Maps & Atlases - Perch Patchwork [2010]

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FOALS - TOTAL LIFE FOREVER [2010]

Very shortly after their just-fine debut album, Antidotes, landed on these shores, the young Brits in Foals up and decided the record wasn’t any good. They said it wasn’t “insurmountable by any means,” and they publicly complained about TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek’s production, which for some people was the only reason to give Foals any thought. Too many times before, we’ve heard the “but this isn’t the album we wanted to make!” argument from bands who underperformed out of the gate, which is why Foals' shtick feels so tired. But that’s also why it’s surprising that Foals’ sophomore album, Total Life Forever, is basically Antidotes 2.0: No Antibalas Horns. These guys apparently disliked how they sounded on their debut so much they decided to replicate it.

Because of that similarity, it feels like I’m reviewing Antidotes here, because the reasons why that album never completely connects are the same reasons that Total Life Forever doesn’t either. Lyrically, Foals are often cliché and direct (requests to go to someone’s arms, to come back, to “be there,” for example), but singer Yannis Philippakis, who clearly studied at the alter of Bono, is also sometimes hopelessly oblique and is often not saying anything at all (“Miami” has no references to the earth’s sweatiest city, and the phrase “total life forever” is unclear even after it gets shouted a bunch in the title track).

Foals still play with styles -- they can veer between poppy math rock and rocky angular post-punk -- and it still feels like they’re on the verge of a stylistic breakthrough that has yet to happen. For every sonic experiment like the vocal-sample built “This Orient,” there’s a sub Bloc Party-jack like “After Glow.” For every soaring, ready for ad placement jam like “Black Gold,” there’s a “Miami,” a song that lifts from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Snow Patrol in equally awful measure.

The one thing Foals did succeed in on Total Life Forever is removing any sense that they’re a Dave Sitek studio creation, because his formerly heavy sonic fingerprint is nowhere to be found here. But what that actually means is that horns from Sitek’s pals in Antibalas aren’t around, and the guitars don’t sound as much like they were computer programmed. Everything else is in its right place.

All in all, though, Total Life Forever is a slightly more assured record from Foals; this time out they sound like they’ve taken complete ownership of their music. They were originally called out for being a new version of the umpteen shimmery post-punk bands that came before them, but with Total Life Forever, Foals can now (mostly) be considered as an entity unto themselves.  
prefixmag.com
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WE VERSUS THE SHARK - RUIN EVERYTHING! [2005]

"Math rock can either put you to sleep, albeit with searing nightmares, or it can take you into the very equation itself. @Elephant 6-land/quirky-pop-utopia Athens, GA, seems an unlikely place for cerebral, Fugazi-meets-Emerson, Lake & Palmer post-punk/progressive rock, but the smoke billowing out of this closed, suburban garage door is not the result of a middle-aged, carbon-monoxide suicide attempt; it's the sound of speakers blowing out of their cabinets. We Versus the Shark must kill live, because their impressive debut, Ruin Everything!, bristles with the barely suppressed energy that can only emanate from a packed, sweaty basement show in mid-July. "You Don't Have to Kick It," with its caffeinated "La La Love You"-Pixies-drum cue, sets the listener up with a quick overture of what's to follow. In just four minutes the band manages to not only make art rock cool again, but blissfully danceable. Styles are referenced, slapped, and sent on their way throughout. From the hardcore onslaught of "This Graceless Planet" to the pop perfection of "Slide" -- the best song X never wrote -- We Versus the Shark's serpentine guitar lines, chilly synths, left-field horn sections, and leg-snapping percussion channel everyone from Rush to Gang of Four to Johann Sebastian Bach. Ruin Everything! is a serious debut, and although its power is occasionally sucked dry by the recording's flat production, it's impossible ignore the white-hot intensity of its execution." LAST.FM
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U.S. MAPLE - LONG HAIR IN THREE STAGES [1995]

