Trkane's Blog

Bars of Gold played an awesome, no-bull set at the Belmont last night. If you haven’t heard of them before, run, don’t walk to check out their debut album Of Gold. The band is composed of ex-members of Bear vs. Shark, and members of Wildcatting.

The hype behind Cee Lo Green’s latest album, The Lady Killer, could have been a bit much. Although the single that started it all didn’t get much radio-play, you might be tired of hearing “F*** You!” everywhere else – the video has 17 million YouTube views alone. But who can blame anyone for overplaying Green’s blunt statement to an ex-lover? The three-minute song puts most full-length break-up letters to shame, and Green does most of the talking with just two words. So, thank God for the hype – Cee Lo deserves it. The album’s 14 rock-solid tracks prove that Green’s recent success is about much more than novelty – nothing driven by novelty is this damn good. The Lady Killer captures the energy that made Motown so special in songs like “Wildflower” and “Satisfied,” and Cee Lo’s knack for soaring melody manages to breathe life into Band of Horses’ “No One’s Gonna Love You.”  The Lady Killer is a beam of light in the face of radio-pop, proving that creativity and wit still have a place on the airwaves.

Boy, when Tim Kasher gets stuck on a subject, it is hard to get him off of it. He built his whole career with Cursive and The Good Life crooning about those ugly parts of life that most people don’t even want to talk about. Failed marriage, drinking too much, having sex with strangers, losing your faith, they’re all conversation staples, common ice-breakers for Kasher. And on Sunday night at the Blind Pig, Kasher dove into it again, and again, and again and again touring behind his solo release The Game of Monogamy.

I don’t want you to think this whole review is going to bash Kasher – it isn’t. Kasher played a good set that exploded into near-greatness with what he called “a proper encore.” What surprised me even more, was that the guy who moved hundreds of thousands of records with Cursive only managed to bring about 30 or so people to the college town. But the people that were there were into it, and they were the most into it when Kasher was playing stuff from his Cursive or Good Life albums. The show sported the typical Kasher fans – mostly girls with weird dyed hair, “snakebite” piercings, and their most important accessory – the word-for-word memorization of any song that Kasher slipped out.

Kasher was sipping from a mug all night. I wonder what was in it.

Kasher put on a show, though. Right from the get-go, I was pretty sure that Kasher was pretty sloshed from some of the faces he was making, but I wasn’t able to confirm this with the way he executed his songs. Kasher’s one-of-a-kind howl was in top form, I don’t think I heard him hit a bad note all night. He held down all of the guitar parts on a single acoustic guitar. He was backed by a cellist that sometimes played bass, a keyboard player (who also plays with Cursive, if my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me…) and Erin Tate, the drummer from Minus the Bear. I had no complaints about his live band, other than the fact that the cellist seemed to be a much better cellist than bassist. The guy showed amazing proficiency with the instrument and had no problem replicating Gretta Cohn’s Ugly Organ parts for “Driftwood: A Fairy Tale,” but when he switched to bass, he seemed uneasy and it looked like he had a rough time getting through the songs.

But the part that was a little troubling for me, was the hour-plus of subject matter that seems like a theme on record, but in concert seems like a broken-record – follow? He makes art out of the ugly thoughts we think when sitting at the dinner table with our family, or sitting at the bar all alone. It is the most personal kind of art, and his lyrics seem to come from a poetry major with a dark sense of humor who had about three drinks too many. But this time, he’s spilling the beans on getting old and settling down. About worrying about drinking too much and fucking up someone’s life. Yeah, I appreciate Kasher’s honesty, but as he was making his way through The Game of Monogamy’s tracks, I found myself kind of shrugging. So what?

