I hardly need to tell you to go see the latest Pixar offering, Brave, opening up tomorrow. I know I'm looking forward to it. Partly because, hey, it's fucking Pixar. They sort of know how to make movies and pretty damn good ones at that. These guys single handily plotted most of my childhood. As for the other part, I'm actually curios to see how Pixar handles having a strong female lead charter as the center of the story. Female character aren't unheard of in Pixar films but this will be a first for them to have one as the lead. Heck, the fact that it's noticeable is proof enough that it's a first for a lot of movies. But if anyone can get it right it's Pixar. It's just easier to pretend Cars 2 never happened.
But hey! I'm rambling about a movie! This is the Nirvana Of Sound after all. In music news, Munford &Sons have finally released that song they were working on since May for the movie called "Learn Me Right". Written, arranged, and performed by Mumford & Sons, with UK singer Birdy on the vocals, the song will be featured in the movie and on the soundtrack. And honestly, it's actually pretty amazing. I've underestimated Mumford & Sons methinks. I had long since written them off as a niche' band that was only popular in America thanks to our countries' rich fascination with British accents, regardless of musical quality.
Which is the only possible explanation for the success of these guys.
But this offering shows the boys might have some more depth then I initially gave them credit for. And with the revel that their sophomore album is going to be, "Black Sabbath meets Nick Drake doom folk", I can only say I'm looking forward to it. Check out the song from Brave, bellow.
So the news is out that 2005 brit-indie darlings, Bloc Party, returned in a big way yesterday (June 19) playing a comeback show in Glasgow to a receptive audience. But it wasn't enough just to churn out hits from their debut album (which 9 times out of 10 for an indie band is usually 90% of their set list). They played from all over the place covering hits, and B-sides alike. And in an especially gutsy move, they opened up with two brand new tracks, "3x3" and "So He Begins To Lie". And they're actually pretty damn good. They whipped out two more new songs from their upcoming album, Four, which is due out later this month, "Team A" and "Truth", before calling it quits and announcing future shows and- hold the phone. Hold on a goddamned minute! What the hell guys?! Seriously, wasn't Bloc Party suppose to be over? This is NOT how you do it guys. First you wait till the critics turn on you for releasing a lackluster album that couldn't possibly meet their expectations. Then you fester with in-fighting rumors for a few years. And THEN you can play a show. And maybe tease us with a new song. Well, I'm just offended. Apparently Bloc Party are "too good" for media speculation and rather concentrate on making music for their fans. Yeah yeah, see how far that integrity will get you boys!
In case you couldn't see through my blatant sarcasm, I think what Bloc Party are doing is a very awesome thing. And even if you weren't a fan of them, it's great to just see guys who genuinely love being in a band together and making music so much that they can't wait to get it out there for the fans. From all accounts and purposes, the Glasgow show was a hit and killed all rumors about in-fighting in the band.
I was never too big a fan of Bloc Party, but I didn't hate them and like everyone else I dug the hell out of "Helicopter". But news that band's back at it has gotten me interested in them again. After their last album, the band went on hiatus. A curious case for hiatus as the album didn't do too bad. It wasn't as warmly received as their earlier albums at first, but it's definitely grown on people and it's easier to appreciate the new Radiohead-y direction the band was going in. (Damn, I'm really starting to abuse that adjective. Note to self: Find new iconic band to make into an adjective).
No, they quite simply went into hiatus because they were no longer required to make any albums for their label and decided to take a break from each other. A move that saved the band and insured they'd come back with renewed momentum. If the crowd showing last night was anything to go by, Bloc Party hasn't been forgotten. It makes you wonder how many other bands could have been saved/awful comeback albums avoided if more artists knew when to take a break.
Long of the short, Bloc Party's back bitches. And this sounds like the start of great things to come. Time will tell if they can reclaim their indie crown. The scene has gotten a lot more crowded. But if I didn't know any better, it's almost like they don't really care.
Slow Club released a new music video for their second single of their new album Paradise (which I suggest you go get), "Beginners". The song itself is nice and classic Slow Club. Booming anthemic chorus, with dreamy female vocals and sound that's just so damn uplifting. But thanks to the brilliant acting of Daniel Radcliffe in this video, I can only forever associate this song with one man's slow decent into alcoholic depression. The Harry Potter actor puts on easily one the best performances I've seen in him ever. You might think it's eerie how great Daniel is at getting in touch with a character who has so many inner demons and battles with the bottle. But then maybe not so surprising considering a few comments he's made publicly.
