Review: Twin Atlantic - Vivarium

Twin Atlantic - Vivarium
2009, Red Bull Records

Scottish rockers Twin Atlantic exploded onto the American Scene this month with the release of Vivarium. With great press in the UK, a UK tour supporting Taking Back Sunday and performances with Smashing Pumpkins, Circa Survive and The Subways, Twin Atlantic have already proved they can play with the big boys. Vivarium marks Twin Atlantic's first foray across the Atlantic and the band will be touring the United States this fall.

Twin Atlantic opens Vivarium with Lightspeed, a distortion-filled rocker that's perfect for Modern Rock Radio. This has hit written all over it, with an anthem-like feel. It's just too bad this album didn't arrive running up to the summer as this would be a perfect summer song. Old Grey Face (And The Way Of The Magenta) retains a distinctive pop sensibility while rocking out in perfect radio fashion. Sam McTrusty's voice is a strong rock voice, made that much more interesting for US audiences by the distinctive Scottish bur. Old Grey Face devolves into guitar chaos in the breakdown, suddenly right itself and returning to form before abruptly transitioning into You're Turning Into John Wayne. Twin Atlantic explores the dichotomy of Europe's fascination/hatred of America. On one hand, some in Europe decry American Culture while adopting American music, culture and styles and even purchasing many products from here. The narrator here wants to find out what it means to be American to learn what's true. It's a well-written, intelligent song that also rocks.

Caribbean War Syndrome seems to take relationships and war overlay one on the other in terms of the tactics, advances and retreats of the relationship. The song is well written and takes on some progressive tendencies in the instrumentation. What Is Light? Where Is After? has a big crunchy guitar sound that may tend to fare it well on commercial radio. It's not my favorite song on the disc but I can see how it may have some real commercial punch. Audience And Audio is very catchy and shows tendencies to work down a progressive path, launching into extended instrumental interludes full of guitar, distortion and atypical elements for modern rock. Twin Atlantic closes with Better Weather, an introspective, wider-ranging rock tune that shows some of the grandiosity of U2.

Vivarium is a strong if somewhat mixed introduction to Twin Atlantic. Most of it played very well. The band ranges from pure Modern Rock to an almost Rush-like progressive sense with the pop grandeur of U2 thrown in on occasion. Not everything here works, but enough of it does to turn Vivarium into a potential big seller this fall. Either way, I suspect this won't be Twin Atlantic's last tour on this side of the Atlantic.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Twin Atlantic at www.myspace.com/twinatlantic or http://www.twinatlantic.com/. Vivarium is available for download via iTunes. Official US release date is September 29, 2009, although no online outlets are not as of publication. You can always buy the UK import from CDUniverse.com if you can’t wait.

Review: I Am The Icarus - I Am The Icarus EP

I Am The Icarus - I Am The Icarus EP
2009, I Am The Icarus

San Diego's Daniel Godfrey is I Am The Icarus, and Indie/Alt-Rock band in the same lineage as Silverchair and The Smashing Pumpkins. Mixing strong melodies, lush layered guitar sounds and high production values, I Am The Icarus has a sound certain to garner some attention. The band's self-titled debut EP was release in 2008. Produced by FAR/Deftones alumni Shaun Lopez (who also played guitar on the album) and with drumming from FAR's Chris Robyn, I Am The Icarus takes off on a strong note.

I Am The Icarus opens with Destination, a mellow, down-tempo rocker with a gothic/lyric sensibility and a radio-friendly sound. I Am The Icarus does a 180 with Faster, an urgent edge rocker that abandons the melodic basis of Destination for a Nine Inch Nails-lite aesthetic. Miss Blue has a very generic alt-rock feel that fits in well on commercial radio but isn't like to be remembered once it falls out of rotation. The same can be said for The Secret To Living Is Dying Well. Behold! The King Of Gloom is much darker and less cynically commercial, drawing on a Kurt Cobain style angst and a run-on lyrical style to create a memorable moment.

