Musical Experiences of the Weekend (Or, the Most Fun I've Ever Had While Feeling Like I Was Going to Pass Out)

The remnants of The Men's drumset at 4Knots

I didn't go to Governor's Ball. I'm assuming a lot of other people didn't go as well. Shelling out $250 to see Japandroids in knee deep mud, when you can see them at some Brooklyn club for $8 doesn't sound that appealing.

I also don't have $250 to spend in the first place.

This past Saturday, and for the majority of June, two festivals have occurred, that are on a much smaller scale. There's the Seaport Music Festival and 4Knots (held by the Village Voice). And guess what? Both festivals are free! Seaport Music Festival and 4Knots are for us, the perpetually broke.

So with my broke self, these are the musical experiences that I had this weekend. 

Seaport Music Festival has been happening for a couple of years now. Throughout the month of June, concerts are held every Friday... I think that's what happens. In past years, I was able to see The Radio Dept. at one of their very few U.S shows. Unfortunately this year, I missed Ex-Cult and Oblivians and was only able to see Bass Drum of Death and Unknown Mortal Orchestra. But hey, that's not bad.

I showed up late, only catching about 20 minutes of Bass Drum of Death's set. Bass Drum of Death play fast and loud garage rock music, which is pretty one note and unoriginal. However, they are a great live band and a lot of fun. The rain that was threatening us for the whole week, started slowly falling around 7:40, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra were ushered on stage.

Ruban Nielson quickly introduced the band, before launching into "The Opposite of Afternoon", from II. The band played the song a lot heavier than it is on record, adding some muscle to their music. The added muscle also worked out great on songs like "Thought Ballune" and "Strangers Are Strange" from their self titled debut. The band played an excellent mix of songs from their two albums, and it was nice to see the audience enjoying many of the songs from UMO's back catalogue, along with a cover of Can's "Vitamin C", played during their encore.

Throughout the set, Nielson and his drummer would launch into minute lasting solos, showing off how tight of a live band UMO is. The best moment of the show, was when "So Good At Being in Trouble" faded out, and before the audience could react, the opening drum and guitar line of "FFunny FFriends" kicked in. What occurred was a sea of bobbing heads, and some awkward dancing here and there. "FFunny FFriends" is still a brilliant song, even two years later, and Nielson played some well earned solos throughout. Seeing Unknown Mortal Orchestra perform in the rain is one of the best experiences anyone can have.

I woke the next morning, tired and with a headache. I had only gotten five hours of sleep (that's what happens when you're an insomniac) and the prospect of standing in the heat while watching a band like White Lung was very daunting. But I ate some oatmeal, took an aspirin and was determined to enjoy the day.

The 4Knots festival is now in it's third year, and will hopefully continue for years to come. Past years have featured Titus Andronicus, Archers of Loaf and Doldrums. 2013 had the best line up though, featuring Fat Tony, The Babies, Parquet Courts, The Men, Whit Lung, Kurt Vile and Clams Casino and Keyboard Kid at the after party with some internet rapper named Lil B... I've never heard of him.

Arriving at the festival around 2, I already experienced problems. See Fat Tony or White Lung, who were both on separate stages. I eventually chose White Lung, considering Fat Tony's inconsistent solo career. With a half hour to spare, I spent some time in my favorite mall (Pier 17) at my favorite store (Christmastime New York).

To explain White Lung's (killer) set, I've broken it up into a convenient chart:
Print of Mish Way's Pants: Leapord
How Many Songs They Played From Sorry: All but "Dead Beat" and "The Bad Way"
How Many Songs They Played From It's the Evil: A couple
A Mosh Pit Occurred: About halfway through the set
"Take the Mirror" Sounded: Amazing
How Many Times Mish Way Addressed the Audience: Once to introduce themselves, twice to say thank you, once to say "we're not a daytime band... this is weird".
What Mish Way Did During "Glue": Pointed her fingers at the audience in such a way that it looked like she was casting a spell upon us.
"Bag" Sounded: Amazing

White Lung's set only lasted about 25 minutes, giving Parquet Courts a half hour before they were supposed to begin. Only into the first White Lung song, I was sweating and my legs were tired, but I maintained and waited for Parquet Courts to start. This is when I started to feel like I was going to pass out.

