The Sewing Circle - I Saw Stars [EP]

The Sewing Circle - I Saw Stars
2011, The Sewing Circle

Somewhere between stardom and tragedy lay the trajectory for most musicians.  Folk/rock power trio The Sewing Circle surf the mutable waves that roll between these markers on their second EP, I Saw Stars, out May 10, 2011.  Featuring the stark vocal mix of Andrew Rohde (guitar) and Meg Blake (keys/bass/guitar), and the propulsive drumming of Cajun Keeton, The Sewing Circle impress with stylized story songs woven into arrangements that dance on the line between rock and folk.

I Saw Stars opens with "Lead Role", branded with distorted guitars and a feel and sound reminiscent of The Breeders.  Blake is the real deal on vocals, but the dynamic between her and Rodhe on harmony is uncomfortable.  This fits with the rough-hewn production on the track, but perhaps isn't the best introduction.  "So As In Salem" tells the tale of three teenagers convicted of murder without evidence (The West Memphis Three) in a solid story song with mild Celtic influences.  Rodhe takes the mic this time around.  "Love Games" is a bluesy rocker with a lot of energy.  "Buzz Light Year" has more of a talk/sing feel to it, and invokes some punk energy but struggles to get off the ground.  "Five Cigarettes" takes on the pursuit of stardom at the expense of all else, gently mocking those who put public favor before their own self-interests.  The song is a bit rough from the songwriting perspective, but shows a creative talent still working out the kinks.  Meg Blake shines on vocals.  The Sewing Circle closes with "Until Now", a melancholy song of separation and loneliness.  Blake is convincing, but does struggle with pitch at times on the lowest notes.

The Sewing Circle is a band with real talent that's still figuring out where they want to be sonically and what they are capable of.  There are flashes of what the trio can be on I Saw Stars, but there are also still rough spots in writing and song selection that will likely work themselves out in time.  Meg Blake is a plus lead vocalist, and Andrew Rohde is a solid secondary voice, but the pair don't necessarily blend their sounds together well when singing harmony.  This can be a distraction at times.  There's no clear leader or direction here, with creative friction evident in the music.  Whether The Sewing Circle can work these issues out will impact future releases greatly.  For now, I Saw Stars certainly has its merits, both for what it is musically, and for the potential it bespeaks.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about The Sewing Circle at www.thesewingcircle.net or www.myspace.com/thesewingcircle.  I Saw Stars is available from Amazon.com as a CD or Download.

The White Ravens - Gargoyles And Weather Vanes

The White Ravens - Gargoyles And Weather Vanes
2010, White Raven Music

Amy and Will Bennett have an interesting chemistry; as The White Ravens the sonic love children of They Might Be Giants and Gwen Stefani craft incredibly catchy and quirky tunes that add a new pastiche to geek rock. Add in the stabilizing influence of Billy Joel drummer Liberty DeVitto and you have a sound that is downright virulent. The band's bio is full of snarky humor, but don't mistakes The White Ravens for a novelty act. Will Bennett plays keyboards with a tenacity that Ben Folds would be proud of and Amy Bennett (who sounds a lot like Monica Attell) attacks each vocal line like she means business. The White Ravens will release their sophomore album, Gargoyles And Weather Vanes on July 6, 2010.

Just using piano, bass and drums, The White Ravens fill up more sonic space than most bands would dream of, showing the same sort of not-quite-reckless abandon we heard from Ben Folds in his early days. There's more pop sensibility here, and Amy Bennett's voice is tuneful with an acerbic edge that will hold your attention, but it’s the instrumental interplay that makes Gargoyles And Weather Vanes such a trip. There are definite stylistic nods to groups such as Billy Joel and Ben Folds as well as acts such as Belly and The Breeders, but the mix here is so distinctive and fresh you'll forget that rock n roll is supposed to be dead.

Opening with "Sparks", The White Ravens create a dense musical tapestry. Amy Bennett's sassy vocals light up the album and Folds fans will recognize the piano style Will Bennett affects here. Meaning may prove elusive at times on the album, but when listening to songs such as "Tick Tock" you simply won't care. If all rock records sounded this good no one would buy anything else. "Rubber Band" is so cliché it's ironic; a quirky, angular tune about resilience that is simply irresistible. The White Ravens throw a pleasant curve ball on "Atomic Panda", going for an electro-rock sound that is highly catchy and has an edge that could slice timber. Its pure 1990's alternative here, but the Bennetts make it all their own.

