Jenny and Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now

Paul's Choice:

Jenny and Johnny - I’m Having Fun Now

Friend Review:

Hey-o!

So let’s get some news updates up in hurr:
1. Sorry for being so late. College is hard, NOBODY TOLD ME!
2. My radio show is going good, starting next semester, I’m gonna save all my shows and post them up here for you to listen to! Or you can listen live if you’d like, I’m not sure what time slot I’ll have but I’ll let you know about that when I know.
3. I’m now Assistant Music Director for the radio station! The really rad thing about that is that I’ll be reviewing about 5 albums a week for the station, so there’s really no excuse for me not to have my reviews done on time.
4. Be At Leso is planning shows and writing and all that good stuff. If you want us to play for you, let us know, we’d love to.
5. Again, sorry, I’m so late. I’ll gonna try to get caught up, and I promise I’ll be better about this next year!
6. We’re gonna have a “Best of the Year” post coming up soon. It’ll have a lot of lists. Bitches love lists.
<3 Now about the album! So, this is the beautiful Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley collaborating with her boyfriend Jonathon Rice. Cool beans. There’s not much I really know about her other than the fact that she is one of the absolute hottest women in indie rock. Seriously, man. But enough of my drooling, this album… Well, there’s nothing special about it. There’s nothing bad about it at all. It’s actually pretty enjoyable to listen to. It’s just not special. It’s about the purest form of indie rock that there is, there’s no delving into other genres or any experimentation at all. I think just about anyone can pick up this album for some simple listening, I think hardly anyone will find it brilliant or awful. If you’re looking for average you can’t go wrong with this. If you’re looking for anything greater you will but utterly disappointed.

Merry Christmas and God bless!

Friend Rating:

6.7

Hipster Review:

Many moons ago I was into a little band called Rilo Kiley, whose frontwoman Jenny Lewis I had become intrigued by (due partly to, and I'm a bit ashamed to admit it, a big crush I had on her). Her solo work was very different from that of her band, mixing her indie sensibilities with an ear for vintage country, a la Loretta Lynn. For a while I was taken by her debut Rabbit Fur Coat, fascinated by how a modern artist had so seamlessly brought such a old sound and injected it with such vigor. I could still listen to it today and enjoy it. But as time passes, old flames die out...
Today, I have little to no interest in Rilo Kiley's music. It doesn't do anything for me, and even her solo work doesn't inspire the same feeling of fascination that it once did. It was a phase, and it has long passed. So I approached I'm Having Fun Now with somewhat of an "eh" reaction; I just took it for what it was and didn't go into it expecting anything terribly gripping. Sure enough, I walked away from this safe albeit fun album with no conceptions shattered. It is a fun, cute album and not much else; the concept of having Lewis collaborate with boyfriend/songwriter Johnathan Rice pretty much spells out the album's experience. I did enjoy it more than I thought I would, but that isn't saying much in this case. Lewis fans will be pleased, all others left unmoved.

Hipster Rating:

6.7

Coming up next, False Priest by Of Montreal!

The Walkmen - Lisbon

Taylor's Choice:

The Walkmen - Lisbon

Hipster Review:

The Walkmen are a one-of-a-kind band; their echoey baroque/rock & roll mixture is distinguished from every other indie rock band today (except maybe The National), and this uniqueness provided the last decade with some of the most gripping music around. Their last two records both offered something that the other didn't: one (Bows + Arrows) throwing a rock/post-punk barrage, the other (You & Me) providing a more atmospheric, disarming sound.
Now the group kicks off in the new decade with Lisbon, perhaps their most restrained, relaxed album yet. The songs here are very exotic-sounding, pulling out more horns, drumming up (see what I did there?) more flavorful beats, and overall varying their sound pallet a bit more. While it's not a dramatic sound shift (it's stylistically similar to You & Me) Lisbon still feels very fresh, in fact fresher than most albums I've heard this year. There's a huge surf rock vibe, and that influence makes each song catchy and fluid. The band feels at their most playful here, giving each song plenty of room to breath, and while each song feels breezy they don't feel empty. And some of the compositions here rank among the group's best, such as "Angela Surf City" and "Woe Is Me". Overall, even though Lisbon isn't the Walkmen's best album, it's still one of the most enjoyable, pleasant albums I've heard all year.

