I got a chance to see and actually meet this artist, Chris August, at a concert at Stubb's about a month ago. I had never heard of him before and immediately fell in love. His voice was one of the best I've ever heard live and his lyrics were so relatable. Though I didn't understand why, nor was I disappointed, he had two sets and came up on stage twice, just him and his guitar. I was more than impressed by his wide range and soulful vocals. A big and raw R&B voice came out of this little, white, hipster looking guy. Literally every single one of his songs gave me goosebumps and his randomly inspiring add-libs were even more attractive. I was just completely captivated by his voice, so much so that I started downloading his songs off iTunes onto my phone while he was still performing.
My friend that I was at the show with bought August's album from the merch table, and on the way home we immediately played it in his car. Such a fricken disappointment! We of course expected the amazing live Chris August voice to come through the speakers, but what we heard instead was an overly-contrived generic pop artist. Everything was so polished and computer generated. You could even hear the auto-tune. There was nothing special about Chris August that you could hear in the album. All I can say is that I wish I could have just taken his live performance home with me instead of this silly CD that made him sound like anyone else I could hear on the radio.
This was honestly so upsetting to me. I really wanted to love Chris August. On top of his amazing talent, he also seemed completely down to earth. He walked around the venue after the show meeting and talking with fans, cracking jokes with everyone as though he had always been your best friend. I don't want to dislike him, but I can't help but wish I never would have listened to his album. It made him lose so much appeal. All I can do is hope that his next album is more raw and less produced. Or maybe he can release a live album. I will however recommend that you don't listen to his album, but do watch some of his live performances on YouTube if you can't see one of his shows. Also, check this out:
So, I absolutely love The Black Keys. Their last album, Brothers, was a hit and definitely one of my favorite albums. This is why I'm completely pumped to hear what their new one is going to sound like. The Black Keys new album, El Camino, is set to come out December 6th, but you can already pre-order it on iTunes. Then, earlier this week, the band released this first listen video of the first single from the album, called "Lonely Boy". While the video seems ridiculous as it depicts an old African-American man doing the same three 50s/60s dance moves for the camera while lip syncing, I can't help but think that this is somehow an oddly perfect analogy of this song's sound as well as The Black Keys' sound on general. Their music is always feel-good soulful retro with awesome beats. Their albums always sound as though you are listening to them in a live venue such as your local bar or best friend's parent's garage. Singer Dan Auerbach's voice is reminiscent of early blues singers and while it doesn't ever range from more than a few notes, it is still enjoyable to listen to.
Warning: Lots of mixed feelings and ranting in this post.
So after all of the hype over their first album in three years, Family Force 5 left me thinking, "Wow, seriously, what have they been doing this whole time?" The album, III, is only ten tracks and less than thirty minutes long. Also, the lyrics are completely shallow and pretty unoriginal. Even the title of the album is lame; it's their third album, coming out three years after their last one, hence III.
As much as I love this band, it just seems to me as though their albums get progressively worse. I don't understand how their music started off so creative, but now is so common and just full of words about partying and looking at hot girls. However, I'm not going to be all judgmental and lame though like all the Christian blogs are reviewing this album, saying it's sad that these guys call themselves Christians. No, that's just ridiculous. Just because Family Force 5 makes fun music and doesn't explicitly mention Jesus, doesn't mean that they are liars and doesn't change their beliefs. That's just silly.
My problem with this album though is that it could have been at least a little bit longer and a little more unique. It could have had more of the Family Force 5 sound that I fell in love with years ago. It could have varied in what the songs were about a little more. Sadly, most of the songs are about the same things -- Seeing hot chicks and dancing. And come on, only ten songs?! I think FF5 owes it to their die-hard fans to have at least given them a little more, especially after such a long wait.
But then there's the other side of me...
Besides all the things that I just said, I do actually like this album. Yeah, I know that makes no sense. While most of the songs are about the same unoriginal things, III does actually have some good lyrics on about two of their songs. "Paycheck" is a pretty funny and ironic commentary about our nation and its economic state: "I spent my life lookin' for a discount
Now I thank God for the handout". Or maybe it's just talking about being poor? Either way, it differs from the other songs on III. Then there's "Not Alone", the only song on the album to keep the conservative Christian critics from shunning this group and voting them off the island once and for all. It actually doesn't mention girls or partying at all...yay.
Family Force 5 is known for being different. They have a super unique sound, deemed Crunk-rock -- lots of screaming, heavy beats, semi-rapping, synths, with a country twang. In III however, the band experiments a lot with a new sort of reggae and samba sound in songs like "Mammacita" and "You Got It". Then, the funnest song of all, complete with its own dance (yes I know it) is "Wobble".
Vocally, it's hard to give Family Force 5 a rating. Solomon Olds (aka Soul Glow Activatur) the lead singer has a pretty distinct voice to me. It's usually raspy with a hint of southern accent. His occasional screaming is a part of what makes the band who they are. Besides that though, I mean its not like this dude was classically trained. You can though sometimes hear a bit of a soft harmony under all the synth and beat.
