Press

Review of Fission from Nerdy Frames
November 21, 2010
"Fission is the next evolution in the sound of a band that only seems to get better with time."
Not often do you find a band who has experienced success yet still has the desire to explore new sonic directions. Los Angeles' Film School, a band who released two critically acclaimed album on Beggars Banquet, played sold out shows across Britain with Mercury Prize nominees British Sea Power, toured Europe with The National, headlined multiple North American tours, and was hand-picked by UK legends Swervedriver to open their 2008 North American reunion tour, felt like mixing things up a bit this time around.

Fission is an album of clarity, energy, and change. One of the most notable differences on this album is the more prominent vocal presence of bassist Lorelei Plotczyk. From the first notes on the opening track, "Heart Full Of Pentagons," you can hear the band moving into new territories. "There were tons of ideas and melodies floating around the rehearsal room, including some amazing full songs being brought in. I could tell this was going to be a totally different kind of album for Film School and I wanted to get out of the way and let it happen," says Bertens. The result is a dynamic mix of songwriting by Bertens, Plotczyk and Ruck with help from guitarist Dave Dupuis and drummer James Smith.



“When I’m Yours,” is a tautly composed dancefloor burner that fires off brisk beats and electropop keyboard lines only to open up halfway into the song to a lush guitar wash and soaring vocal melody. That sonic revelation—a sort of frenetic tension building to cathartic release—is a fitting introduction to an album that takes the Film School sound in new directions that will no doubt surprise some listeners. Fission delivers the layers of reverbed guitars, swirling keyboards, and strong rhythm section that the band is known for, but adds more harmonies, danceable beats, and pop sensibilities, making it Film School’s most accessible album to date.



In other tracks, listeners will hear echoes of Lush and Yo La Tengo, but in a modern way. “Waited” is a classic indie rock duet, with fuzzy guitars add counterpoint to the song’s bittersweet male-female vocals. "Sunny Day", with its jangly rhythm, dreamy singing, tambourine accents, and heavily distorted guitar lines, is equal parts Paisley Underground and early ’90s Britpop. “Distant Life” is a punchy nugget of a pop song, while “Bones” showcases a sweetly melancholic chorus laced with strings and piano.


Mixed and mastered by Dan Long (The Jealous Girlfriends, Ferraby Lionheart) and produced by Bertens, Fission is the next evolution in the sound of a band that only seems to get better with time.

Re-issue talked about by Summerskiss
November 9, 2010
Vinyl Re-issue

Hi-Speed Soul to reissue landmark 1990s album Gentlemen on vinyl

The Afghan Whigs’ landmark album Gentlemen will be reissued on 180 gram vinyl by San Diego’s Hi-Speed Soul Records on January 25, 2011. The release will feature the complete studio album as well as a full color lyric sheet.

Gentlemen has been considered by music critics and Afghan Whigs’ fans the world over as the band’s masterpiece featuring quintessential songs like “Debonair,” “Gentlemen” and “What Jail Is Like.” As The Afghan Whigs’ major label debut (originally released by Elektra Records) Gentlemen was cinematic in its scope and more ambitious than anything The Afghan Whigs had released to date. Almost the antithesis to the 90s Grunge movement, Gentlemen retained The Afghan Whigs’ trademark R&B and soul influences. Despite receiving support from MTV and modern rock radio, the band remained largely a cult favorite. Gentlemen appeared on numerous “best of” lists for 1993 as well the 1990s as a whole.

Seth Combs from Pacific Magazine talks about Hyena
October 28, 2010
“I was in Guitar Center, and we were playing over the store speakers...”

For Bryan Stratman, one half of local electro-rock duo Hyena, the big moment when he knew his band was catching on wasn’t when he heard the band on local radio; nor was it when he heard local DJs spinning the band’s song, “Kill Kids” in the clubs.

Nope, it came with a simple trip to pick up some new equipment.

“I was in Guitar Center, and we were playing over the store speakers,” says Stratman. “I was like, ‘What the hell is going on here?’”

Stratman and musical partner Michael Cooper, Hyena’s drummer, spent years toiling in the local alternative rock scene. Cooper played drums for local rockers Transfer and also worked with Stratman in Crash Encore, another San Diego rock band.

Eventually the two decided to work together as a duo.

“I heard [Stratman] working on some stuff that just sounded totally different and I said to him, ‘Dude, let’s do some indie-electro,’” Cooper says. “We’ve been doing indie rock for years, and now I want to make people dance.”

Comprised of samples, synthy hooks and sexy lyrics mixed with a dash of live instrumentation, the Hyena sound is something altogether new on the local music scene. Stratman and Cooper haven’t been together a year, but they’ve already garnered enough devoted fans to pack the house at a variety of venues including FLUXX, Belly Up Tavern, House of Blues and The Casbah. More recently, the boys have been playing shows in LA, where Cooper says they’ve had a “huge response.”

“Some labels and music licensing companies came out,” he says. “We had some meetings after that, and they went really well. We’re feeling everything out right now, but it’s looking really good for us.”

Jeff Terich review The Black Heart Procession album Six
October 12, 2010

The Black Heart Procession has a reputation for being one of San Diego's most stylishly evil bands. So, it should only make sense that their sixth album, titled Six, would be their most evil recording to date. Mark of the beast or no, the band has a history of dark and devilish music, from the goth pop of their first two albums, to the funereal drones of ghostly peak Three, to the harder rocking recent favorite The Spell. After ramping things up a bit, however, Pall Jenkins and Tobias Nathaniel have toned down some of their more incendiary tendencies of late to create an album that's more quietly ominous, but still quite eerie.

More than any Black Heart record since Three, Six is the sound of the band at their most spectral and bleak. There's only a slight hint of the haunting to come in the minor key opening ballad "When You Finish Me," but when "Wasteland" queues up, the band's M.O. is laid out on the cadaver table. Backed by a plodding death march, scratchy guitars and otherworldly backing vocals, frontman Pall Jenkins gently croons, "I hear the ghosts calling me down to the grave." Yet he faces even bigger demons, quite literally, as he sings, "I'm not leaving until the devil is dead."