Hipster Rating:

8.7

Friend Review:

Hey guys, sorry it’s been so long. I’ve been really bogged down here at school, so I’m gonna try to post a bunch of quick reviews up just to get caught up on stuff. So these’ll be short but hopefully they’ll get the point across. Again, sorry.

Oh! But first here’s some super rad news!

I have a radio show here at Texas A&M! It’s called Paulcore, and it airs Thursday nights/Friday mornings from midnight to 2 AM. You can listen at kanm.tamu.edu. I play indie pop and rock so I always make sure to throw in a few pieces of stuff that we’ve reviewed recently in there. It’d be really cool if you would listen!

I first heard The Walkmen after hearing their song “The Rat” on the radio. I feel like this song is simply brilliant and impressive and shows what they are really capable of. Before this album I listened to Bows + Arrows and the only track I really liked was “The Rat”. This album follows in the same nature as Bows, everything is very slow and it drags on a lot. Each song gets repetitive within the first minute. There’s just not much energy in this music and the songs get long very very quickly. It might just not be my thing, but I wasn’t impressed. These guys remind me a lot of The National and I’d always prefer to listen to the latter.

Friend Rating:

5.7

Coming up next, I’m Having Fun Now by Jenny and Johnny!

Interpol - Interpol

Taylor's Choice:

Interpol - Interpol

Hipster Review:

After looking back at some of my previous reviews, I realize that I have a really weird way of rating my albums; there were a lot of times where I'd read a review, then look at the score to realize that it didn't exactly match my commentary, or even true feelings, on the album (prime example: M.I.A.'s Maya - by the way, that shit's a 6.3). I apologize. I promise to deliver more representative scores from now on, starting with this little number: Interpol's fourth, eponymous album.

Over the past year, Interpol has, for me, grown from a band who initially I didn't really dig into a band whose music I really love. The group's first two albums (the near classic debut Turn On The Bright Lights and their fantastic follow-up Antics) have really grabbed me after repeated listens, and the thing I love about them most is how well-balanced they are as listening experiences; both are carefully crafted and strike the perfect balance of abstraction and tunefulness (though Antics is a smidgen less of the former).
So when I heard about the group's plans to release a fourth album later this year, I became pretty excited. The first song release "Lights" gathered somewhat mixed reception as far as I saw, though personally I kinda liked it. I mean, it's not a fantastic song, but it's miles above "The Heinrich Maneuver." Then when "Barricade" was released as the first single, I got a bit more excited. I was digging both song's atmospheric tones, and expected the album to be more akin to Bright Light's moodiness. It is, but I should've known better (and maybe I did all along and just didn't feel like admitting it) than to expect something brilliant. It's even shown in the singles: "Lights" is no "Hands Away," and "Barricade" is no "Evil," for damn sure. So here it is: it's an alright album. It's definitely not up to par with their best material, but it also isn't the unadventurous bore that Our Love To Admire was. It is, above all else, disappointing, although those not exactly enamored by the first singles probably won't be too shaken. There's a couple of nice songs on here, but overall the moodiness just feels a bit... empty; it doesn't really serve much of a purpose other than to be moody. There's also no real artistic cohesion on the album that makes it anything truly special or noteworthy. It's an average album by a band that has done plenty better, and is more than capable of doing so again.

