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IRON HERO
Safe As Houses
Independent Release
The six chaps in Iron Hero might
be too likable to ever be famous. They
have a lot of fun without seeming to
have any idea of how good they are,
which might keep them from even try
ing to be rock stars (They also look
scared to death in their band photos,
which, it they are in fact interested in
becoming rock stars, will hurt their
cause, and will call for the sod of luck
that only calls on The Arctic Monkeys)
What might be one persons charm
might be another's wasted potential,
but the band s debut album Safe As
Houses like the best ol Teenage
Fanclub. shows a) etfodless charm,
b) iust enough effort to be consistently
charming, and c) such a rich compre
hension ol the last 40 years of guitar
rock that the whoie question ol poten
tial f ock stardom onfy seems relevant
because these guys really should be
making a living at this
Iron Hero does not play loo-clever.
’SOs-style power pop Iron Hero is
not the new wave of the new wave of
the new wave It s not a precursor to
the inevitable shoegare revival Safe
As Houses is tight enough, slipshod
enough and noisy enough to be good
It's iust shy enough to hint at much bet
ter things to come What it doesn't have-
is a whole lot of ego, which means that
those six chaps in Iron Hero wii/ be
able to get on with their local lives, the
gam belonging to their local fans, for
now, will be the nation's loss Again,
it only comes up because Iron Hero
should, at least theoretically, be doing
this on a much larger scale
Emerson Dameron
Iron Hero is playing at ihe Bar
Ugh! benefit show at the 40 Watt Club
on Saturday, Mar 4
RAHIM
Ideal Lives
Frenchkiss
With stop-and-go rhythms and
pauses in melody indicative of the
ever-expanding and ambiguously
•agged genre known less and less
affectionately as ‘math rock.* Rahim
delivers an album caked in interesting
beats and panicky vocals that paint a
yellow, post-apocalyptic sunset over
a turning land of soot and mangled
beams. A trio from New York prone
to adopt new directions and ideas.
Rahim's current incarnation is a result
ol seeing Ihe country from the stage,
and having opportunities to play with
a diverse cast of bands over the past
couple of years
Rahim’s voice seems more inclined
towards a live set. or at least a low-fi
delity live recording, than the polished
studio cuts ol the band's new album
Ideal Lives The sound was forged in
the fires of an epic touring regiment in
promotion ol the previously released
EP Jungle ThereS something intimate
ly familiar in the catchy, post-punk gui
tar progressions and backing harmo
nies that incites a nod towards bands
of decades past, without crossing the
fetid line into the cheesy, Atlantic City
graveyard of gimmick bands
Ideal Lues changes enough from
cover to cover to keep if appealing The
lyrics are interesting and the melodies
are engaging, bul overall it isn't a
particularly inspiring record. With all
three members involved in the percus
sive process. Rahim most definitely
features a rhythmocenlnc lineup, af
times abandoning the guitar, bass and
syntti for vocal harmonies over beats
There are a lew tracks that could, and
most likely will, pass as well-received
singles on WUOG
David Commins
Rahim is playing at the Caledonia
Lounge on Wednesday. Mar I
ELEMEN.O.P.
The Element of Progression
Independent Release
First off. the best thing about local
hip hop ad eleMeN 0 P is its use of
live instruments Opening track ’ele-
MeN O P' is a decent reggae track with
strong vocal stylings over the top (since
I can t make out a single word, though.
Ill assume it's a sort of call to arms
announcing the band) For the next
few tracks, the band treads the fairly
mainstream ground recently plowed by
bands like Incubus
Things pick up again on 'God.
Father" which finally features violin
player Danan Cornish in a prominent
role The track is a mixture ol kle/mer
and reggae and varies a little too much
in mood and tempo lor my taste, but is
an example ol the creativity these guys
can show. 'CyberSperM' exhibits a
slow beat underneath bass and piano
and, except lor the rapid-lire vocals,
sounds quite similar to Pelican City, the
former Danger Mouse project. Not too
much, o! course, but enough to make
the track distinctive from the rest ol ihe
album The only straightforward rock
number on The E'ement ol Progression
is ‘Rhyme Revolution* which nods back
musically to Public Enemy and other
late-flOs/ early-‘90s rap collectives The
guitars, though, could definitely stand
to be both louder and punchier.
In the looses! sense, and in some
cases in only a slight sense. eleMeN
O P draws from influences as dispa
rate as Jane's Addiction. Pink Floyd.
Primus, the current reggae-tronic
scene and modern metal There's really
28 FLAGPOLE.COM • MARCH 1.2006
no one that eLeMeN 0 P. compares to
directly. That's good lor the band, bul
it makes it much more difficult for a
listener to map things out.
' Gordon Lamb
eLeMeN O P. is playing at Tasty
World on Wednesday. Mar 1.