In spite of its ghoulishness, Six isn't without its share of upbeat, even catchy tunes, starting with "Witching Stone," a head-nodding goth rocker that juxtaposes dramatic piano against a quasi-danceable rhythm. First single "Rats" is likewise a memorable tune, with clanging percussion and whirring organs, as Jenkins paints a vivid picture of "rats with blood in their eyes." "Drugs," meanwhile, is simultaneously the album's gentlest and most devastating track. Over little more than a somber piano melody, Jenkins laments "I took your poison to see how you suffer." The Latin-flavored all my steps is a notable standout for adding a bit of exotic flair, while "Suicide" is a Morricone-esque gem, spacious but abrasive and altogether fantastic.

Combining The Black Heart Procession's affinity for withered and bleak ballads with scratchy and jittery pop tunes, Six is a grand addition to the San Diego duo's catalog. And with Halloween coming in just a few weeks, it makes a great addition to your haunted house playlist. Just don't be surprised if you end up with a few nightmares of your own afterward.

Quote from Tim Pyles, FM 94.9 about Hyena
September 28, 2010
What a dream

“...Two guys will move you, that’s right two guys
make the sound vibrations that will percolate in your
eardrums and move your booty! Hyena is the band
you’ve been dreaming about...”
Tim Pyles, FM 94/9 San Diego

Creative Loafing review of Film School Fission
September 8, 2010
"Film School are never ending."
San Francisco’s Film School was originally founded in 1998 by Greg Bertens (vocals). Greg began taking piano lessons at age 10, playing mostly ragtime and Mozart; it wasn’t until years later, while listening to Nirvana, that he thought he might like to form his own band. As soon as he got over the idea of being the next Kurt Cobain, he realized that he spent all of his time playing music, listening to music, or working out melodies in his head. He figured he might as well go pro with it.

In 2001, Jason Ruck (keyboard), Nyles Lannon (guitar), Justin Labo (bass) and Ben Montesano (drums) joined him to form a proper quintet.
Between then and now, Greg stands as the only original member of the line-up. Ben was replaced by Donnie Newhouse, who was later replaced by James Smith; Lorelei Plotczyk replaced Justin on bass; Dave Dupuis replaced Nyles on guitar. Although Film School remains Greg’s band and he continues to change the line-up, the sound remains consistent.

According to Greg, Film School creates “layered melodies and big washes of sound,” draws on post-punk and noise-rock influences, and performs with “unrestrained guitars and loud driven drumbeats — but it is a sound as brooding, atmospheric and self-contained as it is explosive and infectious.”
Film School released their fourth LP, Fission, on August 31, 2010. The band also provided music to Windows Vista commercials and Demetri Martin’s short films, collectively known as “Clearification.”

Film School are never ending.

An Interview with Film School from The Dumbing Of America
August 30, 2010
Get In Line For: Film School
Should our favorite bands remain stagnant? When you hear that first great album, do you expect them to repeat the formula endlessly throughout their career? The music highway is littered with bands who've refused to evolve beyond that first record and have been tossed to the side of the road by music critics and fans alike. Film School had mastered that wall of noise/My Bloody Valentine sound and developed a great following throughout the world. And then, Greg Bertens went to see the re-formed MBV as he prepared to make the new Film School record. The result is Fission, a record that's stripped of the effects pedals, leaving behind what the band has always excelled at: making great melodies. This is the sound of a band whose confidence in their ability to write a great song pulses from the speakers, drawing you into their new vision of bliss. Greg talked to TDOA writer Amy about the new direction and the future.

TDOA: You've talked about how seeing My Bloody Valentine for the first time had a profound influence on the sound on Fission. Can you talk about that and why you think that "big sonic sound" has reached its end?

GB: I'm not sure it's reached it's end, I just found it wasn't inspiring me in the way it used to. Maybe because we toured for over a year on a big sonic album (Hideout) or maybe because I've been a fan of that type of music for years and was just ready for a change. I'm not sure, but when I was standing in the audience I didn't get the feeling of awe and inspiration that I had hoped for. There were plenty of people at that show who felt something powerful, but I couldn't for whatever reason. I left the show knowing I was ready to explore new territory for the next Film School record. Ironically, some of the music that inspired the jangley / poppy element of this new direction were early MBV recordings like "Ecstasy" and "Strawberry Wine".

TDOA: I read one review that called this new album "your most accessible album to date." What about your old records was "inaccessible"?

GB: Yeah, I've been told Fission has more "pop sensibility". Maybe it's the upbeat tempos or lighter vibe on some songs or that Lorelei is singing more - maybe it's all of those pieces. I do feel like it's not as dark as Hideout, at least not musically. In the end it's probably just the use of more major chords and traditional song structures. Clarity was a big theme for us on this record - clarity of sound and ideas.

TDOA: Sometimes people read to much into the name of a band (and I may be guilty of it here!), but do you think people automatically assume that you'll make videos and do you enjoy that prospect?

GB: I don't even think about what it literally means anymore. Like Radiohead. Do you really picture a guy with a radio for a head, or something to that effect? No, you probably picture Thom Yorke, or at least I do. I think I've seen or heard Film School in the context of our band so many times over the years that it could be any name. But yeah, I do think people who are new to the band probably see the name and think about film references. Many times promoters make posters for our shows and use a strip of film or a camera for imagery. It used to kinda bug me, but I've totally embraced it now and have a full collection of those types of posters, it's pretty awesome. What I really want is one of our show promoters to make a poster of a guy with a radio for a head.

TDOA: Now that you've left Beggars, what advice would you give to bands who are contemplating signing with a big label?

GB: Beggars did a lot for us - they introduced our music to the world. Major labels can do a lot for a band if they use their influence in the right way, but you can also get lost in the shuffle. I'd say if you go that route make sure not to just hand over your record and assume it's a done deal. Stay on top of things and stay connected with your fans through Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, your website and emails lists because those are the people that will be there with you in the end.

TDOA: The song "Go Down Together" was featured on 90210. How did that come about? Did you have any trepidation on how your fans perception of the song might change seeing it in the context of that show?

GB: Our sync rep pitched the song and the 90210 music supervisor liked it and put it in the episode.
Nah, plenty of bands license their songs nowadays to a variety of shows/commercials, it's just the nature of trying to make a living doing music in a world where people don't buy music like they used to. "Go Down Together" was written for our album first and foremost. The way I look at it if any song gets picked up for TV or film it's just more people that get exposed to the music.

TDOA: You guys are touring - a LOT. What venues and cities are you looking forward to?

GB: New York is always fun, how can it not be? We're playing Pop Montreal this time around, that should be fun. I'm actually looking forward to a lot of the dates because we have friends and fans we haven't seen for a while since we haven't been out in a couple years. I just wish we had more time to spend in each city.