Parquet Courts walked on all with straight faces, apart from bassist Sean Yeaton, who was grinning. He then began to introduce the band ("hi! We're from the other side of the river"). They began with a new song, led by Austin Brown, segueing into Andrew Savage's "You've Got Me Wondering Now". The band played at a breakneck pace only pausing once.
"Guys", says Sean Yeaton. "It's fucking hot".
"I'll tell you what," mutters Austin Brown. "I've got 20 euros in my pocket for who ever can sneak on the boat and bring me a bottle of chilled red wine". Then, "Master of My Craft" started.
Just like the record, "Borrowed Time" starts right after "Master of My Craft". "Borrowed Time" is so fun to watch, because of how the band stands still as the audience awkwardly yells during the false endings. They ended with "Stoned and Starving" and one of Savages sung/yelled rants, as Brown played his guitar with a microphone stand.

When Parquet Courts' set finished, I felt like I was going to pass out... again. I ran to a nearby bench and ate a melted granola bar to gain some much needed sustenance. I then ran back to the front row to watch The Men.

The Men's set began with Nick Chiericozzi playing his guitar with a pair of closed scissors, before he played the opening riff of "Country Song". Kevin Faulkner was on lap steel, Mark Perro on guitar/piano and Ben Greenberg on bass (their roles for playing live constantly change). Ben Greenberg was the life of the group, constantly addressing the audience ("it's friggin' hot... I don't know why I censored myself. It's fucking hot") and jumping around on stage with his bass. He's also a lot taller in person. Like, a lot taller.

Unfortunately, The Men's mix suffered at times, causing their best song, "Open Your Heart", to be barely heard over the feedback. They stuck to mostly material from Open Your Heart and only one song from New Moon ("I Saw Her Face", the best Men song, despite what anyone says). Making up for all the problems The Men had, they invited up a sleigh bells and saxophone player for a high octane cover of The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog". It was amazing, and in the end, Rich Ramis flipped his drum set, Keith Moon style.

With no interest in seeing Reigning Sound, I walked up to Gold and Fulton to Lisa's Pizzeria. I got a plain slice, and man, did it taste great.

I thought I had left enough enough time to get a good spot for Kurt Vile, but he was the obvious star of the festival. It was the most crowded it had been all day, but I managed to push myself to the third row.

Kurt Vile walked onstage in all white, his voluminous hair blowing in the wind, walked up to the microphone and said: "Hi, I'm Kurt Vile. Thanks for coming. You're beautiful." He then proceeded to play a great version of "Wakin On a Pretty Day". The audience was great, because they went crazy not just for songs from Wakin On a Pretty Daze but also songs like "Jesus Fever" and "Ghost Town".

There was some variation on Vile's songs, like on "Was All Talk" which ended with guitars similar to My Bloody Valentine's "You Made Me Realise". "Girl Called Alex" ended in a shroud of noise. At one point, all of the Violators left the stage and it was just Kurt with just an acoustic guitar. He played a beautiful rendition of "Peeping Tomboy". If there was one downside to Kurt Vile's set, it was that he didn't play "Goldtone".

After a day of moshing, punk bands, melted granola bars, and Hot Hot Heat, Kurt Vile's mellow set was a welcome respite.

So, yeah... that was the most fun I've ever had while feeling like I was going to pass out.

Emotion, Feeling and Youth (A Lengthy Essay, a Product of Insomnia)

Emergency & I by The Dismemberment Plan

What was it about the 90's, that has made it a such a desirable era? Everyone wants to sound like their favorite 90's indie rock band. It's the same for the late 80's. Everyone tries to sound like Hüsker Dü, Fugazi, Dinosaur Jr., Superchunk, Buffalo Tom, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Matthew Sweet, Pavement or The Replacements. At first, it seems just like blatant copying, done so artists can sell more records. But the more you listen to the seminal bands from this era and bands today, it all becomes clear.

