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TITUS ANDRONICUS
The Airing of Grievances
XL Recordings
The ragged rock and roll of New
Jersey's Titus Andronicus is a refresh
ingly simple blast of no-nonsense,
aiming-for-awesome tuneage. Patrick
Stickles' lyrics—ruminative, prying,
clever—are almost buried under the
basement production of the album,
but they're there nonetheless, fiery and
raw assertions that can’t help but get
noticed. They're easily heard and easily
repeated, and bear a resemblance to
the best of any late-'80s/ early-’90s
anthemic, drunken-sing-a-long-
friendly punk; though with guitars
slathered in layers of distortion. -The
Airing of Grievances, released by the
band last year but reissued by XL, is
jusl nine songs long, but it doesn't
lack for it.
Of course, there's that word,
constricting and ill-shaped anyway:
punk. At its best it’s an attitude, and
Titus Andronicus has that by the barrel,
though musically nothing’s as reduc
tive as the three-chord basics. The
band is able to carry a manic abandon
into near-epic guitar rock, creating the
sort of bounteous sweep and propul
sive inevitability of the best Arcade
Fire tunes while retaining that sense
of promise that appeals to disenfran
chised youlh ol any number ot variet
ies. it's kinda like it The Descendents
grew up but then said “fuck it" and
threw all the pretense out the window
headed back to the garage.
If you've seen any number of rock
and roll bands in the past—reading
tfiis paper, that's pretty likely—and you
take a step back from the crowd rather
than fully giving yourself over, you
might find Titus Andronicus makes you
teel a little old. What you might need to
do is get over that, though, and if you
do, the guys in Titus Andronicus could
just make you feel as young, excited
and unrestrained as they are.
Chris Hassiotis
Titus Andronicus is playing at the
40 Watt Club on Thursday, June 11.
SONIC YOUTH
The Eternal
Matador
It stings to have to accept that art
ists iike Sonic Youth aien'l tliai young
anymore, but their last two albums.
Sonic Nurse and Rather Ripped, were
solid enough to soften this fact. Sonic
Youth's latest ottering, The Eternal, is a
veritable time-warp ot an album, some
how taking 15 years oft of the group's
age and being just as phenomenal
as anything the band's ever put out.
With The Eternal being the band's 16th
release (not including countless side
projects by everyone in the band), this
is an amazing accomplishment.
Hardcore Sonic Youth fans will
notice the departure of multi-tasker Jim
O’Rourke and the addition of former
Pavement bassist, Mark Ibold. The
Eternal is also the band’s first release
on Matador Records, which interest
ingly enough gives the sound an
almost intelligent pop, Pavement-y feel
through many of the tracks. Gone are
the days ot 10-minute long screech
ing jam sessions, though these can
thankfully still be heard at the band’s
live shows.
Kim Gordon has eclipsed singing
on only “her songs" and now sounds
like the lead singer, while Thurston
Moore and Lee Ranaldo sound like the
"other" singers in the band. The pairing
of Moore's guitar work and Gordon’s
voice on "Malibu Gas Station" is one
of their most brilliant ever. The two
create a SoCat sound that two life-long
New Yorkers simply shouldn't be able
to produce.
With a 16th successful release, a
fantastic new bassist, and comfortable
new home with Matador, as corny as it
may be, Sonic Youth is everything The
Eternal should be.
Noel Wurst
Sonic Youth is playing at Variety
Playhouse in Atlanta on July 13.
m o a ;
p > £; *4 £
DEPECHE MODE
Sounds of the Universe
Mute/Capitol
Although much noise has been
made about this being the second
album to feature a few songs by singer
Dave Gahan, considerably less fuss
has been made over the obvious:
Gahan seems to have learned every
thing from traditional Depeche Mode
scribe Martin Gore. Outside of Gahan's
tendency to be less emotionally bare
than Gore, there's no appreciable differ
ence. So, really, 28 years after its debut
album, Depeche Mode's influence is
felt among its own membership as
much as anywhere else. Which is to
say that there are no major shifts in
style or substance on Sounds ol the
Universe.
That doesn't mean, however, that it
is to be easily dismissed. If anything,
it's a slow burner. After months of
anticipation, it took me, an unabash
edly ardent fan, several listens to
absorb it all. The first moment of clar
ity, as it were, arrives with the tender
and yearning “Fragile Tension." Other
highlights are “In Sympathy" and
“Peace," the latter coming across ton
ally like a conscious look back to the
band's Vince Clarke era.
