Review: Victor! Fix The Sun - Person Place or Thing

Label: Friction Records

Released: October 20, 2009

Albums that rely heavily on noisy dissonance and angular rhythms as a means of expression seldom even dabble in accessibility, but Person Place or Thing, the latest from Michigan's mathy post-punkers Victor! Fix the Sun, is clear evidence of what's missing from that narrow view.

From the ringing guitar and wild, frantic drumming that opens the album, it's obvious that this isn't just another post-punk exercise. The album constantly soars on one hand while grounding itself at the same time and this tension is its energy. "We Come from the Northwoods" breaks free of its simple, agitated roots into an amazing progressive flight. Early on, "Blind Man's Bluff" gives a nod to CCR before turning the corner into a wild punk tune. The title track's hard rock groove tugs firmly on its frenetic undercurrent. The laid back bass line and mellow hooky guitar part on "Paperthin Feather Fuck" is in direct contrast to the raw emotion that drops in and out with masterful aplomb. "Infested, Mother Approved" has gentle layering and airy, trippy passages while the rhythm wraps it as tight as a straight-jacket.

Throughout, Victor! Fix the Sun shows an innate sense of where the songs themselves want to go and they follow that rather than leading and overthinking. Person Place or Thing follows a fine tradition of bands that use style and genre in the way other bands use instruments. Rather than taking the narrow road, they explore the broad vistas that view music without limits.

Don't miss this one on vinyl. It comes in either amber or maroon (the maroon is beautiful) and the album art looks great in its full 12 inches. A free download offers the best of both worlds, so you can't go wrong.

Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 8/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 9/10
Overall: 8/10

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Victor! Fix the Sun at the VFW (April 24th, 2009)
by lexen1

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Review: The Slits - Trapped Animal

Label: Narnack Records

Released: October 20, 2009

Trapped Animal is the first studio album from the Slits since 1981 and comes 30 years after the seminal punk/reggae fusion of their debut, 1979's Cut. The passage of time and only returning with two-thirds of the band's core (Ari Up and Tessa Pollitt) certainly give reason to be skeptical of a new album in 2009.

Even going in with doubts, the new album quickly establishes a winning presence. It retains the Slits' natural mix of punk and reggae, but this time the former is a bit more angular and the latter closer to dub, giving things a tighter, more agitated energy. Occasional electro-pop and R&B infusions expand the album beyond the earlier albums' limitations, few as they seemed to be at the time, yet Trapped Animal is possibly their most cohesive record. Most importantly though, the Slits maintain the straightforward lyrical honesty that has always made their songs easy to hold onto.

Worst case scenario would surely have been to simply go through the motions of rehashing their past. Not much better would have been to completely overhaul their sound, producing something that, while new, had little connection to their own roots. What the Slits have produced, however, is an album that shows that they hadn't reached the end of the road when they broke up in 1982. In fact, Trapped Animal is very much on par with the now-acclaimed Cut and one of the best reunion albums I've heard.

Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 8/10
Dylan: 8/10
Aretha: 9/10
Overall: 9/10

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Review: Motorik - Klang!

Label: self-released (CD Baby)

Released: April 28, 2009

In the waning days of the first wave of punk, several bands took the groundwork it had laid and mixed it up with a frantic sense of dancability. For lack of a better desciption, we called it post-punk. Three decades later, it seems like everyone wants to "rediscover" Joy Division, the Fall, Pil and their peers. Motorik, despite their name's nod to Krautrock, is one such devotee, but unlike most, they paid close attention, demonstrating a deep understanding of what made the best post-punk bands so good.

Just like those of their mentors, Motorik's songs are driven more by sharp, angular rhythms than by overt melodies. Their agitated beats, a la early Joy Division, stir the music and provide the perfect force for the snearing artiness that dominates the record, though they do occasionally stray into the darker, harder world of Killing Joke. While Klang! struggles to find a reasonably original moment, it is nonetheless very genuine in its homage to the past.

