The Bruises, Spider
Content
o
@aawbpop
n
BAN0ITS, busting BL0G ng deconstructiFEMB0TS, livingSEC 0 L I0 E a NF * Ani DiFranco and Wilson Ann
$
\ VIRTD I SSU I
srsgg*s{** LISTENING
V ; y . , r . " t ' " ,; *
't€:. teaett/ti /it
i : " r ' , :' **;:
rar*:ir'i ::r
!r;r;r:
'"^4../
lhhti,rs
cuucful 4r, a.
i
lli,
e"l
'?./ri .lta ..
*tr: f ' l' : Lnt
extremeand I wouldn't want to end up looking stupider than ldo now.And then it pissedme offthat it matteredwhen I was young I would just shavemy headwith a Bic tazon f lfe lt like it . So lc ut it all of f and it look edk i n d o f conservative, and I was like,Oh, this is not cool. I don't feel right. I don't feel like when I walk out the door, I'm going to look like me. I had to fuck with it further. Twenty years ago, when you started, there were few structures by which independent artists could get their music out cheaply and easily. Now we've got MySpace. Do you see that as a huge changel Now tha t the mu s ic indus t r yis m or e c ons olidat e dn i t s i power and money,there'snot much development young of artistsor bands.The handfulof top companiespour ridiculo us amo un tso f m oney int o old dinos aurs uper s ta r s n d a everyone else is out in the cold. So it is reallycool that we have placesto come in to and connectwith eachother. I've had a gas learninghow to use recordinggear in the studio and trying to becometechnologically independent. l've experimented and interacted with all kinds of different technology: lo-fi and reel-to-reel tape machines, and now Pro Tools,computer-geeking out. Some of it I don't have spacefor in my consciousness. we havedifferentyoung So peopleworking independently; the chick who runs the like page.She'stotallyon her own. She MySpace [Ani DiFranco] knows my music up and down and is out there chatting with peopleand doing whatevershe feelslike,which I th ink is coo l. Along with Conon, you've also released a book of poetry and paintings, Verses, it, there's a touching image next ln to the poem "Grand Canyon." Tell me about that. There havebeen so many peoplewho havetransformed this countryand basically given it everything that we hold dear.Their work has made the reddestof necksorouo about this country.All the freedomsand liberties-they were all fought for by activistsand represented artists. by In that poem, I was trying to make a patrioticstatement and reclaimthe ideaof patriotismfor myselfinsteadof
THE BRUISES
C o n n e c t e d {s r r r - n r r r n s r o } The Bruises' new album, Connected., me feeling comhas pletely black and blue-|en Black and Aja Blue, that is. joan feft and The Paying homage to punk predecessors Blackhearts,postpunk sweetheartsSleater-Kinneyand Veruca Salt, and modern mavens Meg & Dia, The Bruises play it straight on Connected sticking with foot-tapping chunky by guitar riffs and poppy choruses. Their most recent effort hits the ground running with its strongesttrack, the opener "Perfect Vision." Elsewhere,the guitar-wielding duo, backed by Wendy Brents on bass and Bill Mowery on drums, shine on the tracks "Distraction" and "Black and Blue," with dueling, precise vocals that would give Louise Post and Nina Gordon a run for their money. It's a testament to their quality rock that the band's labelfree standing has had no bearing on their ability to pack the California club circuit and be heard nationally on MTV. In a genre so overwhelmed with polished, over-the-topproduction, Connected brings a gritry low-key sincerity completely devoid of fad mentality.-cLArRE ASHToN g I m l $ l $ ! ] f l l T ! ] f : l . ;! r i r . . r . rir;-;r Jl r r . i . i i r l b . r r '. .r.r r i l r ]r sl r .r l l o l il
l L:l :l i r .
- f $ I $ f & i Wp S 0 * I * 1 i ; l l i ; r i . l ir r r r , ll l l u l L l i t r i r r d t h L :i r :r ;r .l r sl i L .
