3/28/14

Here's a serious throwback. Tonight I was browsing through Spotify seeking something familiar and fresh, I remember Mae existed, and I remembered once, I really enjoyed them. "Destination: Beautiful" always held up a little higher to my mind, but today I figured I'd give their second LP,  "The Everglow," a try. I think this album was given to me as a gift on my 16th birthday after my junior prom, and I probably haven't listened to it in full since maybe my first year of college. Upon revisiting, most of it floated by OK, and I found it listenable and charming. I remembered all the words, I remembered the brightness, but nothing struck me in any fresh way until the closer kicked in.



Carrying a song with piano, strings and vocal harmonies is a delicate thing to pull off, mostly because it is delicate. It is easy to make an impression if you are loud. It is easy to make an impression if you are catchy and hook filled. When you are subtle, when there is space, your decisions must be ever more careful. Which is what makes the stellar verses and simple construction of "The Sun and the Moon" shine even brighter. While I am fairly certain those synthy-sounding strings were not recorded live in studio, the movement they provide is the kind of touch that elevated Mae upon other emo counterparts of the age (is Mae emo? I'd put up that argument if I had to but there's probably a better genre to label).

Musically, it's the last four minutes where they really make the impression with a post-rock build of sorts, with a transition to guitars picking up the chords and the spine of the song in a dramatic sweep. The piano shifts to a variation on earlier themes for understated fills before (and  a muted silence on the mix, and you end with something grand and memorable from where you started with very few pieces. Lyrically, I love how little this song uses to say what it needs to say, how the weight and the depth are effortlessly phrased. I love how the words end and let the final movement finish the conversation, and I love how grand that gesture seems. Not a bad track to rediscover, and a proper incentive for listening to their releases from later in the decade that, I am sorry to say, I passed over.

"Wasted time.
I cannot say that I was ready for this.
But when worlds collide,
and all that I have is all that I want.
The words seem to flow
and the thoughts they keep running.
And all that I have is yours.
All that I am is yours.

Painted skies.
I've seen so many that cannot compare
to your ocean eyes.
The pictures you took
that cover your room,
and it was just like the sun
but more like the moon.
A light that can reach it all.
So now I'm branded for taking the fall.

So when you say forever,
can't you see
you've already captured me."

~The Sun and the Moon 

Mae, The Everglow

(Also, while doing a little Wiki research for this, I discovered Charlotte Martin does the opening/closing narratives on this album. Time to go see what she's put out since 2005, or just listen to "On Your Shore" and see what it sounds like this far removed from 16.)

3/25/14

My most anticipated album of the year has easily been The Menzingers, and hearing the latest track advance is only making me flip out for it more.  This might be the most perfect song I've heard all year. 

I remember how hooked I was on this band as soon as I heard "Gates" and then the rest of "On the Impossible Past," how I overplayed that album all summer long feeling sorry for myself, and how much I loved they were from PA (turns out, they once many years ago played alongside my friend's then-band). If the first two tracks are any indication, their next album will hold onto that same intense conviction but with an extra dash of heartfelt wigged-out wisdom, cleaned up layers and a nice bass-oriented mix.

Lyrically, "I Don't Want To Be An Asshole Anymore" is as focused as the title makes it sound, and full of rip-your-heart-out metaphors. The song bleeds realization at its most romantic, and realisitc. I'm more than a little addicted to it already. The way this song is put together is incredibly smart. It moves with you. Layered harmonies and cymbal rolls add subtle depth, and gang vocals with a great line of a hook in the chorus offer a pop friendly format. But it's not soft by any measure, since the whole thing is drenched in heavy bass, crash-fueled fills and not a small amount of cursing. I love how he screams the chorus and the title line, like an anthematic declaration of a new chapter. It's aggressive and reckless and it's everything I want to hear out of this badass band from Scranton who I hope will be soundtracking my spring and summer once more, only maybe with a little less feeling sorry and a little more feeling alive.

"You're the only lover that I ever missed
Ever been hopeless in  love with 
Look at this tangle of thorns 
I don't wanna be an asshole anymore." 
~I Don't Wanna Be an Asshole Anymore
The Menzingers, Rented World

3/22/14

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Copeland is some of the best morning music around, and their last gorgeous LP fits that title among the best of it.



At one point I may have called this something of a sleeper track, as I've always been instantly struck by the captivating sound and spot-on stories of of "Good Morning Fire Eater" and "Strange and Unprepared." But today, the little toy piano, and the tension-fueled, just-so-distorted delay of the lead guitar caught my ear. A fresh sound is hard one to find, but Copeland seemed to always succeed in finding one. And how hard to ignore that refrain delicately layered over a drum-fueled, measured pace and smart, heart-swelling harmonics, driven by all the longing in the world....this is one of those songs that creeps up on you  a bit, that sinks in and settles at all the right moments. While I've always loved the Copeland catalog, and the early chapters are incredibly meaningful, this album is probably the one I play most often these days, because it starts off the days just right.

"In the moments before time starts moving backward,
I will feel her hand in the palm of mine.
And the cities will return to the field of flowers,
And every step we took tracing back in line.
And in disarray, you just want to live one more day.

