REVIEW: The Bronx IV by The Bronx

Posted on by Samantha Gilder

After much anticipation, Los Angeles punk rock band The Bronx has broken a five-year musical hiatus and released its fourth studio album, The Bronx IV, which dropped today. The Bronx has been an underground staple in the hardcore scene for over a decade, and this record seems to pick right back up where the band left off, with four of the five founding members still on board and the addition of (bass guitarist) Brad Magers, who joined back in 2007.

The Bronx has shared the stage with artists like Fucked Up, Mastodon, and The Refused, and the band toured the 2008 Vans Warped tour in its entirety. To add to the rad, their side project, Mariachi El Bronx, has been recognized by The LA Times, NPR, and Pitchfork (and, of course, Vinyl Mag).  Clearly these guys have been doing something right – and this album is no exception.

Opening up the album with “The Unholy Hand”, The Bronx IV retains every bit of high energy that these guys have exuded for years now, religiously “metaphorizing” the price you pay for success with their lyrics “Are you the Anti-Christ or the Holy Ghost? Do you want to die or just come real close?”. The album then smoothly transitions into the second track, “Along For The Ride”, which sings of settling into the familiar, reflection of the past, and complacency as a whole.

Track 4 on the album, “Youth Wasted”, jumps right back into reflection mode, opening the track off with “The truth is, the truth still hurts”. There’s no arguing that, is there? “Sometimes the best laid plans will still end with blood on your hands” makes up almost the entirety of the song, but somehow the repetition is appropriate.

The energy of the record maintains its old-school, fast-paced feel with the following tracks, “Too Many Devils” and “Pilot Light”, but then it delightfully flips the script with the seventh track, “Torches”.  As a whole, “Torches” is notably slower than the entire album, setting a somber tone and bringing you back down a few notches on the intensity scale that the first half of the album inevitably carried you to.  It signs off with one quote-worthy phrase: “You cannot change the life you want to live”.

Aside from “Torches”, the album continues to pay tribute to its punk rock origins, keeping the pace amplified and the lyrical content brutally honest.

If I were to guess, the 12-song eponymously titled album will please and appease the former fans and (undoubtedly) attract some newbies. In the day and age of musical rebirth from album to album, there is something refreshing about a band that continues to stick to their roots and what they know. Punk rock personified is probably smiling down (or up) from somewhere right now knowing that hardcore is in fact not dead, but rather very much alive.

REVIEW: Ladyfinger (ne)’s Errant Forms

Posted on by Grafton Tanner

Ladyfinger (ne) occupy a strange locale between punk, post-punk and FM rock.  Nothing truly gets sketched out, but that seems to be Ladyfinger (ne)’s objective here.  In their own words, they describe pulling inspiration from early 70’s classic rock.  But that label is a bit of a misnomer, because Errant Forms sounds nothing like the 1970’s.  Nor does it necessarily sound like any other decade, and that is Ladyfinger (ne)’s selling point and ultimate downfall.  Errant Forms cherrypicks from various rock and roll derivatives from the past twenty years, and the result is sometimes rewarding and oftentimes frustrating.

Frustrating firstly in that Ladyfinger (ne) will deploy a serious tease by initiating a track with a sonically diverse introduction only to have the song swiftly switch gears to make way for a stifling and forced opening verse.  If this sounds specific, take a listen to the album’s second half.  The two most devastating fake-outs are “Poison for Hire” and “Meathead,” and it’s worth noting these two stand with some of the most lyrically trite works on the album.  Both intros to “Poison for Hire” and “Meathead” illustrate Ladyfinger (ne)’s greatest strengths: rhythmic complexity, frenetic guitars and a knack for building tension without giving anything away too soon.  But like a left hook to the jaw, Ladyfinger (ne) cut the intro and rip into the first verse.  Different tempo, different style, different everything.  The sloppy editing is disappointing mostly because it highlights a possibility Ladyfinger (ne) could embrace instead of spending their time writing songs about the insecurity felt in the presence of machismo.

And that is Errant Forms’s second most frustrating aspect: the cheeky lyrics.  Singer Chris Machmuller has a special habit of preaching and confessing a little too much in his lyrics.  The big stinker here has to be “Galactic,” in which Machmuller outlines a possible conspiracy theory involving aliens.  As a joke, it isn’t very funny.  As something serious…well, it still isn’t funny.

