New York’s premier pun-loving group, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, swept away the internet in 2009 with their cutesy, adorable music that focused on the emotional conditions of the every-person of indie-class America. Today, the group opens a new chapter as it delves into new territory with its sophomore album Belong.
There’s an added reach to the songs on Belong, and it’s not just that the guitar is louder or that Kip Berman’s voice has more weight. It hinges on the fact that POBPAH, with the help of famed producer Flood (The Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, The Jesus and Mary Chain), has traded in its twee origins for a more throwback '90s alt-rock sound. There’s still a youth-driven urgency to each song, but instead of light, airy pop jangles drenched in sugar, it’s a rich, embellished dense sweetness — like a dark chocolate version of The Smashing Pumpkins.
POBPAH caters to this change with a surprising amount of ease. Its sound overhaul seems to be a causal change of clothes for the group. Its knack for crafty lyricism stands as catchy as ever, especially with album highlight “Heart in Your Heartbreak,” in which Berman charmingly chants “you were the heart in my heart break / you were the miss in my mistake.” The album peaks with the waterlogged-guitar crooner “My Terrible Friend,” which comes closest to topping “Young Adult Friction” — the standout single from their debut.
The majority of songs holds the same simple ability and effect: they’re catchy and likeable, and they’ll get stuck in your head. However, the actual body of music throughout Belong varies too little; the album shapes into a cloud of songs that remain too similar to one another. While POBPAH’s mastery of pop lyricism anchors the songs into the audiences' head, its music too often lays dormant.
There are plenty of good songs for a schoolgirl's crush mix-tape or a sad indie-intern, but the formula remains too unchanged for the album to grow into the next Siamese Dream.
Joel Samson Berntsen (On Repeat - LCD Soundsystem)
If Bob Dylan and Sheryl Crow had a child, it would be Kurt Vile. His music combines clever, whispering lines with a constant strumming that – if it weren't for the fuzz – would almost sound country. Returning to the present with his fourth effort, Smoke Ring for My Halo, Vile cements his status as modern day staple of lo-fi heartland rock by producing some of the freshest and finest music of his career.
Whereas previous efforts were glazed with layer of haze, Smoke Ring for My Halo carries a cleaner, crisper production that effortlessly balances with Vile's causal voice. The memorably charming guitar in standout track "Jesus Fever" adds a breezy quality to the already likable song. The whole album shows Vile proving his knack for clever lyrics with songs like the contrasting "Peeping Tomboy" or "Puppet to the Man" where he sings the sadly potent lyric "By now you probably think I'm a puppet to the man / well, I'll tell you right now, you best believe that I am."
Vile's music has a tattered quality to it and gives impression that Vile's had some character forming experiences. It's wistful but wise – like that cowboy at the end of the bar that's staring down regretfully at his whisky. It reflects the old dust-bowl feeling of desperation but with a more modern touch.
Smoke Ring for My Halo is like a nice warm of cup of dark coffee. There's a rich fullness to each song, and it keeps the same, strong consistency with each sip. Vile's hushed vocals steam over his melodic guitar with just the right touch of sugar, and though it might not be the best cup of coffee, it's still a pretty good cup of Joe.
Starting with the release of the “Yonkers” video and combined with Odd Future’s killer Fallon performance last week, my mind has been stirring in a non-stop, whirlwind of obsession with Tyler The Creator and his L.A. rap collective Odd Future or OFWGKTA, which is an acronym for Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All.
Odd Future is disturbing. They are completely unsettling. There’s this feeling I get when I hear certain lyrics or verses in their songs that literally make my head hurt.
But Odd Future is infinitely more intriguing than dangerous — at least for me. How many current rappers would say the following stanza in a rap: “(what you think of Hayley Williams?)/ fuck her, Wolf Haley robbin’ ‘em/ I’ll crash that fuckin’ airplane at that faggot nigga B.o.B is in /and stab Bruno Mars in his goddamn esophagus /and won’t stop until the cops come in.”
No one would rap that. No one wants to start stuff like that. But Tyler did, and he could care less about the ramifications.
And despite the heavy amounts of hate, there’s more to Tyler than spitting some substantial venom. The lyric that comes right before that “Airplanes” smash-fest is “I’m not gay, I just wanna boogie to some Marvin.” And just like that — in 12 seconds of verse, Tyler totally won me over. Plus, he also references watching Adventure Time in “Yonkers”. Swag.
Tyler is like Nicki Minaj except he actuallystands for something: anarchy, disturbia, and youth culture. That line from “Roman’s Revenge” where Minaj says “I-I-I-I hear them mumblin', I hear the cacklin' / I got 'em scared, shook, panickin'” which might apply to Minaj, but it certainly suits Tyler better in that he’s seriously freaking people and parents the fuck out.