The music of this bygone era is brilliant, and the years following it's end, didn't offer anything like it. Soon, the indie bands of choice became Dirty Projectors or Animal Collective. The only band who took this music to heart in the early 2000's was ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of the Dead, with their brilliant Source Tags & Codes. That's my theory on why indie rock (with emphasis on rock) has such an "infatuation" with a bygone era of music.

Reckoning by R.E.M.

Another reason that the emulation of this music is so desirable, is the feeling of it. It had the ability to forge a personal connection with the listener. The top iTunes comment on R.E.M.'s brilliant sophomore LP from 1984, Reckoning, was written by a user named pkjuke in 2005. It reads: "if you have a sore heart put this album in your ear and take a walk on a chilly night all alone with a pack of cigs so central rain and rockville will remind you that its your fault your heart hurts so much youll feel worse and better at the same time and youll fall in love again thanks rem". No hate on Avey Tare and co., but I don't think there's a comment like that on Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavillion.




You were able to forge a unique bond with the music, because the artists shared similar experiences that you did. A perfect example of this is Emergency & I, by The Dismemberment Plan, released in 1999. Travis Morrison weaved tales of a mundane life on "Spider in the Snow", watched a relationship crumble before him on "The Jitters", parodied the fixation of being invited to a party that so many young adults have on "You Are Invited" (while still creating an emotionally potent song). And on "The City", Morrison watches the city from his roof, and just realizes how boring everything is. It's a perfect record, and a perfect record for those young adults worrying about their future and what will become of them.

This is not to say indie music of the early 2000's was devoid of any emotion. The Strokes and Interpol made songs about drinking and growing old in NYC, and The National have always had some of the most depressing, yet personable lyrics in all modern music. But maybe as musical compositions became more complex, the music lacked a certain "feeling". The earliest Guided By Voices songs were made with cheap instruments and a 4-track. Artists always like to comment on how demos show the musician at their prime, and you'll never be able to catch a moment as raw as that ever again. Bloc Party's Intimacy was one of the most personal break up records, yet the band cluttered it with pointless electronics and effects, therefore, losing some of the feeling that came from listening to Bloc Party.

Again, no hate on artists who make complex song arrangements. These artists make up some of the most talented musicians today. Tame Impala's Lonerism is a brilliant, experimental album, that deals with some personal topics. Passion Pit's Gossamer matched lyrics of suicide and alcoholism against sunny electronics. In 2013, The National released Trouble Will Find Me and Local Natives released Hummingbird. Both of these records were fantastic, coming from indie bands who aren't really part of the underground anymore. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that as a musician, you should never lose sight of your message. You need to preserve that "feeling". Which is what Tame Impala, Passion Pit, The National and Local Natives are able to do. You can include as many bassoons and obscure instruments in your music, but you need to have a reasoning. Some of the best music of the 90's was lo-fi, but the "feeling" was there. Some bands had lyrics full of non-sequiturs (Pavement), but the music was their own, so they had the "feeling". Just always have that "feeling", that makes your music your own.

Artists in the late 2000's thought that they could recreate this, by having crappy recording quality, completely obscuring any lyrics that the band may have written. That doesn't matter, because the lyrics had no stock to them, and were boring. Wavves, Fang Island and Times New Viking are all examples of this (Wavves has since matured and actually makes great music these days, and I have no idea where Times New Viking or Fang Island are). Bands like The Hold Steady were our only hope for rock music, that wasn't afraid to express it's feelings. Just listen to Boys and Girls in America or Separation Sunday. Or The Gaslight Anthem's The '59 Sound.

