By now everyone at Macalester is officially moved into their dorm/off-campus hole, ready to hit the books and avoid ZAP police and content with their current musical collection as they focus on academics, right? Wrong! Rock 'n' roll never stops and there's never a better time than the fall, when independent rock releases come fast and furious in anticipation of kids just like you who want to procrastinate with some great tunes. So, here's the latest edition of the hallowed rock 'n' roll roundup.
The Ivory Coast Clouds (Polyvinyl Records)
This Boston outfit has come a long way on their sophomore effort, which is vastly superior to their marginally enjoyable debut, The Rush of Oncoming Traffic. Singer Jay Cox still sounds a little too generic and whiny, but the band is in top form, with guitarist Drew Doherty laying down some stinging, Neil Young-style leads on "Swope," an uncommon gesture in today's indie-rock environment. The opener, "Lake Placid 1986," features an imminently danceable groove, seductive effects-treated guitar lines and chugging percussion that ensure it a memorable place in your headspace. Cool keyboard textures abound throughout courtesy of Scott Craggs, lending the record a dark new wave vibe that's also pretty refreshing. The Ivory Coast get a little Third-Eye-Blindy on radio-ready ballads like "Five Little Graves," but overall the Coast have made a sonically tight record without being overly glossy (dig the post-punk of "Taking Up Serpents" if you're looking for the hard stuff). The clincher is the fifteen-minute closer, "There Will Be Clouds," which has a mesmerizing hook and doesn't overstay its w''elcome despite its gargantuan length. Be on the lookout for even better things from the Ivory Coast in the future if the leap between their first and second records is any indication of where theyÕre headed. Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Buellton - Avenue of the Flags (Filmguerrero)
This is the best debut record in the realm of guitar-driven indie-pop in recent memory. Although coming out of southern California, the boys of Buellton definitely know their way around the Pacific Northwest, as evidenced by their appropriation of Modest Mouse's herky-jerky song rhythms and Built to Spill's dreamy guitar sound. No mere thieves, however, Buellton stand on par with either of these bands based on the strength of Avenue's songs. The opener, appropriately dubbed "Single," is a slice of infectiously melodic dream pop, with singer/guitarist Jon Nygren's frail voice tugging on listeners hearts as it soars high on the simple choral mantra "What didn't I do?"
Acoustic guitars pop up intermittently and a relaxed vibe is dominant throughout, but the record never sounds amateurish. This is not some lo-fi crap; Buellton have stormed out of the gate a fully-formed entity. The acoustic ballad "Angel Feet" will lead listeners to peg Buellton as heart-broken troubadours until their necks are whipped around by the white-boy funk follow-up of "Sellblocks" with its propulsive guitars, layered synthesizers and saxophone outro. All hail Buellton, the new royalty in indie-pop guitar town.Rating: 8 out of 10
Melochrome - Stay a Little Longer (Loose Thread Recordings)
Chicago's Melochrome are a resilient batch of kids. After meeting with the usual record label indifference that seemingly greets all worthwhile music today, the band decided to go their own way, forming a label and self-releasing their debut, The Music We Make. Granted, lots of bands subscribed to a similar do-it-yourself ethic, but Melochrome are talented enough that they deserve extra kudos for finding the time to manage their label affairs and craft such highly memorable music.
"Stay a Little Longer" finds the band working in a mellow, contemplative groove. Male singer/guitarist Pramrod Tummala's gentle voice recalls Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan in its endearing low-key demeanor and melds beautifully with bassist Darlene Pool who' girlish coo also takes over lead duties on occasion. Guest spots from the likes of Deanna Varragona (Lambchop) on baritone sax and cello lead to a nicely fleshed out sound. Highpoints include "Latenights" which rides a languid vibe featuring warm brass and keyboards straight to the heart. Likewise, the single, "Let's Just Work it Out," is highly memorable and a great jangle-pop tune, although it does stick out like a sore thumb with its faster tempo and short running time. Melochrome have arrived just in time to fend off the impending gloom of changing hues and falling leaves with a batch of sweet pop melancholia, everybody grab your sweater and huddle round the fire. Rating: 7 out of 10
Lambchop - Tools in the Dryer (Merge Records)
Lambchop have been perhaps the weirdest musical collective in independent rock over the course of the last five years. Hailing from Nashville and frequently featuring a heavy dose of pedal steel, early critics had the group pegged as wacked-out country hybrids. That's a nice try, but definitely off the mark. As Curtis Mayfield covers on recent albums attest, this fourteen-piece outfit, led by deep-throated singer/ guitarist Kurt Wagner, has its heart set just as deeply in Philly soul as Nashville twang. Each release has found Lambchop moving further into outlandish sonic territory, incorporating increasingly lush orchestration and more intricate brass passages, and further away from easy genre classifications. This progression makes the career retrospective Tools in the Dryer a nice treat for fans. Featuring cuts spanning all the way back to 1987 (a good seven years before Lambchop was even considered a "real" band by the groups members,) this anthology collects previously unreleased material, remixes and lots of hard to find vinyl-only releases.
As one tends to expect of this sort of affair, the music is a mixed bag. The early demos and rough live recordings, while of interest to die-hard fans, will certainly not appeal to newcomers on the Lambchop scene. Some of the remixes are surprisingly tight, however, proving Lambchop have a future on the dance floor when in the right producer's hands. You can almost taste the funk on "Give Me Your Love" if you listen closely enough.
If you've never heard Lambchop this might not be the right starting point in terms of accessibility, but if you're looking for a comprehensive overview of perhaps the most wildly eclectic band currently garnering press in indie circles, it would be hard to top Tools in the Dryer's investigation into Lambchop's multi-faceted musical personality. Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Ben Folds - Rockin' the Suburbs (Epic)
Everybody's favorite teen angst piano man is back, minus his old band-mates, and some things have definitely changed. Moving away from the dark and tortured vibe that overwhelmed The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, Rockin' finds Folds grinning once again. Although a twinge of sadness turns up during songs such as "Still Fighting It," a tune about the pain of growing old, most of the album has the happy-go lucky spirit of his groups breakthrough record, the cheeky 1997 album Whatever and Ever Amen.
Folds, 34, has gone through a lot in the last few years: a painful divorce, the dissolution of his band, and a move to Australia where he's re-married and now the father of twin boys. These changes are hinted at on the themes which turn up over the course of the album as Folds, previously ever the smarmy school boy, attempts to come to grips with adulthood. The results are mixed, as some overly slick production makes the aforementioned ÒStill Fighting ItÓ a little bit too saccharine to swallow without making an icky face. The album closer, "The Luckiest," is worse, a painfully maudlin ode to true love.
Fortunately Folds is a talented enough pianist and song-writer that he avoids getting bogged down in overly sentimental baggage throughout most of the record. The highlight is "Fired," a stomping pop number reminiscent of Ben Folds Five's finest moments, and refreshingly devoid of the excessive production flair that crops up elsewhere. The single and title track is currently getting solid airplay, and it's one of Fold's finest moments as a pop satirist, set adrift a catchy electric guitar riff and thoroughly cheezed-out synths. Folds mocks white-boy angst as only someone with his wits could do, dropping lines like, "Let me tell y'all what it's like/ Being male middle class and white/It's a bitch if you don't believe /Listen up to my new CD, sham on." Somebody needed to make fun of Rage Against the Machine eventually, and Folds' mid-song breakdown is the perfect tribute to Rage's pompous posturing. Ben Folds is one of the best artists to have actually had mass commercial success over the last five years and hopefully Rockin' continues that trend, as even average Folds tops most of his major-label peers. Rating: 7 out of 10