CD OF THE MONTH

Oh No — Exodus Into Unheard Rhythms

Produced by Oh No

In short, this album is straight up good! Oh No is among a new roster of top-level artists represented by Los Angeles’s longstanding Stones Throw Records, founded by the legendary Peanut Butter Wolf. Oh No is the younger brother of labelmate Madlib, who has been killing tracks and live concerts since the inception of the label. Coming up under the shadow of a great has only proven the potential of Oh No’s artistic ability. It also doesn’t hurt to be from a family of musicians whose track records dig deep into ’70s funk and jazz. In his younger days, Oh No was a hardcore videogamer; now he has simply taken the concept of button-pushing and applied it to electronic beat machines.

A strong musical discipline has already gained Oh No a huge resume with collaborations and track production for everyone from label greats like Posdnous of De La Soul to underground hitters such as Cali Agents, DITC’s AG, Lootpack, J-Dilla and Georgia Anne Muldrow. This record is Oh No’s second release and contains more of the same of his excellent mix of neck-cracking beat production full of old-school drum and clap mixed with creative blends of jazz and funk.

Themes range in all directions from dance-floor bangers to backpacking political sermons. Both this record and his first will very easily make it into the stable of hip-hop classics in the near future and help to carry the Los Angeles sound way beyond its means. (Stones Throw Records)

www.stonesthrow.com

-Grant Inaba

The Curtains — Calamity

Recorded and mixed at Mariposa, CA by Chris Cohen
Mastered at the Annex by Tom Carr
Produced by Chris Cohen

The title of Chris Cohen’s fourth solo album draws from the anxieties in creating it. Cohen wrote much of the album while touring in support of his band Deerhoof’s highly acclaimed last album, The Runners Four. Making matters more stressful, once Calamity was finished, Cohen stood without a label to release it. Persevering, Cohen released the punchy pop album while staying true to his best-known form: thrusting angular guitars, experimental rhythm and melody, pop hooks and breathy vocals.

The near-trademark brash guitar takes center stage, pushed well above a common trio of backing instruments (bass, drums, keys) and ignited by the singer’s soft and blissfully high-pitched vocals. There are a few nods to Deerhoof dotted through all the songs, but Cohen carefully interlaces the expected brand of art-pop with his own fluid vocals and mellow counter-melodies. The complex rhythms, harmonies and hook-laden pop illustrate the voice Cohen has honed over the years while playing in Deerhoof and makes the album all the more competent and familiar.
One of Calamity’s most interesting aspects is how the guitar takes on a percussion role, carrying rolling finger work over a foreground of broodingly colorful tones. Like bumblebees from a hive, the pulsing rhythm in the songs “World’s Most Dangerous Woman” and “Tornado Traveler’s Fear” underscores the complex atonal qualities Cohen explores throughout Calamity.

Another experimental characteristic involves the vocals: Cohen doesn’t use them to create images as much as he uses the sounds of the words for his most docile instrument, his voice. Looking closer at the lyrics, Cohen dabbles in the surreal, supporing the whole song “Wysteria” with the lyrics, “Water will flow underground / Seeds growing under a lamp / Or right in your hand.”

With his experimental roots dug deep into rich pop soil, Cohen delivers this courageously melodic album — it’s hardly what the title describes, and comes strongly recommended to fans of Cohen’s other work. (Asthmatic Kitty Records)

www.asthmatickitty.com

-Christopher Petro

Jesse DeNatale — Soul Parade
Recorded at Take Root Studios and

The Catacombs by Sean Coleman
Mastered at Asphodel Studios by Alex Oropeza
Produced by Jesse DeNatale and Sean Coleman

Some would say that there is only so much a rambling piano can do, or that one instrument can only carry a tune so far. In the case of Jesse DeNatale’s second album, Soul Parade, the sound of tinkling ivory washes through the mix like sun on water. DeNatale gets compared to many singer/songwriter heroes: Waits, Morrison, Prine, Jagger and, of course, Dylan. It happens to be one of those rare cases where what they say is true: DeNatale has a gruff, insightful take on the world that comes across beautifully in his songs, with that delightfully bohemian disregard for pitch or narrative. But it’s the piano that keeps this parade marching.

