SIX BY SEVEN: The Shapes We Make / The Closer You Get / The Way I Feel Today

More great late 90’s and early 00’s indie rock, this time the mighty Six By Seven.  The sound these guys settled on borrows from post rock, shoegaze, and guitar centered indie rock which fuse together to create heavy droning music that immediately sounds familiar yet strange.  The best analogy would go something like this: the rhythm section of the Stooges dances with the guitars of The Fall who borrowed all their gear from MBV while Damon Albarn does his best Julian Cope impression.  Yeah, they really are that good.  Like most albums out on Beggars Banquet the production is clean which helps makes the trippy sonics sound that much more alive.  These are some really great albums to be had for pennies, go to it.

DINOSAUR JR: Where You Been

This is easily the best Dinosaur Jr album ever made, after years of following J Mascis this is the one album I keep coming back to the most.  Things that set this album apart from other albums is the clarity in production, the creative handling of distortion, Murphs kills it on drums, and  J’s vocals are outrageously tuneful throughout.  These are pop songs delivered with the same energy of early albums but with a newly acquired sophistication.  Dinosaur Jr went on to make a couple more mellower offerings before reuniting with Lou Barlow the original bassist in 2005.  The album arc of J Mascis and Dinosaur Jr has been a pretty incredible ride but  after hearing “Where You Been” its clear there is an investment in the songs that is unique to this album.  Grab this classic, then work your way through the Dinosaur Jr discography backwards from there.

THE VERLAINES: Ready To Fly / Way Out Where

These two mid-career albums by New Zealand’s jangle merchants The Verlaines are great example of the simple joys that Kiwi pop is known for.  The songwriting is always refined, guitars jangle and distort, the drums swing like a young Ringo, and it all creates an atmosphere that you can completely lose yourself in.  The Verlaines split their time between the ringing guitar runs of  “Murmur” era R.E.M. and the dramatic twist and turns that early XTC delighted in.  As far as Flying Nun bands go theses guys are up there with the Clean, Bats, Chills and the like but also have a sound that is all their own, a romantic melancholy that vaguely reminds me of the Terminals, but far more pop.  Like most things on Slash these records are one of a kind and are long forgotten essentials for anyone who loves abstracted pop.  Further proof that the 90’s were a very fertile decade for music.

LUPINE HOWL: 125 / The Carnivorous Lunar Activities Of… / The Bar At The End Of The World

Lupine Howl surfaced in the early 00’s and recorded three awesome albums and called it a day.  The three members that comprised Lupine Howl were ex-members of early Spiritualized who found themselves out of the job but kept making music together.  These guys specialize in the nether world that exists between the early Stone’s and Pink Floyd which is no surprise as this is the same band that helped build the Spiritualized masterpiece “Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space”.  If you are already a fan of Spaceman 3, Spectrum, Spiritualized, and that “sound” then Lupine Howl deliver the goods in spades.  All of these albums can be snatched up for pennies and will become faves to the psych loving audiophile, out on Beggars Banquet.

GHOSTY: Answers

File these guys under: Ornate Art Pop.  Borrowing from nearly 40 years of abstract pop, Ghosty put together music that is creative, melancholy, and triumphant all at the same time.  The production on this record is nothing short of spectacular, like the clean, propulsive style of a young Chris Walla.  The music has a feeling of winter sunshine, bright, but lacking any warmth…which is an interesting  place to have music exist.  Like the album tracks on a Simon and Garfunkel record, everything is elaborate and refined but sounds cold.  Its clear that Ghosty seem interested in classing up the genre of indie by actually applying themselves and learning songcraft, which I totally respect.  With a scope as wide as  “Summerteeth” or “Soft Bulletin” this band deserves some attention.  Check it out.

VIETNAM: The Concrete’s Always Grayer On The Other Side Of The Street / Vietnam S/T

Wow, I really love this band.  Like a young speedy Bob Dylan fronting a “White Light/White Heat” era Velvet Underground, Vietnam have a sound that is totally far out.  Music like this could not come from a band that was not totally dedicated to the rock n’ roll lifestyle.  There is a drive behind these songs that is all together lacking in most modern music, real frustration, paranoia, and fear…like Reed and Dylan the songs of Vietnam detail things in sometimes unsettling ways.  Its clear writing is important but equally impressive as the poetry is the  backing music,  it confidently stretches and glides responding to the subtle dynamics of the storytelling, really engaging shit.  Next time you are on Amazon drop a buck for Vietnam’s entire discography,  a live single, an EP, and the full length.  Anyone who is a fan of Spiritualized, Rolling Thunder Revue era Dylan, or live bootlegs of  The Velvet Underground will love this band.

LOW FLYING OWLS: Elixir Vitae

Great forgotten California psych band from the mid 00’s that put out a few albums and for a while where touring pretty heavy.  These guys sound like a fusion of The first Stooges album and Pink Floyd’ s first album.  The vocals, guitars, and keyboards swirl around in a very stream of conciousness way as the tribal lurch of the bass/drums keeps the songs grounded.  The highlight of this disc is the fourth track “Strange Connection” which is probably the most gorgeous song committed to tape so far this century.  No shit.  Imagine the sonic euphoria of running the song “Sea Of Love” through the emotional filters of  “The Soft Bulletin” era Flaming Lips.  If there is a fault with this CD it is that these guys do play it pretty safe, after opening for these guys and seeing their live show  I know how “out” the Low Flying Owls can go.  Still, this is a great release by a group that should have been more appreciated, oh well.  Grab this.

FAVOURITE SONS: Down Beside Your Beauty

Once upon a time the greatest band of all time Rollerskate Skinny broke up, one of the songwriters in the group Ken Griffin made a brillant late 90’s record as Kid Silver, then vanished.  Favourite Sons is the new vehicle for Ken’s songs, which are equally as dynamic and driven but with more traditional instrumentation and arrangements.  Basically more rock.  There is a familiarity that these songs conjure up, not one you can necessarily put your finger on, but something that easily settles close to your heart.  That is not to say there isn’t a little strangeness tucked behind every corner.  One of the most far out lyrics goes “If I can I’d  win a million dollars, and if you want I would  kill a million birds for you.  If I die in the tall grass dreaming, I hope I’m dreaming of you…”  The contrast of lyrics like that across a bed of astral tinged Americana needs to be heard.  Much like everything Ken Griffin has ever done, this is a necessity.

DARK MEAT: Universal Indians

This record is a beast.  There are twenty three people listed in the band, multiple drummers, howling choruses, and music that sounds like its spiraling into a black hole. Rarely does the onslaught let up, making this ride eventually feel like a nightmare.  Sometimes within the eye of the musical hurricane we glimpse some speedy blues a la Bob Weir, but generally this disc is balls to the wall.  This album handles catharsis in a similar way as Mahavishnu Orchestra or The Icebun Collective, but with an element of real southern blues.  This album is intense, but it really is a unique  document, very alive and full of a spirit that is intoxicating.

LANSING DREIDEN:The Incomplete Triangle

This band may be one of the most underrated bands making music today.  Lansing Dreiden are a collective of people out of NYC that record and make various artwork together in a venture that “sees no distinction between art and commerce”.  This music is both extremely creative, wonderfully textural, and as catchy as hell, sounding like a thrashy no-wave version of Talk Talk.  It should not shock anyone who knows me that this album came out on Kemado, and like most of my collection, was retreived for under a buck.   I’ve rewritten this review now three times, no description seems to do this album justice.  If the last album by Women left you craving more, then Lansing Dreiden are your next move.