The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 190

Bitter
Bitter
2017



@Kiana assigned me one album this week - Bitter's self-titled 2017 debut.

Going into this session, I had never heard of Bitter and I was completely unfamiliar with their music. Bitter is a punk band from Atlanta and I was very surprised at how short this album is. It's only 7 songs and roughly 20 minutes long. I even messaged @Kiana to make sure that I was listening to the right album!

Anyway, the album starts out with the in-your-face track When You Were Sad, which is an aggressive song that is only about a minute and a half long that does a great job of setting the tone for the rest of the album. Up next is Stay, which is possibly my favorite track on the album. It's a very catchy song. Tracks 3 and 4 (Inside Out and Tender Aggression, respectively) were also standout tracks for me. Musically, a lot of the songs on this album are right one the edge of punk and alternative. Some of the less aggressive tracks (Tender Aggression, for example) probably wouldn't be considered "punk" on its own, but its definitely punk influenced. The album flows really well and it's not jarring to go from one track to the next. One last standout track for me is the song Sorry I'm Late, which is right up there with Stay as a contender for my favorite track on the album.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the album's closing track El Dolor. @Kiana apparently has a thing for recommending albums with Spanish vocals! This song is entirely in Spanish and to be quite honest, I have no idea what it means. El Dolor translates to The Pain, so there's that. I did a quick search for this album's lyrics, but I came up empty. Overall, this album was pretty impressive lyrically, especially given that it's their debut.

Vocally, I was reminded of Sleater-Kinney to an extent, but they certainly aren't a copycat.

I touched on my favorite tracks above, but to sum them up: Stay, Inside Out, Tender Aggression, Sorry I'm Late.

I listened to this album on Apple Music, but it can also be streamed on Bandcamp (or purchased on Bandcamp for $5). If anything I've written has piqued your interest, I highly encourage you to check out the songs Stay and Sorry I'm Late. And really, just listen to the rest of the album - it's only 20 minutes long!

Thank you @Kiana for recommending this album to me! It's likely not an album I would have discovered on my own. And if you can let me know what El Dolor is all about, that would be great!

 

Haha. I like both of those albums. Particularly Identity Crisis. But I'd never recommend them to first time listeners.

 

So last week @Jdaniels gave me the following alt country albums to review. This is a genre I've been getting into the last couple of years so I was very much looking forward to these recs.

Rhett Miller - The Dreamer



So I'd never heard of Rhett Miller before but after some quick googling it turns out I have actually heard his voice before as he is the vocalist of the Old 97's, which I'd checked out their "Best Of" last year after a rec in the Country thread on Chorus.

This is Rhett's 5th solo album and is a lot more singer songwritery compared to his day job in the Old 97's. So lets get this out straight away I loved this album, it's exactly the sort of alt country I've been enjoying over the last few years. It's nice and upbeat and has a nice pacing to it. Rhetts got such a nice warming voice that reminds me a bit of a cross between Joel Plaskett and Butch Walker. He also has a knack of crafting some really catchy songs that kept getting stuck in my head this week like the first two tracks Lost Without You and Long Long Long.

There were two songs on this album though that I felt were just head an shoulders above the rest. The first was Out Of Love which sounds like it could've come straight out of a Tarantino film with the guitar work on it and it just has such a cool feel to it the whole way through. The second track is the superb Marina which has that late 90's early 00's indie singer songwriter vibe to it. The chorus has been stuck in my head all week and I doubt it will leave for a long while and then there's the emotion coming from Rhett on this one just hits me in the feels everytime.

Anyways this album is great and I'm definitley going to be delving more into Rhett's back catalogue and I'll actaully get round to checking out the albums of the Old 97's too.

Favourite Tracks: Marina, Out Of Love, Lost Without You
RIYL: Heartfelt Alt Country

Lucero - All a Man Should Do




Right so I'm already a fan of Lucero and have been for a while, in fact they're the band that kinda eased me into getting into country as a genre in general as a lot of their older material leaned more on the rock side of things. For some reason though I'd just never got round to checking out this album that came out in 2015, other than maybe one quick listen when it came out.

So this album was a bit more of a slow burner for me compared to how instantaneous I'd found some of their previous efforts, but I'm glad I gave this album lots of time this week to grown on me as it is really really good. I'd lke to say that's the reason this review is late but that was definitely down to one too many drinks at the weekend. This is Lucero's 11th album and to be honest it's pretty much what I expected from them at this point, just really earnest country with a massive rock and roll swing behind it. I'd like to say one member stands out to me on this album but this band as a whole are really on fine form you can really tell its a band whose line up has hardly changed for years.

