Obscured By Clouds
Psycheclectic
Psycheclectic; 2008
Hipsters and music critics find great joy in picking on, teasing, and generally making fun of progressive rock for both its supposed lyrical and instrumental bombast. To wit, Rush has yet to make into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame because they have met with disfavor from high-and-mighty rock critics through the years, despite their status as one of the more predominant, loved, and stylistically copied bands of the genre. And while Pink Floyd retains a bit more critical appeal and acceptance, they still remain the psychedelic band of choice for over-the-top light shows and paranoid conspiracy-loving burnouts everywhere. Nothing says dream pretty thoughts while having intense nightmares like the combination of oscillating keyboard swells, guitar feedback, reverb-laden vocals, and fantastical lyrics.
Enter Obscured By Clouds and their new record, Psycheclectic, 21st-century interpretation of the music of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Led by William Weikart, this five-piece has put together an eight-track concept album that seeks to recreate the glory days of Pink Floyd and Rush and to do so without any hint of irony. In one sense, it would be easy to mock the group as a cover band attempting to inject the characteristics of their heroes into their own music, but that wouldn’t be very fair. Obscured By Clouds certainly has a better grasp of their instruments and how to play them than most pop-rock groups on the market, and they most likely aren’t hoping to make a dent on the Billboard charts with their rock epic. Nevertheless, dedication to the purity of their chosen art form aside, Psycheclectic is an album that will only be appreciated by those who already love the music of Geddy, Neil, Alex, David, and Roger and the deep catalogs of both those transcendent groups.
Comments
Makeout Party
Lengths And Limits
Make Music Collective; 2008
As any fan of quality pop music knows, songs about love – whether real, imagined, unrequited, or fulfilled – have dominated the charts for decades. So, while the source material certainly isn’t new (there’s that whole matter of millennia of love themes in classic literature), the approach to crafting a love song (or an album full of them) must strike a balance between sounding both fresh and timeless. The lyrics must be genuine, the singer sincere, and the melodies creative; if any one of those three components is lacking, regardless of how substantive and worthwhile the other two are, the entire effort suffers.
Suffice to say that it’s the lack of imaginative music that plagues Lengths And Limits, the debut LP from Makeout Party. Even though Carmen Cirignano employs a wistfully believable voice to intone each track’s above-average love poetry, the clichéd emo-flavored musical ingredients utilized by this New Jersey group that make the album less than stellar. There’s simply a distinct lack of punch throughout the record, whether it’s the all-too-familiar guitar riffs and harmonizing vocals or the fact that the tempo varies very little from song to song. It’s very easy to relate to the emotional substance of the lyrics, but when the entire project seems to copy directly from early Dashboard Confessional, it’s hard to take the group or its music very seriously.
Comments
Hey there folks. I’m not sure if you’re into big, cocksure bands with the stage energy of The Who & Blur, but just in case you are, feel free to download “Love In Our Hearts”, the new song from Austin, TX-based band Electric Touch. They’ll be out with The Fratellis for most of September 2008, including playing a set at ACL Festival. Enjoy!
Comments
Stay Sharp
Four Songs
Monkey Wrench; 2008
Hardcore and punk aren’t noted for being the most positive or optimistic of genres. Not that they’re intentionally angry, frustrated, or disaffected forms of music, but more that they do require a certain level of aggravation in order to be fully developed and appreciated. Granted, the source and/or recipient of that aggression might not be the healthiest, but it doesn’t make the feelings any less valid. But it’s rare to come across a band as young and raw as Stay Sharp whose music evokes the required emotional rawness, but is coupled with a relational awareness and realism that much more adult that their years would suggest. Introducing themselves to the world with their Four Songs EP, this Philly four-piece has put together an appropriately titled four-song project that comes across as a complete eight-minute story-cycle chronicling conversations the protagonist has with his adversary. Addressing themes like conquering depression (“Winning Is Everything”), breaking codependency (“Hatfield of Dreams”), confronting a loved one (“Sign It”), and defeating apathy (“Charge The Mound”), each track gallops along at a classic East Coast punk speed and achieves a state of barely controlled frenzy that manages to keep the lyrical content from potentially wallowing in its own misery. This is a solid first effort from a band that’s tackling dense material with a very mature perspective.
Comments