Hipster Rating:

7.3

Friend Review:

Howdy! So funny story about this new music… Interpol’s one of my girlfriend Sarah’s favorite bands so when I first heard a song on the radio I asked her, “Hey, what do you think of the new Interpol song? I think it’s pretty cool.” And then she said, “I hate it, it’s soooo boring,” or at least something along those lines. And then, I’m not sure why, but Taylor was there and he said something like, “Really? I think it’s pretty good too!” Anyways, as it turns out, Taylor and I were referring to the song “Barricade” and Sarah was talking about “Lights”. I didn’t even know they had more than one song out on the radio. Anyways, miscommunication is bad, so always clarify your conversations, kids.
Interpol is one of those bands that are kinda in the middle for me. They have a few songs that are nothing short of amazing (“Evil”, “The New”, “PDA”) but overall they don’t have enough variety in their sound to interest me 100% of the time. I still fully respect them, and if someone were to come up to me and say, “Interpol is my favorite band.” I’d say, “That’s cool, man.” I’m pretty sure this review has more dialogue than anything else I’ve ever written; pretty soon it’ll just turn into a screenplay:

Paul and Taylor Delve into Interpol: The Attack of the Hipster; part IV

Man, that’d be the coolest thing ever. Also I’m pretty sure this is the most I’ve ever written while hardly touching on the album at all. So for those of you who come here to actually read about music, I apologize. And to those of you who like to read this blog while laughing quietly to yourself, you’re welcome.
Anyways, as for the actual album, Interpol returns with the same sound they’ve shown for their past album. As sad as it is to say, there’s nothing really to write home about. If you love their past work, then I’m sure you’ll be very happy with their latest, however if you were never one of their biggest fans I highly doubt this album will change your mind. Oh, but for the record, “Lights” doesn’t suck, I rather like it. This isn’t a bad album; it just wasn’t great or noteworthy in my opinion at least. I sincerely hope that you feel differently about it. Toodles.

Friend Rating:

6.8

Coming up next, Fields by Junip!

Best Coast - Crazy For You

Paul's Choice:

Best Coast - Crazy For You

Friend Review:

Hey guys! Sorry for all the delay, this Sunday I moved into my dorm at Texas A&M University! So woo for that, but the downside is I’ve been really really busy since I moved. So unfortunately, updates may be a bit more sparse now, but I’m gonna try my best to keep my grades up while still staying in touch with the world of music!

But anyways, I first listened to this album before I actually went to college and all I could really think was, “Blah.” But that was a while ago, so I gave it another listen today. For the first few songs, I was actually surprised (“Boyfriend” and “Crazy For You” are golden) and was planning on changing my rating to something better than originally intended. But after the first four tracks, everything gets really boring really fast. The one thing I absolutely love love love about this album is the lyrics. Very simple, while still creative, and they can get the point across so yippee for that. I also think that’s the first time I’ve used yippee on this blog so yippee for yippee. But oh right, I should be talking about the music… Well, it’s just a slow-paced album, all the songs have very similar tempos and overall there’s just not enough to keep a casual listener interested. Best Coast has potential, but there definitely needs to be a lot of improvement before I become a fan. Each track on its own is decent enough, but listening to the album as a whole is just a big dull dud. Also, put another tally on the count for “Hipster Albums With Absolutely Awful Cover Art” (yes, there is a count). I don’t care how much you like cats, Miss Cosentino, drop your joint long enough to realize that crap suuuuuucks.

Friend Rating:

6.7

Hipster Review:

Best Coast is a relatively new group (they're about a year old) who has gathered a sizable following with a string of EPs and catchy singles. They follow in the lo-fi movement, alongside such groups as Wavves, and when you're part of a grouping such as this, it is of the utmost importance that you find some way of distinguishing yourself in order to keep yourself from just blending in with your peers. Gladly, Best Coast takes a more relaxed, chill vibe to their songwriting, which makes the music more accessible. The band is clearly inspired musically by 60's pop music, which contrasts effectively against frontwoman Bethany Cosentino's drowsy vocal delivery. So what you have here is a nice, fun, reverb-soaked summer garage pop record. And it's pretty good; however, I'm just not all that crazy about it. I mean, its good, and there's not anything terribly wrong with it. It's just a bit samey at times; too often I found myself not noticing a song going into the next, as a song would just kinda drifted right into the other without much change. But it's not bad by any means; if love 60's pop, the current trend of lo-fi rock, or if you just like some sunny music with a healthy dose of distortion, you'll dig this.