Beginning with “Children of the Sun,” a chronicle of disaffected, soul-searching youth, and moving through the Ginsberg-style word poem “Montgomery St.,” to the title track and everywhere in between, the ringing piano continuously brings the light of these songs to the surface. The lyrics are evocative through free association, exaggerated by DeNatale’s emphatic delivery: “Jesus if you let him win / I wont be such a coward.” The piano chords sympathetically surround the lyrics, giving and taking the stage in a way that effectively positions piano on a level equal to vocals, like a duet. A one-song listen leaves the audience wishing for more juice in the gravelly singing, but over the course of the album, DeNatale’s keys steal the show.

It’s not virtuosity that impresses on Soul Parade. The chord progressions are simply jubilant, ever growing and building towards a louder yell, always with a well-placed piano chord like a triumphant return leading into the next phrase. The vinyl-warm tones are striking, echoing like a concert hall. There’s a reverence in this sound, mirrored in the words: “All God’s children make some big mistakes / Some big mistakes, yeah, some big mistakes / But some lovely sounds.” (Jackpine Social Club)

www.jessedenatale.com

-Ali Marcus

The Sharp Ease — Remain Instant
Recorded by Rod Cervera
Produced by The Sharp Ease and Rod Cervera

The girl band is not dead. While Los Angeles-based the Sharp Ease might not strictly qualify as one (guitarist Aaron Friscia is to blame for that), their heavy use of punk cadences and activist-minded lyrics directly channel the spirit of riot grrl grand dames like Sleater-Kinney (who recently announced their indefinite hiatus) and Le Tigre (who have been rumored to do the same). Singer Paloma Parfrey has the raw, girlish delivery of early Kathleen Hanna or Poly Styrene (though without their shrill intensity), and drummer Christine Kings hews close to Janet Weiss’s pounding example.

Sounding like a compendium of tricks and riffs learned from the past decade of girl bands, the Sharp Ease’s latest EP, Remain Instant, is the newest addition to the West Coast’s girl band pantheon. “Poem to Leibnitz,” the opening track, could be a B-side from any mid-90s Kill Rock Stars release, with a simple, persistent bass line and echo-heavy drums. Later tracks wander between jangly Ravonettes-style noisy pop and Pavement’s awkwardly sweet melodies. However, the band’s gambit isn’t purely one of mimicry: the group starts to define its own sound later in the album, and the two strongest (and most distinctive) tracks, “Going Green” and “Twist the Risk,” are prime examples of the band coming into its own. While the first is an aggressive, punky anthem worthy of an offbeat rock opera, the second is a sweetly simple tune that showcases the softer side of Parfrey’s abilities. Stylistically, the two songs lie on opposite ends of the Sharp Ease’s repertoire, but remain an enticing peek into the band’s future potential.

At its best, Remain Instant is a dynamic, boisterous return to Olympia circa 1995. At its worst, it’s merely a rehashing of what we already know and rock out to — and is that really so bad? (olFactory Records)

www.thesharpease.com

-Connie Hwong

Kid Beyond — Amplivate
Engineered by Gabriel Mann, The Rondo Brothers and Alias
Mixed by Gabriel Mann, The Rondo Brothers and Alias
Mastered by John Greenham for John Greenham Mastering
Produced by Gabriel Mann, The Rondo Brothers and Alias

With his brand new four-song EP, Amplivate, Kid Beyond brings forth his 20-plus years of experience in beatboxing to an all-new level. Every kick drum, hi-hat, swooping synth or banging bass hit comes straight from his mouth, creating his own tapestry of patterns and sounds.

Amplivate opens with an amazing cover of Portishead’s “Wandering Star,” which also happens to be the standout song on the EP. Its shuffled rhythms and quirky sounds make a very unique presentation of an already well-written song. “Deep Inside” has a great groove that is reminiscent of many Thievery Corporation sounds, complete with what sounds like a choir backing him up during the chorus. While the first two songs are mostly downtempo hip-hop, “Mothership” is a full-steam-ahead drum and bass raga track complete with Buddhist-inspired lyrics. Kid Beyond’s singing voice is strongest on “I Shall Be Free,” which has the best-written lyrics on the EP. Four remixes round out the album.

Kid Beyond is an artist who marches to his own beatboxing rhythms, and that is what helps him stand apart from other artists in hip-hop and electronic culture. Sharing the stage with such notable and diverse artists as Keane, Buckethead, The Coup, String Cheese Incident, KRS-One and Particle has helped reinforce an intense following of dance enthusiasts and hip-hop heads worldwide. (Kid Beyond)

www.kidbeyond.com

-Casey O’Neill

Fred Martin and the Levite Camp — Some Bridges
No production information provided

“Some bridges are falling down / Some bridges are still around.” So fittingly begins the title track of Fred Martin and the Levite Camp’s latest release, which builds the bridge to a solid album. Martin, a Los Angeles-based teacher, is trading in hitting the books in favor of hitting notes with his handpicked group of singers, the Levite Camp. This effort distinctively fuses funk, gospel and soul into an uplifting experience with the help of legendary singer/songwriter Jackson Browne, who contributes to six songs on the album.

