano fades away and I’m left with the crackling noises and the beat, honestly I’m much happier.   Also, the much more lavish keyboards that come in later on are actually really nice.  “Autumn Fall” isn’t the worst track here, but it absolutely has it’s flaws as well.  “Halyards” on the other hand sounds so much more hip than other tracks here.  The beat that drives most of this song honestly though isn’t very exciting or interesting, it’s the atmosphere around it that really makes this song.  But “Halyards” main problem comes with just everything going on.  Yes, it’s pretty in parts, but for the most part everything just sounds so mushed together that I can’t really focus on anything.  It’s still an interesting track, and it still kept my attention, I’ll give it that. 

The only other real issue I have here is “Unthank”.  It’s the shortest track here, and to be perfectly honest it’s pretty unnecessary.  While it’s just as spacious and ambient as earlier tracks, besides that it goes absolutely nowhere.  Honestly, “Unthank” sounds more like an afterthought than anything, and while I don’t have a problem with interludes, I couldn’t wait for this one to be over.  On the other hand, I have nothing but amazing things to say about “Time Eater”.  That instrument at the intro, I’m not even sure what the hell it is, but it’s one of the coolest sounding tones I’ve heard all year.  It honestly sounds like something that would have shown up on Tim Hecker’s “Virgins”.  Not to mention this track comes out of nowhere completely.  All of the other tracks here practically are so airy and relaxing.  Meanwhile “Time Eater” is sinister and genuinely filled with tension.  The beat isn’t too outrageous, but everything works together here absolutely wonderfully, and continues to get more and more tense until the track ends.  And then we have the album’s finale “Your Good Times Are Just Beginning”.  The beat here is honestly one of Gold Panda’s best he’s supplied us with so far.  Gold Panda on this one has honestly saved his most epic track for last.  Here, the pianos are absolutely gigantic sounding, the keyboards are playful (but not annoying), and man oh man that jazzy trumpet is absolutely to die for (and I could have used a lot more of that throughout the album honestly).  Panda here really brought his A Game, and made the finale one of the most memorable moments here, I couldn’t have asked for more.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPNeNedUlpA

Rating: 7.6/10 

Give A Listen To: "Your Good Times are Just Beginning", "Metal Bird", "In My Car", "Time Eater"

Overall Thoughts:  For a guy who hasn't made a record in 3 years, Gold Panda sounds pretty together.  After the slightly darker sound on his last record though, I honestly think it's refreshing to here him go for a more breezy, ambient sound here.  Not to mention,  he just brings to the table all of these sounds that are just so unique, even from instruments I know like the back of my hand.  It's a solid, intriguing electronica album.   

Kristin Kontrol - "X-Communicate"

This is one that honestly, I’ve been both scared and interested to check out.  Kristin Kontrol is the side project of Dum Dum Girls lead singer Kristin "Dee Dee" Welchez.  I’ve been a huge supporter of the Dum Dum Girls for years, ever since I heard the bands low fi (sort of) indie pop juggernaut of “I Will Be”.  However, my issues with the band started when they released “Only In Dreams”.  *Phew* that one was just awful, but the band rebounded smoothly for the most part with “Too True”, which I thought was much better.  All the while though, Welchez and the rest of the band were obviously going in a poppier direction, and it worried me for their future.  Which brings me to this debut album by Kristin Kontrol, which honestly worried me seeing how poppy Kristin’s stuff with the Dum Dum Girls was getting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyMU4eU2_zU

Here's some older Dum Dum Girls for ya!