Errant Forms shines when the instrumentation has room to breathe and expand and the rigidity of its pop structures falls away.  Moments like these are few and are usually ruined by troubling lyrics, but these brief flashes of intriguing experimentation illustrate a band with the sensibility to rock but the hesitation to find a voice.

Top Tracks: “Renew,” “Birds,” “Blue Oyster,” “He Said She Said”

5/10


SHOW REVIEW: The xx at Tabernacle

Posted on by Kate Foster

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If you’ve listened to even a tiny fragment of a song by The xx – any song at all – you can not only acknowledge that the band is perfect in a very technical, musical sense, but also that the purity of their music provides an incredibly ethereal experience for the listener. Now, imagine it live: the drums reverberating through your very core, voices ever more ghostly, each silence ironically amplified a thousand times over. When The xx played the Tabernacle in Atlanta on February 2, the beautiful simplicity of their music reminded us of why we should be thrilled to be alive.

As we had so desperately hoped, Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, and Jamie xx played a substantial amount from both of their albums, xx and Coexist. Opening with “Angels”, the first track on Coexist, the trio set the mood immediately: dark, emotional, and – appropriately – angelic. We instantly noted that Crofts’ and Sim’s voices sounded nearly identical to the way they sound on the albums – just much, much more intense. Though we were a bit disappointed that the band moved around the stage very little, we soon realized that the gripping, otherworldly nature of the music entirely made up for the lack of movement.

By next playing “Heart Skipped a Beat”, The xx effectively relieved fans of their concerns that very few tracks from xx would be played. Soon after, “Crystalised” was swept through as well, male and female vocals layering beautifully. We were thrilled when we heard Jamie xx’s steel drums opening up “Reunion”, a song that brings in what we believe to be the better half of Coexist. The track was chilling, filled to the brim with emotional tension – that is, until a steady drumbeat was ushered in as Croft nearly whispered, “Did I… see you… see me… in a new light?”

Finally, the trio played our favorite track on the entirety of Coexist, “Sunset”, a song that manages to be extremely dance-worthy while exploring pure heartache. Toward the end of the band’s set, they began to once again bring back older tracks, including “Shelter”, “VCR”, and “Islands”, three of their all-time best, and three that ideally exhibit the unheard-of vocal chemistry between Croft and Sim. By the time the three tiptoed shyly off the stage, the crowd was all but drooling for an encore. And, boy, did they get one. The xx came back with the powerful “Intro”, and promptly ended the night on a much softer note with “Tides” and “Stars”.

Though the music in itself was nothing short of heavenly, the charm and humble nature of the three indie pioneers made the experience entirely refreshing. While Sim constantly thanked the crowd, Croft was often seen looking around the venue in a state of total awe and disbelief. When it comes down to it, though the insanely talented threesome seems to retain a very modest lack of perception of their massive effect on their listeners, one thing is for certain: The xx is crafting a sound that no other band can replicate.


Backstage with Diarrhea Planet

Posted on by Emily McBride

Diarrhea Planet came to the Caledonia Lounge in Athens. I got to hang out in the “backstage” van area with them. We’re bros now.

Watch us talk about their sound, their goals, the right way to be a rockstar, and magic…among other things. Enjoy.


Phone Chat with Cursive’s Matt Maginn

Posted on by Emily McBride

Here’s the deal. Cursive is wonderful. But you should already know that. I’ve been wanting to interview them since the launch of Vinyl, and finally…the stars have aligned, the fates have smiled upon me, and I got the chance to chat on the phone with bassist Matt Maginn (thank you, Samantha Gilder). And now you get the chance to listen in as we talk about their tour, their new bar, and what they’re up to now. Enjoy.


REVIEW: Circle Takes the Square’s Decompositions: Volume Number One

Posted on by Vince Jarocki

Circle Takes The Square‘s Decompositions, Volume Number One is a record that dissolves boundaries, a journey through time arriving at the crossroads of an epoch.  Blurring the lines between human and animal, earthly and supernatural, linear and cyclical, and creative and destructive, Decompositions sounds like a fevered ayahuasca dream.