TDOA: I really loved the Dear Me video - can you tell me about that creative process?

GB: That was done by James Sumner. He directed a Deerhunter video that I really liked so I wrote him and asked if he'd do one for us. He's awesome - pure creativity and out there. He was sorta going for a low-fi tron vibe. He originally wanted to do it in front of a green screen in order to do effects in post production, but because we didn't have much of a budget we had to settle for his warehouse in Portland with a black background. It was tough to block out all the sunlight - we used garbage bags over the windows and had a black curtain over the white wall behind us. In the hallway outside he had a couple of assistants sewing long reflective strips on to our clothing. Those poor girls were sewing all day long - it took a lot longer that we thought it would to get everything prepared. We finally shot the video at the end of the day and it went fairly quickly, but we didn't see the video for a few months. The rendering of the effects actually melted down his computer, I think he had to start over at one point. It was a real effort to get that done, glad you liked it.

TDOA: One of the most interesting things about the band (and the component I've seen commented on most) is the interplay between you and Lorelei. What quality do you think that lends to your music?

GB: I think harmonies add a richness to songs you can't get with one voice. How good are some of those Fleet Foxes harmonies? Or those on Yo La Tengo's Moby Octopad? I wanted more of that richness and dynamic on Fission, but to be done in our own way. Hopefully that translates to the album.

TDOA: What do YOU think is the best track on Fission? Why?

GB: "Sunny Day" is probably my favorite. Lorelei brought it in as mainly just bass and vocals, and at a slower tempo. She was learning how to use a new recording program at the time so the original demo has all kinds of weird pops and cut off instruments, it's pretty great. But I knew there was a great song in there and that an edgier production would be a nice balance to the sweetness of the song. It just makes me feel good every time I hear it/ play it. Maybe some day we'll release the original.

TDOA: To what extent do you think social media is important in helping to promote the band being on an indie label?

GB: It's pretty huge. Several years ago all you had were email lists and a wonky website. And most of the email addresses people would write down at shows were illegible. So, all you really had was a wonky website. The best thing about social media though is the ability to connect with fans regardless if you're on a label or not.

Early Quotes from the Press (Magnet, Brooklyn Vegan, more) on Fission!
August 27, 2010

“I believe Fission may be the album that finally gets Film School their much deserved audience.” - Lithium Magazine

“Hearing Plotczyk and Bertens harmonize through a warm cloud of reverb while a 4/4 pulse and cascading, fuzzy guitars envelope the air around convinces us that loosening the reigns was definitely the right decision." - Magnet Magazine

"A great album from start to finish - 4/5" - Baeble Music

"A wistfully epic Stars-esque burner" - Brooklyn Vegan on the first single Heart Full of Pentagons

"The band's most free-spirited and self-defined release" - Spectrum Culture

Amateur Chemist review of Fission
August 23, 2010
Film School "Fission:
My first encounter with Film School dates back to August 2007 when they blew up Spaceland in support of their highly overlooked album Hideout. The album was a tasty swirl of dense guitars intertwined with synthesizer washes that coalesced into haunting songs.

Having parted way with Beggars Banquet, Film School is back with a new album Fission on Hi Speed Soul Records that dials back the guitar noise and turns up the ethereal with stronger songwriting and catchier melodies. Some sonic reference points one could detect would be a blend of Stone Roses, The Cure and Lush.

"Heart Full of Pentagons" immediately captures your attention with its windstorm of ambiance and center channeled vocals by Greg Bertens. Lorelei Plotczyk shines throughout the album adding her shimmering vocals to broaden the scope of their sound, especially on tracks like "Meet Around 10" and "Nothing's Mine".

Their new album will be released on 8/31 and will be available as a limited autographed clear vinyl through the Hi Speed Soul record store. A tour has been announced that kicks off in San Diego on 9/19 at the Casbah before linking up with The Depreciation Guild who also released an astounding album Spirit Youth. I plan on being at the Casbah and Echo shows and you should too.

Film School Featured on Spinner.com
August 9, 2010

Los Angeles post-shoegaze outfit Film School have been together for nearly a decade, and with their fourth LP 'Fission' coming out on July 20, the band is more congealed than ever, serving up a melodic, fervent, hazy and deeply collaborative effort. Instead of mourning the separation from their label, the band gleaned new inspiration from the change. "It's like any breakup -- you either bury your head in the sand or you use that energy to create something," lead singer Greg Bertens tells Spinner. "This band's creative fuel always seems to come from a mix of the freeing energy you get from separation and the challenge to prove you're still worthy."

Their new single, 'Heart Full of Pentagons,' showcases a shift in sound as bassist Lorelei Plotczyk contributes vocals. With music born of band-practice jam material and idea sprung forth by a friend's Facebook status, 'Heart Full of Pentagons' is an ode to a five-way love triangle -- a love pentagon, if you will. It's a "good, messy" story and a tease of what's more to come.

Visit www.spinner.com to get a free download of "Heart Full of Pentagons".

Interview with Brian Karscig
March 1, 2010

It's hard to miss Brian Karscig's innate musical talent. As a kid, he took voice and piano lessons, and he sang in a choir. As a teenager, he started playing the guitar and began writing his own music. Soon after, he decided he wanted to become a musician -- and he did. Karscig started the San Diego based band the Nervous Wreckords, who'll be playing this year's SXSW. Spinner recently caught up with Karscig to discuss his music prior to the festival.

Describe your sound in your own words.

That's a hard one. Very rock 'n' roll, but you can dance to it. I grew up liking beats. My conservative dad wasn't really into music, but when I was growing up he was obsessed with Prince. He listened to Prince's 'Greatest Hits,' 'Purple Rain' and 'Sign o' the Times' non-stop on his three-disc CD player. Our music is a melting pot of music that I've liked throughout my life.

How did your band form?

I was in a different band [Louis XIV] since 2004. We had a few albums, were signed by Atlantic and had toured the world. After our last tour, I needed a creative break. We opened for the Killers, and right before our last show I told myself when I got home I'd do something different. Before that show, I was having a drink in a hotel bar and a woman came up to me and asked if I was in Louis XIV. I said yes, and she said her husband was a record producer. She called him, he came to over and we stayed in touch. The producer turned out to be Anthony Saffery, formerly of the UK band Cornershop. I started writing songs and would send them to Anthony. We had 6 or 7 songs in July 2009, which we recorded as our EP, and sent it out to the Killers. They asked us to open for them on a brief US tour in September and October '09. At that time I didn't even really have a band, just a few songs. I got on the phone, called some old friends and bandmates and put the Nervous Wreckords together. We rehearsed for three weeks straight and opened for the Killers.