The album starts off with “Show Me”, which is a little slower of a track than I was expecting to be honest, but it’s also sexier than I thought it would be.  Right from the opening few minutes of this album this is obviously some of the classiest and cleanest production Kristin has worked with.  “Show Me” isn’t a show-stopping number, it’s fairly simple actually, but Kristin Kontrol makes it work nicely.   While this is far from the best track here is just hearing Kristin Kontrol up against something that isn’t frantic Indie Pop for once.  Not to mention were dealing with much more personal lyrics from her which is always a plus.  The production here is solid, the guitars are sleek, and for the most part this is solid laid back pop.  Nothing too crazy, but for all of my Dum Dum Girls fans out there this new sound of Kristin Kontrol is really going to make you feel one of two things.  To put it bluntly, you’re either going to be super happy with this new much poppier sound, or really miss your Dum Dum Girls records.  Either way you’re feeling with this new sound, lets move on.  Up next we have “White Street”.  This track immediately has a little more bite to it and is much more upbeat.  Not to mention, there’s a serious 80’s pop feel to this one, a good majority of the album actually.  “White Street” has such a great Synth Pop sound that Kristin Kontrol actually sounds right at home.  This is easily one of the most intimate performances we’ve gotten from her over the years.  And as poppy as this is, I can’t really resist, I dig this track a lot.  And honestly, there are some Dum Dum Girls elements here, especially from their “Too True” album with all the synth’s and the dreamy atmosphere.  Is this what I was expecting? No, not really.  Do I have my regrets?  No, not really.   This slick dreamy 80’s pop sound really works quite well up agains Kristin Kontrol’s smooth vocals.  However, Kristin Kontrol in a few areas seems to lose focus of this sound with a completely opposite sound.  While so many tracks here have a great dreamy 80’s synth pop sound, others almost have a 90’s dance sound.  It’s not necessarily terrible, but I just don’t feel like Kristin’s performance translates as well when put up against that sound.  Take for example “(Don’t) Wannabe)”.  Right off the bat the riff to this one just doesn’t sit right with me at all.  Lyrically Kristin sounds fine, but the atmosphere here just seems so out of place.  On earlier tracks she sounded as if she was saluting the sound of great 80’s pop, but here she just sounds like she’s trying to rip it off in the most corny way.  The track does pick up about halfway through, but for the first minute or so I really don’t even know what she was thinking.  Not to mention at least earlier had hypnotizing chorus’s.  “(Don’t) Wannabe)” is honestly just really annoying.  There are other tracks on “X-Communicate” that fall short as well, but we’ll chat about them later, back to talking about how freaking cool some of these tracks sound.  On “Drive The Night”, she once again finds herself sounding super comfortable up against an upbeat synth pop tune.  She’s really making this sound her own very well, and while the backing vocals are kinda cheesy occasionally they actually work pretty well overall.   The very dreamy backing vocals actually give off the most Dum Dum Girls sound we’ve heard here so far to be honest.  The Chorus here is sweet, the atmosphere is fantastic, this is the sound she really needs to focus deeply on.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb96A5v1dpk

 Overall I feel like this is a solid pop album, but I also feel like on a few tracks Kristin Kontrol get’s a little further away from that dreamy 80’s sound she sounds so comfortable on.  Take for example “Skin Shed” which I had high hopes for once I heard just how heavy this one was on the synth.  However, quickly it turns into a track that sounds like it would be more comfortable in “Night At The Roxbury” than this album.  “Skin Shed” takes a hard left turn, going from a fantastic dreamy Synth Pop sound to almost a 90’s no-name dance hit, which is absolutely heartbreaking.  Lyrically this one really doesn’t do anything to impress either, it honestly sounds like Kristin is rehashing things she said on earlier tracks.  While the driving beat is pretty solid, Kristin just sounds so out of place amidst all of this.  There are some catchy moments, but overall “Skin Shed” just falls very flat.  “What Is Love”  starts off by sounding more like a salad than anything, and honestly sounds like something off of Dum Dum Girls’ “Too True” album.  But oh God that first minute is just so dull and lifeless, and even when the track picks up and has a more interesting instrumental, Kristin’s lyrics here are just so freakin’ cheesy.  And that’s a real shame because instrumentally this is one of the most diverse tracks here, if the song writing was just a little better here it would have been solid.  Then we have my least favorite track here, “Face 2 Face”.   The beat here is confusing to say the very least, I really don’t even know how to even begin to describe it.  The beat is just so far away from that great sound Kristin was producing earlier.  The beat is just so much heavier, and if you thought Kristin sounded out of place on some of the earlier tracks, she absolutely sounds even more out of place here.  But like I said, overall this is a solid album, I just think that Kristin needs to hunker down and focus on that sleek 80’s sound, like on the album’s title track and lead single “X-Communicate”.  Here, Kristin sounds so comfortable in this atmosphere that she instantly makes it her own.  It’s got plenty of great synth’s, and the production continues to be solid, there’s even a tiny bit of darkness on this one.  “X-Communicate” is catchy and sweet, but it’s also got a great sense of mystery that I used to get while listening to Dum Dum Girls’ “Too True”.  This may sound like an 80’s knock off at first, but Kristin’s great lyrics really set this apart, and show Kristin coming into her own in the best way. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrAfGtpLiQ4

Kristin Kontrol actually end the album rather well, starting with “Going Thru The Motions”.  Following a series of some of my least favorite tracks here, the heavy synth and very minimal beat work really well for her.  “Going Thru The Motions” just shows how much Kristin can pull off that fantastic 80’s throwback sound when she really focuses on that, this one also has some of her better lyrical moments.  Which brings me to “Smoke Rings”, the album’s finale.  If you’re a fan of dreamy indie pop this one here is absolutely something you’re going to want to give a strong listen to, lyrically and instrumentally this is by far the dreamiest track here.  If you’re a fan of Dum Dum Girls or Kristin "Dee Dee" Welchez in general, give this album a listen!