IAN LOVE
Ian Love
Limekiln
Classic soil indie stuff this is. The
cover ol the album, all soft colors and
eccentric clip art (tigers, airplane, map),
should let you know what awaits inside
There are a lot ol chiming acoustic gui
tars and pretty harmonies and a partial
ly lolky feel The surprising rhythms ol
'Butterfly' call to mind The Tall Dwarfs
briefly (e g, drumming on anything that
happens to be at hand), but the album s
considerably more polished and fess
experimental than ttveir stuff
Therels maybe a bit ol Sufjan
Stevens-ness (minus Ihe pretensions/
ambition, depending on which side of
Ihe fence you're on) and some of the
flavor of bands like Ihe Postal Service in
the commitment to pretty, but it's hard to
come up with just one comparison that
covers all aspects ol this record
Love has some interesting cracks
and crannies in his slight voice These
come out most in songs with ascend
ing melody lines like "Sky to Fall.*
where he goes up and up. stretching
way into falsetto range, and resulting
in a feeling not unlike that produced by
replacing one's thinner guita* strings at
the point when one tightens them into
tune—that is. disaster/ snapping is
only a moment away, but Ihe tension is
both necessary and exciting
It’s an uneven album, and casual
listening might not differentiate much
among songs, but there are pockets
of intrigue and suspense (*8lack
Diamonds* is another example) that
make it more than it could be
Hillary Brown
•Jff
,'Torlc. )dCW )Or',£2. _y
A'uca + o-
£ r x
*.
&
Zi
*
STONE JACK JONES
Bluefolk
Fictitious
Stone Jack Jones is a singer. He's
also a songwriter His music is ol an
ilk which can be loosely classified as
‘Americana.* His murky, understated
fables resist immediacy, and. in a
struggle to lend them context, some
will fall into myth-cobbling Recently,
the braintrust behind the music blog
Said The Gramophone took a swipe
at that critical tendency, posting a lew
MP3s ol Jones' music along with seme
apocryphal biographical whatnot. It was
a cutesy. AfcSweewyS-ish move, and
sure enough, the braintrust got a quick
bitch-slap in ihe comments section, in
the good name ol journalistic integrity
The word ’integrity* might come
up regarding Stone Jack Jones Look
lor it Most people have a sense for
integrity, but the surrounding vocab is
limited, it s hack. It's hard to write about
music that resists immediacy.
Tennessee's Stone Jack Jones
plays dry. melancholy songs and sings
like a gentleman ol the old school, a
man who burns through two lighters
a day (RIP Bill Hicks) and lived live
lifetimes in Ihe last decade. If you want
to crap out some mythology, he's not a
bad subject. But you'll have to allow his
music a chance to grow on you.
Patty Griffin sings backup on
Ihe lovely 'Bread,' and sings like an
angel Stone Jack puts some words
together that sound like a story about
something, or a lot of things at once
He repeats key phrases, which hes
within his rights to do They say that if
you want your audience lo remember
something, you have lo repeat it thrice
He throws some sublime electro-
biz into the roomy mix, too. Like Tom
Waits last year and Califone's Tim Rulili
before that, he realizes a gentleman ol
the old school must learn to ride the
elephant in Americana's living room
Emerson Dameron
GASKETS
Loose Change
Aquarium
When your live band consists ol
two dudes and one sequencer, it s not
hard to enlarge the picture when you
enter the recording studio On the
new Gaskets album—co-preduced by
David Lowery—we lind things like gui
tar (or guitars, plural), bass, drums and
general largeness Not that this leads
to an increase of rocking: even with
the aforementioned single electronic
instrument.* Virginia's Ted Blanks
and Ross Harman always managed lo
channel ihe Zepp-type gods live It's
possible a little energy is lost on the
album, but it may also be that I'm used
to other versions ol some ol Ihe songs
’Cold Busted* now opens with
Esteban-esque guitar in addition to
keyboards that run Irom one ear to the
other, and the vocal sneer has been
scaled back, but a good tune is a good
tune, and don't mistake a craving for
live instructions lo run in place lor
disappointment ‘Earthquake’ adds un-
ironic cowbell in a way that could rein
vigorate one's enthusiasm lor the passe
Walken-quoting T-shirts; “Motivation*
wraps waves ol artificial whispers
around Teddy Blanks' occasionally
Jerry Lee Lewis yelp and *Ei!tel Tower*
kicks the jams in the ass when the
chorus busts out lull on.
Let'S boil it down to this: You know
that moment when you're rocking out
to. say ‘Cum on Feel Ihe Noize.* and
you have a moment of revelation that.
*Hey, I actually like this song. Not just
because its corny or because it evokes
childhood memories. I like it because
it is a good song*? The rush ol delight
(consisting at least partly of rebel) that
results from that self-acknowledgment
is pretty much what listening to this
band (eels like.
