Um, so feel free to tell me if I’m wrong, but…

What is the point of Colin Meloy singing live? Really. Cos he’s just singing The Decemberists material, of which he is the lead singer, so….you get a mix album of The Decemberists shit without the bass, drums, and keyboard, as well as the occasional tambourine and female vocals. And whatever else. So, again, I ask, what is the point? I think it’s a bit redundant.

And by the way, I haven’t heard the album save a few tracks and I do really like The Decemberists. Just so you know, before you think I’m starting a Meloy bashfest. I’m not a basher.

Maybe I’ll write you guys back when I’ve given the whole album a listen. I had to get these thoughts out to you, though. Damon, being a consummate Decemberists lover, is going to virtually kick my ass.

Colin Meloy | Myspazz | Buy It

 Colin Meloy - Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect/Dreams [4:56m]: Play in Popup | Download (548)

Allegedly, Chris Walla’s new solo release, Field Manual, contains two tracks that were left off of Death Cab for Cutie’s 2005 gem Plans. I can’t find anywhere that tells me which songs these were, and most of these songs sound like they could have come from some point in Death Cab’s past, if you let them. But, well, Chris produces all of DCfC’s material, he’s major creative input in the band. You know, kind how if you let it, Thom Yorke’s solo album The Eraser sounds like a proper follow up to Kid A and Amnesiac. Yeah, it’s a solo project, that’s what you get. There are moments, though, like the opening Imogen Heap-like harmonies of “Two-Fifty,” that really get you excited for the next Death Cab album, if this is what Chris is doing on his own. There are some truly good songs on here. Avoiding the solo album/side project pitfall of writing songs that simply are not catchy, or good, we get songs like “The Score,” “Archer V. Light” and my current favourite “Geometry &c,” which, oddly enough, sounds like early Jimmy Eat World as much as it sounds like early Death Cab. I like it, and I guess US Homeland Security was excited enough that they wanted a copy in October.
Check out “Sing Again” and “Geometry &c” before rushing out to buy it, okay?

Chris Walla@HallofJusticeRecording.com | MySpace | Buy Field Manual

 Geometry &c - Chris Walla [3:07m]: Play in Popup | Download
 Sing Again - Chris Walla [2:31m]: Play in Popup | Download

Every once in a while when I’m choosing CDs to listen to at work I stop and notice one that, for one reason or another, never quite registers as an eligible selection. This morning I decided that the Offspring’s breakthrough album Smash should get a fair shake. Good gracious I’m glad I did. Maybe it took me back to the very awkward time around the Turn of the Century when I first got into it, but so have some fairly fond memories of my cassette days. It was pretty much the album I needed to hear around one o’clock this afternoon, and I wanted to share a few of my favourite cuts with you guys. “What Happened to You?” is the most skankable Offspring track I know and has a block rockin’ guitar solo; “Gotta Get Away” is a delightful showcase of fuzzy guitars and drug-induced paranoia. Actually, both of those are on the theme of drugs screwing your life up (see also “Mota” from 1997’s Ixnay on the Hombre). Chances are this is an album that won’t see much light again for weeks, if not months, but it was a great fling with an old flame.

The Offspring // Buy Smash

 The Offspring - What Happened To You [2:12m]: Play in Popup | Download
 The Offspring - Gotta Get Away [3:52m]: Play in Popup | Download

Author’s note: Turns out everybody except me knew that Sound the Alarm and Under the Boards were part of a trilogy. Why did nobody tell me? So the concept runs a bit deeper than what I mention, and the third installment, Daybreak, should be out next year.

I’ve been around Saves the Day fans long enough to know that you’re not supposed to like the new album. It’s the same as Weezer fans, the bigger the fan the less they like the new album. I really do try to buck this trend and at least accept the new album on a provisional basis. It’s worked well for me in the past, as Maladroit is my favourite non-classic Weezer album, and I appreciate In Reverie more than I think the bulk of Saves the Day fans do. But I don’t think Saves the Day’s new album, Under the Boards , has much chance of becoming my favourite. It’s not bad, it’s just…well, you’ll see.
When StD put out Sound the Alarm last Spring, I was a little worried about Chris Conley. That album is by far Saves the Day’s darkest effort, with even the boppier songs like “Eulogy,” “Dying Day” and “Diseased” delivering pretty twisted imagery. That’s nothing new for StD, Chris has long been suggesting things like

Won’t you tell me the next time that you’re choking/I could run right over and shove some dirt right down your throat

or

If not I’ll take my spoon/Dig out your blue eyes/Swallow them down to my colon/It’s gonna burn like hell tonight

