Latest CD Review

Bryan McPherson - "Fourteen Stories"






There is a pervasive sadness to these 15 songs about life, loss and the pursuit of some semblance of happiness. Bryan gives small glimpses into a past life that most suburban punk would glorify for the sake of street cred. Not Bryan. These are obviously stories of someone who really has experienced the worst in life, but there is also a glimmer of incredible hope. Do yourself a favor and check out Bryan's album Fourteen Stories.

http://www.bryanmcpherson.com/

CD Review

Moros Eros - Jealous Me Was Killed By Curiosity (Victory)

I had been waiting for this follow up CD from Moros Eros ever since I got into their first Victory release in 2006 (I saw the devil last night and now the sun shines bright). When I got word that the new album had been released, I excitedly ran out to the store only to find out nobody had it. I ended up buying it on i-tunes and missed out on the liner notes and lyrics etc. but after three months of looking for it in my local shops, I was happy just to hear it.

The new disc lived up to my expectations. Zach Tiptons voice is the first thing that draws me to this band. I love singers who can naturally hit high notes that I could never dream of hitting, (then again I can't sing for shit anyways so its even funnier for me to sing along to this disc).

Part Cedric Bixler and part Robert Smith at times, Tipton delivers his stories, questions, assumptions, and fears about what the afterlife holds for us with an obviously instinctive emotion of a young man. Its all him, no faking or mimicking anyone else. And this emotion only adds to the color of the words. "I'm a sinner, you're a saint, in gods eyes, we're both the same" or "See the angels in the sky, they'll take you home when you die". He's afraid to upset a god which he's not sure even exists and the whole cd pretty much rides on this theme. While listening you find yourself wondering the same things he's wondering.

Musically, the production was stepped up a notch from their first release. They're right up there with the complexity and break downs you'd hear from At The Drive-In, with the occasional electronic gadgetry that comes out of nowhere but fits just fine. Song 3, "Chokes" is my current fave on the the disc, and it has a cool Sabbath meets Mars Volta feel about it.

Moros, by the way is Greek for impending doom, and Eros means God of Love. It all makes sense now. I hope this band finds success because I'm guessing one or two more releases that can't be found in stores will lead them to oblivion or impending doom.

CD Review

Burial - Untrue (Hyperdub)

A friend ripped me a copy of this CD recently and I had no idea who Burial was prior. After listening I'm intrigued to learn more, but as I'm finding out, not many people know who this guy is.

This album is downright eerie, but in a good way. Dark beats which come off sounding mechanical and simplistic combine with deep textured bass and keyboard patterns to form a melancholy back drop for the manipulated vocal samples that are often soaked in reverb and delays. There's also a constant record crackle throughout the album which pretty much ties it all together.

Burial uses the vocal samples more as an instrument and less as a "lyric" in standard song structure. There are no verses or choruses in these tracks, which makes the album have more of an instrumental feel. But that's not to say there is no meaning in the few words that are present. In fact, he says very little in order to say a lot. Take the album's title song "Untrue", with the lone vocal being "The pain I feel inside, and its all because you lied".

Pain and anguish is the common theme I get from this disc which is rare to find in UK club music. To read an interview with Burial from the UK's Guardian, he explains how he would wait for nightfall or summer to end in order to work on the album. He said he enjoyed working on it while knowing everyone else was asleep. The music and its mood reflect this notion throughout. If you're into darker underground UK club music, this is a great album for you. It reminds me of early Tricky, The Baby Namboos, or even The Streets. I'm not sure where in the States you can find it in CD form, but is available through i-tunes.

CD Review

Mando Diao - Ode to Ochrasy (EMI/Majesty)

Mando Diao's Ode to Ochrasy (2006) is the third album release from this 5-piece Swedish band. The disc has 14 tracks of up-tempo British rock almost from another era (think Beatles, Kinks etc.) and it also has a hint of today's indie rock sound heard from The Bravery or The Hives. I was drawn to this band after seeing them in a DirectTV exclusive for the 2007 SWSX festival, and was particularly drawn to the bottom-end of the bass and drum players who held a tight danceable and cool ryhthm to the songs.

