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BUTHREBAND
Here to Eternity .
Independent Release
This latest release from the Michael
Guthrie Band is a loving tribute to Jon
Guthrie and features compositions
from 1986-2009, all of which tie in
emotionally to the scar left by the sud
den loss of the young Gpthrie in 2009.
With this in mind, each track is imbued
with solace and warmth.
Beginning with the gentle guitar
sketch ‘Peace,’ written by Jon himself,
the album flows seamlessly into the
truly grand Time Won’t Wait,’ which
is characterized as much by restraint
as it is by release. Musically, this
compilation represents the very best
of the Midtael Guthrie Band. Through
its classic British pop, tender balladry,
incisive lyricism and flawless perfor
mances, Here to Eternity crystall izes
the notion that love has always been
the band’s catalyst.
The closing track, ’Eternity 2,’ is a
perfect representation of Jonls style of
writing, which was always more Smiths
and The Jam than Michael’s Kinks and
Small Faces. The most heart-stopping
moment, in a record full of them, is
’’Star"—the music by young Guthrie—
when father Michael sings “You were
a bright star shining upon us/ so pure
and precious the way that you touched
us/ Long will your light shine." Simpfy
put, thereS never been a better Michael
Guthrie Band record nor a better rea
son for one to exist. The love here is
tenderly chronicled and its articulation
painstakingly crafted. It’s perfect
Gordon Lamb
P„ a. c i
f i c
WEEKENDS
PAcncuv
WEEKENDS
Mazarine
Once 3gain an Athens-based band,
pacificUV, has returned with another
fuzz-filled artifact: a breakup album.
WEEKENDS unfurls a succession of
lonely nigbts and days, with the bass
notes and drumbeats logging the
passing of the time more often than.
they punctuate it. The album does not
feet like an empty or unfertile expanse,
however. The twinkling *Just4kix’
sounds like a Sparklehorse song,
and its casually tossed off bait recalls
The Magnetic Fields—it catches an
ear, even when it does not attract the
singer's love interest: “When I said I
was in love, v^u didn’t ask with who
or what. Just for kicks, lets make it
clear—it was you I was in love with,
dear.’ Cut Copy electro pulses through
Tunny Girl,’ and ‘Be My Only Shallow
Love’ is a bubbly Jesus and Mary
Chain tribute, despite the My Bloody
Valentine nod in its title.
These welcome, structured pop
songs sit strangely next to pacificLMs
traditionally spacey post-rock and
droning codas, and WEEKENDS makes
for an uneven and sometimes precious
listen. ’Unplug Me' builds in the
voices of an angelic choir, promising
transcendence, but the sound plum
mets several octaves in the albums ter
rifying final seconds. WEEKENDS lues
and fails to off itself, and the endings
continue without end.
In pacificUVs best slow-burn
moments, the band explores gradations
of languor, loneliness and boredom to
consider the possibilities both within
them and beyond them. Ihe group
does not always stretch its limbs before
feeling the morning rush of regret
and longing here, but when they do,
WEEKENDS shines.
Alex Oimilropoulos
pacificUV is playing at Go Bar on
Jan. 28.
never truly ignite or push into the
■memorable’ realm. Fleeting moments
of brilliance appear throughout certain
tracks, ’Stone Ocean’ and ’Orion*
providing the best examples, but the
overwhelming mediocrity unceremoni
ously consumes them.
John Mincemoyer
ARTISTS OF WAR
Peace, Or God As Machine
Independent Release
“Peace has arrived my friends.
And, oh, is it good.’ So states local
multi-instrumentalist Brad Olsen on
his band site, artistsofwar.net. Peace,
Or God As Machine is the second
full-length album released under the
Artists of War moniker. Peace.... the
first of two planned concept albums,
spans The entirety of Earths history...
leading to its [sic] ultimate destruc
tion.’ with Time travel and dimensional
warping,’ as well as “man’s relation
ship with technology and to the Sell,
isolation, and the power of love, athe
ism, omniscience, reincarnation and
singularity’ all factoring in telling this
extremely ambitious story. Olsen also
plans a graphic novel, Heavy Giant, to
further explain and extend his ‘Project
Peace’ concept beyond the audio and
into a visual medium. On Peace...
Olsen employs a self-described “mod
ern and progressive" heavy-metal style.
as the platform for his emotional saga.
He lists Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden,
Mastodon and H>ol, among others, as
inlluences.
