Death Cab for Cutie - 'Codes and Keys'

Atlantic; 2011
Our Take - 7.1 

It feels strange to say that Death Cab is an underrated band, but I truly believe they are, at least in a "critical" sense. On one hand, their talents have certainly been acknowledged-- they are one of the few "indie" acts that have signed and been successful on a major label, not to mention their very existence has spawned an entire sub-genre of music (i.e. Freelance Whales and Owl City, to name just a few), but on the other hand, their albums have never reviewed particularly well on websites or in magazines.

I feel like this is a serious problem, but I doubt the band has ever considered it as such. They will be known as one of the pioneering indie acts of our lifetime and are one of the few bands that I can say with confidence will have music passed down generation to generation So why would they care? They probably don't, but I do, and I'm left wondering why their records don't seem to cut it with critics.

Before this turns into an essay on the nature of music criticism and how Death Cab seems to always get slighted (I'll come back to that), I'd like to refocus-- Death Cab has released a new record, Codes and Keys, and it is sort of different than anything they've done to this point.  This is sometimes a good move for a band-- make a new record, add more to the palette, expand creatively, and see how many new tricks can be thrown in while maintaining the same auteur signature.  Codes and Keys follows this pattern exactly, but to mixed results.

My biggest problem is that before the release of this record the band talked and talked about how experimental the record was for them, how they've never done anything like it, and how they were going to, for the most part, set down their guitars in favor of other instrumentation (vintage keyboards!).  They even touted their major inspiration for the album, Brian Eno's epic, Another Green World.  What a surprise it was turning this record for the first time-- from everything they said I was expecting something much different and with all the hype they put around experimentation, the album needed to be different.  Sound wise it isn't that different or that experimental, and certainly, after listening to Codes and Keys, my thoughts don't drift towards Brian Eno.  I can't say I was disappointed with what I was hearing, but rather I was disappointed with what I wasn't hearing.  Codes and Keys isn't a huge jump for the band, rather it just sounds like the next logical step in the bands maturation.

Fans of previous albums might revel in the familiarity of the tracks.  "Underneath the Sycamore" has a remarkably similar structure to Plans opening number, "Marching Bands of Manhattan", "Some Boys" (which probably could have been left off the record) and "Portable Television" share the same kind of boyish earnestness that Death Cab has captured before in tracks like "Talking Bird" and "You Can Do Better Than Me", and "You Are a Tourist" is almost as catchy as "Soul Meets Body".  While familiarity can be comforting, it can also make an album feel overly recycled as Codes and Keys often does.

It has it's moments though, "Doors Unlocked and Open" is as good as anything they've recorded and shows glimpses of a record that could have been.  Unobstructed Views" is probably the most "experimental" track and shows a side of the band that hasn't really been tapped before and "Monday Morning" could be song of the summer.  Best of all, "Stay Young, Go Dancing" captures Death Cab at their most intimate on the record, and echoes a sentiment that only a band of their caliber and experience could make.

So Codes and Keys isn't quite as good as most of the band's previous albums, but it is coherent, has a nice theme (a positive one, thanks Zooey!), flows remarkably well,  and is really pretty good on a track to track basis.  The real difference is Codes and Keys just isn't as close or as intimate as almost all of their other discs are.  Death Cab has always put a huge emphasis on lyrics and intimacy and their latest, simply put, doesn't reach the high bar set by their past records.  The record as a whole seems distant, even a little bit cold.  Gibbard seems to overlook poetics this time around substituting them for simple rhymes ("Some boys are filling the hole/ They're making a killing at the top of the billings") and overarching generalizations as in title track "Codes and Keys", ("We are one/ We are alive").  His voice is often also hidden in reverb or echo and for a lyricist that has always seemed within reach it puts him oddly out of touch.
Wait, aren't you being just like the critics that continually slight Death Cab's records??????? Well, yes and no.  Death Cab, because of how close they are to the hearts of many of their fans are a hard band to critique.  Do I think it is as good as Transatlanticism? No way.  But someone might.  Bottom line, this is a solid record from a band that will continue to make solid records.  I just wish they'd keep their influences to themselves.