Hillary Brown
The Gaskets are playing af LennyS
in Atlanta on Monday. Mar. 13.
WITCH
Witch
Tee Pee
If J. Mascis plays drums in Witch,
why do Ihe squealing guitar sounds on
the group's self-iitled debut sound so
much like Dinosaur Jr’ Or more spe
cifically. Dinosaur Jr played at 45 RPM
when 33 would be appropriate.
Opening cut 'Seer* clocks in at
just under eight minutes of syncopated
head-nod riffs Dave Sweetapples
mountainous bass carves a path in an
avalanche of sweat and archaic wiz
ardry Witch is born of a subconscious
musical lineage that's linked directly
to Pmk Floyd's Piper al Ihe Gales ol
Dawn. Nirvana's Bleach and even Black
Sabbath circa Paranoid '
Voca.ist Kyle Thomas and guitarist
Asa Irons are on loan Irom Vermont's
freak-folk group Feathers, and helped
shape Devendra Banhart's album
Cripple Crow. The sincerity with which
they approach this project comes to
fruition on the album's dually crushing
opuses ‘Rip Van Winkle* and ’Hand
of Glory * Tenants of the indie/ art rock
guilds often have difficulty handling
heavy metal with the respect it deserves
(e g. Goblin Cock, Tenacious D. et al ).
but there's thankfully nothing tongue-
in-cheek going on here Witch is a
master of its own supernatural reality,
and that reality is heavy as hell
Chad Radford
COIMER
Vi bin’
Stickfigure
After weeks of being warned that
I would absolutely hale this record,
Coulier pleasantly surprises me
Although the local band's debut album,
Cool. Cooler. Coulier! had its strong
points. I really only dug about halt of it.
Vibin is almost a completely different
animal. Although Coulier's shows can
occasionally be spotty affairs, this al
bum shows Coulier can be focused and
composition-oriented. The multi-lay
ered. twin guitars and accompanying
backbeat are still jolting, and even ir
ritating at times, but Coulier has made
a statement on this record that its first
album didn't explain all the way: Vibin'
seems to say. ‘You thought we were
joking... but we really mean itr
There are no breaks at all between
tracks on Vibin'. The album flows well,
though, with the band not nearly as
schizophrenic as on its debut. Coulier
still retains the earmarks ol moving
from slow, note-conscious playing into
full metal mode, but the way Vibin'is
constructed, it's clear that guitarists
Adam Newman and Brion Kennedy and
drummer Navid Amlani put some mas
sive thought into this Still, knowing
that this wasn't recorded jazz-combo
style in a single session, it's easy lo
lind lots ol studio effects present The
end result is an album that is curious
at limes, dumbfounding and complex
at others and killingly ritf-rocking at
others.
Be warned Coulier is still not an
easy band to listen to Hell, the last
track. "Halibut.* contains almost 20
minutes ol total silence before the
band brings the listener bark to atten
tion Vibin' is a strong step ahead for
Coulier, which is rumored fo not be
long for this world, bul the band seems
poised lo forever remain a compelling
curiosity among the current breed of
bands that find themselves writing
complicated music. Rock fans might be
slightly disappointed, jazz fans might
be slightly thrilled and weird Ians will
feel right at home
Gordon Lamb
Coulier is playing al the Caledonia
Lounge on Thursday. Mar 9
THE ROGERS SISTERS
The Invisible Deck
Too Pure
The Rogers Sisters is a good band
that has churned out consistently
mediocre recordings The Invisible
Deck breaks the mold a bit. though
these songs are somewhat forgettable
Over-production is the problem The
crystalline sound qualities ol ‘The
Light* and *The Clock’ choke the pas
sion out of what could be great songs
Great songs transcend production The
Rogers Sisters approach the dilemma
from the opposite angle "Why Won't
You* opens the disc with a bounding
energy that's restrained by a safe studio
shell. Likewise. 'Your Littles! World* is
a slow burning six-minute dirge The
first two minutes are captivating as ten
sion builds The next lour minutes are
an exercise in the difference between a
song that leaves you wanting more and
one that should have ended already.
’Money Matters* picks up Ihe pace
with simple cohesion in Ihe rhythm
section. The group lets down its guard
to draw out grit and real charm. *You
Undecided* and 'The Conversation*
resonate with a blackened metallic din.
‘Sooner Or Later* brings Ihe album
to a close with a swirl of squelching
feedback and a foreboding clash of
rhythm and noise. It is the strongest
cut of the album and a signilier. There's
something a little loo touristy about the
Rogers Sisters' walk on the dark side,
but sooner or later the group will make
good on its promises.
Chad Radford
The Rogers Sisters are playing al
(he EARL in Atlanta on Monday. Mar 13