There's a few different vibes happening on this album, you get songs like the brooding and reflective The Man I Was when Ben Nicholls really looks in on himself with lyrics like "None of those young girls could understand, How slowly killing oneself takes, A toll on man". Laid back numbers lke Throwback No. 2 that just have such a soulful feel to them thanks to the keys and sax. Then you've got a few more upbeat party jams like Can't You Hear Them Howl and Young Outlaws.

Anyway this album is great and for a band this far into their career they've got plenty of newer tracks on here that you'd be happy to see in their setlists and what more can you ask for. @Jdaniels really nailed the recs for me this week

Favourite Tracks: The Man I Was, Throwback No. 2, Can't You Hear Them Howl.

RIYL: Rock and Roll fuelled Country with plenty of swing and swagger

 

Man I need to get mine written up. Gotta say @ugman_2000 those were great writeups, and I'll take the blame for the drinking. That Lucero record will do it to you.
Sleepwalking is my favorite on the Rhett one, and Baby Don't You Want Me/I woke up in new Orleans areally mine for lucero. All 3 inspire some hard core drinking moods.

 

Haha, well there was certainly a theme with those songs but it was a friends 30th that did me in, too many Long Island iced teas. Today I have been mostly putting off checking my bank balance

 

Awesome reviews and I will check out both of these. I love Lucero and I need to visit the country thread.

 

@highfidelity203 and I are trading this week:
They will be listening to:
Moaning: Moaning
Rolo Tamassi: Tonight Will Die and Love Will BuryIt

I will be listening to:
Dessa: Chime
Awolnation: Here Come the Runts

 

That Awolnation album is a trip. Still can't decide how I feel about it after a handful of listens.

 

My understanding is that el dolor is about not letting others cause u pain anymore and sort of taking back that control, but my Spanish is shaky so make of that what u will lol

 

Alright folks, here is my last late review to get me all caught up and out of the doghouse. Last week I was paired with @Nate_Johnson and he recommended the new Reggie and the Full Effect album, 41. I'm pretty familiar with Reggie as I listened to Songs Not to Get Married To quite a bit back in 2005 in preparation for a concert at my college where they opened for My Chemical Romance and Alkaline Trio. However, I haven't followed the band too closely outside of that album, having heard their other records about once each. I was intrigued when I saw that a new Reggie album was being released in 2018, so I was excited for the opportunity to dive in.



The cover of the album immediately indicates that James Dewees is as irreverent as ever, and still not taking himself too seriously. Though I appreciate the levity that Dewees brings to his music, I'm not generally a fan of "joke songs." That being said, I enjoy the catchy pop rock that Dewees brings to the table, so I don't mind the odd skits and tangents too much.

41 starts off with the thoroughly perplexing "Il Sniffy Incontra," a deranged nursery rhyme that I would have to assume is a drug reference. Dewees sings in a low, Muppets-like register over a simple synthesizer. This is followed by "Il Pesce Svedese," a nice full-band pop rock track with punk influences. This kicks off a string of tracks that are all classic Reggie - fun, upbeat, and catchy, with some leaning more toward rock and others leaning more into electropop. Dewees doesn't have the most pure or technical voice, but his melodies and arrangements are always lively and enjoyable. There is actually a part in the bridge of "Alone Again" where he delivers one of his strongest vocal performances, sounding remarkably like Gerard Way.

"Karate School" has a more hard rock feel and a nice guitar solo, which was a refreshing change of pace. The following track "The Horrible Year" has a fast-paced verse that leads into an anthemic chorus and eventually devolves into frenzied yelling that continues through the end of the song. This is my current favorite track on the album. "New Years Day" builds to a pretty satisfying wordless climax in its five-and-a-half minute runtime.

Late in the album, Reggie indulges his alter-egos and includes his trademark features from techno prodigy Fluxation and Finnish hardcore singer Klaus (from Common Denominator, the band you are listening to right now). I could personally do without this schtick, but as I mentioned before I'm a bit of a party pooper when it comes to joke songs. These are harmless enough.

The penultimate track "And Next with Feeling" is one of my favorite tracks, with a blend of guitar and keys in the verse that give the song a really nice texture. "Off Delaware" closes the album with a surprisingly earnest piano ballad about missing a loved one. This is the kind of thing that Dewees does to win me over and make me continue checking out his music even though I'm not a big fan of his comedic side.

