Neon Indian : Era Extraña

Neon Indian's Era Extraña is long overdue for a review (you can't blame me though, I hadn't started this blog until a couple months after this album came out).

Gaining popularity quickly, Neon Indian has released two albums since its conception in 2008 and toured with numerous acts, including Phoenix, Chromeo, and Sleigh Bells. The three bands I chose to mention were chosen for a reason. I personally view Neon Indian as a bit of a cross between all three. Here's a simple math equation for you to illustrate Neon Indian's style.

Neon Indian = synth(Phoenix) + attitude(Chromeo) + vocals(Sleigh Bells - Alexis Krauss' femininity)

Era Extraña is Spanish for "It was strange."
Probably the most literal
album title from an indie band in years.

For those of you who aren't good at math (or are good at math, but don't know how to read made-up equations), that means you take Phoenix's synth, Chromeo's attitude, and the vocal style, though male instead of female, of Sleigh Bells, mash it all up and you have yourself an Era Extraña.


The equation works.

Neon Indian is an eclectic and unique band--two words that are vastly overused in the music business, but are very much true in this case. Poppy synth is topped with a layer of creepy, dark vocals to create songs with a mixed message that confuses and excites.

The first single off the album, and by far the most popular song since the album's been released, is "Polish Girl." This is a great example of this confusion. The song begins, "oh, did Phoenix release a new album? I must have missed it," only to move on, "wait, is this being produced by MGMT?," and finally the vocals, "who is this?" and then you just give up and Google it.

It's a confusion, though, that you like and appreciate. It's exciting and scary at the same time. It's like eating something that tastes really good, but your mom won't tell you what it is. You're hesitant to dive in, but you can't stop and you're in too deep now. Okay, so it's a crummy metaphor, but it's the best I've got.

Some people label this music as chillwave or New Wave or noise pop or synthpop or dream pop or psychadelic pop or shoegaze or ambient or chillout or lo-fi or glo-fi or neo-psychadelia or space rock or just about any combination of the words wave, chill, synth, or gaze. I think that's stupid. Let's be honest. Nobody knows what the difference between any of these are, because there isn't one. All that work that goes into labeling this album, or genre for that matter, is wasting precious time that you could be listening to the album in the first place. So just forget about all that. If you really need a genre, flip a coin. I just did and I'm calling it "wavegaze." It's going to be a thing. Spread it around.

On second thought, I can't support that. So don't. And don't flip a coin either.

Listen to "Polish Girl" instead:

Silversun Pickups : Bloody Mary / Single, Album Preview

Full disclosure: Silversun Pickups may be my favorite band. I always hate answering that question, because I feel like it changes a lot. However, if I had to choose one, it might certainly be them. There's just something about Brian Aubert's unique voice and heavily distorted guitar, the simple often simple, but always powerful drumming by Chris Guanlao, and the complex, even confusing lyrics.

Even Neck of the Woods'
album art is a departure from
their typical abstract images

So when SSPU announced a new album, I couldn't help but get excited. While the announcement (like two or three weeks ago) for Neck of the Woods isn't news any more, all the interviews and tweets surrounding its upcoming release on May 8th have just gotten me too excited to not write a blog post about it.

Aubert describes the album as something "like a horror movie." Personally, I think that this is a great direction for the Pickups to take, considering their already heavily distorted, even dark sound. All I can say is, if it's anything like their recent EP release Seasick, I already approve.

The release of the first album's single has stirred some waves in the online sphere already and for good reason--it's good.

"Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)," as it is called, is a new direction for Silversun Pickups. While it maintains the distorted guitar that has come to define them, it certainly is much darker than their previous endeavors. It's chilling. It's creepy. And it's a great listen. I think Aubert and the crew have really tapped into a really cool sound for this album.

Here's to hoping that the rest of the album will hold up to the standard the single has already set.

Haven't heard "Bloody Mary" yet? Here. I've just saved you a Google search. You're welcome.

Another Post About Music & Marketing: Why Music Shouldn't Be One Way Communication

If you didn't catch my post about music commercialization, that's cool, but here comes another one in a similar vein.

Bands don't need to be a one-way vehicle of communication. Fifty years ago, that wasn't much of an option. Bands would play at huge venues and walk off the stage, not interacting with the crowd aside from the stereotypical "THANK YOU, BOSTON!" followed by crazed fans going wild. Yeah, technically there was a response there, but it's shallow and doesn't mean a whole lot.