3r .1:,1] i i t .t::.) ; ,l t i tto't:t l ;1 :r l r ':r tl l tr l tl i ,l l r i r : Si .>Ltr ; t 1 .
CA NN(} NB AA[NE J[
K n e e s U p ! {c r o o v c a r n r c o n o s } Elementary-school music teacher by day and purveyor of electropopby night, Cannonball fane, a.k.a. Sharon Hagopian, recorded this much-anticipated follow-up to last year's Street Vernacular inher own home studio, has toured with the exclamation-hearyoutfits Graly Train!!! and The Go! Team, and counts Kathleen Hanna as a number-one fan. Merging hip hop, garagerock, and indie pop, Hagopian crafts uniformly intoxicating tunes that cherry-pick from 5o years of musical history: Everyone's invited to the party, from The Shangri-Lasto The Breeders,The Beach Boys to Saint Etienne. "Take It to Fantastic,"remixed three times on Knees Upl (once by The BeastieBoys' Ad-Rock),is clearly the rp's centerpiece.Its heaving riffs give way to a hop-skip cadence
s ol b i tch
F E MrNrsr
REspoNSE
ro
pop
clr Lr uRE
sug'g:ested LISTENING
The second troubling aspect of Shir.eis its subject matter. Musically, the co resembles r99r's Night Ride Home, with rich, shimmering steel guitar and gentle, halting piano, plus Bob Sheppard's expert, thoughtfui alto sax. But over Mitchell's lilting lullaby melodies are lyrical themes of environmental indignation and the struggle for hope against despair. On "Bad Dreams," she sings, "There's so very little left of wild Eden Earth/So near the jaws of our machines..." She goes on to call humankind a "blight" and says, "When this place looks like a moonscape, don't say I didn't warn you." But on the title track, Mitchell invokes grace: "Shine on good earth, good air, good water/And a safe place/For kids to play," before turning again to darkness: "Shine on bombs exploding/Half a mile away." Amid all her poetic denunciations, Mitchell slips in a bouncy, accordion-heavyversion ofher classic "Big Yellow Taxi," as if to say,"Seel I mentioned all this before...." But tucked in amidst all the bad news, Shine also includes a track titled "Hana," the story of a woman who "Sees what must be done/So she...rollsup her sleeves/And starts pitchin' in." This character, and people like her, are Mitchell's hope for humankind. It's hard to say if Mitchell herself is one of these people, but the whole album is like a sigh-the kind you give just before you get up and do something about it. -EMrLy DEIRANG 00: Listen during a Saturdav-morning tidy-up. 00N'T:Listen after watching the evening ne*'s.
when they combine their drum machines and synthesizers with a wink-wink sexuality that walks the line between aggressive and hilarious. The rp's first and best track, "Shopping on the Dancefloor"-a song that draws from the underused dance-club-as-grocerystore analogy-lays down an '8os soundscape full of handclaps and synth hooks. Cheadle's voice hits the sexy low registers with confidence and humor, singing "Picking out the fruit/Like you're hunting for the loot/You cut it loose/And start sucking on the juice." For their second track, they cover Kate Bush's "Runnin' Up," transforming the ballad into a techno dance anthem. It's almost irrelevant that Cheadle is a third- (or fourth-) wave feminist icon in the making. Live, she's part Saltn-Pepa,part Marlene Dietrich: If she's