[record review] Constantines - Kensington Heights

Even though I was shut out of hearing the Constantines’ show this week at Mercury Lounge, my anticipation for getting a copy of Kensington Heights was not dulled by that unfortunate turn of events. Those waiting for a CD release still have a few days to go (April 29, Arts & Crafts), but if you’re willing to go the digital route you can purchase the album right now from eMusic, who have the advance.

Now that I’ve (figuratively) spun the record a few times it’s safe to say that Kensington Heights is another tight and tense collection of urgent rockers and slow building ballads from a band that’s shown more in the way of consistency than evolution over their career. I’d put (self-titled debut) The Constantines and Shine A Light up against any hard indie-rock album of the decade, and 2005’s Tournament of Hearts just a notch below. Kensington Heights is probably going to be grouped with and compared to the latter, as it once again finds the band inching away from the aggressive post-punk of those first 2 records to a sound with more nuance and subtlety.

But that’s not to say Kensington Heights forgets to rock, as it does so well on several occasions. Twitchy opener “Hard Feelings” matches anything in their canon - it’s a bracing rocker that downplays its pop-potential for something more in-your-face exciting. The riff that begins “Million Star Hotel” is huge and comes in and out of the mix at all the right moments, and “Trans Canada” is a near robotic track that features an icy cool rhythm on the verses and an explosive vocal on the all-too-brief chorus. The driving pop-rock sound found on past albums (“Soon Enough”, “Young Lions”, etc) is met with “Our Age” and “Credit River”, but the best of the rockers may be “Brother Run Them Down”, a ferocious anti-generational anthem that kicks off the album’s back half.

The slower portion of Kensington Heights has nearly as many high points, beginning with the mid-album “Time Can Be Overcome”, which takes its time to get going, but once it does is not to be missed. You can feel the primordial blues of Bryan Webb’s vocals deep in your bones as he turns in what must be considered amongst his finest performances. Album closer “Do What You Can Do” is just as effective, with the gradual swell of Webb’s positive message not lost among an intensely dynamic band performance. And the acoustic “New King” surprises in its directness, if not its earnest lyrics about a family trying to make it through some hard times.

The heights referenced in the album title isn’t the sound of Constantines reaching new ones, just the same ones for the fourth time around. Again the band is far more positive in their over-arching themes than most of their gloomy peers - not so much shiny happy people as able to make you feel united with others against the trials of everyday living. Long since past needing the Springsteen/Clash/Fugazi comparisons to make people listen, with Kensington Heights the Constantines have delivered another solid batch of rousing rock n’ roll songs to sing along with alone after a hard day at work or collectively with friends on Saturday night.

MP3 :: Hard Feelings
(from Kensington Heights. Buy here)
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MP3 :: Soon Enough

MP3 :: Love In Fear

(from Tournament of Hearts. Buy here)

MP3 :: Nighttime, Anytime (It’s Alright)

MP3 :: On To You

(from Shine A Light. Buy here)

MP3 :: Arizona

(from Constantines. Buy here)
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[mp3] No Age - "Eraser"

Oh snap bitches - that’s a new header photo up there. Not bad right? It’s a picture I took last year at Rockwood Music Hall at a show from the now-defunct Here Lies Pa. After a year and a half of not having a clue how to crop a photo my girlfriend comes home today and does it for me in about 8 seconds. I feel like my blog is all grown up now. Maybe on to advertisements next?

On the music front for the weekend, I’ve been spinning the new record from recent Sub Pop recruits No Age pretty relentlessly over the last few days. I’ll admit to being late to the Weirdo Rippers phenomenon of 2007, and even after hearing it months after the fact I (embarrassing admission coming…) wasn’t blown away . Different story entirely for Nouns (out May 6) - a more song oriented collection than the often murky debut. Nouns downplays the dissonance a smidge and ups the tunefulness a bunch, revealing to me what many heard last year - that this is a young band to reckon with now and be excited for what their future holds.

MP3 :: Eraser
(from Nouns. Info here)
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No Age are set to play The Bowery Ballroom on May 6
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[mp3] My Morning Jacket - "Evil Urges"

For those of you that thought 2005’s Z was My Morning Jacket pushing their sonic boundaries to the limit, be prepared to lose your minds. Hot off the press is the ridiculously awesome title track to the forthcoming studio follow up, available now as a free download by the band and the folks at ATO. “Evil Urges” ups the ante, finding the band flawlessly combining the aspects you already love about them (the balls out rocking) with what you soon will (the pretty much unrecognizable new Prince-like falsetto of Jim James, lavish strings; subtle electronics). Evil Urges is due out 6/10 and I have a very evil urge to hear it before then.

MP3 :: Evil Urges
(from Evil Urges. Info here)
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[mp3] The War On Drugs - "Taking the Farm"

The War On Drugs are getting ready to release their debut full length, Wagonwheel Blues, for Secretly Canadian on June 17. You may remember that I shared an excellent track last month from a recently released free EP called Barrel of Batteries, which is still available here. That track, “Arms Like Boulders” and featured again below, will appear in a new version on the upcoming album.

