I also wanted to apology for being absent for the whole of last month. As you know, I took a break to mourn my best friend, who passed away in mid-April. Well, the good news is that I'm back. Here are some overdue reviews, the theme to this entry is "forever", if you haven't figured it out.
Doomed Forever (06/22/10)
myspace.com ♥ slumberlandrecords
The Procedure Club are a new duo, Adam Malec and Andrea. Just scanning their online pages, I see that Adam has an unhealthy obsession with 60s pop girl singers and seems vindictive towards his ex-girlfriend Andrea. I'm sure it's not to be taken too seriously, I'm sure he will explain it was hackerz that made him sound like a jerk.
The good news is that Procedure Club is one of the latest band to be released on indie-favorite Slumberland Records. I generally find that anything that SLR releases, that it's worth checking out.
Doomed Forever is everything that I love about indiepop. Lo-fi music quality to the twee-ness of the girl. The formula is generally doubly cute when it's girl vs boy vocals, but if you can't manage to get some non-caring devoid boy to sing the part, multi-layered vocals will work just as well - as heard on "Vermont", "Artificial Light" and "Feel Sorry For Me".
While Sally will tell me that I shouldn't use the word "cute" when describing things, I think it really fits Procedure Club.
When they are not cute is when it's loud, abrasive, and unpleasant, like especially on "Nautical Song" and "Dead Bird". Even Andrea's sweet singing could not save this wall of crashing sound.
If you enjoy noise/shoegaze, such as JAMC with cute vocals from Alex Taylor, you'll like Procedure Club. The song to check out is "Rather", you'll fall in love with it, even though the song is about cheating on your boyfriend.
Hope to see them at Popfest next year. I'm eager to see what they're like live, since the vocals trickery on Doomed Forever seems hard to reproduce (unless they have backup singers?).
The album is not listed on SLR as of this writing, but if you want to pre-order the vinyl from amazon.com, it's only $11.
No Snare (05/12/10)
myspace.com/tenderforever ♥ krecs.com
It's been a while since I last heard from Melanie Valera, aka Tender Forever, but she's back with her third album, No Snare, released on K Records (man, I really want one of those custom made wallets!!)
Since Wider, which I've previously mentioned was "diary pop" music because her songs are all very, very personal - mostly about personal relationships and love... set in a pop song. It seems that with No Snare that she's doing what she loves, because after all, her motto seems to be "I can do whatever the love I want."
I have to say that there seems to be more emphasis on the music on No Snare, rather than sparse arrangements. The title of the album comes from the second track, "Like The Snare That's Gone", which is such an amazing song that I got stuck looping the song over and over for this review.
It's ultimately a breakup song, but it's not vengeful, the song sounds more like a celebration (you'll find yourself dancing to it).
Unfortunately, "Like The Snare That's Gone" is so good that I find myself thinking about that song, while listening to the rest of No Snare. It seems the rest of the album is that tender-sweet songs. They sound very shy, and it's really an album for any fans of girl-power music.Why are you coming to my door?
You know I'm not yours anymore.
Because my heart sounds sounds like a baby
Like the snare that's gone and the deep sounds goes
You know, I have to go, when you have no love to show.
And your heart pounds pounds baby
But the snare is gone and the deep sounds goes
![]() Tour Dates 07/10/10 Empty Bottle Chicago, IL
Discography
07/23/10 Cactus Club Milwaukee, WI
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Pink Live Forever (2009)
myspace.com/tirralirratirra ♥ electricagemedia.com
I don't really know much about Tirra Lirra, except that they stole their name from William Shakespeare ("the lark, that tirra-lyra chants"). Their debut full length is barely what you'd consider a full album, just eight songs, a total of about forty-minutes, which is fine because it seems I don't really have much time.
From the start, "We Are All Strays", sounds a little psychedelic to me, particularly when the mixer started to warp the vocals to sound like he's singing into a blowing fan. While that may sounds fun when you're doing this as bedsit teenager, I don't think it makes for good songs.
Tirra Lirra seems to me to enjoy lots and lots of musical layers in their music. The vocals often takes a backseat to the overpowering beats, on such songs like "Mystery Eyes" and the title track, "Pink Live Forever", so it gives off a kaleidoscopic, dream-like quality.
I think if you enjoy 60s guitar/lyrical bands, you'll like this band. They're currently offering free songs from their soundcloud account:
06/13/2010 22:15:08 ♥ vu (
) ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥podcast.weheartmusic.com�
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