Thunderbirds Are Now!
Make History
Frenchkiss Records 

Is it just me, or does the title of this record sound a little pretentious? Make History, hmmmm… Are Detroit’s Thunderbirds Are Now! telling us to make history, or are they claiming that they do? Well, I don’t know, and it’s not important anyway.

What is important is that this, the band’s third full length release, second for French Kiss Records, is their best yet. I guess that doesn’t really say much right now, as I didn’t like the previous two albums. But, I will admit, Make History is better. I’ll even go as far as to say that it is a pretty good record in general. Continue Reading »

Cale Parks
Illuminated Manuscript
Polyvinyl Records

Solo albums, or even side projects, are a dime a dozen these days, and here is yet another one. What sets this apart from the rest? It is the debut solo offering of Aloha drummer extraordinaire Cale Parks, and drummers just don’t tend to do solo albums. And, as much as I hate to say it, maybe this is a good example of why they don’t. Continue Reading »

If you haven’t gotten the hint yet, here’s your third reminder: Suburban Sprawl Music’s El Boxeo is a bizarre band. Consisting mainly of violin, bass, and drums, and occasionally very little else, they’d have to be. Here’s a little insight, thanks to the wonders of Gmail, into the history of the band and the very brains of the three wonderful people that make it up: Lisa Norton, Zach Norton, and Danny Sperry. Continue Reading »

Headlights
Kill Them With Kindness
Polyvinyl Records

Ahhh… summer. The time of year when the sun is up for 15 hours a day at least. When jockey high school boys are constantly outside playing basketball with their shirts off. When neighbors sit together on their porches in conversation, drinking beer . When things finally start picking up again in the National Football League.

In my childhood, summer was one of my favorite times of year. Now in my young adult life, it is one of my least favorites (I hate sweating). This particular one I’ve been thinking a lot about the summers of lore, when I would shoot hoops and play catch with my brother or my myriad of neighbor friends. When we would go on bike rides through the park. When we would be at football practice five times a week the last three weeks in August. Continue Reading »

David Bazan
Fewer Moving Parts
Jade Tree Records

Some people make silly decisions. A lot of people do. All people even. David Bazan is no exception. Dave is the former frontman for influential “Christian-but-not-Christian” indie rock band (if you could even call it a band) Pedro the Lion. Recently, he decided to retire that moniker, and keep writing and recording under his own name. This is unecessary for two reasons. (1) What’s the point of the changing of an artist’s name when new songs are sounding like an extension of what said artist was already doing? (2) In this specific case, after Pedro the Lion released the debut Whole EP as a band, it ended up turning more into a Bazan solo project anyway, though featuring guest musicians, by the first full length, It’s Hard to Find a Friend. So again I ask, “What’s the point?”

All of this aside, I’m not surprised at all that Bazan’s newest musical endeavor, Fewer Moving Parts, turned out the way it did, sounding like the next Pedro the Lion record. I mean this in the best way possible. Sure, Pedro never did anything incredibly original. Bazan even admits so himself on opening track “Selling Advertising.” What made Pedro so special was the sincerity, humility, and raw spirituality behind the lyrics. Most of this is still intact, sans the humility, unless these songs are tongue in cheek, which they probably are. Continue Reading »

French Kicks
Two Thousand
Startime/Vagrant

Unfortunately, this here review just needs to begin with a rant: Nobody seems to care about French Kicks. I don’t get it. I can’t think of one French Kicks review I’ve read where they’re not called boring or not referred to as a half-assed version of “insert-popular-New-York-garage-rock-band-here.” I’m sick and tired of it, and will attempt to put an end to it here.

You better not have stopped reading after the talk of boring and half-assed New York bands, because this just in, Mr. Pitchfork: French Kicks are just the opposite of that, creating some of the most original, fresh music out of New York. Sure, the band has seen its down days. Their debut full length, One Time Bells, was a bit too meandering, if not straight up boring (with the exception of the hot as burning coals motown jam “Close to Modern”). But little did every critic in the world know, their sophomore effort, The Trial of the Century, in all its synth-happy, motown-influenced glory, was practically the most enjoyable album of 2004.

The new record, Two Thousand is just an extension of this. The lazy but beautiful harmonies are still there, though in a more reduced roll. The fast as a speeding bullet, hi-hat dominated drumming is too. So are the subtle guitar and synth parts that don’t make any sense but somehow still work. Continue Reading »

Editor’s note:  Everyone say hello to our new writer Aaron Quillen!  Here is his first review for the recent Flaming Lips disc. 

First and foremost, I have to say thank God for Wikipedia. Take this music review I am supposed to be writing. I would say I definitely am a fan of The Flaming Lips, though I only own two of their eleven albums, and I know very little of the band’s history. I did attend a Chicago premier of their informative DVD documentary Fearless Freaks last summer, but it is difficult to remember things that I heard only once a year ago. All I have to do to remedy this, is type in www.wikipedia.com, type The Flaming Lips in the search bar, and most likely will discover an entire history on the band submitted by some rabid fan who has already dedicated a ton of time researching. So, I guess instead, I should give thanks to that rabid fan, for making my job easier. Continue Reading »