The Fratellis – Here We Stand
Interscope Records (6/10/08)
Rock / Alternative

The Scottish trio of brothers (Jon, Barry and Mince) have found a winning formula here, with an album full of fun, catchy and upbeat sing-alongs. Just as the weather is warming up, The Fratellis have caught me in a moment of breezy giddiness; the pop-wise swagger and nods to Bowie, The Clash and T.Rex on Here We Stand will get you in the mood for a late night brawl, or making love in a gutter.

The Fratellis’ debut,Costello Music, which one of my friends had sent to me just as the band’s meteoric star started to rise, was decent but relatively forgettable amid other similar Brit-pop, and not really deserving of the fan-elected BRIT Award that they received for “Best British Breakthrough Act”. With this, their sophomore attempt, the content definitely will pull the listener in and hold their attention much better, as the trio play around with a few styles throughout the set.

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Last Monday, I caught up with Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes of The Presets on their tour bus, to talk about their new record, their creative process and their spot in mainstream culture. The boys were thankful that I wasn’t video-taping the interview because they seemed to be dealing with the flu. We chatted for about 20 minutes before their sound check.

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The Presets – Apocalypso
Modular Recordings (5/13/08)
Synthpop / Electro / House

The Presets, comprised of Kim Moyes and Julian Hamilton, immediately became one of my favorite bands after I caught them on a tour with Ladytron in 2006, when the relatively unknown Australians caught my attention with their hard-hitting club tunes paired with onstage antics.

Their 2005 debut, Beams, contained songs that ranged from soft and delicate to pumped-up dance tracks, with the absolutely beautiful “The Girl and the Sea”, “Steamworks” and my then-personal favorite, “I Go Hard, I Go Home”. During their seemingly unending tour supporting that album, they took substantial notes and began writing material for this album.

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Teletextile – Care Package
Self-released (2007)
Art rock / Indie

Teletextile is the post-musical project of the Pamela Martinez Band. Lead singer Martinez is quoted on the band’s Web site as saying, “[Teletextile's] name comes from an obsession with relating music and art you can touch and feel like fabric.” Enlisting another talented multi-instrumentalist, Brian Hamilton, they put forth Care Package. The album was recorded at a variety of different locations, and showcases a host of fabulous musicians, while highlighting the incredible vocal and instrumental range of Martinez and Hamilton.

Care Package uses a wide array of musical instruments ranging from cello, harp, violin, mallet and piano to convey a sense of vulnerable isolation. The album bears grace and magnitude with a composition of oscillating sensations. It is minimalist, indulgent, dreamy and epic.

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Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
Modular / Interscope (4/8/08)
Dance / Pop / Rock

I’ve been familiar with the Modular label for awhile. With the likes of The Presets, Chromeo, Klaxons and MSTRKRFT among others on board, I wanted to check out Cut Copy. However, when I finally got around to listening to their debut album, Bright Like Neon Love, I wasn’t overly impressed. The album just didn’t jump out and grab me. Frankly, it seemed pretty cookie-cutter, like albums by dozens of the band’s contemporaries. While the album was fun, and upbeat, it lacked something other than its obvious throwback to ’80s synthpop sound. I figured this was another band that would unfortunately get lost in the shuffle.

However, when I heard Tim Goldsworthy (band member of LCD Soundsystem, programming guru and joint owner of DFA Records) was going to be co-producing this new album, I figured I’d give them another shot, and thank goodness I did.

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M83 – Saturdays=Youth
Mute Records (4/15/08)
Electronic / Ambient / Shoegazer

I knew I was going to adore this album once I heard an interview with Anthony Gonzalez, about this album, where he explains, “I loved being a teenager. That’s when I discovered music and started to take drugs and party with my friends.”

This album is decidedly different from M83’s past, as it deviates from previous albums which explored the dark and doomy shoegazer side of the ’80s à la The Jesus & Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. However, with album we see a decidedly more sunny, poppier side of the band. This is immediately apparent on the album’s first track, “You Appearing”, which boasts the shiny, subtle reverberating of piano accompanied by layers of sweet female vocals.

Gonzalez makes no excuses about his apparent influences, which include Tears for Fears and Cocteau Twins. Traces of Cocteau Twins can be detected all over tracks like, “Kim and Jessie” and “Skin of the Night”, which are both absolutely infectious.

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Be Your Own Pet – Get Awkward
XL Recordings (3/18/08)
Punk rock

I should have been in high school when this album came out; I’m a little out of my element on this one. Get Awkward could make a kid in college feel old, and a post-collegiate (ahem, me) feel positively ancient.

