(3.5/5)
The band’s album ‘Lungs’ debuted in the United Kingdom on the 6th of July, 2009. Their overall sound would be described as Indie rock with an english pop and soul influence from the lead singer Florence Welch. Her musicality is obvious with the large range of inflection in her voice. Their most popular song, ‘Dog Days Are Over’, is also the first track of the album. With it’s heavy, non-relenting beat that consists of deep bass, tamborine, and clapping that makes you want to do the same, it excites the listener with it’s new age style. The use of ukelele as a main instrument, playing both chords and a lead ukelele part, is not common in this day and age. But then again what is common about this band? Florence’s persuasive vocals satisfy everyones need for good authentic music. If only every song on the album could be this exceptional. Most of the songs on the album seem to move along at nearly the same tempo and her intonation finds itself catching up with other songs on the album. Not to say that there arn’t any others that will enthuse you. ‘Girl With One Eye’ strays away from the more cheerful side of the album and deviates to a more bluesy and dark area. The instrumentation is simple enough consisting of guitar, bass, drums, backup vocals, and lead vocals. The chorus takes the song from a small guitar and voice duet to an intense frenzy of overzealous gain and an admirably doleful melody. Although the music is impressive, some of the lyrics tend to be alarming compared to that of her other songs. Some share a generally common theme that is expressed through lines like,”she killed it with kisses” found in the song ‘Dog Days Are Over’ or “a kiss with a fist is better than none” as heard in the song ’Kiss With A Fist’. With more of a classic rock feel, this song stands out and moves at a faster pace than most with a commical story of two people who evidently don’t get along. The same chord pattern is kept alive throughout the entire song and toward the end there is a thrilling three note guitar solo. Despite it’s repetetiveness, it is the type of song that you want to listen to if you’re mad, sad, happy, or just in the mood for some downright great music known as Florence + the Machine.
(4/5)
Breaking away from the original genre he had with the band The Strokes, Julian Casablancas suprised many with his newly released solo album ‘Phrazes for the Young’. We dive right into the first song ’Out of the Blue’ as it’s upbeat tempo and melodies prepare the listener for a string of peppy songs that find a happy medium between pop showtunes and classic Julian Casablancas crooning. Songs like: ’11th Dimension’ and ‘Left & Right in the Dark’ pump you up with formulated synth lines and inspiring guitar riffs, while songs like: ’4 Chords of the Apocalypse’ and ‘Ludlow St.’ slow things down and lull us along to the next tracks. Some songs on the album stray from the original pop genre and present a more Indie feel. ‘River of Brakelights’ starts off with a fast, confusing beat that builds up and transitions into an elucidating chorus. The song ‘Glass’, a personal favorite, begins with a whispy keyboard introduction and later has a classical synth solo backed by guitar. This album includes 11 songs, three of which are bonus tracks: ‘Old Hollywood’, ’30 Minute Boyfriend’, and ’I Wish It Was Christmas Today’. Overall the album leaves the listener in a good mood and with a great impression.
The Indie Music Love staff recently saw Julian Casablancas live performing ‘Phrazes for the Young’ and thought that it was “an unforgettable experience in the world of indie music because he truly captured the attention and hearts of the crowd”, said one of our reviewers. Julian Casablancas engulfed the audience in a blend of euphonic sound waves that caress the ear.
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(3.5/5)
After many consecutive years of touring, the Killers announced a hiatus. This fueled the fire for a solo album by frontman Brandon Flowers who had already commented in articles about a possible solo record. He stated that if he were to do a solo project he would do things that were daring, and by implication, things he could not – or did not have the opportunity to – do with the Killers. Flash forward to September 14, 2010. Flamingo is released after an arguably weak lead single ‘Crossfire’. Upon listening to the CD once through, it is apparent that most songs follow very closely in the manner of ‘Crossfire’, but there are some worthwhile discrepancies and a few shortcoming attempts at the former. The most interesting of all songs on ‘Flamingo’ is that of ‘Was It Something I Said?’. The song follows the love story of an unnamed protagonist and Valentina, who makes a choice to leave the narrator. The want and longing of the song is portrayed amidst a beautifully 80′s bass and some extremely high whimpers from Flowers on the choruses. The drums are of an innovative bravado that is commendable to the highest degree. ‘Was It Something I Said?’ is the only of it’s kind on the album, leaving the rest to be country/rock/soul hybrids or sultry Lou Reed impersonations. The connotations and themes throughout are almost more religious than in ‘Day and Age’, which is not a problem, except that we see Brandon asking too many questions in these new songs, while providing no new answers beyond vague one liners such as: “Be an advocate of joy”, or “Only the young can break away”. ‘The Clock was Tickin’ was an exception to the archetypal songs found on the remainder of the album, and if anything reminds me of ‘Was it Something I Said?’ because of the energetic storytelling. Other standout tracks include: ‘Swallow It’, ‘Jilted Lovers and Broken Hearts’, and ‘Magdalena’. The album receives a 3.5/5 stars on IndieMusicLove.com for being mostly sell-out material like we expected, but with a flamboyant twist and a few good drum tracks. Brandon is still the man, but he need to forget about the technology and make the music like a champion again.
