Louder Than Love

I was contacted by Louder Than Love’s publicist, Nicole, last week with a request to review their act on my blog.  I’ve been really fortunate that, to date, I have only received such requests from bands I really like.  I’m not looking forward to the day I have to turn somebody away, but trust me, I’ll do it in a hot second if I don’t like their music or feel their style isn’t a good fit with my blog format (whatever that might be).

Louder Than Love is a five-piece from Vancouver, BC. with a sound that’s a melange of good ol’ Seventies Blues Rock and ‘80s/‘90s Seattle Grunge topped off with a vocal style influenced by the pop harmonies of The Beatles.  The recordings from their premier release Dark Days are among the most sophisticated and professionally produced I’ve yet heard from an unsigned band.  It’s clearly only a matter of time (I’m thinking months, perhaps weeks) before they’re snatched up by some major label and splattered all over the web and across the covers of myriad glossy print mags.  But let us enjoy them as the precious, independent voice they are at the moment and lament the inevitable over-saturation later.  For the record, I do realize that for 99.99% of all rock bands such attention is among the top-most of priorities, so far be it for me to wish to persuade them otherwise.    

While all the members of Louder Than Love are clearly proficient and professional musicians, the band is, for the most part, a showcase for the songwriting and performance talents of lead singer/guitarist Paul Lambert.  Although the band’s press emphasizes Lambert’s jazz guitar prowess, I find his playing style more roadhouse-blues influenced, with a raw (although just this side of refined), heavy Telecaster sound that’s a mashup between late ‘60s Jimmy Page (before he discovered the Les Paul) and much of the later work of Stevie Ray Vaughn.  Add to this Lambert’s vocals - in a league with grunge legends Layne Staley, Scott Weiland and Eddy Vedder - which are unexpectedly deep, resonant and ragged for someone of his slight (best as I can tell from their live video clip) build and youthful good looks.  This disparity between his appearance and vocal chops enhances Lambert’s mystique and charismatic appeal as both musician and stage presence.  

The band cites Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Alice In Chains, Rage Against the Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, Steely Dan, Miles Davis and The Beatles as primary influences.  I’d have to add Deep Purple, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dio era Black Sabbath, a bit of the Doobie Brothers and even Gregg Allman’s work from the early ‘70s to that list.  I’ll openly admit that I’m far more knowledgeable regarding latter-days Blues Rock than Grunge, so forgive me if I hear more of the really ancient than the merely very old in the band’s musical roots.

While all the songs on their new release are outstanding, my favorites include: 

The title song, “Dark Days,” a very catchy, moody and eclectic song that, whether intentionally or not, seems to play on Neil Young’s lyric from “Hey, Hey, My, My.”  

“Just Like You,” has a sound slightly reminiscent of the Doobie Brothers’ classic “Black Water.”

“That Ghost,” which sounds a bit like some of Soundgarden’s more melodic offerings mixed again with hints of 70’s Blues Rock.

“Never Going Back,” a hard-driven pop song with a robust mixture of acoustic and electric guitars and ultra-deep bass tones - my favorite among the band’s heavier tunes.

There is more to learn about Louder Than Love at their MySpace site and/or their website.  Dark Days is available for download from iTunes and CDBaby, where one can also purchase an actual Compact Disc.  

S.

Yes, I Do Take Requests

So I thought it might be fun if I took up a whole blog entry writing about what I’m trying to achieve here.  Not that I expect a whole slew of readers to care much, but I’ve got this stuff swimming around my head and feel the need to share.  

I began writing this blog in order to motivate myself to research and learn about the world of unsigned music - both in order to be better versed on the future of the music industry and as a means for connecting with other unsigned artists.  I also needed an outlet for my endless, all consuming need to express myself.  Lucky you, huh?

I’ve been trained as a visual arts writer.  I hold an MA in Visual and Critical Studies from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco - a program which emphasized the use lots of arcane academic references and opaque, murky and, in my opinion, needlessly obtuse jargon in order to express what I’ve always found to be pretty simple ideas.  After several years of performing this thankless task I realized that I really suck at writing about art and decided I’d rather gear my analytical skills toward music, for which I harbor a lifelong and deeply running passion.

I don’t actually know a lot about the music world, per se - I sort of learn as I go here - which means I end up doing many hours of research in order to explore and explicate what I feel is really going on with the musicians and bands I choose to focus on.  I also don’t think of myself as a music reviewer, but more as a critical analyst.  Further, I don’t write in order to gratify my ego or impress readers with how droll or clever I can be with a turn of phrase or wry remark.  I really want to connect with my subject matter and then endeavor to help others do the same. 

