September 2008 (PDF) - Antigravity Magazine
September 2008 (PDF) - Antigravity Magazine
September 2008 (PDF) - Antigravity Magazine
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REVIEWSMUSIC<br />
THE REVIVALISTS<br />
THE REVIVALISTS<br />
(INDEPENDENT)<br />
The Revivalists formed in<br />
the perfect New Orleans<br />
way—as strangers brought<br />
together by music. Singer<br />
David Shaw was playing<br />
guitar on his porch when guitarist Zack Feinberg road by<br />
on his bike, and the fast friends decided to start a band.<br />
Add a classmate, a prodigy and a friend from the Tipitina’s<br />
Sunday Morning Workshop and the Revivalists were born.<br />
Judging them by their self-titled EP, the Revivalists can<br />
play JazzFest and the crowd would love them: the audience<br />
would get funky and sing along to “Common Cents;”<br />
They’d sway to the song “Soulflight;” they’d love them, no<br />
doubt. They blend soul, reggae, blues and funk, and they<br />
do it well. The main obstacle that the Revivalists face is the<br />
New Orleans music scene, that little pond filled with big<br />
fish, and it’s easy for any band to drown. The Revivalists are<br />
good, but they aren’t as funky as the Meters or Soul Rebels<br />
and can’t compete with the force that is Galactic. However,<br />
with a strong EP (as this one is) and some heavy touring,<br />
the Revivalists might have a chance. There are audiences<br />
across the country that are starved for soulful and funky<br />
music, and we’re so spoiled that we’ve been presented with<br />
yet another option. —Caroline DeBruhl<br />
The Revivalists release their self-titled EP on <strong>September</strong> 19th<br />
at the Howlin’ Wolf. For more info, go to myspace.com/<br />
revivalists.<br />
THE TOMATOES<br />
DIVISIONISM<br />
(REVOLUTION BLUES)<br />
The New Orleans-based<br />
Tomatoes don’t really<br />
need to take shit from<br />
anybody. Judging by their<br />
last album, Trendy, they are<br />
doing just fine. Hints of ’90s greats like Soul Asylum, a rock<br />
and roll wonder like Tom Petty and the Boss can be heard<br />
throughout their sound, and they know how to construct<br />
a good song. Divisionism’s “Harvest,” for example, is a<br />
stripped down song that deals with soul crushing loneliness.<br />
Though the subject matter could lend itself to a boring<br />
song, “Harvest” doesn’t lack substance at all. There’s a<br />
perfect balance of sound and silence, which lets the song get<br />
under your skin and let you feel the loneliness. However,<br />
towards the end it picks up with a heavy riff and allows the<br />
release of pent up emotion. They can also construct a damn<br />
good rock song as well. “When the Walls Come Down”<br />
and “Vendetta” both have enough snarl to be reminiscent<br />
of classic punk, but they don’t overpower. Everything is<br />
balanced and they aren’t afraid to experiment with style<br />
either. “Feeling Right,” a song about the rat race that can<br />
be daily life, is monotonous and pounds into your head,<br />
much like the typical work day. They also sing songs about<br />
giving yourself up to machinery (“The Futurist”) and about<br />
how swell paranoia can be (“Death Ray Days”). One of<br />
the beautiful things about the Tomatoes is the consistency<br />
of their music. You can’t listen to them and pick out single<br />
things that sound great, such as “well, the guitarist really<br />
shines in this song,” or “the lyrics are really sophisticated<br />
in this one.” The members feed off each other and create<br />
a packaged sound. That would be terrible if the Tomatoes<br />
were a mediocre band but luckily they aren’t. They’re solid<br />
on all fronts and Divisionism is another addition to their<br />
solid discography. —Caroline DeBruhl<br />
The Tomatoes release Divisionism on <strong>September</strong> 18th<br />
at Southport Hall. For more info go to myspace.com/<br />
thetomatoes.<br />
COIN OPERA<br />
WHAT WENT WRONG<br />
