Mono
One Step More and You Die
Arena Rock Recording Co
2003
Rating: 9 plural deaths out of 10
I have a new religion, and it is Mono. After witnessing
a recent live performance by them, probably the best show I’ve seen all year (and I see a ton of shows), I immediately
rushed to their merch table and bought this amazing release. This foursome from Japan may speak very limited
English, but they fluently speak the international language of kicking ass. I’ve heard a lot of
people say that Mono "out-Mogwai Mogwai!", which I think means Mono is stepping in to bring those loud parts back that Mogwai were once known for. The great thing is that they manage the
best of both worlds, loud rocking and beautiful, orchestrated parts both having airtime on this release, not to mention
the My Bloody Valentine-type of swirly guitars that permeate throughout the entire record. Live they’re
a must see – drop any and all other plans you might have and run, don’t walk to the venue and prepare to have
your eardrums damaged; and while the record will never be able to fully recreate that effect, it does a damn
good job of getting as close as you can in the studio environment.
Calla
Televise
Arena Rock Recording Co
2003
Rating: 9 little TVs sitting on top of big TVs out of 10
It’s a good thing I took my time before I wrote this review of Calla. On the first listen, I was ready to write this album off as just another shoegazer rehash, give it a 5 or something like that, and be done with it. As time went by, I kept putting off writing the review, but continued listening to the disc, liking a little more each time. But the great epiphany came when I listened to it through headphones for the first time. Everything great about Calla’s music really shines through when experienced intimately. Now I find myself yearning to listen to this album, and giving it a very high score.
The music certainly fits into the shoegazer category, for lack of somewhere else better to put it. The closest match for a sound I could make would be if you injected the slow and deliberate pace of Low into Starflyer 59. There are bits of the lyrics and vocals that bring to mind Nick Cave, and the odd rocking part that might make you think about Radiohead from time to time. They sound like a lot of people and totally unique at the same time.
The music being performed here is not your typical pop song - no catchy hooks, no verse-chorus-verse structure, no tra-la-las or what have you. What really gets you involved in this music are two things - the bass and the minimalism of the music. The bass line drives the entire album, holds it together, and tells it what to do. Removing the bass from this record would mean more than just removing one of the instruments - it would be removing the very essence of their music. And these are not busy songs - not unlike Low, each individual note leaves you with the feeling of how deliberate everything is, nothing out of place.
I wanted to write a review that said if you want to listen to music like this, listen to Starflyer 59 instead. But now I realize, although there are similarities, Calla are in a group all their own, and it’s a damn fine group.
The Boggs
We Are The Boggs We Are
Arena Rock Recording Co.
2002
Rating: 6 former Boston Red Sox out of 10
Talk about being fooled. When I saw the cover of this album, I assumed that I would be hearing another Brit-pop band, or an American version of such. Instead, I get...bluegrass? Old-timey music? Roots country? What is this world coming to? Since when do kids like this make music like that?
Turns out The Boggs are a group of lads from Brooklyn who got their start playing on street corners and in subways, and eventually moved their tried and true sound indoors to clubs and recording studios. The entire album is recorded in mono, and it has the warm feel that you get when listening to something along the lines of an Alan Lomax field recording. Some of the songs, such as ‘Whiskey and Rye’ or ‘The Airborne Station’, sound like a non-Irish version of The Pogues, and you can just imagine everyone standing around one microphone in the center of the room when they recorded these tracks. They also tackle Appalacian folk ballads in the form of ‘Beside the Windowsill’, and included a number of nameless instrumentals between some of the regular songs that run the gamut from bluegrass to pre-country cowboy music. The remaining songs, including my favorite on the album ‘Emily, O, Emily’, have that sound you get with old 45s, where it sounds like the performer is at one end of the hall and the mic is set up on the other end. It initially occurred to me that if those classic artists from many years ago could re-record their music today without all the static and hissing and noise in a modern studio, they wouldn’t hesitate - so why purposely recreate a sound that was accidental and unwanted in the first place? But it is exactly these things that lend those classic recordings some of their charm, at least to me.