Now, if it appears I’ve been lavishing excessive amounts of praise on the bands I’ve been writing about lately that’s because I’ve recently adopted a policy of only reviewing acts I really enjoy listening to.  I tried my hand in the past at writing about bands I didn’t care for so much and, although the bad review or two generated more readers, it stirred up a lot of negativity around my site which I have neither the time nor desire to foster.  Ironically, the day after I decided to dispense with the negative stuff,  Kill the Drama got ahold of my very positive review of their music and spread the word amongst their fans.  Since then I’ve increased my readership exponentially.  It’s been heartening to discover that negativity isn’t the only thing attracting attention these days.

On that note, in recent days I’ve begun receiving requests from bands and their publicists to write about their acts.  In keeping with my new policy, I’m only accepting such invitations if the bands in question meet my general criteria (see above).  Fortunately, I haven’t been asked to write a review on the other sort yet.  So yes, I do take requests, but, unless you pay me huge gobs of cash (and it would have to be a lot because I’m not easily bought), I will reject requests if I don’t think the music is appropriate.  But please keep the requests flowing in.  Although I have a log-jam of bands I’m trying to get to at the moment, this won’t always be the case - and sometimes it really simplifies my life if you seek me out instead of the other way ‘round.

So happy reading.  I hope you keep coming back and telling your friends about my blog.  I don’t make any money doing this, so it would be great at least to know I’m not toiling in complete oblivion. 

S.

Stuntman Mike

I began writing this entry on Stuntman Mike last week, but then developed an inner ear infection, which left me hearing everything as though it were filtered through wads of cotton.  I didn’t think it wise to attempt listening to and reviewing music in this condition, so I set the project aside until this morning, when my hearing miraculously returned. 

I want to begin here by expressing how amazed I’ve been the past couple of weeks by the number of really outstanding unsigned bands DJ Bluetone has been giving voice to through his webcasts.  I am in his debt for opening my eyes and ears to them.  Prominent among these has been Stuntman Mike, a band that, as with many other acts Bluetone’s been spinning, hails from Scotland.

Stuntman Mike, like Kill The Drama, has such a tight, commercially viable sound that any attempt to comprehend why they are not major label material simply boggles the mind.  I like to think this is because the corporate music industry is going down the same route print media has the past few years - losing ground to independent voices on the internet, responding by playing it safe and only investing in the most banal, polished and packaged “sure bets” while leaving the really interesting innovators to build their own independent careers.  After suffering through the first hour of last night’s Grammy Awards show (or as I like to call it, the ‘if we create a spectacle loud and extravagant enough we’ll be able to distract our audience from realizing how really, really bad our music is’ show), I’m hopeful that the recording industry demigods are experiencing the twilight of their reign.  Which would be wonderful as, in my less than humble opinion, the entrenched music interests pretty much ruin everything they lay their greedy, unimaginative hands upon. 

OK, off my soap box and back to the matter at hand.  I can’t gush enough about Stuntman Mike.  To again compare them to Kill the Drama, they are one of those bands that manage to make pop music which stings a bit - with catchy, memorable hooks that, while easily digestible, go down more like really strong, black espresso than the way-too-sugary soft drinks we’re typically served.  Each song takes off from the first note and races ahead, pulling one along by the viscera.  They’re loud and driving, with lots of pounding drums, thumping bass notes and searing vocals.  And for a quartet their sound is surprisingly rich and full, their recordings incredibly well-produced and their live performances faithful to their studio work.    

The band cites influences ranging from Muse and The Police to Metalica, Foo Fighters and even Elvis (although whether Costello or Presley, I can only surmise).  I would add U2 to that esteemed list, especially as regards Billy Mulholland’s deft use of guitar delay effects that echo (pardon the pun) the best of The Edge’s early work.  

In addition to their MySpace site, you can find Stuntman Mike’s music and videos on Youtube and at their own JustinTV Channel.  They’ll be playing live at the Vale in Glasgow on Saturday, February 13 (which, if anybody is interested, also happens to be my birthday), broadcasting live on DJ Bluetone’s channel (and possibly their own channel as well - I’ll try and clarify that ASAP).  They also plan to release their first single, “10,000 Lives,” March 1^st, which will be available on iTunes. 