Fleet Foxes - 'Helplessness Blues'

Sub Pop; 2011

Our Take - 9.1


Robin Pecknold and his infamous gang of harmonizing gentlemen have returned to follow up their largely successful self-titled debut album released in 2008. A lot of noteworthy things have happened in the three years separating these two records. For one the band, especially Robin, has certainly felt the spotlighted pressure fueled by an enormous cult-like following that accompanied the release of their first album. Robin has also undergone one of the most intense creative/self-critical periods in his songwriting career thus far. He has gone from scrapping songs half-way through to monotonously restructuring complete albums. Helplessness Blues has been a long time coming and has undergone an extremely rigorous reformation. Mr. Pecknold has also been going through a tumultuous break-up/make-up relationship for several years, which no doubt weighs heavy on any given susceptible songwriting mind and heavily influences lyrics as well as musical style. 

Perhaps most noticeably the changes can be seen in the poetics of the record. The lyrics seem largely more intuitive and pensive with an almost overwhelming stress on aging and validation at times nearly unthinkable in such a youthful singer/songwriter as the twenty-something Robin Pecknold ("So guess I got old / I was like trash on the sidewalk," "In that dream I'm as old as the mountains" etc.). "Montezuma" begins with Pecknold searching for meaning in the simple fact that he is now older than his parents were when they had their first child. Likewise, the title track reflects upon what Pecknold dreams of doing with his life as he looks for a spirituality or philosophy to determine his place in the universe. He is faced with the difficulty of choosing between creating a persona wholly original and unique or accepting a more simple life and retreating to work on an orchard with a loved one. Properly placed, "The Cascades," being the only instrumental track on the record, gives the listener a much needed moment to decipher the weight of Pecknold's last declaration, "Someday I'll be like the man on the screen," and decide whether his motives remain purely his own or have been too influenced by movies and media.

The Fleet Foxes have also harnessed a strong ability to create and fuse multiple mini-tracks within one another often transitioning superbly from one musical idea to the next. The effect is that of unpredictability throughout and keeps us on our toes not knowing which direction the music is headed. Even "Helplessness Blues" being a single track in itself (w/o slash indications that is) has a noticeable transition where the song can be neatly divided in half. Their longest effort on the album, "The Shrine / An Argument," begins with a soft sung narrative and quickly explodes into Pecknold really pushing the limits of his voice and nearly shouting lyrics through our speakers, and the song's still not even half over. It closes with some of the strangest musical sounds to come out of a saxophone, let alone the Fleet Foxes, making us wonder once again how we got here, but also simultaneously realizing the reasons as to why the track might be titled "An Argument."

Some tracks on Helplessness Blues also seem to have more of a kick to them. The rhythmically driven "Battery Kinzie" or album closer "Grown Ocean" emphasize a bigger sound than their previous album did and appear to be more percussively oriented, a direction that should be respected and cherished within such a group of harmonizing folksy fellows. That being said, Robin can still appropriately take things back a step and demarcate a track solely for his voice and an unaccompanied guitar reminiscent of "Meadowlarks" to show off his versatility as an all-around songwriter ("Blue Spotted Tail"). The harmonies are less abundant on this record than on their self-titled debut, but still in considerable high demand. They appear to come in at just the right moments, when Pecknold needs that added volume to emphasize or decorate lasting choruses and lingering melodies to make a lasting impression upon any listener, both passive and active.

Panda Bear - 'Tomboy'

Paw Tracks; 2011

Our Take - 8.1

It's hard to listen to Tomboy, the latest from Noah Lennox’s Panda Bear project 

without comparing it to its largely successful predecessor. Panda Bear's most recent 

effort deviates quite bravely from the sound of his last, 2007’s career defining 

Person Pitch. On Tomboy we get no twelve-minute epic tracks that ambitiously 

explore the possibilities and limits of a more tendered minimalistic and repetitious 

approach (“Bros”, “Good Girl/Carrots”), and we get no bold sound juxtapositions 

where two unlikely songs bleed into one another almost spontaneously. Instead, 

we get eleven difficult and experimental tracks trapped into semi-conventional song 

structures and recycled as warm and inviting pop songs.