The Airing of Grievances by Titus Andronicus

It may be unjust to cite this record as a turning point, but Titus Andronicus' The Airing of Grievances is in fact a turning point. It represents the return of the emotional punks, the rock poets and the Westerberg snot. Five friends, who were pissed off and just hated life, led by bearded poet Patrick Stickles bashed out lo-fi, punk music with heart. It had the "feeling", and has now solidified it's place in the indie rock cannon. As a 12 year old discovering Titus Andronicus, I had no idea what to think of them. They warped my brain, making me want to run through the streets and cry at the same time. They were so angry (In the first minute of the opener, "Fear and Loathing in Mawah, NJ", all instrumentation drops out and the band screams "FUCK YOU!") but they were passionate at the same time. Patrick Stickles was a genius as well, able to reference the works of Albert Camus in his lyrics, but not come off pretentious. To further indulge yourself in the philosophy of Stickles, just read one of his many essays he posts on his personal blog.

Post-Nothing by Japandroids

Titus Andronicus went on to make two more incredible albums, The Monitor and Local Business. In a sense, Titus Andronicus kicked open the door for the musicians with feelings to finally make the comeback they so rightfully deserved it. Another record coming out in the same year, was Japandroids' Post-Nothing. A fuzzy, lo-fi rock record that was on a much smaller scale compared to the philosophies of Titus Andronicus. Brian King and David Prowse (guitar/vocals and drums/vocals) sang songs about drinking with friends, girls and worrying about death. They were emotional, and the music could even be classified as "emo". But remember, emo is short for emotional. Sunny Day Real Estate and Rites of Spring are emo, not My Chemical Romance. Japandroids had so many feelings welling up inside of them, and they were all captured here. For 35 minutes, the guitars and drums pounded away and you connected with these two young men from Vancouver. They were worried about dying, so were you. All they wanted to do was worry about those sunshine girls, and so did you. When they quit off girls forever, you better bet that you did as well.

So 2008 ushered in the return of emotion and the "feeling". And it continued! It didn't just stop there! 2009 had Girls' Album and The Pains of Being Pure At Heart's self titled debut. 2010 had Surfer Blood's Astro Coast, Weekend's Sports, Wild Nothing's Gemini, Smith Westerns' Dye It Blonde and Titus Andronicus' The Monitor. 2011 had Yuck's self titled debut, Smith Westerns Dye It Blonde, Iceage's New Brigade and Fucked Up's David Comes to Life.

2012. 2013. One was an excellent year for this kind of music. One is shaping up to be. In 2012, Japandroids finally returned with fantastic Celebration Rock. It was their first album after four years, years of touring, and even almost calling the band quits. It would be unfair to break down the bands I would like to talk about into whatever years they released new material, because many are only finally breaking out in 2013.

Katie Crutchfield, who makes music as Waxahatchee

There was confessional music in the 90's as well. Liz Phair and Fiona Apple weren't afraid to sing about one night stands from a woman's point of view. One singer who seems to have taken their music to heart, is Waxahatchee. The project of Katie Crutchfield, who sometimes recruits her boyfriend on drums and roommate on bass. The music she makes, especially on this year's excellent Cerulean Salt is quite confessional and almost jarring on how personal she likes to be with us. It's very stripped down, much like Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville. She's not afraid to even have lyrics that can be easily deemed "cheesy" ("dark winter morning / you honk your car horn at me") but have a much deeper meaning.

Another example of women in indie rock would be from Mish Way, from the Canadian punk band, Whit Lung. Way sings with a much darker tone than Crutchfield, which is very prevalent on 2012's Sorry. On the song "Glue", she compares herself to a dead horse, being melted down for glue. Most of the songs range from 1-2 minutes and the band goes full throttle every time. The effect of it leaves you almost weary, but you can't wait to listen to it again.

Parquet Courts, performing at Chaos in Tejas

A band who's status has only grown in 2013, is Parquet Courts. Their instrumentation reflects that of Wire's, but their lyrics contain the smart (or smartass) lines that Stephen Malkmus had. The music is almost cheap sounding, with jerky guitars and a break neck rhythm section. Across their album Light Up Gold they made fun of the older generation, but also realized what was wrong with them. On "Yonder is Closer to the Heart", time is measured in balls of lint and laundry receipts which begin to cumulate on the narrator's desk. "Stoned and Starving" is a mission statement, where Andrew Savage navigates Queens bodegas, but the song has a darker side. Similar to Milk Music's pained mission statement, "Illegal and Free". The drugs soon become distractions for the depressing lives that the narrators lead.