What are your musical influences?

I have a lot of influences. Led Zeppelin, T. Rex, the Rolling Stones. My all time favorite is Leon Russell. I try to emulate him in life. He was a Motown player, a band leader for Joe Cocker's band. He's a freakin' cool dude who I think didn't get his due respect. I do love Prince, too, and the Band. I'm influenced by a good song.

How did you come up with your band name?

For the last few years, I moonlighted as a producer. I had a recording studio in San Diego, and I'd take on a project if I had the time. I had bought the domain name for the Nervous Wreckords for invoicing purposes. When I started producing and I needed a band name, it was cheap and easy to use the Nervous Wreckords. I thought just using TNW worked too.

Beatles or Stones?

I couldn't pick. They are both great. I'm going right down the middle and picking Leon Russell again, since he's worked with both the Beatles and Stones.

What's your biggest vice?

Food and wine together. Yeah, definitely wine.

Who's your celebrity crush?

Jennifer Aniston as the good girl, and Lady Gaga as the bad girl.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Lady Gaga right now.

What's the craziest thing you've seen on tour?

Wow, it was crazy every night. Really the craziest thing that happened was when I got to bed early and slept. Serenity.

Matthew Fiander from Prefix describes the dark tales of Six
November 16, 2009

Six is an album possessed. It is haunted by heartache, by loss, by demons and, often, by the devil himself. There are songs here called "Wasteland," "Rats," "Drugs," and "Suicide." So, yeah, this is some pretty stark stuff.
 
But, through all this desolation, members Pall Jenkins and Tobais Nathaniel put up quite a fight. Opener "When You Finish Me," which sounds like a broken anti-lullaby, is merely a soft invocation for an album of scraped-out, bracing rock songs. The dusty guitars and cool synths charge through "Witching Stone." Meanwhile, humming vocals fill the space in the hollowed out chug of "Wasteland" as Jenkins declares he's not leaving "until the Devil's dead."
 
And it is that backbone in the face of darkness that propels the whole album. Even the heaviest dirge on the album, "Drugs," which might be the emotional low point to the record, is offset by the energetic jangle of "Rats" or "Forget My Heart." "Iri Sulu" may end the record on a downbeat, but the terse, echoing vocals call to mind the deathly jester grin of Tom Waits. They may sound exhausted there, but they're not defeated. By record's end, the Black Heart Procession have weathered all the swirling dust and darkness around them, indulging in loss and heartache without being dragged down by it.
 
In the hands of a lesser band, Six could be depressive and trudging. But Jenkins and Nathaniel build this hellish world only to fill it with sweat-soaked fight songs against all those demons and devils. And in the end, they sound like they just might have survived.

Pitchfork Raves About Swervedriver Reissues- Calls Mezcal A Lost Classic!
April 2, 2009
Read All About It Here...
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12846-raise-mezcal-head/  

1991's Raise was a quality debut, and it's dated surprisingly well. The muscular, scorching guitars are the heart of the album, and they still bring the noise like nobody's business. The big distortion and interlocking riffs give most of the album a dense, bright sound with a lot of punch. "Son of Mustang Ford" rumbles like the car it's named for, "Rave Down" launches into hyperspace after three minutes of tense, grungy crunching, and "Sunset" pulls back a bit, layering cleaner guitars than usual over a bubbling bassline and unison vocals. While the band had already perfected its sonic punch, the songwriting was a bit of a work in progress. Outside of "Sunset", Raise is somewhat wanting for sharp vocal melodies, with Franklin and Hartridge trading off deadpan intonations.
Two years later, on Mezcal Head, the songs caught up to the guitars. "For Seeking Heat", "Girl on a Motorbike", "You Find It Everywhere", and "Blowin' Cool" weave laser-guided melodies through tangles of distortion-drenched guitar. The band lost its original rhythm section between albums, but new drummer Jez Hindmarsh absolutely crushes his kit, matching the intensity of the guitar maelstrom. "Last Train to Satansville" is the height of alt-rock badassery, opening with the brilliant couplet "'You look like you've been losing sleep,' said the stranger on a train/ I fixed him with an ice-cold stare and said, 'I've been having those dreams again.'" The sentiment is backed up with a monster guitar riff and chunky rhythm, and if I had to pick just one Swervedriver song to introduce the band, that'd be it. Just as every movement has overlooked artists, every movement has lost classics, and Mezcal Head really is the lost classic of the shoegaze movement, visceral but tuneful, and perhaps the nearest simulation of a rocket launch recorded in the 90s.
The reissues each add four period bonus tracks, which seem more or less to be a random selection from over a dozen available EP and 7" offerings. Mezcal Head drops the 12-minute "Never Lose That Feeling/Never Learn" meltdown that closed the original U.S. version of the album, replacing it with the shorter EP version of "Never Lose That Feeling". Overall, it's high-quality stuff-- especially Raise bonus "Andalucia"-- but it won't give a collector any closure, especially given that one of the passed-over tracks is the wicked, steel guitar-soaked headrush "Scrawl & Scream", from 1991's Reel to Real EP. Castle Music's Juggernaut Rides compilation remains the best source for Swervedriver's rarities. For an introduction to the band, though, Mezcal Head can't be beat, and it's great to have it and Raise available again. If you missed them the first time or simply weren't around to hear them, Swervedriver is worth the trip back in time. 7.3/8.0

Noripcord.com gives Swervedriver's "Raise" a 9 Review, "Mezcal Head" a 10!
February 26, 2009

In the post-grunge nadir of the early nineties Swervedriver's first two albums - 1991's Raise and 1993's Mezcal Head - should have sealed their reputation as one of the finest British bands of the era. You don't need me to tell you that things didn't exactly pan out that way. Today's musical history books have Swervedriver down as little more than a footnote, erroneously lumped in with the grunge scene or, more commonly, the British shoegaze movement; if ever a band deserved a re-appraisal it is Swervedriver.