"Broken Halves" is about the realization that things aren't as good as they seem in a relationship. There are a series of musical resets here that seem to parallel the sort of two steps-forward, one-step back process that such relationship realizations come by. It's a solid tune, a bit more reserved than some of the other material here, and shows a slightly softer side to Amy Bennett as a vocalist. The White Ravens get a bit too comfortable past the mid-point of Gargoyles And Weather Vanes, but pick things back up by the time they reach "Rainstorm", the peppy rock n roll story of a huckster exploiting the lost and lonely. The arrangement here could have come out of a 1970's Billy Joel recording session with the distinctive mix of piano, sax and percussion sounding more than a bit familiar. "Draco" opens like a Ben Folds tune, but quickly turns into a strong mid-tempo pop tune. The White Ravens will continually surprise you with tempo breaks and changes throughout the album, taking the musical wherever they want even if it flies in the face of convention. Gargoyles And Weather Vanes closes with "Eulogy", a dark, minor-key composition that pays tribute to cities hit by urban decay while posing the inevitability of change. It's an apropos closing for a band that seems to rebuilding rock n roll on the ashes and memories of those who came before.

The White Ravens will confound and astound you. It's been awhile since rock n roll sounded this fresh or this good. Amy Bennett eschews the snarl of past female rockers and instead hits you with a lopsided smirk you might find familiar if you're a fan of Tina Fey. Will Bennett plays piano like nobody's business, and as the primary songwriter shows a distinct amount of promise. Liberty DeVitto is... Liberty DeVitto. Gargoyles And Weather Vanes reflects both the best and darkest intents of humanity as seen from above, and as a title it is a near-perfect reflection of The White Ravens. You won't be able to get The White Ravens out of your head.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about The White Ravens at http://www.whiteravenmusic.com/ or www.myspace.com/whiteravensmusic. Gargoyles And Weather Vanes drops on July 6, 2010, but you can purchase the album now directly from The White Ravens. Expect availability through Amazon, iTunes and other national outlets.

Review: Nite Nite - How To Touch The Moon

Nite Nite - How To Touch The Moon
2010, Nite Nite/BMI

Nashville’s Nite Nite looks to smear the edges of music city with their original blend of Goth, Post-Punk British New Wave and Americana. Nite Nite have slowly been building a buzz right under the nose of the Country world for a few years now, out-playing themselves in small clubs and occasional even showing up headliners as a wayward opening act. On January 12, 2010, Nite Nite will release their full length debut album, How To Touch The Moon. If Siouxsie & The Banshees or The Cure is your bag, then you’ll definitely get a kick out of Nite Nite.

Nite Nite opens with Touch The Moon, a Cranberries-esque rocker that plods along to a faux-martial beat. Vocalist Davis Chatfield sounds like a bizarre cross between Dolores O'Riordan and Edie Brickell, and stands amid a somewhat reserved yet vibrantly open alt-rock sound. Nite Nite eschews comfort for the vaguely disturbing and occasionally dissonant Black Noise. Bury Me finds Chatfield particularly hard to understand, especially in the chorus. Diction heads south quickly here, and while Chatfield is a fairly decent singer, she's not quite good enough to get away with Stevie Nicks style enunciation. In A Dream takes on a distinctly more Pop feel (think Phil Spectre ;) without a few of the frills) and you'll get the idea.

Nite Nite starts hitting on all eight cylinders during Hello, I'm Melancholy. The song itself is quirky enough and with a distinctive Pop feel that will turn heads. What They Do Not Know goes for heavy synth and an almost Baltic sound in an alt-rock arrangement vaguely reminiscent of The Breeders. Nite Nite gives a flat performance on These Days, a song that wants to get off the ground, but the mix here is terrible. Chatfield's vocals are too relaxed and in the instrumental mix, and the sound is just too busy. Chatfield is actually trying to break out here somewhat, but the producer ensures that can't happen. She tries again on I'm Always Right!, succeeding to a small degree but still handcuffed by the heavy-handed production. Lost To Say The Least closes things out and is by far the best recording on the album. The band is crisp and clear, and Chatfield is at her vocal best.

Nite Nite has an interesting sound that may have real potential, but a different ear and touch at the production board may be required to bring out their best. Chatfield has a solid voice that's a pleasure to listen to, but it spends much of the album mired too deep in the instrumental mix to really shine the way it should. Chatfield does have some diction issues, but this may be more stylistic than anything else. How To Touch The Moon is an intriguing start. I'll be curious to see what comes next for Nite Nite.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Nite Nite at www.myspace.com/niteniteband. How To Touch The Moon drops on January 12, 2010. Keep checking Nite Nite’s MySpace page for availability.

Review: Metric – Fantasies

Metric – Fantasies
2009, Metric Productions

Metric is a band born in Toronto with roots all over the North American continent. Frontwoman Emily Haines (also lead singer of Soft Skeleton), guitarist Jimmy Shaw, bassist Joshua Winstead and drummer Joules Scott-Key took a hiatus in 2006 after three years of continuous touring and recording. The band had become so inured in road life they felt disconnected from their own humanity. Each member went on to other projects but all found their way back to Metric. Rather than writing and recording an album in less than three months as in the past, Metric let Fantasies fulminate over the course of eighteen months, coming together in the woods outside Seattle to pull it all together and find a cohesive core. A sound emerged that is both surprising and not at all unexpected. The time away has done them all well, and Metric returns with their best effort yet.

