The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 346

I'm sorry I need yo be put on the bench again :(

 

@Nate_Johnson ? @Patterns in Traffic ?

 

We can let Jason decide who he wants to pair with.

 

This week I was paired with @anonimito and I was give 2002's Head On Straight by Tonic. I was only really familiar with their hit single "If You Could Only See" which I couldn't seem to escape in 1996. I had guessed I would be listening to an acoustic rock album similar to that song, but what I got was a really, really good rock record. This album made me miss music like this, that early 2000's rock records from bands like Collective Soul and Vertical Horizon and the like. I'm not going to lie, there isn't a bad song on this album. There are awesome riffs, and some very personal sounding lyrics. As someone who is getting married in the very very near future, this album really resonated with me. There are some great love songs on this album and it really got me in the feels (is that what the kids are saying these days?) but seriously it was a very emotional record for me to listen to. I will definitely give this album more listens and will check out some of their other albums as well. These are really well written songs and if you're into early 2000's rock or are looking for something a little different than stuff that's covered here, you need to check this album out. I think everyone will like something on this album. Thanks again @anonimito for this recommendation. This album was really good and it's something I needed to hear at this moment in my life.

RIYL: Collective Soul, Live, Vertical Horizon
Fave Songs: Come Rest Your Head, Count On Me (Somebody), Roses, Take Me As I Am

 

Happy to trade with @disambigujason if he so desires

 

Awesome review! I'm so glad that it resonated with you and that you enjoyed it!

 

Awesome review! This is a fantastic record and I am so glad @anonimito gave it to me a while back.

 

Hey I have a Tonic review coming for @anonimito as well. Hopefully today!

 

Which album?

 

@Mister Lyrical and I exchanged albums for the upcoming session.

I’ll be listening to Dave Hause's album Bury Me In Philly

They’ll be listening to Dollar Signs’ new album This Will Haunt Me

 

Sugar

 

I'll have mine done for yourself over the weekend, had a busy few days but been listening just not writing haha. @Nate_Johnson i'll dm you shortly or vice versa?

 

Oh that’s my second favorite!!!

 

You can DM me!

 

In week two of my double-dose of pairings with @anonimito I was recommended Tonic’s Sugar. This is the 1999 album which followed the success of their single “If You Could Only See,” which for my money is one of the best rock hits of the ‘90s. Despite my believing this, I had never listened to a full Tonic album until now. So I was excited to dive in!



Sugar starts with “Future Says Run,” which has the familiar electric guitar work, driving drums, and vocals that you might associate with “If You Could Only See.” The band pulls back the energy for a bit of a softer chorus to contrast with the driving nature of the verses. It even has a nice tasteful guitar solo, something I dearly miss in most modern alternative rock. “Your future says run, but you can’t even walk.”

Next up is “You Wanted More,” which I am very familiar with as I believe it was the lead single from the album. I remember it being on the radio a lot in 1999, and after a bit of research it looks like it was actually first released on the soundtrack to American Pie a few months before this album was released. Makes me feel old. Anyway, this is a great song and was an excellent choice for a single.

According to Wikipedia, track 3 “Knock Down Walls” was also a single from this album, but I had never heard it until now so I’m assuming it didn’t chart particularly highly. That’s not a reflection of the strength of the song, as it has a very catchy chorus and a nice riff in the verse. It even has what sounds like staccato picked strings in the bridge, which are a really nice touch. This song strikes me as a bit more pop leaning in the hook, which reminded me of Lifehouse. That’s not a knock as I do enjoy early Lifehouse (I will maintain that No Name Face is sweet and I own it on vinyl).

“Mean to Me” slows down the tempo before the electric guitars and a grungy vocal burst in in the chorus. Title track “Sugar” is acoustic-guitar driven and perfectly encapsulates the ‘90s singer-songwriter sound. “Jump Jimmy” has these chugging guitars, distorted riffs, and impassioned vocals that evoke classic/Southern rock. Less than halfway through the album, I’m already impressed at the range of the songwriting and performances. Tonic seem to have a great ability to touch on aspects of many different styles while still staying in the orbit of their own familiar alt-rock sound. I definitely appreciate the diversity.