Looking back, there seem to be a handful of reasons behind the commercial failure of this Oxford band. For one thing they looked pretty strange, especially guitarist/singer Adam Franklin with his dreadlocked hair. The timing of their emergence probably didn't help either; the dense, atmospheric Raise was released when grunge was still flavour of the month in the UK; its successor Mezcal Head, a more polished rock album with a distinctly American influence, must have sounded like an unwelcome guest at the burgeoning Britpop dinner party. For one reason or another, Swervedriver just didn't seem to fit; the UK music press knew it and, crucially, the band's label Creation Records knew it. By the time 1995's Ejector Seat Reservation arrived, the folks at Creation were far too besotted with Oasis to bother promoting the album. Swervedriver were dropped shortly after its release and Alan McGee went on to win the NME Godlike Genius Award for 1995. No wonder a dejected Adam Franklin moved to the US shortly afterwards. Swervedriver's moment had passed.

Nearly eighteen years have passed since Raise's 1991 release but the glorious opener Sci-Flyer still sounds positively thrilling today. Graham Bonner's explosive drum work is packed with fills that evoke an elaborate NYE fireworks display, while the duelling guitars of Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge fuse thunderous power with melodic subtlety. Franklin's vocals might sit low in the mix, but Sci-Flyer is no shoegaze track; this pure visceral rock 'n' roll at its very best. Further highlights come thick and fast, with Son Of Mustang Ford, Sandblasted and the anthemic Rave Down all maintaining the high standards of the opener.

The tempo shifts back and forth, but Raise remains an intense listening experience from start to finish. Detractors might accuse Raise of sounding dated, a geographically confused artefact from the grunge period, but I have to disagree; nothing else in 1991 sounded quite like Swervedriver, and few guitar bands - and I'm struggling to think of any from these shores - have scaled these heights since. The re-mastered version features four bonus tracks, the pick of which has to be the sprawling Andalucia. A 2xCD deluxe edition could have been interesting - the band recorded plenty of interesting b-sides and EP tracks around this time - but it's difficult to complain about the quality of the thirteen tunes included. This is truly a landmark album in British rock music. (9)

Mezcal Head was my introduction to Swervedriver and will always occupy a special place in my musical memory. Four or five years ago I had the pleasure of living with an obsessive Swervedriver fan who would blast out classic tracks like Duel and Last Train To Satansville from his basement room on a daily basis. If it had been anything else I would have probably snapped the CD in half but, by a curious process of osmosis, the band's melodies began to work their way into my head. Intrigued, I delved further into the Swervedriver catalogue, absorbing tracks from Raise, Ejector Seat Reservation, and, to a lesser extent, their final album 99th Dream. As good as these records were, however, I always found myself coming back to Mezcal Head; it's just that kind of record.

1993 was hardly a landmark year in British music. Yes, a period of boom was just around the corner but people were still listening to a lot of dreadful music. While Suede's début album won the Mercury Prize, the Brit Award for Best British Group went to Simply Red and the best-selling album in the UK was Meatloaf's Bat Out Of Hell II. I can't help but think that all those Meatloaf fans would have loved Mezcal Head's signature track, Duel (an NME Single of the Week, nonetheless), but very few of them got the chance to hear it. Duel remains the band's best known song and for good reason: it still sounds like a blast of fresh air sixteen years on. But if Duel is the only Swervedriver song you know, you're in for a treat: Mezcal Head has plenty more where that came from.

Last Train To Satansville is an epic, narrative-based tune which name checks Hitchcock's Strangers On A Train and conjures up a palpable sense of noir-ish paranoia. If you think you can hear a roaring motorcycle engine in the outro it's because you can: the band took a Kawasaki into the studio for this very purpose. That's commitment for you.

MM Abduction and the Thatcher-baiting Harry & Maggie are great pop songs, while Girl on a Motorbike and Duress are dreamier, atmospheric cuts, which set the listener up for the thrilling finale of You Find It Everywhere. The original US release tacked on the excellent Never Lose That Feeling but, for the purists, You Find It Everywhere is Mezcal Head's perfect closing tune, a searching, minimalist mid-tempo rocker that just commands you to go back to track one and experience the whole thing one more time.

For my money, Mezcal Head is one of the most criminally underrated records of the nineties. It's Swervedriver's finest hour and perhaps one of the last great British rock albums. You should own it. Millions of other music fans should own it. History might have underestimated the importance of Swervedriver but there's nothing to stop us re-writing history. (10)

Swervedriver Reissues Continue to Garner Stellar Press
February 19, 2009

"Radiohead weren't the first great band to come out of Oxford, England, and these timely reissues are the evidence. Swervedriver's first two albums are still as imposing and wondrous as ever."
-PopMatters

"That either of these seminal efforts has been out of circulation for any reason is a slap in the face to any reasonable rock fan...Swervedriver will remain one of rock'smost underrated bands of all time."
-Filter Magazine

"Dark and often beautifully dissonant"
-Magnet Magazine's Lost Classics- Mezcal Head

Lady Dottie Reviewed in North County Times
September 22, 2008

JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer
It was picking cotton that inspired her to come to San Diego, and her cooking skills that actually brought her here.
So there's a bit of good luck and maybe even a touch of fate that have led to Dorothy Mae "Lady Dottie" Whitsett becoming one of the most popular musicians in San Diego County.
Whitsett, whose Lady Dottie & the Diamonds plays at Valley View Casino Saturday night, said she first dreamed of moving to California as a child while working in the fields of her native Alabama.
"Ever since I was a little girl, I was always wanting to come to California," Whitsett said by phone last week from her San Diego home. "I used to stand in the fields picking cotton and see the planes going overhead and say, 'that's going to be me someday.'"

It wasn't until 1984, though, that she found her way to San Diego.

"I was working as a gourmet chef in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Abbey. I transferred to the Abbey in San Diego. I came here when they first opened up."

Now retired from her culinary career, Whitsett has put a renewed focus on her music ---- a passion she's always nurtured, but didn't plan on making into a second career.

Growing up the fourth of 13 children, Whitsett said her introduction to music came in church.

"I started in church. The Lord gave me the gift. I didn't really have to take lessons, I feel like I know what to do."

Whitsett said her parents were pretty strict, and so she was an adult before she heard any popular, non-sacred music.

"I was 20 before the devil got a hold of me!" she said, laughing, about her family's view of non-church music.

During travels that took her from Alabama to New York, New Jersey and then Atlanta, Whitsett said she sang in a variety of local blues bands wherever she was.

"I feel like I've been singing professionally all my life; I'm just now getting paid," she said of her musical career.