Fantasies opens with Help, I'm Alive, with its incessant message "beating like a hammer". Reminiscent of Belly or even The Breeders, Metric manages the sort of infectiously catchy-yet-vaguely-annoying Pop/Rock song that tends to do well on commercial radio. Sick Muse is highly danceable Pop/Rock. This is a licensable tune with a great hook and a compact arrangement. Satellite Mind is one of those songs I struggle with as a reviewer. I don't like it, then I do; it keeps changing. Ultimately, it's a driven and intriguing song about desire and need with a dash of voyeuristic intent. Twilight Galaxy will hit home with most that have pursued music or one of the other arts as a career. The song chronicles the struggle between chasing dreams and taking the "responsible path" often advocated by parents. The friction that comes into such situations is clear, but Metric encourages those on the path to their Muse to keep going.

Gold Guns Girls is a high energy bit of repressed New Wave/Punk in acoustic form. The song hits on the addictive nature of acquiring worldly goods and how what can be eclipsed by concerns over how much. Metric steps fully out of the box with Collect Call, a rhythm-oriented Ambient Pop/Rock tune. The songwriting here is stark and painted with a lush brush, if you will. I could hear this ending up on a soundtrack somewhere. The last three tracks reflect something of a slide; Front Row and Blindness are both decent but don't show the same sort of focus seen on the rest of the disc. Stadium Love takes a sharp left-turn into cheesy-pop in a "one of these things is not like the other" moment.

Metric's Fantasies is varied and wide-ranging, working more often than not. This is one of those albums that is musically strong and affable but promises more impact than it delivers. Fantasies dances across the intrigue line a few times, but gets caught up in different points of focus and ends up a bit scattered; worth some time but probably not an A-list pick.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Metric at http://www.ilovemetric.com/ or www.myspace.com/metricband. You can purchase a copy of Fantasies as either a CD or Download from Amazon.com.

Review: Camp Out - Closer

Camp Out - Closer
2009, Camp Out

San Francisco Alt-Folk/Pop duo Camp Out met while sleeping though classes at UC Berkeley. Maddy Hanks (Vox, guitar, programming) and Jackie Law (drums, drum machine, synth, backing vox) recorded their first project, Camp Out EP, in Law’s garage with substandard equipment. After playing shows locally and building a following on the net, the two went to work with producer Shaw Waters to craft a full length album. The result is Closer, which has a quirky pop sensibility that surfs their Lo-Fi aesthetic.

Camp Out lets loose with Car Crash, a song about how good people stay in bad relationships. It's nerdy, Lo-Fi Rockergirl material that will play well on College Radio with the potential to cross over. Camp Out has captured a highly infectious hook here in a pleasing arrangement, and Maddy Hanks' clear, unadorned voice makes it all click. The album, Closer, in general, is all about the relationship process: Meeting, getting to know someone, falling in love (or something like it), when to take the next step, wanting out and recovering. This is all written from the perspective of someone who seems to imply she's not good at the relationship thing.

Camp Out is the most commercial track here, followed closely by Bones, which is very catchy and details the insecurities that come on once a relationship gets serious and someone starts feeling a little hemmed in. Small Steps is the best song on the disc; the first sign of maturity and vulnerability in the entire process. Realize that Camp Out has an anti-poet aesthetic going, so much of the material here is written in every day language, and occasionally veers into the wholly mundane lyrically. The album, in general is uneven, with some very strong songs and some that just really don't work all that well. Camp Out also gets points for one of the most unusual analogies in Pop Music in the song Swordfish. I'll leave it to you to go find out.

Camp Out has a decent start with Closer, a solid album that fits in somewhere between The Breeders and Belly sonically. There's a distinct Lo-Fi Pop sensibility that rears its head here and there on Closer. It's not a drop dead amazing album, but a solid listen that will find its way to your ears from time to time.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Camp Out at www.myspace.com/campoutmusic. You can download Closer through Camp Out's MySpace page. No other online outlets noted.

Review: Beth Bombara - Abandon Ship

Beth Bombara - Abandon Ship
2007, Beth Bombara

Having reviewed Beth Bombara’s latest CD, Beth Bombara And The Robotic Foundation, we thought it would be fun to step back and time and take a look at an earlier, solo recording. Bombara was kind enough to send us Abandon Ship. While her sound tends more towards Bettie Serveert and The Breeders nowadays, she was originally compared favorably with the likes of Beth Orton. I don’t know that I quite agree with that assessment, but I was very pleasantly surprised by Abandon Ship.