Rating: 7.7/10

Give A Listen To: "X-Communicate", "Smoke Rings", "White Street", "Going Thru The Motions"

Overall Thoughts:  There's a real resurgence in this "throwback to the 80's" sound, and Kristin Kontrol absolutely does the sound justice.  The only real problems I found on this album came from her drifitng away from that sound.  The production here is solid though, and just to witness Kristin come into her own as much as she does is commendable.  If the song-writing was just a little stronger, and she didn't slip out of that 80's atmosphere on a few tracks, this would have been massive.  I honestly think in the future she can easily produce a throwback 80's pop sounding album just as good as Carly Rae Jepsen's "E•MO•TION" or Chari XCX's "True Romance".  

PUP - "The Dream Is Over"

Lets take a second to talk about “opening acts” at shows, shall we.  We’re living in a time where half of the concert crowd doesn’t even bother to show up for the opening act, and it’s not hard to see why not.  I’ve seen Dubstep DJ’s open up punk acts, and a folk band (stand up bass and all) open up for Queens of The Stone Age.  On the other hand, you can also really score big time with opening acts.  I saw the Get Up Kids last year, and PUP opened up for them, and you should have seen the crown once PUP started their set.  Everyone stopped what they were doing to listen to these guys.  Even the people I were with stopped me mis sentence to say “Oh is this PUP?  Yea I wanna hear these guys we’ll talk later”.  They actually put on a really solid set, and in the year since that show I’ve actually heard a lot of buzz about their debut album here, “The Dream Is Over”, mostly on how solid some of the teaser tracks were.

The album here starts off with “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will” (genuinely entertaining song title, it also happens to be the first line in this song, these guys don’t waste a second).  This track here is delightfully Pop Punk, with every cliche built up by bands like Blink 182, Sum 41, and every other band with a number in their name thats’s escaping me at the moment.  While PUP aren’t inventing any wheels here, they make up for that with a fantastic amount of energy, mostly in those group vocals.  Those group vocals can usually go really one way or another on Pop Punk tracks but PUP pull it off well for the most part.  When the main guitar riff to this one hits, it’s got almost a dance groove to it, and is easily the most left field thing here.  “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will” is filled with quirky lyrical moments and a fun energy, it’s not jaw dropping but its solid.  Up next is “DVP”.  The band’s great energy continues here, and their Hardcore Punk influence shines brightly.  The Pop Punk cliche’s stay though, and they’re absolutely dripping from this one.  Group Vocals in Pop Punk have been so overdone over the years, but for some reason PUP really makes them work here on “DVP”.  They’re still not inventing any wheels, but I can’t remember the last time I was even able to sit through something this Poppy in the Punk world.  A few tracks later though on “Sleep In The Heat”, PUP starts to really finely tune their sound.  Right from the intro we’re dealing with a riff that I can at least say sounds distinct to these guys.  I’m still not 100% sold on the vocals sadly, here vocalist Stefan Babcock sounds like his voice is literally moments away from cracking, but this oddly this is also one of his better performances here.  PUP’s instrumentals here for the Pop Punk genre are completely left field, which honestly make it really exciting, especially when it’s paired up with those group vocals.  Not to mention, that post chorus group-humming is absolutely mesmerizing, and it makes the track almost anthemic.  Now while I enjoy this album overall, I feel like PUP have plenty of room to still grow.  Take for example “My Life Is Over And I Couldn't Be Happier”.  The track starts off solid enough with an energetic riff and quirky catchy lyrics that make me really want to sing along.  The chorus on this one though is absolutely pathetic and that turns me off.  Honestly, the entire verse is a great and energetic buildup to the chorus, and when it hits it’s like some one turned all of the energy off, there is literally nothing to it.  Just a couple of really minor tweaks here and there and these guys could really pull off an unbelievable Pop Punk album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9kqvXX4YkA

I feel like so many tracks on here have so many good elements, but one or two that’s holding me back from really falling in love with this thing.  On “Doubts” we hear the band diving into their more Hardcore side.  But outside of the group vocals, these verses are just so whiny and boring.  And it’s a real shame, because the hook and everything else here is so solid and interesting.  But when it comes to the verses, it’s like someone stuck a pin in these guys and let all of their energy out.  The breakdowns here aren’t bad, they’re not too insanely memorable either, but they’re not terrible.  “The Coast” has basically the same problem.  This one’s a slower song, and slower Pop Punk songs can be dreadful.  Here, the instrumentals are so solid though, and those drums in the back are seriously leading everything on this entire track.  The breakdowns here on the other hand are actually really solid with some genuinely exciting moments, and the chorus is once again fantastic.  However, man these verses just come and go without leaving a single effect on me I feel like.  PUP’s energy though really saves them here.  “The Coast” isn’t the worst, but it could’ve been insanely memorable with a little stronger writing on those verses.  Literally all of this happens again on “Can’t Win”.  Once again, we’re dealing with a slower song, and ONCE AGAIN we’re dealing with some of Pup’s catchiest material when it comes to that chorus.  But these verses just kinda fly by, leaving nothing to remember or quote or anything close.  Hell some of these instrumentals don’t even sound like Pop Punk, or even punk for that matter, this at moments sounds like a straight up Indie tune.  PUP’s energy though is commendable, and while I’m not 100% sold on a lot of these tracks, I haven’t really stopped moving since this album started.  And it’s a real shame that there are these deflated moments throughout,  because after all of that were treated to stuff like “Familiar Patterns”.  Here, PUP treats us to absolutely piercing instrumentals that make you take notice immediately, as well as some of the strongest verses I’ve heard this entire album.  While other moments here there have been just some elements here and there I had problems with, on “Familiar Patterns” everything works. PUP sound at their most comfortable lyrically, the instrumentals are exciting, that chorus is fantastic, I actually have nothing bad to say about this one.