Ratings
Satriani: 6/10
Zappa: 5/10
Dylan: 6/10
Aretha: 7/10
Overall: 6/10

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Review: Lanterns - Apocalypse Youth

Label: self-released

Released: July 19, 2008

What would happen if the unabashed rock of the Who and the spunky power-pop of Cheap Trick took a drive down the twisting sharp turns of post-punk? Lanterns. If there is one quality that persists their Apocaplypse Youth EP, it would loud. Loud in the way mastered by big rock bands like the aforementioned Who and Cheap Trick. Their layers of guitar can crank up the volume no matter how quietly you may try to listen. But these aren't just loud, arena-sized riffs. They have the quirky, twisty, turny (and almost danceable) sense that post-punk drew from disco while remaining a safe distance from actual dance music. The wall of sound, sometimes paper thin and others thick and dense, dominates the sound without taking over, leaving plenty of space for the pop sensibility that makes the album's ear-crushing volume such a pleasant experience. Lanterns sound as if they could take on the arena, but the arena would be left in rubble (and all to a sweet, sweet melody).

Ratings
Satriani: 6/10
Zappa: 8/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 7/10
Overall: 8/10

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Review: The Dark Romantics - Heartbreaker

Label: Lujo Records

Released: September 9, 2008

In the early 80s, Wall of Voodoo made some dark, moody and strangely captivating music out of a peculiar meeting of post-punk, synth pop and the roots of rock n roll. On Heartbreaker, the Dark Romantics find themselves at the same point where these influences flow together and they make music that is deliberately at odds with itself, nervous, pleading vocals and trebly guitar or stark piano poking through smooth synth textures.

It is an album that comes together only to pull itself apart into an unsettled restlessness. "The Death of You" is part synth pop and part "Ghostriders in the Sky," like a post-Armageddon cowboy song. "Never Been Loved" is reminiscent of "Careless Whispers" (yeah, the Wham song) only with a tangible madness and even the slick disco of the chorus doesn't diminish its humanity. The album's darkness grows into the coldness of the title track which knocks on Nick Cave door to insanity.

These songs believe that joy exists, but only in someone else's world. They are love songs for the unloved, breakup songs for those with no one to break with. Heartbreaker is for the broken heart that never had the opportunity to fully love. The discord yearns for beauty in a way that is, as the band name itself explains, quite romantic and entirely dark.

"Hush Your Mouth" mp3

"Let's Ride" mp3

Ratings
Satriani: 6/10
Zappa: 6/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 7/10
Overall: 7/10

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DVD: Joy Division

Label: Miriam Collection

Released: June 17, 2008

This documentary was clearly released in tandem with Control and, while that was surely a good move commercially, it makes it difficult to get as involved in this versus Anton Corbijn's brilliant dramatization. Of course, the two aren't quite the same, Control being the story of Ian Curtis and Joy Division the story of the band itself. Nevertheless, this documentary has a hard time getting out of the shadows of Control.

Director Grant Gee tries to draw parallels between the band and the city of Manchester, focusing on the city's and the band's rise and fall as well as all the landmarks for each that are no longer there. It's a clever idea, but it seems to get lost at times and never flows smoothly.

Clever conventions aside, the film does a good job of telling Joy Division's story. The bulk of the interviews are with surviving band members Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris as well as Factory Records founder Tony Wilson and Curtis' girlfriend Annik Honoré, but it also got insights from those outside of the inner circle such as the Buzzcocks' Pete Shelley and other contemporaries. Oddly enough, all contributions for Deborah Curtis are quotes on the screen and not filmed interviews (a convention understandably used also for the late Rob Gretton).

Joy Division deals more with the band than with Curtis' personal life and therefore sheds a kinder light upon him. While I'm not sure he should get a pass, there is more to the story than his personal problems and they did a very good job of dealing only with those parts that directly affected the band.

Overall, this is a good rock documentary. It's intelligent and clever, but offers no truly great insight into Joy Division. As Peter Hook says in the film, they were four guys who had no idea what they were doing...unless Ian did and we'll never know. It's certainly not as riveting as Control, but this one is about music more than people and that is both its strength and its weakness.

Rating: 6/10

DVD: Control

Label: The Miriam Collection

Released: June 3, 2008

As a long time Joy Division fan, I was very interested in Control. Ian Curtis is one of those enigmatic, sad characters whose mystery was deepened by an early demise. Because the film was based on his wife's memoir, I hoped it would provide insight into why Curtis burned so brightly and briefly, changing the face of rock music without even having the time to know that he had. Control proved to be all that I hoped...and then some.

