AWOLNATION Does The Split Personality Bit

Indie rock act AWOLNATION skirts the edge of two rock-inflected personalities on its latest single "Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)". Vocalist Aaron Bruno measures out his words in verse block one. He searches for his right mind. How plausible. He and bandmates aren't close to cruising altitude so we get reminded that when it doesn't seem like you have anything other than a tiny match lighting the way hitting upon your right mind isn't easy as pie. Much animosity wafts up from Kenny Carkeet's keyboards. They compel you to hear this crazy Aaron guy out. He might have something either twisted or profound to say. If the best we can say for him in the end is that he was a misunderstood genius then what's objectionable about that? Pounding away we get pulled into Isaac Carpenter's point on the band dynamic compass. Cards laid out on the table he doesn't draw the lead actor card in this power play. He does lend a useful helping hand which helps Aaron transition from gliding unraveling to mile a minute demented rambler. Lyrical content isn't the thing you should keep your fixation pointed to. Aaron's in meltdown mode. You can taste a little of the screaming that dyed in the wool rockers do later on in the song. Over and over he babbles on about how he's gonna make a deal with the bad wolf so it don't bite no more. Off and on the electronic horseplay elevates him to several fries short of a Happy Meal. Does "Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)" stand a chance of holding shrinking attention spans for an appreciably long stretch? I'd say the video matches that profile. Depending on whether entertaining the clogged gears of crazy people whets your whistle or not I reserve the right to hold off on any recommendations. Am I being non-commital? Yes. Are there ordinate number of questions being asked for one blog post? Sure, but you paid the ticket to ride, therefore you get the twists in the road. To continue now Aaron's a fascinating case study. Knowing what makes him tick comprises the majority of the fun. You think the mishmash crew surrounding him in the video isn't wary of where his noodle is heading next? They poker face nicely. I wouldn't conclude AWOLNATION has much outside of mix and match synergies in mind. First we'll slide Aaron along a keyboard ice rink. Then we'll get him on the language treadmill to loosen his lips a bit. After we've exhausted him we'll send him back to the rink so he can once again clench his teeth, thus pushing down on revealing emotions. To be the hamster running after the carrot in Aaron's worn to a nub cranium. Have any of you guys felt your cosmic role was merely placeholder. Aaron sympathizes. He also goes from cold running energy to hot. Living textbook characters can reveal a lot to us about themselves and ourselves. "Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)" splits the difference between hiding behind a loosely constructed mask and victimizing us with diarrhea of the mouth. You be the judge which half you like best.