not shaking her purple-spandexed backside like an outboard motor or freaking the oy booth, she's teasing the crowd in the guise of the gal she calls The Pop Bitch. Alternating between diva belting and languid rap, Cheadle'svoice is confrontational and funny, whether she's channeling "La Isla Bonita"-era Madonna or commanding fashion-obsessed hypebeastsin 2oo7 Io "Check the hoodies at the door/l need some room to move." Put on Welcome Emo-club,and I guarantee she z won't be the only one trying to get some space on the dance fl6eL -5gyEoN KIM Wltt MAI([Ff MINIST IHt0RISTS: Shut their criticai perspect;ves on Simone de Beauvoirand hit the clul;. '8os gloss. LlKt PEICHES, EXCIPI:Coatedr',.'ith hard-carrdy a
PURPTE USH CR
W elc om e 2 E m o -c l u b { c n u s H ron rc o n o s } PurpleCrushmight perform in hoot-worthyall-purple streetwear, they're seriousaboutunleashingthe freak. but Going to one of the Brooklynduo's showsis like experiencing a mashup of Madonna,'9os hip hop, and house,with a little pole dancingthrown in. The band'ssophomorenp,Welcome Emo-club, z showcases their forte: making infectiously lowbrow pop music that bouncesyour backbone. Sincetheir debutrelease, zoo3'sLCD (rereleased zooT as LCD z.o\, in partnersIsla Cheadle and JaredSelterhavegottenhitched, pareddown their rock and soul leanings,and recordedan album ofinfectious electronicbeatsand absolutely preno tension-pure, uncut dancecrack.The two are at their best
S P I DE R
T h e Wa y t o B i t t e r L a k e {s r o n v n o a n o n r c o n o s } Brooklyn-based songstress fane Herships earned her stage name by weaving an intricate web spun with stark vintage folk and dream states gently depicted viva voce. The Way to Bitter Lake, Spider's debut album, is the rabbit hole through which complex abstractions transform into eloquently simple songs christened with hush-hush vocals. A single acoustic guitar provides the backdrop for most of Bitter Lake, an eighttrack compilation that trades the conventional singles associ ated with most modern albums for a brilliantly slow-burning overall experience. Sparse string arrangements, mellotron, occasional woodwinds, cultivated harmonies, and hints of percussion are woven throughout. Lirically, Herships hits
e +l b i tC h
F E MrNr sr
RESpoNSE
ro
pop
cuLr uRE
suggested LISTENING
her stride on the narrative lullaby "Don't Be Afraid, I've fust Come to Say Goodbye," as well as on "The Ballad of Clementine fones," and the sleepily poppy "Midnight on the Nile." Breathing new life into the traditional folk genre, The Way to Bitter Lake proves that daydreams and fairytales aren t just for children. -c.A. LIXE:Mrrtha Wainwright, Deveneh-a S0UNDS Banhart.Ti:e Decem.berists. FEEIS lll(E: The }rrenchcountryside,mittens, descrtedcit,v streets, anci vintage pholographs.
Blowed/EngineBroke Blues"erupts into four minutes of punk-rock skreebefore slowing to a midtempo lament, while "BlingBlindBlind" implementsquieter, moodier elementsfor the majority of its run, but eventuallyramps up into an all-out explosion.It's a challengeto expand our horizons beyondfour-minute songs,as well as to take stockof the stateof the vye1lf,. -a.s. f0R fAilS0F: Espers, Oaks, KrankyRecords The the catalog. l,l0T FAI'IS : Cun shows. F0R 0f Wal-Mari. Dick Chenev.