Opening track “World In Motion” makes for a funky, sassy introduction as Browne’s presence is immediately felt. In many respects, starting from the opening track, Some Bridges forsakes genre distinctions, bringing depth to the entire record and creating an avenue for mass appeal. Passionate and inspired are the words for the vocal prowess of the Levite Camp (fronted by singers Chavonne Morris and Alethea Mills), notably in Browne’s humanitarian lyrics for “Lives In The Balance,” which accurately reflect perils of our modern time. Martin and his many contributors dig into a powerful set of socially and spiritually engaged material dedicated to social change and truth.

Other contributors who make their presence felt include alternative groove collective Ozomatli, famed jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela and bluesman Keb’ Mo’, who joins in a raucous fusion of the Robert Johnson blues classic “Crossroads” and the gospel standard “Until I Found The Lord.” Masekela’s distinguishing horn is pleasantly soothing in “The Next Voice You Hear.”

Some Bridges provides a thought-provoking fusion gospel that calls for more hand-clapping and foot-stomping than even the grooviest church revival. (Concord Records)

www.urbaninst.com

-Joey Dean

The Vulturines — Fowl Language
Recorded and mixed by Corbin Supak with assistance by Derek Oringe
Mastered by Kevin Nettlingham

Rather than the carcass-picking that their name implies, Portland’s Vulturines create fresh and vital pop. With an adventurous spirit, the band works in a unique and unexpected mélange of styles on this 12-song debut. It’s a sweet and sour concoction, combining mostly upbeat and gleeful music with a recurring lyrical theme of disillusionment and crushed idealism.

The intro to “Desert” opens the album with a spaghetti-western twang, but before long the song moves through several tempo shifts like the overture to an arty indie-pop musical. The earthiness of flamenco and Gypsy folk mixed with the sun-baked twang of surf rock make a fine combination when put into the band’s jangly, jazzy, two-guitar noise-pop stew. “Chiriguana” is a tango con Casio, driven by a canned electronic beat and inflected with trombone and distorted keyboard, with lyrics en español. Nimble playing from drummer Theo Spanos and bassist Sam Liberto give a manic jazziness reminiscent of fIREHOSE and early Meat Puppets to “Eyes of Coal.” The four instrumentals underscore the theatrical quality of the Vulturines’ music — like fellow art-poppers the Decemberists, or, less famously, the Sisterhood of Convoluted Thinkers, the Vulturines seem as suited to the proscenium as they do to the rock club stage.

Despite the artful complexity of the music, though, the lyrics here are direct and plain-spoken, delivered in a girlish voice by singer-guitarist Jennifer Saez (formerly, with husband and Vulturines guitarist-keyboardist Corbin Supak, of Austin band Vidi Vitties). There’s a refreshing lack of guile and artifice to lines like “Moving on sucks when you don’t want to leave” (from “Transient”) and “How can we fall for this crap / What’s wrong with this country?” (from the anti-Bush screed “Nemesis”), both of which Saez sings with a kind of resigned exasperation. Supak takes over vocals on the last song, “Elise Marie,” a jaunty boogie-woogie number with rinky-dink organ about being haunted by a dead lover. This kind of idiosyncratic and unpretentious approach makes the Vulturines a weird and wonderful band. (Greydawn Records)

www.vulturines.com

-Mike Baehr

Sneaky Thieves — accident(s)
Produced and engineered by Jeramy Koepping
Recorded and mixed by Jeramy Koepping at Park Place Studios in Kirkland
Mastered at RFI Seattle by Rick Fisher

With the bevy of summer releases this year by artists that attended the Jeff Buckley School of Emotive Singing, it would seem apparent that the newly enrolled Sneaky Thieves and their debut album accident(s) would be outshined by alumni such as Radiohead and Muse. While sales will likely reflect the seniority of those British veterans, the Seattle-based newbies show that they were paying attention during classes.