But on Sound the Alarm the themes were less about being upset with other people, and more about being upset with oneself. Also paranoia and madness. So I think I was justifiably worried about Chris.
A few months later, tired of going through a middle man to update the official website, the band created their own using Mac prowess and started posting videos. This let me make sure that Chris was doing okay, but they kind of stopped coming as they went in to record Under the Boards, which was the next I heard from them, aside from the acoustic show at Kilby .
So it turns out that UtB is a concept album and all thirteen songs were written prior arrival at Electric Ladybug for recording. It’s about a breakup, which is something we’ve heard before, right? But I’ve never heard an album so comprehensive about it. The title track, which opens the album, is told from after the events of the album take place, the way Fight Club starts at the end, y’know? “Radio” shows a relationship struggling but with our protagonist “trying to make the one [he] loves happy.” In “Can’t Stay the Same” the relationship has peaked, both parties realize they’ve had their best moments already and things are doomed. The next three songs are the protagonist beating himself up for the inevitable breakup; initial anger; and then the post-breakup slump. “Bye Bye Baby” is a man’s attempt to massage his ego by saying “I never needed you anyhow!” From here to the end of the album the sentiments bounce around a little bit from wistful to defensive to violent to ultimately frustrated to, in the end, kind of resigned. “Kaleidoscope”/”Woe” (a lot of the songs blend into each other like on old Pink Floyd records) gives us the heaviest moments ever heard on a Saves the Day record, and Sound the Alarm had some freaking heavy moments. And even though this album has some fairly boppin’ songs, like StA, it still ends without a positive resolution. Hopefully Daybreak clears this up because as good as this album is, there’s no way I’d be able to put in on as freely and any of StD’s first four. To help you determine where you stand I’ll give you a sample from both sides of the pole. Enjoy!

Saves the Day // MySpace // Buy Under the Boards

 Saves the Day - Get Fucked Up [3:03m]: Play in Popup | Download
 Saves the Day - Kaleidoscope [3:18m]: Play in Popup | Download

It’s been a while since I’ve been pretty blown away by guitar work. Tyler Ramsey isn’t a guitar god, in the way of crazy pioneer work on the fretboard, but he is succeedingly awesome at creating a weave of music acoustically and making it interesting to listen to. Good example of this is ‘Birdwings’, on his debut album, A Long Dream About Swimming Across the Sea.

Yeah, I know music is all digital nowadays, but the cover art is purty and worth pointing out. I want to listen to the CD just looking at the cover. If listening to this album will mentally put on the back of the underwater Falkor he’s got going on, I’m in. And so should you, because Falkor is loved by all.

To be honest, I’ve had this album for a little while now, and listened to it in my car, and didn’t catch it, if you know what I mean. Today when I gave it a spin, it made me sit down and really listen, thus the post. Think John Fahey, with a dash of the blues (not musically, but mood).

Anyways, Tyler’s debut album label is Echo Mountain, and the album is being released on January 15, 2008.

P.S. Tyler Ramsey plays guitar for Band of Horses. He’s touring with them, opening the show and then continuing it with the band. Nice, eh? Thanks, Jessica. 

Tyler Ramsey • MySpace • Buy Album

Band of Horses • MySpace • Buy Album

 A Long Dream - Tyler Ramsey [6:01m]: Play in Popup | Download
 Birdwings - Tyler Ramsey: Play in Popup | Download

So, Godsmack put out a greatest hits comp, Good Times, Bad Times…Ten Years of Godsmack, today, one more in a line of bands (Creed, Blink 182, Korn) that I feel have done this prematurely. Richie had an advanced copy on his desk and, because I occasionally feel the need to revisit my metal years, I listened to it yesterday. I can proudly say that I only recognized the singles from the first album, but I am also ashamed that i recognized Godsmack singles at all. They were one of the bands that came along right before I stopped paying attention to that particular genre because the new bands were no longer interesting to me, but I really liked “Voodoo” and thought it was funny how anti-social that first album was (the chorus of “Whatever” instructing the listener to go away, “Keep Away” being similarly themed). After that first album, though, it seems like Godsmack just stopped trying to be interesting, seeing how other uninteresting mainstream rock bands (Creed, Fuel, 3 Doors Down) were increasingly popular. Listening to the collection, my views haven’t changed, really. The last half of the album (from “Awake” to “The Enemy”) just kind of blurs together, except for “Running Blind” from their acoustic The Other Side EP. Even that one sounds a little cliche because Staind made acoustic numbers the mainstream hard rock standard. They’re cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times, Bad Times” is pretty decent, if a little middle of the road, but if you just want something loud to listen to, you could do a lot worse.
One final note: The title of the disc indicates “Ten Years of Godsmack,” which didn’t sit quite right with me initially because I distinctly remember Godsmack coming relatively late in the game for me, which would place the first album around ‘99. Sure enough, the back of the case says when each single was release and “Whatever” hit the airwaves in February of 1999. The newest single, “The Enemy,” was released February of ‘07, which smells a lot more like eight years to me. If you’re going to be slightly misleading like that, you could at least do a better job of it by not discrediting your album’s title on its packaging. Judging by the writing style in the liner notes, though, somebody doesn’t quite expect the average Godsmack fan to notice.

Godsmack // MySpace // Buy Good Time Bad Times 

 Godsmack- Good Times, Bad Times [2:56m]: Play in Popup | Download