Royal Headache's Royal Headache

Similar to Parquet Courts are the Aussie soul-punks Royal Headache. Made up of four friends, all with one word nicknames (Shogun, Law, Joe, Shortty) their music distills many different elements into one fuzzy whole. The instrumentation sounds like Black Flag, and The Ramones, but the Shogun's voice is more reminiscent of Rod Stewart, Sam Cooke and Otis Redding. His voice comes off urgent, and loaded with feeling. Sometimes he's accusing lovers, asking if they're "really in love" or unwilling to move on after the demise of a relationship ("we had a fine thing you and me / don't you agree... and it all comes down to the time we spent"). On the band's self titled debut, they played fast and loud for 26 minutes, with Shogun's voice reaching for the heavens (just listen to album highlight "Honey Joy").


The "bite" of the 90's is returning as well. This was only a thought in 2011, when The Men released Leave Home. But now we have Cloud Nothings and Metz. Metz's music is defined as "sludge-punk", due to it's similarity to bands like Fugazi, The Jesus Lizard, Drive Like Jehu, and other music that isn't recreated that much these days. Cloud Nothings did a similar thing on Attack On Memory which was produced by Steve Albini (of The Killing Joke and Big Black). The sound of it was meaty, but also very catchy. The hooks were fantastic, and you could also hear the bass notes ring out. Not to mention Dylan Baldi's ragged, pleading voice cutting through the music like a knife.

Speaking of The Men, what happened? After making 2012's excellent Open Your Heart (which was basically a study of all things 90's), they went up to the mountains and made the excellent New Moon. And they've taken Milk Music with them! Both Milk Music and The Men started out as scrappy punk bands, before maturing and incorporating more elements of country into their music. New Moon along with Milk Music's Cruise Your Illusion can only be described as Neil Young meets Dinosaur Jr. And it sounds amazing. The Men cite Milk Music as "kindred spirits" and it makes complete sense.

Merchandise, performing at Chaos in Tejas

The new punk spectrum existing today also has a somewhat more new-wave leaning sound. Frankie Rose released the excellent Interstellar last year. It had elements of jangle-pop, shot through The Cure, ending up with beautiful music. The backbone of her music was punk, but she added more elements of pop to create a unique hybrid. Another band who's used a similar formula to Frankie Rose is Tampa, Fl.'s Merchandise whose excellent Children of Desire was released last year and the excellent Totale Nite was released this year. Merchandise used to be a punk band, but now they lean more towards British new-wave/post-punk.

A perfect example of punk and it's sweet side, is Mikal Cronin. You may know him as that guy who plays bass for Ty Segall, but this year he broke out on his own, by releasing the excellent MCII. At times he sounds like Matthew Sweet, sometimes Teenage Fanclub and even Superchunk, when they're at their tenderest moments. Lyrically, Cronin is something like the male counterpart to Waxahatchee, full of self loathing and personal problems. He's also earned a B.F.A. in music, and MCII is full of beautiful compositions, ranging from piano to violin.

Mikal Cronin, performing at SXSW

There's countless artists who I neglected to mention in.. whatever this is. DIIV has the "feeling". Real Estate has the "feeling". King Tuff, Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, Vår, King Krule, Kurt Vile, Willis Earl Beal, Foxygen, Lotus Plaza, Deerhunter, Mac DeMarco, Wampire, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Atlas Sound and The Radio Dept. all have the "feeling". WU LYF had the "feeling" before their mysterious break-up. Even more electronic leaning artists like Grimes, Pharmakon, Majical Cloudz and Youth Lagoon have the "feeling".

