A Movie Script Ending

Amid last week's speculation from its excellent first day sales, it was confirmed today that Death Cab For Cutie's Narrow Stairs is officially the number one record in the country. Shipping just over 144,000 units, Stairs assaulted the competition in a rather slow music week, besting a Frank Sinatra compilation that bowed in at number two with 99,000 sold copies. Although I was a little disappointed with this new Death Cab record, I really need to give Ben Gibbard some props here. I remember hearing about these guys in college when they couldn't even sell out a tiny club show in Pittsburgh. Five years later, it's truly amazing to see how far a once relatively unknown indie band has come. Despite the pathetic truth that 150,000 copies will pretty much solidify a number one record these days, I really cannot discount this remarkable feat and how it translates into peoples' shifting preferences in popular music. Kudos, Death Cab!

Staying Positively Good

Now that I've gotten my grubby little hands all over the new My Morning Jacket record, my second most eagerly-anticipated album of the summer is without a doubt The Hold Steady's Stay Positive -- due out July 15th on Vagrant. Lucky for me, the band released leadoff single "Sequestered In Memphis" yesterday on iTunes and their MySpace page. I've really got to give it to this band; after just one listen I'm already hooked. I don't know how Craig Finn and crew does it, but the band always finds a way to tighten up its sound on each proceeding record. 2006's Boys and Girls In America was nearly flawless, and if early glowing reviews have anything to say about Stay Positive, this band is only getting warmed up. And if The Hold Steady's early Bruce Springsteen influence was ever in question, this album will quiet the naysayers. With saxes a la Clarence Clemmons and organs remincent of Danny Federici, "Sequestered In Memphis" is the modern day equivalent to the E-Street Band backed "Rosalita". For those of us lucky to live in the New York Metropolitan Area, we get a free show June 29th at McCarren Park Pool in Williamsburg. You can bet I'll be there. They've also mapped out a summer US tour:

HOLD STEADY SUMMER TOUR: 07.17 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom 07.18 - Pontiac, MI - Crofoot Ballroom 07.19 - Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Festival 07.21 - Madison, WI - Majestic Theatre 07.22 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue 07.23 - Fargo, ND - Fargo Theatre 07.26 - Seattle, WA - Capitol Hill Block Party 07.27 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom 07.29 - San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine 07.30 - Los Angeles, CA - Avalon 08.02 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre 08.03 - El Paso, TX - Club 101 08.05 - Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom 08.06 - Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa 08.08 - Oxford, MS - Proud Larry’s 08.09 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt 08.10 - Charleston, SC - The Pourhouse 08.12 - Carrborro, NC - Cat’s Cradle 08.13 - Norfolk, VA - The Norva

His Aim Is True

I have a tremendous amount of admiration for Elvis Costello. I cannot think of an artist who has been as consistently prolific throughout the decades. Musicians often reach their peak, fade into obscurity, make pathetic comebacks attempts, and then lose most vestiges of their once prevailing relevance. Not Elvis. After the much-anticipated "forced" March reissue of This Year's Model, Costello this month released Momofuku -- his first new album with The Impostors since 2004's The Delivery Man. I always get excited when I hear new Elvis songs, particularly because you never know what you are going to get. In this case, we are given an album named after the inventor of instant noodles. And yes, I'm dead serious.

A clear roots-rock aficionado often known for his collaborations, Costello is at it again on this record -- this time working with Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley fame), who contributes backing vocals on most of the tracks. As expected, we get some excellent songwriting and a combination of slow songs mixed with some pretty solid rockers. The album kicks off with "No Hiding Place" -- an uptempto track about the obvious state of the world's affairs. Musically, this song is a pretty good indicator of the album's complexity. Mixed harmonies, Vox organs, and distorted guitars all make cameos at various times throughout Momofuku. Considering the size of Costello's instrumental arsenal it's hard to believe that this album was cranked out in a week. The aforementioned Lewis shines on the drum heavy "Turpentine" which clashes wonderfully with the bossa nova beauty "Harry Worth". The 1-2 ballad combo of "My Three Sons"/"Song With Rose" proves Costello hasn't lost the sincerity he perfected on My Aim Is True. The record closes on a notable high with the fun, yet seemingly improvised "Go Away" -- a song that could have very well been written and recorded in an afternoon. Costello does not reinvent the wheel on Momofuku but he does successfully build on one of the industry's most impressive resumes. At 53, he sounds at least 20 years his junior -- proving he is rock's equivalent to that cool beer smuggling uncle.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Listen To The Math