Hipster Rating:

8.0

Coming up next, Interpol!

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Taylor's Choice:

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Hipster Review:

It is said that positive emotion trumps negative emotion. The Suburbs, while guilty of the latter, is still fantastic record in it’s own right. In fact it’s brilliant, miles above Neon Bible. While that was a good record, it oftentimes suffocated itself with its own bombast; on the other hand, the key to [their debut] Funeral’s perfection was its ability to communicate big, powerful messages through intimacy. The Suburbs, however, opts to walk the line between intimacy and bombast, and succeeds because of the album’s careful craft; The Suburbs was not rushed or hurried for damn sure, and that carefulness is present in every aspect of the album. The record was clearly created as a complete experience, meant to be listened to from front to back; there is no filler, only pieces that serve as small parts of the whole. And instead of making catchy songs, the band is more concerned with making pieces that do more than please that hook-loving part of your brain. The album is also very downcast in tone; despite the sentiments stated above, the looming, powerful despair that hangs over the record cannot be ignored or denied. However, while sad, it’s a fighter, and the further one steps into the record the more one sees the flurry of mystery that resides inside; it's not just a sad sack album. Overall, The Suburbs is a beautiful, touching work, and easily one of the best albums I’ve heard this year.

Hipster Rating:

9.0

Friend Review:

I kinda lied about the New Politics album being next, sorry. I was hoping to interview them when they rolled through Dallas, but right now it’s looking like I may not be able to attend their show. : ( BUT! I promise I will do my best to see it and interview them for the blog and then post the interview and reviews this week! No promises though! Except for the album review, that will for sure be posted this week.

So, I’ve listened to this album nearly three times now and I’m still not sure what to think about it. It’s alright I suppose, slightly above the average mark. But there’s nothing that really amazes me. Then again, I’ve never really been the biggest Arcade Fire. I mean, I like Funeral as much as the next guy but I’ve never been obsessed with them. There may have been a time where I’d namedrop them pretty frequently to sound cool but I believe those times are over. Anyways, upon listening to this album, the instrumentation anything but bad, really the only thing I have against this album is the vocals. There doesn’t appear to be much energy in them, each song just kinda drones along. And at over 63 minutes, this album isn’t just a casual listen. This album felt more of a chore listening to it rather than listening to it for enjoyment. There are a few high points such as the track “Empty Room” and “Month of May” which are a bit livelier than their surrounding tracks, but overall the album is rather boring. But, I think that there may be sometime in the future when I want to listen to it again. This album is one of those where you have to be in the mood for it, which just kinda sucks. I guarantee you this will be one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year, but in my opinion it will also be one of the most overrated.

Friend Rating:

7.0

Coming up next, Let It Sway by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin!

Mystery Jets - Serotonin

Paul's Choice:

Mystery Jets - Serotonin

Friend Review:

So Taylor is finally back in town which makes me happy because I missed him and we can finally get back to reviewing! Anyways, today (well, it may be passed by the time this gets posted) is a special day because it is Ringo Starr’s birthday! He may not be the greatest drummer that ever existed but he’s the drummer of the greatest band that ever existed! And for that he should be commemorated, so in his honor I’m watching “A Hard Day’s Night”. Feels good, man.
On to the album then! Mystery Jets have always been kind of a favorite band of mine simply because you know how you find that band by yourself and then you get to introduce them to your friends so you feel cool? That’s how these guys were for me. I found their video for “Young Love” randomly on YouTube and show it to my buddy Sofia and I said something like, “These guys are cool.” And then I think she said something like, “Yeah, you’re right.” And… yeah, that’s about it. Their debut album Twenty-One was good so I was pretty interested in this album.
The album opens up with “Alice Springs” which I think is Mystery Jets’ best song to date and overall simply an amazing song. Besides this, nothing is really noteworthy of the album. It’s very slow-paced and there’s no really song that will get stuck in your head such as “Young Love”. Mystery Jets have always had an 80’s vibe attached to them and there are times in this album where it becomes increasingly annoying. Synth lines can be cliché nothing particularly grooves in the album. If you are interested in this band, I highly suggest you listen to Twenty One before giving Serotonin a listen as this appears to be a miscue for Mystery Jets.

