Coming Soon...

Alright, alright I haven't exactly been keeping up with this thing like I said I would. It turns out I don't even have enough motivation to do it one week a month. But I do feel bad about that and for that reason (and also to prove to myself that I can actually do it) I'm going to go back to the old format of one song every day for the month of December. There are probably fewer than five people who even remotely care about this, but I'm still going to do it anyway. So if you're paying attention, if you're not paying attention I'm going to give you 31 songs in December because there has been some really great music released in the past few months and I've also kind of rediscovered a few older tunes that I will let you in on. Also i kind of exhausted the Christmas tunes last year so I won't be doing any of those unless I hear something new and it's really good. So once again, December 1, it's back.

Reggie and the Full Effect - "Congratulations Smack and Katy" (2003)

Reggie and the Full Effect began nearly ten years as the side project/alter ego of Get Up Kids keyboardist James Dewees. In 1999, their debut Greatest Hits ’84-’87 was released on the Get Up Kids label imprint Heroes and Villains. That album is a mix of tracks ranging from emo to electro pop to metal tied together with humorous interludes with titles like “Pick Up the Phone Master P.” It’s an interesting listen. Reggie continued in 2000 with their second album Promotional Copy which followed largely along the same lines musically and even introduced more sides of Dewees, such as the fake Swedish metal band Common Denominator on the song “Dwarf Invasion.” (Yes, it’s as ridiculous and hilarious as it sounds.) In 2003, their third album Under the Tray was released. This was when I first became aware Reggie and the Full Effect. Today’s song is a great slice of power pop perfection. In 2005 came Reggie’s fourth album Songs Not To Get Married To, which as the title suggests chronicled Dewees’ divorce. The album retained some of the old Reggie humor with tracks like “Love Reality” and “Deathnotronic” but also showed a more serious side with “Get Well Soon” and “Thanks for the Misery.” There are some great songs on the record, but as you can imagine, it can be a downer. I’ve yet to pick up their recently released fifth album, Last Stop: Crappytown. All of the songs on the album are titled after the subway stops that Dewees would take to get to rehab after he decided to get clean. From what I’ve read, the album is a much more serious departure for Dewees and leans heavily toward his metal influences. I’m sure there are some gems on the record, I just haven’t checked it out yet. In between recording and touring for Reggie and the Full Effect, Dewees also became a touring member of My Chemical Romance and could possibly be joining the band to record their next album. Today’s song is probably still my favorite Reggie tune. It just has a light, summer feel to it and it’s great to sing along with. Plus the video is sheer genius.


Reggie and the Full Effect - "Congratulations Smack and Katy"

Low vs. Diamond - "Actions Are Actions" (2008)

Low vs. Diamond is a cool new indie band from L.A. I say new, but they’ve actually been together a few years but have only recently released their full length debut. Their self titled album came out digitally in April and saw a physical release in late July. I’ve yet to hear the entire record but what I have heard is promising. The band recently performed the first single from the album “Heart Attack” on Letterman. Today’s song is one I heard on the local college station KXUL and it got stuck in my head. The chorus has no words and yet I can’t escape it. I found myself humming it audibly in pubic and feeling dumb about it afterwards. I also particularly like the piano in this song. Low vs. Diamond is a band I plan on checking out more of and I suggest you do the same.


Low vs. Diamond - "Actions Are Actions"

Upstairs Divine - "Come and Go" (2007)

Upstairs Divine is an exceptional indie band from nearby Ruston, LA. I was turned onto them by a friend who constantly raved about their EP and how great they were live. When I finally got Upstairs Divine's self titled EP, the first thing I told her was that they were too good to be from Ruston. Honestly, their music sounds more like something that would be coming out of New York or Seattle, not northern Louisiana. That being said, the EP is a fantastic set of six songs that showcase vocals from both Ben Jones and Bethany Raybourn. The music and vocals remind me of bands like Sleeping at Last and Eisley with equal focus on keys and guitar. I think Upstairs Divine are strongest on tracks where the duo split the vocal duties such as the driving “Prints of Whales” and the more folksy “Vienna.” Today’s song is the last one on the EP and is an epic closer clocking in at nearly eight minutes. It’s a slow building tune consisting mainly of Raybourn’s vocals and light electric guitar until the climax in the last minute and a half. This EP is the perfect soundtrack for late night driving or rainy days like we’ve been having here the last week. The band are no longer performing live, but still maintain their Myspace so perhaps we haven’t heard the last of them. At least I hope not.