Sneaky Thieves are made up of two pairs of brothers and two lifelong friends, and the intimacy between the members is apparent from the get-go. It makes for an “alone-time” album, equally concerned with establishing a mood as it is with cohesive songs. The lyrics meditate amid music that is often pulling itself apart.
This creates many striking moments throughout the album. One such moment, during “Nothing, Nothing,” juxtaposes the sound of screeching guitar strings with eerie reversed notes from a piano. “The Discarded” features a beautiful, weeping violin over an out-of-nowhere march beat that lasts just long enough to shake the listener from a ballad-induced slumber before settling back in.

These clashes between sonic ideas drive the album, and with each track they get more adventurous, using more instruments, taking bigger chances and spinning more out of control. The real test, however, is whether singer Freddy Bale’s voice can stand up to other disciples of Buckley. Behind well-written lyrics, he is as capable of getting an A+ (as he does on “Nothing, Nothing” and “Perfect”) as he is getting a C (“Forgotten”). At his low points, he seems to take more interest in what is happening around him and almost dissolves into the music; at his best, he absolutely defines each song, internalizing the sound, bleeding with it and letting it explode around him.

www.sneakythieves.com

-Rob Bergquist

The Nice Boys — The Nice Boys
No production information provided

The Nice Boys present themselves as the new voice of glam rock for the 21st century on their most recent self-titled release — but don’t listen to this album with expectation of hearing the next Ziggy Stardust. The Nice Boys stray away from the art rock of David Bowie and lean towards late ’70s/early ’80s glam rock sensations like Slade and the Sweet.

While this album is generally solid, at times the Nice Boys wear a few too many influences on their stylish sleeves. At times they seem to be focused on being glam revivalists rather than trying to give glam rock a modern twist. They aren’t afraid to use rock clichés that are mocked by many of today’s comedians, such as the cowbell and syncopated, keyboard-driven chorus. These overused staples of early ’80s rock put a huge date stamp on the album’s first two songs, “Teenage Nights” and “Johnny Guitar,” which may turn off some listeners.

This album has its gems when the Nice Boys experiment and break away from the clichés. Among them is “I Ain’t That Beat,” an uplifting number that demonstrates what the band is capable of. Musically, it’s much more complex and breaks away from the standard verse-chorus-verse formula, and the vocals take a much more prominent role.
“Cheryl Anne” is another breakthrough song that sticks out. It is mostly acoustic and uses thick vocal effects, which again showcases the band’s singing ability. Just when the song seems to be wrapping up, though, the Nice Boys shake things up a bit by turning on the distortion, finishing out this song with thick-toned attitude.
This album is fun to listen to, but the Nice Boys are sometimes afraid to take glam rock to the next level. They’re a solid band with a lot of potential, but they still seem to be wrestling with the past. (The Birdman Group)

www.thebirdmangroup.com

-Travis Phelps

Simon Dawes — Carnivore
Produced by Tony Berg

It is unfair to judge a person (or, in this case, a band) by the company they keep. That having been said, it is also true that you can sometimes gain a little insight by looking at who a person (or band) chooses to align themselves with, for better or for worse. When a band is known for being a member of the tight-knit Los Angeles “corporate indie rock” community that counts Maroon 5, Rooney and Phantom Planet among its members, it’s hard not to think that one has pretty much pegged them. However, stereotypes are not always accurate, and, as is the case with Malibu youngsters Simon Dawes (“a band, not a man”), they are not always entirely fair.

While it’s true that they were being featured on TRL at a point in their career when most bands are still playing their friends’ house parties, it’s also true that there are moments on Carnivore, their full-length debut, that break out of the radio-friendly pop genre completely. Songs like “Execution Song,” with its ’60s-style guitars, tuneful feedback and ambient noise, bring to mind such respectable names as Nick Drake and the Zombies. The drumming is laid-back and confident, and adds a lot to the overall sound on the (sadly rare) occasions that it’s featured.

Regrettably, their tendency towards more generic, pre-packaged scenester pop seems to be winning out over the more esoteric areas in which they excel. This is unfortunate, because when you take away the irritatingly bouncy pianos, at times overwrought vocals, and their apparent effort to rehash the entire catalogue of Hot Hot Heat, you get the impression that had they perhaps been surrounded by slightly different influences during their formative years, the more interesting (but less marketable) aspects of their sound might have been allowed to blossom a bit further. This record is perfectly listenable, and will undoubtedly do well, but hopefully their next effort will allow for a little more individuality.

www.simondawes.com

-Jessica Watkins-McClain

Motion Man — Pablito’s Way
No production information provided

Worry not about the vitality of Bay Area hip-hop: Motion Man keeps it alive with a strong showing of heavy beats and skilled production on Pablito’s Way. It’s got everything to be expected in a hip-hop album: a self-important opening track hyping the hip-hop life, a recorded phone message hyping the MC, praise of the female posterior, and an explication of love for the drug/alcohol of choice. Though formulaic in style, Pablito’s Way still carries its own with a levity and edge unique to Motion Man’s abilities. The album fills out its hour-long running time well with fully fleshed out tracks that stop short of feeling over-produced.