Overall, this album is just what I would want, and for the most part expect, from Reggie. Fun, catchy, tongue-in-cheek anthems that jump between genres from track to track. I would say this album feels a bit long at 53 minutes. I tend to enjoy this type of music in smaller servings. However, I like these songs and enjoy myself when I'm listening to this album. Mission accomplished.

 

I’m really glad you liked it and this is by far the most “grown up” and mature record he has ever done.

 

My bad if he posted it already but I’ve got the pleasure this week of partnering with @Larry David He will be listening to:

Gang of Youths - Go Farther In Lightness
Departures (UK) - When Losing Everything Is Everything You Wanted

And I will be listening to:

Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind
Dredg - Catch Without Arms

 

Never heard of Departures but those other three albums are killers

 

Damn Catch Without Arms is a sollliiiddd rec and a blast from the past!

 

Melodic hardcore band, one of my favorites in the genre if you’re into it. After this release they went to topshelf but have been pretty sporadic in their activity the past several years.

 

I'm surprised LD hadn't heard the Gang of Youths album yet!!!

And you haven't heard the 3EB album yet!? You've probably heard some of the songs on the radio, like Kyptonite. Right @Larry David ?

 

I was surprised too!
And I’d only heard singles, not the full thing. Kryptonite is great but I might prefer the sweet sounds of Here Without You

 

Our Lady Peace - Somethingness

Alright my boy @skurt suggested that I listened to this dandy of a record, Let me start off by saying I know who Our Lady Peace is but I've never listened to them before. I wasn't sure what to expect going in, this album isn't really a banger of any sort as it's on the mellow side. It kicks off nicely with a song called " Head Down ". It's a pretty groovy tune and it's catchy ! I've found myself singing along and the bass sounds outstanding ! As we go into the next track " Nice To Meet You " it's weird because as soon as I heard the chorus it reminded me of a Toadies song and that's not a knock ! The vocal performance on this track is outstanding and musically and lyricly it's great. " Hiding Place For Hearts " is a top track and honestly should be a number one hit, I hear so much Gavin Rossdale in his voice and it's beautiful. The production on this album is top notch, it brings everything out soundly and if you dig deep enough you will hear some beautiful things. Also, this seems to be a great Spring/Summer time record and I will be blasting this in my car with the windows down. Such a solid record !

Side note: These guys have some chops, musically these guys can play and that rhythm section is spot on.

Top tracks: Head Down, Nice To Meet You, Hiding Place For Hearts and Drop Me In The Water

 

Excellent write up man. May be your best one yet

 

@Micool1 we exchanging an album?

 

im back and catching up on what @bachna84 assigned me weeks ago


Tiny Moving Parts - Swell

i saw this band once open for touche and was not impressed, and their previous album did not do anything for me when i checked it out. they came across as a gimmicky emo band to me. swell has kind of made me walk back the gimmicky part, but i still dont think they're anything special. they just dont have that "it" factor that bands like the hotelier, pianos, foxing, oso oso, others give me that make me fall in love. the guy's voice here is just so typical and yelpy, not really my thing. he's a very good guitar player but he isn't a very interesting songwriter. its a pretty decent album and i see the appeal now where i didnt before but its still not something i can see myself coming back too. its just bland to me
5/10

Hopesfall - The Satellite Years

now this was very interesting. never heard of this band, but if i had heard this like 15 years ago i would've loved it. its like 00s metalcore/post-hardcore before the recording budgets got huge for those bands. its scrappy, its earnest, its actually pretty heavy at times too. my biggest problem here is that its an extremely dated sound not just because of the production but the style and songwriting are very 02-03 in feel. which is good or bad depending on your view. my taste in heavy music isn't really concerned with this kind of stuff lately so i dont know how much i'll be returning but i definitely enjoyed it a bit.
7/10

 

im ready to tag in again whenever is convenient i can wait til next week if thats easiest

 

Thanks for checking these out and welcome back. I enjoyed your write-ups! Yeah, I can see how the Hopesfall album is a bit dated. Their other stuff is worth checking out too if you ever get the chance.

 

Nice write up - interesting to hear from someone getting into them on such a later record. I was pretty into Somethingness especially for a later career record from them.

My personal favorite OLP record is Spiritual Machines their sound was pretty different from Somethingness but you should check it out regardless.

 

I'm actually going to check out more material, I'm sure I'm gonna hear a few songs I've heard before that I didn't know it was them.