This week is a quickie. The National, NiN, The Black Keys, and the band of Japanator's own Zac Bentz; The Surfacants.

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Album: High Violet
Artist: The National
Released: May 10, 2010
Label: 4AD
Genre: Indie Rock, Post-Punk,
Sounds Like: A modern day Joy Division that holds your heart in their hands

The National’s latest effort is another prime example of why this band is important – not just for us, but for generations to come. Ten or twenty years from now, High Violet will be held up as one of the ones that just got it right. There isn’t a wasted note on this album. Each song is a glimpse of a moment, a voyeuristic encounter that pulls you inside yourself yet makes you starkly aware of the world around you. In High Violet, disjointed memories are pulled together to form something greater than the sum of their parts.

The album starts with Terrible Love, a title brimming with anticipation. This song sounds the way you feel watching a sunrise while holding someone’s hand. Here, as elsewhere on the album, themes of love, loss and remembrance are heavily explored to a poignant and potent effect. Lead singer Matt Berninger’s voice is erotically baritone, pulsing with emotion, its cadence undulating like the tide under a star-filled sky. There’s a refinement here, both in Berninger’s voice and the band itself. High Violet showcases a complex, creative group who have obviously matured together. The guitar is more subdued than on previous albums, but it matches the pacing of the songs perfectly. The drum range, meanwhile, is impressive, from subtle as a newborn’s heartbeat to raging perfection crashing in around you. Bloodbuzz Ohio, the most dynamic track on the album, begins on a beat that I want to make love to, then grabs your brain and runs with it.

The type of journey music like this takes you on is one of the most significant experiences you can have as a listener. There are times when a lyric in High Violet recalls a memory I haven’t thought of in years – and suddenly I’m back there, the song guiding me to parts of myself I forgot existed. This album is catharsis made into sound, the long hug goodbye that hangs in the air like a fog. With their trademark abstract lyrics and beautiful, sad sound, the band has crafted another masterpiece.

Summary: The soundtrack to a heartache that makes you smile

Personal Favorites: Bloodbuzz Ohio, Runaway, Conversation 16

-Occams electric toothbrush


Album: With Teeth
Artist: Nine Inch Nails
Label: Nothing
Released: 2005
Genre: Industrial
Sounds like: Soundtrack to the End Of The World.

Man, the first thing that comes to mind when I think Industrial is Rockafeller back in the 20s, and Nine Inch Nails. NIN was the first rock band I ever truly got into, and the only rock band to truly have a sound that I picture myself wanting to replicate in my own manner. Maybe it’s the all the tech behind the music, or maybe it’s because both me and Trent both used to play saxophone, but Nine Inch Nails represents one of my very first influences into music as a whole, and I’m really glad that first introduction started “With Teeth.”

With Teeth is all that I want in an album. Amazing vocals, driving rhythms, beautiful composition, this album has it all. Industrial from beginning to end, every distorted drum, every syntheses drum section, every layered vocal part, just works. I can’t describe With Teeth in any other way, other than saying that everything Trent does in this album just works.

Starting off with the calm piano/drum machine based “All the Love in the World”, Trent eases you into the album, the ending of the first track leading into the faster drum barrage that is “You Know What You Are”. One thing to watch in this album is rhythms. Trent is able to take basic rhythm structure and add to it, mix it up, until he gets some entirely brutal, or entirely serene. And it helps that Trent is as good with his voice as he is, able to go into shrill screams back down to almost growling whispers and everywhere in between.

Yeah, of course, a lot of you know the titular songs from this album. “The Hand That Feeds” is of course, an hardcore driving song that makes one just want to continually pump their fists into the air (or in some extreme cases, into someone else’s face), and “Only” is just the “wholly mother-of-Jesus-that-is-awesome” of the entire album, and I’m not just saying that because of the well put together music video that accompanies it. And hey, even “You Know What You Are” got the Clint Mansell treatment when Doom (the movie based on the game, with The Rock, you know what I’m talking about) came out.

But that’s not the half of it. Underneath all the good stuff is even better stuff; songs like “The Line Begins To Blur” providing great drives in the drums while Trent screams over the distorted bass, or “Getting Smaller”, which kinda reminds me of “Head Like a Hole”, only 4 times faster and more erratic. Even the title track is an excellent example of what Trent can do with some simple drums and some distortion. A word of warning while listening to “Beside You in Time” though, if you listen to it loud, the quick repetition of the bass might cause your ears to pop at first. Just something I noticed.

Overall, I can’t praise With Teeth enough. I know some say it’s not the best of NIN out there, I know some say that some of the songs on the album are overplayed, and I know that some say that With Teeth was the end of good ol’ T-Rez(I think I’m the only one who calls him that. I sure hope not). But you know what? I’ve come to tell you that you’re all wrong. With Teeth is one of Trent Reznor’s greatest accomplishments, With Teeth isn’t played enough, and [i]With Teeth[/t] is just one more stepping stone on Trent’s glorious rise to the throne of the world.

Yes. I am a Trent/NIN fanboy. You may buy this album now.

Track Listing:
1."All the Love in the World" 5:15
2."You Know What You Are?" 3:42
3."The Collector" 3:08
4."The Hand That Feeds" 3:32
5."Love Is Not Enough" 3:41
6."Every Day Is Exactly the Same" 4:55
7."With Teeth" 5:38
8."Only" 4:23
9."Getting Smaller" 3:35
10."Sunspots" 4:03
11."The Line Begins to Blur" 3:44
12."Beside You in Time" 5:25
13."Right Where It Belongs" 5:04

Personal favorite tracks:
Only (Official Badass Music Video)
With Teeth
Beside You in Time

Summary for lazy people: You already bought this if you like industrial. For all though that haven’t, give With Teeth a go.