And then the internet was born.

What did that do for bands? It could have potentially done a lot, but music has remained a pretty one-way street in terms of communicating to listeners, even after the rise of sites like MySpace and Facebook. Most bands will frequently post something on Facebook, but I hardly see any interaction on their end.

Twitter's proliferation has certainly reversed this cycle a bit. Some bands frequently respond to questions, post photos with an end goal of inciting a response, and retweeting comments. This is a vast improvement for communicating with listeners on a somewhat more personal level. I still have yet to see a response for something like "this album sucks," but it is still a good development. I have one complaint though: I hate bands that just retweet a string of positive things about them. Do you not have to say for yourself or are you really just that self absorbed (I'm talking to you Sam Adams, and no, you don't get a pass for being a half-baked college rapper).

Other than Twitter, I've seen one great attempt to reach out to listeners and get them involved in something I don't really think has ever been attempted before: production. Manchester Orchestra, an indie band with an epic sound that I love to death, went beyond the traditional Facebook and Twitter blitz surrounding their new-ish album Simple Math (though they did that too). 

Manchester Orchestra's
Simple Math

They created a microsite called webuiltthishouse.com where listeners can log on with their SoundCloud accounts and record themselves singing the chorus of the single "Virgin," which sounds like a children's choir in the official version, off the album. After an undisclosed period, Manchester Orchestra will collect all the recordings, mash them together, layer it into the song with the band, and then release it as a free download. Is that not cool or what? Listeners not only have an influence in how it turns out, they get to be a part of the recording!

This site was nominated for the 2012 Music Interactive Award at SXSW, which is pretty sweet. It definitely should have won, in my own semi-professional (I'm pursuing a career in advertising, but alas I'm still in college) opinion.

By giving diehard fans a special treat like this, Manchester Orchestra is creating an open environment for creativity and socialization, something largely absent from the music industry at this current time. More bands need to hop on this train. The possibilities go way beyond having a MySpace page that you never update anymore.

Here's a video of the original song. Keep an eye out for the free download and, if you're interested, you can still get your voice in it:

Remark-worthy Revisit // Band of Horses : Everything All The Time

So, I decided something today: why do I have to always review something relatively new? I don't. I thought it would be fun to talk about an album that deserves a revisit.

With that in mind, let's all rewind to 2006.

Everything All The Time

I've been binge-ing on an album that is particularly close to my heart this past month. I'm not proud of the number of times that I've listened through it. But it is just that good. The album is Band of Horses' Everything All The Time.

It is great for the same reason that I liked Of Monsters and Men's album that I reviewed yesterday. It has a great natural ebb and flow. The band itself has even had some highs and lows over the years, going through members like nobody's business. Band of Horses' fivepiece has seen ten other band members come and go, all leaving for a variety of different reasons.

Personally, I think the band, though it didn't necessarily get bad in subsequent albums by any means, was strongest at its beginnings, before all the drama of new members coming in and out (and, yes, I realize they got a Grammy nomination from their latest album--that one's pretty good too). 

My favorite song on the album, as with many people's, is the first single "The Funeral." The song is just too great. It starts off slow with lots of oohs and ahhs, not picking up until a minute and twenty seconds in and then all of the sudden... BAM! A chorus of drums, guitar and vocals to match. Equally as abrupt, the song instantly slows down again about a minute and a half. I love a song that keeps you on your toes and this does just that. It's a flurry of highs and lows that really makes an impression. If I had to be on a desert island with only one song to listen to, I don't know that I would pick this one, but I wouldn't be unhappy if it's what I was stuck with.

Another fun song on the album that sports some silly writing and an upbeat rhythm is "Weed Party." Even more humorous than the name of the song is that it's followed by a beautiful, tragic love song entitled "I Go To The Barn Because I Like The." I don't think you ever figure out what he likes and why it makes him go to the barn, but it's a great, melodic tune.

Enough of me talking about this album. Go out an revisit it. And if you haven't revisited it, visit it for the first time. It's well worth it.

See what I'm talking about? Here's the official music video for "The Funeral."

