From Brooklyn, the creatively named Chariots of Tuna play a lovely baroque alternative pop. The light falsetto vocal harmonies and matching jangle guitars on “War Hero” are just a delight. The Shins flavored “Save Me Maryann” and Beach Boys styled composition “Air” are a nice teaser to this three song EP (so far) which is still in the working stages. The driving force here is Ben Morss (Cake, Wheatus) who blends influences of new and old pretty well. Similarities to Brooklyn-mates The Creaky Boards aside, they are still working on a distribution deal, hopefully we’ll get more tracks soon!
Boatclub is a five piece rock band that has a wonderfully organic sound that reminds me of Buffalo Springfield crossed with The Lemonheads. The band boasts a potent line up Mark Hanley flanked by grizzled Rain Parade veterans Matt Piucci and John Thoman, bassist Tommy Carns and drummer Stephan Junca. The loose harmonies of “I Used To Fly In My Dreams” is a brilliant Dennis Wilson styled intro to this album. The laid back follow up “Love” has that Neil Young meets Byrds expansive guitar sound. “My Bad Self” compares well with Evan Dando’s catchiest tunes and the ever present guitar rhythm drives everything forward. “Never Gonna Let You Down” then takes guitar textures to the extreme with this Beatles meets Pink Floyd jam, which uses the “Dear Prudence” riff across a dissonant chorus. The ballads approach Robert Pollard-land with great experimental distortions and minimalist melodic beauty. Examples of this contrast are the oppressive “Close” and majestic “Reason for Living.” After a few more listens, you’ll appreciate all the great sonic details stuffed into songs like “Peace and Quiet” and “Tell Me Things,” where they sing “it’s all good fun until someone loses an eye..” It’s almost a revolutionary approach on this massive 18 track beast of an album. The quality of songs don’t drop off here and get both surreal (“Mouse’s Head”) and psychedelic (“Complacent Americans”). In other words, the band’s batting average is pretty good. Find a nice low lit room, headphones and lose yourself in the boatclub.
Another demo from Steve Eggers of The Nines. It takes a real pro to concentrate on a song while getting poked in the head. Keep up the good work Steve! The earlier demos are here and here.
From Madrid, Spain comes Insanity Wave. They’ve been an indie fixture since 1991 across the pond, but now are making more of an attempt to reach fans here in the USA. Produced by Mitch Easter, the band plays muscular guitar rock that’s similar to Wilco with a touch of Teenage Fanclub pop mixed in. They have also appeared at International Pop Overthrow at Liverpool at 2006. Late Night Shift opens with”Secluded Heart,” a catchy composition with a solid melody and steady guitar work. “This Girl” has echoes of Tom Petty, and “Please Drive Carefully” could have fallen off the last Wilbury’s album. Lead singer Jose Martinez Escriña seems to channel both Petty and Dylan’s vocal phrasing. The apt “Feeling so High” is fully of trippy psychedelic touches. The 60’s garage style works great on “Something To Hide” with strong rhythm backing up the lead guitar and Farfisa organ. The band reverts to Rolling Stones mode on “Nothing’s Gonna Hurt Us Now” with full harmonies to back up Jose’s Jagger impersonation, but the song isn’t that memorable. Insanity Wave is a solid rock group that hopefully we’ll hear more from.
Listen to “Something to Hide” – Wanna see a mini documentary of the band? It includes interviews from Mitch Easter and Peter Holsapple. The beginning is in Spanish, but stick with it.
Big Star inspired a fevered allegiance among fans of power pop, giving rise to a cult of believers who spent decades spreading the gospel. Their enthusiasm turned this obscure Memphis pop band-one that got little airplay, sold few records, and only played a handful of times- into a remarkable rock and roll resurrection story. Big Star’s trek from obscure Memphis band to standard bearers for an entire genre of music has never been fully mapped-until now. Rhino presents the definitive look at the definitive power-pop band with a four-disc boxed set divided between key cuts from Big Star’s three studio albums and unreleased music. KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY is available now at Amazon
On a related note, Bruce Eaton has released a new book on the subject of Big Star titiled “Radio City (33 1/3).” In it he examines the key ingredients of Radio City’s lasting appeal- and through extensive interviews gets to the heart of the cult of Big Star. It explores the origins of classic songs like “September Gurls” and “Back of a Car” and has plenty of anecdotes of the recording process from people who were actually there. A must for Big Star devotees and Powerpopaholics. Bruce also has a blog with interesting tidbits about Big Star that didn’t make it in the book. Amazon | Barnes and Noble