Death Cab For Cutie Succeeds In Flying Close To The Sun

"Black Sun" probes your gray matter in a very consistent fashion. You'd have a point in thinking that listening to Death Cab For Cutie's new single can be compared to watching a gun shy flower open up steadily, revealing bold colors as the seconds elapse. It's been four years since "Codes and Keys" dispersed alt rock's lethargy spaces. On tap for late March release we get "Kintsugi". Another one of Obama's teachable moments has surfaced. I do try to educate where I can. As much as I value entertainment, education deserves credit too. Kintsugi comes to us from The Land of The Rising Sun. It entails fixing broken pottery with lacquer. "Black Sun" contains a lot of imagery revolving around psychological scarring. You and I get to go under Death Cab For Cutie's microscope to analyze just how broken the broken places really are. The crash site we amble past proves too great a sideshow to ignore like we hallucinated such carnage. A commonality among humans rests with the fight to avoid boredom. Death Cab's choices of what band flourishes go where elevates "Black Sun" to something much greater than, say, a filler track that today's audiences, thanks to the ability to load only the tracks they want can opt out of completely. You'd be shifting quality time in the right direction by paying close attention to how the demeanor changing from one lyrical passage to the next. For starters Benjamin Gibbard's guitar sounds commendably worn down. The heavy load he's carrying has threatened to drop him to his knees for good. Jason McGerr's thumping drum beats serve to reinforce the wobbly legs Ben sings on. As Ben asks "How could something so fair be so cruel when this black sun revolves around you?" his guitar submerges itself beneath the undertow. In its place sinister keyboards hold us at somewhat terrified attention. You and I have likely had our share of moments, probably lamentable ones, where time seemed to move in slo-mo. That juncture in "Black Sun" has slow motion tragedy written all over it. No sooner has the blackness descended than we're back to the guitar drum mesh work. Be careful though. The third instance where Ben returns to his dejected worldview, the band changes up their instrumental approach. We infer blackness has stepped aside to allow clarity to peek in, thus contributing some sunshine. Death Cab For Cutie brings every Farenheit degree to full effect on "Black Sun" You should apply SPF No. You Be The Judge at your own risk. This outing doesn't gallop away before we can glean meaning from it. On the other hand, it doesn't crawl at a snail's pace. I believe we come closer to snail than thoroughbred steed but this patient has life yet in its veins. The action slows enough to allow us to size up whether or not all parties to this ongoing crash have emerged with contained scar tissue. My mother has had a long career as an ACC Psychology teacher. She agrees with me that people are an interesting character study. "Black Sun" never stops fascinating. As was the case for the video for "You Are a Tourist" the video for "Black Sun" has top-notch production values pushing wind at its back. A crash scene on steady loop goes over great in tandem with a serious song like this. "Black Sun" won't burn out or fade away. It mainly lingers in the psyche, an itch you'd better scratch before you're consumed with the urge to rip your flesh off.

Black Keys Mellow Out On "Weight of Love"

Wide open spaces with a toke or three in between about captures Black Keys "Weight of Love." From the jump your ears are held captive under spell of drums dropped in softly as if to utter "Come on in the water's fine." You can't ask for much better from the guitars on display here. The ever simmering boil allows you access to peak around any and all dark corners. Truth be told there likely isn't a chemical substance you couldn't peace out to while listening to "Black and Blue". Dan Auerbach excels here in his role as ringmaster for the drugged out circus at hand. I bow before Dan's adept display with both the stringed instrument and his voice box. Dan tells the tale of a mysterious vamp who according to him was "always up to somethin'." Payback will apparently be swift for her according to the lyrics since nobody is going to want to protect this chick. Dan pleads with the girl not to give herself away to the weight of love, swooning atmospherics allowing the central flame to rise higher. Deliberate gets you the name of this game. How does "Weight of Love" soar to the heights it eventually reaches? Guitar and drum weave well together. A definite forest wilderness environment. Toast marshmallows around the campfire to this charmer. You'll excuse me for the wealth of description I'm employing to speak about this effort. See what listening to the song while trying to conjure up content gets you? However for you, my tolerant blog audience I soldier on so the connection you and I have won't fade away in the breeze. Unlike "Fever" which gave you a hurdy gurdy whimsy slant, "Weight of Love" draws you into its web awash in seriousness. First one to blink gets one right between the eyes. I appreciate how deeply Dan characterizes the female lead. You'd likely be mystified to encounter her on the dance floor mentioned in the second stanza. She's out there with the people who dance all night because they don't want to be lonely. What do we call her in terms of a character identity. Possibly she's a ghostly apparition. She may even be the drugged out product of all the inhaled marijuana alluded to earlier. Whatever your stance on it "Weight of Love" does feel...well...weighty. Chalk that up mainly to Patrick Carney whose drums carry that level of heaviness. Then again since garage rock is one of the genre handles they go by, heavy works as well as anything in terms of description. Black Keys have strayed a far piece from the chuckle fest humor that's evident in the video for "Tighten Up". If you haven't flashed back to that 2010 diamond I suggest you take that time to take some of the world's weight off your shoulders. Returning to "Weight of Love", it tips the scales into the win column due to caveman moodiness that requires no Tarzan themed loincloth to appreciate.