Of Monsters and Men : My Head Is an Animal

One criterion that I personally factor when deciding whether a holistic album is a success is whether it has a good ratio and mix of high and low moments. While there are exceptions to this rule, such as The xx's XX (yeah, that's a lot of x's in a row) which is charming because it blatantly breaks this rule and succeeds at being a largely monotone album that's still fun to listen to, I think that, for the most part, albums need a sort of ebb and flow. I think a lot of "real" reviewers (and by that, I don't mean that their opinions matter more than mine or anyone else's, but that they get paid to do so) would agree with this. This can take shape in two different ways: the songs within the album are highs and lows themselves (i.e. Track 1 is loud and exciting, track 2 is slower and melodic, track 3 is lively--it doesn't have to be this sequential, but you get my drift) or that the songs themselves have natural highs and lows in them (think Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"). It's not often, though, that you find an album that does both, especially both very well.

My Head Is an Animal

Of Monster and Men's first production does just that.

This quirky band from I-don't-know-the-key-commands-required-to-let-me-type-the-name-of-their-hometown in Iceland is new to the music scene. Though they've been getting air time on local indie radio stations for some time now, their first album My Head Is an Animal came out earlier this month and it is quite good. They began their North American tour earlier this year at South by Southwest and have been blowing up ever since, with a slew of sold-out shows coming up along with appearances at Toronto's new music festival Osheaga and, of course, Chicago's Lollapalooza.

This band has such a fun, upbeat sound that reflects their Icelandic counterparts Sigur Ros, without the language barrier and more importantly without feeling like they're piggy-backing off their success. I'd throw in some Band of Horses and Manchester Orchestra in there too, not necessarily in terms of style, but in their overall theatricality.

If Iceland is the one that's
actually green, then why do
they all look so cold?

As I talked about before, Of Monsters and Men does a great job of mixing up highs and lows within songs and the songs within the album. Songs like "Yellow Light" showcase the lyrics with a simple, melodic background tune, while listening to songs like "From Finner" with booming drums and a chorus that crashes like a waterfall only to flow seamlessly into the verse that follows.

The album's single is also a really strong song within itself, highlighting the voices of both Nanna Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar þórhallsson (don't ask me how to pronounce either of those names) as they playfully carry out a conversation throughout the song on top of a layer of equally playful instrumentation.

I highly recommend you check out this album. It's a great listening experience and you'll be glad you took the time to do so. Though I haven't taken this album out for a spin in a car myself, I think that it would be a great album for driving around in the increasingly beautiful weather this summer. I know it will definitely be playing for at least part of the way as I'm driving to Lollapalooza this summer.

Check out this legit music video for My Head Is an Animal's single "Little Talks" here:

Fun. w/ Miniature Tigers @ Myth

After a dramatic string of events that led to two different venue changes, Fun. made their return to Minneapolis (well, Maplewood) last night. Anyone that's been following this blog loosely within the past month knows Fun. by now. I gave Some Nights a less than glistening review last month and I briefly talked about them in my post about indie bands making it big. This will have been the third time that I've seen them live (What? They come to Minnesota a lot) and I've been impressed with them each time, but last night blows the other two performances out of the water.


I was severely disappointed when the venue changed from Varsity Theater to the Brick, which has gotten a lot of bad press since it opened, and even more disappointed when it moved from the Brick to Myth, which has gotten a reputation of being a high school club because of the number of 16+ shows they host. And may I say, the tween hipsters were out in full force.

Charlie Brand of
Miniature Tigers

Waiting in line, I could see the armies of little hipsters setting up camp outside Myth. I, along with all the other seasoned concert-goers, were outnumbered, not vastly, but enough to be a little worried. The older crowd did show up, but it was much later, which was a relief. Once we got to our spots for the night, which just happened to be front row, we practically spent the whole night trying to defend them. So many of these teeny-boppers lacked concert-etiquette, blatantly making snide comments about a girl that came back from the bathroom to claim her spot, awkwardly groping me and my friends from behind, cheering things that were meant for a high school pep rally rather than a concert, and making fool-hearty attempts to get in front of us by claiming they needed to lean on the railing (why do you need the railing when you've been awkwardly leaning on me despite my polite requests to stop?). I don't know whether this was a problem for the other people at the concert or if it was just the people around us, but it certainly put somewhat of a damper on an otherwise flawless night.