As for the current, and wildly popular, band, Lady Dottie & The Diamonds, Whitsett said it grew out of a jazz duo she formed with keyboardist Joey Guevara.

"The piano player, Joe, we've been together about 12 years," she said. "I met him down at the Bayou (Bar & Grill). I was working the kitchen and he was playing in the bar by himself, and I used to come out when I finished work and just try to sing some with him. That's how we started. The other guys came along in the last five years."

Besides Whitsett and Guevara, the band has several of Guevara's bandmates from local rock band Operator X: Stephen Rey on bass and Brian Cantrell on drums. Dirty Sweet's Nathan Beale is one of two guitarists, the other being Isaiah Mitchell. Dan Guevara plays horns.

The calling card of Lady Dottie & The Diamonds ---- besides the dance-ready music they play, seamlessly blending '60s R&B and soul with straight-ahead rock 'n' roll (think Tina Turner sitting in with Blind Faith or Creedence Clearwater Revival) ---- is the combination of a middle-aged black woman fronting a band of young white guys.

But Whitsett says the band's makeup was more accident than design ---- she was looking for musicians with a high energy level who could play blues, jazz, soul and rock, and the members of the band all ended up being people Guevara knew, or friends of friends.

"I was singing with a lot of bands in San Diego years ago that do jazz. But I knew I could do blues, and when I found the guys are as good as they are, we started going more into the blues.

"With these young guys, they're teaching me and I'm teaching them. Gospel and blues is what I grew up on, not the rock 'n' roll."

With their second CD coming out this weekend, their regular weekly show at the Tower Bar in San Diego, and some mini-tours as far afield as San Francisco, Whitsett said she's curious to see where it all leads.

"We've not really put it out yet," Whitsett said of the new CD. "Like my momma said, we'll see."

But whether Lady Dottie & The Diamonds becomes the next big thing or not, Whitsett said the band's infectious dance grooves will continue. Giving listeners a good time is the band's only real aim, and Whitsett said the band members know they've got that part down.

"Everybody who comes gets up and dances. They don't feel like they can't get up and dance. They just come right in the door wiggling, 'cause they know they're going to get something good."

Lady Dottie Gets Rave Review in San Diego CityBeat
September 22, 2008
But of course!

Lady Dottie
and the Diamonds
Lady Dottie and the Diamonds
(Hi-Speed Soul)
*8.3*

Goes well with: Bettye LaVette, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Betty Davis (the funky one, not the movie star)

While most folks her age are retiring, Lady Dottie is getting booties shaking on a weekly basis. This woman and her band of local blues-baby hipsters (members of Jejune, Dirty Sweet, Operator X), together for five years now, have even managed to get my rhythm-less ass on the dance floor. But anybody who’s seen them live knows how hard it would be to channel that kind of raw blast to record, right?

Well, judging by the opening riffs of “I Ain’t Mad at Ya” on their self-titled debut, there’s no need to worry. Whether it’s covers of B.B. King’s “Why I Sing the Blues” or Richard Berry’s “Have Love, Will Travel,” the Lady’s voice is weathered by the storm but no doubt sees the light. And Joey Guevara’s organ moves beyond percussive and into full-blown Ellington-style orchestration, playing with the same authority most bands reserve for lead guitar.

The real glory here is how amazing the five original songs stand out among the covers. I would have loved a bluesy ballad thrown in for good measure, but when they close the album with a cover of The Jeffersons theme, I can’t help but think a ballad would have only slowed the roll. An album of all-originals is planned for the spring, but for now, Lady Dottie is both a loving tribute and holy reverence, wrapped into one of the best party records you’ll hear all year. Call it the blues. Call it classic R&B. Either way, congrats are in order. Now they’re up in the big leagues.
—Seth Combs

Lady Dottie reviewed in We Heart Music
September 22, 2008

I listened to NPR's story on Soul Music making a come back a few days ago, and I have to say that it's perfectly true. Sharon Jones, Amy Winehouse, Angie Whitney, Jamie Lidell, and, to a lesser extent, Adele, are just some of the modern artists still producing some of the best Soul music today.

To give you a little background, soul music came from the gospel church, but mixed with rhythm and blues. I want to say that Motown Records really popularized the genre in the 60s with Gladys Knight and Marvin Gaye, to name a few, and by the early 70s, everyone knew about the hardest working man in showbiz: James "The Godfather of Soul" Brown.

It seems like after thirty years that Soul is making its comeback.

One of those bands that you'll probably hear about is Lady Dottie and the Diamonds, they're about to release their self-titled album next Tuesday, September 16th. I have been listening to this album for a few weeks now (despite what lastfm is reporting) and just refreshing the album as I write this.

The whole album is full of soul music, designed to get you to stand up and dance. I can only imagine what it would be like to see them at a live concert, with Lady Dottie infectious dancing and singing.

My favorite song off this album is easily "Livin' It Up", which was also their first EP they released last year. If you listen to the very end of this song, you can hear Dottie commenting how great this song is. I'm so glad they kept that in, as it gives you a glimpse of their personalities.

Other songs I dug was their BB King cover of "Why I Sing the Blues". The song is obviously a blues song, but there is an element of gospel thrown in there.

By the way, the last song on the album is a cover of "Movin' On Up", that famous Jeffersons theme song. I didn't know this until today, but apparently the song is sung actress Ja'net Du Bois, who you may know her as the maid in Sanford and Son.

Also, looking at the pictures of the band, I think they're mostly white guys and it made me think that the Dap-Kings are mostly white dudes too. This fascinates me for some reason.

Lady Dottie and the Diamonds will be out next week on Hi Speed Soul Records.

Brooklyn Vegan Article
June 23, 2008
We heard this interview was conducted by a high school fan..and it's killer!

[link to article]

an interview with Adam Franklin of Swervedriver, tour dates

by Asa E

DOWNLOAD: Swervedriver - Mars (Tramps, 07.16.1997) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Swervedriver - Cars Converge On Paris (Maxwells, 10.31.1998) (MP3)

Swervedriver @ Coachella 2008 (more by Ryan Muir)

As previously, previously, and previously noted, legendary shoegazers Swervedriver are back. Their recent performance at Coachella was an 'artistic triumph,' according to the LA Times, which makes their upcoming dates (see below) all the more enticing. In the following interview, singer/guitarist Adam Franklin relates his desert island pedals as well as his distaste for the MySpace "shoegaze" category.