Friend Rating:

5.4

Hipster Review:

I've never checked out Mystery Jets before this, and was looking forward to listening to them when Paul picked Serotonin for our next review. Although that album cover is kind of a red flag, I was open-minded while listening to the music. It's not bad... not great, but not terrible either.
Many of the songs here, despite the band's rock vibe, are strongly pop-minded; a lot of them reminded me of Phoneix, like my personal favorite "Lady Grey". Which isn't to say that Mystery Jets are master song crafters; in fact, they come off a bit uninspired at times. Sometimes there's too much fluff in the songs, like synths that appear for no real reason and kind of take away from the substance in the song. There's not a lot of soul in the album, and most of it just feels like bunch of guys making poppy rock music, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. There are a few pretty good songs on here, but honestly I wasn't too taken by the album as a whole; It's decent enough, but definitely not something that's particularly gripping. It gives me a vibe similar to the one I get from bands like The Kooks, but thankfully Serotonin isn't nearly that crappy. I don't mean to sound like Friend, but in this case I don't have much else except this to say:
It's alright.
Some will dig it, others won't; such is life. I didn't hate it, but I didn't dig it either.

Hipster Rating:

5.5

Coming up next, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty [sic] by Big Boi!

Wolf Parade - Expo 86

Paul's Choice:

Wolf Parade - Expo 86

Friend Review:

So Wolf Parade’s latest album comes out tomorrow, but we at HaF like to keep you ahead of the game so you can go brag to your friends about how indie/hipster you are and despite the relatively positive reviews of Wolf Parade’s latest album by a blog so obscure you’ve never even heard of it, you still think they will never again match the artistic ventures of Apologies. And yeah, you can’t say the full title, just Apologies, ‘cuz if they don’t know what you’re talking about then they’re not your friends. Anyways, on to the review.
Wolf Parade’s been one of my favorite bands ever since I first heard Apologies. That album is one I listen to regularly and in my opinion, is one of the best albums ever recorded. Unfortunately, due to the greatness of their debut album, I have not listened to their sophomore release At Mount Zoomer as much as I should. I’ve only listened to it two or three times, but as far as I can remember, it was pretty good. For the first fifteen minutes of Expo 86, I was thinking to myself, “Wow, they’ve actually done it. This is as good or better than Apologies.” The open track, “Could Shadow on the Mountain” is a very gorgeous track, featuring absolutely amazing drumming by Arlen Thompson and awesome vocals as always. However, past the first half of the album, it begins to feel very long. Wolf Parade loses its primary pop sound that is heard in Apologies and takes on more of an indie-rock feel to the album. It’s not such a bad feel, but I really do miss the poppy sound of Wolf Parade’s past synth lines and the screeching vocals from Apologies. But it’s not a bad album by any means, and I highly encourage all to give it a listen, especially if you have any interest in Wolf Parade.

Friend Rating:

7.6

Hipster Review:

Wolf Parade's last album At Mount Zoomer was something of a mixed bag for me; while it had plenty of the band's signature zany songwriting style, some of the songs showed the band's descent into more proggy waters that really bogged down the album's momentum and kept the songs from reaching their fullest potential. Which is unfortunate, because a band as manically creative as Wolf Parade was more than capable of keeping their ideas in check. But although the album had it's missteps, it wasn't anything damning; it was still a decent album, it just didn't display the band at their best.
Which is why I breathe a sigh of relief writing this review for their latest effort, Expo 86. While it's not in the realms of their near-perfect debut Apologies To The Queen Mary, Expo shows the band neatly balancing the line between their wild pop craft and their proggier tendencies. It's the band at their most relaxed and alternately insistent. They've gone back to the more straightforward song structure of Apologies, yet they also still give the songs plenty of breathing room to move around and expand, oftentimes to go into extended jams. Which brings up an albeit minor but still present complaint: many of the songs on here are a little too long. The 5-minute mark works for a couple of tracks, but sometimes a song will drag on a bit without much point but to simply be crazy. But thankfully this is a minor complaint, and the record comes together quite nicely. Like I said, it's not their debut, but it's also a lot better than I expected it to be. It's the work of a great band making music that only they can and doing it in the most fun way possible.

