I was going through and listening to my Interpol vinyl the other day when it occurred to me that some out there may not know of the solo project Julian Plenti Is… Skyscraper, put out by the lead singer. If you are a huge Interpol fan, you are gonna want to find a copy.

Most solo albums fall into the range of “meh” to “pretty good.” Usually, they are only worth listening to get through the years and months till the band puts together their next full length album. This blanket statement does not apply to Julian Plenti Is… Skyscraper. In many ways, this album is better than Interpol‘s followup self-titled album. Julian Plenti Is… Skyscraper has a lot of slower songs, but with more intricate guitar work, background pianos and creepy sounds. The album has a fantastic dark and creepy quality to it. I have a favorite line, which isn’t creepy, but rather brilliant: “We have the weights. We have the measures of our days and nights.” The ability to incorporate “weights and measures” into song is always appreciated.

Check out “Fly As You Might” and “Only I You Run.”

“Fly As You Might”

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Before I even get a chance to hear the first song, I notice that the album art is completely different from any thing before, which is a serious bummer. Swoon and Carnavas had beautiful inspiring album art. It was so cool that it was even reflected and reproduced on the tour t-shirts! Why ruin a good thing?

Neck Of The Woods has many songs with slower beats, which are cleaned up and can sound drum machiney. Many of the songs have a sort of classic metal feel to them, which I find slightly disturbing. I would like to offer a word of warning. The guitar work will get stuck in your head. It is simply astounding. Of course this is the Silversun Pickups so all of their songs have that wonderful spirit and pace that brings them alive.

Don’t expect there to be any great songs that become part of your soul for the rest of your life, like “Lazy Eye” or “Rusted Wheel.” The only song that comes close is their single “Bloody Mary.”

All in all this is still a quality driving album. I recently took a 3,000 mile driving trip and Neck Of The Woods helped me eat those miles. This album represents a bit of a change for the Silversun Pickups. It is still them, just with a bit of a change. Neck Of The Woods is an album that will take some time to grow on you. I fully plan a followup post detailing whether or not it has successfully grown or if I had to trim the verge.

Check out the first three songs. They are all of off the new album Neck Of The Woods. I personally enjoy “Bloody Mary” and “Dots and Dashes.”

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Give the title track of the new album a listen here:

If you would like to preview the entire release head on over to NPR.

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This is the hardest blog post I’ve ever had to pen. It is so tempting to just gush for pages about how incredible In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull really is. (That is exactly what I ended up doing) But the fact of the matter is, The Cribs are my favorite band. Sometimes I think they can do no wrong. So if you are looking for an objective review of ITBOTBB look elsewhere.

In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull has 14 well crafted tracks. At this point, I’ve listened to this album all through my semester tests. I’ve listened to this album in my dreams. Nearly every waking minute ITBOTBB is playing, in my car, showering, cooking, and walking to campus. A couple of things have become clear; First is that The Cribs have really done it this time. In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull is utterly brilliant.

It’s brilliant because of all the little details. Each song sounds different and unique, but still has some common threads which make it into an epic album experience. The guitar work was stunning live, but on the album it is life changingly good.  I have taken time just to focus on what the guitar is doing. Sometimes its a little difficult to absorb just what the guitar is up to.  Then it hits you. Boom.

As with every Cribs album, the lyrics are truly special and meaningful. Every song has good lyrics. “Chi Town” sounds like a pretty simple poppy rock song. It’s a song about love and a devastating break up. But after listening to the lyrics “will I only heal when you are dead?” blows my mind every time I hear it. Then when “Back To The Bolthole” comes on my heart starts aching. It is such a beautiful song. It’s a slower song that particularly stands out in the album. It’s just intoxicating how it starts out with the guitar riffs and a bendy synth sounding note that you can feel caressing your brain before moving down your spine. What it boils down to is I have been able to form deeply personal connections with many of the songs on ITBOTBB Thats what makes it a truly special and amazing experience. I’m willing to bet that after listening to ITBOTBB a couple of times you too will form an emotional attachment to it.

Depending on where you buy In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull, you can get some sweet b-sides tracks. Below is a sweet video on the living advertisement/poster in London. Its pretty cool.

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Blunderbuss is an album caught between worlds. Some songs have that strong blues feel that you can hear in The White Stripes, but then there is a strong southern countryish sound in other songs. There is a tremendous about of stunning and intricate piano that is woven through the entire album. The piano work is really amazing. Another theme that leave me, frankly, shocked is the reoccurring lyric about crying yourself to sleep. This is certainly a more somber album that any of Jack White’s other albums. Blunderbuss is a magical hybrid that bridges worlds of blues, rock, and a bit of country. It is clearly cutting edge American genius, which is something we haven’t seen in years.

I’m not sure if Jack White will go back to any of his other side bands, like the Dead Weather and The Raconteurs. Perhaps Jack White will become a solo act. One last thing though, be sure to buy Blunderbuss on vinyl. It was clearly designed to be listened to on a record player with a specific song order. When you listen to Blunderbuss on shuffle or one track at a time it ruins its bewitching magic.

Check out “Sixteen Saltines”

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Highlights include Jack White, Skrillex, Geographer, Bloc Party, Animal Kingdom, and many more! August is a great time to be Golden Gate Park and this three-day festival will not disappoint!