All told, it's a fine record by a
■band that, although its name gives lip
service to immediacy and disposability.
has virtually defined the intersection of
brooding sexual tension, mind games,
cruelty tempered with tenderness,
personal longing, failure and suc
cess through the language of multiple
synthesizers tor almost three decades.
It's not enough to say this album is
what can be expected from Depeche
Mode, but it might be enough to say
the reason it's expee'ed is because they
present themselves, again, unfailingly,
as standard bearers.
Gordon Lamb
CASPER AND
THE COOKIES
Modern Silence
Happy Happy Birthday to Me
industrial-sounding synthesizers,
which general ly cite Tangerine '
Dream-r-hold the tromage. This synth-
krautrock proposition really comes up
when Phoenix challenges its listeners
with an early bait-and-switch, displac
ing the pop-accessible with the cum
bersome. The nearly 8-minute 2-song
suite “Love Like a Sunset" builds into
an Antony Gonzales synthgaze mono
lith, only to recede, climax, then low
tide again—and just when you think
it's all instrumental, Thomas Mars coos
in for the last 40 seconds.
Phoenix relies on similar
'80s touchstones as Gonzales’
Saturdays=Youlh, without all the nos
talgic masturbation to Molly Ringwald
Tiger Beats and Brat Pack f ilms. On
many songs, lead singer Mars sounds
like a straight-faced Kevin Barnes,
among other impossibilities. Early
post-punk is here, too, especially in the
rhythm section, as is some New Order,
Spoon, and maybe even Clap Your
Hands Say Yeah!
Alter recently becoming one
of the very few bands to have three
performances in one “SNL" episode,
it seems everyone is on the Phoenix
bandwagon. Get on it, dance, and sing
awkwardly in your car.
Christopher Benton
I've always thought it reductive
when people refer to Casper and the
Cookies as an indie-pop band—which
is not to say that simple indie-pop
bands that produce cute, catchy tunes
don't deserve their share ot apprecia
tion. But it's always been clear to me
that Jason NeSmith, Kay Stanton
and Jim Hix have larger ambitions
beyond mere earworm melody. Modern
Silence, the band's brand-new record,
demonstrates that in a more tangible
form, capturing the bobbing and
weaving effect their live performances
produce, especially on the last three
tracks, a mini-symphony that recalls
The Residents as much as The Beatles
in its collage of songs and tones,
impressive as it is, it you’re looking tor
foot-tapping, that won't quite do, but
there's more than enough elsewhere.
Modern Silence is a big album to get a
handle on, but even if it only had “Keep
Talking," an absolute gem of a song
that’s both sweet and funky, it could
be considered a success. What do you
call a mix of prog and twee, anyway?
Interesting may be the best word for it.
Hillary Brown
PHOENIX
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
V2
This album is catchy as fuck. And
poppy, too. About time. With Wolfgang
Amadeus Phoenix, Phoenix may finally
become “the next big thing" that U S.
critics have heralded since the band's
soundtrack track “Too Young" was
licensed by every other Hollywood
music supervisor back in the early
'00s.
One thing’s for sure, Air's for
mer backing band definitely hearts
PLDME
Sunrise in the Rain
Independent Release
Sunrise in the Rain, the new
album from Plume, is an eclectic
blend of trippy pop songs and quasi-
experimental rock. Plume is Will
Goss—a mainstay in the Athens
music and art scene—who recorded,
produced and performed every track
on the album. Goss himself is a bit of a
wunderkind—one visit to his website
(www.williamcgoss.com) reveals a cor
nucopia of free, streaming music and
links to hysterical videos. Goss' other
artistic expfoits would normally have
little to do with his music, but they do
explain some of the humor on Sunrise
in the Rain.
Lyrically, the album is a combina
tion of bubblegum lyrics and tongue-
in-cheek sarcasm (“Every little girlie
wants a little piece of candy." he sings
on "Girlie Girls.") More often than
not—sonically and compositionally
speaking—Sunrise in the Rain recalls
The Kinks and Zabriskie Point-era
Pink Floyd. On the song "Johnny"
in particular, Goss channels a Laurel
Canyonvibe that would not be out of
place on Frank Zappa's We're Only in It
for the Money.
All in all. Sunshine in the Ram is
a unique ottering that no one could
claim is uncreative. While it is difficult
to envision listening to the album trom
slart to finish repeatedly, the album
confirms that Goss is, at the very
least, worth paying attention to. While
it might be true that every little girlie
wants a little piece of candy, I think
they’d settle for a copy ot Sunshine in
the Rain
Jnhn Seav
14 FLAGPOLE.COM • JUNE 10, 2009