Six Quick Picks - Vol. 1

Here are six mostly stream-of-consciousness song reviews culled from the depths of my iTunes playlist. And to make it even better, these songs are all available on iTunes, so in case you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, go download 'em, why don't you? Or you could just go steal them from somewhere. Whichever works best for you.

The Black Heart Procession - "Only One Way"
This track opens with a simple drum beat, quickly augmented by a slightly out-of-phase guitar line. When the second guitar joins in, the song kicks into full gear, launching straight into the song's chorus without even a first verse to bog us down! This song chugs along nicely for a good three minutes. Vocalist Pall Jenkins sounds a bit like Sting, I think. The guitar riffs here are wonderful as well, providing some nice muscle to this rocker. A nice departure from the band's generally mopey sound.

Moment of Truth: I don't know what to call this bit compositionally, but it sounds really cool, and it's not a verse or a chorus or a bridge, I don't think. Post-chorus, maybe? Whatever, I like the guitar stabs. (1:13-1:21, it happens two more times, too, I think, but the first one is the coolest and most unadulterated moment of rock)

Broken Social Scene - "Cause = Time"
Five minutes and thirty seconds of pure musical bliss. The lyrics make absolutely no sense, as far as I can tell, but does it really matter? They sound good, and really when it comes down to it that's probably all that matters. And the instrumental sections are fabulous. The slightly overdriven bass riff creates a wonderfully driving and powerful feeling. And there's even a sweet violin solo! And did I mention the lyrics really don't make all too much sense. But it doesn't matter, because the phrase "fornication crimes" just sounds damn cool. At least I think that's what he's singing about.

Moment of Truth: The fucking violin solo, duh. (2:26-2:52)

British Sea Power - "The Lonely"
The vocals are a little Bowie-esque. In fact, they sound a lot like David Bowie. But don't worry, this song is most certainly not some Bowie clone. The arrangements are creative and original and frankly don't sound derivative of anything I can think of, although I'm sure they're derivative of something, everything is, right? Okay, so maybe there are a few Joy Division/Echo and the Bunnymen influences, but this band is recycling them into something new and exciting! I haven't really put too much thought into these lyrics, but when vocalist Yan sings "I will return to haunt you with peculiar piano riffs" in his Bowie-esque quiver, you can't help but think that these guys are great. This one is a bit of a rocker, but it's also beautifully melodic and sonically interesting. There is a lot more going on here than you might think upon first listen.

Moment of Truth: There's a tie. The sweet "I will return..." line (1:42-1:50, I especially like the part right at 1:46, where he says "pe-cu-li-ar," it's brilliant!) and the line "I will not take half a risk/I will not walk half deceased/I believe bravery exists" where he just sounds absolutely sincere and vulnerable and idealistic and perfect. (2:20-2:32)

The Pixies - "Silver"
This song is just fucking strange. It's a little bluesy or country-ish, I guess. But not really. Who the fuck knows? The vocals are a little scary, I think. Frankly, I don't know why this song is on here. It's the Pixies, so it's gotta be great, right? It's gotta be fucking genius, right? Okay, well, somehow this one slipped through the quality control. Sure, the little instrumental parts are pretty cool, and the guitar riffs are neat, in that sorta backwoods kinda way. Okay, what the fuck, this song is really growing on me now. It's not as good as their other stuff, and it certainly lacks any real pop sensibility, but I find myself liking it, and I couldn't tell you why. I guess the Pixies are fucking genius. I shouldn't have doubted them. My bad.

Moment of Truth: Is there one? I told you I didn't even know why I liked this song in the first place. I guess it's the instrumental break in the middle, which I guess I just like because it's a welcome break from those scary-ass vocals, and some of the guitar lines are nice. (0:55-1:19)

The Dismemberment Plan - "8 1/2 Minutes"
Opens with a frantic electric guitar. Travis Morrison joins in with his trademark howl, singing something about the world ending. Once the drums, and bass line, and buzzing, klaxon-like synthesizer kick in the song gets rolling. The nervous, twitchy rhythm throbs, simultaneously inciting a dance-party and a panic attack. Travis Morrison really is a great vocalist, his little tics are great, and I love when he breaks into that high yelp. I guess his vocal quirks could be a polarizing issue with this band. Love 'em or hate 'em. I love 'em. And the chorus is so beautifully straightforward that the rest of the song just seems even more insane. Another crazy, danceable bit of mayhem from this now-defunct D.C. foursome. (There were four of them, right? Fuck fact checking.)