Motion Man, who has been in the game since the ’80s, brings an old school flavor to the album. The beats are swinging and bass heavy, well suited for a West Coast par-tay. Invited along for the ride are some notable guests like Gift of Gab (of Blackalicious), Too $hort, Kool Keith, and the Daly City maverick DJ Q-Bert. The latter’s strengths are wasted, though, as Q-Bert is only credited on one 30-second track.
The songs are well crafted, with a balance of synths, samples and some surprisingly good scratching. However clean the tracks are, they are mostly the same throughout without any hooks or particular points of interest.

“Megalo Maniac” is an intriguing blend of thumping beats laid under a Bollywood ballad and restricted scratch thrown in, while the title track features a salsa sample with slick rhymes. Unfortunately there is one choice that nearly spoils the album. An eight-word sample from a Spanish radio station is haphazardly dropped in every single music track, whether it fits in or not — let’s hope that it’s just on the advance CD. If that can be ignored, Pablito’s Way is an enjoyable celebration of left coast love. (Threshold Recordings)

www.motionman.com

-Samuel Sharkey

The Kingdom — K1
Recorded by Zach Okun at Bored of Trade
Mixed by Jeff Saltzman
Mastered by John Tyler at Precision Mastering

A big problem that young bands seem to be running into is figuring out how to narrow their focus. As so much music becomes freely or cheaply available, musicians get inundated with so many possible influences that it can turn their music into unlistenable mush. Case in point: The Kingdom. The latest album by this Portland-based quintet has an undeniable flair, but the music is overly busy to an almost manic degree as it squeezes in Brian Wilson-like horn and string parts alongside metal guitar antics and prog rock shakedowns. The whole CD ends up sounding like a senior thesis on postmodernism rather than the art-rock epic they intend it to be.

Take, for example, the decision by the group to use the same vocal melody in four different songs. On paper, the concept sounds like a keen idea to give the album a unifying theme, but the execution renders the songs flat and uninspired. A large part of the problem is that the fulcrum of these songs is the vocals of frontman Charles Westmoreland, whose high-pitched warble sounds like the unholy alliance of Joanna Newsom and former Fine Young Cannibal Roland Gift. Try as he might to make each song stand on its own, Westmoreland’s carbon-copy delivery makes it sound like he ran out of ideas during the songwriting process.

There are shining moments on this album that hint at what could have been if the group had taken some time to hone their attack. The symphonic time signature shifts that wend their way through “Motorcycling” add an astonishing effect to the rest of the song, and the aggressive push of “Die All Over Me” (augmented with a perfect use of drone and fuzz) maintains its brilliance until the unnecessary Van Halen-like guitar solo that comes in towards the end. With more time in the kiln, The Kingdom could very well be a force to be reckoned with, but on this album, they remain unformed and unsure. (Arena Rock Recording Company)

www.diealloverme.com

-Bob Ham

Fernando — Enter to Exit
Produced by Fernando Viciconte and Jeff Lyster
Recorded at Chetland in Portland, Oregon
Engineered by Jeff Lyster with assistance from Paul Brainard
Mixed by Jeff Lyster and Fernando Viciconte
Mastered by Jeff Stuart Saltzman

Fernando Viciconte’s Enter To Exit is a collection of ingenious and moving songs, with intertwined elements of Wilco, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan. Featuring members of The Eels, Richmond Fontaine Band and prominent Northwest musicians, this Portland-based band has created a lyrically rich collection of songs.

Fernando Viciconte is a modern-day poet who hasn’t strayed from the importance of lyrics. Using each song’s cadence, he shapes tender melodies under the ebb and flow of accompanying instruments. “Another Day in My Head” pairs melodic vocals with the wistfulness of a slide guitar. A punctuating horn ensemble weighs in on and enhances the intenseness of self-indulgence and reflection. Paying homage to his Argentinean roots, Fernando sings “Pasajeros” in his native Spanish. Although short, it is a dreamy song that transcends translation and underscores Fernando’s versatility. The album’s most impressive track, “The Devil’s in the Sky,” is a haunting ballad that pivots between utter melancholy and fading hope. Ethereal female vocals reminiscent of Lucinda Williams echo through the chorus. In this song Fernando’s voice transmits emotions that remain unspoken in everyday conversation.