Now while some tracks here I'm iffy on clearly, "Old Wounds" is from start to finish perfect.  This track starts abruptly, builds quickly, and is by far the heaviest thing here.  This is a straight up Hardcore Punk tune, one that works wonderfully for the band.  The vocals here aren't whiny, hell they sound tortured, in the best way.  And there's this fantastic lyrical moment that actually reminds me of something Hardcore legends like Henry Rollins or Jello Biafra would say. as Babcock states "You want to know if I'm still a prick?  Well I am".  "Old Wounds" is just so impressive, more of this in the future please.  Then we get to the album's finale, "Pine Point", and honestly I was worried about this one's slow pace.  However the building instrumentals at the start are actually enjoyable, The group vocals here are sort-of cheesy and this is by far the sappiest, saddest track here.  But honestly? It could have been a whole lot worse.



Rating: 7.4/10

Give a Listen To:  "DVP", "Sleep In The Heat", "Familiar Patterns, "Old Wounds"



Overall Thoughts:  For the most part here, PUP don't bring anything too outrageously new to the Pop Punk scene.  However, their energy and group vocals make for a solid album for the genre, honestly one of the better ones I've heard in a while.  With a little stronger song-writing and a little more focus on their Hardcore sound, and I think they can pull off something great in the future, this is still a solid release though.

Marissa Nadler - "Strangers"

Marissa Nadler is a Boston, Massachusetts based Folk singer, who I only got familiar with about a year ago.  I’m picky with my folk music, really picky.  But when I heard the warm, fuzzy angelic folk music Nadler was producing I honestly got hooked really quickly.  Outside of a few instrumentations here and there, Nadler for the most part has been the centerpiece of her music.  Don’t get me wrong, she still is, but on “Strangers” here, I heard Nadler branched out heavy as far as instrumentals go.  Shall we dive deeper!

Strangers starts off with ""Divers Of The Dust", right off the bat Marissa gives off that warm feeling, but this time in a much more spacious environment.  In the past, Nadler's performances have been very intimate.  Here, while the instrumentals don't show it just yet, she seems to have a whole lot of room to breath.  Her sound here is much grander, a whole lot more massive even though this track could have easily ended up on one of her earlier releases.  Nadler's voice sounds absolutely heavenly, and her vivid lyrical performance is as stunning as ever.  The piano's here are warm, and those distant strings really give this track just so much room to breathe.  "Divers Of The Dust" may be short, but it's a great intro.  It shows how massive Marissa Nadler's sound has become.  Now, in the past she's toyed with a dark atmosphere from time to time, but hell I feel like everyone has.  This intro is no different, hell there's almost a slight Gothic feeling, almost similar to some of the material on Chelsea Wolfe's last album "Abyss".  Like I said, ""Divers Of The Dust" is nothing monumental, but it sets the tone of the rest of "Strangers" wonderfully.  Up next is "Katie I Know", which continues to have an absolutely gigantic sound.  Right off the bat we have folky guitars, which turn actually creepy as soon as Nadler's first verse arrives.  Her vocal's here are almost hypnotizing, as the thick atmosphere of "Katie I Know" continues to grow and grow.  When the chorus hits, it's almost tear jerking.  No matter how dark these tracks can get, there isn't a minute that goes by where Nadler's music isn't elegant.  The string section here is powerful, while Nadler's vocals remain airy and haunting, "Katie I Know" is really pretty damn overwhelming.  Now maybe it's all the horror movies I've watched in my life, but I can't help but shake how dark some of these moments are, and I can easily see this played over some twisted rendition of Little Red Riding Hood or something.  Every moment of "Katie I Know" is breathtaking, and not a single second is wasted.  Up next is "Skyskraper".  Right off the bat, there's a little more country sound in the guitars.  It's still more folk than anything though.  However, once Nadler's vocals come in, everything changes.  The atmosphere here is just so suffocating, and the multi-layered effects on Nadler give this an even darker feel than previous tracks.  However, as dark as some of these tracks may sound, it never feels tense or "scary".  No, the darkness here on these tracks strangely sounds warm and inviting.  Nadler has always made really decent atmosphere's in the past.  But this, this is just overwhelming.  For a folk record, everything is just so heavy.  "Skyscraper" continues on with its haunting beauty, and even features a thick drone at one point.  This track ends up being one of the album's most surreal tracks.  It's so dark, it feels like a really strange dream that's a cross between nice and a nightmare, and I love every second.  All of these elements continue through most of the album, take for example the warm "All The Colors Of The Dark".  Her voice here is absolutely mesmerizing, as soon as her verse starts I just want to sit and listen to everything she says.  But this is a great example of how great her music can still be even if it's not necessarily as dark as other moments here.  "All The Colors Of The Dark" is absolutely gorgeous.  Instrumentally this one is almost lullaby-ish, it's bizarre and strange, but also haunting and beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6YIdLY9J7g