Word to the wise: like many other corporate-sponsored music fests, OL can be a rip-off. My advice is to wait out the bundle tickets and buy something last-minute on Craigslist. There are always plenty of people trying to hawk their 1,2 and 3 day tickets for cheap as the event gets closer.

See ya there!

www.sfoutsidelands.com

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I showed up the venue a couple of hours early. I could hear sound check starting. So I decided to linger around the doors for just a few seconds and check my phone. Lucky for me, one of the opening band mates walked into the Brighton Music Hall and let me follow him in. Just a couple of steps in the door, on stage, was my favorite band in the world, The Cribs. It is such a strange feeling, to walk into a dark room, look on stage and immediately recognize three people, which you have never met before, but had heard their voices for hours and not just go right up to them with an overly enthusiastic “Hey hows it going mates?” I am sure I gasped. I sure as hell had a smug smile on my face. But I tell you what, there is nothing like getting an opportunity to stand in the middle of a great hall of rock, with your favorite band, in a relatively relaxed state, playing some great songs to get the levels right. It was almost like having a personal show, just for me. I’m sure the audio engineers and the opening bands were thinking “Who the hell is this tall awkward guy who knows all the lyrics to these songs?” I just stood there and sung along in a sound check with The Cribs.

Ryan Jarman

The actual show itself is remarkable for a couple of reasons. First, this is a sort of warm up tour. The Cribs latest album, In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull, drops May 7th. This was a great opportunity to hear new songs off the unreleased album, and for the band to explain a little behind the songs and the upcoming album. Second, this was the last show of the tour. Those are always special. I love hearing the story behind the song. But what really blew me away were the tongue in cheek jokes about being a real rock star. I know it sounds strange, but the lead guitarist, Ryan, joked that he is having to switch guitars between every song just like a real rock star. I remember thinking that I had never seen anything come close to a real epitome of rock until I saw Ryan Jarman. The Cribs are the actual embodiment rock, and they know it… which is why they get tell those kind of jokes.

The show ended with “City Of Bugs.” It wasn’t your average every day end to a show. The song continued to get more and more intense. Gary Jarman, vocals and bass, started playing the drums with the tip of his bass. Ryan showed off his moves by falling to the ground with his guitar, while laying on his side, he walked in circles strumming the guitar. Ross, the drummer, stood on top of his drums and pounded away. At the absolute height of the song, they ended it by knocking over all the mikes and drums, spilling them onto the stage with little disregard, ala The Who. The final move was when Ryan walked over to his amp, with guitar in hand and placed the guitar on the amp so it would feedback. The feedback rattled my ribcage and, admittedly, blew my mind. Ryan just walked off stage. Watching that just left me with my mouth wide upon with a smile curled at the edge of my lips. It was utterly brilliant. The perfect way to end a show on a Saturday night. I deeply appreciated the fact that there wasn’t an encore. Encores, in this day and age, have lost a lot of their meaning. The Cribs are doing everything they can to make them meaningful again.

The actual set list was brilliant. A smattering of songs from all of their albums. But they also played plenty of new songs from the new album. I’ve now heard the track “Anna” three times and have already identified it as one of my favorites off the new album. I get the main verse stuck in my mind for days at a time. The set list was special because the songs were fast, slow, singalongs, and mosh pit favorites. But what sealed the deal for me was that they played “Be Safe.” If you don’t know the song, there is poetry being read in the background, and they play over the poetry. That is a little hard to perform live… without the poet right?  It’s still hard to keep a steady beat to that poem and not fall behind and then catch up. This is a good example of a track I would never expect to be played during a live set, but that surprise is exactly what made it a fantastic show.

Below are some track off the new album “In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull” Out May 7th!

The Cribs – Chi Town

The Cribs – Come On And Be A No One

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Late Friday night Scolla shot me a couple tweets to check up and make sure that we were doing alright out here on the left side of the country. After exchanging some pleasantries he let me know that he is finishing up some more projects and getting ready to tour this Summer. If you didn’t know he was a featured artist at SXSW, marking his third year at the festival.

In an effort to build up some buzz heading into the Austin based media festival, Scolla collaborated with the likes of YP, Phil Adé, Gerald Walker, Rapper Big Pooh, and Big Sant. Needless to say the web tour was huge, even trending on Twitter.

I got to say these four tracks have gotten me geeked to hear what he is cooking up right now, and hopefully I’ll get a chance to hear a couple of samples soon. When I hear tour dates and sites I’ll be sure to pass them along, until then enjoy Scolla’s Web Tour.

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Two tracks have been released for your listening pleasure, “Spore” and “Squorm”. Also Arcade44.tv caught up with Knopf and bassist Dave Lowensohn at SXSW last month to talk about Prophet. I enjoy Knopf‘s sense of humor, mostly because of his dead-pan delivery. As you may or may not know Knopf is a former member of Menomena, he left the group back in January of 2011 after the release of Mines. The departure has allowed him to focus more on the cultivation of his song writing with Ramona Falls.

Please watch the interview first, ENJOY!

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As a courtesy to Late Night, Pulp played a bonus song in “Like Friend”. For you Venture Bros. fans out there you’ll remember it as the track that closed out Season 4 of the Adult Swim show last Spring. I wrote about the track back in October as well.

Seeing them perform together is a very unexpected pleasure ans should be enough to get me through this week, hopefully it has the same effect on you.

Pulp – Common People

Pulp – Like a Friend

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