Now that I'm done complaining, let's get to the flawless part.

Fiero T-Shirt? Sold

Brooklyn-based synth-pop act Miniature Tigers had an overall great performance. I wasn't graced with hearing them before the performance last night, but they were really great. I couldn't help but like them as soon as they entered onto the stage, with a guitarist that looked like Lenny Kravitz, a bassist wearing some of the most obnoxious argyle socks I've ever seen, and a drummer that was wearing a Fiero t-shirt, drinking a Summit Great Northern Porter, and jamming out on a drum kit sporting a shoddily-painted on strawberry.

The set started a little slow. It took them a while to realize their frontman Charlie Brand's microphone wasn't nearly loud enough. I don't know that I actually comprehended a line from his sassy, sometimes even raunchy, lyrics until about half way through the set. The singing, and with it the rest of the performance,  made vast improvements when they bumped up the vocal mic. Despite this, the lively guitar riffs and simple, but thundering drum beats were high-caliber. It just made the entire crowd want to dance. And that's what we did. I'm not usually a dancer when I go to concerts, but their poppy, upbeat music was just too perfect to not at least jump around to a little bit.

The stage is set

After a great performance and about a forty-minute wait, Nate Ruess and his bandmates took the stage with a fiery energy that resonated with the entire audience. Opening with "One Foot," a song off their new album, they proved that they are much better without the auto-tune (the main thing that killed their new album for me). The set continued with a solid mix of songs from both their albums, perhaps even more from Aim and Ignite, which was a surprising considering they were touring to promote Some Nights. I was hoping for a song by the Format (they played "Dog Problems" the last time I saw them), but alas it never came.

Fun. takes the stage

Sporting a Celtics jersey, he brought a lot more energy to his performance than they did against Toronto last night. Nate's stage presence, vocal range, and obvious love for what he's doing never ceases to amaze me. They all looked like they were all just having a ball up there. The energy that they all put into the performance was just palpable throughout the venue. Nate made the enthusiastic audience the star of the show on more than one occasion. I always love when performers make the audience an integral part of the show.

Highlights included an anthemic performance of the song that put them on the map "We Are Young," Nate and Jack's witty exchange about how their dads were both probably high in the audience ("Isn't it sad when your dad smokes weed and you don't?"), a powerful, emotional performance of "The Gambler," and Nate having to wait a good ninety seconds to squeak out the last line of his first encore (there were two) over the roar of the audience.


Overall, a standup performance and proof that Fun. is a remarkable band to see live. Trust me. I've now got three shows under my belt. We'll see if I end up seeing them at Lollapalooza again this summer. Miniature Tigers were a great opener and a great match for Fun. While Miniature Tigers were danceable, Fun. proved belt-able as always. Also, Nate informed us during the show that last night was the largest show they've ever headlined for. Congratulations on your most recent step to stardom. You deserve it.

*All photos for this post courtesy of Heather Roos

Lollapalooza Lineup Announcement

As much as I'd love to give the new Shins album the respect it deserves, I have to post over it right away in order to stay current. I meant to get the Shins review out sooner, but internet issues kept me from doing so. So, I apologize James Mercer. However, I'll make it up to you by promoting one of your shows (not that it needs it).

Can I just start this post by saying: Holy _______! (insert expletive here, really any will apply)

Lolla has been officially announced. Consider my socks blown off. I bought tickets last week without knowing how was playing--a risk that paid dividends.

You're telling me I get to see The Black Keys and Jack White in the same weekend?! Note to Lollapalooza staff: If you put these two at the same time, I'm going to do something irrational that you will not appreciate. Abide by this rule and we'll get along.

Other bands that I'm super excited for are as follows: Florence and the Machine, The Shins (even though I'm seeing them in June), Bloc Party, Santigold, M83, Franz Ferdinand, Metric, The Head and the Heart, Dawes, Fun. (could potentially be the fourth time I see them live, don't ask me how this keeps happening), Band of Skulls, Neon Indian, Trampled by Turtles, Polica, White Rabbits, Doomtree, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and Thenewno2.

Two years ago would have been my dream lineup (you could have taken 8 out of my 10 favorite bands at the time and they were all there). I couldn't attend that year, as you can guess. But the Lollapalooza committee has given me a second chance. A second chance at one amazing weekend full of great music.