The Megaphonic Thrift, a four-piece from Norway, conjure up thoughts of Dinosaur Jr. and Built To Spill, falling somewhere in between twee-pop and the distorted, fuzz-rock of Sonic Youth. One contemporary that definitely comes to mind is the early work of fellow Scandinavians The Radio Dept.
The group has been together for a little while but didn’t release anything noteworthy until the past year. Last October, they dropped the six-track EP A Thousand Years of Destruction, followed in March by their first full-length, Decay Decoy.
I’ve listened to each about four or five times in the past couple weeks, and they’ve really grown on me. I first discovered the band on RCRD LBL’s Oya Festival playlist.
Other than that song, there are few standout tracks. Mostly, The Megaphonic Thrift is perfect background music — not necessarily chill-out music, what with all the distortion and guitars, but music to work to.
Between their MySpace and Facebook pages, you can hear nine different songs, including my favorite, “Dragons vs. Dust”.
One of the first things I did during my first full day in Portland recently — after hitting up the foodcarts, of course — was making my way to a record store.
I spotted one pretty quickly while attempting to navigate the slightly confusing streets — Jackpot Records, which is located on NW Bursnside, about a block away from the world-famous Powell’s Books.
Upon entering the store, I headed directly to one of the listening stations, and the first album I played was Fortress by Miniature Tigers. I was immediately bobbing my head along to the tunes that were coming through the headphones.
My favorite was the second track, “Rock & Roll Mountain Troll”. It starts out slow, but then, at the 0:40 mark, it really picks up and gets going.
In reading reviews of the band, I noticed that there were several mentions of The Beatles and Beach Boys as far as influences — and even a couple of nods to Weezer. But the one group that stood out the most to me on this album was Of Montreal — so much so that I keep getting a hankerin’ for Outback Steakhouse every time I listen to this album.
The similarities to the Georgia lads can be heard on several tracks, including “Gold Skull”, “Egyptian Robe” — which sounds like two or three songs in one — “Japanese Woman” and “Tropical Birds”.
On the opening track, “Mansion of Misery”, they even reminded me of Arcade Fire — that is, if Arcade Fire was a four-piece from Phoenix.
Another strong song, “Bullfighter Jacket”, opens with a punk-tribal-scream thing that I’ve heard before — possibly in multiple songs — but I just can’t place it.
And on the closing track, “Coyote Enchantment”, I could not help but recall Sugar Hill Gang’s “Apache” when I heard the opening bars, which were sustained in the background throughout the entirety of the song.
Fortress, which came out in July, is actually Miniature Tigers’ second full-length album and was preceded in 2008 by Tell It To the Volcano.
I went back and listened to the debut and was immediately greeted by a track I’d heard often but forgot all about, “Cannibal Queen” before. Now I suddenly remember hearing about this band awhile back.
Other than the opener, I wasn’t overly blown away by this album. It wasn’t bad, by any means, it just wasn’t as strong as the follow-up.
A couple of songs I did note included the title track — which reminds me of the previously mentioned “Rock & Roll Mountain Troll” — and “Annie Oakley”, which kinda sounds like The Magic Numbers, without all the harmonies.
To hear more of Miniature Tigers, visit their MySpace page.
I’m really not sure what to think of MGMT. They put out some very catchy songs on their 2008 debut album, Oracular Spectacular. But overall, I feel like they are an acquired taste — somewhere in the vein of The Flaming Lips, but less experimental-sounding.
If you’re a regular reader of my blog, then you probably have very indie leanings when it comes to your musical leanings and have probably already heard of the New York City duo.
I was hooked when I heard the opening strains of “Electric Feel” — as far as I’m concerned, if you don’t like the opening and closing melody on that song, you’re not human.
Their first single, “Time To Pretend”, was a solid hit as well, but it wasn’t until “Kids” hit the airwaves that they really started to get a following.
Those three songs helped propel Oracular Spectacular onto many a “Best of 2008” list, including my own.
The album itself had a lot of psychedelic influences — as you could probably have guessed by the title — but it was countered by a healthy dose of electronica and pop that made it easier to digest.
The band’s second album, Congratulations, which came out last month, has a whole slew of different sounds emanating from it. Early on the disc, MGMT seems to be channeling more of a ’60s-style psychedelia, something that sounds like a mixture of The Flaming Lips and The Polyphonic Spree.
But then, about halfway through, things take a much more mellow tone. So much so, that the sixth track, “Siberian Breaks”, literally lulled me to sleep — hence the tardiness of this week’s post. That opus, which clocks in at a robust 12 minutes, 10 seconds, is really like four or five vastly different songs rolled into one.
It’s followed by “Brian Eno”, which I would consider my favorite track on the album.
Overall, Congratulations has a lot going on, and the casual MGMT fan might not even realize they’re listening to the same band that put out Oracular Spectacular. But fear not, it’s a quality album — and like its predecessor, it takes a little time to get used to.
