Wild Beasts Eat Your Lunch And Sing Their Way Out Of Prison.

Hayden Thorpe and Tom Fleming of Wild Beasts share vocals and their delivery and annunciation is  simultaneously fresh and archaic. Hayden’s voice is that of an incredibly talented schizophrenic, switching effortlessly between refined falsetto and a low Mr. Hyde growl. Fleming’s low tenor as well as drummer Bert’s baritone are baroque in the sense that the notes sung are long and sustained, evoking an almost religious emotion, proper and depraved.

The English countryside upbringing shared by the band is beautifully written into their songs. In “All The King’s Men” Bert and Fleming sing a deep backup melody that reminded me of the enchanting and haunting style known as Gregorian Chant. Their singing is jolly, yet serious and rolls along with the drum creating a percussive chant that anchors the song. Benny’s harp-like strings allow Thorpe’s lead falsetto to accelerate and lace itself fluidly throughout the song.

Wild Beasts catalog contains tracks that are like thin rivers covered in sand and small rocks. The sounds they produce tumble and trickle alongside one another colorfully. Even Thrope’s vocals sound as if they are passing through his entire body, like a continuous stream, rather than merely forming at his mouth. Their finest songwriting comes through on “The Devil’s Crayon.” You literally hear Thrope’s voice breaking apart as the song is whipped tight and crashes into a bridge.

www.wild-beasts.co.uk

http://www.myspace.com/wildbeasts

Tags: All the King's Men, RethinkPopMusic, wild beasts, Wild Beasts Two Dancers

Tab the Band play Bowery the Ballroom

Photo by Carl Timpone

After seeing TAB the Band at Bowery Ballroom rip through twelve songs I rushed home to listen to “Sticky Fingers” by the Rolling Stones. The songs on that album weave southern blues and pop rock together insanely well. TAB the Band seems able to do the same without sounding dated. On the contrary, their songwriting chops are fresh and deliberate. Guitarists Tony Perry and Lou “Lou” Jannetty obviously adore the blues, as is evident on their new single “She Said No (I Love You),” which they played live at The Bowery Ballroom.

It begins with Tony rolling through a heavy but twangy lick that reminded me of the beginning of “Over the Hills and Far Away” by Led Zeppelin. Adrian Perry’s (pictured above) vocals were Mick Jaggeresque but pack more punch, with great sustain, super fine high notes, and great yelping. This is their standout song for me. With measured verses and choruses, an interesting bridge that continued the momentum of the verse, and playfully smooth backup vocals, the song is great to dance to. Ben “Bun” Tileston provided percussion and rattled and thumped his way through the song, which has three distinct drum parts, each building on the song and opening it up.

The chorus of “She Said No” is delivered in call and response fashion, with Adrian singing a low “No” and Lou responding “I love you!” If Cream was left in a tropical jungle, and they continued to write music, and didn’t do smack, they might write a song like this. But who cares about Cream. “Secretary’s Day” by TAB the Band is also worth checking out. If you like “Saturday is Alright for Fighting” by Elton John you will love this song. Please check this band out. You can probably hear them if you roll down your window.

www.myspace.com/tabtheband
www.tabtheband.com
www.twitter.com/tabtheband

Tags: carl timpone, tab the band, tab the band bowery ballroom

“Pink” by Boris: Very Heavy Please

 The band Boris is as heavy as space and just as icy. They are: Takeshi, Wata and Atsuo. A three piece power squad hailing from Japan. All share vocals. A favorite music video of mine, “Pink,” off their 2005 album sharing the same name.

The video is mesmerizing but simple. Stained bright pink the musicians play live while the camera focuses on their fingers and faces as they maneuver fretboards. Takeshi plays a double-neck guitar which is always awesome to behold, especially when played so well.

The main melody which is sung is instantly strange and memorable. It’s a continuous exhale that descends firmly. I can’t make out the Japanese lyrics but the delivery is quintessential early 90′s rock . A strong Melvins influence and even a little Bush. The drumming is hard but snappy, and his playing  reminds me of “The Numbers Song” by DJ Shadow. Boris is also featured on the soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch’s flim The Limits of Control. I can’t get enough of this song, it is steady start to finish.

Links for Boris:

www.myspace.com/borisdronevil

www.inoxia-rec.com/boris/

Tags: Boris, Boris Pink, Bush, DJ Shadow, DJ Shadow Boris, Melvins Boris Bush, Melvis

Pop! goes the music

Who says you can’t find amazing talent right at home? One of our newest RethinkPopMusic interns, Ian Hoagland-Henefield, was in Jett and the Writers back in Boston. Check out the video for “One More” and read his take on Rethinking Pop Music:

Pop music is a lot like Capture-the-Flag. You don’t need much to have an awesome time. Writing pop songs can be very exciting when you stumble upon a fluid hook. Pop music is named so because it is just that: popular. It taps into our collective unconscious where beats and melodies are nourished and treated as gifts rather than mere sounds.

Great songs help us envision a new world and give us strength to talk to strangers. It warms us up to one another. Inflecting emotion through voice is not enough. A pop song must be sung with honest delivery. If you believe in what you are singing or playing it will be instantly recognizable to your listeners.
      
 Achieving a common ground with your audience shouldn’t be forced. Simple chords, melodies and lyrics are a good place to start in order to develop a working rapport with writing your own songs. Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks recorded a playful version of the Tom Waits song “The Piano Has Been Drinking,” which to this day is one of my favorite songs. The Hick’s version is slightly faster and incorporates three female and two male back-up singers who merrily repeat almost every word he sings. The song, in my mind, paints a picture so totally familiar to my everyday life and my attitude that I can’t help but listen to it over and over.

Tags: Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, Jett and the Writers, Pop Music, Tom Waits

Ambling Alp Aptly Awesome

Review of Yeasayer’s “Ambling Alp”

Yeasayer’s newest single “Ambling Alp” leads the listener into a great pop song with about twenty seconds of percussive John Cage-inspired sounds. A marimba rattles through a scale, bubbling water percolates. Slowly an organ builds and the song explodes with a mechanized drum beat, a distinct snare and an extra drummer just for hi-hat work. Think “The Boxer” by Simon and Garfunkel mixed with “Welcome to the Machine” by Pink Floyd. Industrial but not boring or repetitive, Ambling Alp snaps your body with jolting ups and downs.
Immediate thoughts of pop songs from the 80′s by Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins resonate with the listener. However, the songwriting surpasses the works by those artists with a projected mood that is heartfelt and serious. Chris Keating’s vocals are strong but he allows them to get slightly breathy as he approaches the end of a line. As the chorus begins, a bright and delayed guitar adds an upstroke which creates a subtle reggae rhythm. The lyrics in the chorus: “Stick up for yourself, son/ Nevermind what anybody else done,” struck me as vague and equally appropriate. The first is an obvious statement but the second is more specific, informing the listener on how to accomplish the previous via nonconformity. Overall, a very uplifting and honest sentiment expressed wonderfully through a very rhythmic song.

Purchase Here:

http://www.amblingalp.com/store.php

Tags: Ambling Alp, Ambling Alp Review, RethinkPopMusic review, RethinkPopMusic Yeasayer, Yeasayer, Yeasayer Ampling Alp, Yeasayer Review