Spill Magazine Pt. 1

http://spillmagazine.com/ is the site, but their setup is weird so I'm gonna upload screen shots of my reviews. If you want to navigate their site then my stuff is available under album reviews, and then in the archive section. Good luck with that.

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The Virgins
The Virgins
Atlantic

The Virgins’ principle members Donald Cumming and Wade Oates were models on a photo shoot when they met and decided to start playing songs. This, along with their unabashed pastiche of re-popularized post-punk styles have garnered many knee jerk reactions comparing them to another New York band of recent years, and indeed “Radio Christiane” off their self- titled debut LP does channel the Cars via the Strokes.

This should not however be seen as a negative trait, as the tendency of other current and trendy sounding bands to phone in performances for effect (or perhaps out of lack of talent) is completely absent in the Virgins. The song writing is strong and varied, creating a mixtape quality that can often sound messy in lesser hands but works in this case. This is largely due to the solid rhythm section of Erik Ratensperger and Nick Zarin-Ackerman who are as adept at the mid tempo balladry of closer “Love is Colder Than Death” as they are at the rhythmic stop-start funk of “Murder”.

The Virgins are also no strangers to melody and lyricism in spite of their seemingly party-ready instrumentation. “Fernando Pando” in particular seems genuine and heartfelt in way that is immediately familiar and anything but disposable with sentiments such as “The kids I used to know they died/Well they’re not around/I wonder what they think of life/When they’re looking down”.

A strong first effort from a promising young band, The Virgins will not disappoint any one looking for a strong pop album that would be at just as home alone in their bedroom as it would be at their next party.

http://www.thevirgins.net




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Haute Voltage
The Jolts
Haute Voltage Records

The Jolts’ Haute Voltage practically invites you to judge them harshly. The band mugs on the cover in leather jackets literally posing like their apparent influence The Dead Boys and the members have names like Joey Blitzkrieg. Luckily this serves only as a ruse because the music handily rises above the ridiculous packaging.

Innovation is not the Jolts’ game, but they do not hide it with unnecessarily lo-fi production like so many of their more garage-leaning peers, choosing instead tastefully well produced tracks. Right out of the gate they demonstrate with the solid opener “Hey! Alright!” that a band can be totally lacking in originality and still make music as strong as its obvious influences. Also, the lyrics tend to be literal rather than literate, and again this suits them well especially in songs such as “I Never Loved You”, treading on the familiar teenage pop theme of rejection through song.

The Jolts are no fools – in fact they’re one step ahead of us all, throwing us red herrings in the form of an inane album title and packaging only to remind you how silly it is to judge a band by such superficiality. Self-consciously unselfconscious, the Jolts ride a fine line and totally pull it off, delivering a solid album that is much a reflection of the current state of music as it is anachronistic.

http:// www.myspace.com/thejolts

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Yesterday You Could Save The World
Broadcast Zero
Rebel Time Records

Kitchener-Waterloo’s Broadcast Zero deal in the kind of “straight-up punk rock” that seems to draw exclusively from the Fat Wreck/Hellcat/Epitaph Records school of music as a mark of authenticity. This often rigid approach is problematic and contradictory to the original spirit of punk rock, which was always about individuality even before it was about DIY. That said, Broadcast Zero still really kick ass because the approach in question packs a lot of power when put into the right hands. From opener “Off The Wagon” to closing track “The Devil Song” there is rarely a moment of pause aside from the occasional acoustic intro. Resembling Leftöver Crack with less ‘groove’, the music on Yesterday You Could Change The World is a unswerving lesson in economically-controlled bursts of “straight-up punk”.

The lyrics, however, are not really the political manifesto the cover art would have one believe, often dealing with politics at the personal level - raging on about a number of topics such as sexual empowerment (“My Body”), twenty-something self destructive party lifestyles (“Neverland Forever”) and scene politics (the appropriately titled “Scene Politics”). The tendency toward directness that characterizes this album is summed up neatly in “This Distortion” when singer Nick hollers, “All this abstraction is a distraction....This ain’t no poetry, this music is reality”.

Mostly though, it just kicks a lot of ass.

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Olly Oxen Free
Mason Proper
Dovecote Records

Occupying the available sonic real estate between Broken Social Scene and Moon And Antarctica-era Modest Mouse, Michigan band Mason Proper write shimmering pop gems that never stray far from the now familiar post-punk revival sound. What makes them stand out is not necessarily an original take on the form but rather a move toward the perfection of it – Olly Oxen Free, their second LP, is a sleek, polished and professional sounding affair that nevertheless manages to retain a sense of genuine feeling throughout.

There isn’t a single weak track on this album, but there a few standouts such as “Lock and Key”, and the rocking “Shiny”, a song that changes from steel drum sounding guitars to a rhythmic stop start riff without sounding strained. The lyrics are also noteworthy, as vocalist Jonathan Visger is capable of heartfelt moments in songs like “In The Mirror” as well as more upbeat and aggressive moments with a sense of pessimistic humour that never sounds disingenuous.

Blessed by a short run time and a multitude of great ideas, Olly Oxen Free is a consistently rewarding listen that places Mason Proper head and shoulders above their peers.