The layering of lap steel, strings and various horns with Fernando’s familiar and hypnotic voice gives Enter to Exit a place among past and future classic albums. Nothing is overlooked on this album. From the musical arrangements to the lyrics, Fernando and company haveproduced a work of art that is timeless and sincere. (In Music We Trust Records)

www.inmusicwetrust.com

-Tanya Seledee Fuller

Speaker Junkies — Tekno Punk
Produced and engineered by Speaker Junkies
Recorded, mixed, and mastered at The Audio Rehab Center, Orange County, CA

Tekno Punk is a collection of classic hard-hitting techno and melodic trance that includes mainly originals, but does feature a classic ’80s cut and a talented vocalist by the name of Miss Mo, who has Broadway experience and is a vocalist for Icon Underground. The band, based out of Orange County, thrives on the pulsating rhythms and trancey grooves that hit you at no less then 140 beats per minute and are designed to be the perfect soundtrack for any clubber’s night out on the town. Armed with an intense array of keyboards, synthesizers, drum machines and, oddly enough, no turntables, they accomplish just that.

Tekno Punk opens with “Diffusion,” which sets a rocking pace with soaring synthesized melodies floating over hard-hitting beats. The song is reminiscent of older songs by Paul Oakenfold and DJ Tiesto and would fit nicely into either one of the two trance titans’ DJ sets. “Tekno Slut” and Berlin’s “The Metro” have been garnering attention from radio mixshows and college radio, with the latter serving up Miss Mo on vocals and the former being a complete four-on-the-floor workout that’s sure to get everybody up and dancing. Album closer “Interlusion” is a non-stop party rocker that was released as a single in 2004 and is still being played out in heavy rotation by such DJs as Lisa Lashes, DJ Irene and Tommy Lee.

Speaker Junkies are proving themselves to be a part of a new underground movement who understand that their music must evolve and develop new sounds in order to continue and expand what artists such as Christopher Lawrence, Robert Miles and BT began. Tekno Punk plants the seeds that will do just that and more. (AcropolisRPM)

www.speakerjunkies.com

-Casey O’Neill

Miss Derringer — Lullabies
Produced by Derek O’Brien

Miss Derringer could have been the alternate resident band at The Roadhouse from David Lynch’s Twin Peaks series. The LA trio shares a Lynchian penchant for combining the macabre with the sublime, then dressing it all in a black leather jacket. They also are fond of the tried-and-true outlaw narrative, a la “Bonnie and Clyde,” singing of a lover’s hanging and taking comfort from a bottle while driving down the backroads with a pistol.

The band’s second outing sounds something like Kristin Hersh fronting the Ventures while doing Johnny Cash covers. Mixed in for good measure are nods to ‘60s girl groups (“Don’t Say (I Told You So)”), Blondie (whose drummer Clem Burke guests) and Nick Cave (the opening song, “People Just Ain’t No Good,” is his).
Does such pastiche exceed the sum of its parts? That depends on how seriously you take all the posturing. Lines like “It’s in the way he talked / It’s in the way that he kissed me, babe” from “Death Car Ride” or “I’m not from this town / As a matter of fact I’m passing through / But I’ve never seen a woman quite like you,” on the seedy duet “Tonight I’ve Got a Bottle,” may sound hackneyed, but they also favor a certain 20th-century timelessness. Lyrically, scattered references to telephones and cars are the furthest concessions to the modern world.

Meanwhile, “Pennies On His Eyes” stands out for its brittle melodicism, offering a vulnerable moment amongst all the whiskey talking. Singer Liz Grath’s sultry voice also finds its true resonance when it sheds some of the stylized twang in which it’s usually cloaked. The album boasts some punk celebrity assistance from figures who have worked with Social Distortion, the Adolescents and Blondie, but reels slightly from the lack of a sound all its own. Pour another shot, though, and you may not care. (Sympthay Records)

www.missderringer.com

-Andrew Kersey

Colt Vista — Colt Vista EP
Recorded in Glacier, WA
Mixed and mastered at Numerik Labs by Matt Hawkins and Neil Martin

The fine line that many instrumental rock bands walk is that of sounding freshly innovative without getting too math-rocky and self-indulgent. The resulting difficulty is recording an album that has both an authentic listenable quality, but isn’t utterly boring. The Glacier, WA-based duo Colt Vista mostly avoid these hazards by weaving multiple instruments and song structures into their album.