----

When I listen to Raise, I hear a lot of Dinosaur Jr. worship going on. You guys really work the guitar effects (wah pedals especially) and your vocals are buried. Any accuracy to this perception? And why is your singing so low in the mix?

Adam Franklin: Dinosaur were a big influence around the time of You're Living All Over Me and Bug, for sure. I don't really know why the vocals were so low but I certainly wasn't that confident with the vocals at the time plus it was also perhaps a prevailing stylistic trend at the time.

Did you receive any vocal training between Raise and Mezcal Head? The your voice is mixed much better and it carries a lot of melody as well.

Actually, I did have one singing lesson that may have been around that time. She was an opera singer and she had a picture of her with Pavarotti on her piano and she had at one time given lessons to Johnny Rotten. At the start of the lesson she got me to reach for my lowest and highest notes and then said "right. I guarantee that in an hour you will be singing 2 notes higher and 3 lower - and she was right.

More interview, as well as tour dates, below...

Swervedriver Interview/Article in Popmatters
June 23, 2008
A great read for longtime fans or newbies!
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/features/article/58469/juggernaut-still-rides-behind-the-scenes-and-times-of-swervedriver/

Juggernaut Still Rides: Behind the Scenes and Times of Swervedriver

[23 May 2008]

Lady Dottie and the Diamonds commended in Spin Magazine
April 12, 2008
Their Tower Residency called one of Spin's "100 Best Nights Out"

Obscure Sound says Jim Noir makes for an "...enriching listening experience"
March 17, 2008
A review of Jim Noir's self titled album
Jim Noir serves as an enjoyable reminder of these revitalized techniques, implementing methods of production that recall the nostalgic likes of ’60s psychedelic pop with more contemporary elements in the vein of dance and electro-pop. Even with only one album under his belt, he has built a reputation for being one of the more talented artists in the constantly evolving genre of psychedelic electronica. Sure, the techniques themselves are not the epitome of innovation, but the way he incorporates them into a modernistic sound is.

A self-titled album is conventionally known as an introductory release for artists, but Noir’s Jim Noir is his second full-length. Known as a skilled multi-instrumentalist who plays every single instrument on his albums, it follows the impressive Tower of Love, his 2005 debut that drew considerable acclaim. His style of psychedelic electro-pop has granted Noir comparisons to the likes of Badly Drawn Boy and Caribou, but Noir is notable for utilizing the aforementioned techniques of psychedelia production in a more full-fledged form. It is a method that continues to be expressed on the impressive Jim Noir, even more so than his commendable debut. Unlike several other contemporary artists who limit their psychedelic experimentation to the use of keys, samples, and rhythm, Noir has the uncanny ability to toy with several genres simultaneously due to his excelled multi-instrumental capabilities. Perhaps evidenced best by the exceptional “Happy Day Today”, one should expect to find a plethora of guitars and even strings over more traditional psychedelia instrumentation in the vein of keys and muddled bass. The song also provides an enriching example of Noir’s capability to craft hooks that are both wildly infectious and structurally proportionate. Without sounding repetitive or stylistically manipulative, his melodic capacity alone provides for a generally enriching listening experience.

The Big Takeover's Jack Rabid Digs Adam Franklin's "Bolts of Melody"
October 9, 2007
"Bolts" makes for one of the most cosmic psych-folk LPs of this decade"
 
After nine long, cruel years, the ex-Swervedriver leader finally releases an LP that retrieves a thread from his incredible, never-forgotten Oxford, England foursome. For nigh on a decade, famished fans received only an odd ambient-electro, half-instrumental excursion by Franklin's side band, Toshack Highway (2000), followed by a smattering of short solo EPs strangely also released under that moniker. By finally using his own nom, and fashioning an album out of some of those obscure tracks and new ones, Bolts is the theme he's threatened through these ‘00s.
Note, I said "a" thread, not "the." If Bolts picks up where the Swervies left off, it's the ruminative, slower, spooky-mellow, picked-guitar lovelies Franklin worked into the mix late in the game, like 99th Dream's "She Weaves a Tender Trap" (1998) and Ejector Seat Reservation's "Son of Jaguar ‘E'" (1995; and farther back, b-sides such as "Mars" and "Cars Converge on Paris"). If you're looking for a "bolt" of archetypal Swervedriver punishment, you get only two: the opening, second update of his rare Swervedriver b-side "Seize the Day" (with better sound than 2001's Everyday, Rock ‘n' Roll is Saving My Life EP demo) and the new "Shining Somewhere." Both are reminiscent of Ejector's more restrained, but still simmering roar. Hurrah!
Otherwise, "space travel rock ‘n' roll," indeed. Yet the other 11 languid tracks still manage to spotlight Franklin's abundant talent as an inventive player/writer. Of these, "Sundown" is topnotch, as is "Carney Island Baby," both eliciting his unsullied, cooed melodic trills. And from the trippy, ‘60s Pink Floyd-inspired "Syd"s Eyes" (with fitting Syd Barrett-esque organ) to two updates of last year's digital EP track "Birdsong," Bolts makes for one of the most cosmic psych-folk LPs of this decade. Bathe in it. (highspeedsoul.com)

Pitchfork Weighs in With Praise For Adam Franklin's "Bolts of Melody"
October 9, 2007

"Bolts of Melody deftly illustrates that his way with a tune hasn't diminished in the slightest"

and

"stellar wah-wah pedal work that would make Jimi Hendrix smile"

-David Raposa, Pitchforkmedia.com

Karmic EP Review on LMNOP.com- September Edition
September 15, 2007
4+++ Rating!!
Nada Surf - Karmic (CD EP, Hi-Speed Soul, Pop/rock)
This is a reissue of the first EP from Nada Surf (before the band signed to Elektra). The folks in Nada Surf have had an interesting career path up to this point with some interesting twists and turns. The band initially made a splash in the 1990s as an alternative noisy rock band that appealed mainly to college kids and young underground rock fans.

Then years later they resurfaced as a surprisingly proficient slick pop band. While we like the band's earlier recorded works, we have gone absolutely NUTS over their later recordings that rely much more on catchy upbeat melodies and lush vocal harmonies. As such, for us Karmic is an interesting look back at the band's humble beginnings.

