From Mainstream to Upstream

April 23, 2010  
Filed under Featured, Features

By David Gillespie

Attention, pop addicted citizens of Mountain View. I have a few steps for you to follow right now.

Step 1: Put down the Rolling Stone Magazine

Step 2: Step away from the radio tuned to 94.1 FM

Step 3: Step out of your world of billboard charts, glam music videos, and solo artists

Step 4: Prepare to enter a world you are not familiar with. A world of dissonance, synthesizers, and lead singers who don’t thrive off of magazine covers.

In this world, there are no electric drums, no background dancers, no auto-tuned microphones, and there are no songs that end up getting covered on American Idol. These are bands that rise to the top of their genre with originality, talent, and a little bit of luck. So go to your bathroom and clean out your ears from all the bass that you’ve had pounding into your ears, and give these albums a listen.

Neon Trees Habits:

4/5

From Mercury Records, Neon Trees deliver a debut album reminiscent of the Killers debut, ”Hot Fuss”. The difference is, this ‘Brandon Flowers (Tyler Glenn of Provo, Utah) is a Mohawk stricken, bow-tie toting animal on stage. Far from holding back his physical actions, he moves about the stage in an imitation of the angst that he is belting out through the lyrics, commanding his keyboards all the while. Backed by the instrumental talents of Chris Allen on the guitar, Branden Campbell on bass, and Elaine Doty on the drums, this Utah band brings a killer vegas-rock feel in their debut album, “Habits”.

Say Anything Say Anything:

4/5

When a band has a lead vocalist tormented by schizophrenia, a bi-polar disorder, and other mental issues, you can expect the lyrics to be…interesting. And put simply, Say Anything does not disappoint. With painfully honest lyrics, and quirky synth/guitar leads, one finds Say Anything’s 4^th and self-titled album surprisingly enjoyable. Backed by Alex Kent, Jake and Jeff Turner, Parker Chase, and the bands only other original member Coby Linder, Max Bemis makes music that is honest to his own emotions and issues without any discrepancy, which is a rare find in today’s mainstream music business. Whether you are enjoying the religious humor of “Died a Jew”, or relating to the puppy love lyrics of “Crush’d”, there is something for anyone and everyone in the 2009 album, “Say Anything”.

The Decemberists The Hazards of Love:

3/5

You’re going to need to buckle up for this one. The Decemberists have always been a band in love with their own theatrics, shown clearly in Her Majesty, and Picaresque. But they may have gone too far on this one. Granted, the Portland based fans of this middle-finger-to-the-world band may love this new album, “The Hazards of Love”, but new listeners would leave this album thinking, “huh?”. Not to say that this album doesn’t leave the listener with some highlights. Oh no, the reprise of this makeshift rock opera “Hazards of Love”, highlights excellent acoustic guitar riffs, with banjo leads sneaking their way in here and there. And with guest vocalists Becky Stark, Shara Worden, and Jim James, no one can say that this album is a total bust. But heed this warning: “The Hazards of Love” is not for Decemberist beginners!

Grizzly Bear Veckatimest:

3/5

Even though bassist Chris Taylor acclaims “Veckatimest” as his bands most accessible album to date, this isn’t saying too much when you look back at the bands first two albums, which are laden with spacey synth chords, saxophone lines, clarinets, and the occasional accordion. This isn’t to say that the album doesn’t have a few tracks that would be quite accessible to the proto-typical pop rocker. The tracks “Two Weeks”, and “While You Wait for the Others” are something like you would expect to hear the soundtrack for “Where the Wild Things Are”. But nevertheless, they will leave you with your head bobbing to the catchy synth beats. Saturated with vocal harmonies, and a plethora of great reviews for their live performances, there is no doubting that this band is one with no shortage of musical talent, but “Veckatimest” may just not be your ‘cup of tea’.

Phoenix Wolfgang, Amadeus, Phoenix:

5/5

Having been together now for 10 years, Phoenix has risen from a garage band in Versailles, France, to an alternative band gaining global recognition, with their latest single “1901” hitting #1 on the Billboard Hot Alternative Songs list. On January 31^st, 2010, they won the Grammy for Best Alternative Rock album. Vocalist Thomas Mars, Bassist Deck D’Arcy, and guitarist Christian Mazzalai started as a simple garage band in the suburbs of Paris. Soon after, Mazzalai’s older brother, Laurent Brancowitz soon joined the fray, playing guitar. Since 2000, they have released 5 Albums, each with a truly unique alternative sound. Echoing guitar riffs, precise and complex drum rhythms, and keyboard melody lines bring Phoenix’s music to life. So, if you haven’t had the chance to give them a listen, do yourself a favor and give “Wolfgang, Amadeus, Phoenix” a listen.

Here are some special mentions:

MGMT Congratulations 4/5

Gorillaz Plastic Beach 4/5

Broken Bells Broken Bells 3/5

Dr. Dog Shame Shame 3/5

Spoon Transference 4/5

OK Go Of the Blue Colour of the Sky 5/5

The Bravery Stir the Blood 4/5

Blacrok Blacrok 2/5

The XX XX 3/5

Passion Pit Manners 3/5

Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavillion 1/5

St. Vincent Actor 3/5

The Antlers Hospice 2/5