Panda Bear has compiled a superb collection of solid go-to songs. However, the 

songs have been scaled back and introverted to some degree with an increased 

focus on maintaining some semblance of a more familiar song structure. Each track 

operates within the closed system of itself and Panda Bear gives equal attention 

and effort into demarcating a unique ambiance to every individual track. That being 

said Lennox has still managed to accomplish a lot of imaginative things here while 

reverting to a more conventional method of song writing. The lyrics, when one can 

actually discern them or bothers to look them up, also seem more introverted and 

tend to maintain a more focused emphasis on the personal (e.g. "You can count on 

me," "Now I see you again"). Often times Noah Lennox orchestrates the focal point 

of his songs around speaking directly to the listener or some singled out personage 

lurking somewhere within the artist's own imagination.  This more intimately geared approach creates a space for him to pronounce and reinvent universal truths where artist and listener can connect on the same plane-- not only with each other, but with the entire world (provided they have their ears open), and share in a unique experience of the music as in "Benfica," 

the album closer, when he sings out above the raucous roar of an apropos crowd 

that "there is nothing more true or natural than wanting to win."

Musically Tomboy does not disappoint—a concentrated listen reveals a lot of dazzling moments. Somehow Panda Bear manages to structure a whole track ("Scheherazade") around one repeated chord on the piano, making the same harmony sound new with each bold repetition. He holds our attention in the album's dead center track, "Drone," as he fuses lyrics together, slowly sliding from one word to the next almost subconsciously so that we do not know how we came to abruptly arrive at the end of the track. "Last Night At The Jetty" will 

certainly stand out appropriately as sing-along-material due to its catchy melodic 

refrain and familiar chord structure, however, the way in which he presents this 

unforgettable track should stand out as a testament to why we respect and admire 

him as an artist.

Without question, Panda Bear's music, and his main outfit Animal Collective’s 

music, have become somewhat of an iconic subgenre within all contemporary 

experimental-pop music. Given the praise for Lennox’s own Person Pitch and the 

instantaneous success of his band’s 2009 gem, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Noah 

Lennox and Animal Collective fans alike must be asking themselves the same 

question, "Where do we go from here?" Rest assured, it is safe to say that both will 

continue pushing musical boundaries to incredible results.

Since I've Been Gone...

So it has been over a month since I've posted.  Why?  End of the semester, graduation, moving, start of the summer, work, etc., etc.  While I may have slowed down, the music world around me has picked up--it is only May and for some reason, all I can think about are year end lists.  In fact, the amount of great releases this year has been incredibly overwhelming (in a writerly sense, not as a listener), and way too much for me to handle on my own. I've created a review debt, a pile of albums that all deserve adequate commentary.  But, as I mentioned, the load is just too great.

Enter John Gibbs, a fantastic writer, music enthusiast, and the latest member to join the Ebbz and Flowzzzz team.  He is going to help me get the ball rolling once again starting with a review of Panda Bear's latest, Tomboy-- it should be up in the next day or so.  Following that review, we're going to try to follow more of a regular schedule with posting. Soon we will be bringing you the latest music news, album and concert reviews, and much more.

In the meantime, check out new releases from the artists below.  You can find them at your local record store, Amazon, or Itunes.  Thanks for your patience.

2011 New Releases

Starfucker - Reptilians
TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Republic Tigers - No Man's Land EP
Tyler, the Creator - Goblin
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo
EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
The Antlers - Burst Apart
Wild Beasts - Smother
Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
Cass McCombs - WIT'S END
Nicholas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
Panda Bear - Tomboy
Toro y Moi - Underneath the Pine
Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
The Lonely Island - Turtleneck and Chain
The Cars - Move Like This

The Strokes - 'Angles'

RCA; 2011

Our Take - 9.2

I've always wondered if there is any merit or justification in reviewing or rating an album by its play count on my Itunes.  In 2010, in the case of my two favorite albums-- Spoon's Transference and LCD Soundsystem's This Is Happening-- there seemed to be a direct correlation.  I listened to those two albums much more often than any other albums in my discography and they also happened to be the two albums I rated the highest that year.  The opposite is sometimes true-- still looking at 2010, one album I rated exceptionally high was Joanna Newsom's Have One On Me.  Unlike the other two, I listened to this album through and through but have largely left it alone since my initial excitement with the album (I should really give it another spin, it's great). 

Why this is important to think about for this review of The Strokes first full-length in 5 years, Angles, is that I have listened to Angles front to back at least twice as many times as any other album released this year, and I have also given the record a higher rating than any other album to this point.  This probably has a lot to do with how excited I was for this album after such a lengthy span of time without any new Strokes material, but I think it also has a lot to do with how good the individual songs are on the record.  