“Queen” has this kind of twinkly guitar picking in the verses before launching into another explosive chorus. I also noticed a lot of shaker in the percussion, which was something cool and different. “Waiting for the Light” has a really clean chorus with great harmonies, and there’s a lot of soul in the vocal performance and the little interspersed guitar licks. A pretty ballad follows in “Waltz with Me,” which reminded me of Goo Goo Dolls in quite a few moments. Then we jump into three heavier tracks with the fast-paced “Sunflower,” the heavily-distorted “Drag Me Down,” which has a Gin Blossoms kind of thing going on, and “Top Falls Down,” which would have been right at home on ‘90s rock radio. The final track “Love a Diamond” features delicate guitar picking and synth effects. The chorus is a slow burner that is just as much as an earworm as those that preceded it. We get another short solo in this song and a fadeout to end the record.

This album was really surprising to me. Usually I touch on a few standout songs in my reviews, but I don’t know if I’ve ever felt compelled to single out every song on an album. In my opinion, each track here has something different to offer, be it a different style, texture, influence, mood, etc. The range of this band is truly impressive. On the first listen I was thinking to myself after each track “OK, I’m sure they’re going to start recycling styles now and do another song that sounds similar to one of those I’ve already heard.” And every track I’d be surprised when they somehow veered into more territory that felt fresh. I was kind of entertaining myself by the end of the album, thinking they were running out of distinct styles within their genre to make each song unique, but to their credit they kept it up through 13 tracks and the result is a really engaging listen that never gets stale or repetitive. Clearly I should have trusted my instincts after recognizing how great “If You Could Only See” is and sought out more from this band earlier. Now it’s time to check out the rest of their discography. Better late than never.

 

I'm super late but I still have these to do:

Jacks Mannequin- Everything In Transit from @Bad Frequencies

Rory - We’re Up To No Good, We’re Up To No Good from @Jim Morgan

Kate Nash - Girl Talk from @summertimejesus

I have never heard an album by any of the 3, so this will be fun!

 

The final of the original four (I say original because we’ve now agreed on a bonus trade so there is one more coming) recs from @anonimito over the last few weeks is Vertical Horizon’s Go. Much like Tonic’s Sugar, this is the band’s first album since the mainstream success of the singles from their previous album Everything You Want. It was released in 2003 after extensive delays and did not spawn any singles that reached the height of “Everything You Want” or “You’re a God.” I was very interested to see how the band followed up their mainstream success. It is no doubt difficult to write an album under the pressure of knowing that it’s going to be anticipated with high expectations.



I was surprised as opener “When You Cry” announced its presence with distorted guitars and a hard rock riff. The chorus is a familiar stadium-ready anthemic hook that might be expected after hearing the band’s popular singles. It’s got some cool slide guitar at the end and the band seem pretty well-tailored to performing with this harder edge. Second track “I’m Still Here” starts with a clean guitar lick and it immediately reminds me of the band’s two aforementioned big singles. I’m picturing a record label exec telling them to write a single that sounds like those songs and being very happy with this. That’s not a knock on the song as it is a strong track in its own right, it just uses a very similar formula to those hits. Unsurprisingly, it was the first single. Also, I’ve heard this song before but this is the first time that the chorus immediately reminded me of “Crazy for This Girl” by Evan and Jaron. #throwback

Track four, “Better When You’re Not There,” was the one song added to this album when it was reissued two years later in 2005. I can see why they wanted to add it, as it has a nice prechorus buildup to a big chorus and a strong post-chorus guitar riff. “Goodbye Again” has another triumphant-sounding hook and a quieter verse, something that the band often uses as a template for their songs, but it’s hard to complain as they are very good at creating affecting songs in this manner.

“Sunshine” and “One of You” are awesome riff-driven tracks that remind me so much of the hard-rock-slash-pop hybrid bands that were popular (and that I totally ate up) in the early ‘00s. “One of You” throws a little bit of folk influence into the equation as well. “It’s Over” and “Inside” are a pleasant pop songs, with the latter featuring some tasteful strings. Final track “Underwater” has only reverb-laden guitar picking and a lead vocal for the first minute or so of the track before the drums join in. This one has a slow build with new instruments and elements being gradually added over a melodic vocal motif. The song never quite reaches the climax that I thought it was building toward, but it is a great meditative track to end the album.