As a film, it is nothing short of brilliant. Filmed entirely in black & white, the sharp shadows and stark scenes reflect both Joy Division's music and the suburb of Manchester from which they hailed (or at least Curtis' view of it). The depth of field is kept narrow throughout, reinforcing both the hollowness and the humanity of the story. There is an understated richness to Control's minimalism that mirrors Joy Division's music. The cinematography alone makes the film worthwhile, easing even those not familiar with Joy Division into the story. The dialog and acting is never gratuitous, allowing the drama of the story itself to find full fruition. Anton Corbijn has made a film that transcends the "rock movie" genre. Control stands on its own.

The fact that it is based on Debbie Curtis' story certainly raises some questions about the validity of the film's conclusions. The fact that this story doesn't vilify Ian Curtis though, should dispel those doubts. That's not to say that Curtis isn't a villain, just that the facts play that out more than Debbie Curtis' telling of them. The fact is that he abandoned his wife and child for a rock band and a girlfriend. Did he really come home, look down at his smiling daughter and just walk away? Maybe not, but that at worst is a bit of dramatic license that illustrates what he really did. Ian Curtis made one fatal mistake: He thought life should imitate art, not the other way around. He paid for that with his life and Debbie and Natalie paid for it with their husband and father. Annick, Curtis' girlfriend, paid for it with her 15 minutes of fame.

Having spent years with Joy Division, the movie may have ended my days with their music. My "Love Will Tear Us Apart" subway poster may never go back up on my wall. The movie is that good. The music is still amazing, but now I see that the human cost was just too great.

Rating: 10/10

Review: Brass - Set & Drift

Label: self-released

Released: January 25, 2008

I seem to be using the word "angular" an awful lot these days and while that usually means I'm listening to something I enjoy, the post-punk influence is becoming so commonplace that it also begs the question, "What's special about this one?" With Brass, the answer is that they take their mathy angles and smooth them out with fluid bass lines and pleading vocals. Although slightly reminiscent of Michael Stipe at times, the vocals never cross the line into whininess. What's great is that the music is patient. It's agitated but never frantic as if it's coming to a boil, but not quite boiling. It shakes without jarring. The album comes in just under 30 minutes, but seems so much longer, not because it's boring, but because it accomplishes so much in that time. It's so much bigger than what usually comes out of a half hour.

Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 8/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 7/10
Overall: 7/10

Don't forget to check out Brass' new digital EP, A Small Breath.

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Review: Pretendo - ][

Label: Country Club Records

Released: March 4, 2008

Pretendo play a dark angular pop that revolves around its rhythms, whether that is principally percussion, bass or guitar (or most often the interplay between them), while keyboard or guitar build an unsettling ambiance. The songs vary from the subtley Stones-influenced swagger of "Chronicle a Free Subletting" to the post-punk/dance meld of "Angsti Nervosa" to the Floyd-ish trippiness (and peculiar lyrics) of "Mindy." They manage to draw a variety of small pieces from across decades into a sound that's very modern, allowing them to move forward into the future without abandoning the past. Even within a song, they manage to traverse influences. "Smoking Pipe to Dance" has a short guitar solo that starts off bluesy and finds its way into post-punk quickly and seamlessly. The dirge-like "Cynthia" slows the album's pace with its seedy desperation without derailing its energy. Pretendo realize their potential to push the psychedelic envelope on "Sherman Speaks," a freakout that Syd Barrett may well have been proud of, and even push a bit over the edge of the album's tortured closer, "Pong." Over the course of the album, they shift the musical landscape without shifting their focus, keeping the scenery interesting without losing their way in the process.

Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 7/10
Dylan: 6/10
Aretha: 7/10
Overall: 7/10

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Review: Free Diamonds - By the Sword

Label: Deep Elm Records

Released: August 27, 2007

Anything with any post-punk influence is bound to be pretty angular, but Free Diamonds take it to a new level. They focus on rhythm to the point that everything, voice included, is a rhythm instrument, giving the entire album a very polyrhythmic effect along the lines of Sound Affects-era Jam and the jazzier moments of the Minutemen. This band isn't a one-trick pony either. In addition to post-punk, there is clear evidence of ska and jazz and, in a peculiarly modern way, rockabilly. That last influence is the most subtle, yet perhaps the most interesting, because it, along with the folky closing track, serves to tie their very modern sound back to the roots of rock n roll. There's also hints of dance (albeit a pretty frantic dance) and English hip-hop that conjure up a fair amount of fun in the midst of the album's angst and serve to move both the feet and the soul. The vocals are likely the one think that may divide listeners. The screeching, fast talking style is a key part of the band's skewed approach and it certainly prevents anyone from enjoying the music passively, but its grating nature is likely to alienate as many people as it embraces. Still, By the Sword, with all its beautifully jagged edges and irrepressible frenetic energy, stands head and shoulders above the masses of other bands schooled on similar record collections.

