The Helio Sequence- Keep Your Eyes Ahead (2008)

Only a handful of times in my show-going career have I been completely blown away by an opening band that I was previously unfamiliar with. Of those, only one rapidly ascended to rank amongst my favorite active bands. As you can probably guess, that band is The Helio Sequence. The funny thing is I saw them open up for Minus The Bear, who at the time I absolutely loved. Since then however, I've found myself listening to Minus The Bear less and less (especially since that turd Omni) and The Helio Sequence more.

The first time I heard The Helio Sequence I was impressed with the amount of noise these two dudes made. I would describe their first few albums as shoegaze, or perhaps shoegaze's catchier cousin dream pop. These were big wall of sound affairs, the walls being composed of pedal driven guitar, loops, synth, 8-bit bleeps and bloops and of course drums (interesting tidbit: drummer Benjamin Weikel plied his trade on Modest Mouse's Good News For People Who Love Bad News). Those things can still be found on Keep Your Eyes Ahead, just not in the same quantity as their other releases. Really, the transition from dream pop to indie rock/pop began on their third album Love And Distance, but even that seems dense when compared to the sheared down sound of this album. It might be ridiculous to call the results of a band diluting the sound they had cultivated and playing more by the pop playbook fresh, but to me that's exactly what Keep Your Eyes Ahead is. It's like that first day in the spring where you can go outside without a jacket, it might only be five degrees warmer than the day before, but that five degrees makes all the difference and somehow you feel unburdened. The Helio Sequence has always written tremendously catchy songs, but by scaling back a bit and committing to writing the pop songs they always seemed to know they were capable of, The Helio Sequence have produced what is, to date, their master work and one of my favorite albums of the aughts.

Keep Your Eyes Ahead is essential listening for everybody.

The Helio Sequence on last.fm



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The Mountain Goats- Tallahassee (2002)

This is one of those just in case posts. If we've known one another for more than 15 minutes and discussed music at all, you probably know that The Mountain Goats' John Darnielle is one of my favorite musicians ever. Why? Because he is the best lyricist ever. Period. If you're familiar with The Mountain Goats I defy you to name a better lyricist. If you're not familiar with The Mountain Goats, get familiar. Now. Trust me, as a guy who spends most of his time bowed before the altar of the almighty riff, the only way a musician who, for most of his career, recorded albums in his bathroom with just an acoustic guitar could be counted amongst my favorite musicians is by being an extraordinary wordsmith.

Tallahassee happens to be my favorite Mountain Goats album as well as a great starting place for the uninitiated. Tallahassee captures The Mountain Goats in a transitional period, after Darnielle's lo-fi unaccompanied acoustic recordings and before The Mountain Goats became full band with well produced albums. Tallahassee in many ways combines the best of both eras, with good production and occasional drum, bass and other instrumental accompaniment, but for the most part is just Darnielle and an acoustic guitar.

This comes more highly recommended than anything else I have posted on this blog.

The Mountain Goats on last.fm

Everybody's favorite Mountain Goats song ever:


One of my personal favorites from this album:


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The Weakerthans- Reunion Tour (2007)

Wow. I can't believe this album is almost 4 years old (it will be next month). The first time I heard The Weakerthans I was 14 or 15. I hated it. I checked it out since I knew the former bassist from Propagandhi was in the band. It reminded me of the wimpy pop-punk songs that John K. Samson was responsible for on Propagandhi's Less Talk, More Rock. I didn't listen to The Weakerthans for a few years. But, for some reason, when I was 18 or so The Weakerthans clicked, I guess I was more open to wimpy pop-punk at that point. Since then they've been one of my favorite bands and my most listened to band according to last.fm (and those wimpy Propagandhi songs are now my favorites on that album).

Reunion Tour, The Weakerthans 4th and most recent album is one of the best albums I have ever heard. It shouldn't really have come as a surprise when this album immediately vaulted into position as my favorite Weakerthans album, over the course of their previous 3 albums The Weakerthans had been improving as a band in every facet imaginable and Reunion Tour didn't deviate from that path. Musically it's similar to their past output, indie/pop-punk with a bit of country twang and folksiness thrown in the mix. However, Reunion Tour adds a lush density that none of its predecessors quite had. I won't say it's a headphones album since it's equally, if not more so, a fantastic album to sing along to, but if you were to listen to it with your nicest pair of cans you'd be pleasantly surprised.

The music is only half the attraction of Reunion Tour though, John K. Samson is the other half. Is he a good singer? Not particularly, though he has much improved from his early Propagandhi days where he was objectively bad. Lyrically, he's one of the best ever. The only other person who competes with Samson for best lyricist ever is John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats. Each song is written from the perspective of a different character and the lyrics are extraordinarily literate, witty, insightful and the wordplay is brilliant.  

Not liking this album could very well be grounds for ending our friendship. 

The Weakerthans on last.fm



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Crucifix- Dehumanization (1983)

I realized I haven't posted much (if any) punk rock on here. Since I've been on a huge late 70's/early 80's punk/hardcore kick recently I'm going to post some.

There are few records that meant more to me than Dehumanization when I was in midde/high school. Though Crucifix never received the same recognition as their San Francisco peers The Dead Kennedys and Millions of Dead Cops, this album is generally recognized as a a classic, though the words "underrated" and "overlooked" are frequently used in same sentence. Politically and aesthetically Crucifix were in league with the English peace punk scene and bands like Crass and Flux of Pink Indians (this album was released by Corpus Christi, an offshoot of Crass Records). Musically they were Discharge on amphetamines, combining d-beat with the blistering speed of early hardcore bands such as Black Flag and Bad Brains. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Discharge, but this record rips way harder than any of their output. Check it out.