Overall, this album sounds great. The instrumentation, whether in the harder or softer sections, is well-performed and well-produced. The songs definitely grew on me and begun getting stuck in my head after several listens. However, I do feel that the album as a whole is somewhat less than the sum of its parts. It served as great background music to put on while working because it all sounds so smooth and there isn’t much that I would call jarring. Because of that, perhaps, I found it a bit less effective when I focused all of my attention on it. It started to sound samey on repeat listens and some of the lyrics didn’t connect with me much (although I didn’t look at them closely so there may very well be more to them than my surface-level interpretations). Although I don’t see Vertical Horizon becoming a favorite of mine, this is an album that does appeal to me a lot for certain moods/circumstances and I can see myself reaching for it in the future when I want something pleasant and upbeat to listen to.

 

@Nate_Johnson @Patterns in Traffic thanks for the offers fellas but I’ll take the week off to catch up on everything myself. If any new releases stood out for you guys today though I’ll put em on my queu!

 

Wow, what a great review! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! There are days when "Top Falls Down" is my favorite Tonic song (and that's saying a lot).

(Also, add me to the "No Name Face" is great and I own it on vinyl club. )

 

Another awesome review! For me, Matt's lyrics take quite a while to personalize, but once they do...it's like they've been etched in my soul. This album is the soundtrack to a particularly enjoyable time in my life, and I'll always love it for that.

Evan and Jaron - yes! I am not ashamed to say how much I enjoyed their first album. I liked the rest of their material, but it's hard to track down nowadays. They released (at least I think so) a "52 Sundays" project with a new song out every Sunday for a year. I think you had to buy the tracks on some website called "Snocap." (How and why do I remember these things?)

"Sunshine" is such a rocker - I agree!

 

For my first-ever review I was given Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves, thanks to @Nate_Johnson.
Golden Hour is Musgrave's fourth major label album and the first album released right after her marriage to Ruston Kelly, which inspire many of the songs on the record. I don't usually listen to country so I don't have much to compare the record to in terms of genre, but I had an absolute pleasure listening to it, especially living in NYC where it can be hard to find moments of peace.



In Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves takes her time to show that life doesn’t always have to take place in the fast lane. The album is straightforward, tender, well-paced, and relaxing without losing the listener in the mellow moments. The album title is also a reference to Musgraves' hometown of Golden, TX.

The record opens with “Slow Burn,” where Kacey lets us know right away that she’s here to take her time—the first line we hear is:
“Born in a hurry, always late
haven’t been early since ‘88”

And in the second verse, she tells us:
“Texas is hot, I can be cold
Grandma cried when I pierced my nose”
There’s a lot in these few words, which is what makes Golden Hour such a pleasure to listen to. The record isn’t hiding behind a fancy facade or overwhelming melodies—it’s beautifully to-the-point and digestible.

Many of the songs also hinge on location, with Musgraves making allusions to her environment throughout the album. Texas, Tennessee, and Beijing are all mentioned in “Slow Burn” as Musgraves uses location to draw comparisons between herself and the different places while simultaneously grounding the listener to where she is.

The album moves through a number of different love songs, written from various angles about Musgraves' feelings towards husband Ruston Kelly. Stand-outs include "Space Cowboy," "Wonder Woman," and "Golden Hour."

The record's title track is a dedication to Ruston Kelly, as Musgraves croons:
"Baby, don't you know
That you're my golden hour
The color of my sky
You've set my world on fire
And I know, I know, everything's gonna be all right"

Kacey Musgraves has obviously found the love of her life and we can feel her take a breath of fresh air throughout this record. As this was my first time ever listening to Musgraves, I decided to also check out her preceding record, Pageant Material, which is more comedic and light-hearted in comparison to "Golden Hour" but also a great listen.

One of my favorite songs on the record is the upbeat "High Horse," where Musgraves takes a hit at someone who is a little too full of themselves. The song is the fastest one on the album and the only one about someone who Musgraves doesn't like.

I greatly enjoyed most of the songs on "Golden Hour" except for "Oh, What a World" mostly because I found the robotic voice to be annoying (I just want to hear the buttery softness of Kacey's voice!) but overall this is a fantastic piece of art. The album closes with "Rainbow" which wraps the record up beautifully, with just a piano and Musgraves singing an encouraging melody to remind us that there's always been a rainbow hanging over our heads.

 

Great job! Amazing review and I am glad you loved it despite being out of your comfort zone.

 

I really like TFD. Definitely among my favorites.

Team No Name Face

 

Thank you so much!! I definitely want to explore her other records now! Pageant Material was such a fun listen last night!