(5/5)
Dan Crowdus dances on an edge that most would consider foolhardy or unprofitable. The Icarus Kid -his alias of mythological allusions- is a self described “…electronic music project that brings the classic sounds of the Nintendo Entertainment System to the dancefloor.” It could be said that he does not write his own music, though nothing could be farther from the truth. His concept is one that is singular and original, yet the execution is so convincing that one forgets that these are even Nintendo sounds. The melodies are there, but the beats are an electronic daydream. It is not a far reach to believe that somewhere in Seattle, WA, where The Icarus Kid claims residence/headquarters, people are getting down to these especially fresh and captivating beats. Revolutionary and spellbinding all at once!
When we received the CD here at IndieMusicLove.com, the first thing we did was bump up the volume on our massive stereo and go to work studying the effects of Dan’s hard hitting medleys on our physiological beings through heavy dancing. Once we were all tired out (about 4 hours later), we agreed that this was not just homage to video games, but that The Icarus Kid indeed did have an important intellectual role to play as a composer, while also providing visceral insight into the meaning of music in our technologically advanced times. Is he Indie? Absolutely. The fusion of nostalgia and present musical awareness is astounding. Top tracks on his 13 track self-titled debut include “Hammer”, “Game Over”, “Dodongo”, ” and “Panic”, though it was difficult to choose favorites among the many worthy songs on the album. All in all, the style is generally static throughout, but the listener won’t mind, because there is more than enough musical variety throughout. IndieMusicLove.com grants an obvious 5 out of 5 stars for Dan Crowdus’ groundbreaking debut into a much anticipated fruitful career in music.
You can check out The Icarus Kid by clicking on following link:
(4/5)
The Spinto Band is an Indie Rock band based out of Wilmington, Delaware. They originally formed as a recording project in the late 90’s by high school students. The early years of the band are described by frontman Nick Krill by saying ‘Every other band we knew would play in their garage and do the live thing. They’d do a bunch of concerts, then go, ‘Oh man, we’ve gotta record now?’ But we just had this crap in the basement and all we’d do was record, so we had 20 90-minute tapes full of junk before we played our first show’. As a result of their experience, The Spinto Band get very creative with the recording process, as you can see on certain videos on their YouTube page (link below). ‘Moonwink’, the band’s sixth studio album and first full length release through Park the Van records was released in 2008. The album can be described as having a sound that mixes the Talking Heads, The Beatles, possibly The Cars, as well as today’s Indie bands. A few of ‘Moonwink’s’ highlights are the ‘Later On’, ‘Summer Grof’, ‘The Carnival’, ‘Needlepoint’, ‘Pumpkins & Paisley’, and more. Nick Krill has been compared to David Byrne, both in that they share similar voice characteristics such as slurred words and overall sound, and also in that they have similar mannerisms. Krill shares the title of ‘frontman’ with bassist and vocalist Thomas Hughes. ‘Moonwink’ is a great album all the way through and I would suggest it to any Indie Music fan. The Spinto Band would be an interesting band for any songwriter, lyricist, self-recording artist, or music fan. 4 out of 5 stars.
REGARDING THE YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
I’ve said that The Spinto Band is very creative with the recording process. It should also be known that they were the first band to take part in Vincent Moon’s now popular ‘Take-Away Shows’. It seems that they took the live performance taping concept to a new level. The band actually put out live music videos to promote the release of ‘Moonwink’. Such videos can be seen for the songs ‘Later On’, ‘Needlepoint’, ‘The Carnival’, and ‘They All Laughed’.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SpintoBand
(3.5/5)
The Anchor Boys are a rambunctious Pop Punk/Hardcore band from Philadelphia who have recorded their first EP on Transit Records, a relatively new label from Philly. Their EP drops on July 27th and it can be previewed on the band’s MySpace page (link below). For a four piece band they have a very large sound that is impressive, sharp, and deep. The guitars are distorted and the bass rings with just enough spring to fill out the rest of the sound. The Anchor Boys like to do chanty yells for background vocals. Sort of like Arcade Fire, but much more likely to pummel you with baseball bats. The drums have the familiar sound of most modern punk music with a tight high snare and a kick drum equalized so as to replicate the sound of a battle between firecrackers and cannonballs, respectively. Though the Anchor Boys have enough hard music to keep up with Screamo bands, they avoid that label with their surprisingly toned down vocals with harmonies that aren’t necessarily unique, but work none-the-less. The lyrics they pen are interesting and unique unlike most new music nowadays. To utter the line, ‘Blueberry pancakes would be nothing without you’, seems a bit trivial when compared to the large scale sounds of the band, but that is all part of the Anchor Boy’s attitude. The more people try to tell them what to do, the less they will listen. They describe themselves as Pop Punk and go as far as to compare themselves to Blink 182 in a blog post they published on April 15th. The band sticks to the popular hardcore sound by using harmonized lead guitars, screaming, and intense drumming. Their EP itself is full of well produced tracks, though you may forget where one starts and another ends due to the fact that they all sound similar, but that is usual for a debut. Top tracks include: ‘Blueberry Pancakes’, ‘Decemberism’, and ‘Kidney Stones’. If you don’t like harder music you will not enjoy this EP, though for scene music and Pop Punk, it achieves top marks for being a band that IndieMusicLove.com is proud to review and would like to see live if ever given a chance to attend a show in Philadelphia.