Finally, I can pretty much guarantee you will hear them today on DJ Bluetone’s webcast from 1-4pm US Pacific time, 4-7pm Eastern.

S.

June

I first heard Scottish band June on DJ Bluetone’s webcast last week and was immediately captivated by their sound - full of solid, gut grabbing rhythms and waves of guitar chords both lush and jagged, topped off with the sublime and screeching vocals of Jen Bain, the band’s lead singer - a post-punk chanteuse to rival the best of them.

According to Gareth Burnett, the band’s drummer, June has only been performing together for about three months and had their first live show just two weeks ago.  I find this nearly impossible to believe.  Prior to learning of their nascent status I’d have sworn they’d been together for years. Recordings posted to their MySpace site are taken from live sets and are, as such, a bit rough around the edges.  Still, their songs are well-crafted and sophisticated, their performances tight, consistent and full of what I can only describe as (I know it sounds oh, so cliche) raw power.  

I loathe comparing bands to one another as I feel it does more to limit, than to enhance, one’s experience of any particular body of work.  And I frankly find relying too heavily on such comparisons to be just plain lazy.  At the same time, it is an undeniably useful way to provide a frame of reference for those reading about music they have not yet heard.   So, as a necessary evil I provide the following (qualified) comparisons:

“Bring You Down” reminds me of Yeah Yeah Yeahs (and, I sheepishly admit, a bit of early Divinyls), particularly as regards Bain’s audacious vocals.  The song “Numb,” a retro-late-60s Blues/Rock homage, hearkens to songs such as Led Zeppelin’s “Since I’ve Been Loving You” and Janice Joplin’s version of “Summertime.”  “Breathe into Me” puts me in mind of Sonic Youth in places and a bit of early Siouxsie and the Banshees in others.  

Among the influences the band members themselves cite are Nickelback, Rage Against the Machine and Paramore.  I’d have to agree that the comparison to Paramore is spot on.  However, I actually prefer June’s unpolished verve to Nickelback’s “well produced,” manicured rumblings any day.  More and more lately I’m finding hard rock music that’s been refined and processed in a recording studio about as useful as a campfire someone’s poured cold water over, let sit for several hours, and then had the nerve to claimed it as an excellent place to warm one’s hands. 

As for future plans, June will be backing up London-based band NIXA on Feb 1st.  They then plan to have a new EP available by April and a new album by summer.  I also expect DJ Bluetone to play more of their recordings in the future, so you’re likely to find them there, as well.

S.

DJ Bluetone Webcast Today

Don't forget to check out DJ Bluetone's webcast on Justin TV today 1pm Pacific, 4pm Eastern.http://www.justin.tv/djbluetone#r=B3

I’ve got a few updates today on some of the bands I’ve written about in past blog entries: 

   LC Messinger (aka When Girls Collide), informed me that Crush M Records will release Brian Lambert’s premier CD Spell For Happiness mid-February and Brian will begin touring Texas for the first phase of the CD’s promotion. 

   Patrick Doval is working on a new album, so far he’s got one song in the can and a second in production.

kill the drama has 15 new songs ready to begin recording spring 2010.  The album, tentatively titled The Burning Streets, should be ready by the summer.

Ryan Wirth (aka Psykids Army) is working on 6 new songs for a live performance, writing tracks for multi-instrumentalists to play live in a pre setup environment.  He plans to have players moving through the audience while performing songs.  He has 2 songs complete so far.  No date set as yet for performances to begin.  I’ll let you know where and when as soon as I know.

Desert Owls will be launching three new releases Friday, March 19^th, 2010 at Casa Del Popolo in Montreal: WHO?, the band’s debut EP will be available online, at retail stores and @ Casa del Popolo the night of the performance. The “GOGOGO” mini-disc single will be available throughout Montreal in all Distroboto machines.  New video for the song “WHO?” will be available on Youtube as of the March 19^th.

That’s about it for now.  I’ll keep posting updates as they arrive.  

Oh, and if I’ve left anybody out, please let me know.  

Also, if you’d like me to write about your unsigned band/musician/act, etc. just send me an email at psmythsongs@gmail.com.

S.

DJ Bluetone - The Aftermath

Hope you got a chance to watch DJ Bluetone’s webcast on JustinTV Monday.  If not, you can visit his archive at this link.  Even so, one must sit in on at least one live show.  Just isn’t the same without the streaming chat.

