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Archive for the ‘local licks’ Category

Love Is Chemicals, Paul Iorio, Real Blood, and Kat Parra

Reviews originally published in the East Bay Express on 3/5/08.

Love Is Chemicals, Song of the Summer Youth Brigade — The indie rock train keeps on chuggin’, as tiny bands make tiny moves in the right direction and together maintain momentum. San Francisco’s Love Is Chemicals does its part on this sophomore recording, a brooding, breezy set borrowing the best of Brit-pop and West Coast rock. (Near Earth Objects)

Paul Iorio, Make a Noise! — Here we have a guy with his guitar, singing about life and its accoutrements. Iorio hits a few right notes and a few wrong ones, though the end effect is all it was meant to be. Opener “Secret” is strongest, “Headin’ Down to the Cool Jerk” does Elvis, and “Waterboardin’ USA” waxes political to the tune of the Beach Boys. (self-released)

Real Blood, Real Blood EP — Real Blood are rough around the edges, but that’s okay because they’re also young do-it-yourselfers. More glaring is a general aimlessness in the songwriting, which the Oakland trio could overcome by embracing its playful indie-rock center and building upon those New Order and Stephen Malkmus guitar lines. (self-released)

Kat Parra, Azucar de Amor — A bevy of romantic Latin rhythms rooted firmly in nightclub jazz, sometimes with near-pop appeal; perhaps a tad watered down, but where Parra and her band lack fire, they exude technical grace. This music is all about feeling, and Azucar de Amor feels right. (Patois Records)

Touch My Rash, Fluorescent Grey, Gemini Soul, and Killian Garnet MacGeraghty

Reviews originally published in the East Bay Express on 2/27/08.

Touch My Rash, Doomed from the Start, Pissed-off frustration can be therapeutic, and San Jose’s Touch My Rash delivers the goods with a subtle sense of humor. Lead singer Colin Kutch affects a snarl that’s just punk enough, while the music is reliably simple, fast, and catchy. What healthier way to spend 28 minutes? (Bittersick Records)

Fluorescent Grey, Gaseous Opal Orbs. Though GOO’s shapeless, heavily experimental electronic tableaus are pretty far out-there, Robbie Martin’s sophomore disc as Fluorescent Grey contains his most accessible compositions yet — which goes to show that perception is everything. (Record Label Records)

Gemini Soul, The Nefertiti Experience. Jazz doesn’t get much funkier, or perhaps it’s the other way around. Gemini Soul’s smooth, groovy fusion (they call it “cyber jazz”) rests on the poppin’ fingers of bandleader and bass-master Andre Ajamu Akinyele. (Pearl Jazz Recording Label)

Killian Garnet MacGeraghty, Celebration Songs. Gun & Doll Show frontman MacGeraghty recorded imaginative, quasi-pop theme songs for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and more, then threw them alongside a few non-holiday numbers. Even when repeated in five languages, his version of “Happy Birthday” doesn’t get old. (Mad Chatter Records)

The Federalists, Rennick, Spandex Tiger, and Xiu Xiu

Reviews originally published in the East Bay Express on 2/20/08.

The Federalists, The Federalists. Professional-quality album art suggests this East Bay rock group means business. Indeed, after spending all of 2007 on the record, the four members look forward to extensive touring. The kicker: their grasp on classic pop is strong enough to get them noticed here and everywhere else. (self-released)

Rennick, 611-07-0681. Rennick’s sophomore record features gothic electro-pop done about as well as you’re likely to find. That’s good, because he’s going for broke: the title is his Social Security number. “The most trusting … act that any one person can ever do,” reads a note in the inside sleeve, “is to provide full exposure to all without fear.” (Rennick Music Group)

Spandex Tiger, Dumpster Love. Anyone expecting trash will get it. Late at night, looking for some pussy is the first line singer Rich Filthy growls. Really dumb, mostly fun rock is what you find in songs like “Tijuana Hand Job,” “Hemorrhoid,” and “Cock Vein,” though you’d better be drunk in a dive bar to actually appreciate them. (Hunkerdown Productions)

Xiu Xiu, Women as Lovers. Jamie Stewart’s most accessible batch of songs yet is still pretty freaky. His voice is a whisper, his melodies are ghostly, and his songs are populated with unidentifiable sounds. But by reducing his emotional distance and allowing his songcraft to mature, Stewart found what he probably always wanted: art for all of us. (Kill Rock Stars)

Chow Nasty, Jimbo Trout and the Fishpeople, Mia and Jonah, and the Mumlers

Reviews originally published in the East Bay Express on 2/13/08.

Chow Nasty, Super (Electrical) Recordings (Omega Records). Since forming in 2003, funky San Francisco party band Chow Nasty has relied as much on novelty as on its ability to move asses. The trio’s debut full-length, produced by Peanut Butter Wolf, sounds something like !!! or LCD Soundsystem minus the hip factor, plus madness and a James Brown fascination.

Jimbo Trout and the Fishpeople, Hillbilly Bebop-Boogie (Fishwrap Records). Twang lovers couldn’t ask for much more. The Bay Area band’s first-rate bluegrass, blues, and honky-tonk covers come from a place where banjo, fiddle, and accordion were de rigueur — somewhere the modern world never crept. Only excellent recording quality betrays the fantasy.

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