Hipster Rating:

8.5

Coming up next, How I Got Over by The Roots!

Tokyo Police Club - Champ

Paul's Choice:

Tokyo Police Club - Champ

Friend Review:

So Tokyo Police Club is playing tonight in Dallas, and unfortunately the show is sold out, but it’s all good, I need to save money anyways. But I will regret not seeing them because their latest album, Champ, really is a simply fun album to listen to. I saw Tokyo Police Club a couple years back when they opened up for Weezer and they really put on a great set. The interesting about Champ is that it doesn’t really have one gem of a song that stands above all the others. Instead, this is an album that really sounds best as a package. Instead, all of the songs flow together to create a simply peaceful sound. This album is just about perfect for casual listening. If you’re ever in need to simply break the silence, there are not many that can fit the bill better than Champ. It’s an album that doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not, it’s simple indie rock at its best, the way it should be. The instrumentation is subtle as there’s nothing really outstanding about it, but it’s still a pleasure with infectious synth lines and perfect-for-the-situation guitar playing. Everything is much calmer than their last album Elephant Shell and past EPs, but it’s a change that goes over okay for the band. This album is fun and easy in the simplest terms, and good way for anyone to reach into today’s indie rock.

Friend Rating:

8.3

Hipster Review:

I'm not terribly familiar with Tokyo Police Club; this is my first exposure to one of their full-length records. But I know enough about them to know that they aren't my type of thing, as I've heard a few songs from their debut LP Elephant Shell that failed to impress me. Which is surprising that I actually enjoyed my experience with Champ a lot more than I thought I would. It's nothing mind-blowing or revolutionary; it's just a fun, safe alt/indie rock album with a few more surprises than you'd expect. The biggest one I found was the band's frequent use of electronic guitar effects, which add more oomph and intrigue to the overall sound. Also, the band as it turns out is quite well-versed in song structure; the music is quite realized and developed, despite the fact that more often than not the lyrics are pretty undercooked and lack depth. Although there are few complaints I have with the album, there's nothing all that special about it as far as I can hear. But It is fun and well-made, no doubt about that, and I'm sure many people will find it quite enjoyable.

Hipster Rating:

7.5

Coming up next, Expo 86 by Wolf Parade!

Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts

Ello mates! We got a bit topsy-turvy with our scheduling so here's my choice today. Tomorrow we will have a not-music-related post of Hipster's choosing and on Sunday we will have Hipster's choice. Oh, and if we have enough time we'll try to throw a requested review in there!

With love,

HaF

P.s. I almost forgot! Let us know what you think of the new layout and whatnot. We have a chat box now, woo! Alright, I'll leave you alone now.

Paul's Choice:

Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts

Friend Review:

Doot do do… doot do do dooooo… Oh hi, I didn’t see you there. Alright, so my pick for this week was Nothing Hurts by Male Bonding. I first heard about these guys on XM radio because the album’s first single “Years Not Long” gets quite a fair bit of airtime on Alt Nation and XMU, those lucky ducks. Anyways, I then Youtube’d “Years Not Long” and witnessed the single’s video. Wow. It is the gayest things I’ve ever seen. And I’m not even using the connotation of gay to mean “lame”, I mean this is a very homosexual video. But that’s beside the point. The first thing you’ll notice when first opening this album is how short it is. The 14 songs whirl by in just under half an hour. As sad as it is to say, I’m glad this album was that short. The album has a punk rock feel to it mixed in with lo-fi sound. Almost all the songs are fast-paced and filled with energy, however many times it is hard to discern one song from the next. It’s hard to explain: there’s really not a bad song on the album. If I were listening to my iPod on shuffle and any one of these songs came up, I don’t think I would ever skip. However, listening to them all in a row is a bit draining. Whenever a song takes a break from the album’s typical sound, it is a breath of fresh air as is the case with “Franklin”. The instrumentation on the album sounds good, the drums are creative while simplistic and the guitar reminds me of Tokyo Police Club which is a good thing as far as guitar goes. The vocals are a bit drone-y and bland however. This band has all the right elements to be good, they just need to clean themselves up a bit and add in some more dynamics.