Cause you just want to be happy now.
To be happy now.
To be happy now.

Longing and sorrow,
Well they will find you where we are,
Smiling down the avenue.
And the children getting younger as we pass,
They couldn't make you turn back.

Cause you just want to be happy now.
To be happy now.
To be happy now.

When every fire we sparked was just another blinking out,
They're glowing like an ember in the dark.

Cause you just want to be happy now.
To be happy now.
To be happy now."
~To Be Happy Now
Copeland, You Are My Sunshine

3/17/14

Lately I've been trying to find something new to listen to and, as is occasionally the case, something new is something I remember from years ago. 

Going through old iTunes files is one of my favorite ways to restock my iPod. Oftentimes I forget how much I enjoyed an album that I set aside because I had either a) overplayed it, b) underplayed it, c)overassociated it, d) taken an interest in a new genre. The self-titled Augustana record was a repeated listen of mine when I lived in the Finger Lakes, driving across hills and wondering, and then I completely forgot it existed. I'm fairly certain I'm the only person I know who actually enjoyed this record, but I found it extremely palatable, listenable and emotive, a perfect balance of hopeful and world-weary.

A pop rock band with a couple choice hits a decade or so ago, Augustana sort of faded into this weird space of jam band, country-tinged opener as more trendy hipster sounds took hold. Their sound, one could argue, felt a little tired and bored as new bands were coming out with tracks full of much heavier, deeper influences. Their structure is rather conventional, their lyrics are cliche-ridden and just a little stiff. Probably why I forgot about them. But I do remember playing this record, picking up the little details and layering in their songs, learning them. I love the subtle key accompaniments and tasteful chord changes - it's a weathered sound, but that was so suitable for me, at a time of great reflection. A few years down the road, looking for new albums to occupy my mind and time and stumbling across this one, this song came flooding back as one of my favorites. I didn't know it then, but it's held up real nice over the years, a beautiful little testament to love gone unfulfilled that's waiting just around the corner.

"You need a reason for the things I do
I need a miracle to see me through
I give you everything I got inside
If you just stay here tonight

My hands are tied and I've been rolling the dice
My legs are broken, I ain't up for a fight
I'll make it rain from an empty sky
If you just stay here tonight

You'll be the last one picking up the pieces
You'll be the last one standing up strong
You'll be the last one making all the right things wrong

You need a lover in a first degree
I need a woman who believes in me
I'll shine the way through the darkest night
If you just stay here tonight

My heart is aching and I'm down on a bend
My will is weak and I'm falling again
I get back up and try to make things right
If you just stay here tonight

You'll be the last one picking up the pieces
You'll be the last one standing up strong
You'll be the last one making all the right things wrong 
As the days go by...

And you know
We'll be the last ones picking up the pieces
We'll be the last ones standing up strong
We'll be the last ones making all the right things wrong"
~Just Stay Here Tonight

Augustana, Augustana

3/10/14

I've been listening to a lot of Yellowcard lately. While "Ocean Avenue" is a classic album, ubiquitous across a time and place, the later releases are equally well-executed, bright and full of feeling.

Few bands capture yearning and nostalgia as well as these guys can - there's a reliance on memory, and a subtle, almost innocent, treatment of desire. When this song came on shuffle the other day, I realized I hadn't made it all the way through "Paper Walls" probably since it's release, and never got to know it closely. What a well-timed, romantic surprise, with twinkling guitar melodies turning into soaring crescendos to match Ryan Key's full-blown theatrics. This song is built around the chorus, and Key masters using octave change in this way, turning a simple pop format into a tension-fueled slow jam with cymbal crashes and slight orchestral touches to spare. I wouldn't call this one of their best or most complicated songs, as it is probably neither, but it is honest, and uncomplicated, and it makes me think of magic in the air...so I might not hesitate to call it among my favorite Yellowcard songs, and perhaps one of the most beautiful.

"It won't be long now
The music's on loud
We'll sing this song out
And then we'll lie down
I'll hold you close then
I'll let you know when
The space and time bend
And then we'll fall in...

Go put on your best tonight
It's you and me and one spotlight
One more show, one last time
We are ready

Say you will be all around me
When your body sets your heart free
Say you will be all around me.

I'll look for your eyes
To keep me inside
When everything dies
But one last sunrise
And when we stand there, together not scared
I'll dry your last tear
And then we'll just have...

Go put on your best tonight
It's you and me and not much time
So watch the world burning bright, we are ready...

Say you will be all around me
When your body sets your heart free
Say you will be all around me
Say you'll get me through the ending
Take my body set my heart free
Say you'll get me through  the ending

Go put on your best tonight
It's you and me and one spotlight
One more show, one last time
It won't be long now...

Say you will be all around me
When your body sets your heart free
Say you will be all around me
Say you'll get me through the ending
Take my body, set my heart free
Say you'll get me through the ending
Say you will be, you won't be long
All around me, you won't be long now."

~You and Me and One Spotlight

Yellowcard, Paper Walls