Deer Tick live and in person is always a spectacle to behold. Regardless of the day of the week they play your town, the band members will whoop it up like a revved-up start to the weekend. With Divine Providence, they’ve made a recorded document that spreads around the debauchery and rock decadence for all times sake.
All troubled thoughts and hand-wringing should cease however, as Wilco has released The Whole Love, a fully realized collection of tunes versatile, commanding, and magnificent. This album is bold, yet painted with deft touches; powerful and evolved, yet simple and stripped down when need be; grippingly philosophical yet still fun enough to demand sing-alongs.
Will Sheff is a densely literate songwriter of the highest degree. Like a good novelist, his songs reveal layers as they progress, adding intrigue and possibility to the plot and subtle nuance to the characterization, while weighty symbolism abounds throughout. The man also likes his hand-claps, as Sheff raucously urged and prodded the crowd to “throw their hands up” and clap along to the beats of some of the band’s best-known numbers
If the lyrics weren’t so sharp and the wry observations so focused, you’d swear Stephen Malkmus just invited some friends over and recorded an album over a quiet evening in the garage after work. The 15 tracks that comprise, Mirror Traffic, Malkmus’ latest endeavor with his band of collaborators, the Jicks, flow by with that breezy feeling that has become a hallmark of Malkmus’ solo work.
For a band that has been gaining momentum over the past several releases, Blitzen Trapper’s latest, American Goldwing finds the Portland group pausing a bit to catch their breath.
Acknowledging that the band has been on the road for what “has seemed like forever”, Kurt Vile and his accompanying two-piece The Violators, hit Carrboro Tuesday night, bringing with them a healthy dose of rock and roll ferocity. Playing behind the excellent new album, Smoke Ring For My Halo, Vile and company regaled the near-capacity crowd with their expert blend of eccentric lyrical tales, noodly guitar freakouts, and pounding riffage.
David Byrne, never one to abide by guidelines, is one such artist and his recent film release, Ride, Rise, Roar delivers a healthy balance; satisfying the desire to see the live performances, but also offering a close inspection of the proceedings that make his live shows so arresting.
There is an air of authenticity lent to Field Songs, William Elliott Whitmore’s second full-length release. Growing up and residing on a farm in rural Iowa, Whitmore has worked on and reaped the benefits of the land that he praises and exults throughout the album’s eight tracks.
Vek is still young, but the six-year gap between releases raises flags about his long-term growth and development as an artist. Leisure Seizure offers much to get excited about and a great deal of potential from which to build. However, there is just as much material to skip over, which on the other hand raises concerns about Vek’s DIY mentality.
Upon hearing news of her death I was shocked to realize that she was two months shy of her 28th birthday, putting her squarely into the pantheon of The 27 Club, a grim collection of musicians who passed away at this way-too-soon age.