Upstairs Divine - "Come and Go"

Jawbreaker - "Jet Black" (1995)

Jawbreaker was one of the most influential bands of the mid 90s emo/punk movement. Countless current bands cite Jawbreaker’s final album, 1995’s Dear You as a favorite and an influence. I’m ashamed to say that I was largely unfamiliar with Jawbreaker until last year when I came across a live recording of Brand New front man Jesse Lacey covering the Jawbreaker song “Accident Prone.” I loved his version and decided to check out the original. I was pleased with what I heard and I kicked myself for not checking out Jawbreaker sooner. I’ve read that that Dear You is the band’s most polished effort, with previous albums having lower production quality and raspier vocals from front man Blake Schwarzenbach. If you ask me, the production on Dear You is still a little rough around the edges but I suppose it gives the album a certain charm. Today’s song is another fantastic one from that album. “Jet Black” begins and ends with spoken word samples of Christopher Walken’s deranged character from the Woody Allen classic Annie Hall. To me the ending is one of the best combinations of spoken words and music that I’ve heard. Post Jawbreaker, Schwarzenbach went on to form the band Jets to Brazil, who have also been a notable influence on the current scene. Dear You was recently reissued on Blackball Records with five bonus tracks.


Jawbreaker - "Jet Black"

Paper Route - "You Kill Me" (2008)

Paper Route is a great band from Nashville that fuses rock with pop and plenty of electronic elements. I first discovered them from this feature on RelevantMagazine.com. I later checked out their Myspace and was easily convinced to pick up their new EP Are We All Forgotten. These five songs have been in heavy rotation for me for the past couple weeks. Every track is great and none of them sound too much alike either. When trying to describe their sound I can’t help but think of bands like The Postal Service, Mute Math, M83 and even Aqualung. Today’s song is probably the most epic. It just feels huge and makes great use of the strings. The lyrics are haunting and the chorus will stay in your head. I’m hoping that this EP is just a precursor to an even more amazing full length in the near future.


Paper Route - "You Kill Me"

Feeder - "We Are the People" (2008)

Feeder is a great band from the UK that I’ve liked for quite a while now. I’ve featured them before actually. The band recently released a new record entitled Silent Cry. I’ve had a copy of for some time now but for one reason or another it has been overlooked. After a suggestion from one of my five readers, I decided to check it out. I was met with the same great hooks anthemic rock tunes I’ve come to expect from Grant Nicholas and co. I’m only one listen in so I don’t really have a favorite track or anything yet but I was particularly impressed by the first song “We Are the People” with it’s huge guitars and soaring vocals from Nicholas. The lyrics to the song also seem to have a lot of spiritual undertones which is something I started noticing about Feeder on their last album Pushing the Senses. Feeder is one of the UK’s best kept secrets and I’m baffled as to why they don’t get more attention here in the States. I’ve always felt that they sound a lot more like Foo Fighters rather than any of their British compatriots. The CD is only available overseas,but Silent Cry is available in the US iTunes store and it comes with two bonus tracks as well. I’m looking forward to listening to this record a whole lot more.


Feeder - "We Are the People"

Number One Gun - "Wake Me Up" (2008)

Number One Gun is a rock band from California that now consists of just front man Jeff Schneeweis. The band started out in 2002 and released their debut Celebrate Mistakes on Floodgate Records. The record was a pretty straightforward take on the pop punk/emo genre that would become widespread in the next couple of years. It was a great record, but not really a standout record. In 2004 the band signed with Tooth & Nail Records and released their sophomore album Promises for the Imperfect, ten polished tracks with a little more edge and much slicker production courtesy of resident Tooth & Nail wiz Aaron Sprinkle (Anberlin, Emery, The Almost.) In 2007 it was announced that the band would be breaking up and Schneeweis would continue to record, but under the name The North Pole Project. I’m not clear on all the details, but somewhere along the way, Tooth & Nail decided it would be better to release the album under the name Number One Gun and title it The North Pole Project. Despite being labeled as Number One Gun, Schneeweis is the only remaining member and played nearly everything on the record. This was very similar to what happened with Watashi Wa. The album was released in January and also consists of ten tracks. It’s just about what you would have expected listening to the previous two records. That’s not a bad thing though. There are a few slower numbers such as “The Best of You and Me” and “The Different Ones.” However, the crunching guitars are back on songs like the opener “The Massacre” and the more lyrically biting “Thank You Ending.” Overall, the album reminds me very much of Acceptance, a great band that unfortunately broke up a few years back. Today’s song is one of the more melodic and poppy tunes, but it still rocks quite a lot.


