Scars & Stories(2012) Review

The Fray's New Album Cover

The next instalment from the 2002 formed Denver based pop rock band, following the successful self-titled album The Fray in 2008-9, which plateaued them even further to the top of their game after their breakthrough album, How to Save a Life(2005-7). From my first impressions, it's easy to see that this is quite a solid album, however if one does delve into the heart of their songs further then it's easy to see that there have been a few key changes in the way that their songs have now been written and performed. The easiest to identify being the move away from Piano dominated songs. Anyone who's heard The Fray's previous album knows that in almost every song, the sound of the popular instrument can be heard very clearly, in fact sometimes even louder than the electric guitar which some people may find surprising. Either way, as mentioned by Joe King(lead guitarist, backup vocals) "It's our best record yet".

The track list for the new album is as follows: 
1. "Heartbeat"               
2. "The Fighter"               
3. "Turn Me On"               
4. "Run for Your Life"        
5. "The Wind"              
6. "1961"                             
7. "I Can Barely Say"         
8. "Munich"                      
9. "Here We Are"              
10. "48 to Go"                      
11. "Rainy Zurich"              
12. "Be Still"                           


Total Length: 44:35 


The record begins with the bands current single Heartbeat, immediately you can sense that the group has grown. The song is quite unusually upbeat, and begins with the distinct distortion sound of an electric guitar, eagerly waiting to be strummed. This song encompasses, almost country-like qualities, in which Isaac Slade's(lead singer) voice compliments greatly. He sings with an distinct American accent in all his songs, which provides the band's material with a unique flavour. This first song is a great example of how the band is constantly growing, as the bridge contains intense harmonies provided by the entire band - never have I heard harmonies like this from the band; and that wasn't the end of it, more songs throughout the record contained great ones just like it. It's amazing! It lifts the album to a whole new level. 


So what can I say about the next few songs? Well, it's definitely The Fray. They have a way of coming up with mesmerising riffs which you can't help but get stuck in your head! Another example of the phenomenal harmonies is seen in The Fighter, the piano only readily hearable during the bridge, which is a nice refreshment from the whole piece being overwhelmed the whole way through. Turn Me On, this song is quite interesting, the band members have admitted that this song is inspired by the movements of a female belly dancer they encountered while going out. This is certainly true, if you listen to the song. The refreshing running bass lines in this song, is what I think, makes it. Together with the quick upbeat drum beat, bursts of energy coming from the electric guitars and the billowing harmonies from fellow band mates. Harmonies....hmm, do you see a pattern here? I certainly do! I love that almost every song contains them, it's really something to notice in this new album. In Run for Your Life the piece begins with a constant note from the piano, a distant reminder of what the band used to sound like. The use of arpeggio riffs creates a sense of comfort in this song, combined the uplifting lyrics, and Isaac's soothing voice - it's a perfect match! 


What interests me most about 1961, is the lyrics. Slade crafted this song quite cleverly as it clearly portrays the story he had in his mind. The actual music, is on another level of it's own.
The soothing falsetto of Slade, together with his bandmates harmonies sound absolutely amazing. In fact I think it's one of the most vocal intensive albums of the album, hard to perform 100% live I'm sure! I Can Barely Say, is a classic piano ballad. In fact, I think they begin to revert to their own ways here, which is a nice for a change. The song isn't very musically intensive, as it's mostly strings, piano and Slade's voice, which again is a nice mixup. Munich is one of my personal favourites of the album, it blew my mind away! 
Rainy Zurich is in interesting song, because like Fall Away from How to Save a Life(2005) Joe King is the lead singer, whereas Slade reverts back to playing Piano and singing backup. It's a rare occurrence, but when it does happen it's quite exciting, check it out! 


Overall, I rate this album quite highly, and I can honestly say that it certainly is their best work yet. If you've liked their previous distinct Coldplay-like sound, then I can easily say that you will thoroughly enjoy this album as it appeals to a much wider audience, than they once did before. 


Rating: 4.0/5.0

Hello!/THE DANDY WARHOLS - THIS MACHINE (2012) - REVIEW

Hi there!
My name's Nick, and I'm a co-runner of this blog with Joseph. It's a pleasure to have you here! I'm a huge enthusiast in the field of music. I listen to all sorts of things, as you'll pick up from this blog. As Joseph has already mentioned, this is a blog we're dedicating to music. So I thought it might be a good idea for my first post to be an album review, something which I already do and enjoy doing. I have already been submitting reviews to Sputnikmusic, which is a website I am following very closely as of late.  So here you go! A review of the Portland rockers' The Dandy Warhols' Seventh (Ninth?) full length album This Machine, as seen on my Sputnikmusic page. Enjoy!