By now, many people have heard about the tremendous difficulties the band had putting together the album-- "This band is like a house of cards — when one thing falls, the whole thing collapses," says guitarist Nick Valensi, "It's just typical rock-band bullshit — the clichés that keep a group of people who have something special from wanting to continue it."  I'm not going to elaborate too much (well, we'll see) on the discrepancies and difficulties The Strokes had with putting together Angles-- Valensi says it best when he simply states , "It's just typical rock-band bullshit."  But many, including the band themselves had gotten increasingly pessimistic about ever re-forming.  In November 2009 frontman and primary songwriter Julian Casablancas is on the record saying, "We've been trying to do it for years, I'm always available and they know that but getting together is tough."  If that isn't non-committal enough, Valensi, who often has appeared to be the last remaining strand holding the band together said around the same time, "I'm not even sure we're going to make a fourth album at this point."

Too add to the difficulty in putting together the album there are several other factors that need to be taken into consideration-- the scrapped sessions with producer Joe Chiccarelli (closer "Life Is Simple In the Moonlight" is the only remaining track from those sessions, the multi-angled songwriting approach (Casablancas, the primary songwriter of the group, called the new approach "Operation Make Everyone Satisfied."), and the lack of everyone able to be in the studio together-- Casablancas in fact wasn't even really a part of the recording process, he sent all of his vocals through electronic files to the rest of the group

Despite the apparent difficulties in recording, we're left with Angles, a series of ten tracks that are all individually solid (great) tracks from one of the last remaining true "rock" bands.  The band stressed again and again how the album is called Angles because of the varying influences on the record and the scattered songwriting credits, and for that reason I can forgive the band for giving us a record that lacks cohesion.  What is clear with this record is that The Strokes are back, and while not being as groundbreaking of a record as 2000's Is This It? we again see a band gelling and excited about making new music (the rumor mill says that they are already writing and recording new material).  

We get return to form tracks like, "Gratisfaction," and first single, "Under Cover of Darkness," but we also see a band stretching, breaking out of their comfort zone with fantastic takes like, "You're So Right", "Life Is Simple in the Moonlight" and album opener, "Machu Picchu."  With "You're So Right," we get harmonies, something almost unheard of in a typical Strokes record, the track even sounds remotely Radioheadesque, a comparison I never thought I would make, "Life Is Simple in the Moonlight," is almost flawless, and displays Casablancas' strongest and most self-reflective lyrics to date, and "Machu Picchu," contains guitar blips that sound like synths and a tight almost reggae or hip-hop groove that underlines the track. Perhaps the most successful cut on the record is "Taken for a Fool."  Here we see The Strokes at their best (funkiest?), it contains the essential and unmistakable Strokes sound while sounding nothing like they have done up to this point.  The pre-chorus has been stuck in my head since the albums release and won't be leaving anytime soon. 

Each individual track on the record gives us a different dynamic look at the band, even if they wear their influences on their sleeves (The Velvet Underground, Television).  Still, it would be hard to ever mistake a Strokes song for a song by any other artist or group.  There is something about the band that sticks with the listener, and for that reason I'm sure by the end of the year and even in years to come-- that I won't forget about Angles, or The Strokes for that matter.

Radiohead - 'The King of Limbs'

XL/TBD; 2011
Our Take - 7.8

Expectations are always high for a Radiohead LP, and rightfully so.  Simply put they are one of the worlds best, most challenging, and most influential bands.  Since forming in 1985, the band has never really given the world a dud.

I wanted to avoid in this review talking about some of the things that are often discussed with the release of a new Radiohead album-- the way in which it was released, and the comparisons to their previous albums and the stigma that comes with it (OK Computer, Kid A, The Bends).  What I found is that although I wanted to avoid these things that they are almost impossible to avoid, especially comparisons to their previous albums.
 
The King of Limbs is a good--perhaps even great album.  I will willingly admit that like some of their other work I think it will continue to grow on me with time.  That being said it is by no means their best work.   I've created a hypothetical situation that has helped me think about the album as a standalone work: I imagine how I would rate the review if The King of Limbs if it was a debut from a 2011 buzz band.  If it was I think it would receive unanimously positive, maybe even perfect reviews.  Digression aside, it brings to the surface a valid point-- it is almost impossible not to judge The King of Limbs without discussing some of Radiohead's other now classic albums.  Again, simply put, it just isn't as good.  This fact while incredibly clear, further defines Radiohead as one of the best bands in the world.  Even their average albums are heads above most of of the material that most bands will put out in their entire careers.