THES I T V E RTZ IOlME MOR (l R C H E S TRA E M . { IA T & I RA - I - A . B A } I D tA 13 Bl u e so rT h i r te eMo o n s f n
{ corsrrrla rroH nrcon os } Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tia-La-La Band was formed by three members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and the two bands share more than just a predilection for long, complicated names. Like Godspeed, Silver Mt. Zion rockets between minimalist interludes and in-your-face clumps of rock, with nods to a bevy of influences from psychedelia to jazz to folk. But while Godspeed composes with broad, cinematic gestures, Silver Mt. Zion does so with propelling urgency, driven by heavy guitars and pummeling drums. This is, in part, due to 13 Bluesfor Thirteen Moon's subject matter: the ravagesof war. With "r,ooo,ooo Died to Make This Sound," listeners are thrown into the fray with gaping riffs and furious rhythms, while vocalist/guitarist Efrim Menuck declares, "Their way is debt and prisons/ They're turning half the worldTA feast of filthy feast, man/Stale air and dead parades." Menuck's criticisms of warmongering, like those on the band's zoo5 release Horsesin the Sky,forgo heard-it-all-before preaching for dark, poetic imagery to excoriate the rotten political machine responsible for the destruction of the human spirit. Each of the four songs on q Bluesclocks in at more than 13 minutes and encompassesan exhausting cycle of ups and . downs. On the title track, Menuck's plaintive wail ricochets off buzzing axe and head-splitting beats, then pares down to creaky violin before renewing its assault. "Black lfaters
E X CUS E S S K I P P I I { G F (|R
O u t o f Wo r k E a r l y {s r r r - n r r r e s r o } On the nine tracks of their new cD, Out of Work Early, Excuses for Skipping veers capably from soulful, almost shoegazing pop to classic, punk-edged indie rock. The superdanceable title track features a driving guitar groove that clashes amiably with the sweet-voiced harmonies of band fronters Tammy Fortin and Linda Moody. Excuses for Skipping's dreamy space-pop sound takes you back to teenhood's lazy summer days laying out on your lawn with a sweating soda can and your boom box. But the all-female quartet's whimsical, poetic lpics are anything but bubblegum. Instead, they're deep and sometimes opaque, like the stormy ocean that borders EFS's San Francisco hometown. On "Decision to Be Normal," they sing "The decision to be normal/To reconcile destiny/Sensing fashion sensing fascist/Sensingsensesofexistences." And where EFS truly excels is in mapping the sometimes bittersweet terrain of relationships, as on "Kirrie": "I was just a girl just a little tomboy girl/When I met you/Kicking a soccer ball around/ We stole candy and rode bikes/All over your mother's lxyyn."-141prAM 11,rOIF PIAY lT WH[N: You want to ler:lemL:el your lirst love. lF Y0L!LIKE: The Cure, Sleater-Kirrney.
sP R rN G.os l l rssur
N o.se
bi tchl gs
@aawbpop
n
BAN0ITS, busting BL0G ng deconstructiFEMB0TS, livingSEC 0 L I0 E a NF * Ani DiFranco and Wilson Ann
$
\ VIRTD I SSU I
srsgg*s{** LISTENING
V ; y . , r . " t ' " ,; *
't€:. teaett/ti /it
i : " r ' , :' **;:
rar*:ir'i ::r
!r;r;r:
'"^4../
lhhti,rs
cuucful 4r, a.
i
lli,
e"l
'?./ri .lta ..
*tr: f ' l' : Lnt
extremeand I wouldn't want to end up looking stupider than ldo now.And then it pissedme offthat it matteredwhen I was young I would just shavemy headwith a Bic tazon f lfe lt like it . So lc ut it all of f and it look edk i n d o f conservative, and I was like,Oh, this is not cool. I don't feel right. I don't feel like when I walk out the door, I'm going to look like me. I had to fuck with it further. Twenty years ago, when you started, there were few structures by which independent artists could get their music out cheaply and easily. Now we've got MySpace. Do you see that as a huge changel Now tha t the mu s ic indus t r yis m or e c ons olidat e dn i t s i power and money,there'snot much development young of artistsor bands.The handfulof top companiespour ridiculo us amo un tso f m oney int o old dinos aurs uper s ta r s n d a everyone else is out in the cold. So it is reallycool that we have placesto come in to and connectwith eachother. I've had a gas learninghow to use recordinggear in the studio and trying to becometechnologically independent. l've experimented and interacted with all kinds of different technology: lo-fi and reel-to-reel tape machines, and now Pro Tools,computer-geeking out. Some of it I don't have spacefor in my consciousness. we havedifferentyoung So peopleworking independently; the chick who