Listening to Decompositions‘ stream of apocryphal consciousness is both exhilarating and confounding, much like a classic thriller.  Ambitious and epic, it’s clear why the project took over two years in production to come to fruition.  Sonically lush, musically progressive, and densely lyrical, Decompositions is a Pandora’s box that will be studied for years to come.

A tribal chant sets the tone for the album in the opener “Enter by the Narrow Gates,” a song that bridges the gap between the shamanic traditions of Native Americans and the cacophony of 21st century post-hardcore.  With the help of modern instrumentation, CTTS create a hypnotic, often mind-bending vibe as somber aboriginal-style chanting gives way to a soundscape of slow, crashing drums, distorted electric guitars, and finally, the carnal screams of a shattered reality, welcoming the end of one Earth cycle and the beginning of another. It’s a signature song, and one of their best to date.

The opener flows seamlessly, as does much of the album, into “Spirit Narrative,” a short burst of progressive hardcore with lyrical themes of shapeshifting and animal transformation.  Had they existed in 17th century colonial America, it’s quite possible CTTS would have been burned at the stake for heresy(!)  Background screams from guitarist David Rabitor add to the brutality of the song.

“Way of Ever Branching Paths” is one of the album’s standouts, with bizarre time changes and a much looser feel in parts than CTTS have experimented with in the past.  The song conveys an “order out of chaos” feel, while the lyrics explore esoteric and spiritual revelations drawn from Earth’s archaic history.  Melodic singing from bassist Kathleen Stubelek and drummer Caleb Collins provides a welcome, if chilling break from the din of screams.  It’s also possible to view the song as a metaphor for the diverging lives of the bands’ members, which are geographically spread across North America.

From this point on, the album builds in momentum and intensity, hurtling towards some great unseen cataclysm.  “The Ancestral Other Side” references the ancient symbol Ouroboros in the line, “Through fevered visions, silence devouring its own tail, Unbroken circle, grant us the crisis needed to heal.”  It’s an existential take on music as a therapeutic and constantly evolving force set against the blank canvas of silence.  It’s also a reference to the cyclical, primordial Earth themes that are present throughout.

“Prefaced By the Signal Fires” should remind longtime fans of “A Crater to Cough In,” one of the band’s more epic and heavier cuts from their 2004 release As the Roots Undo.  The track kicks off the second half of the album, flowing into the more contemplative but still heavy-as-hell “A Closing Chapter (Scarlet Rising).”  Here, ominous melodies blend with bone-crushing rhythms and vague prophecies of Armageddon and the end of time as we perceive it.

“Singing Vengance into Being” and “Arrowhead as Epilouge” revisit themes of animism, higher consciousness, cyclical time, and death as transition.  The tension builds with snarling guitars, growling bass and aggressive drums, and the Circle’s token call-and-response vocal stylings of bassist Kathleen and guitarist/vocalist Drew Speziale, before climaxing with “North Star, Inverted.”  The album’s dreamlike, acoustic-flavored finale perfectly bookends with the opener, bringing a long-awaited vision to its epic conclusion.  It’s Neurosis-meets-Mazzy-Star, a goose bump-delivering acceptance of the end, rife with elaborate instrumentation and haunting vocals. The feeling of stark finality is what makes it so special, and arguably the best song of their career.

It’s a stunning accomplishment that often defies description, a true piece of art and snapshot of a band (and civilization) at a fractal boundary.  Through dark times, Circle Takes the Square carry the light of knowledge and self-discovery.

9/10


REVIEW: Concord America’s Shag Nasty

Posted on by Kate Foster

What do edgy punksters, the beach, and a be-grilled Marilyn Monroe doppelganger have in common? Yeah, you should be confused. But you should also be ready for some insanely awesome listening, because all of these elements – and a hundred others, for that matter – combine to form Atlanta band Concord America’s first full-length album, Shag Nasty.