“Taking The Farm”, the first new single from the forthcoming record, is almost helplessly anthemic - the band’s energy just flooding from the speakers. It’s an exciting mix of sounds and styles - with elements of pure Americana, the 80s American underground, psyche-rock, and electronic flourishes. Lead singer/songwriter Adam Granduciel has an expressive voice which meshes comfortably with the echoed guitars and insistent beat drummer Charlie Hall lays down. I think the song says it best: You can feel it in the ozone zone/ you can feel it in the knees knees knees/ you can feel it in the dirt that’s under your feet/ you can feel it in the highways/ and in the one-way streets/ when you’re digging for diamonds at the bottom of the sea.

MP3 :: Taking The Farm
(from Wagonwheel Blues. Info here)
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Wagonwheel Blues tracklist:

Arms Like Boulders
Taking the Farm
Coast Reprise
Buenos Aires Beach
There is no Urgency
A Needle in Your Eye #16
Reverse the Charges
Show Me the Coast
Barrel of Batteries
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Upcoming shows:

05/05/08 New York, NY- Piano's- Brooklyn Vegan's Rock and ROFL w/ The Acorns, and Comedians
05/14/08 Northampton, MA - Iron Horse w/ Bishop Allen
05/15/08 Boston, MA - Middle East (Downstairs) w/ Bishop Allen
05/16/08 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Bishop Allen
05/18/08 Washington DC, - The Black Cat w/ Bishop Allen
06/07/08 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
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New Music - Neva Dinova

The Saddle Creek / Team Love partnership has already yielded more than their fair share of solid releases this year. Between terrific new albums from Flowers Forever, Tokyo Police Club, The Felice Brothers, and A Weather (which I haven’t gotten around to posting about yet, but mean to) the labels have been in heavy rotation around here for the better part of 2008. Add this new one to the list - You May Already Be Dreaming by new Saddle Creek signees Neva Dinova.

The founding members of Neva Dinova, singer/songwriter/guitarist Jake Bellows and bassist Heath Koontz, have been playing together for almost 20 years now. Their new record is full of lush, gauzy, drug-referencing folk-rock that keeps things on the melancholic tip, although doesn’t hesitate to rock out in a few choice places. The windswept open space in the music and provocative lyrics bring to mind many of their fellow Omaha-ans, and proves that this artist/label team should be a perfect match for years to come.

MP3 :: Clouds
(from You May Already Be Dreaming. Buy here)
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Thank You Mercury Lounge Box Office Girl

That was awesome tonight how you told me when I called that the Constantines were on at 10:00, when really they were on at 8:30. I thoroughly enjoyed spending a combined 2 and 1/2 hours riding the subway in and out of the city to miss the show I've been waiting to see for 2 months. I'd actually prefer to be venting here about this mistake than writing up a nice little review of what I'm sure was a kickass show.

Sarcasm aside, I very easily could have checked the website, but I decided I wanted to get the word straight from a human. I asked you, Box Office Girl, what I thought was a very simple question - "what time do the Constantines go on tonight?" - apparently I should have been clearer in what I meant. You see, I wanted to know what time they would begin playing their music, not what time they would end.

I understand things can get hectic. I understand brain farts. I understand sometimes people have trouble reading from a schedule, even when it is their job to be able to do so. I was just really disappointed to miss this show. I will give your venue the benefit of the doubt - I've seen many shows there over the years and most have been pretty good (despite the spotty sound and cramped space). But please try harder in the future to be better at your job.

Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight

Frightened Rabbit are a band from Glascow, Scotland - birthplace of my paternal grandfather. He was one of 9 children (the only boy!) and when he emigrated in the mid-1920s to New York he left about half of his sisters behind. Which means of course that I probably have dozens of first and second cousins still living over there that I’ll never meet. I’d like to imagine them all rocking out at a Frightened Rabbit show, championing a band they knew 2 or 3 years ago was destined for bigger things. Their new sophomore record, The Midnight Organ Fight, was just digitally released by Fat Cat Records and seems to be just the record to make that a reality on these shores.

People seem to be using The Twilight Sad as a reference point in describing Frightened Rabbit, which is fair I guess being that they share a homeland, as well as a similar tension and drama inherent in their music. To me The Midnight Organ Fight seems a perfect soundtrack to that gritty industrial city I’ve never seen - songs with bad teeth, whiskey breath, and minimum wage filled pockets. Songs covered in smog that kick and snort with a smile. Songs with loud guitars and a singer who means it. It’s available over at emusic and is well worth checking out. I have a feeling this could wind up near the top of many indie-rock year-end best of lists, including mine.