On their self-titled debut, the duo explores different angular textures and atmospheres using sporadic and varied drum rhythms (electronic and acoustic) to carry the placid electric guitar and organ melodies. The overall feeling of the EP is that of something bleak, like a winter desert, the softness and grainy quality of their recording punctuating the vacant melancholic space filling the background.

The band often works a mood on levels near that of Godspeed You Black Emperor and Mogwai. The relentless walking pace of the album is a fine example of when Colt Vista takes an idea too far. The songs transition seamlessly into each other, but coupled with the singular lethargic pacing, some tunes are forgettable. “Mighty,” “Broke Sauce” and “Warp Zone” could easily lace together into one introspective overture. Instead, they’re unevenly broken up, showcasing each song’s unique use of Star Wars-era sound effects, and leaving the instrumentation buried in mixing effects.

One stark highlight, “Dying to Work,” haunts the listener with emphasis on the absence between notes. The two-minute song crescendos from simple electric guitar phrasing into a minor cacophony, but like a deep breath it’s gone in an instant. The amusingly titled opener “I Met Her at the Free Clinic” is the only song on the EP not driven by guitar; instead, rolling melodies are exhaled from organ murmurs in a major key. It’s the most optimistic song on the album.

Colt Vista is recommended if you enjoy emotional songs, but don’t require words to drive home a message. These boys are talented and leave the door open to high expectations for their forthcoming LP. (Self-released)

www.coltvista.com

-Christopher Petro

The Bittersweets — The Life You Always Wanted
Recorded by Daniel Schacht
Mixed by David Henry at True Tone Studios, Nashville, TN
Mastered at Paul Stubblebine Mastering, San Francisco, CA
Produced by Daniel Schacht, Chris Meyers and Jerry Becker

Down at the record shop, the Bittersweets’ debut LP The Life You Always Wanted won’t be far from the collections of Neko Case, Josh Rouse or the Counting Crows. It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, to learn that the drummer is a former member of the Counting Crows, or that the bass player used to play with Jolie Holland, or that David Henry, who’s worked with Josh Rouse and REM, mixed the album.

It seems like the world of adult contemporary rock always depends on the same comfortable upbeat tempo, and these cozy narratives of life basking under a Midwest sun aren’t much different. An alternative country flair spurs these songs onward, a nod to like-minded artists Neko Case and the Drive-By Truckers. The difference from those artists is found in the Bittersweets’ traditional listenable sound; any song on the album could easily be aired over contemporary adult rock radio and snugly fit into any singer/songwriter’s set list.

With each song clocking in around the four-minute range, The Life is full of passionate little flings, buoyantly fresh music and strong songwriting. It’s further punctuated by wispy female vocalist Hannah Prater’s lyrics about love, growth, and new beginnings. The musicianship is tight and polished, working with walk-to-jog rhythms, vintage axes and keys and the occasional hollow moan of a steel guitar.

The trotting-paced “Houston” is an upbeat gem: affectionate vocalist Chris Meyers takes the spotlight and sings the down-home narrative “Helen she’s been working here since 1965 / and I doubt she’ll ever leave this place or even want to try / she’s seen too much outside this world to ever live again.” The Life You Always Wanted showcases competent musicianship and tight songwriting, but anchored to its core is an unwavering tepidness and rigid commitment to not cutting loose or being overtly expressive — in short, it leaves a surprisingly unremarkable impression. (Virt Records)

www.thebittersweets.com

-Christopher Petro

Hayley Taylor — Waking
Recorded in Los Angeles, New York, and Presto! Studios
Mixed at Presto! Studios by AJ Mogis
Mastered at Studio B by Doug Van Sloun
Produced by Hayley Taylor and AJ Mogis

Hayley Taylor has a passion for life and the kind of voice built to spread it to the masses. Raised in LA by an actress and an entertainment journalist, she is a student of art and poetry, has a couple of bands behind her, and is now pursuing a solo gig with Waking, a six-song EP. The songs speak to struggling artists and tortured relationships everywhere, with the kind of insight that marks a young songwriter’s heightened sense of self-awareness. Her ardent, confident optimism winds through every song, with open eyes and an obvious leap of faith.

