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!

Junip - Fields

Paul's Choice:

Junip - Fields

Friend Review:

I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS BAND OR ALBUM I JUST CHOSE. Since being in college, I’ve found that I’m very lost in the sense of music releases and stuff. So when in a jam I’ll just try to find one album that has come out recently and use that as my choice. The good thing about this is there’s some kind of excitement in listening to an album that you know nothing about and since you don’t really know what it’s about, it’s like going into uncharted waters, it might be the most amazing album ever and you don’t even know about it. I found some of my very favorite bands by randomly choosing to check them out (The Rural Alberta Advantage and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, namely). Sadly, there’s also a counterpart to randomly choosing an album because it might just be something you hate. Place yourself in this situation, if you will: a market opens down the street from you, and you think, awesome, maybe they’ll have some berries and cherries I can eat. So you go down to the market and look around, and it turns out all they have is avocados. Ladies and gentlemen, Fields by Junip is a giant avocado.
I started listening to this album while working on calculus homework, and after three songs I was utterly bored. So bored that I had to write on Taylor’s Facebook telling him I was bored (if you’re not friends with us on Facebook, you should be! I’ll try to put up some links or something). There’s not much I can say to describe this music except that it’s dull. The instrumentation feels very repetitive. Usually if one instrument has a boring part it makes another instrument standout but it really sounds like a huge drone. What tops the cake for me though are the vocals. There’s simply no variation in them from song to song, it’s just really bland. I don’t feel like there is any individual song that stands out on this album, or really anything. It just feels like reading the same boring passage of a book over and over again. It’s boring. I think I’ve made my point.

Friend Rating:

4.8

Hipster Review:

Modern folk is kinda shaky ground for me. If a folk artist wants to get my attention, he or she has to shake the roots of the genre instead of doing the same, safe old thing, wading in the tepid pool of worn-out cliches. There's a handful that stick out (Devendra Banhart, Sufjan Stevens, Tallest Man On Earth, etc.), but overall it's a scene that I generally have little interest in.
So out of nowhere comes Junip, an indie-folk group that coats their acoustic compositions in electronic ambience in their debut(?) LP, Fields. Something on the album that really caught my attention- something that I didn't expect at all- was the beats. One can't accuse Junip's songs of lacking dynamics, as each of these eleven songs are arranged very differently from the last (there's even a bit of krautrock in "Rope & Summit"). It makes for an interesting experience for sure, and there's definitely a lot here that will pull listeners in for something truly unique. But the album does begin to drag near the end, with the compositions growing less inspired and more tossed off. But overall I found this album to be quite enjoyable, and I'm wondering where Junip are going to find themselves in the coming years. Fans of indie folk with definitely enjoy this, little doubt. It's far from excellent, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Hipster Rating:

7.5

Coming up next, Lisbon by The Walkmen!

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!

The Books - The Way Out

Taylor's Choice:

The Books - The Way Out

Hipster Review:

The two-piece electronic/folk vocal-sampling group The Books are in a league of their own; they're one of those bands, like Animal Collective, that literally makes music that's unlike anything you've ever heard before. They've created and developed a unique and singular sound, altering slightly over the course of their career, and whether you like the music or not, their ingenuity cannot be denied. The Way Out is the band's fourth LP, and after three albums of using that same formula, the most important goal of this release is to distinguish itself from their previous work.
The music is a bit more pop-minded this time around, though you'd be hard-pressed to call this album accessible; the album's lead single, "A Cold Freezin' Night," with its unsettling vocal recordings of children making death threats to one another, is disquieting to say the least. The band is, in fact, being more experimental here by using their samples for creating actual tunes. "I Didn't Know That" samples various voices exclaiming just that, backed up by a spare funk groove, and "Beautiful People," the album's other single, is a perfect example of abstract artists putting a good pop song together. Each song has a different feel, which separates this record from the mostly static feel of the group's past albums. However, this is not the band's best album by any means, though it is a great, well-put together work. If you're looking to get into The Books, this is not the best starting point; look to their debut Thought For Food or their last release Lost & Safe. If you don't dig The Books' music, then this isn't for you. But those who enjoy the group's eccentric and unique brand of electronic sound collage will be plenty satisfied.

Hipster Rating:

8.4

Friend Review:

I typically try to stay away from Pitchfork, but occasionally I’ll read their reviews just to see how they feel about a specific in work. In this case, I checked out their review of The Books’ The Way Out and found this:

“Imagine if a blog had posted these clips of goofball hypnotherapist and meditation consultants, or found a tape of a boy and a girl swapping violent threats with each other: You'd chuckle and move on. But when the Books use these samples, they give them integrity.”

This is total crap. I don’t care if it’s me taking a dump or Jenna Fischer taking a dump, a dump is a dump. The Books made a piece of crap song. It's not saved by the fact that it was made by The Books. It's crap. But anyways, that’s the end of my Pitchfork rant.

My main gripe about this album is the use of samples. Yeah, samples can be cool at times (see The Heavy’s “How You Like Me Now” or M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes”) but when 98% of your music is samples, well that’s not very creative is it? A perfect example is their song “A Cold Freezin’ Night”. There’s basically two elements of this song, a loop of a drum machine beat thingy and two children threatening to kill each other. As far as drum machines go, **** drum machines, they suck. Especially using the same beat over and over and over again, boring. For the two children, well, why? It’s annoying, pointless, and stupid. The whole album sounds like the duo just found a bunch of samples and said, “Sure, this is weird let’s do it.” But other than the drum machine with whining children, there’s nothing on the album that’s completely unbearable. Yet, I still have no desire to listen to this again. There’s no feeling or soul to their music.

Friend Rating:

4.6

Coming up next, Crazy For You by Best Coast!

Be At Leso

Hi guys, so I'm not sure if you know this or not, just trying to get the word out there. Taylor and I are in a band called Be At Leso and very recently we released our first EP! It's called Four Faces. Now there's two ways you can get this crap, the first and coolest way is to tell Taylor or me you want to buy a cd (you can even just leave a comment on the blog). If you go this route, it will cost you $5 and we can meet up with you or ship it to you. I like this method the best because we put a lot of effort into the booklet that comes with the cd and that way you get the whole package. The second way is to download it from the internet. I know for sure, right now, the EP is available on iTunes for $5.94. In the coming weeks it'll be available on Amazon, Myspace Music, Zune, and a whole bunch of other crap, but I'm not sure about those prices, but it's for sure on iTunes.

Now, I know nobody wants to go off and buy music without getting a taste for it first so I want you to get your skinny little ass here:

myspace.com/beatlesoband
facebook.com/beatleso

Also, there's a little widget to the right of the blog -> where you can listen to the tracks on the EP.

Anyways, I'm done with the shameless self-promotion, maybe I'll do a bit more later or something.

Hope you like what you hear!

New Politics Interview!

Hey! Here's the interview! Interviewing New Politics was seriously one of the greatest moments of my life so far. The guys were super easy to talk and really fun to basically just hang out with for a few minutes. Unfortunately, since this was our first interview (hopefully we’ll have more!), I wasn’t sure of how to record it so I just used my phone. Maybe in the future I’ll use my video camera or something, but for now the sound quality is relatively low so you’ll have to turn up your speakers as high as they go, sorry! And I was planning on writing out the whole thing, but that would take me ages, the interview is over twenty minutes long. So if there are any questions you have about it, feel free to ask, I should be able to clue you in!