With The King of Limbs we are given Radiohead's shortest album to date.  At 37 minutes, it almost feels to be finished before it starts.  The album is 8 songs long and essentially divided into two parts.  In the first four songs the band seems to be challenging the idea of what a song is.  The idea of verse-chorus-verse is largely forgotten in the first half in favor of complex sonics and tricky engineering.  The second, and my favorite half gives way to more traditional songs.  Standout and closer "Separator" leaves us hanging, "If you think this is over, then you're wrong," hinting that this band won't be done putting out great music anytime soon.

My biggest complaint about the album is that it almost feels like a Thom Yorke solo album.  "Morning Mr. Magpie" was played by Thom acoustically in the past and "Lotus Flower" was played with Thom's solo side project Atoms for Peace.  Also, I see this as an album that Thom probably could have made himself.  Ed O'Brien is almost indistinguishable on the album, Colin Greenwood can be heard, but we know Thom has played bass in the past, and Johnny Greenwood can be heard at points but even he seems to be a part of the background.

Overall, this isn't the best or most adventurous album that Radiohead has made but it is one of the better albums put out so far this year.  We hear Radiohead as a mature group, one that has finally been able to relax, and it shows with The King of Limbs. 

Bright Eyes - 'The People's Key'

Saddle Creek; 2011

Our Take - 8.5

When I was a junior in highschool I dated a girl that listened to to music that I didn't even know existed; music by artists such as Elliott Smith, Rocky Votolato, Nick Drake and Bright Eyes to name a few.  I remember at the time thinking that most of them seemed overly sensitive, whiny even, with nothing really to talk about except themselves.  Without wanting to delve too deep into my flawed psyche at the time, Bright Eyes for me became the figurehead and my major argument against her "style" of music.  Upon reflection, this is probably because of how easy it is to focus on the persona of Conor O'berst-- Bright Eyes' ringleader.  His black hair always swept just-so over one eye, the line-toeing emoisms, reflective poetics, and that unmistakable yelp of a voice.  My opinions shifted quickly about many of the artists she loved but none so more than with Bright Eyes.  Her and I are long done, but I've carried Bright Eyes with me ever since.  

There has been so much written about Bright Eyes and probably more about O'berst.  In Bright Eyes' latest and last album, The People's Key, O'berst says it best, "It's been said we're post-everything," and it is true.  Whether we're talking about O'berst as a rustic soul singer, indie messiah, baby-faced hipster heartthrob, New Dylan, or any other number of descriptions that have found their way to print, one thing is certain: he manages to do it all.  

It has been four years since Cassadaga and O'berst has spent much of his time since couch-surfing across North America attempting to find himself.  After a couple of solo releases and a stint with the super group Monsters of Folk, O'berst returns to the Bright Eyes moniker with The People's Key-- a critically divisive return to form (Pitchfork 5.0 and NME 9 out of 10).  

It is hard to talk about the music on the album without comparing it to other Bright Eyes albums.  Consistency is what I think of often when thinking about the band, especially in terms of the approach.  With The People's Key, we get more of the same, a cohesive theme introduced in the introduction and joined to the first track, a clear vision, and a unique style.  This album continues to explore some of the same mysticism of Cassadaga but elaborates on this concept with the addition of Rastafarian philosophy and cosmic musings.  

Thematics aside, musically the album is great, but so are all (most?) Bright Eyes albums, so where does The People's Key fit in?  It takes a poppier, more electronic shift; this is evident in songs like "One for You, One for Me," and "Shell Games," arguably Bright Eyes poppiest song to date.  Opener "Firewall" is striking-- finger-picked Americana that builds and builds to catharsis with a distant pedal steel guitar, 80's synths, and pounding drums with accented snare work.

But it is in "Ladder Song" when the listener really starts to reflect on why they are fans.  Heartbreakingly simple, the song is contained to just O'berst and a piano. It is painfully close, real and reflective of all of the work Bright Eyes has done to this point.  It almost seems to signal the end of an era and it demonstrates just how much the band and Conor have evolved while maintaining a quintessential Bright Eyes sound.  As a listener, I have changed much over the years, but I know I'll always love Bright Eyes for the same reasons.