Page 25 - the NOISE APril 2013

Unwrap it all and skin me. Climb on all the branches in me. Look through light and see me in it. Name the game so we can win it.
And, everything, oh everything, In your cloaks you go, Disguising what you work through,
Talking to me as I go.
And, become my life, become my time.
Become that you that’s never mine. Let that come through, let glory shine. Grow up and feel the change inside.
— LIttle WIngs, “Everybody”
the resonars
Crummy Desert Sound
Burger records
jjj
What Tucson’s Resonars do well is actual- ly sound like they were recorded in the 60s, rather than sound like the multitudes that really want to sound that way. Matt Ren- don, who could very well be playing every- thing, has successfully done the often tried: blending John and Paul’s songwriting with Pete, John and Keith rock chops.
There’s some other Big Star-ish weird- ness, and it sounds like some lost 60s group trying to make it big, and just never got picked up by anyone that could ‘move units.’ “Expectations” is the early vote for best album track but the guitar shredding in “Vanishing People” is pretty intense. As good of a primer as any for anyone that thinks Arizona has no good straight up rock n roll bands. But I don’t think anyone thinks that.
decker.
Slider
self released
jjj
the resonars; eat Skull
In Most Interesting Man in the World Nar- rator Voice: I don’t like every song on Eat Skull’s perfectly titled third record, but the songs that I do, are great songs. In fact, this album seems to lose steam much like Dos Equis’ ad campaign- pretty darn quickly. However, it goes by in a flash, so it’s really hard to complain. Alternately brings to mind lo-fi Guided by Voices, Sonic Youth, Neutral Milk Hotel, Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall and other indy-rock darlings.
It’s trippy, poppy, and occasionally the singer-songwriter sneaks out from behind all the curtains. It’s kind of like the whole “A- Side” (I don’t think this has been released on vinyl) is pretty smoking, from “Space Acad- emy” to “Stupid Moon,” but the “B-Side” is pretty flat until the longest song, the ender,
“Catch Em Before They Vanish,” kind of sal- vages the ship a bit. It’s a psychedelic treat. The lyrics are pretty morbid throughout, in a good, creative way. “Watching dead horses decompose,” indeed. And those “taxidermy eyes.” Of course!
lions in the street
On the Lam EP
Beverly Martel records
jj
The way the press release proselytized, I thought I was getting my hands on Bruce Springsteen doing something along the lines of Prince aping Appetite for Destruc- tion. RAWK and Fucking Roll. Well, there are some tasty riffs and the Lions are not afraid to shred a superbly wanky guitar solo. And it’s an EP, so all the tracks are solid.
Actually, the EP starts on a killer super- heavy riff, but it’s the amazing production that kills this right away. It’s just a personal preference, but there is nothing raw about this, and that’s a bummer.
Springsteen and Prince were able to shine with their extensive production budgets, but Springsteen’s best album is Nebraska and Prince’s best stuff comes through because of the guitars and his voice (oh, that voice.)
I like “In the Van,” which might be my fa- vorite song on the album- kind of a trippy vocal-heavy sleeper. Nice harmonies. Al- most sounds like a throwaway to how me- ticulously some of these other songs build up and breakdown; the songs are very obviously lovingly and painstakingly con- structed.
If the songs aren’t great, and they mostly are, they sound amazing. “Shadow Days” has a soulful slink to it. The fuzzy guitar with the slide sound like two styles of rock n roll getting to know each other in the Biblical sense. Actually, there’s great gui- tar and percussion on all these tracks. The whistles are nice on “Blowhard.”
Much like the preceding EP, I like when there’s no vocals. The end on “Weight in Gold Pt. 1” for example, is fantastic. There’s just some ‘oooohs’ that are very nice. I won- der if there’s just one too many ‘oooohs’ on this album. There’s so many.
It could just be me.
eat skull
III
Woodsist
jj
>> ContinueD on 26 >>
thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news
• APRIL 2013 • 25