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Record review | Northwest Bands

Kithkin — Takers & Leavers

Whether it’s primal joy or just effervescent boy-joy, Takers and Leavers remains mischievous and playful even in its most serious moments. It’s impossible to stop grinning as you sing along to the line, “all of my friends are dying.”  Kithkin may not be tame, but as in nature, all is not chaos on Takers and Leavers. There is an organizing principle behind the music of this urban tribe of woodland creatures. The playing is tight, the vocals are strong, and for all their youth (did I mention that Kithkin are KEXP Sound Off! alumns?) the lyrics can be on the profound side.

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Monday, February 20, 2012
by Imaginary Gemma
1 comment

Latest comment by: Chris Estey: "

Fantastic review, and coincidentally just listened to the EP this weekend myself. Love the comparison to Where The Wild Things Are! Thanks so much.

"

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Record review | Crushes | New Releases | Northwest Bands

Mark Lanegan Band — Blues Funeral

...when the tissue paper layers of his songs build to sufficient thickness, it’s impossible not to be swept away, as evidenced by Blues Funeral.

Blues Funeral is the first album released under the name Mark Lanegan Band since 2004’s Bubblegum, but don’t think Lanegan hasn’t been busy. He has released albums with Isobel Campbell, The Twilight Singers, Soulsavers, and The Guttertwins, in addition to making numerous guest appearances in the meantime. Despite eight years and nine albums separating them, Blues Funeral follows logically from Bubblegum. Blues Funeral is the more cohesive of the two, yet rarely dips into monotony. Guest appearances by frequent collaborators, Josh Homme, Greg Dulli, and Jack Irons connect the album to Lanegan’s other projects.

Blues Funeral is best enjoyed in its entirety in a darkened room, through headphones, with a bourbon in hand. Throughout the whole, lyrics are placed front and center, where, like the Man in Black, Lanegan yearningly explores unwholesome themes with only a flickering hope of Christian redemption.

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Monday, February 6, 2012
by Imaginary Gemma
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Record review | New Releases

Nada Surf — The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy

It appears as though the idea with Stars was essentially to avoid over-thinking: seventh track "Looking Through", for example, was recorded the day after it was written. The result is an album that immediately sounds familiar, not because it's a retread but because Nada Surf have so aptly captured the shimmering, lovely essence of what makes them so enchanting in the first place. Opener "Clear Eye Clouded Mind" bursts with punchy, high energy guitars and (of course) flawless harmonies. I suspect it will be a highlight of live shows on their current tour and beyond. "When I Was Young" is no less than an indie-riffic masterpiece, slowly building into a heart-wrenching instant classic.

Though I didn't really need further convincing, Stars reaffirms Caws' place as perhaps the greatest writer of pop tunes in America (all due respect to Adam Schlesinger!). With Nada Surf, what you see hear is what you get. And in this instance, that's a beautiful thing.

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Friday, January 27, 2012
by Imaginary Steve
1 comment

Latest comment by: Kenny: "Nada Surf deserve all the money in the world. They are masters."

Record review

They Might Be Giants — album raises new and troubling questions

I have come to expect a few things from TMBG: Brass and polka-tron influences, references to interesting people of historical significance, and to err on the side of the absurd. TMBG have a strange influence on their fans - they appeal to children as much as adults, but one would should not mistake brevity for simplicity. I was delighted to find several TMBG tracks were included on a shyly-collated mixtape from my boyfriend; many years later we would play several of their songs at our wedding. I was sitting in a play a week ago, and the cast included "Ana Ng" in their scant soundtrack, without it sounding out of place. TMBG have a diverse appeal, in all their galloping, oom-pah-pah craziness and joy.

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Tuesday, December 20, 2011
by Imaginary Nicky
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Record review

Tom Waits — Tom Waits: Bad As Me

Tom Waits has had an incredible career in that he has managed to somehow careen in the opposite direction of most artists: his first records are his lightest, most palatable ones -- for example, Closing Time almost sounding like The Eagles at moments -- and his later albums just get stranger and more uncompromising with time. (It is impossible to deny that if Waits heard Real Gone in 1973, he likely would have fallen over.) He has also achieved something that I cannot say any other musician of his age has done, which is span several decades without making one lousy or even mediocre album. This accomplishment alone sets him apart from nearly all of his contemporaries. And with this in mind, we have his new release Bad As Me, an album that explores the musical territory one would expect, but does not whatsoever translate as mundane. It will come as no surprise to state simply that this is yet another beautifully alien collection of songs from the now 61 year-old legend.

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Tuesday, November 29, 2011
by Andrew Boe
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