I’ve listened to the album a few times after the show and, I’m still feeling this way. The work honestly isn’t Kasher’s best. The lyrics just didn’t jump out at me (or hold on, kicking and screaming) the way they did the first few times I heard The Ugly Organ, Happy Hollow, or Album of the Year. The hooks are gone that explored Kasher was an asshole for making money off of his art, or meeting a future love while hurling in the ladies’ room. The Game of Monogamy‘s tracks just felt like diet-Kasher, and this surprises me coming from someone who I thought had a clear strangle-hold on his craft. His characters are predictable now, they want to be in love, or at least pretend they’re in love. They’ll do terrible things to hurt their partner. They are bored and restless in suburbia. They still drink too much. But, overall, the effort feels genuine and has its good moments. I’m Afraid I’m Gonna Die Here was by far the highlight of the night, overshadowing crowd-pleasers like “The Recluse” off of Cursive’s The Ugly Organ. Overall, I had a great time at the show, and I did like Kasher’s set. But the new stuff is about exciting as, well, monogamy.

Geffen/Interscope Records

After 10 years of falling off of their horse over and over again, Weezer have done the improbable by dusting themselves off and releasing a really decent album. Death to False Metal features a bunch of re-worked b-sides that recall some of Weezer’s best moments. When they ditch the single-obsessed mindset that produced crap like “Beverly Hills” and “Pork and Beans,” Weezer just rocks.  Songs like opener “Turning up the Radio” and “Trampoline” might make you nostalgic enough to run to grab tickets to the band’s Memories tour. However, it isn’t fair to dismiss nostalgia as the reason this album is good. Death to False Metal is sincere, which is more than can be said for The Red Album and the absolutely unforgivable Raditude. The album feels totally genuine until the over-the-top corniness of the last few tracks. “Odd Couple,” starts with the line,“I’ve got a PC and you’ve got a Mac, I’m givin’ you flack for your airport,” but even at its worst moment, Death to False Metal will still leave you tapping your feet.

Warp Records

Don’t get me wrong, Brian Eno’s latest release Small Craft on a Milk Sea is absolutely beautiful. Every note is in the right place, every sound is of the right timbre. From the synced bass and synthesizer melodies of “Bone Jump” to the bubbling blips of “Paleosonic,” Eno has created another pleasant sonic landscape. This shouldn’t be a surprise. After all, Eno’s knack for atmosphere and tension produced both Talking Heads and U2’s best work. Small Craft is paced brilliantly -“Flint March,” “Horse” and “2 Forms of Anger,” all in a row create a period so tense you will be lucky to make it out without biting off all your fingernails. Although Small Craft is very well put-together, it always feels like it should be part of something bigger – this should be a soundtrack. Unlike his albums under the ambient title, the songs are short – about three minutes long – and by the time you’ve become immersed in the track, it’s over. Save Small Craft on a Milk Sea for when you have plans to watch a lunar eclipse or silent performance art or something.

Maps and Atlases played their last show of a slew of dates touring behind their latest, and folkiest release, Perch Patchwork. The atmosphere of Mickey Finn’s was excellent – An awesome pub with great service, decent enough bar food (they even had veggie burgers) and even better drink specials. They had domestic pints for a buck, and my buddy Trevor’s gin and tonic was as stiff as they come. But, onto the music, right?

The Globes

The Globes kicked the night off with a fitting set of gloomy, to the point rock songs. I hadn’t heard of them up to this point, but I was impressed from the beginning of the set with the band’s musicianship. The dual singers shared some nice harmonies and played some completely appropriate guitar parts – something that was easier said than done for another one of the openers. Their bass player managed to find a great balance between his bass guitar and the Korg MicroKorg in front of him. He switched instruments seamlessly in the middle of songs, and you never really felt like there was an empty spot when he switched.  Their changes were well thought out and caught you off guard in all the right ways. Dynamically, they reminded me a lot of Sunny Day Real Estate, but the songs were a lot more drawn-out in trying to establish a mood. I wouldn’t mind seeing The Globes again.

Tera Melos

Tera Melos was up next, and although they drew a much bigger crowd and had fliers posted everywhere promoting their new album, they were a clear step down from The Globes. What puzzled me, was the band’s almost comical use of effects. The guys were clearly decent musicians – the guitarists knew more than your everyday power chords, and the guy stage left was shredding up a storm, but Tera Melos was little more than organized noise. The drummer was good, the bass player was rock solid, and the band’s two vocalists had an OK-enough sense of melody. So why didn’t it work?