WITH THE RIGHT<br />
(UMBRELLA ETIQUETTE)<br />
I<br />
’ve checked the year on Coin<br />
Opera’s new album, What<br />
Went Wrong With the Right,<br />
several times. I can’t help<br />
but worry that there’s been some mix up—that this album<br />
is over ten years old. But each time it says “<strong>2008</strong>.” What<br />
Went Wrong is an alternative album that would’ve snuggly<br />
fit in music history between the Smashing Pumpkins’ Melon<br />
Collie and the Infinite Sadness and right Elliot Smith’s Either/<br />
Or, probably fondly remembered by adults who’d recall<br />
listening to P. Blue Zusman’s melancholy songs when they<br />
were feeling glum, which in high school should have been<br />
every damn day. However, this album is not twelve years old<br />
and Mr. P. Blue Zusman is alive and well. He was, however,<br />
in the lo-fi band Okiread, which split up in the late ’90s, and<br />
that might explain a thing or two. What Went Wrong seems<br />
to be a “best of the ’90s” compilation, as it nods to all the<br />
alternative greats from the past decade. “The Kids Are Not<br />
Alright” has a noise concerto in the middle of it, a la Sonic<br />
youth. Both “The Prettiest Delay” and “Nobody Street” give<br />
homage to Elliot Smith, the latter with a more bare bones<br />
acoustic sound; “Insignificant Like Ss” and “To Break Your<br />
Heart To” are a hybrid of the lost souls of Billy Corgan.<br />
Coin Opera may sound dated, but that isn’t necessarily a<br />
bad thing. If you’re really into ’90s alternative rock, then<br />
you’ll probably like What Went Wrong With the Right. Just be<br />
warned that Coin Opera isn’t as sophisticated as any of the<br />
bands mentioned. —Caroline DeBruhl<br />
SONIC YOUTH<br />
SYR8: ANDRE SIDER<br />
AF SONIC YOUTH<br />
(SYR)<br />
D<br />
aydream Nation sure was<br />
a great album. Hell,<br />
almost all of Sonic Youth’s<br />
records are good. They write<br />
such beautifully simple songs and then take them to such<br />
strange places. Did you also know that Sonic Youth likes to<br />
make weird, experimental music as well? They sure do, and<br />
thus SYR was born: a label created by the band to release<br />
their more esoteric projects. The eighth in the series is a live<br />
recording of the band’s Roskilde Festival performance with<br />
Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and Japanese noise<br />
God Merzbow. First things first: you will find no catchy<br />
riffs in this monstrosity, no anthemic choruses. Don’t be<br />
fooled by the slight and subdued jangly intro—the piece<br />
only evolves from there into a free-form, avant-jazz freak<br />
out. Sonic Youth provides the skeleton for the music.<br />
Beneath every section they can be found, guitars moaning<br />
or screaming as needed, drums jazzy at times, crashing at<br />
others. Gustafsson’s sax provides the lead, piercing through<br />
the murky pandemonium like a ghostly noir soundtrack.<br />
Then there’s Masami Akita, who uses his deadly bank of<br />
machinery to wrap everything together in a warm cocoon of<br />
squalls, digital thuds or outright, screeching madness. Like<br />
any good hour-long jam there are tonal shifts throughout—<br />
sections shuffle, bend back and repeat themselves in some<br />
fashion. The music can go from quiet and slightly melancholy<br />
to brash and powerful in only a few time changes and like<br />
any long-winded jam it can sometimes border on tedious.<br />
It’s to the credit of each performer that it rarely does feel<br />
tiresome. The entire performance comes to a blistering head<br />
as Gustafsson’s playing screeches wildly over a cauldron<br />
of synthesized madness. Be forewarned yet again, this is<br />
no follow up to Rather Ripped, it’s a meeting of the minds<br />
between avant-garde musical peers, so if you’re the type to<br />
appreciate lengthy improv and experimental psych-outs,<br />
then dive right in. —Mike Rodgers<br />
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