Mailbag Monday: Trips and Falls

The new Trips and Falls album showed up in my inbox a couple of weeks ago and boy is it fantastic. What I love about it, and really, pretty much everything released by Song, By Toad Records is that you never know where the music is going to go next. A contemplative piano ballad can end in blistering guitars, a straightforward rock song can finish at a much quicker tempo than it started. Anything!

Trips and Falls are masters of the track title, by the way. My favorite on this album is "No More Limbo Yay!"

I will admit that it's been a while since I listened to their first album, but I feel like the crunchiness of the guitars has increased fourfold. And I love crunchy guitars. This is an album you should check out.

You can download the first single after listening and loving it below



And then you can go over to Song, By Toad Records and pre-order the album The Inevitable Consequences of Your Stupid Behavior which comes out on 10/14!

New Countdown: Return of the King(s)

Imagine Dragons

Very late-night recording. And started the session on very very little sleep. I think it's maybe possible that we should count ourselves fortunate that what I spoke in my groggy state was actually English.


Countdown #167

***Featuring***
Bastille
Cage the Elephant
Capital Cities
Coldplay
Fitz & the Tantrums
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Kings of Leon
Lorde
The Neighbourhood
Tame Impala

One Year, 100 Albums: #79 Catch 22 - Dinosaur Sounds

Catch 22 Dinosaur Sounds, 2003

If I'm writing about Catch 22, I should be writing about Keasbey Nights. It's another one of those things where, if I had been placing bets on which album of theirs I would pick for this list, I would have lost.

The thing is, this album combines the raw "we're just a simple ska band" feel of Keasbey Nights with the "look at what great musicians/songwriters we are" feel of Alone in a Crowd and I think that's the combination that draws me into it.

I'm not going to go into the fact that the singer of this band is different than the singer of this band for at least of of those aforementioned albums (Keasbey Nights. The dude left and started Streetlight Manifesto. You should also check them out.) because that's not what I'm thinking about when I'm listening to this album.

This album is endlessly singalongable (...I was recently complimented on the improvement of my writing on these blog posts and THIS is what I write?) and that includes the horn and drum parts.

At times, I feel like I'm in a basement punk show ("Regression") and other times I feel like I've stumbled upon lost singles from Chess or Stax (Warning: Possible Hyperbole alert) because the songs are so classic feeling ("Good Times", "Chin Up")

But most of all, I'm sad when the album is over and I often will just hit play again and dive back into the comfort of these songs that I know so well. Actually, that's a quality shared by all of the albums on this list. They're comforting, broken-in pillows that are always their own specific kind of comforting. But that's WAY too long a title for the list.

There aren't any music videos for songs from this album, that I could find. If you can find one that's good quality, let me know and I'll amend the post!

Catch 22 - Regression
Catch 22 - Good Times
Catch 22 - Chin Up

You can buy Dinosaur Sounds at Amazon, Amazon MP3, and iTunes

Throwback Thursday: 2005

This was the year I graduated from college!

10. Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends

Wow. This is a pretty great Throwback Top Ten, but this Green Day video made me cry, so it beats Kanye AND Mariah. Plus, I played Nelly Furtado last week and I feel like I owe it to my readers that come here for something resembling Alternative Music. :)

9. 50 Cent featuring Mobb Deep - Outta Control (Remix)
8. Rihanna - Pon de Replay
7. Black Eyed Peas - My Humps
6. The Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes - Don't Cha
5. Missy Elliott featuring Ciara & Fat Man - Lose Control
4. Bow Wow featuring Ciara - Like You
3. Mariah Carey - We Belong Together
2. Mariah Carey - Shake It Off
1. Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx - Gold Digger

Happy Fangs EP

I guess the first thing I want to say about the eponymous debut EP of Happy Fangs is that it is EXACTLY what I was hoping it would be.

I've talked about them a little bit over the last year and finally, on October 1st, they will be releasing Happy Fangs which will show the world exactly what comes from a collaboration between Rebecca  from My First Earthquake and Michael Cobra from King Loses Crown.

Happy Fangs is loud and dancey and just wonderful. I had an inkling that it might be from "The Truth" and "Lion Inside You" which the band had already released (Watch the video for the latter song below. And crank it.)

I know I started this by saying that they met my expectations, but that's not exactly true. This EP goes way beyond my expectations. I was actually a little worried that the pop element that I enjoyed so much in MFE was going to be drowned out by guitars. Instead the guitars serve as a spaceship to blast the effect into hyperspace.

The last 45 seconds of "Perk Up" illustrate my point better than any words could.

Remember in The Princess Bride when Westley is dueling with Inigo Montoya and they both admit that they're stronger swordsmen than they let on at the outset of the duel?

No? Well, let me refresh your memory.

Ok, so that's what happens at the end of "Perk Up". The band is playing a perfectly wonderful song and then, BOOM they both switch hands and you realize that they've been toying with you this whole time. And you don't care. Because you're too busy dancing your ass off.

So, yeah. You're going to love this EP and you're going to be thanking me before the thing is even over.

Happy Fangs comes out on October 1st.
It looks like their website is going to be the place to get it
Amazon MP3 also has a page up for when it comes out

OH! If you're going to the CMJ festival up in New York (Is it just in Brooklyn?), Happy Fangs will be playing Sat, Oct 19 at Trash Bar in Williamsburg. They didn't know what time they would be playing when I talked to them, but that will probably be sorted as the date approaches. Go. See. Them.

One Year, 100 Albums: #80 Mest - Destination Unknown

Mest Destination Unknown, 2001

Here's one post that will assure you that this list was actually compiled by me and that I didn't just look at some "Best Albums of All Time" list and then rearrange the order.

In fact, I may be the only person I know that likes this album. I would go so far as to say that I wouldn't care to be friends with a lot of the other people who like this album.

BUT, I do love this album. It scratches the pop-punk itch that is a constant presence in my life, but it also works in some hip-hop and ska flavors. The songs are varied and fun to sing along to.

When my cousin bought me tickets to go see Blink-182 in 2001 in Colorado, Midtown opened for them and Mest opened for them, in a way. They were playing at a small stage that had been set up between the entrance and the stadium where the other two bands were playing. We stopped to watch them because we had some time before we needed to be at the other stage. They must have played more songs from this album than just the song in this video, but, for reasons you'll understand when you watch the video, I really only remember jumping up and down to this one.

This video is in the Blink-182 vein of music videos where the band is both playing the song AND getting into hilarious and perhaps slightly juvenile hijinks.

I just love that song. And if that puts me in the company of other shirtless, tattooed guys, then so be it.

But, as I mentioned before, this album is quite eclectic. Here are a couple of songs that show what I mean. In this case, my use of the word of eclectic should be considered within the narrow borders of the pop-punk genre. Neither of these are going to be like, 10 minute folk ballads or minimalist atmosphere pieces.

Mest - Drawing Board
Mest - Misunderstood

You can buy Destination Unknown at Amazon, Amazon MP3, and iTunes

Top Ten Tuesday: Eminem "Berzerk"

This is the first single from the upcoming Marshall Mathers LP 2 which is set to be released on November 5.

I really really liked this song from the very first time I heard it. The hook is great and the rap is fast and clever, just like I like it to be from Eminem.

But the video. The video is something else. It's an old-school-looking video with cameo after cameo.  It does exactly what I want a music video to do. It enhances my enjoyment of the song when I'm not watching the video anymore.

I mean, for one thing Rick Rubin is basically on-screen as much as Eminem. He may actually get MORE screen time. And I think that's awesome. Plus Kendrick Lamar makes an appearance and I think he's great. This new album could be very interesting.