DIMOSOL's Mobile Technology Fun Blog

Steel Train - Trampoline

Now, I could pepper this review with all kinds of phrases like "a rollicking good time" or "ear candy" but let's just suffice it to say that it's good. Really good. Never before have I heard an album this good...about real tragedy. You see, Jack Antanoff the lead singer and songwriter for the band experienced a series of personal tragedies. That coupled with the lasting emotional effects of the attacks on the World Trade Center make for some really heavy lyrics. And there are only one or two songs on this album that don't mention these directly, which should make for some really depressing music. But instead, most of the songs are upbeat and a lot of fun.

What's more, this band didn't sound anything like this before this album. Before this they were folky and considerably more mopey. They're actually signed to a label known for mopey. Don't ask me how but apparently multiple tragedies in someone's life can beget some of the best straight rock and roll I've heard in a while.

The album opens with I Feel Weird which hits you like the moment, after falling asleep in front of the television, when you wake up and realize just how loud the TV is. It jumps in with both feet and doesn't let up for three very solid minutes. There's something about the sound, maybe the bells, that reminds me of Bruce Springsteen. Steel Train is from New Jersey so maybe there's something there. But I don't like Springsteen, so....

From there we move right into one of the best songs on the album; Black Eye. It proceeds like a song that knows you're already hooked on the album. I can't really explain it, but the song just bleeds confidence. I had the chance to see these guys live last month and this song is a real crowd pleaser. All I could do was stand in the crowd, pound my heel into the floor,  and smile ear to ear.

Kill Monsters In The Rain channels Grandaddy with a heavier bass drum. That's what all of the songs on the album have in common; a driving beat that doesn't let up. It's great. The song takes on a more disco flavor but that's not an insult. It's done very well.

The best song on the album is it's slowest. Dakota reminds me lyrically of Crash Test Dummies' Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm. Both are songs about misfits and the trouble they find in their lives. Musically I would have thought this was a Fountains of Wayne song if I hadn't known better. It's achingly beautiful and a real treat to listen to with headphones (check it out.)

Firecracker...well, "Firecracker" is perfect. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

The only track on the album that I don't feel really good about is School Is For Losers. That one feels like it's trying too hard to rock. It's got good parts to it and I don't generally skip over it.

So give it a listen. I'm on about my two hundredth. It's a good thing there's no needle to wear the CD down.

See Ya'll, Bill

Drake Bell-It’s Only Time (Universal Motown)

Twenty year old tweener heartthrob Drake Bell, star of Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh, couldn’t be less on my radar. In fact the previous sentence features more information than I knew about him five minutes ago (I looked up his age). He dabbles in music, apparently, and his second album, It’s Only Time, was released by Universal Motown in December 2006. While I have no real preconceived notions of the boy, my instincts tell me I’d have no interest in his musical output. I’m glad I chose to override my instincts this go round.

The Beatles, specifically Yellow Submarine-era, are an obvious influence, but whether accidentally or on purpose, it’s impossible upon hearing this CD not to think of Jellyfish. The slick, polished arrangements and Andy Sturmer-like voice recall beyond flattery the oft-cited, under-selling early 90’s power-pop band. If you’ve ever heard 1990’s Bellybutton or 1993’s more ornate, Queen-like Spilt Milk, you will immediately recognize this precise imitation. The first track, “Up Periscope,” is a Jellyfish song through and through. During the kind of silly nautical intro, the voice over the intercom even says, “Do what you can do to avoid those jellyfish.” The guitar strum of “Makes Me Happy” is a direct cop of “Baby’s Coming Back.” Given the fact that this disc is presumably geared to teen girls, and Jellyfish’s relatively unknown status and commercial failure, it is easy to assume this is all coincidence, but one never knows.

What teen girls like makes even less sense to me now than when I was a teen boy, but I can’t figure them swallowing this CD beyond thinking the cover shot is dreamy. Sure, the lyrics are all boy-meets-girl stuff, but the shimmery, sweeping arrangements, thick harmonies, and weird instrumentation, sound enticingly out of place here. This is not R&B-flavored, over-singing boy band material. A few of these tunes, “I Know,” and the title track especially, would fit right in on Radio Disney, and even those are good songs. For the most part, though, this is an odd little sugary confection, a left-field surprise for power-pop lovers out there. As with any teen star, it’s hard to know if this is his vision or one of his handlers,’ but a little insight may be offered in the chorus to “Fool The World,” which says, “Everyone would love me, if I could fool the world.” Seeing as it will be nearly impossible for Bell to be taken seriously by the out-of-high-school music buying public, that statement rings surprisingly true.

MANY MANY thanks to Jeremy Frye for this review
Check out Jeremy's blog.

