Jeffrey Luppino-Esposito EDITOR

There is something painfully tragic about a potentially beautiful work of art trapped in a frame from IKEA. Especially when that work of art has been leaking, streaming, and priming the pump of the blogeconomy for the last month and a half (unfortunately, yes, the recession imagery is intentional)

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs digitally released their new album It’s Blitz Monday after the music world has been long bathing in the releases of singles “Zero” and “Heads Will Roll”. Of course, baths involve floating in one’s own filth for extended periods of time, which is no fun. These opening singles are filled with cringingly silly lyrics, Karen O orgasming into a microphone, and, in “Zero”, an odd likeness to a mashed up U2 song.

Believe it or not, I’m giving this album a six and a half (out of the standard arbitrary 10 scale), despite my apparent disgust (which has inevitably grown with the convenience of hate-driven analogies to economics and hygiene).

Underneath the generally unlistenable dance numbers, which include the two singles as well as “Shame and Fortune” and “Dragon Queen”, there is a surprisingly pleasant natural sound driven from the experimental synth at the heart of this album.

“Soft Shock” delivers some interesting digital-woodwind-esque sounds and a lighter dance number that works for the whole group, as does “Runaway” that feels like it should make an award-winning appearance in the next 007 video game. Smack in the middle of the work is one of the only other truly enjoyable songs, “Dull Life,” which brings the guitar back from the digital depths of the indie world and busts out a fun riff and a great slide out of Karen O that had me awkwardly bopping my head since it is the only dance move I will ever learn.

The real failing in this album, however, comes not from a lack of musicianship, but rather from a lack of understanding of one’s own music. For a third album, this is a disappointment. Opening the work with “Zero” and “Heads Will Roll” immediately puts the band at a low point that they never fully recover from until “Hysteric”, the second to last song on the album. Along the way there is a clear confusion as to what sound the band is striving for. This instills an inherent lack of confidence in the listener that leads to a general frustration from a sense that we are being played with and that this album was not constructed in a manner that took our feelings into full consideration. Sorry if that’s too emotional, but I expect to be treated with care.

Karen O is almost unbearably annoying at times with her shouty, inarticulate singing that should not be placed over the heavy dance beats of some of the more confused numbers on the album. However, on songs like “Soft Shock”, “Dull Life”, and “Runaway” the whole group proves what could have been excellent with this album, and hopefully will come to full fruition in their next shot.

The general air of self-musical-ignorance is quite traumatically evidenced in the closing number, “Little Shadow” in which the Yeah Yeah Yeahs convince themselves that they have taken you on an epic journey that requires reprising the overly ritualistic synth riff from “Skeletons” earlier in the album. The fact is that despite some enjoyable single performances within the work, the overall piece is thrown together in an elementary fashion and the music never outshines this messy framing.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Dull Life.mp3
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero.mp3
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Runaway.mp3
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll.mp3
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Soft Shock.mp3

Stelios Phili EDITOR

Producers, protools, and functional microphones – you have been rendered obsolete. Within the confines of his 4-track recorder, Nathan Williams, under the moniker Wavves, proudly raises a middle finger to production value and crafts a beautiful mess of lo-fi beach punk.

Last fall’s cassette release of Wavves’ debut hit the word-of-mouth scene and the Internet with a storm of promotion from 90’s enthusiasts and overzealous bloggers. Amidst the hype, Wavves was welcomed as the newest member of the noise pop collective (i.e. No Age, Blank Dogs, and Times New Viking). This wildfire of promotion came as a surprise to the San Diego native. Williams is just a gnarly dude who lives by the shore, occasionally posting about the Geto Boys or Biggie Smalls on his blog and prolifically writing skuzzy tunes influenced by So-Cal sun.

“Get in the Sun,” for instance, is a distorted mess of guitars and inaudible vocals that recalls all the rebellion of skating in a drained pool as well as the innocence of completing your first grind in N64’s Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2. Even the recording itself is wild and reckless; the reverb-ridden chords beat Williams’ amp to the brink of explosion, while the chugging drums cheer from the sidelines. You may question the functionality of your headphones, yet such is the magic of Wavves - it is precisely this lack of studio magic that makes Williams so authentic.

“Jetplane” begins with a drumbeat that is reminiscent of elevator music, but soon develops into a drowsy romp of murky vocals and washed out fuzz. The rhythmic buzz of this song is oddly comforting, like falling asleep to the hum of a fan or the jumble of a washing machine. Echoing the bare bones punk of The Ramones is “No Hope Kids,” a jumpy anthem for the teenage blues; “Got no car, got no money, I got nothing, nothing, nothing, not at all.” This also happens to be one of the precious moments on the album in which the lyrics are decipherable.

The album’s only setback is that 4 of the 12 tracks are pure, unadulterated lo-fi noise and feedback, reserved for the twenty people who take pleasure in listening to Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music. “Rainbows Everywhere” and “Goth Girls” are most melodic of this raucous bunch, the accompanying hangover to the burst of youthful vigor that characterizes Wavves’ otherwise impressive album.

Forget the blog-buzz. Hype is cheap. Wavves is anything but a hipster version of the Beach Boys. He is a 22 year-old songwriter with a love for the sun and a method for capturing the tune of adolescence the only way he can – with heaps and mounds of unchecked distortion. Think about your first guitar or your first guitar-hero match or even why you bought so many of those finger skateboards back in 5th grade and you will understand the sound of Wavves. Now kick back and soak in the fuzz.

Wavves - So Bored.mp3
Wavves - Get in the Sun.mp3

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Stelios Phili EDITOR

Goodbye Jonas Brothers. There is a new a set of siblings in town - they have beards, drink whiskey, and sound like an indie-country version of Weezer. The aptly titled EP, emotionalism, reaffirms these qualities. From start to finish of the six track EP, we see the boys exploring their emotions concerning the two classics: love and death.

“Paranoia in B Flat Major” drew instant Weezer comparisons for me – specifically, the neuroticism (With paranoia on my heels; Will you love me still/When we awake and you find that the sanity has gone from my eyes?) and the shouting of “yeah!” before a verse of rocking out. And by rocking out, I mean that the Avett Brothers have devised a way to rock out with banjos. This is pop at its finest.

But once the heavy banjo chords subside, the brothers give way to pure emotionalism. “Shame” is the break-up song with a twist – instead of simply mourning their loss, the brothers man-up and take the blame (Okay so I was wrong about/My reasons for us fallin’ out/Of love I want to fall back in). “When I Drink” follows suit, and hones responsibility for actions under the influence.

My favorite track is “Die, Die, Die.” Despite the title, it is the most cheerful song on the EP. The song is a bittersweet acceptance of mortality, acknowledging death’s inevitability, yet choosing not to worry about it. This message is carried out with perfect harmonies and by making “Die, Die, Die” synonymous with a carefree “La, La, La.” It’s actually quite clever.

Rick Rubin, producer extraordinaire, is helming their major label debut. Brace yourself.

The Avett Brothers - Die, Die, Die.mp3
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