I Am The Icarus is a decent effort musically, but just sounds too much like too many other bands to really stand out from the pack. After listening to the EP a half dozen times there isn't a particular track that really stands out in memory, due in part to the highly homogenous sound of the album. Godfrey is a decent singer and creates a layered sound that is pleasant to hear but just doesn't find the spark that ignites a passion in listeners here.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about I Am The Icarus at www.myspace.com/iamtheicarus. I Am The Icarus is available digitally through Amazon.com and iTunes as well as several other outlets.

Review: The Medullary Paralysis - We Don't Drink, We Don't Take Drugs, We Don't Have Sex, We Feel Compassion

The Medullary Paralysis - We Don't Drink, We Don't Take Drugs, We Don't Have Sex, We Feel Compassion
2009, The Medullary Paralysis

Italy’s The Medullary Paralysis is here with their debut EP, We Don’t Drink, We Don’t Take Drugs, We Don’t Have Sex, We Feel Compassion. We Don't Drink… opens with Compassion On The Dance Floor, a heavy techno/electrohouse number with ambient and pop elements. The song is absolutely mind-numbing at the right volume; the sort of music where you can get lost in the layers (with the right help). Fashion Slave takes a bit of Nine Inch Nails industrial and expounds on it, variation style. The heavy rock feel means this song would have a chance to cross over from club land to some free-thinking metal fans as well. The EP closes out with Heaven Forbid; Frenetic, rapid-fire rhythms on an industrial base with synth infusing a hint of ambience over the top. Heaven Forbid is the most cogent recording on the disc, but still gets mired in a wall of sound resulting from an attempt to do too much.

Herein lies the weakness of The Medullary Paralysis. There seems to be a need to fill every space, every second with sound, preferably with melt-your-face intensity. They are quite good at what they do, but there is a lack of contrast or dynamic that starts to become apparent on a three-song EP and would likely become a glaring concern on a full-length release. Even the occasional brush with minimalist conceptualization would maximize the potential of what The Medullary Paralysis is trying to do here. We Don't Drink... is a fine opening salvo, but I want to see what else they've got.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about The Medullary Paralysis at http://www.themedullaryparalysis.com/ or www.myspace.com/themedullaryparalysis. Copies of We Don’t Drink... are available for download on Bandcamp on a pay-what-you-want scheme.

Review: Smashing Pumpkins - If All Goes Wrong (DVD)

Smashing Pumpkins – If All Goes Wrong (DVD)
2008, Coming Home Media

I really don’t need to tell you much about Smashing Pumpkins. Billy Corrigan and crew filled the post-grunge void in the 1990’s with intelligent art-rock that has helped to define a generation of alt-rock musical sound. The band’s breakup several years ago was an emotionally devastating experience to hard core fans. Their subsequent reunion was a jubilant one. If All Goes Wrong, available November 11, 2008, chronicles a residency at The Fillmore in San Francisco, including a documentary, a fan featurette entitled “Voices Of The Ghost Children” and an interview with Pete Townshend of The Who.

Clocking in at 4 hours and 31 minutes, this 2-DVD set is everything Smashing Pumpkins’ fans could have asked for and more. The Fillmore Residency Concert (most of Disc Two) is vintage Smashing Pumpkins, right down to the devastating take on Zeitgeist. The concert also features five previously unreleased tracks (Peace+Love; 99 Floors; Untitled; No Surrender and Gossamer). A bonus on disc two features five songs from a Fillmore rehearsal on July 27, 2007 with two more previously unreleased tracks (Mama and Promise Me). If this was the whole package fans would be happy, but Disc One features a documentary on the making of If All Goes Wrong; the above mentioned featurette and the odd interview with Townshend.

I should mention that this collection is not for casual fans. Several of the songs here have been reworked from their original forms. Many of the songs in concert are stripped down/acoustic, and Gossamer becomes a jam that lasts for better than twenty-five minutes (without every losing it’s energy). This is just the sort of post-artistic exclamation point you’d expect from Smashing Pumpkins.

Smashing Pumpkins will always have a rabid and vibrant following. If All Goes Wrong is the truest testament as to why one could offer. As concert films go this is the cream of the crop. If your interest goes deeper than Bullet With Butterfly Wings, than this collection is for you. And if you’ve heard about them for years but never checked out the Pumpkins, start here.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Smashing Pumpkins at http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/. You can purchase If All Goes Wrong at Amazon.com or wherever music is sold.