While the majority of the moments here follow along with the first set of tracks discussed, there are a few tracks that strip down the whole atmosphere and go straight up folk tune on us.  Sadly, these tracks really aren't as effective.  Take for example "Hungry is The Ghost".  For a track with such an ominous title, it's the sunniest sounding track here.  Now the track is as big sounding as other and is still dreamy, but the atmosphere besides that is just dead.  The track takes so long to get going, and the atmosphere is just so wrong.  I'm not saying I don't like her stuff when it's not dark.  But seriously this feels like it could've been penned by any faceless indie folk artist.  The drums in the background are so sluggish, it's just so boring.  However, Nadler still sounds just as heavenly and the piano licks are fantastic.  "Waking" starts great with instrumentals so thick you think they're going to consume her.  The main problem here though is how short it feels.  This track literally comes off as so incomplete, and it's a shame because lyrically it's absolutely stunning.  As soon as "Waking"'s atmosphere becomes fully realized, the tracks over, what a bummer.  "Shadow Show Diane" once again has a very stripped down folk sound, but this one just really feels out of place. Some of the earlier tracks on here literally transported you inside the track.  "Shadow Show Diane" feels like it would have been much more at home on an earlier Nadler release.

Don't worry though, the majority of the material here is more than entertaining.  Take for example the album's title track, "Strangers".  Some of the guitar licks here are drifting into almost Psychedelic territory. This album as a whole clearly is Nadler's most rock oriented work, and this track is a great example of it.  Everything about the sound here is mesmerizing, from the weeping guitars floating through the background, to the distorted fuzz floating right under Nadler's absolutely angelic performance.  I'm absolutely in love with the atmosphere of this album, everything about it just makes this sound like one big dark fairy tale told by way of folk songs.  Up next we have one of the album's earliest released tracks here, "Janie in Love".  This one doesn't waste a single second as the folky guitars float in and Nadler's siren song begins once again.  The chorus here is so hypnotizing, with the darkness in this track trailing Nadler's vocals at just a close enough distance to be a threat.  The lyrics here are some of her most tragic, and while this track is super slow, it's filled with suspense and pressure and is a fantastic slow burning folk song.  The atmosphere on some of these tracks is absolutely suffocating, a feeling I haven't gotten from a folk album since I can't even remember.  "Nothing Feels The Same", following some of the album's weaker moments, is a total overhaul in the best way.  Everything here is fantastic, with powerful instrumentals, interesting lyrical moments, and almost a James Bond theme feel.  Now while this track has it's dark moments, this almost has a triumphant feel to it, almost like whatever has been chasing after Nadler this entire album has finally ceased.  The guitar licks are fantastic, and the drums are subtle but really well placed for creating a little tension.  "Nothing Feels The Same" is short, but it's just what I want to hear.  Finally we have the album's closing track, "Dissolve".  Right off the bat this one is much more folk driven, and that heavy hulking atmosphere isn't here at all.  Honestly though, it works wonderfully here.  This may sound like some of her earlier stuff, but I mean that in the best way.  Listening to "Dissolve" just gives me that warm fuzzy feeling I got from her last studio albums.  No, it's not the most breathtaking moment here.  However as a conclusion, it works wonderfully.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBzjxg960s8


Rating: 8.6/10

Give A Listen To: "Katie I Know", "Skyscraper", "Janie In Love", "Nothing Feels The Same"


Overall Thoughts:    Listening to the tracks leading up to this album here, it was clear that this was Marissa Nadler's most rock oriented album.  The heavy instrumentation here up against Nadler's angelic vocals really makes for an overwhelming album.  The atmosphere here is key, as Nadler's sweet, airy folk ballads get a dark twist.  Listening to this album you really don't know what you're going to hear next, and I can't help but to eat it all up. 