Speaking of parents, Odd Future is playing at Coachella this year, but Future’s youngest member — Earl Sweatshirt — isn’t. His parents sent him off to boarding school or boot camp or something like that — it’s a little unclear except that it’s known that Earl is AWOL and Odd Future keeps posting stuff that says “Free Earl”. Can you imagine it though? Missing playing a staple U.S. festival because your parents sent you to boot camp? Sad times for Earl.
There are two things that make Odd Future so notable: 1) Everyone in Odd Future — at this time — are teenagers. Tyler is nineteen. Tyler is the same age as me. That kind of blows my mind. 2) They have the guts to disregard every censor and everyone in the industry and press. They are carving their own following by saying “fuck everyone”. It’s a bit ironic, but more memorable than anything.
Odd Future has the potential to become more than a hot topic, more than a weird outfit, and more than Die Antwoord; they have the power to actually stand for something, and maybe change a few things around in the “industry”. Now all we can do is wait for Tyler’s solo LP due in April.
Tyler the Creator is on twitter as @fucktyler. He’s pretty hilarious and he capitalizes every word, so he's cool in my book. Here’s some choice tweets from after his performance on Fallon: “Fans Were Crying Tears Of Joy Because I'm One Of Them. Feels Good. I'm Gonna Go jack Off And Go To Sleep.” & “This Nigga Travis On The Phone With Me. Nigga Crying.” followed by “Thats My Best Friend Tho, So Its Cool.”
Looking back over 2010, James Blake covered a whole lot of ground in a very short time, releasing a new EP almost quarterly.
And while his varying EPs did a great job at advertising Blake's multi-faceted production chops, they also displayed just how ambitious Blake is with his music, trying out new styles and techniques with each EP. The new year brings a Blake that's finally ready to play with a complete studio album — he's practiced and experimented, and now the London dub-stepper stands prepared to unveil his first full album, the self-titled James Blake.
There's a very tranquil quality that echoes through Blake's debut. The intrinsic layering of the production arranged with heart-breaking voice of Blake, stirs the mind both with emotional unease and satisfaction. In "Lindisfarne I," Blake somehow manages to make auto-tuning sound soothing to the ear. There's freshness to Blake's music, and while the sound might be sparse, an emotional intensity still looms throughout the album.
Blake's production drips with the genius of an unconventional scientist. He takes the aspects of other genres — thunderous back drums of dance music, beats that'd usually be found on a rap album, auto-tuning — and mixes them into a calming blend of emotionally taught music. The build up to the climax of "I Never Learnt to Share" develops to one of the most stirring culminations of any song in recent years, reaching the point of comparability to the beginning of LCD Soundsystem's "Dance Yrself Clean."
It's a rare occurrence that an artist can pump out music at break-neck speed without comprising quality, but somehow Blake has mastered the art of quick, smart production. Blake's debut is a breath of fresh air, and more than that proves the extent of Blake's musical genius and shows he's quite a bit more than just a producer — he's a pioneer.
Spider-man is getting rebooted, and man, I am freaking ecstatic.
I liked the first two Raimi-Maquire Spider-man films, but — especially with Spider-man 3 — the time to bring in new creators to do a fresh rendition of the Spider-man saga is a long time coming. And the powers that be have assembled one sick crew to take out this latest version.
Hello Marc Webb, yes, you can totally sign on to direct “Untitled Spider-man Reboot”. Name sound familiar? Odds are you’ve probably seen one of the fifty music videos he’s directed over the past ten years. Or maybe you’ve seen (500) Days of Summer? The film that was turned into a hit through the backing and love of a generation. There’s one consistent quality that defines Webb: clever. Clever, over and over; his videos show it, (500) Days especially shows it. I mean just look at this old MCR music video, it’s just goofy fun. And the main aspect that has to be right in a Spider-man film? Spider-man has to be smart-ass. Webb’s got that in the bag no sweat.
And then Andrew Garfield signed on. Some consider him to be the best part of the Social Network (I’m one of those people), most consider him a really hot British import (mostly girls). Either way, he’s talented and attractive. And he clearly has the ability to make little quip-y remarks while bashing people up, and he certainly as the capacity to act like a angst-filled teenager (this Spider-man is going to be set in high school). If you don’t really understand what I’m saying just go see The Social Network — really, again if you’ve seen it before. There’s not really anyone I can think of that be better to play Peter Parker than Garfield.
And then they got Emma Stone to play Gwen Stacy, who’s proven more than once that she can be a witty love interest (Superbad, Zombieland, Easy A). Also, did you know she’s a natural blond? Really, she is. Then they got Martin Sheen to play Ben Parker and Sally Field (Mrs. Gump in Forest Gump, the mom in Steel Magnolias) to play May Parker, Peter’s main parental figures and in pretty much every way the perfect parent figures. This really is the best casting ever. I’m not even pissed that Denis Leary is playing Gwen’s Dad. Mostly because I know he’s the perfect guy to play a New York dad and Police officer, and I don’t think I hate any more than Dennis Leary expect for, like, one other person in the world.