Friend Rating:

6.7

Hipster Review:

Mixing various styles of punk and indie rock, Male Bonding's debut Nothing Hurts creates an interesting blend of fuzz pop music. While there is a dizzying multitude of Lo-fi buzz bands these days, many of them lacking originality or distinction, the thing that makes Male Bonding an interesting group is their bleeding-heart sincerity; the passionate, albeit distorted, vocals convey heart and soul. And while close inspection may be needed to decipher what each song is about, the listener can still make out the underlying tone. The other quality that makes Nothing Hurts a distinctive experience is the musical performance of the group; while most Lo-fi bands pride themselves on their minimalist, lack-of-proper-instrumental-ability approach, Male Bonding plays with a pop mentality, crafting jumpy mini-anthems that explode instead of crash. And the album's short length makes it plenty easy to take in if you happen to be one with short patience. While it's not the brilliant work that some critics have hyped it up to be, it's still a fine album in its own right by a promising new band.

Hipster Rating:

8.4

Coming up tomorrow, tea!

Born Ruffians - Say It

Paul's Choice:

Born Ruffians - Say It

Friend Review:

So way back when (last year), my friends went to go see Franz Ferdinand perform at the House of Blues and opening up for them was this new rad band called Born Ruffians. Instead of going to the show like a good little musician, I opted to go to prom instead. While I don’t regret going to prom (my date was pretty cool I guess), I really wish I could’ve seen Born Ruffians because right after my friends raved about their performance I downloaded Red, Yellow, & Blue and absolutely fell in love. While Say It does provide a good listening experience, it can’t match the fun of the sound Born Ruffians’ debut album brought.
Overall, Say It provides a good listening experience. It has a calm sound that can relax and please. However, I was hoping for much more. The best parts of this album are when you can hear Born Ruffian’s authentic sound. “Retard Canal” is probably their best representation. Poppy guitar riffs, choppy drums (which I usually hate, but in Born Ruffians’ stuff I don’t mind it at all; having a defining quality in drums feels good man), and a groovy bass groove makes me a happy man. The opening track “Oh Man” also has one of Born Ruffians distinctive qualities as they take one the sad tone that is a common sound in their debut album that gives a sincere feel to their songs. Besides this, it’s hard to hear Born Ruffians outside of the screechy vocals. I dearly miss their coordinated yelps and cries which I can only imagine would be absolutely fantastic with audience participations. Say It has a very different sound from Red, Yellow, & Blue. A calm, breezy groove is felt throughout the entire album which is very relaxing. It’s not a bad sound by any means, just kinda different from the spaz and excitement. If you were to go on a picnic and had this album playing in the background, I’m sure it would be very pleasant. Especially if you had turkey paninis to eat. I love turkey paninis. Anyways, I’m going to go watch The Chronicles of Narnia and see if there’s any sandwich shops open at the moment. This album is good, just different. And that’s the bottom line. Toodles.

