Tag Archives: 2010

The Gaslight Anthem’s “American Slang” (2010) – Yes, No, or Maybe So

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The Gaslight Anthem’s American Slang (2010) – MAYBE

The Gaslight Anthem's "American Slang" (2010)

The Gaslight Anthem's "American Slang" (2010)

(June 15, 2010)

Review:

If you ever wondered what Bruce Springsteen would have sounded like had he been born into the alternative/punk rock legacy, well… the time has come; American Slang suffers a bit from homogeneity of sound, but each of the ten tracks here unfolds as a vivid landscape that transports the listener to a new and yet not entirely unfamiliar locale.

Top Two Tracks:

“Orphans” & “The Diamond Church Street Choir”

Broken Social Scene’s “Forgiveness Rock Record” (2010) – The Weekend Review

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By Chris Moore:

RATING: 2 / 5 stars

Their concept is an interesting one: record en mass with a crowd of artists whose talents and respective genres run the gamut from classical to avant-garde. When there is cohesion and purpose, the diversity contributes to some fascinating productions.

When Broken Social Scene falls short, though, the distance is vast.

With one exception, Forgiveness Rock Record falls far short of anything approaching complete success past the sixth track.  Which is a shame, because the first six tracks are so fantastic, each finding an order in the chaos of up to fourteen chefs with their hands in the pot.

Songs like “Forced to Love” border on beautiful, hinting at single-worthiness.  Ten years ago, fifteen perhaps, they may have stood a chance on commercial radio.  Consider the quirky catchiness of “Texico Bitches” or the bouncy indie rock of “Art House Director” — these are the standout tracks where, clearly, something special was tapped into.

Even “All to All,” which threatens to stretch out for too long, is a gorgeous piece that walks the line between indie and dance, owing not a little to Lisa Lobsinger’s lead.  When Leslie Feist later unfolds “Sentimental X’s,” it reads as an attempt to mimic “All to All.”  Perhaps this was purposeful, as a means of pulling the otherwise disparate pieces of the album together.

Even still, it falls short.

The opener “World Sick” hints at a truth later revealed:  Broken Social Scene doesn’t always know when to cut it short or rein it in.  On the seven minute “World Sick,” their patient unraveling of the larger concept translates, and they quickly follow up with the fast-paced three-minute “Chase Scene” as a prompt reminder that not every track on Forgiveness Rock Record will be a test of the listener’s patience.  Even as a large group, they know how to hit a groove and run with it.

This is a key aspect present in the first six tracks that disappears almost irretrievably for the remainder of the album.

Broken Social Scene's "Forgiveness Rock Record" (2010)

Broken Social Scene's "Forgiveness Rock Record" (2010)

After “Art House Director” fades, the bulk of the album kicks off with “Highway Slipper Jam,” beginning with a vocal burst that sounds like something Femi Kuti would contribute to a Brett Dennen single.  Whereas it is a fun accompaniment on the latter, it sits oddly in isolation on this seventh track.  It is not so much that “Highway Slipper Jam” is a bad song.  It is more that it is hardly a song at all.  Essentially, this track expresses what is implied by the tag “Jam”: it is little more than a drum beat and some disconnected vocals and guitars.

“Ungrateful Little Father” opens lyrically strong and catchy even, yet dissolves into a more than three minute indulgence that sounds like a dream sequence set in a casino.

From there, most of the remaining tracks either tease at something more or fall apart as echoes of other sounds on the album.  “Meet Me in the Basement” builds up to a legitimate rock song… without any vocals or anything really interesting or fresh after the midpoint about two minutes in.   As noted above, “Sentimental X’s” reads as an inferior six-minute rewrite of “All to All.”

“Sweetest Kill” is the most significant tease on the record, unfolding an alluring lead vocal and pulsing bass lines that would please, if only it didn’t hold to the established norm for all five minutes of the song.  “Romance to the Grave” will keep your interest, but there is still something lacking here that wasn’t in those first six tracks, by now a distant memory.

Then comes “Water in Hell.”

From the opening guitar run, it is clear that “Water in Hell” is more well put together than anything since “Art House Director.”  It still very much bears the Broken Social Scene watermark, adding reverb and quirky background accompaniment, but it just works.  And it works so well that you could listen for all the unique parts that are woven masterfully together, hinting at a looseness without ever falling apart, or simply kick back and rock out.

The album concludes with “Me and My Hand,” which is underwhelming, but pretty and haunting and, thus, a fitting lead-in for anyone who decides to listen to track one again. (Why you wouldn’t give tracks one through six another play, having made it all the way through, I don’t know.)

