Ethan and Joel Coen (not to be confused with Etan Cohen, co-writer of the great Tropic Thunder, or Joe Colen, my adult-film pseudonym) put the audience in a privileged position with Burn After Reading. In fact, we feel that we are in cahoots with the Coen brothers.
This dark comedy oozes tragic irony, which the Sarcasm Society, if they can be believed, defines as the “form of irony [in which] the words and actions of the characters, unbeknownst to them, betray the real situation, which the spectators fully realize.” We know more than the characters and sit uncomfortably at times, and elatedly at others, as bits of information are misunderstood or imperceptibly slip by the characters in an intolerably cruel way.
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2008, Southern
The Flax of Reverie, the debut album from London-based Mothlite, is a mix of brooding instrumentals and spooky vocals in the post-punk vein.
The band, according to their MySpace page, was “conceived by horror prog maven Daniel O’Sullivan.” We’re not exactly sure what that means, or if it’s a good thing, but many of the tracks do run a horror film-like gamut of idyllic beginnings to noisy conclusions.
Continue reading ‘Mothlite - The Flax of Reverie’
2008, Evil Cherise
It is often said that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. But sometimes it goes the other way, and you don’t know what you’ve been missing until you finally get it. Some bands strike a chord with fans because they fill a void that the fan hadn’t even realized was there. Whether it be in the form of Fleet Foxes’ ethereal harmonies, Cut Copy’s intense synth-pop, or the Adam-Duritz-on-spin-cycle vocals of Frightened Rabbit, sometimes a band will just feel immediately, intimately familiar. The same sensation can be felt when hearing San Francisco band The New Up—the scratching of an itch you didn’t even know you had.
On their new five song EP, Broken Machine—the first in a series of three EPs by the band set for release over the next year—The New Up bring their moody dance-rock to a boil and keep it there. From the first moments of lead track “Ginger Tea”, the EP oozes smoky atmosphere, as if Metric and My Bloody Valentine had collaborated on the soundtrack to a David Lynch film.
Continue reading ‘The New Up - Broken Machine’
A beer- and sweat-soaked crowd of thousands gathered at the Del Mar Race Track on Saturday to watch iconic New Wave oddballs Devo preach their theory of de-evolution. Scheduled to play at seven, the group didn’t actually start until eight, but the annoyed grumbling that had begun to crescendo amongst the tightly packed sardines in the crowd immediately subsided once the band took to the stage.
Though their yellow jumpsuits might have been a size or two larger than the ones they wore in the eighties, the band’s gleeful enthusiasm showed no signs of old age. Their energy proved contagious as the sweaty young whippersnappers in the crowd repeatedly danced, moshed, and crashed into indignant baby boomers.
Continue reading ‘Review: Devo; August 30, 2008 at Del Mar Race Track; San Diego’
I am so horribly offended by I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, and I hope that whatever defamation league that fights for a comedy’s right to be comedic comes out to protest this juggernaut of hackneyed material and predictability.
Adam Sandler and Kevin James, the ostensible stars of this film, deliver, perhaps, their most inspired performances, which is to say lackluster. They play lifelong pals who feign to be a homosexual couple in order to reap the legal benefits of domestic partnership for the children of the widowed Larry, played by James (don’t think I didn’t consider making a King of Queens joke, Mr. James).
Continue reading ‘I Now Pronounce You Chuck and…Oh, Who Cares?’
2008, Single Screen Records
The debut record from power-pop band The Powerchords has been a long time coming.
The band released their demo back in 2005, a seven song EP of finely crafted songs that immediately brought them to the forefront of San Diego’s music scene. But despite a rabid following and a reputation for excellent, charming live performances, the subsequent years saw only one Powerchords release—the Unattached Strings/Dream Girl 7-inch. Now, at long last, we have …Think I’m Gonna, a proper fourteen song collection of propellant punk and pop that will satisfy old fans and recruit new ones.
Continue reading ‘The Powerchords - …Think I’m Gonna’
For a second, Hella drummer Zach Hill’s album Astrological Straits almost sounds like Pink Floyd.