It would be doing Taylor a disservice to mark this album as a representation of her talent. While it does showcase pretty singing, catchy rhythms and well-chosen accompaniment, it leaves the listener wanting her to try harder. Lyrically, she shows potential in the simplest of moments, as in “What Matters Most,” remarking, “I’ve seen people good be bad,” rather than a more predictable syntax, for example. The husky, lush vocals are no doubt what people most strongly respond to because of the way she naturally bends melodies with classic, deceptively simple expression. It’s a shame though, that we get only one brief instant of her piercing, beauty-or-terror high register, on “Raphael.” The emotional heights strike all the right chords, and overall the EP would benefit from more variety of range.

Backed by a host of solid musicians (including Josh Grange on pedal steel and co-producer AJ Mogis of Bright Eyes fame), Waking comes through as a triumphant announcement: Hayley Taylor is a quite capable songwriter and performer. All of the elements appear to be dancing around in her world, and what happens next may just be a matter of how they fall into place. (Self-released)

www.hayleytaylor.com

-Ali Marcus

The Last Chordz — The Last Chordz
Recorded at The Compound

The Last Chordz are steeped in the alterna-skate punk tradition that’s blossomed in the last 10 years. Hailing from the South Bay, they rock out following the simple, short and sweet punk formula. It’s the ideal soundtrack for underage suburban kids drinking and fighting because they see no future in their mundane community. In these songs, the drums, bass and guitar band together to hammer out songs that rarely last more than two and a half minutes.

All that’s needed is a distortion pedal and some vague antipathy toward authority. While this is more or less the aspiration of every high school punk outfit, the Last Chordz have fine-tuned the style and serve as an exceptional model of a band that carries this simple rock on through the next generation.

As seems appropriate for their fast and cheap style, the Last Chordz recorded the album in 48 hours. The sound quality does not suffer from this marathon session; all the songs are sharp and clean. Vocalist/guitarist Brandon “The Baby” croons with grit that speaks of too many cigarettes, but still maintains a buoyant melody behind every lyric. In addition to the three- or four-chord repertoire, some classic guitar shreds pop up and add body to the music.

The 28-minute EP has a shallow feeling, but that shouldn’t be necessarily taken as a bad thing. Though the lyrics deal with juvenile concerns, they aren’t intended to be taken any more seriously than to incite a party. If the Last Chordz set out only to raise some spirits and work out some primitive rage, they get the job done. (Last Recordz)

www.thelastchordz.com

-Samuel Sharkey

Skyscraper Frontier — Moonlit Behavior
Engineered, recorded, mixed and mastered at Echo Sound Studios, Los Angeles, CA by Cliff Magreta

Straight from the gate, this debut EP dives into dream-pop territory, drawing influence from bands like Seam, Galaxy500, and (oddly enough) a few nods to Prince and the Revolution’s album Parade. Singer Rus Martin’s sparkling vocals charismatically bend to the high and low whims of chorus transitions, suddenly shifting from mid-tone to falsetto on the lines “I just need you tonight / higher and higher / I just want it” from the romantic mattress-pleaser “I Just Need You.”

Pulling its name from the penetratingly solemn Los Angeles cityscape, Skyscraper Frontier leans on the hook-filled fundamentals of pop music — verse/chorus structure and strong emphasis on rich melody. The songs are earnest, cozy and ambitious little numbers, often unpredictably traversing several layers of sound and vocal harmony. The interesting mixing treatment pulls the dark and light undertones of electronic accents, undulating hums, and synthesized ebbs into the foreground. An uncountable number of instruments make an appearance on Moonlit Behavior; thoughtfully laced together, they preserve the emotional integrity of the vocals, which speak of longing and the vacancy of life in a vast metropolitan world.

Considering all the tinkering the band does (the multiple-instrument strategy and space-effect techniques), the EP is solidly glued together without lapsing into obsessive experimentation or boring languor. The only thing to take issue with is the band’s occasional tendency to get wincingly emotional, leaning toward whiny (as in the preachy-titled, beer-toasting song “Catatonic Citizens”). That’s only a minor issue, though, since the intrepid structure poises the album into climactic miniature overtures that preserve the integrity of the music.

The EP is heroically personal: it has a lot of soul that shows strongly through the music. Moonlit Behavior is recommended to listeners who enjoy making up lyrics to Godspeed You Black Emperor! songs. (Coming Home Records)

www.myspace.com/skyscraperfrontier

-Christopher Petro