Overall, III by Family Force 5 is one of the couple of albums lately that brings me to an internal battle. Do I like it or not?! Do I just think I like it because I feel as though I have some sort of fan loyalty (Eh em like with Switchfoot)? Do I really think its trite and lame? Does it just make me really mad that I actually like it??? Regardless, Family Force 5 is always going to be one of those you either love it or hate it kinds of bands. This is definitely a good album though to have if you want to throw a dance party or drive around with your friends, yelling the stupid lyrics at the top of your lungs.
First video for the album:
If you haven't heard of Family Force 5 before, their an awesome band from Atlanta with a unique sound. It's five guys, three of them are brothers, which is where their name came from. They all have wonderfully ridiculous stage names: Soul Glow Activatur, Crouton, Fatty, Nadaddy, and Chap Stique. They also have genuinely hilarious personalities. Search "Family Force 5 Really Real Show" on YouTube to see what I mean. Oh, and they're extremely fun to see live; I've seen them like four times.
Usually I write about new stuff that has just come out, but this week I've decided to change things up a bit. I've been pretty obsessed with this duo, the Civil Wars for sometime now and thought I'd finally show them some love. Comprised of John Paul White and Joy Williams (I used to listen to her stuff on Christian radio back when I was a kid), these two singer-songwriters met in Nashville and later formed this genuinely beautiful folk alt-country band. Their music is so serene and just plain lovely.
What I enjoy most is how nicely their voices compliment each other. John's voice is deep and raw while Joy's is soft and clear. Together they form some pretty sick and haunting harmonies that give goose bumps. Whether they are simultaneously singing in harmony, unison, doing rounds, or belting out their own solos, both of their talents are constantly being showed off. Their album, Barton Hallow, that came out in February is one that I am always listening to on repeat. It never gets old. And I'm pretty sure it would be appealing to any sort of listener. I promise you this band is worth your time.
They've done it again! I absolutely love the band MuteMath,, and their new album that came out this week is simply fun! As seen in this new video for their song "Blood Pressure" and their 2007 video that first put them on the scene, "Typical", these guys from New Orleans are not only talented, but creative as well.
Mutemath is extremely interesting as a band. They have a unique sound that defines them. I think what is so cool is that they often show off their talents by including songs on their albums that are solely instrumental. It gives them cred as classical and artistic. Their sound is a great mix of soulful,electronic, surf-rockish, industrial, with the distinct voice of Paul Meany and a few keytars.
This new album is a wonderful mix of their past two, but in my opinion is a good improvement from their last, Armistice. Some of the songs on the album are even a little bit progressive sounding, and it's cool how there will be one that has a super slow chill tempo then the next will be an upbeat ska-ish sounding song that you can dance to.
While there's not much I can say about the vocals in this album, the music is still wonderful. I am however a huge fan of Meany's voice, and if you listen closely, a few of the songs do have nice understated harmonies, including this song "Blood Pressure". Also this video, which already the second from this album, is a total win. So much stop motion, so much strobe, so much jumping, so much confetti, so much fun.
Well, my excitement was crushed. I hate to hate on this album and it pains me to talk badly about Switchfoot, but I have been waiting for this for the entire year. I've been a big fan and follower of this band for years and own all of their albums, even their early stuff from the 90s. Ironically I just stated a couple of weeks ago that no matter what, this would be the one band that I would always love and spend money on. Boy, did I jinx myself.
Vice Versas came out last Tuesday and as soon as it did, I tried to purchase it on iTunes. Thank God, I realized soon enough that I was out of iTunes credit and decided just to listen to it on Spotify instead. WTH?! was all I could say. What happened to Switchfoot?!
This album is full of cliches. From the lyrics, to the arrangements of the songs, everything was so contrived and pathetic. I was shocked at how the lyrics, what I usually respect the most about Switchfoot, sounded as though they could have been written by amateurs. Like seriously, did a couple of twelve year olds write this stuff? You'll find that when you look at the title of the songs, you can already predict what it will sound like. Literally almost every chorus just repeats the title. Ugh! Not what I would expect from front-man, and my personal hero, Jon Foreman. Switchfoot, Foreman's other band Fiction Family, and his solo project are usually filled with artistic and authentic lyrics about life and spirituality. But none of that is heard on Vice Versas.
So what happened this time? Well I blame Atlantic Records and their producers, that Switchfoot is new to working with. Everything sounds like its trying to be catchy, instead of original. Another problem is that a lot of this sounds like some of Switchfoot's past work, as though they just ran out of ideas and decided to compile similar sounding stuff as before, but not in a good way.
I will admit that the album isn't completely terrible; it does strike some good notes, and it could have had potential, but then never got to actual good. What I don't understand is all the buzz about this album. It has received so much more promotion than previous Switchfoot music, more than other albums which I thought deserved to be talked about more. Fans as well as the band themselves have said that this is their best work yet, and I completely disagree. This is by far the most disappointed I've been all year. Hopefully, maybe if I listen to this album again, it will grow on me, but I doubt it. And I would advise fans of this album, or people who don't know much about Switchfoot to check out their older stuff and then decide if this is really good work.
