Kings of Leon
Because of the Times
2007 | RCA
Kings of Leon were once labeled "the Strokes of the South,” a simple way to dismiss
the band who were regarded equally for their southern “look” and music
in the press. On Because of the Times I hear a huge
improvement in sound and arrangement that separates them from previous
albums, and any Lynyrd Skynyrd comparisons. Surprisingly, the band is
very loose from the beginning and strikingly similar to the rage and
guitar blasts of the Pixies being fronted by greg Dulli, at least
during the first third of the album.
Because of the Times is
certainly darker and less accessible than I would have ever imagined.
The screams on “Charmer” annoyed me at first but now I immediately go
right to that track because it climaxes with a thunderous riff after
about a minute and a half. The single "On Call" slowly builds into a
solid chugging guitar line. Too bad the obvious pro-tool effect that’s
capping the vocal line “I’ll be there” sticks out like a sore thumb,
not cool at all guys. "McFearless" gets rhythmically adventurous then
lashes out. The middle of the record takes a back seat and leaves you
mellow and uninspired. "Camaro" saves the ending and is a shredder,
especially with that bassline accompanying the guitar solo. You’d think
a song about a Camaro would be just plain stupid, but the music roars
like a finely-tuned V8 engine.
Here in the US Kings of Leon are quickly passed over as a cliché southern rock band, like people only have time these days for My Morning Jacket. I know the trend is to skip over bands that aren't featured weekly on about a dozen different blogs, but in a more accurate world people would start paying attention to music that actually makes you feel something.
Directed by Matt Dillon
Thurston and his daughter Coco star in this Matt Dillon video. The new Dinosaur Jr. album is coming soon.
From 2006's The Crawl.
Directed by David Fischoff and Sean U'Ren
Directed by Patrick Daughters
Another brand new Feist video, also directed by Patrick Daughters, from the hotly-tipped album The Reminder, which isn't even out yet.
Directed by Walter Stern
From the last Spiritualized album Amazing Grace (2003). Still waiting patiently Mr. Spaceman.
Parts & Labor
Mapmaker
2007 | Jagjaguwar/Brah
I
was in Guitar Center in San Francisco a couple of years ago, waiting to
be rung up for some pedal I couldn’t afford, when I noticed these two
guys in front of me buying a bunch of cables. One of them looked like
that crazy guitar player for Faith No More, the one with the ‘fro,
beard and glasses, while the other guy was a seriously tall redheaded
guy. “These two are interesting looking,” I thought to myself, “I bet
they’re in a good
band.” I struck up a conversation with them, and
they revealed to me that were on tour with their group Parts and Labor.
I had heard a little of P & L via their first album, Rise, Rise,
Rise, at least enough to know they were good. And so my theory that
you can oftentimes evaluate the quality of band simply by the
appearance of the members was once again confirmed.
If
you’re familiar with Parts and Labor you would probably guess that they
guys behind it were some interesting cats, as capable as they are of
summoning shrieks out of an old Apple IIE as of writing a great chorus.
Indeed, they create anthemic, vaguely Scottish-influenced noise rock
built around the use of junkyard electronics. There are obvious
parallels to Amps for Christ, whose leader also crafts instruments out
of circuitry and has an affection for the Highlands, as well as to
stuff like Husker Du and Neutral Milk Hotel, in terms of B.J. Warshaw’s
sincere, forceful vocal delivery. Parts and Labor have emphasized
melody a bit more with each release, albeit in a seriously noisy way,
and Mapmaker continues this trend. Just as their last album had an
undisputed best song in “The Great Divide,” so too does Mapmaker with
opener “Fractured Skies,” a perfect intersection of noise, harmony and
energy. In fact, if someone was to ask me about this album, I’d
probably say “well, it has this one great song.” There a couple other
worthy numbers, notably “New Crimes” and “Brighter Days,” but nothing
quite as stunning as that first one. The Scottish influence is more
subtle on this album than on those past, and truth be told I miss the
bagpipe-sounding effect that was applied so liberally on their first
release. Still, on the whole this is solid stuff, and probably a good
entry point to a band that is as loud as they are melodic.
-Chris Holmes
The event calendar requires Javascript.