On one hand, it's great to see Daniel openly acknowledging his past problems and agreeing to do this video and giving it a caliber performance to boot. The fact that he's a huge fan of the band also didn't hurt. But Jesus if the video isn't depressing as hell for such a cherry song. The plot is Daniel wakes up in an empty bar long after everyone has left and lip syncs the words to the song while he takes out his aggression on furniture. One can easily imagine that if half the things he's said about his past drinking problem are true, he's no stranger to the idea. But if that depresses you, for a renewed sense of fun, just pretend it's Harry Potter coming to terms with the fact that being "The Chosen One" doesn't really count as a marketable skill and after getting let go for his fourth minimum wage job out of school he decided to get blitzed on Butterbeer. Check it out bellow.
For those who aren't aware, Paramore (AKA the band with Hayley Williams in it) had a bit of a public falling apart as alot of dirty laundry was aired about the seedier sides of the band. The band went on as a three-piece as Josh and Zac Farro left the band. The reasons are multi-layered and complicated but mostly just boils down to the fact that the Farro brothers aspired to be a little bit more then just seen as back-up, replaceable performers. Considering the fact that they, you know, started the band in the first place. So long story short, Paramore's in the studio working on there fourth album with just Haley and two other guys (who I'm assuming have come to terms with the fact that they'll never be important and are okay with this) while the Farro brothers began their slow decent into obscurity. But wait! Maybe not!
The Farro brothers have gone and started their own bands. Nothing new there. There's a rich history of guys leaving/getting kicked out of bands then starting smaller/less successful bands. Some of them even go on to, while not gaining the financial success of their former band mates, gain critical acclaim. For the most part they handle it pretty well.
Most of them.
Josh is kicking around with a band made up from his friends in high school called Novel American. I haven't heard them, but even if his band totally tanks he still wins. He gets to have all the fun of starting that garage band in high school, with none of the downsides of being broke. But the brother I want to talk about is Zac. Sue me, I'm partial to drummers. But also because his band strikes me as being, and I swore I'd kick myself if I ever used the word, ambitious. Halfnoise is the band for which he bangs the skins for and before we get into the music I'd like to get into something that's no less important; Zac Farro's evolving rock start look. He's gone from looking like a guy who would be replaceable in Paramore, to the man in charge. For comparison, here's a photo of Zac circa-2010.
Awww, look at him! He looks like the kind of guy who'd have a summer job as a bagging your groceries. Everyone in town says he's "a good kid", probably doesn't drink or have a tattoo and he's been going steady with his sweetheart since middle school. Now compare that to this:
Jesus look at him! Sometime after leaving Paramore, Zac decide to dedicate his life to being metal AS FUCK. It's the kind of picture that makes you instinctively reach for your wallet. Who would' have though that it just took leaving Paramore for him to embrace the punk side of "pop punk". As for his band, contrary to the awesome picture, it's not a thrash outfit but nor is it anything like Paramore. Halfnoise goes into a more, for the lack of a better word, Radiohead-y direction. They've debuted their first song and video "Free The House", to surprisingly warm reception. Zac's also pulling double duty as the drummer for his brother's band, so between these two projects, it'll be interesting what directions they could go in. I for one am cautiously optimization. I can honestly say that I didn't care too much for Paramore, and it's great to find out that the Farro brother's had more musical chops then we thought and finally get the chance flex them a little. Check out the video bellow.
Seriously, whatever happened to these guys? Flash back to 2001 when they were the "it" band, the first "it" band we had gotten in a long time. Remember Creed? And about a million bands that sounded just like them? Imagine a time when that wasn't just what you found if you flipped to adult contemporary radio or some ironic hipster's iPod. But when that was the only rock in roll ever. Granted if you were a fan of the underground scene you could have probably named hundreds of bands (most of which broke up almost immediately before they committed the sin of become famous) that flourished underground and offered alternatives. Hell, alternative rock was even becoming a thing. Some of those acts gained notoriety and received a push. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Incubus, NIN, Dinosaur Jr., the Foo Fighters (who were and still do seem to be all over the damn place). But for the most part? It all sounded eerily similar to these guys.