"U.S. Maple's debut album is nothing short of stunning, combining angular guitar attacks, odd skronks, jazzy tones, and a generally deconstructive approach to music into a sound of unparalleled idiosyncrasy. The record's finest moments come when the slanted attack and fractured composition converge to simulate something approaching a conventional song ("Letter to ZZ Top," with lyrics like "Give my bones to Billy Gibbons," pretty much rules out any notion of normality). Between these off-kilter constructions and the group's even more off-kilter deconstructions, a truly amazing record is created, one that combines hard-edged, "whiskey, no chaser" rock with exceptionally intelligent slants and fractures." AMG

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DON CABALLERO - WHAT BURNS NEVER RETURNS / AMERICAN DON [1998 / 2000]

"Don Caballero is a critically-acclaimed instrumental rock group from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are often categorized as math rock, though the band dislikes this label. The group took their name from the character Guy Caballero, portrayed by Joe Flaherty, on the sketch comedy show Second City Television. In SCTV’s parody of the film The Godfather, Guy Caballero is called “Don Caballero.”
Don Caballero (affectionately called “Don Cab” or “The Don” by fans) formed in the summer of 1991, released five albums on Touch And Go Records between 1993 and 2000, then disbanded in November 2000. Drummer Damon Che recruited new personnel for a reconstituted Don Caballero in 2003, but this new lineup has been met with mixed reception from fans. They have since signed to Relapse Records and released a new album, titled World Class Listening Problem, on May 16, 2006." LAST.FM

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JUNE OF 44 - FOUR GREAT POINTS [1998]

"June of 44's fourth full-length, Four Great Points, is their most experimental effort to date -- fractured melodies and dub-like rhythms collide in a noisy atmosphere rich in detail, adorned with violins, trumpet, severe phasing effects, and even a typewriter." AMG

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JUNE OF 44 - ENGINE TAKES TO THE WATER [1995]

"June of 44 was an American rock band which was formed in 1994 from ex-members of Rodan, Lungfish, Codeine and Hoover (Sean Meadows had yet to participate in the Lungfish music band by 1994; his first album with them was actually in 1996). Clearly influenced by Slint, the band’s music is often described as post-rock. June of 44 released their work on Quarter Stick with the exception of Fish 6.

June of 44 split up in 2000." LAST.FM

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POLVO - IN PRISM [2009]

SIMILAR/RELATED: UNWOUND, JUNE OF 44, RODAN, SHIPPING NEWS, SLINT, CHAVEZ, SHELLAC

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LIGHTNING BOLT - EARTHLY DELIGHTS [2009]

"Lightning Bolt emerged from Providence, Rhode Island in 1995 as a three-piece art school project. Initially there was Brian Chippendale's explosive, non-stop drumming, Brian Gibson's Contortions-like bass lines, and Hisham Bharoocha's vocals propelling them in a fury of volatile noise and orgiastic tribalism. The group helped found Fort Thunder, a music and art collective, and recorded a self-titled album which was issued through Load in 1999. By 2001's Ride the Skies Bharoocha had departed (he eventually formed Black Dice.). This left the vocal duties to Chippendale, who jammed the microphone into his mouth as he drummed. Lightning Bolt did a series of tours with bands like The Locust, Arab on Radar, Orchid, and Melt Banana before returning in 2003 with the studio album Wonderful Rainbow. The album did very well in underground music circles, and set up the release of 2005's Hypermagic Mountain."

SIMILAR/RELATED: MINDFLAYER, BLACK PUS, HELLA, ARAB ON RADAR, BLACK DICE, PINK & BROWN, BOREDOMS

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POLVO - EXPLODED DRAWING [1996]

"One of the most popular and accomplished bands in the arty, noisy indie rock offshoot dubbed math rock, Polvo touched on many of the style's hallmarks: dissonant, intricately layered guitars that often employed alternate tunings; odd, off-kilter rhythms; an emphasis on dense sonic texture; and unorthodox song structures that, nonetheless, were often unconventionally melodic. Additionally, their music had a pronounced Eastern feel that came not only from the Indian and Middle Eastern-style drones in their compositions, but actual Asian instruments as well; that helped set them apart from other post-Sonic Youth/Slint guitar experimentalists..." AMG