Five Seconds Later Kanye, Rihanna, and that Beatles Dude Fade From Memory

It's lovely to notice how Kanye West and Rihanna have some respect for an elder. If you have to spread the love on someone you could do worse than turn in Paul McCartney's general direction. In the video for "FourFiveSeconds" he appears engaged. Nobody handed him a check and said this will make whatever statement you think y'all are making work out justifiably in the end. To be frank Paul's the color portion of a number that amounts merely to Kanye and Rihanna getting to clown around in the studio with a legend. Like it or lump it this song's likely to come across as an excuse to print their own money. That's the thing about legends. As the years pass they become like the gold or platinum used to construct the certifications for units sold...their market value becomes astronomical. Paul dutifully strums while his black brother and sister get frank about what's darkening their lives lately. Rihanna's never lacked for candor. From her duet with Eminem ("Love The Way You Lie") to her peak drinking hour rave up ("We Found Love") the girl's always had her laser hot gaze set squarely on her would-be buyers. As for Kanye, his social brashness essentially hasn't been in doubt since the golden days when he interrupted Taylor Swift's MTV award acceptance speech to get one last plug in for rival Beyonce's video. Note to Kanye. I think Queen Bey's doing fine without you putting in your notion of what a good word is. Back to the single on the dissection table. Rihanna on deck first, declaring the obvious truism that she's no different than numerous other people in regards to how alcohol is the match that lights full scale disclosure. She's been stung thanks to her kindness which others mistake for weakness. For the looks of things Rihanna's expecting jail time for a particularly physical outcome to her being labeled weak. Kids today. Such a big hurry to be so the drama while not giving much justification for the hostility. In her defense how many platinum records do any of us lesser creatures have? Goose egg city as I thought. What's "wildin'?" Possibly slang for "going wild" "busting out in party mode". You learn something odd every day. It's truly wonderful to be alive. At the second hook Kanye and Rihanna join forces as Sir Paul plays it too cool in his backup capacity. Only difference is now both of them are singing the hook refrain. Still "FourFiveSeconds from wildin'." Tuesday's inconvenient. Wednesday's hanging around being useless. Thursday's the warmup act for you guessed it...FRIDAY!! Paul works the acoustic angle to the letter. Modest shadings of tone, depth, and intensity result in what might have been, if this outing was in service to a band, you know, the classic guitar drums tonsil flasher set up a likable sprig of parsley on the mouth watering main course. There isn't a real fleshed out use for his being present except maybe to prevent Kanye and Rihanna from ending up in a capella territory. Take away the lyrics and guitar and you've got emptiness. "FourFiveSeconds" leaves little to excite the senses. Kind of like a tiny spritz of perfume at Bloomingdale's doesn't exactly leave you begging for an entire flask. Water with a tad of discernible stimulant. Outside of that I can't easily say much to endorse "FourFiveSeconds" as a piece of music that's going to leave you wide eyed and amazed. Late in the game, Paul spins this homeboy ride into a gospel flavored part of the neighborhood. Doesn't excuse words that don't speak volumes. Paul's a gracious guy. Probably got a kick out of mixing it up with the whippersnappers. Having served his function as the experienced third of a titans of radio three way tag team match he can go back to calculating his Beatles' royalties. Kanye can go back to reminding himself not to piss anybody else off. Rihanna can go back to picking out some other hip-hop bad boy to play rough with. No harm no foul. "FourFiveSeconds" exquisitely sums up the amount of time it's going to take you to forget the song ever graced ear canals everywhere.