Even the villain — Dr. Curt Conners, the lizard — is perfect based solely on the fact that Spider-man and a man sized lizard can totally just slug it out in an even, fist to fist fight (plus claws, tail, and webbing).
But the main thing I’m curious about Spider-man-teen-version; is Peter Parker going to listen to New Order or The Smiths and longingly look at Gwen? Is the soundtrack going to be a little indie mix-tape, and is there going to be little references to Springsteen and epiphanies resulting from watching The Graduate? Is this going to be Spider-man saturated with a substantial amount of pop-culture references? I sure hope so. As a pop-culture nerd and comic nerd, that’s pretty much my dream. Webb has worked with music pretty much all his career and the soundtrack for (500) Days soundtrack has become synonymous with the film. So, I assume the soundtrack will be at least feature some sort of indie-collection of pretty cool tracks.
Maquire does not get this Smiths reference.
At this time, I just want to say — despite using the word twice in the previous paragraph and in the title — I hate using the word indie as an adjective. Yet, I’m using it here. I’m a hypocrite sometimes.
Anyway, the cast and crew of “Untitled Spider-man Reboot” are doing a very smart thing: they’re keeping the film unconventional. They’re not going with the traditional villains and Mary Jane isn’t around. And by staying away from the norms, they’re freeing themselves from the limitations of the expectations placed by the previous films, which is a smart, smart move. They can carve out their own story and play to their own abilities without the worry of comparison. Oh, those smart people… I’m smiling right now.
And with that, I wait for the film. Just like all of you. I hope you’re excited as I am.
Wavves and Best Coast are dating, or maybe I should say Bethany Cosentino and Nathan Williams are dating, but really, they're the leaders of their bands, right? So, Best Coast and Wavves are dating and did a Christmas song together. Good gracious, it's just kind of adorable, kind of like, Snacks, Cosentino's cat, who has a fucking twitter.
There's a whole star-crossed, Californian lovers angle to all this. Both Cosentino and Williams are from Cali, they both toke up, they both had albums come out last year and both those albums had cats on them, and both their albums got an 8.4 on Pitchfork. God, I hope they don't die in each other's arms, or at least not for, like, fifty years.
Bethany Cosentino stealthily rose to be one of my favorite people of 2010. First, I was all, "whoa, super cool, lovelorn beach music." Then, I was all, "oh gee, she's got a raw-ass, hilarious twitter and she likes iCarly." Then I finally listened to Wavves, and was like, "dude's on point." Then I found Williams's twitter which is just as, if not more, amusing.
Bethany Cosentino is the female Kanye West of Twitter. She's raw ("Oh I hate Katy Perry so much, you do not represent California girls, bitch."), slightly vulnerable ("Watching icarly, missing @wavveswavves"), and almost always entertaining ("Nevermind I found my sweater! And I will never drink four loko again! Recipe for disaster!"). And so is Nathan Williams. I would say he's the white, weedy, version of Kanye, but now it's feels somewhat belittling constantly comparing one person to another. They're all relentless entertaining individuals, pitching their thoughts strait with no filters. Williams, also has got me really wanting to play Fifa 2011 (the soccer game).
SNACKS WILL DEVOUR KITTY PURRY
Another example, take Williams, who was arrested in Germany a couple months back. This was his press release:
"We got stopped at a roadside check and I had six bags in the car and they only found one-- the fucking dogs never work. I bet it's high from all the fumes. Anyways, they put me in a cell which was a little nerve-wracking. More so because I was an American in a German jail and not because I have long gay hair. I did wrestle for four years in high school, so I could have fucked somebody up. So yeah, then I gave em €200 and walked out... not a terrible deal. And now I'm getting high again."
See, totally raw, hilarious entertainment.
There's this secret, evil-side to me though, that secretly hopes that they get blissfully married in a year or so and release a joint album of awesome, weed positivity, but then, one ugly year after that, they get bitterly divorced and then they'll both make super-depressing break-up albums. And, as some know, depression fuels some of the best bands/albums ever i.e. Joy Division, The Smiths, etc. It'd be amazing, right? I'm seeking help.
Back to entertainment aspect of all this though, how engaging would a reality series on those two be? Just let the cameras follow them around. Like, Wavves / Best Coast just had a four day stint in Vegas. They were gambling, ordering room service, yelling at each other for winning. Reality TV could actually be good. MTV PAY ATTENTION TO THIS: there's the actual the possibliltity to create reality programming that has entertaining, music involvement. Though, there is the whole Wavves and Best Coast actually agreeing to participate in this programming, which seems slim, but one can hope, right? Maybe a mini-series at least? On PBS? I can and will dream about this.
Anyway, Best Coast & Wavves, they rip it up. PLEASE COME BACK TO STL GUYS.
You can find Nathan Williams aka Wavves at @wavveswavves.
You can find Bethony Costello aka Best Coast at @bestycoastyy.