These boys have been taking the Atlanta music scene by storm for over a year now, maturing steadily from tossing glitter into audiences everywhere to playing some serious rock-meets-punk-meets-beach-meets-grunge-meets-doo-wop with well-known bands like Foxy Shazam. We’re not kidding – everyone from your dad to your weird roommate that wears the same flannel shirt every day will be listening to this band soon. A lot of this comes as a result of the unheard-of chemistry between ConAm’s members: guitarist and vocalist Ben Presley, bassist Vinny Restivo, and drummer John Restivo. This – together with a rare knowledge of their craft, a lack of fear of dwelling into unknown musical territory, and some pretty huge imaginations – puts Concord America in the ranks with the best and brightest newcomers nationwide.

Now, with the release of Shag Nasty, more than just a handful of hard-partying Atlanta twenty-somethings will understand the trio’s power. The album kicks off with “Roller Derby”, a powerful, beachy anthem, only losing speed momentarily for an organ intermission or two that add insane dimension to the track. The fun continues through “Kids” with a chorus of Restivo’s retro “ooh-ahhs” until the mood becomes dark and sexy on “Low Beat”. This song is especially near and dear to our hearts as it exemplifies some very unashamed, Pixies-esque fast-slow-fast instrumentals, keeping us constantly somewhere between brooding and pumped up, all the while always ready to dance like mad men. And Presley’s voice? It’s positively skin-crawling (in a good way, we swear) as he belts out “Low beat, low beat…” more and more slowly and sensually.

“Shag” opens up the second half of the album, and we’ll be frank: it’s easily the best track of all. It’s simple, it’s whimsical, and it’s different from everything else ConAm has done. With nothing but a guitar, a few drums, a xylophone, and Ben’s hypnotizing voice as he drawls “Love is ____ baby, come and see. Love is ____ when you’re loving me” (insert “simple”, “stupid”, or “evil”), it’s a clean, sugar-sweet love song through and through. The romance continues through “Anniversary”, a fun tale of lovers that’s sure to be your summer anthem. As you ease toward the end of the record, “Skinny Rock N’ Roll Man” will satisfy fans of the Black Keys and a bit more bluesy acts, while “Love” is a very raw, slightly folksy tribute. It feels totally sincere, as it was recorded in the backyard of the Hoodau – the home shared by the ConAm boys – and, like the rest of the album, is filled with the kind of sheer time and patience that only a band with a rainbow amp and a slew of Goodwill outfits could produce.


REVIEW: Toro Y Moi’s Anything in Return

Posted on by Grafton Tanner

Chaz Bundick’s production skills are unmatched.  His keen ear for beats, wiggling bass lines, and soulful vocal samples lends his music an immediately recognizable style, one that dabbles in disco, electro pop, and (gulp) chillwave*.

That being said, what made Toro Y Moi a force to be reckoned with was his inclination to push his E-keyboard funk into realms of noise rock, experimental, and lo-fi guitar pop.  There was a time when Toro could have easily served as tour support for Deerhunter, and his 2010 release Underneath the Pine married those tendencies with the electro-funk of Causers of This to form a singular, unique vision.

Anything in Return pairs those stylistic traits together but lacks the instant earworms and irresistible grooves of Underneath the Pine.  Bundick has traded in whatever funk he has crafted over the years for a slower, less youthful iteration of his worst tendencies.  Perhaps Bundick’s growing up and allowing himself more room for lyrics addressing the eventual matter of settling down with your love, but his end result is bloodless and uninspired.  The vocal melodies stretch his voice into high falsettos and are forgettable and indistinct from song to song.  Most songs hang around the mid-tempo mark, the point at which grinding at a party can ensue if the bass is just so or at which everyone stands around wondering when the party will actually get started.  And though Bundick has never been consistent in producing party music all the time (which is more than fine with me), his newest batch seems to fit neither in the party setting nor in the headphones.  Not many songs stray past the five-minute mark, yet their aimless structures slow time tremendously, giving the feeling that every track could benefit from heavy editing.

The one point at which Bundick seems to let loose is “Never Matter,” a razor-sharp piece of hi-fi electro pop that could have easily slid anywhere into the track listing of his debut.  Since Underneath the Pine’s success, Bundick gave an interview and made the comment that his music can never stay in one place.  Meaning, the next album would undoubtedly mark yet another evolution for the producer/songwriter.  Instead, he has given us effectively more of the same but with his virtuosity tuned to grayscale.