-Daxelman


Album: Brothers
Artist: The Black Keys
Label: Nonesuch
Released: May 18, 2010
Genre: Blues
*Sub-genres Blues-rock, alternative blues, indie blues
Sounds like: Hendrix riffs with an indie blues twist.


I first discovered The Black Keys through GTAIV and the first album I owned by them was Attack & Release and I was floored. The rhythm, the guitar, the lyrics, everything was sheer perfection. So needless to say I was very excited about a new album. It’s always really exciting to wait for a new album after being amazed by a band so Brothers was a thing I had crazy high expectations about.


The rhythms, the sound, the soulful lyrics, are all back in full affect and feels just as good as you can ask of the duo. The first track, Everlasting Light, is a thumping track with a really simplistic beat and some great falsetto work (as always) from Dan Auerbach. As the album continues, it consistently becomes more and more impressive from a composition standpoint with more complicated rhythms and intricate sounds.


The composition is very much like a Black Keys album. You’ll find the duo multi-layering loud, albeit smooth, bass and catchy drums alongside some Hendrix-esque riffs and well written solos. Everything has a distinct sound that dances between clean and dirty that adds a deep feel to everything and offers a wonderful contrast to the blues-y vocals.


The lyrics carry the really interesting blues feel that you would expect from The Black Keys. Some really amazing ones were: Ten Cent Pistol, a story about a jealous girl trying to kill a couple. The Only One, a song about leaving a girl when you know you can’t deliver what she needs. And Unknown Brother, a song about a man who speaks of the memories of his dead brother that have been passed down. The stories told, and the way there are told, are crafted with so much emotion, even without the presentation, that it’s hard to not get sucked in.


Overall, the album is definitely worth the time of any fan. While not as full as Attack & Release the composition still carries the well thought out arrangements The Black Keys are known for. While some of the latter songs suffer from their pacing and placement (the slows songs are clumped into the last few tracks) but are definitely listenable. Brothers by The Black Keys comes highly recommended for anyone looking for a rhythmic blues-y.


Personal favorite tracks: Ten Cent Pistol, The Only One, Sinister Kid


Summary for lazy people: Definitely one of the best indie blues albums but doesn’t quite live up Attack & Release.

-Xzyliac


Album: Diminishing Returns
Artist: The Surfactants
Label: Xero Music
Released: March 10th, 2008
Genre: Indie
*Sub-genres Electro-Hybrid
Sounds like: Various. Their sound can change from song to song.

I would like to pretext this review by saying that I’m not a huge fan of indie music. It’s not that I hate indie music or anything like that, but I have always felt that certain groups today have decided to be “indie” just so they can justify making horrible noise and calling it music. It seems to be a common occurrence these days and for the most part I have tried to steer clear of that genre of music. Now, before everyone stops reading and automatically assumes that I’ve completely written this album off as garbage I implore you to read my next sentence.

The album is pretty damn good.

The Surfactants, a creation of Japanator’s own Zac Bentz, released the album “Diminishing Returns” back in March of ‘08. However, I can honestly say that the album itself does not suffer from the negative title. In fact it’s quite the opposite in this case, and the music seems to become exponentially better as each track passes over in to the next. Being that Zac is the drummer it actually comes to no surprise that the tracks rely heavily upon percussion to carry itself. Not to mention that each track has a type of techno-spin on it so, at times, that can seem to over-power everything else. However, that’s not a bad thing considering it’s obvious that was the writers initial intent. Many tracks begin with “beeps” and “boops” that carry the tune before the rest of the band comes in. I couldn’t help at times think that someone was almost paying tribute to Earthbound’s quirky soundtrack, and that brought a smile to my face.

The opening track, “Jenny, You’re a meteor” isn’t really a fair impression if you’re one of those people who just listens to the beginning of an album and immediately tunes out. Compared to the rest of the album it seems a bit out of place, and by the time “A Black Matter for The King” comes around you’ve already forgotten about it. As I said before, the album seems to progressively mature as each track plays and by the time the time track “Us Against All” played I was completely floored at how good it was. It really comes in to its own by the time your done with it. All I can really say is that if you have a chance to hear this album don’t just write it off based on a single track. Each one is very different compared to the last and you would be missing out on some really good music.

If there is one absolutely GLOWING compliment that I can add about this album is that the vocalist (Marcus Matthews) does not suck at all. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard good music become completely ruined by a vocalist who couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. Kudos to Zac for finding someone who actually compliments the artistic quality of the music around him.

If I sounded like I was rambling a bit I’ll have to apologize, but I found it very hard to place all of what I felt from this album in to words. I don’t exactly think that just simply writing “It’s damn good” counts as a thorough review, but in summary that’s about all I can say about it. If you have iTunes or you buy your music off of Amazon.com you can find all of their tracks there. I definitely recommend The Surfactants “Diminishing Returns” for those looking for something to spice up their collection.

Personal favorite tracks: The One, The Wayward, The Clock Tower, Revolution Come, Statement Five (no video/link available), Us Against All

Summary for lazy people: It’s good. Why aren’t you on iTunes buying it?

-Aurvantoid
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Enjoy your weekends!