MP3 :: The Modern Leper
(from The Midnight Organ Fight. Buy here)
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And the video for “Heads Roll Off”:


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[mp3] Eugene Francis Jr - "Beginners"

A few weeks ago I posted the hypnotic first single from Eugene Francis Jr's The Golden Beatle, along with an awesome pic involving an Indian headdress and a Captain America sheild. The latest single, “Beginners”, is a livelier effort than the more melodic “Poor Me”, and it sports a line where he somehow pulls off rhyming “bizarre” with “Pisa” (as in The Leaning Tower of…). The first few seconds are sounding an awful lot like some old, ragged Marah song - the electric guitar Francis plays practically mimicking the banjo that kicks “Faraway You” into high gear. Then those bedroom synths kick in and send “Beginners” in a completely different direction - pure indie-pop that hits the spot.

MP3 :: Beginners
(from The Golden Beatle. Buy here)
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Deer Tick Do Daytrotter

I hadn't perused around Daytrotter for a few weeks before last week's post on the Tapes 'n Tapes session, but now that I've caught up a bit with their recent guests I thought I'd mention this one. After dropping one of the best debut records of 2007 with the mostly jangly, occasionally heavy, psyche-folk and soul of War Elephant, as well as touring the hell out of the U.S., you’d think Deer Tick would spend some time re-grouping and planning their next move. And you’d be wrong. Already this year the band has impressed by covering a Top 40 radio hit and now comes a terrific session they did recently for Daytrotter. Singer/songwriter/owner-of-a-vintage-60s-styled rock and roll voice John McCauley and his band ran through 4 songs - 2 from War Elephant and 2 previously unreleased. For the uninitiated, I’d recommend checking out the 2 mp3s below from the album first. For those in the know, here are links to the new tracks:

MP3 :: Ashamed / Baltimore Blues No. 1
(Live from Daytrotter. Originally on War Elephant)

MP3 :: Little White Lies / The Ghost
(Live From Daytrotter. Previously Unreleased)
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MP3 :: Dirty Dishes
MP3 :: Diamond Rings 2007
(from War Elephant. Buy here)
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[mp3] Wolf Parade - "Call It A Ritual"

Now that the litter of Wolf Parade side projects has grown to the point where keeping track is a challenge in and of itself, the band has announced the release of their loooooong awaited, as-of-yet unnamed sophomore effort. Sub Pop will again have the honors, and the record will hit shelves on June 17. Here’s the first single, “Call It A Ritual”, hot off the press and with Spencer Krug on the mic. Its simple and repetitive piano line pounded out over frantic electric guitar and feedback is making me think of Spoon’s “My Mathematical Mind” from Gimme Fiction. A sign of good things to come.

MP3 :: Call It A Ritual
(from the next Wolf Parade album. Info here)
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The tracklist:

1 Soldier's Grin
2 Call It a Ritual
3 Language City
4 Bang Your Drum
5 California Dreamer
6 The Grey Estates
7 Fine Young Cannibals
8 An Animal in Your Care
9 Kissing the Beehive
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Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell

Tokyo Police Club finally release their Saddle Creek debut, Elephant Shell, next week. Though the title denotes something large, there’s nothing particularly big about Elephant Shell - the whole thing blows through in barely over 28 swirling, catch-your-breath-if-you-can minutes. Having now heard the whole thing, the same thing I mentioned last month about “In A Cave” holds true for this entire album - it’s taut, tight, catchy, and sounds familiar in a good way. If you dug that first legally released single, then chances are you’ll dig the whole thing - the album is nothing if not consistent. But if you need more convincing, here’s one more from the album (which I’d like to think was written before the movie it shares a name with, but who knows).

MP3 :: Juno
MP3 :: In A Cave
(from Elephant Shell. Buy here)
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And those tour dates in NY I mentioned last month are fast approaching:

Sun Apr 20 - New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
Mon Apr 21 - Brooklyn, NY, Music Hall of Williamsburg
Tue Apr 22 - New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
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Iron & Wine: Early Outtakes (pt. 2)

As promised, here is another batch of vintage Iron & Wine outtakes from around the time of The Creek Drank The Cradle. All of these tracks prove that the The Sea & The Rhythm EP could’ve easily been more than just 5 measly tracks. By the way, most of part 1 were songs I picked up over at The Good, The Bad, & The Unknown a few months ago - I forgot to mention that in the first post and you should go check out that blog. If you search through his history you’ll find lots of essential Radiohead b-sides and rarities from throughout their career.

MP3 :: Sleeping Diagonally
MP3 :: Hickory
MP3 :: Dead Man’s Will
MP3 :: Swans And The Swimming
MP3 :: Red Dust
MP3 :: Overhead

And an awesome THANKS are in order to a Pop Headwound reader named Jeff who sent along these next 3 tracks yesterday.

MP3 :: Mothers Of The Rodeo
MP3 :: Two Hungry Blackbirds
MP3 :: In Your Own Time
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Unlike the first batch, all of these tracks are Sam Beam originals. “Dead Man’s Will” and “Red Dust” were dusted off and spruced up for the In The Reins EP with Calexico. Otherwise I’m not sure that any of these have ever seen proper release.
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