Rating: 8/10

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Review: The Sailplanes - A Second, or Ten Years Later

Label: Red Headed Stepchild Records

Released: July 1, 2007

In listening to A Second, or Ten Years Later, two influences kept cropping up: New Model Army and Joy Division. There really couldn't be two things more different than New Model Army's warm, human, folky anger and Joy Division's cold, stark, dark emptiness, yet the Sailplanes manage to work both into their music. That ability to juxtapose such seemingly different things is a subtle, yet powerful strength. It's not just passion and desperation that they place side by side either. They align fuzzy, sludgy bass and ringing guitar with the driving precision of the percussion. Their sharp, angular sound sits on top of smooth, ambient keyboards. They butt the harsh up against the clean. They even alternate between male and female vocals. All of these contrasts run parallel to one another as if the two sides of the music are the two sides of the human heart and soul. The album's weakness is that it wears its influences a bit too much on its sleeve. However, hints of Berlin-period Bowie/Eno (and a recent move to that city) might be just the thing to bring their sound together without inhibiting the natural conflicts that makes it so good.

Rating: 7/10

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Review: Untitled Musical Project - s/t

Label: Tigertrap Records

Released: October 29, 2007

Unbridled. Unrefined. Uninhibited. Those can be the qualities of great rock and roll or a complete disaster. Untitled Musical Project is like a band with Keith Moon as every member, so they're clearly the former. Don't get me wrong, they don't play at Moon's technical level, but they do have his complete sense of abandon in their performance. There is little focus on melody or groove. The album works because it's all about visceral energy. It's as if they took Discharge, Gang of Four and just a dash of industrial, threw it in a blender and then recorded the blender! To say the album is deliberate is an understaement. Thick, fuzzy bass, noisy guitars and snotty vocals are driven to the very limit by relentless straightforward drumming. Even the song titles are extreme. "I Don't Need You Honey! All I Need is Rock n Roll!" and "I May Not Be Jimi Hendrix But At Least I'm Still Alive" meet even the high expectations that such titles raise. The latter is particular compelling, because of all the tracks, it has the most melodic elements yet doesn't break stride. In fact, each hint of melody stands out simply because there aren't that many over the course of the album. If Untitled Musical Project has a fault, it's that the songs can't stand on their own. These aren't the kind of songs that you could change up a bit and cover in another genre or sit down and play on your acoustic guitar. Changing the extreme intensity of the performance would rob the music of everything that's great about it.

Rating: 8/10

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Review: Dartz! - This is My Ship

Label: Deep Elm Records

Released: November 13, 2007

Dartz! mix agitated math rock with a punk edge and British quirkiness (or is it quirky Britishness?). They produce songs whose layers are the many moving parts of an efficient machine. The parts feel loose and rambling when they're really quite tight if you concentrate. But that's not the point. They're meant to be a ride. At some points the music is closer to something that may be sung in a bar and that belies the care that was surely taken in constructing it. Even the angular guitars, bass and drums have a certain pop appeal that adds to their accessibility. The whole thing barrels along, but not at a single breakneck pace. The time changes keep the whole thing slightly off-balance.

While there is a certain post-punk/new wave influence on This Is My Ship, this isn't simply the common hipster new wave revival that flies off the shelves. It has all the pop quality of the big sellers, but mixes it with more challenging fare on another level. Depending on which level you choose, this can be easy or difficult, but either way it's rewarding.

Rating: 8/10

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Review: Patty Winters Show

Label: Vacuous Pop Recordings

Released: October 29, 2007

This two song limited edition white vinyl 7" features two songs that straddle post-punk and indie pop. "You Are Wrong" contrasts quick rhythms and grating guitar with the low-key melancholy of indie pop vocals. At times, it has shades of Joy Division, but doesn't fully tap into the cold emotion that characterized that band. "You Can't Force People to Care" sticks more to the indie side, but edgy guitar crops up almost insidiously to poke at the superficial sweetness. The second track doesn't seem to explore its musical possibilities in the way the first one does, making it consistent, but unspectacular.