I don't know how this got so long. Maybe that's what I get after writing after three nights without enough sleep. I'm just genuinely impassioned about this new music and how all these musicians are able to emulate "feeling" the same way Dinosaur Jr., My Bloody Valentine and The Replacements did. So I guess, that I'm just excited. Really, really excited. We're living in this time period of excellent music, that's all around us. These musicians make you excited, and that's the best thing you can do. They have emotion, feeling and excitement. Music sounds better when you're excited.

And I can't wait for what these artists are going to do next.

Dance Yrself Clean: A Review of Lust for Youth's "Perfect View"

From left to right, Hannes Norrvide and Loke Rahbek of Lust for Youth

It's common knowledge, that hype kills an artist. But the hype of one artist in a certain genre threatens to overshadow all the other artists in that respective genre. Daft Punk made a huge comeback with Random Access Memories, a boring and cluttered album of dance/electronic music. It's all people are talking about! Little do they know, is that Majical Cloudz released their excellent second full-length Impersonator, a sparse and emotionally potent electronic album two weeks later. The bland and unoriginal Silence Yourself by London outfit, Savages, is being crowned the pinacle of modern post-punk. But released around the same time, was Vår's No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers. Vår is a Copenhagen supergroup, compromised of members of Lust for Youth(!), Lower, Iceage and Sexdrome. Savages barely scratched the surface of post-punk. Vår created a unique and excellent study of all post-punk.

Enter Lust for Youth. Not a lot of people know about Lust for Youth. They usually perform a lot at events Pitchfork hold in New York, but he's always at the bottom of the lineup. If you were to listen to Lust for Youth, you'd probably grimace, but you'd stick through it, waiting until the end of the song. Most of his songs are two or three notes banged out on a Casio keyboard, with some drum machines placed over them, and then Hannes Norrvide moans into the smog of music he's created. The mixture doesn't sound appealing, but his music reaches sensual and emotional heights. In interviews he  has explained that he's always wanted to make post-punk music, but he couldn't play any instruments apart from his constantly malfunctioning Casio keyboard.

Lust for Youth started in 2009, back when Norrvide wanted to make post-punk music, but with some synth pop thrown in. Norrvide recruited a second member for 2011's Solar Flare. A darkness loomed over that record's pummeling synths, with titles such as "Sickness", "Black Death" and "Taste of Skin". In 2012, Lust for Youth once again became the solo project of Norrvide. He released the pretty great Growing Seeds on the Italian label Avant! over the summer of 2012 (later being released on Brooklyn's very own Sacred Bones in the fall). Growing Seeds was a sonically murky, lo-fi record, with a sense of loneliness throughout it, despite Norrvide citing it as an album about new love and new beginnings.

Because Norrvide enjoys both cheap electronic and punk music, the music he makes himself can be described as being "dance punk" (hence Daft Punk, Majical Cloudz, Savages and Vår being discussed in the beginning of this review). New Order and Cold Cave are obvious influences, but Lust for Youth's music also reflects what his contemporaries in Vår are doing.

That influence may be brought on by Loke Rahbek, the newly added second member of Lust for Youth. Rahbek runs the Danish label Posh Isolation, sings in the violent punk band Sexdrome and is one of the two singers of Vår (he's responsible for songs like "The World Fell" and "Pictures of Today / Victorial"). Rahbek was originally used just to aid Norrvide in performing, but now he helps record as well.

This may add another layer to Lust for Youth's newest record, Perfect View, his second in only six months. The addition of Rahbek may have made the music on Perfect View much more lush and prettier than Growing Seeds with more thought added to the instrumentals. If you caught Lust for Youth's 2012 EP Saluting Rome or his Chasing the Light (7") then you'll be prepared for what awaits you on Perfect View.

Norrvide creates an excellent mix between the emotional, Casio led songs and his more dance heavy ones. His experimentation is where he shines the most. "Another Day" starts off sounding like a track from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack with disco like instrumentation. That's before Norrvide comes in, pleading in his signature monotone, thick Swedish accent ("one more try / another day with you"). On "Breaking Silence" the song achieves the more synth pop aspirations of Norrvide's music, while stripping back that industrial grit. It sounds as if Norrvide is drunkenly roaming the streets of Copenhagen at night yelling "now! / with both my hands / I break the silence!".