To accomplish recording, Olsen,
in role-playing mode, channeled three
guises: The Dragon (guitars/vocals),
Dynamo (bass) and Skuilcrusher
(drums). Dragon exhibits mercurial
guitar work when soloing, providing
bright spots among the predominantly
pedestrian mid-tempo main riffs. His
raw. warbling vocal style, when not
using effects, might best be called
“contentious.* Skuilcrusher works the
kit without Hash, and Dynamo anchors
the bottom end.
Unfortunately, when these singular
threads combine, the compositions
THE BIRDHOUSE
COLLECTION
Put Your Head in the Clouds
(Multi-media Release)
Birdhouse v
Itls odd to find formal coherence
in a free Internet video, but with Put
Your Head in the Clouds (also available
on DVD), the Birdhouse Collection
manages just that. Eleven odd tracks in
genres ranging from garage to ambient
(with a Jot in between) combine with
Lindsey Klonoski’s visuals.
Kaleidoscopic cloudscapes act as
a kind of homegrown iTunes visual-
izer, bringing the playlist together.
You might be dismissive. Go ahead:
put this on at a party and make stoner
jokes. Act clever for your guests. But
actually engage with what’s happening
onscreen and you’ll find the visuals
have an ingenious way of holding your
attention for the duration of the video.
They force you to consider the compi
lation as a whole, rather than a 40-min
ute assortment of tracks. And when
the visuals depart from the standard
radial symmetry, they acquire an eerie,
unsettling quality—subversive almost.
The overall impression is of a group of
affiliated acts, each doing something
noteworthy.
Pretty Bird's Tallin’ Skys* serves
as the centerpiece. One line stands out:
‘Everybody thinks they know what’s
going on/ but little do they know.’
Towards the end. on "Cockroach
Mosaic," Green Gerry has this comfort
ing reply: “No one has anything to
hide.’
Marshall Yarbrough
TUMBLEWED
STAMPEDE
Guts
Quality Faucet Records
Guts slams the door shut on all
previous incarnations and flavors
of Tumbleweed Stampede. Gone are
the rote imitations of dozy, popular
country-ish bands. Benjamin Papillon
has reined in the band and recreated if
in terms of frenetic, yet focused, mod
ern college rock with a taste for Dirty
Projectors and Animal Collective.
Divided pretty cleanly into two
halves, Gutd first “side* compiles a
singular uplifting instrumental track,
a creepy cabaret number, a cail-and-
response island R&B song and a fairly
straightforward guitar pop song with a
really good horn-punctuated section
I’d tell you the names of the song,
but the track listing is so off-kilter it’s
impossible to tell which song is which
The second half is characterized more
by its reserve and attention to detail
than anything else. Every instrument is
recorded extremely cleanly, and the mix
Is completely balanced. The bandmem-
bers are fastidious self-editors, and the
album is only eight tracks long.
Guts is a completely reasonable
listening experience and reveals more
of its personality with each spin. At first
blush, the band may seem like another
goofy, good-time party band with an
ironic name, but it's actually quite an
up-and-comer.
Gordon Lamb
HOLY LIARS
Heat Lightning
Independent Release
Critics of modern country music
(and really, pop and rock, too) often
lament the formulaic nature of the
songwriting. Upon first listen, many
tracks on Holy Liars' most recent
album, Heat Lightning, seem contrived
to fit the mold shaped by Nashville
suits, a crime against Athenian ears.
While the catchy lyrics, twangy accent
and instrumentation of Heat Lightning
prove that Holy Liars are aware of the
necessary ingredients in this formula,
a closer listen makes it apparent that
this Southern rock band has no fear of
forcing the boundaries to incorporate a
view of the more illicit side ol country
life. Even better, this perspective seems
genuine. Thanks to anthemic. heavily
rock-infused tracks, it’s impossible
not to picture members of this band
“passin’ a bottle in the afternoon/ pas-
sin’ joints in your Suburu,’ habits that
highlight The way it was at home’ in
the song ‘Kick in the Pants *
This album makes you want to
rip off the sleeves of your Wayton
Jennings t-shirt, cut off the legs of your
Goodwill jeans, light up a Marlboro,
and drink Budweiser on the tailgate
of a truck you stole to peddle drugs
Holy Liars give a well-deserved double
middle-finger salute to the bubble gum
country songs being churned out some
300 miles northwest ol Athens.
Jodi Murphy
Also Released this Month: El
Holllr\-Pteasure-Puncher • Titans of
flWh-Serf City • The Four Thieves-
The Four Thieves • Mama's Love- The
Great Divide • Young Benjamin- The
Fall EP • Jay Gonzalez-Mess ol
Happiness • Karbomb-zVose Before
Toes • Blind by Sight-Blind by Sight
More reviews at www.flagpole com
14 FLAGPOLE.COM • JANUARY 25, 2012