Deep Six Marilyn Manson At Once

Excuse me Marilyn Manson. The '90s was back that way. Today you'll come across as awkward like a fan boy at ComicCon. Well, since you're hear and since the meter's running why don't we see what hell you've wrought. "Deep Six" eh? Appears the trappings of a Marilyn Manson outing are present and accounted for. Creeps inducing video. Chords that unsettle if not make you bust out in hives outright. Lyrics weighted down by slasher fiend angst. Yup. It's out there on display. "Pale" deservedly ranks as a useful adjective to describe your skin after a solid listening. Anybody wanna get inside Marilyn's mind and move all the things around? Not an assignment for the faint of heart. Do you want to know what Zeus said to Narcissus? Probably not your top priority I gather. Follow the harsh as fingers on a blackboard brand of guitar playing and you can at least say you came away from the whole experience slightly better off than when you came in. Audio visual wise the video isn't breaking new ground. Repeat close up shots of oddball things were MTV's hallmark from day one. Manson needs to do his homework before locking up a video director. He hasn't lost his menacing "appeal". He's a poet, actor, and painter as well so from that data you can tell he has a finger in multiple pots. Even so you can't ignore that Marilyn's antics are a wee outdated two decades after "The Dope Show" broke the news that smart people already knew for a long time to their exceedingly stupid brethren in turning the world around...that we're all stars in the dope show. Reality TV's longer than warranted shelf life makes that plain. If there's credit to be doled out to Manson my vote lands on the fourth bridge. He spells eros backwards and comes up with sore, an important word for the turbulent era we live in. Throw some alphabet on the tail end of "sin" and you get "sincere". Thumbs up for being close to a dictionary and a manual having any sort of connection to the origins of root words. Marilyn's attempt to cash in on shock value, a cow that had been amply milked back in the day won't wash in an age where nothing's particularly shocking. Anyone with a mike can be a star, spout whatever kind of drivel he feels is appropriate and then stumble off like nothing evil took place. On camera he's convinced what he's participating in will turn some heads. "The Pale Emperor", if "Deep Six" is any indication isn't going to ruffle anybody's morning coffee. It merely succeeds in conveying Marilyn's been reduced to a trying too hard lounge act that needed to exit with dignity long ago.

The Decemberists Bring Folk Rock Intelligence To The Lake

The wordsmith in me adores "Lake Song", the latest release from the Portland, Oregon outfit The Decemberists' album "What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World". You can't concoct vocabulary choices such as these unless you are truly inspired. For example, who injects the word "prevaricate" into a song? Many of your best selling stars past and present could likely be eliminated from contention on the spot. To show you how I educate as well as entertain and to help you out if you don't have The Decemberists on speed dial in order to get an explanation from them, I'll let you know that "prevaricate" means "To deviate from the truth". That's not the only spot where "Lake Song" dares to be cerebral to outstanding effect. "Terminally fey" essentially says "My doom is imminent. Come here to my bedside for that last pivotal hug." Only fey I'm familiar with regularly has a book out named "Bossypants" and answers to the name Tina. In any case these gents have guts galore for putting such an obscure word into their lyrical hopper. Tell me you use "fey" in casual conversation all the time and I take it back. No? Okay then. "Lake Song" works splendidly as titles go because the instrumentation flows along gracefully like the waters of fill in the lake nearest your house here. Acoustic allows the rocker facade to come crumbling down. There isn't a jangling noise in the stew. That sets the stage for lead singer Colin Meloy to floor you with his beguiling mind. He's softly gliding along the water a tourist in passing. "Lake Song" serves its task as music for people who don't like to beaten over the head with either machismo or over the top symbolism. Starving for beauty plucked straight from an orchestra pit? Nate Query possesses a cello in his bag of tricks. Moreover, he's not even remotely afraid to use it. Predominantly the melody rolls along, passing time with no 21st century urgent task to go running after. Minimalist entertainment molded into a pleasing shape that doesn't wear out its welcome the way so many other pop hooks have before. A slight crescendo pops its head above the fray to remind us not to rest on our leisure time laurels any more than they're resting on their laurels as an erudite band of tune makers. The drum kit usually uncorks the most hectic cog in the music machine. John Moen goes against that grain. His intensity level arcs only slightly, and at those times only when called for. Coming in for a landing on the lyrical tarmac once again "sibylline" doesn't leap out and grab me as a word that two leggers sitting down to beer, coffee, or wine at their favorite watering hole. That's brilliance with a capital "B". That word means "cryptic" FYI. I haven't come across a ditty that's caused me to do this much legwork to understand how all the pieces fit. Immediately gratifying. The Decemberists treat their audience like they have actual brains in their heads. I grasp how you'd surmise "Lake Song" would serve no purpose other than the backdrop for high tea in London as the scones are being laid out before you but you'd be making a criminal mistake. "Lake Song" stirs beauty, poignancy, peacefulness, and levelheadedness into its vast mixing bowl. The resulting understatement won't knock anybody out of his seat at the concert hall. It's earthy art that makes you think and somewhere along the way in its own vital quiet whisper releases you into the world a better man. "Lake Song" calms the agitated, pumps up the ennui riddled and proves Portland has much to be proud of when surveying its musical lineage. By all means jump into this lake with both legs in full springiness mode.

