Thursday's Track Reviews

The Good: A Night in the Box - "Fiddle Foot Jones"; I'm not normally the first person to get all crazed about a band that's a little bit of a bluegrass throwback mixed with the old indie rock here and there, but this is a damn fine and catchy tune. A little fiddle, a little banjo, and some scream-a-long lyrics and I was pretty much hooked from the get go. See if you don't find yourself just as affected by this song.
Grade: B+

Liars - "Disgusting"; This new tune from Liars may just be the initial stages of what we're going to be hearing from the ever changing band on their next album. It sounds a little rough around the edges right now (and who knows, it could stay that way and sound pretty cool anyway), but that pounding bass line and post-punk guitar sound are enough to get me amped. It's not too near the punk sound they used for Liars but it's not terribly far off either. This is pretty cool.
Grade: B

Parts & Labor - "Nowhere's Nigh"; Fans of what Parts & Labor have sounded like for the past few years may want to take a few deep breaths before breaking into what the band sounds like without drummer Christopher Weingarten. Okay, are you guys ready? Good, here we go. This tune is nothing like what Parts & Labor have ever sounded like, but transforming yourself as a band is not always a bad thing. Instead of being this crazy loud, hard hitting band Parts & Labor are now a bit synth crazy and going for a bit of a more melodic sound. Fans of Dan Friel's solo stuff probably won't be too surprised by this change, but really this is like a crazy turn into a very different direction. But it's still really freakin' good.
Grade: B+

Track of the Week: Pelle Carlberg - "1983 (Pelle & Sebastian)"; It's going to be tough to separate Pelle's tune from the band that he's referencing in the subtitle of this little pop song. The song is eerily reminiscent of what Belle & Sebastian do, idyllic pop arrangements, casual, real world lyrics, and a sweet Swedish dude singing it. Okay so not everything's the same but it certainly has a shit load of similarities and because of that it's a really, really good song.
Grade: A

The Bad: Brian Vander Ark - "I Went with the Road"; So a few weeks ago we were told that the Verve were coming back in all their mid-90's alternative glory. Well if we remember those fond old days we might remember that there was also a band called The Verve Pipe, which always confused the shit out of me. This Brian Vander Ark fella' is from that band and he's apparently making a go at being a solo artist (even though it sounds like there's more then one musician on this recording). Simply put, this tune is a bit drab and pretty staid for my tastes. It sounds like something Garth Brooks might have been releasing in the 90's, just less country like. In other words, not very good.
Grade: D

Lily Allen - "Who'd of Known"; I'm not sold on this new track from the British pop princess. It's cute and all, but it has known of the pizazz that Lily's become known for. It's not really upbeat, it's a happy little love song, and it has none of the Lily Allen bite we've come to know. It's not a bad song, just not what I'd expect from Lily and I think because of that I'm just not feeling it right now. Luckily, Lily says it won't make it on the next album.
Grade: C

Readymade Breakup - "Honey, You Might Be Right"; The singer's honey may be right, but this song sure isn't (buh, dum, buh)! Wow, this song really hurts. If I could listen to it more then this once I might give you some more insight into it, but that's not gonna happen anytime soon. Listen at your own risk. Seriously.
Grade: F

Sunfold - "Sara the American Winter"; Apparently everyone from Annuals is in Sunfold, making it more of an Annuals version 2.0 than some band named Sunfold no? Well, based on a single listen to this tune off their forthcoming album, there are some similarities, but there are way more differences! And let's face it Annuals are a decent, though not mind blowing band, but Sunfold must be some sort of inside joke 'cause I'm just not getting this music. Why would they go and make this when they could improve on what they did already? I dunno what they were thinking.
Grade: C-

Video of the Week:

Radiohead - "House of Cards"; In the past year Radiohead has completely changed the playing field in the music world. They released their album with the original pay-what-you-want model, they have toured using a reduced carbon foot print model, and now they're making a music video without the use of any cameras. Instead of the standard they use a brand new technology that uses lasers to pixelate a picture (although I'm not sure if it's actually doing pixelating anything). It's insane, they continue to be the standard bearer for everything in the musical world, and no matter how out there their ideas are they always come out with spectacular results!