In short, I haven’t written Broken Social Scene off after this album, but the gap between their excellent songs and their unrealized and mediocre songs is vast.  Accordingly, Forgiveness Rock Records blazes admirably through the first six before falling apart, only to be temporarily revived by the standout “Water in Hell.”  Records like this perhaps serve best as a reminder of why the Beatles set the standard number of tracks at twelve and others, from Bob Dylan to Weezer, have since scaled that back to ten or even into the single digits.

We all like to get the most for our money, but the greater desire should always be to get consistently excellent music that begs for multiple listens – a desire that Forgiveness Rock Record on the whole, for all its solid tracks, simply can’t satisfy.

The Bob Dylan Concert Primer: November 2010 – Playlists on Parade

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By Chris Moore:

Since Mike, Nicole, and I are getting revved up for Bob Dylan’s upcoming November 27th concert at the MGM Grand, I’ve been designated the task of preparing a soundtrack for preparation.  I’ve been so busy that I’ve let time slip by since Mike asked me, but I couldn’t allow this to go any farther than tonight.

I started by looking up the set lists for Dylan’s past ten shows (this was made simple by them being easily available on Dylan’s Facebook page).  Each set list is comprised of between 15 and 17 songs, so I sorted through all of the songs and put a tally mark next to each track for each time it was performed.

Well, 53 songs later, it was only somewhat clearer which songs might be played at our November 27th show!

I’ve done my best here to put together the tracks that have been played most often, sorting through different versions I have on my iTunes to pick for not only the best versions, but also to add variety to the playlist.  And “Thunder on the Mountain,” “Ballad of a Thin Man,” “Jolene,” and “Like A Rolling Stone” have been played at every show in the same order, so those are a fairly certain bet (unless he switches it up in the next few weeks).  I’ve put them at the end of the playlist, as they were most often the end of the set list, so don’t stop before you reach those!

Once I compiled this playlist, I couldn’t help but post it here online…

Without further ado, here it is, my November 2010 Bob Dylan Concert Primer.  For all those going to see Dylan this month, I hope this is helpful!  🙂  (For the true Dylan fanatic, I’ve posted my raw data notes below this playlist.)

1)  “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat” – The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Live, 1966

2)  “Beyond Here Lies Nothin'” – Together Through Life (2009)

3)  “Highway 61 Revisited” – Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

4)  “Just Like a Woman” – Blonde on Blonde (1966)

5)  “Summer Days” – Love & Theft (2001)

6)  “Workingman’s Blues #2” – Modern Times (2006)

7)  “Tangled Up in Blue” – Blood on the Tracks (1975)

8)  “Cold Irons Bound” – Masked & Anonymous (2003)

9)  “Simple Twist of Fate” – The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Live 1975

10)  “High Water (For Charley Patton)” – The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs (Live Version, 2003)

11)  “Rollin’ and Tumblin'” – Modern Times (2006)

12)  “Thunder on the Mountain” – Modern Times (2006)

13)  “Ballad of a Thin Man” – Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

14)  “Jolene” – Together Through Life (2009)

15)  “Like a Rolling Stone” – Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

Statistics compiled from 10 setlists of shows between Oct 19 and Oct 31, 2010.  Each night, Dylan played between 15 and 17 songs.

Leopard Skin                                                iiiiiiii

This wheels                                                i

stuck inside                                                iii

just like a woman                                    iiiiiii

beyond here                                                iiii

tangled up                                                iiiiii

rollin and tumblin                                    iiii

spirit on the water                                    ii

high water                                                iiiiiiiii

workingman’s blues                                    iiii

highway 61                                                iiiiiiiiii

ain’t talkin                                                i

Thunder on the                                     iiiiiiiiii

ballad of a thin man                        iiiiiiiiii

Jolene                                                iiiiiiiiii

Like a rolling stone                        iiiiiiiiii

senor tales of                                                ii

I’ll be your baby                                                 i

the levee’s gonna                                    iiii

i don’t believe you                                    i

honest with me                                                ii

a hard rain’s a-gonna                                    ii

cold irons bound                                                iiii

love sick                                                            ii

nettie moore                                                ii

rainy day women #12                                     i

Don’t think twice                                                ii

tryin’ to get to heaven                                    ii

blind willie mctell                                    i

summer days                                                iiii

cat’s in the well                                                i

it’s all over now baby blue                                    ii

things have changed                                    ii

desolation row                                                ii

not dark yet                                                i

all along the watchtower                                    ii

lay lady lay                                                i

Man in the long black                                    i

i feel a change comin on                                    i

visions of johanna                                    i

Masters of war                                                i

simple twist of fate                                    iiii

just like tom thumb’s                                    i

forgetful heart                                                i

It ain’t me babe                                                i

tweedle dee & tweedle dum                        i

if you ever go to houston                                    iii

when the deal goes down                                    i

the man in me                                                i

positively 4th street                                    i

the lonesome death of hattie                        i

forever young                                                i

queen jane approximately                                    i

The Hold Steady’s “Heaven is Whenever” – The Weekend Review

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By Chris Moore:

RATING: 4 / 5 stars

The Hold Steady: Keeping riff-driven rock songs relevant since 2004.