Crucifix on last.fm



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The Sea and Cake- Car Alarm (2008)

Car Alarm was my favorite album of 2008 and since then I don't think I've gone a month without listening to it. The Sea and Cake began as an indie rock band with jazz, calypso and post-rock influences and while keeping those influences to a certain extent, have morphed into a group that writes some of the most breezy, mellow indie-pop songs I've ever heard. Car Alarm, in my opinion, is the culmination of what The Sea and Cake have been doing for the past several albums. Their music is deceptively simple. Give it less than full attention and you'll note Sam Prekop's breathy vocals, bright and delicate sounding guitar, a rhythm section that keeps your head bobbing and occasional synth and steel drum accompaniment. Listen closer and you'll notice the interplay between the two guitarists, frequently dueling acoustically and electrically, subtle synth and electronic bits and the restraint with which rhythm section plays. With so much going on both above and below the surface I'm always amazed that Car Alarm is a brilliantly executed indie-pop album and not absolute cacophony. Highly recommended, especially if you're a fan of Maritime.

I also just found out they released a new album this month. Sweet!

The Sea and Cake on last.fm


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Gems: It's a 10/10, so, all of them.

Hot Snakes- Suicide Invoice (2002)

Hot Snakes was a post-hardcore band from San Diego, CA. They featured members of Drive Like Jehu and Rocket From The Crypt and sound quite a bit like the former. I've seen Hot Snakes described as "hardcore garage punk," which is just about as accurate a description as possible. Suicide Invoice is without question my favorite of the three Hot Snakes' full lengths. Like the other albums, Suicide Invoice features some fast, galloping garage rock riffs, a thundering rhythm section and Rick Froberg's snotty vocals. However, throughout the album there are more mid-paced tracks and sections that sound like a nastier Fugazi. Who doesn't like galloping, guitar-driven, garage punk? Thats' right, nobody.



Get it here.
Gems: I Hate The Kids, Gar Forgets His Insulin, Suicide Invoice, Paid In Cigarettes, LAX, Why Does It Hurt, Unlisted.

Moccasin- Last Leaf (2006)

Sorry, busy (I mean lazy) week this week.

Moccasin was (is?) a shoegaze/space rock/psychedelic rock band from Denver. I happened upon this back in 2007 or so and it hasn't left my heavy rotation as of yet. Their music features most of the hallmarks of shoegaze, pedal driven guitars, a dense, lush wall of sound and subdued, dreamy vocals, but Moccasin does so without sounding derivative. The rhythm section adds a certain heaviness to their sound and a times there's a moody, dark quality to the tracks on Last Leaf. But, playing yin to Moccasin's moody yang, there are plenty of hooks, riffs and catchy sing-along choruses. For me, much of the appeal of this album is the number of different ways you can listen to it, depending on your mood. You can strap on headphones and focus on the guitar textures (like I'm doing right now), put it on while cooking and groove along to the rhythm section or even sing along while driving around with your windows down.

As you probably surmised based on the first sentence, Moccasin's current status is uncertain. Back in 2009 they posted a few tracks on their myspace from an upcoming album and that was the last they were heard from. I'm still holding out hope, because if said album is anywhere near as good as Last Leaf it's sure to find a spot among my all time favorites. If you're a fan of early 90's shoegaze, newer shoegaze bands like The Helio Sequence, psychedelic rock or even the space rock stylings of Cave In on Jupiter you'll likely dig this. So, yeah, just listen to it.

Moccasin on last.fm



Get it here. Guess what Blaine? It's a .zip!

Gems: All of them. This album is a 10 in my book, no weak links.

Yob- The Unreal Never Lived (2005)

You know, I had a hard time deciding whether to post that Middian album or this Yob album. So fuck it.

Yob on last.fm




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Middian- Age Eternal (2007) METAL AERT

Steve overhead me listening to some Yob, he said it reminded him of a heaver old Soundgarden (read: good Soundgarden). I don't see the comparison, but I told him I'd post some. Instead, I'm posting this, the singer/guitarists other band. Middian sounds exactly like Yob, but this might be a bit more accessible than any Yob album as there's a greater ratio of clean vocals to screaming on this one (more on that later). Over the past 10 years or so I don't think any musician has been as consistently good as Yob's Mike Scheidt. 5 Yob albums and this Middian album while Yob was on hiatus, all of which have been at least an 8/10 in my book, a few being 10/10s (including this one). Yob has been labeled as just about every sub-genre of doom imaginable, stoner doom, psychedelic doom, progressive doom, sludge and I've definitely referred to them as space doom a few times. All of these labels certainly fit Middian as well, but none of them even come close to fully describing either of them. What you'll find on Age Eternal is monumental, head-nodding, trance-inducing riffs, surprisingly pretty psychedelic/space rock sounding leads and passages, odd stops and starts for a doom band and lumbering sludge parts. Also, I really like Mike's clean vocals, usually doom band's clean vocals are way too cock-rocky for me and I can't stand them. Mike and guitar player Will Lindsay's screams add a litte balance.

Yob just announced they're headed into the studio to record a new album and a tour to support said album. SWEET.

Middian on last.fm



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Gems: All of them.

The Mercury Program- Chez Viking (2009)

Simply put, The Mercury Program is my favorite band ever. I was pretty anxious before this came out, I didn't believe they would be able to come anywhere near A Data Learn The Language. I was wrong. Chez Viking is just about as close to a perfect album as possible and in my opinion is superior to A Data... absolutely zero filler, every track is extremely strong. You should have this already, if you don't get it now. I mean right now. This second.

Get it here.

Gems: Every. Single. Track.