I was also elated that he played three of my songs this past show - “Patient,” “Labor Day” and “Land.”  I’ve only been posting music for public consumption for a couple months now - never heard any of my songs broadcast from anywhere other than my home computer.  I received some great listener comments and was extremely flattered to be included in the company of the other acts Bluetone chose to play.  He promised to give me a spin on his next webcast as well, so please tune in and show your support next Monday from 9pm to Midnight BST - 1pm on the West Coast, 4pm on the East.

Among the artists he played, I wanted to mention a few that I found exceptionally worth a listen:

Ipanema

Stuntman Mike

The Viragoes

June

The Dirty 9s

I will definitely be writing more on these bands in the near future.

S.

More Bluetone

Got my mother visiting from out of town, which is why I haven’t been blogging the past few days.  She’s here ‘til tomorrow, so today’s post will be very brief.  

In fact, I have only this to say:

Don’t forget to check out the DJ Bluetone webcast today on JustingTV beginning at 9pm British Summer Time - that’s 1pm Pacific, 2pm Mountain, 3pm Central, 4pm Eastern in the US.  Anywhere else in the world, you’ll have to work it out for yourself.  Sorry.  The show runs 3 hours and, rumor has it, Bluetone will be playing some of my music today - so I have a vested interest in increasing his audience.  

So please, take a few minutes out of your busy day today and support us poor, starving musicians and those who are devoting their time to our cause.

S.

DJ Bluetone

Over the past weekend I made contact with DJ Bluetone, a Scottish DJ (VJ?) who hosts his own show on JustinTV (Monday nights - or afternoons if you happen to be stateside).  Like me, he focuses on promoting unsigned bands he’s found on MySpace.  I’d intended to catch his premier show this week, but got my British Summer and Pacific Daylight Times a bit mixed up.  Fortunately, he does archive his program, so one can still catch Monday’s broadcast here. 

As I write this I am listening to (and periodically watching) the archived show.  It’s quirky and kitschy, a bit rough around the edges, but worth a watch.  DJ Bluetone sits in what appears to be a room in his home, surrounded by images of amplifiers and a mirror ball (and an intermittent sword-carrying dominatrix), spinning music, commenting on the songs and artists, conducting live video interviews - and occasionally humming along with the tunes.  There are a few technical glitches, which, for me, add to the charm of the experience.  Promoting unsigned acts (as well as being part of one) is a labor of love (definitely not profit).  One must do what one can with lots of determination and very little funding. 

DJ Bluetone’s got great taste, plays a wide variety of sounds and will introduce you to music you’re unlikely to hear in any one place (unless you have the patience to sift through all the unsigned acts on MySpace, which I highly recommend, if you don’t have a job and never leave your room).  

If you’d like to hear your music featured on DJ Bluetone’s show, he encourages you to contact him at his MySpace site.  I also encourage any and all who read this to support DJ Bluetone and check out his show.

He begins spinning at 9pm BST - 4pm on the American east coast and 1pm in the west, again on JustinTV.  You can also follow him on Twitter.

S.

Frequency Theater

Yesterday, Nate Butler, aka Frequency Theater, requested that I listen to his music and review it on my blog.  This being the first time I’ve received such a request, I was both elated and daunted.  On the one hand, I was flattered that Nate thought so much of my writing.  On the other, I worried I might not like the music and would have to either write a negative review about somebody who’d been very nice to me, or lie and make only really positive comments I didn’t actually believe.

Thankfully, I didn’t find the need to do either.  In fact, after sampling a couple tracks at Frequency Theater’s MySpace site I went to iTunes and downloaded the debut release, Fly Gallery.  Fly Gallery is a powerful, driven and passion-filled collection, full of extramusical surprises and artfully layered sonic tiers which I’ve found more intriguing through multiple listenings.

In terms of musical style, as with many artists, it would be far too easy to categorize FT within some easily digestible genre (say, Electronica or Industrial), then carve away what’s a bit different and allow that to dangle out there as the one identifying factor making this act stand apart from every other that’s doing roughly the same thing.  In this case that different ‘something’ would be Nate Butler’s upbeat lyrical approach - a style that stands in flagrant contrast against a backdrop of troubled and downward gazing cohorts.  

