Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Venice is Sinking - Sorry About the Flowers


Venice Is Sinking - Sorry About the Flowers
(2006 - One Percent Press)

Here is some especially satisfying fare for all you melody loving, indie-minded shoegazers out there. Sleepy guitars and lush strings build and layer around heart melting male/female vocals. Thoughtfully arranged dreaminess that evokes just enough wistful melancholy for those rainy summer afternoons. Not the self-indulgent, "Boo hoo for poor me," variety of melancholy mind you, more like a sudden moment of understanding and acceptance after a great loss.
Sometimes low-key and other times anthemic, the songs on Sorry About the Flowers are mainly of the stalwart mid-tempo ilk. Stunningly gorgeous and with plenty of musical variety to keep things interesting, Venice is Sinking consistently succeed in recapturing the shoegazer stylings of the early 90's.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

The World/Inferno Friendship Society - Red Eyed Soul


The World/Inferno Friendship Society - Red Eyed Soul
(2006, Chunksaah Records)

This is the kind of band that I quickly find myself falling in love with. The World/Inferno Friendship Society is eclectic, vibrant, festive, soulful, irrevrent, creative and generally radiates good times. The band, which employs only two permanent members but may contain as many as twelve at any given time, has been around for several years, entreated the world with a few releases and converted a gracious plenty showgoers into devoted followers.
The players and their truckload of various instruments are tight and together in that non-clinical, feels-like-it's-natural sort of way. At first the vocal stylings of the frontman/ringmaster guy (sorry, there were no credits on my copy) seemed much too white bread for the musicians' jazzy, art-punk mayhem. However, after a couple listens I really couldn't imagine the words being presented any other way. Everything about The Society (as we'll refer to them henceforth) is just that infectious.
As one of the original purveyors of cabaret punk, The Society mix all the fun of a Gypsy Halloween carnival with pop melodies and punk attitudes to summon forth a funtastically danceable anarchy. This new album is somewhat lacking in the punk department, leaning more heavily on body moving theatrics and orchestration but Red Eyed Soul is still a slap in the face of convention. It may not have the frantic insanity of past releases and it may incorperate more ambitious musicianship but there is still a floor stomping good time to be had.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Conner - Hello Graphic Missile


Conner - Hello Graphic Missile
(2006, Sonic Boom Recordings)

The comparisons and likenesses applied to the Lawrence, Kansas quartet Conner are true and accurate but at the same time somewhat misleading. They do belong in the same bullpen as The Strokes, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand and dozens of other danceable rock revivalists. The mislead is that, while most of their compatriates are all forced swagger and no substance, Conner skips the posturing and just delivers damn good songs. The swaggering coolness is just gravy.
Compiling the best tracks from the band's first two self released albums, Hello Graphic Missile is Conner's first attempt to reach a national audience. Soundwise, the influences vary from T-Rex to Gang of Four to a little bit of Rolling Stones boiled down into modern indie rock structures. Phil Bonahoom's plump basslines bounce along with Bryce Boley's no-nonsense dance/rock beats. The guitars, provided by Tom Wagner and James Duft, marry straightforeward riffage with memorable melodies for a result that is complex but never degenerating into art-wank. Duft's vocals are certainly affected in that Brit Glam / New Wave fashion that The Strokes brought back into vogue.
The initial gut reaction to Conner may be to dismiss them as another face in the crowd of an already overpopulated sub-genre but there is honestly something more to this band. Conner proves that style doesn't necessarily have to mean formula. A band can have a definite sound and still do more than one thing. What it all comes down to is that Conner offers a joyful affirmation of everything that is right about the whole dancey/rock/new wave revival thing. What's more, they're better than most of their fellows and as good as the best.