A. Tom Collins

     

     Last week I was lucky enough to attend the Westword Music Showcase, a Denver music festival highlighting the prolific scene in our city.  While I have always considered myself pretty informed about many local genres (Bluegrass, Jam/Improv, some electronic) I was unaware how many great bands are in this big little city.  One local band that particularly impressed me was A. Tom Collins.  A indie label Americana band, though any genre interpretation should be loosely interpreted.
     The Denver Quintet sings about fast topics;  drinking, drugs, and vices in general.  Typically, this act is tired and contrived, but these guys sound as authentic as an old scotch.  They seem to really live their songs, and live their music.  Though the lead vocalists bar room warble, the songs turn into stories of the band's revelry.   The horns and piano make for the perfect setting for saloon style merrymaking.  As I listened I could imagine myself very drunk, drunker than I was, throwing my arm over the shoulders of my friends, singing and swaying along to the music.  Though the instruments are classical, the band played hard, the pianist headbanged as he tickled the ivories, and the trumpet player stumbled around as he ferociously belted out his notes.  Their exhausted, but resilient energy enhanced the raw unpolished sound of the band.  A. Tom Collins is a gritty band, and as they waled "Fuck the Pretty People" as they closed their set, they are happy that way.

Sorry I can not write more thoroughly on this band, as I have very limited experience with them.  Hopefully I will learn more.

Beachwood Sparks: The Tarnished Gold.

    

      Sub-Pop records has a long history of producing great acclaimed, albeit finicky, artists.  The production of greatness is often met with heavy frustration, which is probably why so many of the label's artists release albums so sporadically.  Beachwood Sparks, an L.A. based alt-country outfit, is a prime example of this.  After disbanding a decade ago, quietly reuniting, then fading away, they have finally released another LP, The Tarnished Gold.
     It is hard to pigeonhole Beachwood Sparks' genre.  It is definitely country, but filtered through psychedelia.  The Tarnished Gold follows this formula, combining folksy and psychedelic twangs into beautiful little songs.  The breezy acoustic based tunes make for an accessible listen for all levels of listeners.  The songs are thin and delicate, and those looking for instrumental depth and texture may need to look elsewhere.  The Tarnished Gold aims, and hits, their mark of keeping their sounds as organic an unpastuerized as possible.    From time to time, however, the album deviates from its norm, most notably on the tongue-in-cheek "No Queremos Oros," which would fit in at the most authentic Mexican Cantinas. 
    In seemingly typical Sub-pop fashion, Beachwood Sparks have no deifnitive plans subsequent to the release of this album.  Whether or not they will pursue this project or not is still up in the air.  For now, fans of this band, and their space-cowboy melodies, can take comfort in The Tarnished Gold, even if is nothing more than a pretty epilogue to the band. 

Smashing Pumpkins: Oceania

     

     When I was 11 years old, I went to see The Smashing Pumpkins at, what was at the time, the Rosemont Horizon.  It was an amazing show,  and seeing that concert set me on track for a life obsessed with music.  In the past eighteen years, The Smashing Pumpkins have gone through more stylistic and personality changes than myself.  They have gone through drugs, disbandment, re-bandment, and megalomania.  Like a cat with nine lives, the band has always seemed to hang on by a thread, making albums highlighting lead singer Billy Corgan's ego, and downplaying his true talent as a grunge music with an auteur's sensibility.  After several vein attempts at relevancy, Corgan and crew have released Oceania, there best effort in well over a decade. 
     The first thing listeners must do, is accept the fact that they glory days of The Smashing Pumpkins have passed, and this is more of a Corgan side project, as he is the only original personnel.  Once preconceived notions and judgements are discarded, the listener will be able to enjoy a good rock record.  For Oceania, Corgan opts to not go off on a new tangent, but try to recapture his vision of Smashing Pumpkins.  The album swirls of powerful alternative guitar riffs, blended with textured symphs and synths.  Corgan also throws in his obligatory sweet songs.  Oceania seems to pay special attention to ensure all band members are represented; a clear effort to make a cohesive record, and more importantly, band.  What Oceania lacks in artistry, is tries to make up for in moxie.
     After several long years, and several pedestrian albums, Corgan seems to have found a level of comfort in his new band, and that comes through in Oceania.  The future of the Pumpkins is ambiguous to say the least, judging from the incessant member changes, but for now they can take solace in respectable album.  I, nor the world, feel the same way about the Smashing Pumpkins as that night at the Rosemont Horizon, but Corgan is working on changing opinions.