Frequency Theater’s own website rhetoric describes the act as one that “strives to inspire the audience to believe in themselves, to push to become their best version of themselves and to doubt their doubters.”  Further, a review also posted at the site quips:  “Music fans wondering what Trent Reznor might sound like on a happy day, look no further.”  In all honesty, after first reading these I feared the songs would be too simplistic and naive or vapidly didactic.  (Yes, alas, I am one of those who often confuses woe with depth).  And honestly, who wants to hear Trent Reznor on a good day?  Isn’t it his job to suffer for our listening pleasure?  And what is one to expect after such a comment?  July Andrews singing “I want to f*ck you like an animal?”

But these songs are not simply a sea of loud samples and bangs with cheery, Pollyanna lyrics floating on top.  Indeed, aside from the song The Charismatic, I found the lyrics subtle, complex and enigmatic - driven by the same intensity and misgiving one might expect of the more nihilistic offerings from Trent Reznor or Robert Smith.  

What I do find most compelling in all this is Nate Butler’s daring to rub that industrial angst against the grain a bit by infusing that rage with a bit of hope, conjuring something fresh and new that is brash and nuanced; full of anguish and inspiration.  

S.

Beatnik Jr.

This is my first entry of the New Year... I guess I must have overslept or something and missed the first four days.  Actually, I’ve been working on my own music this past week, a task I’ve neglected lately in favor of promoting my older material and writing about great unsigned acts, such as my favorite of the day, Beatnik Jr.  

Beatnik Jr. is an enigmatic band from LA with that rare ability to experiment without being so dissonant as to appeal to only a small sliver of listeners.  As one of five finalists for the 2009 Hard Rock Ambassadors of Rock Battle of the Bands, Beatnik Jr. proved it possible to appeal to a popular audience while simultaneously maintaining a high degree of originality.

Their genre is a bit difficult to pin down.  According to the band’s own press releases “Fans have referred to Beatnik Jr.'s music as sounding similar to Radiohead, The Faint, The Postal Service, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, and even The Beatles.”  I would also add The Flaming Lips and at times Death Cab For Cutie to that list - the latter particularly in regards to lead singer John Maro’s vocal style.  

Still, I lament the need to compare one band to another, especially in this case.  I think it suffices to say that Beatnik Jr. manages to genre blend, to beg and borrow and to innovate all at the same time.  Their songs are full of sonic surprises set to uptempo pop-beats and melodies, resulting in a sound that is both fresh and familiar.  Their recordings are tight, well-produced and endlessly listenable.  

For more on Beatnik Jr. you can read Liberty London Girl’s blog and visit the band’s MySpace page.  They also have five tracks available to download from iTunes.  

And since you’ll already be checking these guys out at MySpace, you might as well stop by My MySpace page to see and hear what I’ve been doing lately as well : ) [That’s meant to be a sheepish grin, BTW]

S.

MySpace vs. Blogger

[The following may appear at first to have little to do with unsigned bands - that is until you consider the importance of social networking outlets for band promotion (and thus viability) in the current global music marketplace and how restrictions upon such effect this, our most underrepresented and vulnerable class of musicians]

Yesterday the Powers That Be at MySpace informed me they are blocking all links back to my blog site - leftunsigned.blogspot.com.  Here’s how they explained it:

We've recently discovered that BlogSpot pages are being used by spammers to send spam, so all links to that site have been disabled.

Although you or your blog may not be associated with or linked to spam or spammers, to protect all MySpace Profiles from spam, phishing, and online scams, all links to BlogSpot are blocked. 

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Thanks for keeping MySpace a safe and secure place to socialize with friends.

Sounds pretty final, huh?  I'm kinda new to social networking (and most other electronic media, as well), so help me with the logic.  The folks managing MySpace are concerned about receiving spam, so they block OUTgoing links?  OK, so perhaps you can't block the incoming without doing likewise to the outgoing?  Again, not really up to snuff on all this, so perhaps this is true.  I simply don’t know.  But what I don't get is this: can't a person wishing to spam, phish or scam do so freely from pretty much any site on the planet with the ability to broadcast from one server to another?  So why not block every single link coming in or going out?  Absurd, right?  Well isn't it just as absurd to prevent MySpace users from providing links to their own blog sites?  Isn't there possibly some other means for "keeping MySpace a safe and secure place....?"

Strangely, while researching this issue I found that some MySpace users were informed of this blockage as far back as March, others, like my self, only within the past week.  I also found I was not alone in my suspicions that MySpace was hiding behind the guise of SECURITY to gloss over what might, in reality, be a case of blanket CENSORSHIP. 