(4.5/5)
‘We All Belong’ is the 4th album, and 2nd album released on a label, by Philadelphia’s own Dr. Dog. Originally formed in 1999-ish (Dr. Dog started as a sort of project, so it’s hard to say when they formed) by Toby Leaman (co-lead vocals, bass) and Scott McMicken (co-lead vocals, guitar), Dr. Dog is a band that combines the sounds of the 1960′s with those of today’s Indie Music to make a sound that is all their own. It seems that in 2007, they finally reached their potential with ‘We All Belong’. This is probably partly due to the better recording equipment they had during the making of this album. This album really got the band noticed, and the song ‘Old News’ was listed as #40 is Rolling Stone’s 100 best songs of 2007. The album landed itself as #39 on Rolling Stone’s top 50 albums of 2007. Like all of the band’s albums, this one is great from start to finish with no ‘skippers’. Given this absolute fact, it’s hard to pick out favorites, but I’ll try. Highlights from the album might include the peppy ‘Old News’, the album’s hit ‘My Old Ways’, ‘The Girl’, ‘Alaska’, ‘Keep A Friend’, and the title track ‘We All Belong’. Another one of the great songs is ‘Die, Die, Die’. I’ll admit that this song takes getting used to, but once you’ve listened to it a few times, you’ll realize that you find auditory comfort in Toby’s strained vocals, the distorted organ, the lazy drumming, the slightly out of tune slide guitar, and the harmonized backgrounds. ‘We All Belong’ is a terrific album, and like all Dr. Dog albums, it gets better with each listen. Therefore, we at IndieMusicLove give this disc 4.5 stars out of 5. Go pick up a copy of ‘We All Belong’ as well as everything else is Dr. Dog’s discography.
(4/5)
What can be said about the breakaway solo project of the lead singer of legendary band The Killers? A wave of sentiment fills the listener with remorse for the perceived loss of a metaphorical family member. From another direction excitement is stirred from within for the anticipation of new material from an acclaimed songwriter and front man Brandon Flowers. In the midst of these mixed feelings, one thing is certain, IndieMusicLove.com has to write a review. ‘Crossfire’ is a technical success in every aspect. It starts off with a piano track and Flowers’ high soulful vocals and gradually builds into a perfect pop chorus that leaves no doubt that this song was made to be the single. The lyrics are as vague and captivating as ever, yet this niche seems a little worn at this point, under the circumstances of his leaving the Killers and all. Why can’t he add 4 descriptive words that would give the listener a frame of reference or something to think about?? It isn’t bad, but the lyrics could just be a little better. Is it catchy? Yes. Will you love it? Yes. It strays from the Killers’ material just enough, and reminds you of his pedigree with the same magnitude. IndieMusicLove.com grants Brandon with a 4 out of 5 stars for the balls it takes to go out on his own, and a frankly good song in the end. Does this reviewer hold a grudge? Yeah I do, but only because of the lack of serious Indie flare made obvious by the corporate paint job on this song. We were expecting something raw, not a 10 track synth karaoke sugar rush straight to the main vein. Brandon is good, but we hope the rest of it differs from this slightly. His debut album ‘Flamingo’ from which the single is taken will be released September 14th in the U.S.A (September 6th in the UK, seriously what makes them better???).
(4.5/5)
‘Whatever People Say I am, That’s What I’m Not’ is the debut album from English Indie Rock band ‘Arctic Monkeys’. The album received incredible hype and sold 363,735 copies in the first week in the UK, making it the fastest selling debut album in UK chart history. The album sold 34,000 copies in its first week of being released in the US, making it the second fastest selling debut album for an Indie Rock band in the US. All this was for very good reason. This album is wonderful from start to finish. The band combines the sounds of fast technical drumming, Indie guitar riffs, and Alex Turner’s (Julian Casablancas’ British twin no doubt) lyrical observations of inner city England to make great garagey, post-punk, Indie wonder. Although the whole album is terrific, some highlights include ‘The View From the Afternoon’, ‘Fake Tales of San Francisco’, ‘You Probably Couldn’t See For the Lights, But You Were Staring Straight At Me’, ‘Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But…’ , ‘When The Sun Goes Down’, and ‘Mardy Bum’. This album is a perfect sing-along album, which explains the famous audience participation that occurs at their concerts. You will not be able to get this disk out of your stereo for at least a month. IndieMusicLove.com and many friends would agree that this album deserves a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5. We suggest that you go buy this as soon as possible if you haven’t already.