With that aside, and unlike a lot of American punk rock, these kids are using their microphones as megaphones, and calling out for a rebellion against scowls and intensity. Looking for a revolution with their “good time” anthems. Lead singer Jehmina Pearl Abegg and Co. must be some movie buffs, as they pay homage to various flicks throughout the album. “Bitches Leave” is an inspired by Robocop, while my favorite, “Zombie Graveyard Party!” is obviously a nod to Return of the Living Dead. However, a cute, less gory portrait is painted here in the lyrics: “Love is lame so let me eat your brain / Don’t you wanna party in the graveyard tonight”.

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The Raveonettes – Lust Lust Lust
Vice Records (2/19/08)
Rock / Alternative

Frontman Sune Rose Wagner recently explained to NME that the title of this, the band’s fourth album, Lust Lust Lust, was derived from the album’s lyrical content. This is apparent as the themes explored therein are much the same as previous offerings, delving into the world of death, sex and desire.

The critical darlings burst onto the scene in 2002 with their debut LP, Whip It On, written completely around the key of B-flat minor. Their follow-up, Chain Gang of Love kept their blend of pop fierceness going, and their last recording, Pretty In Black took a bit of a turn, with a much more decidedly ’50s-era sock-hop tone. Lust, Lust, Lust takes the listener back to the group’s earlier days; an album with hints of ’60s-noir-surfer-rock laced with the duo’s signature eardrum-shattering guitar feedback effect.

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The Kin – Rise and Fall
Aletheia Records (10/9/07; available now on iTunes)
Acoustic rock

After a first listen to the The Kin’s album, Rise and Fall, I was immediately reminded of being in high school, and falling in love for the first time. The soundtrack of my life at that point revolved mostly around a local Boston band named Guster and their debut album, Parachutes. I realized, however, after a trip down memory lane, and a second listen, that The Kin’s album has a cleaner, and stronger feel to it. It is also absent of the heavy laden bongo drum songs that are one of Guster’s signatures.

Rise and Fall was written completely by brothers Isaac and Thorry Koren. Though natives of Australia, the brothers have relocated to New York—they were residents at the famous Bowery Ballroom and have been playing clubs all over the East Coast. They have yet, however, to make their way to the Midwest.

The first couple of songs that popped out were “Together” and “Great Divide”. The string ensembles in both tracks may be somewhat predictable, and the lyrics, though warm and heart-felt, are to a degree, repetitive. Still, there is still something unmistakably smooth and whimsical about them.

My favorite song by far was “Photographs”, though, some may not even call it a full song, running short of only two minutes. It’s one of those songs that invoke driving through an endless desert at night with the wind racing through your hair. The delay on the vocals is perfect.

The Kin have a solid and well-executed album here. It was co-produced with Nic Hard who produced albums from The Bravery, Aberdeen City, and The Church. Rise and Fall would appeal to fans of Coldplay, The Fray and Keane, and maybe it will give new listeners that oh-so-special feeling of falling in love for the first time just as Guster has done for me.

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U.N.K.L.E. – War Stories
Surrender All (7/24/07)
Rock / Experimental / Electronic

I have to admit, I went into this album unfairly hoping for the heydays of Psyence Fiction when DJ Shadow’s influence could still be felt in the group. However, I was pleasantly surprised by War Stories. Though there is a lot of genre-hopping on this, the third-full length release by James Lavelle’s U.N.K.L.E. project, electro takes a backseat, and rock is pushed more to the forefront than ever before.

Lavelle has done another superior job at integrating the right high-profile guest vocalists with the correct instrumental tracks for the album. As with the two previous U.N.K.L.E. releases, there is a dizzying array of both up-and-coming artists and well-known staples in the music community presented in the set.

The first single, “Broken”, features Clayhill vocalist, Gavin Clark, and was a smart choice. It’s a vibrant pop track that also oversees guitar riffs by Matthew Caw of Nada Surf. It’s probably my favorite song on the album.

My preferred combination of tracks on War Stories landed somewhere in the middle of the album with “Persons & Machinery” and “Twilight”, as the two songs meld perfectly together. The delicate vocals and electro wash on “Persons & Machinery” feature Los Angeles art-rock trio Autolux, as the track then lends itself beautifully into 3D’s (of Massive Attack) airy whisperings on “Twilight”. Both tracks have an overall ethereal quality.

Queens of the Stone Age groupies should definitely appreciate the heavy bass effect on the Josh Homme cameo for “Restless”. Also, I was surprised to learn that “Hold My Hand” is James Lavelle’s vocal debut. He definitely holds his own on this track and also later on “Morning Rage”, when he duets with Richard File. Both tracks are a worthwhile listen.

Ian Astbury, former frontman of The Cult, appears with bassist Jeordie White (a.k.a. Twiggy Ramirez) on “Burn My Shadow”, and again on the album’s last track, “When Things Explode”, a sweepingly extravagant and brooding end to the album.

While War Stories is an overall good album, it misses the mark of being great. U.N.K.L.E. will be embarking on a tour this summer in support of the album, with stops in Japan, the U.K. and Europe.

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