Moment of Truth: When the crazy ass dance party section kicks in, just before the vocals return, is one of the most breathlessly exhilarating and danceable moments in rock history. It's like you can hear the future of music in this few bars. And it only lasts six seconds! (0:24-0:30)

The Police - "Behind My Camel"
A good argument for why one only really needs to own a good Police singles collection and be done with it. Is there really a point to this instrumental? It sounds a bit silly and overdramatized, and it just plots along aimlessly for nearly three minutes before fading out. W. T. F? If you're going to write a stupid instrumental for your album, you can at least figure out a way to end it. This is album filler if I've ever heard it. And the horror/sci-fi movie synths sound terrible dated. The only really good thing about this song is Stewart Copeland's drumming, which as usual is terrific. But even that gets old after awhile. Does he even play a fucking drum fill anywhere on this song? Even so, somehow his drums just sound fantastic. Props to the producer/engineer then, I guess, for making Stewart's drums sound consistently good, even when surrounded by tripe like this.

Moment of Truth: Just after the fade-out at the end of the song, there are a few seconds of dead silence. Infinitely more musical than anything on this track. (2:50-2:54)

Phew. More to come in the future, folks, I had some fun with this one. And just in case you were wondering, that whole "obscure bands that start with the letter B"-theme for the first three reviews was entirely unintentional. Chalk it up to the dangers of shuffle play.

iTunes Single of the Week: Rogue Wave - "Kicking the Heart Out"

This song opens with a fairly simple progression on a lone acoustic guitar, soon joined in the mix by some distant-sounding guitar "pings." These distant touches are heralds of the rather ambitious arrangement that comes to life as the song builds. It is this arrangment, part-familiar (guitars, handclaps, harmonies, drums entering in the final third), and part-alien (synthesizers, the aforementioned guitar "pings"), that sets Rogue Wave apart from any number of similar lo-fi bedroom acts. Sure, the driving acoustic guitar (fattened by a bass guitar mirroring the guitar's own walking bassline) provides a solid rhythmic backdrop for the song , but the real tension of the song stems from the dense orchestration which gradually builds over the course of the piece. It is singer-songwriter Zach Schwartz's characteristically beautiful voice, however, that truly holds the song together. He sounds so sincere in his delivery that his voice manages to ground the bombast of the latter parts of the song, lending it a comfortable, almost familiar quality where a lesser singer might try to really wail over the layered crescendo of the arrangement.

The production of this song scores both cheers and jeers from this reviewer. The overall sound quality is very raw compared to most modern pop recordings. Various instruments bleed and run into one another, creating a Spector-esque wall of sound. This dense but melodic noise that the band constructs is not reined in by the compression that gives most modern recordings their typical studio sheen, and this lo-fi approach to the production is very evident in the strong dynamics of the song, as it builds from the opening lone acoustic guitar to a screeching guitar and synthesizer-filled climax. The lo-fi recording techniques make this crescendo sound sloppy and natural in a way that no Pro Tools engineer could recreate. At four minutes and twenty seconds, these raw, melodic instrumental touches are what prevent the song from wearing out its welcome. There are points, however, where this accompaniment reaches the point of entirely overpowering the vocals with cymbal crashes, multi-part harmonies, and guitars. This is a shame, as the lyrics of the song, from the bits that I could actually hear, were compelling, although I wasn't able to entirely decode enough of them to give a real analysis of the band's songwriting ability.

The real balancing act here is the juxtaposition of what sounds like a very warm, familiar and folksy song with the bombastic and messily gorgeous arrangement. While at times the mix seems to shift unfairly towards the overdubs and knob-twiddling, thus obscuring Schwartz's lyrics and beautiful voice, the song still manages to maintain a good sense of dynamics. This bit of wistful lo-fi bedroom pop is certainly a charming and catchy tune, and it has made me rather curious to check out the rest of the album. I don't expect this band to change the face of pop music, but if they continue in this vein, they may have a nice career ahead of them. "Kicking the Heart Out" it is a catchy bit of pop songcraft certainly deserving a listen. And for the next few days, it's free, so why pass it up?

Rogue Wave's "Kicking the Heart Out" is the first single off their debut LP, Out of the Shadow, and is featured as iTunes most recent Single of the Week, offered as a free download from their music store (so grab it quick!).