Review: The New Up - Better Off

The New Up - Better Off
2009, Evil Cherise Publishing

Occasionally a band comes along where no one can agree who they sound alike. The New Up has been compared to such divergent acts as Radiohead, Journey, Lake Trout, The Talking heads and TV On The Radio. These comparisons aren't entirely off the mark, but none of really strike a careful listener as accurate, either. The San Francisco quintet with roots far to the east (Chicago, Illinois and Charlottesville, Virginia) have managed to craft a sound that sounds a little bit like a whole lot of people and a lot like no one else, which is as close to original as it's possible to get in a medium based on eight notes. The New Up's latest EP, Better Off, will be released on August 18, 2009, and is a follow-up to last year's Broken Machine. Where Broken Machine was a musical elucidation of the problems of the world, Better Off is the beginning of transcendence, suggesting changes that might happen on the personal level that will turn things around. Producer Jamieson Durr (Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Handsome Boy Modeling School) brings out the best side of The New Up on Better Off, juxtaposing their Pop tendencies with their harder side in a mix that crosses genres with electrifying results.

Lead vocalist ES Pitcher is a front woman in the tradition of Blondie or Gwen Stefani; a big Rock N Roll voice with lots of layers and a very sensuous side that can draw you in before she belts you away. Pitcher also contributes on guitar. The band is rounded out by Noah Reid (guitar, vocals); Hawk West (flute, automation); Dain Dizazzo (bass) and Drew Bertrand (drums, percussion). Better Off opens with Dear Life, a vibrant guitar rocker that shows off Pitcher's pipes in grand fashion. Dear Life is good enough and hard enough to crawl all over Modern Rock radio playlists, but has enough Pop sensibility to cross over. Better Off slows things down a bit in a post-Grunge tune that rocks and grinds its way to self-realization. B!tch has a new wave sheen to it that fits somewhere between The Replacements and No Doubt; the melody line is straightforward but the arrangement builds in a lot of sonic dissonance that keeps listeners on their toes. Not to mention there's a guitar solo here that would sound right at home on a Scorpions album. F.Y.R.U.F.N. is an acronym we can't fully publish, but let's just saw I'm glad I'm not Roger. The song is dark and vaguely disturbed in sonic aspect. Wait (For Danny G.) is a sprawling memoriam in song that just doesn't fit with the rest of the material here, but is included for obvious reasons.

The New Up is on to something out there in San Francisco. The market for bands like The New Up is a narrow one, and many great bands go unheard by anyone who doesn't happen across their MySpace page, but The New Up just might have the right zeitgeist to make it. Better Off makes a distinct impression, with a sound that's derivative yet original, and a vocalist in ES Pitcher who can break down walls with her sound and presence. Don't be surprised if The New Up is a name you hear a lot more of in the future.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about The New Up at http://www.thenewup.com/ or www.myspace.com/thenewup. Better Off will hit shelves on August 18, 2009. Keep checking The New Up’s web site for updated release information.

Review: Big Star - #1 Record/Radio City

Big Star - #1 Record/Radio City
2009, Ardent/Stax Records

Big Star was a band destined to blow apart even as they were being formed. Coming off his association as lead singer of the Box Tops (The Letter), Alex Chilton moved to Memphis at the behest of Chris Bell (guitar) to work with his group Ice Water. The trio became a quartet and changed their name to Big Star, embarking on a brief yet ultimately influential recording career both driven by and mired in artistic and interpersonal tension. Ardent/Stax Records recently re-released Big Star's first two albums, #1 Record (1972) and Radio City (1974) on one CD. Additionally, each album is individually available on vinyl LP. Both albums have been re-mastered for this release, making slight improvements to a previous release of both albums on one CD.

