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Sexual Stimulants ) TANNING MEMBERSHIP Only $35 per Month So Maintenance Fee XXX DVDs Homewood Shopping Center V 706-546-4864 M-Tfi Wa-llp • f-Sat10a-12a • Sun Ip-lOp Do You Gamble? □ If so, you may qualify for a research study on gambling behavior. □ Participation will include a telephone screen and one in-person assessment. □ You will be compensated $30 in cash for 3 hours of participation. □ Call (706) 542-5010 for more information. This study is being conducted by the Department of Psychology at the University of Georgia. The University of Georgia UNDER AMANDA PALMER Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under Independent Release Amanda Palmer doesn’t give a fuck what you think. ThL a woman who fabricated a set of Siamese twins that she "rescued" from a traveling circus in order to record a concept album about them with Frances Bean Cobain, Weird A! and many more (Evelyn Evelyn). This is a woman who publicly sang her request that her label drop her In short, this is a woman who does what she wants, and with that MO bared proudly (along with a good bit else on the sexi est album cover you'll see all year) she has offered up Amanda Palmer Goes Dov,n Under, a self-released, online- only solo record comprised of songs written and performed in Australia. Opening with a slightly tweaked, live rendition of "Makin' Whoopee" on solo ukulele. Palmer shows off a softer, if still sarcastic side to the pitch-black humor central to her flag ship project. The Oresden Dolls. Next is a gorgeous, piano-based torch song entitled "Australia," in which Palmer gloomily contemplates escaping depression in the land down under. In another giggle-inducing live moment, she again turns to her magical ukulele to perform her suggested replacement for the New Zealand national anthem (which also makes cutesy reference to her menstrual cycles and the film The Piano). The epic, penultimate track “Formidable Marinade" leatures the booming baritone of Australian opera singer Mikelangelo, which, contrasted with Palmer's cabaret piano, brings to mind the demented carnival atmo sphere of Tom Writs' The Black Rider. Ultimately, there is little here not to like, an. Palmer’s talent, both musically and theatrically, is undeniable. David Fitzgerald CANBJ & THE STRANGERS 10th of Always Independent Release . Written right after not-shit pro ducer Erik Wofford (The Black Angels, Maserati, Voxtrot, The Octopus Project. Explosions in the Sky) joined the band, this focused sophomore album by the potential breakout Austin dream-pop group is romantically adrift in the zero- gravity space-age fantasia of the late '60s and 70s. Coaxing similar vintage futurism to early Air and Ladytron, 10lh olAlways is all sleek, silvery lines and twinkling stars. Giving the voyage some bite and vibe are fuzzed edges and analog groans Besides the impeccable propor tions and irresistible furnishing, its cosmic effortlessness comes primanly from the band's tall, polished sense of melody. As pop songs go. seldom do you come across a collection so fluid, consistent and dazzling. Highlights include the sky-riding jaunt of "Still a Star." the celestial lullaby of “Femme Sonique." the ringing triumph of “I Am Radio," and the soothing mass of the title track. Vibrating with filmic drama and cooing charms, these astral con fections seduce with a supine glide and a million-light-year gaze Bao Le-Huu SURF CITY Kudos Fire With the current swell of high- quality noise and shoegaze-inspired bands going right now, like Young Prisms and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, life is good for right-minded music fans. And your next pet band should be New Zealand's Surf City, whose noise-pop is an irresistible con gress of classic. Iate-’80s, British indie melodies and astringent sonic washes. Surf City's core is its sharp pop sen sibility. and its application of textural grit is done in a measure that’doesn't blunt its bright, worthy melodies. More swirling warm bath than sandstorm • blast, the band jacks up its jangle just enough to give it some bite and octane, but never at the cost of taste or balance Highlights include the rippling, majestic cascades of ‘Yakuza Park," the sweet spaciousness of "Retro" and the hypnotically circular, Bunnymen-esque “Icy Lakes." But the album's twin peaks are the diving stateliness of "Crazy Rulers of the World" and the slack Teenage Fanclub mien of “Teachers." Still, these gems are set in a bed of gold that generously illustrates that their consistency is as astonishing as their precision. Bao Le-Huu PONDEROSA Moonlight Revival New ’.Vest Moonlight Revival, the first full- length LP from the Athens/Atlanta band Ponderosa. is a solid helping of raunchy Southern rock sprinkled with elements of country twang. Although sometimes drifting a bit too far into Kings of Leon territory (“Hold on You," "Devil on My Shoulder"), Kalen Nash's gridy drawl perfectly compliments the band's blues-rock swagger. The pro duction is top-notch; Joe Chiccarelli (who produced the White Stripes' Icky Thump) clearly had a vision for the band's sound. And, unfortunately, the sound Chiccarelli seems to favor can be summed up in a word: sale Every song fits nicely into a radio-friendly blues- rock box. and genre-standard song structure and embellishments, while true to form, oftentimes seern con trived. Yet Ponderosa has a raw energy that pokes its head up above ground just enough times on the record that— when it's smothered beneath over-pro duction and heavy compression—the listener feels cheated. "Revolution," a straightahead Southern boogie rock number, is probably the closest Ponderosa gets to breaking out of studio-induced sterility. “I ain't even try," Nash growls, and guitarist Kris Sampson wails with abandon as if to emphasize that when the guys in Ponderosa just cut it loose it's enough to make you want to get up and dance. Make no mistake, there are enough truly authentic moments to make Moonlight Revival worth your time, even if only to propagate what certainly will be the album's singular outstanding impression among listen ers: "Man, I bet these guys are really good live." John Granofsky Ijjg IV [ i Ifg .Vkjp* BLUE SKY FOUNDRY Harbinger ■ Independent Release On this, Blue Sky Foundry's seventh album in 17 years, the band plies its stock in trade of musical sensibilities that begin circa 1985 and stop somewhere in the mid-1990s As usual, the band succeeds is in its gently breezy jangle-rock numbers (“What," "Fireside," "Christmas, Present," "Best Laid Plans’) and fails awfully with its totally blah oldie alternative rock jams ("So. This Is It." “Likewise," "Dahonesdoe") A smatter ing of stylistic oddities like sub-indigo Girls pop (“Times New Roman") and funky bar rock (“Unbecoming") pepper this record, too. I'm not really in the business of besmirching anyone's hobby, but most people don't submit their hobbies for review, either. The sad fact is that there’s no reason anyone should care about this record beyond the band itself, maybe the members' families and perhaps a few friends. Harbinger, literally, sounds like a lost broadcast of the old WNNX FM (99X) show "Locals Only." No one under the age of. say. 35 will (or should) even know what the hell that means, but it's a decent descriptor for bland-ish, uninspired tunes that lack any aspect of rock and roll’s necessary urgency. Gordon Lamb 16 FLAGPOLE.COM • FEBRUARY 9,2011