Throw in a dash of Decemberists and an ounce of Ozma, stir with The Strokes, and you got yourself Tokyo Police Club's Elephant Shell -- the year's most eagerly anticipated indie debut since Vampire Weekend's self-titled album. Considering how this Canadian quartet has only been around for a couple of years and has only released a handful of songs on a pair of EP's, this is a lot to live up to. Fortunately, for the most part these guys are worth the hype. Clocking in at just under 30 minutes (the longest song is just over three minutes), Elephant Shell is a lyrically ambitious piece of work that is both raw yet well-calculated. You can tell a lot of ingredients go into these songs, yet nothing ever really gets too overbearing for the listener. Fast-paced post-punk strumming (a la Albert Hammond on The Strokes' Is This It) and catchy hooks meld well with new wave synthesizing on songs like "Tesselate" and album standout "Graves". The only real downside about Elephant Shell is its lack of depth. The homogeneity the album's body of work is pretty apparent and can get very repetitive after a few listens. However, this should not undermine the band's overall creativity that makes this debut noteworthy.

My Rating: 7.0/10

"Welcome To The Fold" -- Filter @ Mercury Lounge 5/13/08

Although the focus of this blog tends to be reviews of up and coming music, there are times when I find it necessary to take a stroll down memory lane. I really can't stand it when people dismiss and outgrow the bands that really got them excited about music in the first place. Taking this into account, when I found out that Filter was booked to play an intimate album release show at Mercury Lounge (last night), I was first in line to buy my ticket. And even though lead singer Richard Patrick is the only current mainstay from their glory years, he IS Filter inasmuch as Trent Reznor IS Nine Inch Nails.

Despite the rather long lapse in time since the band's previous effort (2002's The Almagamut), the loyal crowd, composed mostly of twentysomething headbanging "bro rock" enthusiasts, remained unbothered by this fact. And let's face it, barring an unexpected Buckcherry-like comeback, Filter is a rock band that is past its prime. But you know what, they seemed pretty okay with this. I was impressed by Patrick's stage demeanor, as he appeared legitimately happy to be back on the show circuit. It was evident he was especially thrilled to be playing his band's record release party at an unexpectedly intimate venue in what he called "the greatest city in the world."

The set began with with late 90's crowd favorite "Welcome To The Fold" and segued into the equally incendiary "American Cliché." Before long, Patrick was throwing water on the crowd like it was 1999 (for which he later apologized), and the fistpumping faithful were responding devil horn hand gestures. Never light on the crowd banter, we were enthusiastically reminded several times that "Filter is back!" The band continued to blaze through their string of nineties soundtrack semi-hits including The Crow's "Jurrasitol" and the Crystal Method collaboration "(Can't You) Trip Like I Do" (from 1997's Spawn). Patrick went on to share his negative war sentiments with the crowd and explained how the band's new record (aptly titled Anthems For The Damned) was inspired by our current state of the world. It went without saying what their first single, "Soldiers of Misfortune" was all about. The highlight of the night came when Patrick introduced an obscure song of off 1999's Title of Record, called "Skinny", in which he admitted was rarely ever played in the past because he was "too much of a raging alcoholic" to ever hit the high notes. On this night, however, he nailed them flawlessly. The band's performance was forcibly shortened due to a different late show at venue, but they boys didn't conclude before playing their commercially successful crossover hit "Take A Picture" and launching into a mosh-pit inducing encore rendition of "Hey Man Nice Shot."

I'll admit that I have always had a soft spot for mid-90's alt-rock, so I am well aware that my opinion of such music may very well be skewed. But I do know that you can't knock a band that leaves 100% of their energy and enthusiasm on the stage. Mix this in with a slew of radio hits, some great new material, and an arena-sized show packed into a 200 person venue, and you got yourself pretty damn good show despite the ever looming nostalgia.