Then that second is gone and the listener is embroiled in the dense and schizophrenic-percussive opening track “Iambic Strays.”
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Don’t be too quick to judge Fear Falls Burning (or their album Frenzy of the Absolute).
Judging from the band’s name, one might think that a quick listen will bring to mind typical hardcore, typical emo, or typical–well anything typical–but despite their moniker, Fear Falls Burning make music that is far from what’s expected.
Continue reading ‘Fear Falls Burning - Frenzy of the Absolute’
On one hand, Baltimore-based songstress Elise Major’s self-titled release may feel a little derivative; on the other hand, it’s hard to imagine her live show leaving anyone disappointed.
Continue reading ‘Elise Major - Elise Major’
Nothing Real Nothing Absent, Transitional’s latest release on Conspiracy Records, is comprised of the kind of dark instrumentals that grew out of punk and hardcore.
Continue reading ‘Transitional - Nothing Real Nothing Absent’
If The Gleam II is an attempt to reinforce The Avett Brothers’ cred as their popularity grows, it should do the trick.
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^^ Bunky ^^
North By North Park is a strange and maddening beast. Boasting over a hundred musical acts spread across fourteen different venues in just over five hours, it is a bold attempt to showcase local music, but it sags and ultimately collapses under the weight of its own bloated excess.
As the event’s name implies, most of the bars and cafes that take part in the festivities are in North Park, though venues in other neighborhoods like South Park, Normal Heights, and Kensington are also included. To help concertgoers move between venues without tempting the DUI gods, shuttle service is included in the price of admission, but exactly where or how often these shuttles can be expected to show up is apparently closely guarded information.
Continue reading ‘Review: North By North Park; Lanterns, The Glossines, & Bunky; August 2, 2008′
It was Sunday night at Canes and indie rock heroes Wolf Parade were about to perform, yet the crowd didn’t seem excited at all. The stripped down guitar and tribal trashcan percussion of opening duo Listening Party had been received with polite but moderate enthusiasm by an audience where those wearing backwards hats and polo shirts vastly outnumbered the people with the tight jeans and flat-ironed hair. As the crowd quietly milled about the venue between sets, it seemed as though Wolf Parade could expect a similarly tepid reaction. But when the Montreal quintet finally took the stage and the first notes rang out from the amps, they were met with a fanatical and frenzied reception that was anything but lukewarm.
Beginning their set with “You Are A Runner And I Am My Father’s Son” and “Soldier’s Grin”, the opening tracks off 2005’s Apologies To The Queen Mary and 2008’s At Mount Zoomer, respectively, Wolf Parade were a well-oiled machine, nimbly maneuvering their songs’ wild mood swings and ever-changing time signatures without missing a beat.
Continue reading ‘Review: Wolf Parade; July 20, 2008 at Canes; San Diego’
The Dark Knight is 150 minutes of intensity—a well-done action film that, unlike Batman Begins, focuses less on character and more on the ca-razee Joker (played by a nearly scenery-chewing Heath Ledger) and Batman’s quest to stop him.
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Saturday’s “Hipsters Revisited” at Bar Pink Elephant was a ‘60s themed event that promised music of the garage, psychedelic, and freakbeat varieties, all while making assurances that there would be “no weird shit or flutes”. They made good on these promises with some trippy mood-lighting and an assortment of DJs spinning appropriately obscure tracks from the period, but the real draw was a live performance by local retro-rock band The Loons.
Long blond hair hanging in his face, Loons lead singer Mike Stax commanded the stage with all the raw power of an anachronistic Iggy Pop as the band blazed through a set that recalled garage acts Love, The Sonics, and The Thirteenth Floor Elevators. After grabbing everyone’s attention with “Red Dissolving Rays”, Stax joked that, in honor of Gay Pride week, he was dedicating the song “My Time” to Texas, “the gayest state of all”.
Continue reading ‘Review: The Loons; July 19, 2008 at Bar Pink; San Diego’
