The Rosebuds
Life Like
pop
(4.5 of 5 stars)
Life Like, the fourth album by Raleigh’s Rosebuds, sounds nothing like an album made at home.
Polished, professional and irresistibly large while still maintaining a warm, organic sound, the record, which the married duo of Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp put together largely in their own house, is the group’s finest release to date.
In some ways it’s an album of singles, containing several classics that add to the Rosebud’s already swelling canon of pop gems.
Riding a well chosen deer metaphor, the title track uses a slinky, lock-step rhythm and lyrics such as “I hear ‘wait you, I’m the man, you’re the beast’/But I’m just running, so how can that be?” to create a moving plea for escape.
And “Bow to the Middle” contains what might just be the most irresistible hook to ever come out of N.C.
But the strongest example of the record’s success is “Nice Fox.” As Howard heaps lament and meaning onto the death of the title animal, a chorus chants out “And it don’t mean nothing at all,” making it unclear whether the listener is meant to identify with the story or think that too much is being made of this mundane event.
It’s an unsettling opacity that appears throughout the album, giving the songs additional power.
But what’s most amazing here is the way in which Crisp and Howard have melded into one persona. Trading vocals, the two seem like two sides of the same personality, creating an album that’s as thrilling as it is cohesively satisfying.
Life Like is a wonderful achievement that makes one question just what can be accomplished while tinkering around in the living room.
-Jordan Lawrence
Department of Eagles
In Ear Park
indie pop
(4 of 5 stars)
As the layers of ornate arrangements begin to be pealed back, In Ear Park, the debut five years in the making from Department of Eagles reveals itself as a lovely reflection on memories of childhood.
Conceived by Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rossen and friend Fred Nicolaus while the two were freshmen roommates at NYU, the duo — with help from other members of Grizzly Bear — has finally capitalized on its undergraduate impulses with a beautifully sprawling release Rossen dedicated to his recently deceased father.
On the surface, the dreamy arrangements of strings, keys and pizzicato guitars make for an incredibly enjoyable listen, but as the simple themes of remembrance and loss begin to percolate through the complex instrumentation, the album takes on an intensely personal quality.
The title track serves as a perfect example of this duality.
After an extended introduction of strings and keys, Rossen delivers the stark statement, “Now that you’re gone/I have nothing but time/To walk down to the docks/And sit in the grass/Right in your spot.”
In all, In Ear Park — a nickname given to a park Rossen and his father used to frequent — serves as both a perfectly-executed musical eulogy and a complex release of epic and beautiful orchestration.
-Jamie Williams
Vivian Girls
Vivian Girls
rock
(4 of 5 stars)
For the Brooklyn-based Vivian Girls, timing really is everything. In a year that has seen “lo-fi” come into its own as an indie rock catchall draws toward its conclusion, the band’s eponymous debut fits perfectly at the intersection of contemporaries such as Times New Viking, and pure, psych-pop charm.
And with the album losing its hold as the favored means of musical consumption, maybe a record with 10 songs clocking in at less than 22 minutes is the perfect release.
At the expense of originality, the old adage, “time flies when you’re having fun,” seems incredibly appropriate.
Even within the constraints of its timing, attitude and musical diversity aren’t lacking.
Combining riot grrrl spunk with an ear for pop melody, Vivian Girls have succeeded in creating an album that should be revered as much for its fist-pumping glory as its pysch sensibilities.
Stuck right in the middle is the record’s highlight, the near-perfect “Where Do You Run To.”
We’re talking true “Nuggets” style psych pop that pairs a surf rock melody with saccharine 3-part harmonies, to create a glorious ’60s revival.
It’s rare that you get a full-length that you can run through three times in an hour, and even rarer when the record inspires the desire to do just that.
-Jamie Williams
Jay Reatard
Matador Singles
punk
(3.5 of 5 stars)
If the Sex Pistols had added a few synthesizers and focused their anger on their ex-girlfriends, they probably would have sounded a bit like the Jay Reatard that comes through on Matador Singles.
The album is a compilation of the frenetic, fast-paced rock Reatard has been releasing for years.
While the album does recall songs from the early U.K. punk movement, Reatard does not seem quite as pissed off as some of his punk predecessors — in effect, it’s early punk without the anarchy.
Reatard’s lyrics relate more to past relationships, especially those that ended poorly. “I’m Watching You” is a decidedly bitter track, but the use of a guitar that sounds like an electric mandolin temporarily lessens the sting of Reatard’s lyrics.
In fact, Reatard seems to specialize in juxtaposing bright, eclectic musical sounds with harsher lyrics; a kooky synthesizer adds an almost playful quality to the song “You Mean Nothing to Me,” taking the bite out of some of Reatard’s dismissive lyrics.
One song, however, stands out on the album as unique — “You Were Sleeping” is gentle and melodic.
The song also shows off the range of Reatard’s vocal and song-writing capabilities, proving that while punk-influenced rock seems to be his forte, he can also produce well-crafted songs that fit into other genres.
-Cassie Perez
The Curtains Of Night
Lost Houses
metal
(3.5 of 5 stars)
A single guitar player forcing out dark, oppressive riffs that float like ominous storm clouds and far off female shrieks of rage and despair layered on top of ferocious drumming that takes care of the thunder.
That’s the concoction the heavy Chapel Hill duo of Nora Rogers and Lauren Fitzpatrick have created on their debut Lost Houses, reducing blackened metal to its most essential and intense components.
Opener “Living Forrest” rages with slashes of tortured guitar and a repeated indictment of society’s treatment of the environment convincing enough to make the listener think Mother Nature herself has decided to teach him a lesson.
Though stripping a style down this far can make it hard to find interesting facets to explore, Rogers’ guitar playing saves Lost Houses from any blandness.
She crafts riffs that find the middle ground between crushing and catchy, allowing them to be repeated without becoming tedious.
Still, there are moments where the record slows down, and though it’s never uninteresting, it sometimes leaves the listener wanting more heavier passages.
But when the Curtains Of Night are at their roaring best, it’s a storm that will rip the roof right off your musical house and leave you begging for it to come back and smash out the windows.
-Jordan Lawrence
F***ed Up
Chemistry of Common Life
post-hardcore
(2 of 5 stars)
On Chemistry Of Common Life, post-hardcore powerhouse F***ed Up struggles to confront heady subject matter while still creating a mammoth album that has goals as high as the band’s opinion of itself.
The band’s sophomore album and first full-length on Matador Records, features the band moving into a distinctly more commercial realm, watering down what used to be considered a fairly legitimate hardcore pedigree.
The album begins with an innocent flute solo on “Son of the Father” and then moves into repetitious punk riffs that build on each other before crashing down in a furious assault of hard rock.
Note the difference between hard rock and hardcore, which is the most misleading and frustrating aspect of this release.
For a band that seems to revel in its own infamy and “we don’t give a f***” attitude, this comes off as an extremely self-conscious record that doesn’t quite know what to make of itself.
The music is hard, no two ways about that, but a distinct difference must be drawn between what is considered hard and what is classified as hardcore in the musical sense.
There are those that will cry foul, arguing that the band is taking hardcore in new and exciting directions that have never been done before.
And if that means they decided to use the same blueprint as Refused on The Shape of Punk to Come that’s just dandy — if you’re 16.
-Ben Pittard
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