This Machine - The Dandy Warhols (2012, The End Records)

Most bands too easily revert to their cultish behaviour after a small surge of breakthroughs pretty quickly. All it takes are a string of completely alienating releases. Bands that choose to do this, however, hardly ever garner the attention they deserve when they inevitably begin to make real music again. For some, it is a dream. For others, it feels justified at least. For the select few it can be a real nightmare, fans and musicians alike. Who knows which category our fair Dandies fall under? Haven’t they just been joking around throughout their entire career?

It seems their shortest, sweetest, and most sobering release to date makes us more aware than ever that The Dandy Warhols are capable of completely intentional moments of heartfelt musicianship, and not just a series of in-jokes that even the wider Portland community would miss. While it is saddening to hear Taylor-Taylor incorrectly acknowledge his aging and waning relevance (the wrong kind of self-awareness to brandish in most music, in my opinion, and it’s ever present, in-your-face, front and centre with bells on in “Enjoy Yourself”) it is heart-warming in comparison to remind yourself that these guys have given no shits for 18 years and counting. “I Am Free” and “Enjoy Yourself” might showcase a completely contrasting style to the rest of the album, but it’s a style the band has already established in the past, so it feels justified.

Other components of their sound has undergone a significant overhaul for this album too. The wooden, airy, strangely gothic feel that they have chosen to develop over the years between albums really shines on “The Autumn Carnival”. They also do well to avoid staple indie traits (On this track, instead of using mathy angular guitar riffs in the verse between lyrical bursts, drummer Brent DeBoer interjects with reverb soaked ‘oh-oh’s. They could have easily been the former, but what they chose to do works. “Rest Your Head” might be my favourite Dandys song to date, and among one of my favourite tracks of all time, for its simplicity and strong, resonant harmonies. It’s a track I’ve been very eager to hear after I saw them debut the new tracks in Sydney last year.

Brent DeBoer has grown significantly as a drummer on this album, too. When do you ever hear tom-beats on a Dandys track? Aside from the first second of “Nietzsche”, almost never; but you’ll hear plenty on this album. Token cover “16 Tons”, for example, is a lumbering, brassy number that oozes lo-fi tom beats never heard from the drummer before. I shed a tear. It adds a new depth to a band that is well established in creating simple, psych-pop songs that are driven by very simplistic drum beats. Everything that the Dandys have known to do in the past is showcased in spades on the album, with an added depth from DeBoer, to the point where T2 even agreed to let DeBoer handle album closer “Slide”. This is a big move for someone who is among the ranks of Billy Corgan and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez in terms of maintaining control of the band’s output.

The album offers everything the Dandies are known to do well, and more. Moments of their fuzzed-out experimental days are prevalent on “Alt. Power” and “SETI vs The Wow! Signal”. Slide represents a new chapter in the band’s writing process with the introduction of a track T2 had nothing to do with, and “Don’t Shoot She Cried” and “Rest Your Head” are reminiscent of their early, early days. “Sad Vacation”, “The Autumn Carnival” and “They’re Gone” signify the beginning of something new in the band’s ever expanding palette. I can’t fault this release, because the only way to do so is to compare this to a certain 13-track album that was released ~10 years ago. The Dandy’s sound is evidently not broke, so to fix it is simply an added bonus.

Summary: While there’s inevitably an Enjoy Yourself to every Autumn Carnival, the sparse divide in output style feels justified when it comes with the band’s return to form.

4.0/5.0 :)


To read my original review, click here.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Tune Hub! My name is Joseph, and together with Nick we will be posting frequently for the next few weeks everything about music. So what should you expect from us? 
Well since we both come from a wide background of music genres, there will be a mix of everything you can think of. There'll be artist news, album reviews, and just posts which personally interest us, and hopefully you too! Feel free to comment or make any suggestions for our blog, we take each and every one of them seriously. :) The Blog will also be changing in design, as this template is just for starters, we hope to soon have a new logo and appearance overhaul! So bye for now, and you'll be seeing a lot of posts very shortly - stay tuned!