Head Wound City - "A New Wave Of Violence"

Ok I’m gonna start this review off by saying, what the hell took so long Head Wound City?  If you don’t know these guys, they’re a Grindcore/Noise Rock/Art Punk supergroup made up of members of The Blood Brothers, The Locust, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.  They released their first E.P. which was a whopping 9 minutes long in 2005 before breaking up soon after.  The E.P. though, which was self titled, was surprisingly really solid, and was exactly the sound I was really looking for from the supergrup.  And now here we are 11 years later with a full length album from this supergroup, this time a whopping 24 minutes in length.  Was it really worth the wait?  Let’s find out shall we.  

 

This 10 track explosion of an album starts off with “Old Age Takes Too Long”.   Head Wound City absolutely start off on their artsy side by throwing in some tribal drums which I honestly didn’t expect at all.  If you heard any of the Blood Brothers early records, or Head Wound City’s self titled E.P., listening to this opening might throw you off guard.  I was expecting to be thrust into an instant Grindcore hell house, and it does absolutely eventually show up, just not right off the bat.  Now I’m a huge fan of Jordan Blilie and his vocal performance in the Blood Brothers, I always thought he was just so over the top and exciting.  Maybe it’s just that he’s gotten older, but outside of the tracks most piercing moments Billie sounds a cheap rip off of himself.  Not to mention what was so great about the supergroup’s self titled E.P. was just how in the moment it was.  It sounded so dirty, so exciting, so grimy, like I was there in the beer soaked pits as the band was playing fast paced melodic grindcore. But here, Head Wound City honestly sound grossly overproduced.  “Old Age Takes Too Long” has power, but the energy is just not what I expected at all, and it ends up leaving me completely unaffected.  This sadly is the feeling I get on a lot of tracks here, take for example “Head Wound City U.S.A.”.  This one starts off with super punchy guitars, and up until this point is by far the most chaotic thing I’ve heard.  But in the 2 minutes that it’s around, “Head Wound City U.S.A.” doesn’t really accomplish anything either.  Sure, the energy of the group is commendable, and that monologue about halfway through is pretty cool, the track literally blasts by without leaving any impact.  Now for the most part, “A New Wave Of Violence” has a pretty straightforward Grindcore formula, but there are a few tracks on here that are legitimately strange.  Take for example “I Cast A Shadow For You”.  Talk about bizzare, here Head Wound City decide to take a stab (no pun intended) at groove metal.  While the guitars are punchy, the vocals here for the most part are watered down to the point where it sounds like a completely different band.  The biggest shame here is that this track has it’s moments.  When those guitars start winding up and Billie’s vocals get back to where they should be, it get’s legit intense.  For about 15 seconds.   Moving on to “Scraper”.  Right from the get-go Head Wound City drop everything and decide to become a melodic hardcore band.  Here, they come off as one of those “Punk” bands of the early 2000’s that took themselves super seriously and really thought they were reinventing Punk Rock even though they weren’t.  The last minute of “Scraper” does shape up, but that first minute and a half is just so damn weird.  So to get this straight, in the 11 years that have passed since their self title E.P., Head Wound City really don’t sound like they know where they’re going at all.  Yes, I know they haven’t been together practically at all during that time, but still c’mon, you expected more out of this didn’t you? 

Now I can’t sit here and bash the entire album.  Well I could, but I’d be lying if only a little bit.  “Born To Burn” isn’t terrible, and for the most part all of the elements I love are there.  The blasting guitars have actually a tiny bit of “impending doom” in them, and Billie here sounds great.  But it’s still not nearly as good as a track as I was expecting, at it’s very best this sounds like a B-Side from a classic Blood Brothers album like “Crimes”.  While it is solid, and while other tracks here are decent too, I really can’t help but feel like I expected just so much more.  And it’s a shame, because there are a few really great moments here, like “I Wanna Be Your Original Sin”.  After a few bland tracks, this one serves as quite the wakeup call, and it’s easily the most “Hardcore” track here.  The guitars here sound like they’re seconds away from breaking from shear force, and the Billie’s vocal performance here is so unhinged and outrageous that it works absolutely perfectly.  And while it’s only 56 seconds, honestly it’s everything I wanted to hear from Head Wound City.  Later on we have “Closed Casket” which honestly sounds really solid too.  The drum performance here is fantastic, the verses are unforgiving, and the band pulls off an insanely catchy and memorable chorus which I can’t get enough of.  Like, if they made an album just like this from start to finish I would be so sold.  Now there are some obvious cliche’s in the later moments, but I’m willing to overlook that, “Closed Casket” is just freakin’ fun man.  Even “Palace of Love and Hate” is more straightforward than some of this album’s more strange moments.  This one here, let me tell you is just pure chaos.  The verses here are a complete buildup to the “Freak Out” of a chorus, which honestly that’s really what it should be in this brand of Punk.  “Palace of Love and Hate” is short yes, but it’s also unforgiving, violent, and just really solid.  So see, this album’s not a complete waste of time.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCu1hzqAyZk