Rating: 5/10

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Heart & Soul: The Story Of Ian Curtis And The Making Of 'Control'

Check out this documentary about the making of the Joy Division film Control at XFM in Manchester, UK.

Review: Brian Buta - False Colors

Label: self-released (available through CD Baby and iTunes)

Released: September 2007

The whole idea of rehashing the 80s never quite sat well with me. Now that it's been redone to death by so many hipsters with more fashion-sense than creativity, I'm even less receptive. That being said, Brian Buta must be doing something right, because he is almost completely stuck in the 80s and I still found time to listen to his CD multiple times.

False Colors is a solo effort in every sense of the term. Buta wrote, recorded and mixed the album himself. He even did the artwork. As such however, the album lacks the humanness of an album where at least the performance is a social effort. Buta's overly processed approach often feels synth-laden even when he's using real instruments. Granted, he intends the album to be cold and dark, but it often comes across as synthetic instead.

Still, the album has some very listenable elements. It is rooted in the late 70s/ early 80s, but Buta hasn't bought entirely into borrowing the most common pieces. Sure, there is plenty of U2 and Depeche Mode on the album, but he also dabbles in the likes of PiL and early Elvis Costello. The result is an album that shows Buta as a musician who hasn't entirely grown out of his influences rather than just a genre surfer who jumps on the best wave he sees at the moment. While he's sometimes mopey, sometimes angry, he's always emotive. You just have to pay more attention to gather it from under the effects.

Brian Buta seems to be an artist with a good bit to offer, but working entirely on his own, nothing is pushing him to explore. He also needs a producer to steer him away from the cheap effects and into a more natural sound that will better display both his songwriting and performance. All in all, this isn't a bad effort for a self-released solo album and there are some tracks that bring me back for repeat listens. However, it also feels somehow incomplete and short of his potential.

Rating: 5/10

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Review: Pocus Whiteface - But It's Home b/w This Room Spins

Label: self-released

Released: May 23, 2007

After releasing a free internet only EP earlier in the year (which you will get on the CD that accompanies this 7"), London trio, Pocus Whiteface returns with this two song 7". Both songs draw from loose garage rock and tight, angular post-punk. "But It's Home" is a bit catchier and more instantly likable. It starts thin and builds in density, ultimately coming across much like the Buzzcocks meet the Stooges. "This Room Spins" is similar but abandons much of the pop sense of its predecessor. Instead, it's angular and agitated, with a dragging rhythm that creates tension within the song itself. After a few listens, it clicks and is a much more enduring track than "But It's Home."

This EP has decent variety for only two songs and it shows Pocus Whiteface's ability vary their sound without losing their sense of who they are. If that isn't enough to interest you, the 7" comes in a beautiful heavy cardboard sleeve and is pressed on heavy (180 gram)* vinyl.

Rating: 7/10

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* [This was an error on my part. Apparently 180 gram vinyl applies only to 12 inches and would be unbelievably thick as a 7". Still, the vinyl they used is very high quality, so while the comment was incorrect, you get the point.]

Joy Division re-issues and box set

I posted a few days back about the upcoming Joy Division releases from Rhino. It all sounded great until I saw the price of the box set: $200! The individual LPs are only $18 each for the single LPs and $50 for the double LP (Still), so they want an additional $114 for the box? Frankly, even limited to 2000 copies, I don't see that as a good buy and it doesn't seem like they offer anything spectacular for the extra money. I'll pass on this one.

Rhino to re-issue Joy Division's catalog and then some...

To mark the 30th anniversary of the formation of Joy Division, Rhino will be re-issuing Joy Division's two studio albums as two CD sets, the first disc being the remastered album and the second being unreleased live recordings. These will be available beginning October 30th. As if that wasn't enough, they will also be issuing a vinyl box set exclusively at rhino.com on September 11th. These will be released to regular retail outlets as individual sets on September 25th. If for some reason you don't already own these post-punk classics, it seems there's no time like the present.

While we're waiting, here's the trailer for the Ian Curtis biopic, Control: