album of the week: 8.5

the telephones

We Love Telephones!!!

EMI (2010)

why you'll love it: a few scraps of gold - some of the best telephones songs

why you'll hate it - Incredibly annoying vocals. Gimmick has become tiresome.

I'd like to know what the typical fan of the telephones is like in their homeland of Japan. We're talking about a disco band with English lyrics. They dress like maniacs, dance like spazzes, and manage to namedrop disco in just about every other song they write. Do they have serious fans who cite their lyrics, and tout them as trendsetters of the musical scene; or are they taken ironically, as dumb fun, like I see them to be?

With their third album, the telephones bubble is bursting. The only way I can see this band continuing any further is with a massive production style change, or progressively ramping up the crazy year after year. We Love Telephones!!! is more of the same. Songs like "A.B.C.DISCO" and "I HATE DISCOOOOOOOO!!!" have rounded out my hypothetical all telephones 80 minute mix CD. I don't think I'll need anything else after this.

There are a couple ballads present, which are just as clunky as past attempts have been. There are a few out of place pop-punk kind of songs like "My Girl", which are unnecessary if you like any other pop-punk bands in the world. The album also tries to be a bit more fuzzy/distorted, even with a couple "glitchy breakdown" moments. They're not bad, but don't serve to the band's strong points. The ideal telephones environment is still high production and a bouncy pinball pace.

How far your tolerance goes for the telephones is how you'll receive this. If you are still listening to DANCE HALL MONSTERS today, there is sweet 10 song album in here for you. There is no need for it if you have grown tired of the gimmick, or can't stand Akira's Elmo voice (oh crap, I forgot to mention how over the top his vocals are now! He literally sounds like Elmo the muppet in songs like "Shit! Shit! Shit!". Although this is comically enjoyable when he's singing "I Wanna Die").

As a 14 track album, this is just way too much telephones for anyone. Most of the offending songs on here happen to be ballads. I will admit, the album has been growing on me over the past few weeks. Usually, they have the opposite effect on me - heavy rotation at first and a sharp drop-off within a couple months. Some songs I skipped before are finding their way back onto my iPod. "My Final Fantasy", with its catchy chorus, has finally hooked me. "SAITAMA DANCE MIRROR BALLERS!!" I now see as rivaling Hot Chip's "I Feel Better" as the best epic cheesy dance club song in recent memory.

It's very interesting… as much as I think I want the telephones to go away, I've ended up writing a lot about them. I guess we'll find out next year if they've overstayed their welcome or not. In an ideal world, they'll jack up the synths and make a epic dance-punk album; or they'll just make the same novelty guilty pleasure album again equipped with their high frequency hypnotic soundwaves that make me think they're still just fine the way they are.

another music video for your eye and ear holes

Ted Leo And The Pharmacists - "Bottled In Cork" (Official Video) from Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

album of the week: 8.4

Crystal Castles

Crystal Castles

Fiction (2010)

why you'll love it - Strange alt electro-noise punk

why you'll hate it - A less interesting departure from the old sound

By freeing themselves from the retro chiptune style of their debut, Crystal Castles has managed to leap right into yet another predicament: how will they stand out now? The dreaded sophomore album, Crystal Castles, almost entirely sheds their glitchy sound for a more versatile electro-clash ear melter. Now they come off like a no-wave version of Broadcast. It really isn't an improvement, but respectful. If anything, they prove that they have legs beyond sounding like an old video game.

The first handful of tracks prove that the duo can still create an frightening amount of noise. Nothing is lost in the shock department. Something new this time around are some tracks that actually sound a bit pretty, Alice Glass even sings in a delicate voice from time to time. "Baptism" has a hypnotic rhythm to it. The augmented vocals in "Vietnam" sound like they were plucked right out of the Shatter soundtrack. Looks like they haven't entirely escaped the video game stigma.

Unfortunately, without a central theme, most of this album sails over my head. Even after multiple listens, only few tracks stand out to me. I could have said the same about the debut, but their gimmicky aesthetic kept me coming back wondering what I had just listened to. This album only left me trying to remember what I had just listened to.

Revenge of The Revenge

I have a spiteful history with the film Jaws: The Revenge, which is the third and final sequel to the unnecessary Jaws franchise. The 1975 original is and always has been my favorite film of all time. Having supportive, but bumbling relatives, I was given a Jaws: The Revenge movie poster for x-mas when I was in my single digits. It kinda freaked me out, but not really, since even at that age, I knew that the film was the worst piece of media ever to be made.

Every few months, on an idle Saturday, I'll dig up some trivia on this trainwreck (which, if you don't know the plot- is about a killer shark that hunts down a family across the Atlantic Ocean, until it is poked by a stick and explodes.) This time, however, I think I have stumbled on an information goldmine.

This clever blogger (one who actually makes meaningful contributions to the internet!) has done some killer research on the film's shady pre-production. Most noteworthy is the guiding hand of Universal's then studio head, who presumedly willed the film into production, and significantly impacted the entire series by treating it like anniversary gifts for his wife. It's a terrific example of the selfish misguidedness that sometimes pulls the strings in the movie industry.

album of the week: 8.3

Holy Fuck

Latin

XL Recordings (2010)

why you'll love it: pounding energy and rhythm

why you'll hate it: Lacks direction, not as many hits as pervious albums

How can you not love the name like Holy Fuck? It immediately puts me in a positive mood to listen to whatever they make. This is album number three for the electronic-distortion quartet. They're the kind of band you're meant to enjoy live, as they add a lot of small improvisational moments to their songs. What you get on this album, like their others, is basically a blueprint. A demo for their live act.