The Hand That [Continues To] Feed

When it rains it pours for Trent Reznor. And it is only appropriate that the god of industrial music has become an album pumping machine as of late. After giving away the first part of Ghosts earlier this year, Reznor surprised us last week by offering a free download of a damn good song called "Discipline." Little did his legions of fans realize that this was just the beginning. In a move that has seemingly one-upped Radiohead's generosity, Reznor turned the music world on its head earlier this week by not only announcing that he had completed his most recent project, The Slip, but announcing that is was immediately available for free download on the official Nine Inch Nails site. Furthermore, the album is being offered in a multitude of formats, encouraging audiophiles to get their fix and remixers to get to work. Reznor in response, posted the message, "thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one's on me."

And for those Nine Inch Nails fans who were a little skeptical about the two-disc, all instrumental Ghosts compilation Reznor released last month (it only debuted at 14 on the Billboard charts), this album will surely tide them over. Because what we are essentially given is a classic Nails record. Whether or not intended to be continuation of Ghosts, the album begins with the now token ominous instrumental track "999,999" before blasting into the pounding, appropriately titled "1,000,000" -- a song that could have very well been an a-side on the underrated With Teeth. The album's single, "Discipline," is equally astonishing, providing a powerful industrial beat NIN patented on Pretty Hate Machine and the convincing chorus, "Once I stop, I can't control myself." Perhaps this is a nod his newfound prolific nature.

Reznor, renown for his experimentation, contrasts the ambitiously cacophonous "Letting You," with an intimate piano ballad, "Lights In The Sky." The most impressive song on this album, however, is "Echoplex", a song that features complex, layered guitars mixed with an unfamiliar beat. The Slip continues with the ambient "Corona Radiata" before concluding with the aggressive, synthesizer-heavy "Demon Seed." At 44 minutes, this ten song collection is definitely worth the space it will take up on your iPod. If people thought NIN was going soft, they were gravely mistaken. And even if this is no Downward Spiral, Reznor is immediately forgiven because he continues to prove that he knows what's up. In an era of piracy, file-sharing, and mash-ups, he not only encourages fans to freely take his music, but also challenges them to make it better. Rather than alienating those have supported him for so long, he is one of the few people in the industry to actually knows how to preserve that connection.

My Rating: 8.0/10

The Sound of Settling

I am fan of Death Cab For Cutie/Ben Gibbard/The Postal Service as much as the next guy, and was equally pumped when I heard good things about their new album Narrow Stairs (out next Tuesday, 5/13). Truthfully, I don't see what the fuss is about. Last month, I read the Paste Magazine cover story in which Gibbard talks about how he moved into the Big Sur house once inhabited by his idol Jack Kerouac to fuel his creative fire for Stairs. He basically confesses about how he was unable to draw any inspiration from this experience because he "idealized" the situation too much. He then goes on to contrast his collegiate Kearouacian idealizations with his current state of mind -- one that is surprisingly depressing considering the praise he has accumulated in recent years. Taking this into account, it is pretty obvious that Gibbard's defeated attitude has been translated into his mostly depressing new body of work.

Although Gibbard has fit comfortably as the master of melancholy to some, I really think he needs to grow out of this phase and show us a little depth. The first single, "I Will Possess Your Heart" may as well be considered the sequel to "The New Year" on Transatlanticism. We are given a bold four and half minutes of instrumental build-up before Gibbard finally chimes in with, "How I wish you could see the potential/The potential of you and me/Its like a book, elegantly bound but/In a language that you cant read." Nearly five minutes of waiting and all we get is the makings of a bad junior high school poem, huh? Ben, we get it: your heart is still broken and you've made mistakes you regret.

Unfortunately, we get this six or seven more times on Narrow Stairs as indicated by a multitude of foreboding song titles: "You Can Do Better Than Me", "The Ice Is Getting Thinner", and "Pity And Fear". Gibbard, never known for being discrete, does does a excellent job painting out the meanings of these songs, but again, this is nothing new to Death Cab fans. There are some highlights on this album, but unfortunately they are few and far between. The upbeat "No Sunlight" shakes things up a little bit despite its repetitiveness. The unquestionable standout track on Narrow Stairs is "Long Division" -- Gibbard's most ambitious attempt to develop as a musician. And don't get me wrong. Musically this album is not bad, but it really doesn't show the progress that many could have otherwise hoped for after disappointing on Plans. There is no doubt that Gibbard is as a talented singer/songwriter as it gets. But in order to make the next great (and I mean GREAT) Death Cab album, he needs to get over his obsession with looking at the past for inspiration.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10