The songs that Norrvide sang on, on Growing Seeds were the stronger of the batch of songs. Many of the instrumentals fell short. That's not so much the case on Perfect View. The centerpiece of the album is a towering, 8 minute long club beat with synths and disembodied vocals sputtering over it. The beginning and end of the song features samples of an impassioned preacher. This may add another layer not just to the music, but to Norrvide himself: his relationship with religion. The preacher almost makes you feel you uncomfortable while yelling things like, "he's the only one who can pull you from the dead, filthy muck / Jesus!"

Two of the songs stay true to the signature form that Norrvide's somewhat created. Opener "I Found Love" sounds a lot like "We Planted a Seed", an instrumental from the last Lust for Youth LP, but this time, Norrvide sings over it. The only lyrics are, "I found love / in a different place". On "Vibrant Brother", Norrvide seems to have given up singing at all and just does what sounds like spoken word ("her desire / that's all it was / see the death / fall from her eyes").

The final two songs of Perfect View are where Norrvide and Rahbek are able to balance Norrvide's signature form and his more dance leaning side. "Kirsten" samples film dialogue ("Kirsten's gonna kill me when she sees this") over another club beat, where Norrvide moans in the background. And finally, on "Image", the synths reach skyward and an organ is even included. A fitting ending for an album like this.

What makes the Copenhagen scene so exciting, is the friendship among all the musicians. Everybody is in another band with members of another band. Elias Rønnenfelt of Iceage is the other lead singer of Vår, but his other bandmates perform with Rahbek in Sexdrome. And the other members of Vår and Lower collaborate in the dark, industrial band Age Coin. Rahbek sometimes helps Puce Mary (aka Frederikke Hoffmeier, something like the Scandinavian Pharmakon). It's exciting to completely indulge yourself in a scene, where you watch grainy YouTube videos of Age Coin performing at Roskilde, and search the deep recesses of the web for out of print 7" that Vår and Lust for Youth have collaborated on. And now, Perfect View is a welcome addition to the Copenhagen "family".

Lust for Youth - Perfect View
8.5/10
Recommended Tracks - "I Found Love", "Breaking Silence", "Another Day", "Perfect View", "Vibrant Brother", "Image"

I Fell Apart and Combed My Hair: A Review of Surfer Blood's "Pythons"

At some point in a teenage boy's life, he will discover Weezer. And along with Weezer he'll discover their 1996 sophomore record, Pinkerton. That record will most likely accompany him for the rest of his life. It'll always be there for him after bouts of sadness and anger, rejection and depression. Pinkerton was the culmination of a teenage boys' feelings involving girls, drugs and life in general.

John Paul Pitts, the frontman of Florida's Surfer Blood, is obviously a Pinkerton disciple. Take the song "Twin Peaks" from Surfer Blood's great 2010 debut, Astro Coast. A song, where Pitts is finding himself sexually frustrated and has driven all the way to Syracuse to watch David Lynch movies with his girlfriend. His lyrics reflected those of River Cuomo's and so did the music. Astro Coast was predominantly Weezer influenced with some dashes of Vampire Weekend and Pavement thrown in.

Surfer Blood were the "next big thing" for a while, riding the hype of songs like "Swim" and "Floating Vibes". But then people began to forget about them. Until August 14th, when the story broke that on the night of March 31st, Pitts was arrested for domestic battery. A night at home turned violent between him and his girlfriend. But as more details come from the story, it seems as if it's not just Pitts who was at fault. They got into an argument, she wanted to call the police, he locked himself in the bathroom while threatening self harm, she bit and scratched his shoulders and chest, he stuck his fingers in her mouth. Only Pitts has shared his side of the story and has claimed to "never have hit anybody". The remainder of Surfer Blood cited Pitts' former relationship as "unhealthy" and "dangerous".