I was hoping this live taste would translate on the album as well and it does very nicely. Lyrically the album is dense in pop-culture with the opening track a humorous nod to ice-hockey great Luc Robitaille (Welcom Home Luc Robitaile). Other signs of the times include the songs Killer Kaczynski, Amsterdam, and TV & Me. The songs are crafted with tongue-in-cheek wit which sneaks up on you as the pace of the tracks and musicianship hook you in before you realize whats been said in the lyrics. Bjorn Dixgard delivers the vocals cleanly and intense when applicable, and the background harmonies are masterfully done. My only criticism of the disc is the production. It appears the singer Bjorn also produced it, and I wonder if an unbiased set of ears would have helped the album sonically. It seems a bit compressed and muddied in spots that seem should be clear and layered.

Overall I love the album though and it's been stuck in my car for the last week.

CD Review

Death and Taxes - Tattooed Hearts & Broken Promises (I Scream)

So I just got to sit down and listen to the entire Death and Taxes record, (while doing boring stuff with data at work). The record is just so solid it's incredible. It's 42 minutes and 31 seconds of honest, heartfelt lyrics, a solid rhythm section and my favorite guitar player playing some of the best simple catchy riffs that I've ever heard. Before I had the record I thought quite a bit about how catchy some of the riffs are on the record, the guitar line from Tattooed Hearts (and Broken Promises) for example, is something that I feel like I can't even pick up a guitar without playing cause its unusually stuck in my head. Even the solos are great and capture the feeling of the song without being boring or noodley. I think its a really rare talent to be able to play the shit out of a guitar but to also have the sense and taste to know what fits the part and not overplay it. Mike and Steve are an incredibly good rhythm section and the drums and bass are perfect on every song, again tasteful bass lines and fills that fit the song perfectly. Jeff's ability to tell a story through a song is incredible. I really feel like this record raises the bar on what bands around hear can and should be doing. There's a level of sincerity to these songs that the Boston punk scene is sorely lacking, there's no going through the motions or posturing just raw bare-bones rock and roll the way it should be.

2 CD Reviews

Bryan McPherson - "Fourteen Stories" (Indecent Music)

I saw this guy play at the Abbey Lounge on a Wednesday night. It was your standard acoustic show: people getting up there and hacking through poorly constructed songs with moments of potential but nothing much more than what you'd expect for a Wednesday night. Until this kid, Bryan McPherson, got up to play. His set was like nothing I've seen in ages. There were moments when I literally got a little misty eyed over the song topics and the honest energy being dumped into them. The only thing that kept popping into my head was the line from Bill Joel's Piano Man that says "man, what are you doing here?". It appeared that every person in the capacity crowd of 15 to 20 bought a CD that night. And while the CD doesn't capture everything you need to know about McPherson's music and the identity/personality that comes across so easily and honestly in the music, it will more than satisfy whatever itch you have now for some sort of new brilliance in town. The high points of the album are "Angel in the Snow" and "Don't Terrorize Me". One listen might classify this CD as being of the singer/songwriter genre but I wouldn't quite call that summary fair. It walks the line between something that everyone might like and something that fans of early Against Me or Two Gallants would die for. McPherson is in a really good position; the world is his oyster and all he really needs to do it play his cards right and he'll have whatever following he wants. And the best news about this record is that some of the highlights of his live set aren't even on this A+ disc so its clear he hasn't blown his musical wad in his first shot like so many bands do. (M. Lind)

Angels & Airwaves - "I Empire" (Suretone/Geffen)

This is the band that the punk rock kids love to hate. And its also the band that this 30 year old man loves. It picks up where the last album left off with songs that sound like some sort of slightly scaled down version of U2's arena rock mixed with lyrics that are too far over the heads of their target audience. It still baffles me that this guy came from Blink 182 and was able to release either this record or their debut. Lyrically he is writing from the point of view of someone in the 28 - 32 age bracket and it doesn't surprise me that the teenagers would find Delonge's lyrics to be pompous and foolish. But I think its more that they don't get it than that he's the fool they'd make him out to be. Sure.... maybe at times it gets a little too bombastic and too big for its britches but no guts, no glory and I think this guy is onto something a hell of a lot bigger than what people are foreseeing. On the local level, their new bass player is former Bostonian, Matt Wachter, who used to play guitar in Strangle Me and even did a few stints sitting in with me and my brother in Sinners & Saints. (M.Lind)