Friend Rating:

7.0

Hipster Review:

After seeing Born Ruffians play with Franz Ferdinand in April last year at House Of Blues, I instantly fell in love with them. I got a copy of their debut album Red, Yellow & Blue that night, and it became a frequent spin on my iPod soon afterwards. To this day I still love the album, and while it's no classic, it is nevertheless a truly enjoyable listen. Now we come upon the sophomore follow-up, the album that usually spells out the fate of a band, the album that shows whether the band is truly worthy of it's praise or if it's simply a product of hype. The unfortunate latter is referred to as the "sophomore slump," and as much as I loved Red, Yellow & Blue, I had my sneaking suspicions that Say It would fall under that category.
I am happy to say that this is not the case, although it also doesn't belong in that former category either. It's simply a slightly-not-as-good-as-their-debut-but-nevertheless-enjoyable album. The best songs here are the ones where the band experiments a bit, where they move away from their comfort zone; alternately, the worst songs are the ones where they stay in their comfort zone too long, and as a result become stale. The interesting thing about Born Ruffians was always how loose and sporadic they were as a group, which makes it disheartening how a few of these songs don't have a lot of that unhinged juice in them. However, as unfortunate as their presence is there are only a few of them, and thankfully the quality of the album isn't marred too much. And while even the best songs on here can't match the pure fun of their debut, as long as you take the album for what it is, you'll enjoy yourself.

Hipster Rating:

7.6

Coming up on Sunday, This Is Happening by LCD Soundsystem!

P.s. Taylor and I graduated on Friday, leave a comment telling us congratulations! : D

The National - High Violet

Taylor's Choice:

The National - High Violet

Hipster Review:

Ever since I discovered their album Boxer back in 2008, The National have been one of my favorite bands. The cryptic lyrics and Post-punk/Baroque pop hybrid was unlike anything I'd ever heard at the time, and even now, after the many bands I've discovered since, it's hard to find a group as unique and distinct as them. And since then I have listened to the album countless times; even to this day it remains a gorgeous monument of indie rock at it's most genuine and gripping. So naturally when i heard that The National would be releasing a new album this year, I got pretty freaking excited. I bought a copy of the record on vinyl three days before it's official release, and excitedly I placed the LP on my record player and sat back, listening with great anticipation...
While only time will tell whether or not it's better than Boxer, High Violet is undeniably brilliant and stunning in it's execution. While a few of the songs (particularly the moody "Anyone's Ghost") show the band moving toward a more pop focus, none of these songs drift too far away from the The National's perfected sound; everything here is familiar and comforting, and I'd be hard-pressed to find a fan of the group finding fault with this record. It's flawlessly simple in it's scope; instead of making a record that completely flipped the band around, they instead lightly tweaked what needed tightening, not moving anything around too much; it's a safe approach, and in any other case it would bother me, but with High Violet the band finds a way to make the familiar feel fresh. It's just the album they should have made, and if anything has changed the songs now carry more deep emotional undercurrents. The lyrics are less cryptic and orient around various characters, each seemingly troubled, akward reflections of singer Matt Berninger's subconscious. All around, High Violet is a record that is practically perfect in every way, a fresh tweaking of an already uniquely established band.

Hipster Rating:

8.9

Friend Review:

Sorry for the delay guys.

My sophomore English teacher once told the class, “If you don’t have a love for a renowned piece of literature , there is a problem with you, not the literature.” I believe at the time he was talking about “Othello”. But anyways, this is how I feel about High Violet, that is, there is more flawed with my taste than the actual album. The only other piece I’ve heard by The National is Boxer, and there is so much I loved about Boxer than I can’t find on High Violet, notably the frantic drumming as seen in “Brainy”. So, it is typical of me to prefer music that is usually poppier and faster than average. But, just because I have preferences doesn’t mean something’s not good. I hope this makes sense to anyone reading because I’m starting to confuse myself. Anyways, there is plenty of content in High Violet that everyone can appreciate. Matt Berninger has one of the greatest voices out there right now in my opinion, and lyrically is a genius. To, High Violet is an album that has a place and a time. For example, I listened to it while working on my homework and thought it was just about perfect. It sets that kind of mood if you know what I mean. However, I don’t think I would appreciate nearly as much if I listened to it just while driving around town.
This might be one of the most contradictory and confusing reviews I’ve ever written so I’m just gonna end it with this. It’s not one my favorites, but you might love it!

Friend Rating:

6.9

Coming up on Wednesday, Say It by Born Ruffians!