People aren't going to forget an incident like this. You can be caught with cocaine and guns in your house and still be viewed positively in the public eye. But when comes to anything involving abuse and women, it's something that you can't let go. Personally, I agree with the majority of the public on how disgusting and wrong abuse is. But when one person provokes the other, and only one is convicted, is that still considered domestic abuse? Or are both at fault?

The shadow of the Pitts case looms over Surfer Blood's fantastic second album, Pythons. The lyrics are self loathing, sad and discomforting. In interviews, Pitts seems tired of having to explain himself to people. But maybe he still has to explain things to himself, considering the lyrical content of Pythons.

Matching the dark, self lacerating lyrics is bright instrumentation, a trick that Passion Pit has used before. The songs sound like they can be played on any alternative radio in the late 90's to early 2000's. Or maybe something on the now defunct 101.9 RXP. Album highlight "Say Yes to Me" owes a lot more to Third Eye Blind then it does to Pavement.

Some of this can probably be attributed to the album's producer Gil Norton (famous for producing Pixies' Doolittile). If you were to compare Pythons to any modern day indie rock record, it shares a lot with Wavves' Afraid of Heights. A record steeped in 90's alt-rock nostalgia and dark lyrics.

The band does steal a lot from the 90's. The verses of the opener, "Demon Dance", play exactly like those of Weezer's "The World has Turned and Left Me Here". And when Pitts screams on this album, he sounds like Black Francis.

The music is still unique in it's own right. The band likes to create a threshold with the beautiful and ugly, especially in Pitts' voice. Pitts is truly a great singer, able to hit falsettos and what not, but he's also a very adept screamer. Listen to the bridges of "Demon Dance" and "I Was Wrong". On "Slow Six" the guitars turn dark and ugly but then come down to a beautiful riff at the end of the song.

Pythons may not seem like a huge step from Astro Coast. Some may cite it as a step backwards. "Weird Shapes" sounds a hell of a lot like Tarot Classic (EP)'s "I'm Not Ready". But the changes are more subtle. Take the album's best song "Squeezing Blood". It has an insanely catchy chorus and in the last minute Pitts lets loose a scream, and the rest of the band do their respective backing vocals over it. Pitts said that "Squeezing Blood" is one of the only songs where everyone in the band sings at once. The lyrics may also reflect Pitts' new state of mind after his "incident". "Damning allegations have come to light / stapled to the background in black and white" sounds like a reaction of the news breaking and the unfair point of view the public has of him.

The dark tone of the lyrics is prevalent throughout the whole album. On "Blair Witch" Pitts is "reaching for sour grapes" and then proceeds to relate his lover's kisses to the taste of sour grapes. On "Say Yes to Me" his lover is  "still true blue".

But then there's the album's closer "Prom Song". Surfer Blood have a thing for endings (just listen to Astro Coast's "Catholic Pagans"). I have a feeling that one day, I may actually shed tears to "Prom Song". Acoustic and electric guitars intertwine and Pitts stays stuck in time ("something else is out there / but I just can't be bothered / I don't want to know"). There may be some vague hints of Pitts moving on, "tonight we pull the plug / sweep you underneath the rug".

On the surface, Pythons seems like a sellout album, full of pop/alt-rock songs. An album sounding like Weezer and Blink-182. But like an actual python, the album slowly unfurls and wraps itself around you. After a while you can't escape it. Critics have kind of been slamming this record, but the fans are loving it. Similar to what happend upon Pinkerton's initial release. Pinkerton was Weezer's second album and Pythons is Surfer Blood's second album as well. It's quite tempting to call Pythons Surfer Blood's Pinkerton. But, one day, a teenage boy will find this. And he'll identify completely with it.

Surfer Blood - Pythons
8.5/10
Recommended Tracks - "Demon Dance", "Weird Shapes", "Squeezing Blood", "Say Yes to Me", "Slow Six", "Prom Song"