Ah yes, Grunge. The grunge revolution kicked the shit out of hair metal and reintroduced the concept of writing songs with a lot less flash and a lot more introspective song writing. But then it took about 3 years for Cobain to off himself for the revolution that he wanted no part of to be butchered and marketed by the very corporate powers he was resiting. The popular kids he was mocking where now wearing his clothes and embracing his life style with none of the depth. Or heroin. But mostly the depth. Post grunge become the bane of rock radio. Bush, Fuel, Candle box, The fucking Calling; you know all those bands that sounded the same? Face it, it had been 10 years of that garbage. The world was ripe for a new rock revolution baby! . And record labels responded in fold with the same solution that worked in the late 80's when the public was sick to death of Bon Jovi. Raid the underground scenes' for whatever was popular, pick a few acts to promote the hell out of, sell a new packaged revolution to the kids, and watch the profits roll in.
Rinse, lather, and repeat.
Rolling Stone magazine, in classic Rolling Stone fashion, decided to get this revolution ball rolling in 2001 by picking 4 candidates who had the magic of sounding different enough from the current scene but who had enough of the cool factor to lure in the indie kids. It was the best of both worlds. Being different enough to be cool but not too different to deter radio play; back when that mattered. Okay so it sounds like I'm being a little harsh here. Were their other bands that deserved a push more then these guys? Probably. It's always a bit premature to call anyone the greatest of anything and force the mantle of a leading a revolution on relatively young talent. But then again this is Rolling Stone, who sort of have a history of this sort of thing. (Feel free to google RollingStone Top 100 Guitarist and enjoy the comment section)
The White Stripes, The Hives, The Vines, and The Strokes; all talent artist that had something in common despite being from different places musical and geographical. Hell, The Vines were from Australia and The Hives were a Swedish band. But one uniting factor they all had cursorily enough, was they all were heavily influenced by past musical trends that, thanks to public short memory, had all but been forgotten and sounded new again to the 21st century. The White Stripes brought in a' heavy garage rock meets hard blues' sound. The Vines were a throwback to grunge (but somehow different). The Hives brought in a revival of the 60's Americana garage scene. And then we had The Strokes.
There debut album Is This It, had an undeniable air of coolness about it like the band themselves. It was like something no one could remember hearing before. Those tight simplistic rhythms, with blistering guitar melodies were a throwback to the 60's punk, Lou Reed, and The Velvet Underground all rolled into one. Of all the albums released by these bands since Rolling Stone christened them the savors of rock and roll, their album had the most overwhelmingly positive reviews which translated into big profit. Everyone won with The Strokes! Musical integrity, greedy record labels, and the horny teenagers desperately trying to look cool.
Is This It, was so what the people wanted that it was on Rolling Stones list of top 500 albums. The fact that they were a band they pushed the hell out of in the first place was something the quietly decided to ignore. But people were listening to it. The Strokes were the it band of the 21st century. And after a non-stop touring schedule and being shoved down our throats, their follow up Room On Fire, was released in 2003 to admittedly less acclaim.... but still it was the fucking Strokes baby! Guys wanted to be them, girls wanted to sleep with them, and dammned if RCA (The Strokes record label) didn't do their best to make sure we didn't forget it. The savvier of you are starting to see the problem.
If the Strokes had just released their debut to much less spotlight they wouldn't have been such a big target. Sure they were popular initially. But give it about 3 months of being reminded of just how goddammned awesome you are, and it wont take long for people to start taking shots. Even if The Strokes weren't being hailed as the second coming of rock n roll Jesus, ask anyone in the business; over exposure is death. And the band didn't help matters by coming across as entitled pricks in their interviews, showing up late to shows and constalty reminding us that we were lucky they bothered showing up at all. Sure it was cute at first. We hadn't had real honest to god rockstars in awhile and we kinda missed the entitled ego's that came with it. Then we collectively remembered exactly why we were sick to death of them.
The Strokes had hate going for them before. That was to expected. But the chinks in the armor were starting to form right around the time Room On Fire came out. It sold well but the critics jumped on the fact that it sounded awfully similar to Is This Is. It's as if the band only knew how to write a few kinds of songs and were hoping we wouldn't notice. But that turned out to only be half true. They didn't have too many songs in them. But they didn't even write most of those songs to begin with.