I mean is it remotely possible that this has anything at all to do with corporate anomy between competing media conglomerates News Corp (recent acquirer of MySpace) and Google (owner of Blogger)?  After all, isn’t it common knowledge that both entities have been engaged in a winner-take-all competition for information-world dominance for  a while now?  (Perhaps ‘common knowledge’ is a bit of a sketchy source to site here.  For more evidence of this contention follow this link and draw your own conclusions).  For those who don’t know, News Corp. is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who also owns Fox News – so you know fairness and ethical behavior are not at the top of the MySpace list of priorities.  Not implying here that Google is run by a consortium of altruistic and on high angelic types… just wish these Olympians would keep the rest of us helpless mortals out of their fray.

More Self Promotion

I received a note a few days back from Ryan Wirth (of Psykids Army) thanking me in the most gracious of ways for the review I wrote on his song collection Story.  It couldn’t have come at a better time as I was feeling pretty low over the whole Chicken Head incident.  Seriously, it was really great to know that somebody was reading the positive reviews as well as the negative.  I was beginning to think I’d be relegated to writing hack-jobs for eternity in order to keep my readers.  I have had other positive responses in the past – Brian Lambert, Patrick Doval and the Desert Owls all sent their appreciation my way.  What troubles me, though, is that none of their fans followed suit.  I mean, why is it that people only seem willing to put finger to keyboard when they have something mean to say?  (Although I have to admit I was pretty dour re: the RCHs, so I guess I got what I gave).

All in all, I have to say that I am grateful for any response, positive or negative.  And as far as The Radioactive Chicken Heads go, I owe them a huge debt of gratitude.  They’ve been really good sports, considering all the crap I gave them.  And since they posted my review link on their Facebook page I’ve had over 100 new blog readers and 400+ new visitors to my music sites.  Not saying they were solely responsible, but they didn’t hurt.  So if any of you Chicken Heads are reading this… let me know where to send the Champagne.  

As far as bad press goes, I only hope some day my music will become noteworthy enough to attract negative criticism.  Nothing’s worse than being ignored.  But for now I’ll have to settle for the remarks my prose elicits, both genial and hostile.  

S.

The Radioactive Chicken Heads Redux

A few days back I wrote a review on a band of musicians who dress up as puppets and call themselves The Radioactive Chicken Heads (you may read the piece here if you like).  The band is extremely over-the-top and in your face and I felt that I should respond in kind with a certain degree of humor that was both brutal and hyperbolic.  The band subsequently posted a link to this review on their Facebook and MySpace pages, which led to a noticeable upsurge in my blog readership for a day or two.  

The Chicken Heads referred to my blog post as a “Hilarious bad review!”  (I found this description flattering as few people actually find my humor very funny - let alone hilarious).  As it turns out, though, a handful of Chicken Head fans didn’t find my review amusing at all.  Most of these confined their comments in this regard to the band’s fan pages. However, several folks left comments at my blog and on my MySpace newsfeed (well, actually on the Chicken Head’s newsfeed, but, since we’re “friends” and all, I received the comments as well).  My favorite of these was left by Happy Fun Bonko Slut (you may read comments here).  Basically Happy disagreed with me and told me, quite pointedly, that I was a bad critic.  I asked an arts writer friend of mine what she thought and she concurred that I had not quite explained why I took the Chicken Heads to task.  While I preferred my friend’s rather more gentle criticism delivery to that of Happy’s smash and dash approach, the point was well taken... I obviously didn’t take the time I might have to completely flesh the Chicken Heads out.  

So, just to clarify, when I first listened to the band I enjoyed their music, but then I watched their videos and their appearance on the Tyra Banks show and had a change of heart (for the sake of brevity I’ll let you visit their site and watch the clips for yourselves).  Now if you could think of their music for a moment as a house of cards, where each card is a necessary and vital component to the whole construction, each supporting the other in a very precise and balanced, yet delicate, even tenuous manner... and then you add that one last card, the one that you really don’t need at all, and it’s weight causes the whole thing to come crashing down... well that’s how I felt about the band after watching them perform:  The costuming - in fact the whole spectacle - was just one card (or even a deck or two) too many.  And the qualities I had at first enjoyed in their music collapsed under the weight of all the excess.  