runs the like page.She'stotallyon her own. She MySpace [Ani DiFranco] knows my music up and down and is out there chatting with peopleand doing whatevershe feelslike,which I th ink is coo l. Along with Conon, you've also released a book of poetry and paintings, Verses, it, there's a touching image next ln to the poem "Grand Canyon." Tell me about that. There havebeen so many peoplewho havetransformed this countryand basically given it everything that we hold dear.Their work has made the reddestof necksorouo about this country.All the freedomsand liberties-they were all fought for by activistsand represented artists. by In that poem, I was trying to make a patrioticstatement and reclaimthe ideaof patriotismfor myselfinsteadof
THE BRUISES
C o n n e c t e d {s r r r - n r r r n s r o } The Bruises' new album, Connected., me feeling comhas pletely black and blue-|en Black and Aja Blue, that is. joan feft and The Paying homage to punk predecessors Blackhearts,postpunk sweetheartsSleater-Kinneyand Veruca Salt, and modern mavens Meg & Dia, The Bruises play it straight on Connected sticking with foot-tapping chunky by guitar riffs and poppy choruses. Their most recent effort hits the ground running with its strongesttrack, the opener "Perfect Vision." Elsewhere,the guitar-wielding duo, backed by Wendy Brents on bass and Bill Mowery on drums, shine on the tracks "Distraction" and "Black and Blue," with dueling, precise vocals that would give Louise Post and Nina Gordon a run for their money. It's a testament to their quality rock that the band's labelfree standing has had no bearing on their ability to pack the California club circuit and be heard nationally on MTV. In a genre so overwhelmed with polished, over-the-topproduction, Connected brings a gritry low-key sincerity completely devoid of fad mentality.-cLArRE ASHToN g I m l $ l $ ! ] f l l T ! ] f : l . ;! r i r . . r . rir;-;r Jl r r . i . i i r l b . r r '. .r.r r i l r ]r sl r .r l l o l il
l L:l :l i r .
- f $ I $ f & i Wp S 0 * I * 1 i ; l l i ; r i . l ir r r r , ll l l u l L l i t r i r r d t h L :i r :r ;r .l r sl i L .
3r .1:,1] i i t .t::.) ; ,l t i tto't:t l ;1 :r l r ':r tl l tr l tl i ,l l r i r : Si .>Ltr ; t 1 .
CA NN(} NB AA[NE J[
K n e e s U p ! {c r o o v c a r n r c o n o s } Elementary-school music teacher by day and purveyor of electropopby night, Cannonball fane, a.k.a. Sharon Hagopian, recorded this much-anticipated follow-up to last year's Street Vernacular inher own home studio, has toured with the exclamation-hearyoutfits Graly Train!!! and The Go! Team, and counts Kathleen Hanna as a number-one fan. Merging hip hop, garagerock, and indie pop, Hagopian crafts uniformly intoxicating tunes that cherry-pick from 5o years of musical history: Everyone's invited to the party, from The Shangri-Lasto The Breeders,The Beach Boys to Saint Etienne. "Take It to Fantastic,"remixed three times on Knees Upl (once by The BeastieBoys' Ad-Rock),is clearly the rp's centerpiece.Its heaving riffs give way to a hop-skip cadence
s ol b i tch
F E MrNrsr
REspoNSE
ro
pop
clr Lr uRE
sug'g:ested LISTENING
The second troubling aspect of Shir.eis its subject matter. Musically, the co resembles r99r's Night Ride Home, with rich, shimmering steel guitar and gentle, halting piano, plus Bob Sheppard's expert, thoughtfui alto sax. But over Mitchell's lilting lullaby melodies are lyrical themes of environmental indignation and the struggle for hope against despair. On "Bad Dreams," she sings, "There's so very little left of wild Eden Earth/So near the jaws of our machines..." She goes on to call humankind a "blight" and says, "When this place looks like a moonscape, don't say I didn't warn you." But on the title track, Mitchell invokes grace: "Shine on good earth, good air, good water/And a safe place/For kids to play," before turning again to darkness: "Shine on bombs exploding/Half a mile away." Amid all her poetic denunciations, Mitchell slips in a bouncy, accordion-heavyversion ofher classic "Big Yellow Taxi," as if to say,"Seel I mentioned all this before...." But tucked in amidst all the bad news, Shine also includes a track titled "Hana," the story of a woman who "Sees what must be done/So she...rollsup her sleeves/And starts pitchin' in." This character, and people like her, are Mitchell's hope for humankind. It's hard to say if Mitchell herself is one of these people, but the whole album is like a sigh-the kind you give just before you get up and do something about it. -EMrLy DEIRANG 00: Listen during a Saturdav-morning tidy-up. 00N'T:Listen after watching the evening ne*'s.