Well I have all my good things to say about this album out of the way boys and girls, time to wrap this up.  “Avalanche In Heaven”, oh boy, right off the bat this just doesn’t work for me.  Sure the guitars are powerful, and Billie’s vocals remain aggressive, but man oh man the atmosphere and the energy just don’t cut it for me at all.  The chorus sound’s like a Blood Brothers cover band, and there is just no heart to this at all.   “Avalanche In Heaven” is just so overproduced and so rehearsed sounding, it just falls flat for me.  Finally we have the album’s finale “Love Is Best”.   Once again right from the opening notes it doesn’t sit right with me, nothing about this does.  Even that opening guitar riff just sounds way too clean to me.  Absolutely NOTHING happens for the first minute, and the moment that the instrumentals do pop in it practically sounds like they’re trying out Doom Metal.  Nope, sorry, not into it.  Everything about “Love Is Best” even at its more intense moments just feels so damn sluggish.  Like, I get it, Head Wound City here are trying to go for more of a slow-burning finale.  If they did it right, it could’ve turned out awesome.  But it really didn’t. “Love Is Best” just comes off so staged feeling, and while there are solid moments throughout this album it’s not here at all. 

Rating: 6.6/10

Give A Listen To: "Closed Casket", “Palace of Love and Hate”, “I Wanna Be Your Original Sin”, "Born To Burn" (I Guess)

Overall Thoughts:  Ok let's get the obvious right out of the way: Guys what the hell took so long?  I don't think this album is completely unlistenable.  But for starters, I think this would've been a whole lot cooler about 10 years ago.  Second, man is this thing overproduced.  That first E.P. these guys put out was so great because it felt so in the moment.  This, sounds like they took about 100 tries to rehearse about half of these songs.   Some of these songs are really solid, and if they hunkered down on the sound of tracks like "Closed Casket" I think Head Wound City could make a really great album.  But there are so many weird detours into groove metal and God knows what else on here.  "A New Wave Of Violence" just feels way too incomplete, I expected a whole lot more.  

Modern Baseball - "Holy Ghost"

The first time I heard Modern Baseball years ago, I wasn't impressed.  I heard people absolutely raving (Yes, Raving) about the band's debut album "Sports".  Still to this day, I don't think it's THAT good.  However, the old school Emo/Pop Punk fan in me drove me to check out Modern Baseball's followup, "You're Gonna Miss It All", and I'll be damned if I didn't obsess over almost every single track on it.  I loved the bands style, the throwback sounds, the relatable lyrics, it was all so wonderful.  When I heard that this new album "Holy Ghost" was the first album they didn't handle the production themselves for, I was interested on where this would take the band.  So here we go ladies and gentlemen, here's Modern Baseball's "Holy Ghost".


Here's some classic Modern Baseball to get y'all going!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbrUzJlTffs

The album starts off with a short acoustic intro, “Holy Ghost”.  Honestly, Modern Baseball have usually been pretty good with their intros, they’ve never overstayed their welcome and have always really done a solid job of setting the tone.  This intro is a little different, though, it’s by far the band’s wordiest intro yet, and very abstract lyrically.  Usually, it’s just a short semi-acoustic intro telling a sweet sappy story from one of the band’s two singers. Here, we’re getting a strictly acoustic intro with lyrics about….man I don’t really even know?  I mean “Holy Ghost” does eventually go very smoothly into the next track.  But, in the one minute it sticks around, “Holy Ghost” is pretty bizarre, and is a far left turn from goofy stories of awkward teenager that I’ve come to expect from Modern Baseball.  It’s not awful, but man is it not what i expected at all.  Up next, we have “Wedding Singer”, one of the earlier tracks released for the album.  Instantly I’m thrown right back into the lives of the boys from Modern Baseball, with their upbeat sound and solid guitars (Yet slightly reserved as always, few times have I really heard them let loose).  The first real huge difference you’re gonna hear here is the vocals, all around they’re just so much less whiny.  This was one of the main problems I had with the band’s first album “Sports”, it was just so whiny and annoying.  Their followup still had it’s moments of it from time to time, but it worked.  Here, they sound so much more confident and self aware and I actually really love that.  As far as lyrics go, “Wedding Singer” is more of exactly what you would expect from Modern Baseball, straightforward personal stories that make you feel like you know them personally.  This is just a really straightforward great punk tune, and that hook before the second chorus is insanely memorable.  The real star here though is the production.  I know that this is the first time they haven’t handled the production themselves, but honestly so far they sound right at home, impressive.  Up next we have “Note To Self”, which honestly sounds like a straight up classic emo jam (American Football, Sunny Day Real Estate, take your pick).  The vocals here continue to really shine, they all sound so much older and so much more mature.  Lyrically they’ve made huge leaps as well.  I remember a few too many moments on “Sports” where I said out loud “Oh god who the hell cares”.  Here, it’s just the opposite, as between “Holy Ghost” and the band’s last album I find myself in too many moments saying “Oh wow, I’ve been there, very cool”.  The band sound very “together”, and while they’re still doing the same blend of emo/pop punk, they’re doing it much more maturely.  “Mass” is up next, a shorter punchier track than the last few.  This one is super upbeat and peppy, now Modern Baseball is giving off more Get Up Kids vibes.  The backing vocals are solid, the lyrics are super personal, honestly this is what I love from them.  “Mass” might be short, but it’s to the point and very memorable, well done boys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1ECdGT4-LU