Now, here's were I start to get a little opinionated (like nothing else here is) and your welcome to call me out on any things I get wrong. But the story is basically this. 5 teens in New York meet through friends at school and wanted to start a band. That much is true. But holy mother did they have alot of help. The White Stripes, The Hives, and The Vines all had albums out the 90's that were released to some applause. But the first anyone had heard of The Strokes was from their debut. Released on a major label like RCA no less. Record labels are notoriously finicky about throwing money away to unproven talent and "potential" can only get you so far in getting signed. And yet of all the bands flourishing the the New York scene, The Strokes got the call. Why? No one's taking away what kind of musical chops the band had when they started out. But the fact that Julian Casablancas's (lead singer) dad happened to be the owner of New York Elite modeling agency and had alot of money certainly didn't hurt.
In fact, a little bit of digging reveled that The Strokes all seemed to come from good money. Those New York private schools don't pay for themselves after all. But so what you say? It shouldn't matter. So they aren't musical purists and they had some pushing from their rich dad's to get signed by RCA out of the gate. They still wrote their own music right? Well it turns out that the band worked closely with a hired guitar tutor by the name of JP Bowersock who, by his own admission, worked closely with the Julian on arranging all those crunchy, catchy melodies on Is This It. Okaaaay so they had a little help. They were new to the scene and recording. And granted, not many bands who have never been to a recoding studio before get signed by major labels, but lets' just assume that maybe they were just that exceptional and their demo impressed the label heads. It's not like Bowersock wrote the whole album write?
Well no! Turns out he only wrote most of it and the lyrics we're heavily helped by Strokes gutiarist, Albert Hammond Jr's father. Apparently Mr. Hammond Sr, was quite the song writer in his heyday and penned such hits as "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" and "It Isn't, It Wasn't, And It Ain't Never Gonna Be". No, I wont pretend I know either of those songs, but take my word for it they were huge. Oh and he also penned a few Tina Turner songs, wrote for Ace Of Base, and is one of the song writers credited for Radiohead's "Creep", so there's that. Basically, he's a guy who knows how to write a hit. And it wouldn't have been too out of the ordinary for him to offer to just help his son's band out a little before the label heads found out they just signed a look and not so much a talent.
Maybe this is all speculation. All I know is that these are the facts. The Strokes decided to take a long hiatus after Room On Fire, and a non-stop touring schedule to work in seclusion for their next album. Personally, I think all the talking had finally gotten to them and this was their chance to prove they didn't need any one to teach them how to write songs. Surely if they had some time alone and some time off, they could come back with an album that would get the critics to shut the fuck up once and for all.
I'll spoil the ending for you. First Impressions Of Earth, was released to lukewarm reception in 2006. The album was longer then both of their previous one's combined and was criticized for having too much filler and "not sounding enough like The Strokes". Sure, it spawned at least one hit in "Juicebox" but other then that it was seen by most as a step backwards. Not a failure, but definitely a misstep. And this backlash hurt partly because I think it was the first time the lads had tried to make an album on their own, and their loyal fan base didn't just praise them for being God's gift to music.
As of this writing, the Strokes latest album, Angles, doesn't look like it will be getting much traction time either. With Room On Fire, the fans liked it even though the critics hated it. And with First Impressions Of Earth, the fans and the critics alike lambasted it. And now with Angels, we've gotten to the point where the fans, the critics, and from what's been gleamed from a few sour interviews, everyone in the band hates the new album. Affectionately nicknamed by Casablancas as "Operation: Make Everyone Satisfied", Angels was the sound of the rest of the band trying to prove they were just as capable of writing boring, toothless music as Julian was (who shares 90% of the fault of what's wrong with First Impressions). With only one single that received moderate airplay, a nifty toe-tapper called "Undercover Of Darkness" which harked back to to old days of The Strokes, the album was critical panned.
The final nail in the coffin might just be time. In the hiatus the band took to write a poorly received album, other bands began to generate critical acclaim as everyone moved on to the next flavor of the week. Some of them ironically enough, inspired by The Strokes (Arctic Monkeys anyone?). As it stands now, after the many delays and false-starts during the recording sessions for Angels, it's unlikely that we'll see a fifth album anytime soon. Last I heard, there's talk of getting into the studio, but I wont hold my breath.
I don't say any of this with glee. I found my old copy of Is This It, the other day in my car and gave it a spin. It sounds a little dated now, but it still feels the same way it did back then. I was and still am a huge fan of The Strokes. They weren't meant to start a revolution.. But we were sold on a revolution and now we have to look back and realize they didn't deliver. They never could. And they shouldn't have been expected too. But that doesn't mean their music wasn't a breath of fresh air from what was being played. You can't take away that magic when for a brief moment in time we truly believed they were the coolest rock band in the world.