To be fair, I’ve only heard one album — 2010’s Heaven is Whenever — but the Hold Steady certainly make a strong case for deserving that aforementioned title on the merits of this most recent release alone. More to the point, the question foremost on my mind as I ran through my second, third, and on through to my tenth listens to this album (in a four day span) was: how has this band managed to release four albums that I’ve never heard of?

Oh, right… Rock music doesn’t “sell” like it used to. I forgot for a moment there.

Honestly, I was nonplussed for much of my first listen. I had put the album on low while talking in the car; what I did hear sounded like the middle-of-the-road derivative drivel that passes for contemporary popular “rock” music.

I’m not name-dropping here, but you can imagine…

When I finally had the mind to crank the volume up, I very clearly heard a band that is not attempting to be something they aren’t. Sure, there are inflections of the Counting Crows and Tom Petty as well as Weezer and the occasional hats-off nod to hip hop dispersed throughout this record, yet although I feel like I should be able to draw more concrete observations in the vein of “The Hold Steady sound like _______”…

Well, I haven’t gotten that far.

And why would I want to? Reviewers — myself included — have a way of breaking down albums and songs to such a degree that, once dismantled, they simply can’t be put back together and enjoyed.

The Hold Steady's

The Hold Steady's "Heaven is Whenever" (2010)

The defining feature of Heaven is Whenever is the tension between the obvious and the subtle, the directly stated and the implied. Namely, these are not the simple, superficial songs that they may appear to be to the casual listener. And it is truly refreshing to read through the lyrics booklet without losing respect for the music.

Kiran Soderqvist of Sputnik Music nails their tone when he writes that frontman Craig Finn “has a way with words and much of their music hints at something much more calculated than bar-light jamming.”

On this record, the lyrics accomplish much of the hinting.

If you’re listening for a Bob Dylan, or even a Jakob Dylan, then you’re liable to be disappointed. But if you’re drawn to the sorts of lines and phrases that will leave you imagining what they might refer to (“There was that whole weird thing with the horses” or “There were a couple pretty crass propositions…” in “The Weekenders”), if you like your allusions served often and served bluntly (“Don’t it suck about the succubi?” in “A Slight Discomfort”), if you’re fond of your metaphors (“I’m from a place with lots of lakes. But sometimes they get soft in the center. And the center is a dangerous place…” in “Soft in the Center”), and if you fancy wordplay (“Jock Jills go for jumping Jacks” in “Our Whole Lives”), then you won’t be disappointed.

Topically, the album is thought-provoking if you’ll let it be, though it’s vague enough — and paced quickly enough — that you’ll never have to think to enjoy these songs.

Upon further consideration, there is more beneath the surface. To begin with, heaven may be the most oft-used word on this record, employed as a metaphor for a beautiful, peaceful relationship in “We Can Get Together,” the lyrics of which provided the album title. Earlier, heaven is what the situation in “The Smidge” feels like, and “Heaven Tonight” makes leaving a party feel “really right” in “Rock Problems.” Later, heaven is the topic for discussions about “hypotheticals” in the superb lead-off single “Hurricane J.”

Not surprisingly, religious iconology oozes forth throughout, as Finn sings about praying on numerous occasions, saints are mentioned repeatedly (specifically, as well as figuratively, as in “Hurricane J” when Jesse’s parents “…didn’t name her for a saint. They named her for a storm”), the Catholic confessional is alluded to in “Our Whole Lives,” and the 1980 Jim Carroll band record Catholic Boy is referenced. Clearly, Heaven is Whenever turns to this thematic underpinning, both seriously and dismissively, and whether intended or not, the album provides a wealth of provocative hooks for the listener.

This is not to say that the Hold Steady’s latest release is a spiritual record or some sort of religious statement. There are many other similarly provocative statements here, such as the advice in “Soft in the Center” that “You can’t get every girl. You’ll get the ones you love the best. You won’t get every girl. You’ll love the ones you get the best. Kid, you can’t kiss every girl…” Every young man confronts this conflict in his programming, that eternal struggle between man as the primitive hunter/gatherer driven by instinct/attraction, and man as the productive member of a society that values monogamy and stability.

There are lighter connections to be made here, as well. For instance, speaking as a life-long dork and sometimes-nerd, I had a visceral reaction to the refrain in “Our Whole Lives” that finds Finn proclaiming, “We’re good guys, but we can’t be good every night. We’re good guys, but we can’t be good our whole lives.”

If you really listen, Heaven is Whenever has much to offer up both lyrically and musically. If you’d rather not, then you’ll still find this album a fun rock record.

And, as a result, I’m left wondering why I didn’t start listening four albums ago.