The Golden Dogs Comin' On Strong

I recently ordered a bunch of new music from a record store and was surprised to find that one of the cd's was a whopping $23.00. It apparently is only available in Canada or you can buy it in the US as an import. I realized too late that I could have downloaded it from iTunes for $9.99.

But my shock at the price has dissolved upon repeated listenings. You see, I bought this record on the strength of the only song that I had heard from it. It's a gamble I've taken before that sometimes doesn't pay off. But other times I find bands that I really like, and this album is well worth the price.

Anyway, this album rocks. Literally. It's a superball of energy ricocheting around the inside of the shower (remember?) A lot of the comments on iTunes mention the B-52's but I can't find any similarities other than the fact that sometimes the female vocalist sounds a little like Kate Pierson. No, I see these guys more like an angry Sugarplastic mixed with The New Pornographers. They definitely have the pop sensibilities and have turned the amps up a little more.

All of the tracks can be listened to in their entirety on the band's website. And while I invoke other bands and songs in my description of the album, let me make it clear that I think this is something new and great. I love it.

Stand out tracks on the album include "Saints At The Gates" which sounds like Pink Floyd's "The Trial" mixed with Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" sung by Tom Waites. Sound odd? Well it rocks. It's the song you play fourth in a set to really get the crowd with you.

Track number seven titled "Strong" channels Carl Newman's ensemble to the point that I think Neko Case has joined The Golden Dogs and is singing. (I found a note scribbled on a piece of paper while driving that noted how much I liked this song, which I heard on XM Radio. It's what got me to look into them on the internet.) Hang in there for the last thirty seconds when they start trading "downs."

"Never Meant Any Harm" is the track that initiated this purchase and is still my favorite. As I mentioned in a previous post, the keyboard in this song borrows from the Cars' "Hello Again."

Listen to it all LOUD! And consider downloading it from iTunes or somewhere else. Like I said, it was worth the $23.00 in my opinion, but I don't think the band will see any of that extra money. So save the dough and buy a shirt at the show when they come to town. I'll see you there.

Hope you like it, Bill

Brent Cash's New Album - BUY IT!!

I have known Brent for MANY years. I copied this from his record label's my space site

Do you believe in magic?! Well, we do. Especially since we’ve heard this album. Marina is proud to present a brand new recording artist: Mr Brent Cash - a musical wunderkind from Athens, GA (home of R.E.M. and The B-52s, among others).

Brent entitled his debut album “How Will I Know If I’m Awake” and it is almost too good to be true. Sounding like a lost sunshine pop classic from the 60s, the record is overflowing with hook-laden choruses, multi-layered vocal harmonies and lush sophisticated arrangements. It’s the sound of endless summers and good vibrations...

From the start, multi-instrumentalist Cash decided to record his songs like “they did it back then”. So no costs were spared to hire the best musicians in town and assemble a mini-orchestra featuring strings, brass and even a harp (!). The results are simply stunning.

From the opening chords of “Everything That’s Grey” we enter melody wonderland. A place where major 7 chords rule and beautiful vocal harmonies dazzle your mind. “Digging The Fault Line” is full of Byrds guitar jangle, sounding like the perfect soundtrack to cruise into golden California sunsets (feat. a great Wes Montgomery-like guitar solo along the way). “Only Time” explodes with 100 % fat-free youthful euphoria - Roger Nichols meets The 5th Dimension. Ba-baba-ba…!

While deeply rooted in 60s songwriting - influenced by Bacharach, Wilson, McCartney, and yes, The Monkees - Cash certainly has his own unique signature style. Just listen to “And Had We Ever…” and “I Think I’m Falling In Love” - with its complex enchanting textures, ignoring conventional song structures.

“Love Is Burning Down Tonight” - a striking duet between Brent and Amanda Kapousouz - is a special highlight of the album. It’s a song about a relationship going wrong - yet it’s so beautifully arranged, that it makes the scenario almost sound like the best lifestyle option ever (ha...). “Good Morning Sunshine” could be the theme song to the best TV series in the world - the harpsichord driven piece is chock-full of amazing twists and turns of melodic beauty. Play it over and over again - and you’ll still discover new beautiful details. “Making shapes on corners...”

“This Sea, These Waves” moves us into Bossa Nova territory. Starting off in a classic Getz/Gilberto mould, the song soon morphs into orchestrated Sergio Mendes & Brazil ’66 elegance (with one verse even sung in Portuguese!). Wow. “More Than Everything” - clocking in at over six minutes - ends this beautiful song cycle about love lost and found. A great final statement about overcoming heartbreak, delivered with the sincerety of a Carpenters record.

Listen to this album - and believe in magic!