I do find them amusing (in the same way I find Glenn Beck crying on Fox News amusing), but I don’t think they are a good band.  Now if they dropped the costumes and let the music stand on its own, I might feel differently, but as things stand, I just can’t get past the visuals.  I could say otherwise if that would make their fans more comfortable in dealing with opinions that differ from their own, but that would make me a liar.

I hope that clears things up a bit.

Perhaps if I could amend my previous review in any way, I would change the conclusion, in which I stated that there isn’t anything remotely interesting about the Chicken Heads once you get past their name.  If that were true, would I still be investing any time or thought into their act?  In truth, the more I get to know of them, through their fans and just thinking and writing about them, I find myself appreciating the humor (albeit of a rather dark variety) inherent in the unapologetically low-brow nature of the Chicken Heads.  Yes, they did push some buttons in me, mostly regarding the garish and grotesque nature of the capital consumerist phantasmagoria they so brazenly embrace behind the guise of punk rock icons I firmly believe represent the polar opposite.  But that’s just show business.  

So, I hope that was a more thorough analysis and that I have, at least in part, placated some of my more outspoken critics.  And if not, that’s what the comments page is for.

Have a merry and happy whatever it is you celebrate!

S.

Nothing New Today

Sorry for not posting anything the past few days... down with the flu.  I'll have something new tomorrow, fingers crossed.

Survey

Today I will be very brief.  On several occasions now I have received feedback from friends that my blog has been running a bit too long and is difficult to get through.  However others have suggested that my shorter entries have been too bereft of information. 

I’d really like to get the opinions of anybody reading my blog (in any of its many locations) regarding this issue.  Are my blogs too long?  Am I conveying the sort of information you find interesting?  Am I boring you and driving you away?  Are there other suggestions you could make regarding content, subject matter, etc.?  Please be kind in your remarks, I break easily!

You may reply to: psmythsongs@gmail.com

Or simply leave comments on this page

Thank you, one and all in advance for your assistance.

S.

Double Elvis

Very pleased this morning to return to France and eat my words regarding my previous comments about no good unsigned French musicians.  Case in point, Double Elvis, a band from Bretagne that blends a melange of Techno-Industrial, Post-New Wave, Darkwave and retro ‘80s Pop with message songs that, with the exception of “Virginia Tech,” make their point without being too pedantic or heavy-handed.

I am reminded of New Order, The Cure, Camouflage and even late ‘80s Xymox, as well as some early Shoe-Gaze bands like Kitchens of Distinction and the Chameleons.  At the same time they are fresh and original, with a rich, lush sound and an assertive vocal style that is at times reminiscent of Billy Corgan, at others of David Bowie and, in more subtle moments, of Chris Martin of Coldplay.      

Their songs are sung in English, which I suppose makes them more accessible.  I can’t deny that the acts I find most appealing from the French-speaking world are those who do sing in English.  Personal prejudice?  This actually confuses me because I love the French language.  But for some reason I find French rock vocals detached and disinterested much of the time.  Too much ennui and nuance, perhaps?  Not like those raucous Germans!

Standout songs include “Sea of Ashes,” “The Art of War” and “Perdido Street” - a rich, dreamy ballad that is my absolute favorite.  As I alluded to above, the song “Virginia Tech” bugs me a bit.  It’s one of those songs in the tradition of Paul Hardcastle’s “Nineteen” in which news soundbites become the lyrical, narrative content of the song.  I don’t like “Nineteen” at all, so I guess this is just my personal bugaboo.  I hate being assailed with news reports in musical arrangements - I just think it’s a too easy and overstated way to make one’s point.  But enough about that, there is plenty more to this band that I find truly interesting and compelling.  I wish them gobs of success and hope I can find some downloads soon...

S.

Kill the Drama

I’ve only been thinking and writing about the world of unsigned musicians for a very short while, so that probably explains my continued mystification with what sort of acts do and don’t attract record label attention.  Case in point, Kill the Drama, a self-described alternative-progressive rock band from Pittsburg, PA. with a significant following whose sound treads paradoxically between emotional rawness and flawless polish.  

According to different sources, Kill the Drama first took the Pittsburg stage somewhere between 2005 and 2006, quickly gaining local acclaim and amassing a sizable fan base.  They released their first CD, Close Friends with Sharp Knives in 2007, re-releasing it to electronic venues such as iTunes in 2009, where it enjoys a solid 5-star listener rating.  