On the one hand, there’s nothing really original about The Boggs. For the most part, they are just recycling the sounds from the first part of the previous century for a new generation of listeners. But on the other hand, maybe this is just what many of us need. There is so much music out there today, and most of it is the same old shit, nothing really all that new or groundbreaking. The Boggs are no different, they’re just reaching back quite a bit farther for their influences, and in doing that, bringing something pretty new to a lot of people that might not otherwise be aware of this type of music.
I was torn as to what rating to give this album - like I said, nothing really new here, mostly rehashed sounds. That usually doesn’t bode well for getting a high review. But the bottom line is - I enjoy this album. And that is really what is most important, right? Hopefully The Boggs will continue making this kind of music, but perhaps with time they will develop their own stamp to put on the music and not have to lean so heavily from their influences.
The Birdwatcher
Afternoon Tales the Morning Never Knew
Arena Rock Recording Co
2001
Rating: 5 red bellied woodpeckers out of 10
I struggled with the rating for this album. The thing is, I enjoy it well enough - can’t think of anything bad to say about it. But for some reason, every time I put it on, it just becomes background music for me. I tune it out almost as quickly as I hear it, and not on purpose either - it just doesn’t seem to hold my attention. So I give it a middle of the road rating, because I’m sure plenty of people out there will like it, but I’m sure plenty others will be like me and forget they just heard it, even if they don’t mean to.
The Birdwatcher is the solo project of Windsor for the Derby front man Dan Matz. He also enlisted the help of various other indie luminaries, most notably Jim Kimball of Jesus Lizard and about a million other bands. The cover of this CD has a sticker with a quote from NME that says "emotive & fragile, strangely spooky, slightly unhinged". I’m not sure I’m feeling the unhinged part, but the rest fits pretty well. Lots of rainy-day soundscapes with acoustic guitar and singing layered on top, and the occasional bouts of percussion here and there would be a good general descriptor of sound. Not unlike what you might get if you smooshed Windsor for the Derby and The Blackheart Procession together, and only kept the real mellow bits. The only track to defy this description is ‘The Hush’, which easily is the most rocking song on the album, and probably my favorite to boot.
By no means would I say not to go out and buy this album, just be sure you know what you’re getting into. If you’re looking for something to play in the background while you do homework or trade stocks or have your tea and crumpets, this might be a good choice for you. But if you’re looking for something to keep you awake for a late night driving jaunt, unless you like falling asleep at the wheel, I would try something else.
Mink Lungs
The Better Button
Arena Rock Recording Co
2001
Rating: 6 ferret briefcases out of 10
Sometimes, the thing that makes a band a good listen ends up being the same thing that brings them down. In the case of Mink Lungs, this would be trying to make a niche for themselves in the world of quirky lo-fi indie pop. For me, the president of this group has always been Guided By Voices, with Neutral Milk Hotel as the vice president and the rest of the Elephant Six roster filling in as the cabinet. And as of right now, Mink Lungs might have a seat in the senate, but it’s going to take a bit more for them to get that big nomination to secretary of the interior.
Mink Lungs hail from current hotspot Brooklyn, NYC, and their debut CD, ‘The Better Button’, certainly has it’s entertaining moments; and to be honest, there are probably more bright spots than dull ones on the album. But the low spots are of the kind that you find yourself reaching for the ‘track skip’ button from time to time. The overall sound of the album is very reminiscent to early GBV, with it’s lo-fi feel and love of pop hooks. It blends this with the zany lyrics and noisy bits that might be at home on a Frank Zappa record (not to say Robert Pollard from GBV doesn’t have some pretty crazy lyrics himself). For me, the best points on the record are when these two worlds meet, and you have a catchy, quirky, noisy mess all rapped up in a short pop song. Unfortunately, the weirdness can sometimes overwhelm all other aspects of the song to the point that it’s all you notice. And while this might be interesting for the first couple of listens, they end up wearing on your patience in the long run. One example might be with the song ‘Watch Yourself’, one of the catchiest numbers on the record, only the track ends with a one or two minute answering machine message about some girl calling to say she ‘just wants to be friends’. I’m not saying there isn’t a point to the madness, only that it wears thin quickly.
To carry this tired joke further, ‘The Better Button’ represents a strong first draft of an amendment from the junior senator out of New York, and could be the beginning of a bright career. Or they could just pull a Ted Kennedy and get shitty drunk all the time and sit around with a bright red glowing face. Either way, it could be entertaining.