Big Star flew in the face of pop convention in 1972, eschewing both the folk/ rock sound that grew out of the late-60's and the new progressive rock sound that was even then giving birth to what would become known as the AOR radio format. Big Star instead went for Brit-Pop inspired sound that drew on influences as diverse as The Beatles, The Kinks, classic American Rhythm & Blues and singer/songwriter pastiche. This tendency toward a singular band leader in vocalist Alex Chilton was the beginning of the end for Big Star, with guitarist Bell quitting the band before the sun had set on 1972. #1 Record didn't sell particularly well, being a few years ahead of its time, but songs like Don't Lie To Me, Feel, In The Street, The Ballad of El Goodo and When My Baby's Beside Me have influenced a artists as diverse as R.E.M., The Replacements, The Bangles, Teenage Fanclub and Primal Scream.

Radio City, made as a trio after Chris Bell's departure is a wonderful dichotomy of artistic and personal tensions, featuring wonderfully crafted pop songs that threaten to come apart at the seams at almost every turn yet never quite do. If it was personal animosity that drove the brilliance of this record then it's a tribute to the professionalism of the three remaining members at the time. Radio City spawned the song September Gurls, to this day still Big Star's best known song. Other highlights include Way Out West, Back of A Car, Mod Lang and O My Soul.

Big Star has reunited for reunion tours over the years, but original guitarist and catalyst Chris Bell perished in a 1979 car accident, and the pure magic of those early days will have to remain forever a memory. Ardent and Stax Records present those memories in new packaging for your listening pleasure. In spite of the re-master, the sound quality isn't significantly improved from prior versions unless you have very high end equipment to play it on (and if you're converting to MP3 then it probably isn't worth upgrading). If you don't own a prior version of this disc and you want to understand the roots of alternative rock with a melodic bent, then Big Star's #1 Record/Radio City is a CD you need to own.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Big Star at http://www.bigstarband.com/. You can purchase a copy of #1 Record/Radio City at Amazon.com or download the album on iTunes.

Review: Movers & Shakers - Larrabee

Movers & Shakers – Larrabee
2009, Movers & Shakers

Boston’s Mover’s & Shakers bring on the Country grit crossed with punker energy and a Pop glaze on their sophomore album, Larrabee. Recorded in a cabin in the Maine woods, the album has the raw, unadorned quality that only a New England summer could inspire. Compared to the likes of The Replacements, Tom Waits and even Uncle Tupelo, Movers & Shakers certainly seem to have struck a chord with listeners and critics alike.

Larrabee opens with Adventures In Unrealistic Life, a big old Americana pub tune if ever I've heard one. You could almost see the cast of Cheers breaking into this song while Coach Ernie Pantuso serves up another round. Take Your Time is a great upbeat acoustic/electric tune that leans more toward the rock side of the scale. This is a great pop tune but retains enough of a garage sound to be palatable to Indie fans. All Of My Lines sticks loosely within the Americana realm, but struggles to break free into a virulent post-punk rock tune at times. This is swaying on the lawn of an amphitheater in summertime with your lighter raised music.

Find A Reason is a classic country rocker that will get in your head and dance around for days, reminiscent of what The Heartbreakers might sound like if Shane MacGowan were singing instead of Tom Petty. The Evidence, The Proof rips the roof off in a style that I can old describe as Punktry/Americana. This is the best written track on the disc and should appeal to fans across several genres. In The Eyes finds Movers & Shakers back in Tom Petty's neighborhood, with lead vocalist Matt Price providing a rough edged vocal that fits the sound perfectly. Boomsplat gets a little Texas Blues guitar styles going in a fun tune that will make you want to get up and dance. The album closes out with Take Me Home, a classic pop/rock tune dressed up in Americana trappings that will dance around your brain for days after listening.

Movers & Shakers offer up some delicious Americana with Punk energy and Rock N Roll flare on Larrabee. This is perhaps one of the most pleasant musical surprises thus far in 2009. Here's hoping Movers & Shakers keeps coming back with more!

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Movers & Shakers at www.myspace.com/moversandshakers, where you can purchase a copy of Larrabee, or you can download it from iTunes.