when they combine their drum machines and synthesizers with a wink-wink sexuality that walks the line between aggressive and hilarious. The rp's first and best track, "Shopping on the Dancefloor"-a song that draws from the underused dance-club-as-grocerystore analogy-lays down an '8os soundscape full of handclaps and synth hooks. Cheadle's voice hits the sexy low registers with confidence and humor, singing "Picking out the fruit/Like you're hunting for the loot/You cut it loose/And start sucking on the juice." For their second track, they cover Kate Bush's "Runnin' Up," transforming the ballad into a techno dance anthem. It's almost irrelevant that Cheadle is a third- (or fourth-) wave feminist icon in the making. Live, she's part Saltn-Pepa,part Marlene Dietrich: If she's not shaking her purple-spandexed backside like an outboard motor or freaking the oy booth, she's teasing the crowd in the guise of the gal she calls The Pop Bitch. Alternating between diva belting and languid rap, Cheadle'svoice is confrontational and funny, whether she's channeling "La Isla Bonita"-era Madonna or commanding fashion-obsessed hypebeastsin 2oo7 Io "Check the hoodies at the door/l need some room to move." Put on Welcome Emo-club,and I guarantee she z won't be the only one trying to get some space on the dance fl6eL -5gyEoN KIM Wltt MAI([Ff MINIST IHt0RISTS: Shut their criticai perspect;ves on Simone de Beauvoirand hit the clul;. '8os gloss. LlKt PEICHES, EXCIPI:Coatedr',.'ith hard-carrdy a
PURPTE USH CR
W elc om e 2 E m o -c l u b { c n u s H ron rc o n o s } PurpleCrushmight perform in hoot-worthyall-purple streetwear, they're seriousaboutunleashingthe freak. but Going to one of the Brooklynduo's showsis like experiencing a mashup of Madonna,'9os hip hop, and house,with a little pole dancingthrown in. The band'ssophomorenp,Welcome Emo-club, z showcases their forte: making infectiously lowbrow pop music that bouncesyour backbone. Sincetheir debutrelease, zoo3'sLCD (rereleased zooT as LCD z.o\, in partnersIsla Cheadle and JaredSelterhavegottenhitched, pareddown their rock and soul leanings,and recordedan album ofinfectious electronicbeatsand absolutely preno tension-pure, uncut dancecrack.The two are at their best
S P I DE R
T h e Wa y t o B i t t e r L a k e {s r o n v n o a n o n r c o n o s } Brooklyn-based songstress fane Herships earned her stage name by weaving an intricate web spun with stark vintage folk and dream states gently depicted viva voce. The Way to Bitter Lake, Spider's debut album, is the rabbit hole through which complex abstractions transform into eloquently simple songs christened with hush-hush vocals. A single acoustic guitar provides the backdrop for most of Bitter Lake, an eighttrack compilation that trades the conventional singles associ ated with most modern albums for a brilliantly slow-burning overall experience. Sparse string arrangements, mellotron, occasional woodwinds, cultivated harmonies, and hints of percussion are woven throughout. Lirically, Herships hits
e +l b i tC h
F E MrNr sr
RESpoNSE
ro
pop
cuLr uRE
suggested LISTENING
her stride on the narrative lullaby "Don't Be Afraid, I've fust Come to Say Goodbye," as well as on "The Ballad of Clementine fones," and the sleepily poppy "Midnight on the Nile." Breathing new life into the traditional folk genre, The Way to Bitter Lake proves that daydreams and fairytales aren t just for children. -c.A. LIXE:Mrrtha Wainwright, Deveneh-a S0UNDS Banhart.Ti:e Decem.berists. FEEIS lll(E: The }rrenchcountryside,mittens, descrtedcit,v streets, anci vintage pholographs.