*Side note: what the hell else am I supposed to call chillwave?  As soon as someone gives me a new term that will in time become a sour soundbyte, I will comply.

6/10


Circle Takes the Square pre-orders available now

Posted on by Vinyl Mag

It’s finally happened.  The moment we have all been waiting for.  Our dear, talented friends from Circle Takes the Square have released Decompositions: Volume Number One digitally, and now it’s time to get your pre-orders in for physical copies…and so much more.

For those of you who don’t remember Vinyl Mag’s first interview ever, Decompositions: Volume Number One was recorded/mixed/mastered by Anthony Stubelek at Rockstudio in Brunswick, Ga. and released through the band’s own label, Gatepost Recordings.

Now back to the pre-orders.  Dudes.  We need to talk.

Let’s start with the “Bug-Out Bag” Survival Kit.  I can honestly and sincerely say that I have never seen a cooler package put together by a band.  It’s golden.  For $115, you get a custom CTTS:

  • Survival kit with “high-quality Military/UN approved items”
  • Flashlight engraved with the lyrics “Illuminate the Way”
  • Water bottle
  • T-shirt (illustration by CTTS’s own Drew Speziale) *remember to enter your size manually
  • Decompositions: Volume Number One vinyl and CD
  • Koozie
  • Two buttons
  • Poster
  • Tote bag

Seriously?  This thing is unbelievable.  If the world does end (like if those silly Mayans got their dates mixed up), you’ll be totally set, and you’ll have a damn killer album to carry you through the apocalypse.

“We were considering the prospects of the bundles,” said Kathleen Stubelek of CTTS.  “The idea came from wanting to put together something that pertained to the album, yet was also full of items that people could actually use…not just merch for merch’s sake.  So it’s basically a companion to the apocalypse.  You have a survival kit, the nicest one we could find.  You have a little flashlight, a water bottle, and you have the perfect soundtrack for watching your surroundings crumble around you!  It’s completely self indulgent, but it was a lot of fun to put together.”

So there you go.  Completely brilliant.

Other pre-order packages are available if you want to take your chances.

So get all up on it, and enjoy!


PREVIEW: September Call-Up’s self-titled

Posted on by

Hey guys and gals – September Call-Up (formerly releasing as Christian Bitto) is back to introduce a few new songs from his upcoming full-length album September Call-Up to be released later this year under the name.  Bitto is going on a mini-tour this month and will be giving away his three promo songs that are on the album (hell yes).

First song on the album is called “Ghost”.  It has a steady driven beat that eventually calms down to slow verses, accented by subtle bass and drums, as well as a soft strum of guitar.  Towards the end of the song, Bitto’s sings, “I don’t need a ghost that makes me afraid/I don’t need a ghost tells me where to lay/I don’t need a ghost tells me when to pray/ I don’t need a ghost/Don’t need a ghost/I’ll pray to ghosts at night/They’ll keep me/ Safe/.”  Interpret this however you wish, but I took it as a commentary about outside influences controlling people’s beliefs and actions.  The message is subtly powerful, and Bitto delivers it without cramming it down your throat.

The second song is called “Song No. 3”.  This song, also slower paced and driving, is strong but not loud.  It sounds so melancholy and apologetic; yet towards the end, Bitto’s emotion definitely shines through as his voice gets a little grittier.

The last song of the promo is called “Our First Fall”.  It’s fully acoustic – just Bitto and his guitar.  This is my favorite of the three.  If the title doesn’t tell you, the song is about lovers parting.  I love the simplicity of songs like this – just two music entities put together in perfect synergy… “Time stops when the camera clicks/You sit quietly, bite your lip/Forever stays forever in a picture frame/It’s not the same/Time stops when the camera clicks/You cry angrily, clinch your fists/This isn’t it, this is not okay/My perfect life a picture frame/Picture frame/.”  How can lyrics like that not get you?

Tour Dates:

Jan 18- VIP Taproom, Bethlehem PA
Jan 19- Pete’s Candy Store, Brooklyn NY
Jan 20- Stella Blues (with special guests No Program, Samantha Benderoth Band), New Haven CT