Note: This review was originally posted on Austin Sound (link), but is the original work of the author. -Ed.

If local thrift stores selling old pearl snaps along side vintage instruments wasn’t enough to convince you that Austin might be a town that values a “revival” spirit, the Jungle Rockers might be the kick in the 40-year-old Levis you need. In fact, the new EP by the Jungle Rockers, which follows in the footsteps of last year’s eponymous debut, would be more at home on the shelves of one of a hundred “vintage” stores, or perhaps even your dad’s record collection, than next to most new music today. While venturing into the same territory as thousands of garage bands across America, the Jungle Rockers recreate a bygone era with striking success; but whether or not mere revival of the classics is cause for celebration hinges on a simple question you should probably ask yourself: Am I looking for one hell of a rockin’ good time?

Don’t kid yourself, you are. And if that be the case, Cool It Out is a shot straight to the vein of guitar licks so raw they could get Bo Diddley turning in his grave. A primal scream jump starts “Cool It Out”, followed by riffs and vocal howls that burn the tape throughout, pushing needles to red and, presumably, all the kids to the black checkered dance floor. “I wanna be a good boy, meet a good girl / But there’s a devil in my head goin’ ‘ha, ha, ha, ha’” chant the Rockers, flashing their signature sardonic wit like true greasers. In fact, most lyrics can be classified into one of three taxa: 1) self-attributions of “bein’ bad”, 2) clever sexual innuendos about women, or 3) screaming, with an emphasis on 3) screaming. The combination of the three is, quite literally, timeless.

In the grand scheme of things, both for music and the Jungle Rockers, Cool It Out is generally more of the same. But when that “same” is exciting music that hearkens back to a simpler, more enjoyable time in rock-n-roll, it’s hard to deny that while musical pioneers they are not, their music is first and foremost entirely enjoyable, a quality music has often forgot in the many years since.

Tunes:

Jungle Rockers - “Cool It Out”

Info:

Cool It Out is available now.

Websites:

[myspace]

Through a veil of snare fills and murky feedback, Preteen Weaponry stammers into existence. This umpteenth album from Oneida is meant to be listened to as one song, divided nicely into three distinct parts (or “movements” if you prefer), all recorded in the same day. It’s slow and persistent, a challenging album at best, but one of the most intelligent and primitively enjoyable releases of the year from a band who’s never received even half the credit they deserve.

Continue reading Oneida: Preteen Weaponry (Jagjaguwar)

Fighting off an illness this past week, I didn’t get a chance to hop in my blogger’s chair and post as frequently as I would have liked. More specifically, I missed out on joining the welcoming rally for A Certain Feeling, the new album by Bodies of Water, which came out last Tuesday. As I previously mentioned, the band still had me hooked from SXSW when they practically brought the Mohawk down under a hail of howling guitars and back-breaking vocal harmonies. They were by far one of the most impressive acts of the festival, so it’s no surprise then that A Certain Feeling is as impressive as any album released this year.

Compared to their previous release, Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink, the new album is a much more focused endeavor, expanding on the things that the band does best. What the band does best, of course, is conjuring up a (forgive the water imagery) sea of energy to power their huge epic sound. Tip-toeing into existence, the album begins with the soft and chilling multi-part harmonies of “Gold, Tan, Peach and Grey” before ripping through a crescendo into the song’s more “explosive” sections. With horns blaring in the background, floor toms pounding and Meredith Metcalf’s vocals scrambling to be heard, it’s easy to say, “Sure, this band has energy”; along with “Under The Pines,” the second song, that fact becomes quite clear. And the energetic parts are some of the best on the album, but it’s the subdued songs that push the album to the next level.

On Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink, many softer sections suffered from a seeming lack of direction, but songs on the new album like “Only You” and “Water Here” hold up against their beefier counterparts as slower, but equally energetic songs. Instead of expressing energy via blaring horns and raging guitars, it’s syncopation and, most of the time, haunted organ sounds. And each song sees the band sounding as in control and focused as they do on the louder sections. Between the two varieties, there’s hardly a dull moment on the album.

The back half of the album only gets better, spinning out more of the same intriguing music the band creates in the first half. The only drawback may be that certain songs, like “Keep Me On” and “If I Were A Bell,” drag out past the six minute mark. That’s not to say the songs get dull, in fact, most songs explore a good deal of musical territory, revolving through a number of manifestations before their end.

All in all, A Certain Feeling is everything I wanted to hear from Bodies of Water, as if they knew and took to heart all my suggestions about their last album, and then surpassed all my expectations. The album’s out now on Secretly Canadian. Don’t miss it.

I can’t post my favorite track, “Darling, Be Here,” because of various “legal” issues, so enjoy “Under The Pines” instead, along with a few tracks off Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink for comparison.

Continue reading Bodies of Water - A Certain Feeling

I have an interview up today over at Austin Sound with Bill Baird that you should check out. It was conducted via Google Chat, which means it’s a little confusing and 100% ridiculous, but who wants to do interviews at Spider House anyway. I’m still working on a Flash version that will depict more accurately the timing of the entire thing. More to come.

In other news, the new Sunset album The Glowing City (which we posted tracks from last month) is due out next week on Autobus.

I don’t think I can stress to you enough how good this album is. From start to finish (a grand total of about 18 songs), it clamors with the oddities of Bill Baird, but is considerably more pop-oriented (and accessible to the average listener) than Sunset’s earlier release this year, Bright Blue Dream. Leading off the album, “Zombies” sets the tone for what is to come, crafting a patchwork percussion rhythm dressed up with pianos and vocal chants (”Zombies… Zombies”) while Baird’s near-whisper vocals churn up some oddly optimistic lyrics: “Dance, like Sandy said / if your heart isn’t dancing you might as well be dead” (well, optimistic at least given the context - a song called ‘Zombies’). The glow of Bright Blue Dream finds its way into some of the lyrical references too, such as “Your life is a sitcom staring you / with candle-lit television eyes.” The jury is still out on whether or not this is a direct reference to your mom telling you that watching to much tv will turn you into a Zombie, but maybe you can piece together the clues in that interview I told you about.

Continue reading Sunset: The Glowing City

I think everyone has a system for navigating through the staggering amount of new music and new bands. I’ve developed a sort of “mental Netflix” that helps me to keep track of everything. If I read about a band I’ve never heard three or four times on my internet machine, I add them to the “queue.” A band has the ability to move up in the queue if dictated by some outside force. Examples of an “outside force” include being humiliated in a social situation for not knowing about said band, or learning the girl I’ve had an unhealthy crush on listens to them. More commonly though, I’ll read that a band is coming to town and make sure I give them a listen to see if it’s worth going.

Wye Oak’s debut album If Children came out earlier this year on Merge, and I get the feeling that they’ve been undeservingly stranded at the bottom of more than a few queues. There just hasn’t been much press about them. Truthfully, though, I think you’d struggle to find a more solid album this year. Every song is immensely pleasing: from the delicate finger-picking of opener “Please Concrete” to the final reverb-soaked chord of “Obituary,” Wye Oak manages to retain consistency even through stylistically diverse songs. “Regret” is a quietly strong folk song while “A Lawn to Mow” explores a more traditional rock ballad with electric piano and subtle tremolo. The piano line driving “Keeping Company” sounds like its lineage can be traced back to oriental scales, and the accompaniment of light and dancing percussion only adds to its Eastern aesthetic. They are at their best, however, when they let the styles and genres blend, resulting in the “sound” of the band.

Continue reading Album Review: Wye Oak - If Children (Merge)