The guys were everywhere. I honestly could not tell what they were going for – they’re metal-shred-tapping with Telecasters and Fender amps. They might start a song with a math-rock breakdown and immediately launch into some big, power-chordy choruses that kinda sound like Weezer. And when they weren’t doing these things (which was 50 percent of the time) they were fiddling around with their effects pedals – which seriously looked like around $3,000 worth of shit sitting at their feet. The aforementioned guitarist at stage right had two – count them – two full effects boards that were jammed to capacity on both fronts.

I couldn’t gauge how I felt the whole time. There was no unifying theme in a given song. I guess the ADD, always-shifting song is interesting for some people, but it isn’t for me. The shame was that these guys did have some talent, and they were too busy dicking around with their pedals to do anything with it. Again, I can understand why people like them, but, again, it isn’t for me.

Trevor and I made up a few alternate names for Tera Melos – A few of them included “My dad runs a Guitar Center franchise,” and “Hey, look! I made all of them work!” I’m sure they are nice guys.

Maps and Atlases

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Maps and Atlases was a lot better last night than I ever remember them being live. Back in the day (I saw them around 2007 and 2008) their concerts could get pretty sloppy. While their jaw-dropping tapping patterns were probably nearly impossible to play proficiently live, the band has pulled their shit together. This new Maps and Atlases isn’t only tighter, they are beginning to grasp a newer form their craft. Perch Patchwork has opened up a new door for the band by finishing what they started on You, Me and the Mountain. Perch Patchwork takes their earthy, organic, but super technical sound and adds more of a songwriter aspect to it – gone is the novelty of guitar-tapping as the only form of technique.

Let’s get Perch Patchwork’s problems out of the way – the album lacks that sheer intensity that the band’s first releases had. On first listen, I was bored with this newer, folkier take on the band. But, what it lacks in energy it makes up in cleverness and subtlety. The Perch Patchwork stuff really breathes live, and creates a much more engaging atmosphere than on record. Maps and Atlases are trading in frightening tapping parts for some pretty awesome chord progressions and instrumentation. Dave Davison’s voice isn’t hiding behind the crazy-guitars and the clicky drums anymore- he sings outright and embraces the melodies he’s written on the new stuff. But, he could even do more – the guy has a really pleasant, soulful voice, but it gets lost live sometimes from him just plain… mumbling. In last night’s performance of “Ted Zancha,” I wanted to yell “speak up, son!” – the lyrics that were pretty clear (and awesome) on record did not come across at all. But you have to give the guy credit. I could do little more than tap my foot if I was playing the guitar parts that he plays under all of his vocals.

You can tell that after years and years of touring behind Tree, Swallows, Houses, the band is (understandably) sick of what the sounds that ignited the small following they’ve established. In fact, the only song they played off of their debut EP was the fan favorite “Every Place is a House.”I found myself really liking the new stuff live. Maps and Atlases are embracing a new kind of instrumentation that they hadn’t before. Guitarist Erin Elders stepped out from his corner on a few occasions to play some synthesizer or bell-toned keyboards. It has been pretty awesome to see the band progress over time and step outside of what they created in 2005, rather than milk their success with Tree, Swallows, Houses.

Shiraz Dada is one of the classiest bass players out there – his parts are always appropriate and right on-point – and he is an absolute pleasure to watch live. He’s got a true handle of where his instrument sits tonally, and because of that, his parts can remain flashy and never seem like they are too much. And like his presence on the stage, his parts dance all over the place – the guy looks like he’s ballroom dancing with his Music Man bass. He works really well with drummer Chris Hainey, who is also becoming a bit more tasteful with how he hits the skins.

Overall, the show was a good one, and for the 10 buck admission, I can’t complain at all. The music was awesome, the venue was the definition of intimate, and the people were a joy to be around. With all of the changes Maps and Atlases have gone through, it was sort of like seeing one of your buddies come back from college all grown up. But for me, the whole thing was kind of bittersweet. I looked around, and the venue is only filled maybe to half capacity. This is a small venue, too. I don’t know if it was Toledo, or if this is the way the whole tour has been, but America, what the fuck!? Maps and Atlases are here, and they are super-talented. Check them out.