Number One Gun - "Wake Me Up"

M.I.A. vs. Modest Mouse - "Paper Fire" (2008)

Ahh, the mash-up. It’s become a trend in recent years for producers to take two songs that seemingly have little to do with each other and put them together to create something new and at times as cool or cooler than the originals. Usually, this involves using the music from one song and overlaying the vocals from another and interchanging verses and choruses. If you have access to the master tracks of each of the songs, a lot can be done to create something entirely new. Today’s song is my first attempt at the mash-up. The idea for this came about after seeing the trailer for the new Seth Rogen movie Pineapple Express. I really dug the song in the trailer and found out it was “Paper Planes” by Sri Lankan indie hip-hop artist M.I.A. from her 2007 album Kala. I had never been too impressed with her work in the past, but this song was just cool to me. After listening to it several times, something jumped out as familiar to me. The bass line just seemed like something I had heard before, I found myself humming a melody and I realized that some elements of “Paper Planes” sounded eerily similar to “Fire It Up” from the 2007 album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank by Modest Mouse. With the help of Adobe Audition 1.5 software, I was able to try my hand at doing a mash up. Of course I didn’t have the masters of the songs, so I couldn’t get this exactly right, but I don’t think it’s bad for a first try. Check it out.


M.I.A. vs. Modest Mouse - "Paper Fire"

Colour Revolt - "Naked and Red" (2008)

Colour Revolt is an indie rock band hailing from Oxford, Mississippi. Their southern roots show through in their raw, bluesy guitar style that dominates their debut full length Plunder, Beg, and Curse, which was released back in April. I first heard of them a few months back when they were mentioned somewhere online alongside one of my favorite bands Manchester Orchestra. I downloaded a couple of their songs and was intrigued but I kind of forgot about them for a while. A little later, at the suggestion of a friend, I went back and listened again and got absolutely hooked on today’s song. “Naked and Red” begins with guitars that remind me of mewithoutYou and builds to a barrage of screeching guitars, crashing cymbals and some serious wailing courtesy of front man Jesse Coppenbarger (what a great last name.) The lyrics are cryptic and filled with religious allusions. The rest of the album follows in much the same way, with a few softer tracks such as “Moses of the South.” Colour Revolt are definitely a band all their own. They don’t really sound like much of anything else that’s going on right now, and that’s a good thing.


Colour Revolt - "Naked and Red"

Relient K - "At Least We Made It This Far" (2008)

Relient K is a band that has always been good about treating their fans to a constant stream of new music. Since I started listening to them back in 2003, they’ve had eight releases, which include EPs, Christmas albums, and a 7” vinyl single, with the titles of all of them showcasing the band’s penchant for wordplay. They’ve somewhat outdone themselves with The Bird and the Bee Sides, which is actually two releases in one, clocking in at 26 tracks. The first 13 comprise The Nashville Tennis EP, which finds the band shifting between their pop punk roots and a newfound knack for alt-country. I think it’s a stretch to call 13 tracks an EP, but you have to consider that only three of the songs are over three minutes in length and some are barely over one minute. There are some gems on this release such as “The Scene and Herd,” an open letter from front man and lead songwriter Matthew Thiessen to the “scene” that they’ve reluctantly become a part of. Musically, the track hearkens back to some of their earlier work, with chugging guitars and breakneck drumming. Also of note is “The Lining Is Silver” and “There Was No Thief,” which is an updated version of “The Thief” from their 2005 Apathetic EP. The second half of the album is where the b-sides come in. Most of these songs have been released previously on various EPs or singles, with some new ones thrown in as well. It also marks the first time that the four tracks from the 2003’s The Vinyl Countdown have been available outside the original 1500 pressings of the 7". Today’s song is one of the more alt-country leaning tracks that shows that Relient K is far from a one trick pony. The Bird and the Bee Sides is a must own for any Relient K fan.


Relient K - "At Least We Made It This Far"

Coldplay - "Death and All His Friends" (2008)

Coldplay are simultaneously one of the most loved and most hated bands in the world. They need no introduction. You’ve heard their music on your radio and your television and playing over the loudspeaker at just about any retail outlet. You’ve also probably already come to your own conclusion about them, so I won’t try to sway you. I will say that while I think Coldplay make excellent music, front man Chris Martin has taken pompous arrogance to a whole new, extremely British level. I had gained a little respect for him after seeing him play an over the top “parody” of himself on the hit show Extras. I thought it was cool that he was able to laugh at himself, but after reading some of the press about Coldplay’s newest album Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, I think that maybe he didn’t have to try too hard to come off as such a jerk on the show. That being said, I feel as though Coldplay have made great strides to move forward from the epic piano ballads that have defined them in the past. Viva La Vida uses the piano only sparsely. It’s still there, it just doesn’t dominate the mix on every song. The most notable difference in sound is the way they used percussion, employing everything from handclaps and stomps to tympani. There’s also a generous use of strings on songs like “42” and “Yes.” Today’s song is the last one on the record and I guess could be called one of two title tracks. I like the way that it starts softly and builds to an excellent climax and showcases everything that Coldplay is good at from the piano parts to the huge guitar crescendos. I especially enjoy the bridge. All told, Viva La Vida is a great album. It probably won’t change any of your preconceived notions about the band, but if you’ve ever even been a casual fan, it’s one worth checking out.

Coldplay - "Death and All His Friends"