Bombara opens with the title track, an unorthodox folk tune that sounds at first like it's been mixed incorrectly until you realize it's intentional. The song is about feeling out of place in a relationship and realizing ultimately that it's not going to work. Bombara even used a slightly out-of-tune piano to drive home the sense of something not being right. Artistically the song is brilliant; the arrangement is rather simple but with a lot of little touches (bells, piano mixed on top of the other instruments, piano out of tune, etc.). If I hadn't already been introduced to Bombara from her album The Robotic Foundation this would be a highly intriguing introduction. Time is a mournful song about the inevitability of change in the form of the passage of time. It's an emotionally honest monologue about truths we all face at some point in our lives and is very well-written.

Till The Sun Goes Down takes Time one step further; making every second count. The sun going down here would appear to be a euphemism for death, and Bombara makes it clear that she's all about living and making the most of her time, particularly within the bounds of a relationship. Making Our Way is one of two personal favorites on the disc; a song of dedication and devotion. It's a mature take on a mature relationship, weathering storms together and charting a course for something more. Bombara shines here at her most personal with intelligence, a hint of wit and an emotional availability that most artists have a hard time projecting live, much less on an album. Bombara closes out with Worn, a wonderfully dark and urgent song about protecting yourself in a relationship that carries a lot of risks. This is the most dynamic and lively song on the disc and has an infectious quality to it despite the dark tone. Worn is the other personal favorite tune on the disc, and reflects a much deeper well of song-writing talent than the already impressive showing thus far on the disc.

Beth Bombara impressed us with The Robotic Foundation, but I daresay that the raw, emotional quality of her songwriting as a solo player/singer might be more compelling. Abandon Ship is a stunning EP that deserves a lot wider distribution and notice than it's already received. There are a handful of folks who might compete for the crown of best songwriter in Indie Music. I don't know if she'd win or not, but Bombara definitely deserves to be in the conversation.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Beth Bombara at http://www.bethbombara.com/ or www.myspace.com/bethbombara. You can purchase Abandon Ship as either a CD or download through CDBaby.com.

Review: Beth Bombara And The Robotic Foundation - Beth Bombara And The Robotic Foundation

Beth Bombara And The Robotic Foundation - Beth Bombara And The Robotic Foundation
2009, Beth Bombara And The Robotic Foundation

Beth Bombara And The Robotic Foundation is a St. Louis, Missouri Folk/Rock band earning comparisons to everyone from Beth Orton to Bettie Serveert and The Breeders. Bombara has toured with Samantha Crain and The Midnight Shivers and was even invited in 2006 to an artist residency on Martha's Vineyard. She continues to pursue multiple musical outlets, also performing solo and as part of the duo Cassie Morgan and the Lonely Pine. Bombara turns her folk instinct to the Rock N Roll world on Beth Bombara And The Robotic Foundation, a highly confessional and straight forward Alt-Rock/Folk album released in 2009.

Beth Bombara And The Robotic Foundation opens with Lights, an angst-filled song that seems to vacillate between a failure to realize one's own potential and failing to maintain the potential of the world around us. The song is well written; dark and melancholy in tone but with an edge that retains your attention. Beautiful You is the questioning hope of someone who finds herself face to face with everything she wants and not able to believe it. The song is full of the angst and self-doubt of low self-esteem, yet dares to hope that the "impossible" is really true. Anonymous is a plodding tale of reverse voyeurism that falls flat in its own abject despair. The pacing and energy here suggest a severe case of depression for the protagonist, who has somehow become enraptured with her watcher. The story is interesting, but the arrangement makes it difficult to appreciate.

Conversation is a song of regret, caught up in a relationship where the inhabitants don't connect; perhaps don't listen to one another. The seams are falling apart and the narrator is looking around to see what could have gone differently. Not The World takes an interesting turn, moving out of the sadness that pervades the first four songs on the EP and reaching for the hope of sunrise. She's escaping something that's hovered over her for a long time, and when she returns it's all torn asunder by flames. The EP closes out with Sorry, an admonishment to the one who inflicted all of the pain and sadness on the narrator throughout the songs presented here. She's telling him from a position of strength ("I'm already out the door"), that false apologies won't work. It's actually a great tune, muddled effectively with a rock arrangement that shows the conflicted nature that still underlies the song despite its powerful statement.

Beth Bombara And The Robotic Foundation makes a powerful statement on their self-titled debut EP. The general tone of the album is dark, but Bombara breaks out of her emotional prison on the last two songs and not only sees the light of day but the strength to face her jailer and call him/her out. I find myself uncomfortable with the album and yet drawn to it, wanting to listen again and again almost in spite of myself. This means that Bombara and company have not only created great music; they've created great art.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Beth Bombara at http://www.bethbombara.com/ or www.myspace.com/bethbombara. You can purchase Beth Bombara And The Robotic Foundation as either a CD or download at CDBaby.com.