New Tunes Reviews, October 8, 2013: Parquet Courts, Tim Kasher, Amos Lee, Alex Chilton

Parquet Courts released an EP called Tally All the Things that You Broke, which is retro guitar-heavy 90s alt-rock at its best.  If you enjoy bands like Pavement, etc, check out this band. Their debut full-length, Light Up Gold, is also great. 

It feels like Tim Kasher never changes. The front-man from of Cursive and The Good Life, released a full-length called Adult Film.  Drunk, cynical, and romantic, the songs are enjoyable and Cursive-y.  (If you know what that means, you're halfway there. Give this release a try.)

For your easy folk-rock, public radio listening pleasures, Amos Lee released Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song. It feels like a fall-weather album with quiet guitars and delicate vocals. There are some harmonies but for the most part it is just Lee, strumming a guitar and singing his feelings. 

Did you ever want to listen to an album that captures the intimacy of an open-mic night, except the singer isn't an amateur but instead is Big Star's Alex Chilton?  Well, you are in luck.  This week his Electricity By Candlelight / NYC 2/13/97 was released.  After some research, I found out this recording was captured after the lights went out before Big Star was about to start a second set at the Knitting Factory. The end result was an impromptu, relaxed acoustic performances of "I Walk The Line," and "Surfer Girl," "If I Had a Hammer," "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and more.  I love recordings like this. It really shows the true personality of this influential band.

And of course, this week's releases cannot come to a close without mentioning William Shatner's prog rock album, Ponder the Mystery.  Think about that for a second: William...Shatner...prog...rock. That is all. 

 

New Tunes Reviews, September 24: The Horrible Crowes, Deer Tick, CHVRCHES, and Tim Kasher

The Horrible Crowes (Brian Fallon of Gaslight Anthem and Ian Perkins) released Live at the Troubadour this week. The album has songs from 2011's excellent Elsie and full covers and singular verses. There is some light banter about the band's formation, tramps, relationships, and being fancy sprinkled throughout the recording.

Fallon received some flack recently after his Tumblr post entitled "Tonight You Have Broken My Heart." In the post, he addressed the direction of Gaslight Anthem and the "play all the hits"/"BRUUUUCE" attitude of many fans after some specific incidents in July 2013. After reading the blog post (and the oddly awkward out-of-context pull-quotes used in some cases), my respect for Fallon grew. Yes, nothing can live up to The 59 Sound.  But, artists need to grow. They cannot be expected to play every song you want to hear and every cover they performed once.  Each release by any of his main-projects or side-projects is testimony to his growth and "don't take people's crap" attitude.  

And the cover of "Teenage Dream" is ridiculously fun.

(Ed. Note: This blurb was written without a single reference to Bruce Springsteen and for that, I am proud.) 

Deer Tick's quiet moments are often the most enjoyable, as seen in the song "Big House" from their latest release Negativity. The songs are all over the place.  They go from raucous and drunk to easy-going and romantic.  Another great release from this band that puts on one of the most fun (and destructive) live songs I've seen to date.

CHVRCHES released their anticipated debut album called The Bones of What You Believe. Another one of those electronic-pop"buzz-bands," this release is just as expected. The songs are catchy and darkly danceable. For fans of that type of music, this will likely be a BNM (best new music).   

Tim Kasher (of Cursive and Good Life) released a 2-song EP called Truly Freaking Out. It has the usual themes of drunkenness, anxiety, and aging. It never gets old (even when we do). 

Follow my Best Songs of 2013 playlist on Spotify. Updated weekly, this playlist features some of the best tracks from new releases.  Check out the playlist below!