After a rather needless intro, "Red Lights" kicks in; which feels like a chase scene in a cop film. It's got some funky bass guitar, and the pace never lets up. A couple mellow songs follow. "Stay Lit" fooled me into thinking I was listening to Do Make Say Think for a few moments. "Silva & Grimes" builds a stunning krautrock beat, but not much else goes on here. "SHT MTN" brings back the glitchy sound found in their first album, like a marching army of rusty killbots. "Stilettos" is more of my style, as someone who enjoyed the hyperspace Mega Man pace of beats on the previous record.

I usually don't do reviews in this song by song format, but Holy Fuck doesn't really make cohesive albums. It's just a collection of what they've been up to recently. Anyway, Latin concludes with "P.I.G.S.", the only song longer than 6 minutes, which is just as rousing and catchy as "Red Lights". Even though this album wanders and flails a bit in the middle, Holy Fuck goes in with a purpose and knows how to find a way out. That's how they make songs. Go see it happen live to get the full experience.

an end / a beginning

This past weekend was Polysics founder, Hayashi's birthday. In March, they played their last show with their longtime synth player and singer.

This weekend, they've played their first show since.

Exciting and scary times! Happy birthday, and welcome to the new era! Duty now

album of the week: 8.2

Solvent

Subject To Shift

Ghostly International (2010)

Why you'll love it: Classy and peppy bleeps and bloops

Why you'll hate it: Distracting vocals and tame lyrics

It's always handy when an album cover efficiently tells the listener what they are about to listen to. Take a good look at Subject To Shift's cover, and you'll likely be able to guess what you're in store for. Spoiler: This is an artsy abstract electronic album.

I only have one other Solvent album, Apples & Synthesizers (2004), which is roughly the same thing. The only difference is this one has a bit too much vocals (obviously masked behind vocoding). Solvent's music works better the more mysterious it is, lyrics give them an unwelcome normalizing familiarity. Aside from that, if you dig Kraftwerk robotic synth music, you'll dig this too. The songs don't drone in ambience, but never veer into dance music territory either. It's that synthetic tone that you'd expect to hear in a campy 70's/80's vision of the future, or a PBS educational program about technology.

Run, don't walk... or just click.

The Bit.Trip Runner soundtrack is online at CDBaby.com.

It only costs $6.50, and is great. More ambient and more chiptune-y than previous soundtracks. The guest artist this game is Anamanaguchi, with tracks from their 2009 album, Dawn Metropolis.

album of the week: 8.1

Hot Hot Heat

Future Breeds

Dangerbird (2010)

why you'll love it: distorted synth rock, and moody slow numbers

why you'll hate it: nobody cares about Hot Hot Heat anymore

Last time we heard from the Canadian new wavers, Hot Hot Heat, they were nosediving straight into the dustbin of pop history. They've endured a whole lot of bad luck, either arriving too soon or too late for the fleeting indie-dance fads that littered the naughties. Happiness Ltd. (2007) although, had no excuses. It was just a bad album, which came off as a desperate final lunge to grab watered down mainstream radio recognition. The radio didn't bite, and the indie community had shut them out like a high school clique.

I thought that would be the last we'd hear of the band, a footnote of the dance-punk revival era. Perhaps it's all for the better that Hot Hot Heat sunk into the dregs of mainstream mediocrity, because Future Breeds strikes back at clean cut pop like a super villain. These songs will give you headaches. They are noisy, abrasive, and some of the best stuff I've ever heard from them.

It's funny how the band has come full circle. Long before anything close to a hit they ever had, they were a local noise-band. Despite the lineup being 50% different, there is a nostalgic similarity to the album Scenes One Through Thirteen. I'd say this is a treat for those fans, but I doubt any of them have stuck it out for nearly a decade to get to a return to a dirtier sound again.

Wisely, this isn't complete reversal for the band. It's more of an evolutionary step. All the songs are still catchy and fun, just distorted. Steve Bays' songwriting has never been predictable, but his squeaky and stuttering delivery has always remained, and lends to this crazy style better than normal pop songs. A couple songs, such as "21 @ 12" and "Nobody's Accusing You" are the most reminiscent of typical Hot Hot Heat songs, but still have a new edge to them.

Some of my favorite songs on here like "Times A Thousand" and "Zero Results" have an original dark lounge jazzy feel. Something they've only barely touched on in the past in a couple songs like "Ladies And Gentlemen" It's the brain-grating tracks like "JFK's LSD" and "YVR" that will be remembered most though. It's doubtful that anybody is listening to Hot Hot Heat anymore, but I'm not sure exactly how much they care. I'm just glad they've decided to go down in a blaze of innovation rather than a whimper.

seeing red

I was checking out the movie trailers on apple.com, and found these really cool posters. It's a promotion for this cross country film screening. Here are the details.

They're a bit too similar, but individually wonderful. Too bad they don't make 'em like this anymore.