They are a bit more pop-driven than I typically prefer, but you’d think this would be a desired selling point.  Their songs are memorable and catchy, neither overly simple nor needlessly complex.  Their videos are professionally produced, their studio recordings rich and full of depth and texture.  Of the songs I’ve listened to, “Sunshine” is by far my favorite.  It appears to be their most popular song, as well, garnering in excess of one million plays on their MySpace site.  

Bryan Laskey, the band’s vocalist, delivers his pathos-driven lyrics with a force and passion reminiscent of Muse’s Matthew Bellamy.  Guitars are rough and distorted, drums are full of symbol crashes, and bass riffs harken to early pioneers of progressive rock such as Yes’ Chris Squire and Geddy Lee of Rush.  I’ve also read comparisons between the band’s sound and that of groups like Smashing Pumpkins and Placebo.  According to the band’s Wikipedia page, Ben “Skinny” Solnik, their original bassist left in 2008 and was replaced by Marios “Mars” Papachristou.  The band subsequently announced last month that they had replaced “Mars” with a new bassist, Chris "Oz" Olzewski (makes me wonder if repeatedly hiring bassists with nicknames might not be such a good idea).

My biggest regret over writing about bands like Kill the Drama is that I don’t have more readers and thus the power to affect any change to their current unsigned status.  Although I’m sure they’ll do just fine on their own.

S.

Shameless Self-Promotion

Originally Posted at PsmythSongs.com December 14, 2009

I’ve decided to make some changes to my blogging habits.  First of all, writing seven days a week is simply unrealistic - it requires several hours each day to find new acts, listen carefully to their music, dig up biographical info and write something that I hope is pithy, insightful and informative. 

So from now on I will post only 3-5 new entries per week, depending upon my other schedule demands.  I have also decided that I will periodically spend some time promoting my own work.  Which only seems fair, seeing as I came up with this whole blogging idea to gain more visibility for my stuff in the first place...

OK, about my music.  I write, perform, record, mix and master all my songs, by myself, in my puny recording studio that also doubles as an office.  I like to describe my sound as Gothic Americana.  Influences range from ‘60s and ‘70s psychedelia to ‘80s, 90s and beyond goth, grunge, dance music, Johnny Cash, Ennio Morricone, and a whole slew of other genre’s/musicians/composers.  I realize this appears a bit unfocused, but if you listen to my songs I think I kinda pull it all together... maybe???  I try to write about flowers and puffy white clouds, but it just doesn’t work.  No, you’ll discover little of what one might describe as uplifting in my lyrics - unless you find inspiration in surrendering to the capricious and unpredictable laws of an indifferent, if not hostile universe.  I know I do.  

Anyhow, in the interest of time (I really need to work on a few songs today...) and my flagging attention span, I’d like to leave you with these few words of hope, inspiration and yes, sadly, desperation:

Please visit any and all of the following sites, listen to my music and watch my videos - and leave ratings and comments.  You see, even negative remarks can be very helpful and constructive... I just need feedback!!!

Leftunsigned.blogspot.com

Facebook.com/psmythsongs

MySpace.com/psmythsongs

Youtube.com/ssmyth1a

iLike.com/artist/SP+Smyth

Thank you all.  And may the forces that be bless you if you choose to visit my sites and punish you mercilessly if you do not.

S.

The Radioactive Chicken Heads

Originally Posted at PsmythSongs.com December 12, 2009

OK, now time for The Radioactive Chicken Heads, a band I think is just plain awful... and I don’t believe they’d disagree, as awful appears to be what they’re striving for.  Equal parts Dead Kennedys/Stooges wannabes, Gong-Show rejects and Banana Splits [or possibly HR Puff-n-Stuff?) cartoon character puppet-things (if you’re too young to remember any of these cultural references... I envy you).

You’ll find a short clip of their appearance in a talent contest from the Tyra Banks show posted to the band’s MySpace page.  They lost the competition... by a significant margin.  I dare you to convince me they intended otherwise.  They are so bad, it has to be on purpose.  

I’m still trying to figure out just exactly what they’re trying to do here.  I mean, I understand the whole costume gimmick.  And they aren’t all that bad musically (if not tediously derivative).  But I believe they’re whole act is tied to a premise that if you create a ghastly enough spectacle, fans will buy your silly merchandise - which is also available at their site.  

The only reason I’ve even chosen to write about these guys (and one gal, I believe - she’s the one with the tomato for a head) was because I was shamefully drawn to their sensational nome du plume.  It’s too bad there isn’t anything remotely interesting once you get past the name.

S.