Blowed/EngineBroke Blues"erupts into four minutes of punk-rock skreebefore slowing to a midtempo lament, while "BlingBlindBlind" implementsquieter, moodier elementsfor the majority of its run, but eventuallyramps up into an all-out explosion.It's a challengeto expand our horizons beyondfour-minute songs,as well as to take stockof the stateof the vye1lf,. -a.s. f0R fAilS0F: Espers, Oaks, KrankyRecords The the catalog. l,l0T FAI'IS : Cun shows. F0R 0f Wal-Mari. Dick Chenev.
THES I T V E RTZ IOlME MOR (l R C H E S TRA E M . { IA T & I RA - I - A . B A } I D tA 13 Bl u e so rT h i r te eMo o n s f n
{ corsrrrla rroH nrcon os } Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tia-La-La Band was formed by three members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and the two bands share more than just a predilection for long, complicated names. Like Godspeed, Silver Mt. Zion rockets between minimalist interludes and in-your-face clumps of rock, with nods to a bevy of influences from psychedelia to jazz to folk. But while Godspeed composes with broad, cinematic gestures, Silver Mt. Zion does so with propelling urgency, driven by heavy guitars and pummeling drums. This is, in part, due to 13 Bluesfor Thirteen Moon's subject matter: the ravagesof war. With "r,ooo,ooo Died to Make This Sound," listeners are thrown into the fray with gaping riffs and furious rhythms, while vocalist/guitarist Efrim Menuck declares, "Their way is debt and prisons/ They're turning half the worldTA feast of filthy feast, man/Stale air and dead parades." Menuck's criticisms of warmongering, like those on the band's zoo5 release Horsesin the Sky,forgo heard-it-all-before preaching for dark, poetic imagery to excoriate the rotten political machine responsible for the destruction of the human spirit. Each of the four songs on q Bluesclocks in at more than 13 minutes and encompassesan exhausting cycle of ups and . downs. On the title track, Menuck's plaintive wail ricochets off buzzing axe and head-splitting beats, then pares down to creaky violin before renewing its assault. "Black lfaters
E X CUS E S S K I P P I I { G F (|R
O u t o f Wo r k E a r l y {s r r r - n r r r e s r o } On the nine tracks of their new cD, Out of Work Early, Excuses for Skipping veers capably from soulful, almost shoegazing pop to classic, punk-edged indie rock. The superdanceable title track features a driving guitar groove that clashes amiably with the sweet-voiced harmonies of band fronters Tammy Fortin and Linda Moody. Excuses for Skipping's dreamy space-pop sound takes you back to teenhood's lazy summer days laying out on your lawn with a sweating soda can and your boom box. But the all-female quartet's whimsical, poetic lpics are anything but bubblegum. Instead, they're deep and sometimes opaque, like the stormy ocean that borders EFS's San Francisco hometown. On "Decision to Be Normal," they sing "The decision to be normal/To reconcile destiny/Sensing fashion sensing fascist/Sensingsensesofexistences." And where EFS truly excels is in mapping the sometimes bittersweet terrain of relationships, as on "Kirrie": "I was just a girl just a little tomboy girl/When I met you/Kicking a soccer ball around/ We stole candy and rode bikes/All over your mother's lxyyn."-141prAM 11,rOIF PIAY lT WH[N: You want to ler:lemL:el your lirst love. lF Y0L!LIKE: The Cure, Sleater-Kirrney.
sP R rN G.os l l rssur
N o.se
bi tchl gs
