2008-Oct-29 - Blue Background - Are you Listening

Blue Background’s latest EP, Are you Listening, offers the same ol’ pop rock formula – acoustic guitar and sweet, layered vocals – but the organs and keyboards add a little flair to their otherwise trite style.  

“Through to You”:  Matchbox 20 with Lisa Loeb vocals and a sprinkle of whiny keyboards.  Vocalists Sarah Mick and Maggie Tielker are a cute duo and their voices do meld quite nice together.  It reminds of Avril Lavigne in terms of the sugar pop sound, but with much better vocals. 

“Blame It All on You”:  This one is a little more “heavy” because the vocals sound aggravated, although the lines “Counting Crows on the radio / grab this before it leaves” and “I throw my fingers in the air / and I’m okay because that sometimes life’s not fair” completely confuse me.  What was the point of mentioning Counting Crows?  And fingers in the air?  Huh?

“Anything From Anyone”:  Definitely reminds me of early ‘90s pop, kind of like Belly or Magnapop.  This one is a highlight not because of the lyrics, but because the melody is so catchy, albeit incredibly formulaic.

“Given Up”:  Nice piano for this mellow ballad, but all in all it’s a snoozer.

“Radio”:  Other than the cliché changing the radio before and after the song, it’s enjoyable.  Reminds me very much of The Corrs.

“This Time”:  See “Through to You.”

“From the Start”:  The dramatic closer, with keyboards purring in the background, more intense vocals, and guitars and drums that are used to maintain the beat.  This would be a song that would be on that show The OC where the girl would be at the airport about to board her plane when her crush runs stops her and confesses his love.  It’s that kind of song.

So is Blue Background awful?  Not at all.  This band has a lot of work to do, but they’re very talented and can create some good, catchy pop songs.  The problem is that although there will always be an audience for this type of music, the genre is played out.  If they came out with this EP 10 years ago, it would have caught on much sooner.  Even pop rock goddess Alanis Morrissette is struggling to find her niche again; it’s obvious that the pop rock public has moved on to the likes of Green Day, Maroon 5 and Evanescence.  But music history does repeat itself, and when this genre is hot again, I’m sure Blue Background will be waiting.

2008-Sep-11 - Dipsomaniacs - Praying Winter

Praying Winter was released on the Australian label Camera Obscura as long ago as 2003, but that doesn’t stop us at CDreviews.com from liking the album and promoting it.  Reigning in their more arena rock stylings that dominated 2001’s Stethoscopic Notion, this latest outing from the Dipsomaniacs opts for blissful chamber pop.  Chief Dipsomaniac Øyvind Holm leads the band through fourteen songs that, if quieter, are also darker and more emotionally intense than any of their previous releases.  And of course, this is still a psychedelic band; so the dreamy soundscapes and occasional backwards taping suits the band nicely.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.  The Dipsomaniacs’ chief influence is the king of bands: the Beatles.  Holm’s honeyed yet nasal voice can only remind us of the Fab Four, not to mention the unbeatable melodies and psychedelic outlook.  However, the music is so damned good this time that carping about influences is particularly untimely on the reviewer’s part.  The band was already good, but this album marks their move into the great. 

The perfectly constructed “How To Fall”, with its oddly-timed pick sweeps and trombone comments, is nothing if not a good example of this band’s maturity.  “There’s a limit to what I can take / But you push is it just for the sake / Of the pain you might cause if I break? / It’s a rusty and well-oiled mistake.”  Never has Holm given us such controlled yet profound regret.  Likewise, on “Caught by This Feeling” Holm squeezes out so much emotion with every shift in his voice.  Here again the emphasis is on looking back to the past in a sort of reckoning.  Holm sees his innocence in the past dissolve with the uncertainty of today “caught by this feeling.”

On the flip side, the harder songs rollick with sarcasm.  The release found in “One Good Cry” is obviously temporary and false; consequently the band’s heavier guitars drive the point home with bitterness.  For the most part, though, the Dipsomaniacs vacillate between the longing of unrequited love and the regret that’s discovered when we finally get what we want… and find it’s not what we want.

Musically, these songs excel at velocitizing the listener.  Let me explain the word “velocitize” as Microsoft Word seems to feel it’s bogus.  When you drive on the highway, after a while you get adjusted to moving at a high velocity and feel like you’re going much slower than you actually are.  That’s being velocitized.  Likewise, the Dipsomaniacs often throw their melodies at you in so many varied speeds all at the same time that you don’t know whether or not they’re going fast or slow.  Of course, they’re neither one nor the other: they’re both.  But our ears don’t register that very well in action, and instead the listener is pleasantly mesmerized (or velocitized).  The fluttering drums and the meandering guitars that follow the chords have different speeds, but are all part of the same signal that is “Don’t Think You’re Safe.”  “Beyond Repair” is another good example.

“Bah,” you say, “I don’t care about all this pop-music-theory!  You probably can’t even read music! Just tell me whether or not to buy the album!”

Well, you should buy it. 

Although some of the tragedy in this album is a tad forced, on the whole the Dipsomaniacs do an excellent job of basking in the summer of psychedelic rock (the 60’s), while managing to be more self-aware and regretful (the 90’s).  True, the lyrics in the CD booklet are printed in Courier, which is so last decade, but hey, nobody’s perfect.  Many of us seem to be in denial when it comes to living in the aughts (the 00’s), and if the Dipsomaniacs (how uncouth! a psychedelic band!) are among the many, I won’t throw any stones.  Neither should you.

2008-Sep-11 - Feeder - Pushing The Senses

Musically, Pushing The Senses expands on the more contemplative, mature moments of Comfort In Sound, and delivers elegant, melancholic pop-rock with both American & Brit sensibilities, soaring harmonics, and charmingly wistful lyrics. Unfortunately for fans of Feeder’s earlier albums, this means an even further progression from the band’s “heavier” days and “Buck Rogers”-like antics, though enthusiasts of Comfort In Sound or such bands as Snow Patrol, Keane, Athlete, etc., should find plenty to rejoice about on Pushing The Senses (Music Reviews). Now, from a creative and sonic standpoint, this album is probably the group’s most accessible & restrained effort to date, yet it can be argued that this release is also the band’s most polished and enduring. After all, despite boasting a modest ten tracks, any one of the songs found on Pushing The Senses is a compelling aural experience that reflects the confidence and durability of the band, while teeming with emotional resonance. For fans of Comfort In Sound’s “Come Back Around” or “Just The Way I’m Feeling”, standouts like the ultra-hooky “Feeling A Moment” or the atmospheric “Morning Life” could become your new favorites, whereas the more delicately crafted ballads in “Pain On Pain” and “Dove Grey Sands” take the band to new heights. Of the remaining songs, the first single “Tumble & Fall” and “Frequency” possess a singer-songwriter mentality, “Tender” and “Bitter Glass” are sweet Brit-pop affairs, and the edgier rock tracks “Pushing The Senses” and “Pilgrim Soul” prove the band hasn’t completely forgotten their roots. As a whole, Pushing The Senses is yet another accomplished release from the underappreciated Feeder whose fame may not yet match their impact on the music scene, but given the recent resurgence of Brit artists’ popularity, this may be the year that Feeder finally gets their due…

NOTE: Album released in UK only on January 31, 2005. U.S. release date TBA.