Maroon 5 Goes Sweet On Us

Maroon 5 could go out on top after "V" runs its inevitable course. Adam Levine's as much as stated he's not vying to be in this gig after 40. But when you're delivering seamless pop soul like Maroon 5's doing right now why kill the momentum. "Sugar" has already broken into Billboard's Top 10 Singles chart. To these ears it's not hard to understand why. Their melodic workmanship, aiming straight for the heart of women everywhere, demonstrates Maroon 5's gift for hit singles never really disappears, merely reloads. The video that goes with it was wisely directed. Nothing sums up the mindset of Adam, Jesse, Mickey, James, Matt, and PJ like a romp through LA's wedding circuit. Here and there Maroon 5 can approach love with measured cynicism. "Misery" isn't exactly the template you'd follow in building up a sturdy relationship. At other junctures the band shows off its tender side. "Won't Go Home Without You" follows in this vein. "Sugar" comes by its breezy celebratory air honestly. Adam shows off his pipes winningly. He's grown increasingly masterful at using his generous octave range to hit ladies in the dreamboat region they like most. Mickey Madden uses his bass to cradle the happy go lucky spirit paraded before us. Matt Flynn knows how to mete out sparing drum beats but that shouldn't be mistaken for phoning this in. The cogs link together in impeccable fashion. These men feed off each other's energy like they were born to tackle the pop world. Rest easy knowing "Sugar" sounds great anywhere. I'm thinking since it has now been used in connection with a wedding themed video that it shall pop up on any one of a number of wedding playlists. I realize we're at the seasonal diametrically opposed end of the weather spectrum but "Sugar" likely stands to make beaches coast to coast even hotter. You couldn't track down too many women who wouldn't leap at the chance to pick up Adam's broken pieces and transform him into a whole soul. Line by line he's pleading for your help. Ladies, Adam lives for you and you alone. If he could get one little taste of your sugar he'd cease his shameless begging. I've become fond of the way the chord progressions stay basked in sunlight throughout. There's a steady upward trajectory followed by a nice comfy leveling off zone. Maroon 5, as a unit, merit inclusion in any conversation regarding which bands from 2000 on are the best. Maroon 5 knows how to take the most direct path to giving their fans what they want. They also have a knack for bringing newbies to the fold. Adam's courageous display of vulnerability strikes me as a welcome shift from the many cultural instances where the woman's the one desperate for forbidden fruit. He's on the short list of most charismatic front men in decade two of the twentieth century. He wears the Alpha dog collar proudly and why shouldn't he. "Sugar" radiates his undeniable magnetism. I'm not insinuating the other band mates simply coast on his lead but Adam does take the ball and run with whatever content's put in front of them. "Sugar" tastes like another Maroon 5 classic that newlyweds will be waxing nostalgic on for years to come. The aftermath cavities are certainly worth the trouble.