SIMILAR/RELATED: UNWOUND, JUNE OF 44, RODAN, SLINT, SHIPPING NEWS, CHAVEZ, SHELLAC

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DRIVE LIKE JEHU - DRIVE LIKE JEHU [1991]

"Although they weren't around for long, Drive Like Jehu had a tremendous impact on the evolution of hardcore punk into emo. Underappreciated during their existence in the early '90s, the band was sometimes overlooked next to post-hardcore kin like Fugazi and Quicksand; at the time, many critics also lacked the frame of reference to place their music in a broader context. The term "emo" hadn't yet come into wider use, and while Drive Like Jehu didn't much resemble the sound that word would later come to signify, they exerted a powerful pull on its development. Moreover, they did fit the earlier definition of emo: challenging, intricate guitar rock rooted in hardcore and performed with blistering intensity, especially the frenzied vocals. ..." AMG

SIMILAR/RELATED: HOT SNAKES, UNWOUND, THE NATION OF ULYSSES, JAWBOX, FUGAZI, SHELLAC RODAN

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DAZZLING KILLMEN - FACE OF COLLAPSE [1994]

"One of the Midwest's hardest-hitting bands of the mid-'90s, the Dazzling Killmen never lived up to the critical success of their appropriately named second album, Face of Collapse. Although the album, released in February 1994, was dubbed the "number one heavy record of the decade" by Alternative Press, it marked the beginning of the end for the St. Louis-based quartet, which disbanded shortly before a planned tour of Japan..." AMG

SIMILAR/RELATED: COLOSSAMITE, CRAW, LADDIO BOLOCKO, U.S. MAPLE, BASTRO

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HARKONEN - SHAKE HARDER BOY [2002]

TRACKLIST:

1 Naked in France 3:55
2 Blood Thing 3:23
3 Acasta Gneiss 4:36
4 The Hebbex 4:02
5 A Blast from the Past 1:43
6 Thurmaston 4:59
7 Kling No Klokka 2:14
8 Svartevatn 3:59
9 Regions of May 5:02

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SLINT - SPIDERLAND [1991]

TRACKLIST:

1 Breadcrumb Trail 5:55
2 Nosferatu Man 5:34
3 Don, Aman 6:28
4 Washer 8:50
5 For Dinner... 5:05
6 Good Morning, Captain 7:39

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HARKONEN - HARKONEN [1999]

TRACKLIST:

1 Catching Cold 3:21
2 Letters and ConversationS 4:21
3 Low 1:03
4 Movers 2:25
5 A Smile and a Shove 3:42
6 White Noise 4:45
7 Keepsake 2:37
8 Chestlevel 1:00
9 Vowel Sounds in the Raw 2:12
10 And Shakers 2:44
11 The Healthy 3:08

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DON CABALLERO - DON CABALLERO 2

TRACKLISTA:
1. "Stupid Puma" – 4:20
2. "please tokio, please THIS IS TOKIO" – 11:18
3. "P,P,P, antless" – 3:43
4. "Repeat Defender" – 10:59
5. "Dick Suffers Is Furious With You" – 9:11
6. "Cold Knees (in April)" – 4:14
7. "Rollerblade Success Story" – 4:30
8. "No One Gives a Hoot About FAUX-ASS Nonsense" – 10:43

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DRIVE LIKE JEHU - YANK CRIME

TRACKLISTA:
1. "Here Come the Rome Plows" - 5:44
2. "Do You Compute" - 7:12
3. "Golden Brown" - 3:14
4. "Luau" - 9:27
5. "Super Unison" - 7:24
6. "New Intro" - 3:32
7. "New Math" - 4:06
8. "Human Interest" - 3:24
9. "Sinews" - 9:12

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PASS: morbidmindz.blogspot.com