Japandroids: Celebration Rock

     

     In 2009,  Japandroids, a post-punk duo from British Columbia, released Post Nothing, their debut album.  Although critically acclaimed, the band decided not to proceed with the band, as the band was seemingly going nowhere, at least on a commercial level.  After three years of recuperation, the band reunited to record Celebration Rock, another masterful showcase of their lo-fi talents.
   The album appropriately opens with booming fireworks; a foreshadowing of the exploding punk to come.  The album portrays the organic maturation of Brian Prowse, and David King (Japandroids respective members), both in musically and personally.  Celebration Rock still has songs about drinking, smoking, and girls, but have more conceptual lyrics about coming into adulthood.   The high energy rock wallops the listener of youthful energy, but the lyrics tactfully describe the mid-twenties slow journey into self-actualization.
     Celebration Rock's gritty musicianship provides for some harsh continuity, but for this type of garage rock, it is easily forgiven, and accepted.  The jostling progression of Celebration Rock, combined with the intentional lack of overdubs provides a natural sensation that the current indie scene severely lacks.  As the album ends, and the same fireworks now bookend Celebration Rock, it has become apparent that, for these Canadian rockers, the sky is the limit.

Peaking Lights: Lucifer

     Coming off an amazing debut, Peaking lights return after a short hiatus with their new LP, Lucifer.  Lucifer evokes the same emotion that Peaking Lights have striven for.  The album walks the fine line between energy and languidness;  bubblegum pop, and extreme psychedelia.  The Wisconsin based duo continue to the push the envelopes of "simplicity" by creating beatific songs out of electro blips and reverb heavy vocals, courtesy of the female half, Indra Dunis. 

     Musically, the two take what they did on their debut, and slightly expound upon it.  Meaning, that Lucifer sticks predominantly to its electro-pop roots, but shows off some pretty, dub, branches.  Later in the album, the band experiments with blending those dub beats with club style high-end to create quite an original sound. Peaking Lights also continue to show off their spacey side with tripped out pseudo-melodies.  The result is a sound that moves both the head, and the ass.

     Right now are some tough times for the electronic music scene, as low end dubstep has overrun a scene once commanded by intelligent music nerds.  Fortunately, their are still projects like Peaking Lights are still hovering below the mainstream surface willing to create well-crafted subtleties such as Lucifer.   An album like Lucifer shows that electronic music can still be emotive and heartfelt.

Chris Robinson Brotherhood: Big Moon Ritual

    Chris Robinson is deceptively prolific for people who do not know him.  Those only familiar with his work, and tenuous relationship, with the Black Crowes, are missing out on his extensive catalog of work outside the group, including solo work and super groups.  In the past two decades, Robinson has taken his musical proclivities from Twangy pop rock to blues. Now, armed with his new band Chris Robinson Brotherhood, he releases the sprawling psychedelic masterpiece,  Big Moon Ritual.  

     Big Moon Ritual takes Robinson and crew even further from the commercial mainstream he entered into.  The songs are extensive and thick with southern drawl....and funky, REALLY FUNKY.   The basic facets of the songs are catchy, but he parlays the tunes into extensive guitar solos and jam sessions.  Brother pays homage to his classic rock idols while still showing Robinson's  own taste and style.  Robinson uses his wailing vocals and in instrument, leading the charge in the swamp tour-de-force.  Lyrically, Big Moon Ritual is pretty par for the course: thoughtful and poignant without being overly deep and heady.  The result is perfectly matched, as it is Robinson's howl combined with the music that gives Big Moon Ritual is pathos.  

     It seems that Chris Robinson has decidedly opted to shy away from the commercial norm to release Big Moon Ritual, a collection of his personal tastes and influences.  Doing so he has released one of his finest works to date.  After twenty-three years of experimentation, Robinson emerges from the Southeastern bogs with a truly sensational album, full of interminable psychedelic funk tunes.  Big Moon Ritual is one of the greatest albums of Chris Robinson's career, and one of the top albums of 2012.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros: Here

     

     Few bands capture sixties folk idealism better than Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.  The group, led by frontman Alex Ebert, has made a career out of traveling across the country singing happy songs the masses.  As cheesy as Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros may sound, and they do, the band knows how to craft a well written song.   With the release of their latest, Here, the group of merrymakers continue to their message of love to world by penning painfully catchy tunes for the world.
     Those looking for avant-garde, or particularly innovative music, need not look to Here.  The thematic premise of the album, and the band on the whole, is pretty on the nose.  They are not trying to blow  minds, but rather to open hearts. They make sing-a-longs about love, happiness, and dancing.  The themes are cliche, but the band, and the listeners, are aware of that.   While listening to Here, it is necessary to take the band at face value. 
     Musically, Here expounds on the same basic tenants of it its predecessor.  All the elements of a giant jam session are in place, although in a smaller degree. The band lacks the huge, messianic, moments of Up From Below, and there is a noticeable lack of opulent musical swells and crescendos.  The result are tunes, that are more relaxed, but also more forgettable.  The more laid back vibe of Here, however, shows Ebert coming into his own as a frontman of a massive band, and clearly becoming more comfortable in his position, and his approach.
     Here is not full of surprises; fans know what they are getting when they press play on a Edward Sharpe album.  Those who are willing to put indie rock pretentiousness aside for a listen will reap the reward, being happily lost in the blissed sounds of a happy band of gypsies. In today's world,  love is NOT all you need.  Thanks to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, though, we are reminded that it is a part of it.