...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - "Catatonic"

...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

Lost Songs

"Catatonic"

I really like what Trail of Dead have done here. The misleadingly-titled Lost Songs is an album of new material and it’s quite different from their recent recordings. Mostly gone are the overblown prog epics and the death-by-strings-and-horns approach. Some of the songs do wander off into extended instrumental breaks, though only one track breaks the five-minute mark, and they tend to keep it relatively tasteful. Nothing here feels irrelevant to the song it’s a part of, and that goes a long way towards making this a more exciting listen. It’s about melodies, energy and noise, all fashioned into a suprisingly cohesive package. These are good songs, and though each of their post-Source Tags albums had a good track or two (I thought all four of those records were, at worst, decent) here’s a whole album full of them. The drumming is the star of the show, but the guitars stand out more because Trail of Dead are a guitar band and made sure they’re louder than anything else (most of the time). This is fine because it all adds up to some thrilling crescendos, beautiful atmosphere and moments of unbridled energy that were far and few between on some of their other records. As of now, Lost Songs is one of their best albums and really ought to be heard by people who’ve written the band off based on their last seven years. 

I posted "Catatonic" here mainly because of the mean riff it rides throughout its almost-four-minute runtime. In an album full of excillerating guitar noise, this track stands out. Seriously, they could have played that riff for ten minutes straight and I would have listened intently, staring at my itunes screen. The album has a lot of great tracks, especially towards the end. Most of them would have been worth posting here. 

The Pines - "Chimes"

The Pines
Dark So Gold
"Chimes"

This is a lovely country-esque folk song with twangy guitars, a medtempo rhythm and a vocal style full of the genre's requisite somber pensiveness. I never get bored of this type of music, when it's performed convincingly and when the songs are at least somewhat well-written. If the singer is believable in what he/she sings and the way he/she sings it and the music conveys the right mood, it's golden (Mumfords take note).

This kind of music, perhaps moreso than any other, transports me to a different place. It's can be surprisingly atmospheric, not in the same way as some of the best post-rock song or drone metal, but its attitude is refreshing, to me. I've lived in New York City my entire life, and that's not the worst thing in the world, but I've accumulated an incredibly lengthy playlist of songs than remind me of other, simpler, more beautiful places. This album by The Pines gives me another handful of tracks to add to that list. "Chimes" actually seems to be about that very feeling.

This record was released in January and I'm thrilled it didn't pass me by completely. Much of the album is given over to slower songs than "Chimes", but a lot of tastefully done ones. A handful of great ballads, a few good midtempo ones and a couple of shorter instrumental pieces. Admittedly, it's all been done before but it never seems to get old.

The Killers - "Flesh and Bone"

The Killers
Battle Born

"Flesh and Bone"

I've never been much of a Killers fan. Admittedly, their debut album, Hot Fuss, had some supremely catchy tunes. Songs like "Mr. Brightside" are among the best of what I call "Duane Reade songs" (songs I tend to hear on the radio in stores and other public places), and I remember the song "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" having a mean bass line. I gave a few listens to their second album, Sam's Town, and thought it was okay, but had lost interest in the group by the time their third record was released in 2008. I didn't bother to listen to it, but for some reason I was moderately interested in their newest LP and was pretty excited when it began on a high note.

But the album is a dud, but it begins with "Flesh and Bone," which has guilty pleasure written all over it. It's a bit too glam, too new wave-y; Brandon Flowers doesn't sing with much energy anymore. He's got great pipes but too often he sounds kind of bored and disiniterested. As predictable as this song is, I like the vocal hook in the chorus (when the background vocalists sing the song title). I can't bring myself to call this song particurly good (The Killers better not win any awards for it), but it was sort of pleasant. I think the part of me that likes this song is the part of me that finds "Don't Stop Believing" fun, on occasion, but that's okay.

For an album that needs to be exciting to be at all worthwhile, the vocals on Battle Born are often kind of flat, the drums are too low in the mix and not lively enough, and their synth-trumps-all-other-instruments ways are probably not for the best. You shouldn't listen to The Killers if you don't like synths, but they become kitsch if not tastefully done. In some ways this is an adult contemporary version of synth pop.

Dreary ballads and bad lyrics sink this ship, and it happens pretty quickly. "Here With Me"and "Heart of a Girl"are the guiltiest offenders and "Be Still" feels a bit too "boy band". The Killers are a very derivative band, and I think everyone knows that. They succeed when they're catchy enough that their flaws can be forgiven. That never happens on slow songs and when melody fails them, a sort of simple-mindedness pervades their recordings. "Flesh and Bone" is a pretty fun song and there are a few other decent ones here ("Deadlines and Commitments", "The Rising Tide" and "Battle Born"), but I can't really endorse the record as a whole.

Paul Banks - "The Base"

Paul Banks
Banks
"The Base"

Paul Banks begins his first solo record (sorta*) with a bang. The album as a whole is never better than its first four minutes, a humble groove-laden track called "The Base," though it does have several other high points and is generally an engaging listen, despite its plodding, almost mechanical aesthetic.

"The Base" begins with a lovely melody, which sounds like it's acoustic guitar fingerpicked and filtered through some effect that makes it sound serene and chilly at the same time. It reappears throughout the track, but what really carries the song is the groove it hits when the heavily distorted guitars and rich low end kick in. The album has a really catchy rhythm to it, and is impressively gritty with the guitar sounds packing a real punch. After a pretty beginning, it's a post-punk dance song for its final minute and a half.

I love how Banks' voice commands attention; it's definitely not for everyone. He sounds cold and unhuman, in a way, but it lends his lyrics a bit of oomph. It's as if an exclamation point follows every word, and though this isn't different from his vocals in Interpol, on this record he has more flexibility because he isn't confined to the typical rock band instrumentation and doesn't have to share creative control. It's interesting to hear Banks sound like this, and since I haven't had any real interest in his main band in at least half a decade, I wouldn't mind if he continued moving in this direction.

*He released one record as Julian Plenti in 2009, and I haven't heard it but this record makes me want to.