P.S. I’ll be seeing MGMT live in Chicago on Friday. Hopefully I get my concert review completed in a more timely manner than this review.
When it comes to Mute Math, it’s like the chicken and the egg — did I see them or hear them first. What I do know for sure is that my most vivid memory of them is when I won tickets from a local radio station and saw them live at the since-closed Starr Hill venue in Charlottesville, Va., in 2006.
I didn’t know much about the band, but I was immediately enthralled by them, especially lead singer Paul Meany, who busted out a keytar and looked kinda like Thomas Ian Nicholas.
Anyways, I really dug their sound and made sure to purchase their self-titled debut LP. I would occasionally hear a couple songs off that album being played on the radio, including “Chaos” and “Break the Same”. And the group seemed to gain a bit of fame when their awesome video for “Typical” got a lot of airplay.
But then I kinda lost track of them for a while. Aside from one of their songs occasionally popping up on my iTunes, I hadn’t given them much thought the last few years.
Until earlier this week. That’s when, for some reason, I looked up Mute Math and saw that they released a new LP last fall.
On Armistice, their sound has definitely evolved, but the key components are still there — that signature mix of rock, pop, jazz and electronica.
I can’t really think of a better way to describe Mute Math’s sound. So I’ll let Amazon do it for me …
Taking cues from several decades of alternative rock, the New Orleans-based quartet Mute Math (also known as MUTEMATH and MuteMath) fuses together New Order’s synth-dance epics, the Stone Roses’ shambling shuffle, Radiohead’s spiky chilliness, Air’s serene ambient pop, and the booming vocals of mainstream pop/rock.
I’m always interested to see what kind of bands Amazon will suggest I look into based on the band I’ve searched for. But when it comes to Mute Math, none of the ones mentioned seem like accurate comparisons. The closest ones might be Keane and Snow Patrol, but not really.
If I had to compare Mute Math to anyone, I’d say they’re a more-electronica version of Gomez.
Upon moving to Charlottesville, Va., in February 2006, I quickly discovered an awesome independent local radio station (91.1 WNRN) that played non-stop indie rock. After being forced to listen to shitty corporate rock, oldies and classic rock stations my entire life, my ears were suddenly inundated with a constant wave of amazing new music.
One of the first bands I discovered was The Magic Numbers. The London-based quartet is often compared to The Mamas & The Papas, both because of its composition — it consists of a pair of brother-sister tandems — and its signature harmonies.
Additionally, the band members’ scruffy appearance would make their hippie forebears proud. But The Magic Numbers also compare favorably to more modern brethren — most notably, the New Pornographers.
Their self-titled debut was easily one of my favorite albums of 2006 — it was actually released in August 2005, but those are just details. I even got to see them live, but I showed up late and only caught the last few songs.
It wouldn’t be the last time I took The Magic Numbers for granted. For a variety of reasons, I never listened to their follow-up album, Those the Brokes, until recently, even though it came out in November 2006. It’s an oversight I definitely regret as the sophomore effort picks up right where the first one left off with the band’s distinct slow/fast, pop/folk harmonies.
They also released a six-track EP titled Undecided, which I’m still trying to track down. And, according to their less-than-stellar official website, they’re releasing a new album in Spring 2010.
In the meantime, visit their MySpace page and listen to eight of their tracks, including “Hurts So Good,” the first single from their upcoming album.
And here is one of my favorite songs from their debut album …
Marching Band seem to encapsulate several subgenres of the indie rock scene.
Throughout their debut LP Spark Large, I was reminded of Snow Patrol.
But I also heard the folkier tones of such bands as Fleet Foxes and Blitzen Trapper, especially on my favorite track, “Make No Plans.”
I continued to hear those influences through the rest of the record, but they also added some more layers.
“Makeup Artist” included some more electric instrumentation, while “Travel In Time” was the first song where I could really detect some foreign accent. This track and “Letters” actually reminded me of some Irish and Scottish bands that I like, but it turns out this duo is from Sweden. Shows what I know.
The instrumentation is eclectic but tight, and the crafting of the songs is a treat. One of the worst things that can happen to a band or musician is to have all their songs sound the same. Thankfully, Marching Band seems to have something different going on with each track.
“Marching Band combines eccentric musical elements with mainstay rock sounds, creating a unique sonic fusion that finds instrumentation of marimba, banjo and vibraphone meshing with guitars, bass, drums and lush vocal harmonies.”
I would say that listening to Spark Large is like receiving a gift on Christmas, but it’s probably more like Hanukah and each song is like a new present to unwrap.
Before “Spark Large,” they released three EPs, including the first two when they were known as Second Language. These songs a very simple and melodic — I would liken them somewhat to he band Elf Power — and show a foundation from which they would build upon and add layers to until they reached the point they’re at today.
One notable song on that first EP is “Marching Band,” from which they derived their current name.
Infinite Shuffle 