Now overall I really enjoy “Holy Ghost”, but there are a few really abstract weird moments on here as well. “Everyday” is a huge left turn from all of the other Pop Punk and Emo sounds were used to hearing from Modern Baseball.  Now Lyrically, this sounds exactly as it should, but as far as the feel goes it’s completely different.  Here, there’s little Pop Punk, Emo, or anything close.  “Everyday” is a straight up Indie Rock tune, and it’s much slower and more performance driven than other moments here.  The instrumental breakdown before the second chorus is a little cliche, but for the most part Modern Baseball pull this sound off.  They can still tell a story so well, and while there are a few “out there” lyrical moments for the most part they remain relatable.  Up next we have “Hiding”, which lyrically and instrumentally sounds very much like what I’m used to hearing from them.  But here, it’s just a little too goofy for my liking, that line about the forgetting to water the plants is just terribly corny.  Not to mention for like a split second halfway through this track there's a huge blast of industrial noise for literally a fraction of a second, and that’s the only time we hear that, completely bizarre.  “Hiding” isn’t the worst track here, but it just takes so long to pick up, not to mention I’ve just heard better from them in the past.  And it’s a shame, because once the track does pick up I’m totally fine with it, it really didn’t need all the buildup here.  I just can’t really get into “Hiding”, same goes for “Apple Cider I Don’t Mind”.  This track starts up with Modern Baseball at a comfortable pace starting smoothly.  But as the track goes on, they show me absolutely nothing new.  The vocals here sound so weak, and as far as the lyrics go I feel like this is a track we’ve heard from them maybe 10 times now.  Once again, it’s not completely unlistenable, I’ve just heard so much better here.  And then we have “What If…”, probably the strangest track on here.  The instrumentals here are completely left field, almost sounding chaotic, almost diving into the Post Hardcore genre as far as instrumentals go.  It’s not bad at all, it’s actually exciting, but lyrically this one goes completely over my head.  However, the band pulls it together for a really super catchy chorus.  Overall “What If..” isn’t bad, but I feel like Modern Baseball is a little too out of their comfort zone here.


Like I said though, overall I really do enjoy Holy Ghost” quite a bit.  “Coding These To Lukens” early on in the album is exactly what I want to hear from Modern Baseball.  The riff is strong, almost a little funky, but while it’s a little different for them they completely nail it.  The lyrics are great, and the guys just really sound like they’re in their comfort zone in the best way.  Then we have “Breathing In Stereo”, one of the most aggressive tracks I’ve ever heard Modern Baseball touch.  The slower section comes out of nowhere but they pull it off solidly, and Modern Baseball here sound actually pissed off, something I’m not really used to hearing from them.  Then we have the album’s finales “Just Another Face”.  The track starts off with this great building beat, and honestly some of the more wacky lyrics Modern Baseball has to offer here.  But it works great, Modern Baseball sound just as comfortable as you can ask, and end up pulling off one of the most solid tracks here.  Plus, that chorus is easily the most memorable one of the album, solid work gentlemen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UIakW8wuk8


Rating : 7.7/10


Give A Listen To: "Wedding Singer" "Breathing In Stereo", "Just Another Face", "Coding The To Lukens".


Overall Thoughts:  For the first album that these guys have released not taking care of production themselves, they actually sound pretty comfortable with it.  Lyrically, they're still the goofy awkward guys at a party, but it's what we've come to know them as for years, and up against this much clearer production it sounds solid.  I feel like they've given up some of their melodies in spots, and I do still like "You're Gonna Miss It All" a little bit more.  But the band is in a great spot in their career, they're pushing their sound into completely new areas and I'm excited to see what they do next.

Hey guys! Sorry to keep jumping around with blog sites.  My Wordpress was acting up, so I figured I would give Blogger a shot.  Same routine boys and girls: New album reviews, with the occasional "Classic" review.  If there's a new album coming out that you want me to discuss let me know!