In addition to the five songs that were included on the original EP, this reissue also includes "Pressure Free" (previously only available as a 7" vinyl single). Rabid fans of the bands may want to take note of the fact that this EP is also being offered as a limited edition vinyl EP (the first 300 offered in one color while the remaining 700 will be offered in a different color). What tickles our interest buds the most...is the fact that the band is already at work recording their fifth full-length which is due to be released Winter 2008 (!). We can't WAIT...

(Rating: 4+++)

Rave Reviews of Karmic from Jack Rabid at Big Takeover
September 15, 2007

From Jack Rabid at Big Takeover:

Nada Surf "Karmic" EP

What a good idea to reissue this roaring New York power-pop trio’s debut EP, 1996’s five-song Karmic EP—originally on No. 6 Records—with an even rarer 7” bonus track. For Karmic isn’t stumbling baby photos; a couple of tracks such as the prototype-catchy Dinosaur Jr./’89 MBV-ish “Sea Knows When” show the full promise as well as a blueprint realized on their four LPs since. (A fifth LP is in production.) Meanwhile, interestingly, four other quickened songs betray a slight, perceptible Swervedriver influence (note: new San Diego label Hi-Speed Soul also signed that band’s Adam Franklin), mixed with a greater touch of Nada’s louder contemporaries, Ash. As an example, this original “Treehouse” is more vicious than its re-recording on the following High-Low, wherein Ric Ocasek’s production made them brief MTV stars (via “Popular”). Considering that these songs, going back to 1993, were plucked from a finished LP abandoned when an overseas record deal collapsed, it’s too bad the missing wasn’t unearthed. But this reissue nevertheless provides a double service: making the material available again, and reminding all that leader Matthew Caws had a songwriting knack, and a kickin’ guitar right from the git-go. Also on colored vinyl. (hispeedsoul.com)

Karmic Review in TheTripwire
July 25, 2007
More great press for the Karmic EP re-issue
http://www.thetripwire.com/reviews/2007/7/12/karmic

More great reviews for Adam Franklin's "Bolts of Melody"
June 26, 2007
Would we expect anything else?!

Allmusic.com gave "Bolts of Melody" 4 out of 5 stars saying the album  "...is damn good...you'll be blown away by the guitar heroics...and inspired song craft".  We'd like to agree!

www.allmusic.com (type in Adam Franklin).

..."a CHARMER"
-eyeweekly.com

..."ARGUABLY HIS BEST
WORK OF THE DECADE"
-noripcord.com

Review in the Finest Kiss Blog
June 12, 2007

Thursday June 7th, 2007- Toby

Nada Surf & Hi-Speed Soul in Billboard.com
June 12, 2007
Matthew Reveals "Karmic" Connection

Best Work in the Last Decade According to NoRipcord.com- 8 of 10 stars
June 12, 2007

"Let Go" Review
April 6, 2007
Billboard.com
"After a four-year hiatus, New York trio Nada Surf returns with its third, and arguable best, studio effort. With Let Go, frontman Matthew Caws has matured into an astute singer/songwriter, crafting compositions that sparkle with insightful melodic brilliance far beyond the band's anthemic "indie-geek" hit "Popular" (from the group's 1996 major-label debut, High/Low). Let Go is a more harmonious and introspective alterna-pop affair, reflecting a wide variety of influences, including Frank Black, Coldplay ("Inside of Love," "Neither Heaven Nor Space"), Simon & Garfunkel, Sugar ("Treading Water"), Air ("La Pour Ca"), and Beck ("Fruit Fly"). Throughout, though, Nada Surf remains unique; its quirky sensibility has not been lost -- nor has the outfit's power-pop roots. Cuts like "The Way You Wear Your Head" and the quasi-80s synth-rock-inspired "Hi-Speed Soul" burst with explosive rhythms and infectious melodies that rival recent output by Foo Fighters and the Vines. Nostalgic and current, hazy and vibrant, Let Go is a sumptuous collection that gets better with each listen."  (Billboard.com)

(A review of Nada Surf' third full-length out on Barsuk Records)

Sirhan Sirhan San Diego City Beat Article
May 3, 2006
Sirhan Sirhan Goes Down Like a Hot Sausage
           ANTI-PEDESTRIAN

by Seth Combs

Nick Butler of Sputnik music loves the album Gentlemen
January 14, 2005
"YOU NEED THIS ALBUM"
If I told you this album was a forgotten and under-rated masterpeice, would you take any notice?

Probably not, because it happens a lot on the internet. Everyone seems to have one album that they love to pieces, and yet, nobody else has heard of. This is mine. It's a concept album, revolving around men's failures in relationships. It's an intense, emotional, cutting listening experience, set off by some excellent guitar work and even better song writing by Greg Dulli, a unique and sorely under-valued talent.

It truly baffles me that Afghan Whigs never achieved mainstream success, because I've yet to play this album to anyone who doesn't like it. From what I gather though, this album, and the single Debonair, was as close as they came.

To describe the music of Afghan Whigs is no easy task. They're one of those bands that somehow sound like countless things you've heard before, and yet sound utterly unique and fresh. They owe just as much debt to Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye as they do to Pearl Jam and The Pixies. They're funky, grungey, soulful, angular, and they rock. Hard. You could come up 'band-meets-band' sums for them all day. Nirvana meets Average White Band. Alice In Chains meets Nina Simone. And, direct from Launch, Smokey Robinson meets Aerosmith. But, of course, you won't sum them up that easily. It might help display their uniqueness if I told you they were the first act from outside Seattle to sign to Sub-Pop.

A key feature of the band is the guitars. The riffs here are unlike anything in my collection. The interplay between the guitarists during most of the riffs is stunning. The nearest comparison I can think of is At The Drive-In - and, by extension, The Mars Volta. It does mean that most of the riffs are unplayable to bedroom guitarists with only 2 hands, but that all serves to make the music seem that little bit more untouchable.

Greg Dulli's songs provide the perfect foil to ride over the top of this jerky, funky backing - and on the slower tracks, to ride over a more mellow, wistful backing too. His songwriting may not twist tongues or leave layer upon layer of flowery poetry to dissect, but it goes direct and true to the things that matter - your heart, your mind, and that quick-forming lump in your throat. (And on a couple of tracks, the tear ducts, too.) Some choice examples?
"Every night I spent, in that bed, with your face in the wall. If I could have only once heard you scream, to feel you alive instead of watching you abandon me...." Taken from the more mellow When We Two Parted.

"Think I'm scared of girls? Well, maybe, but I'm not afriad of you. Wanna scare me? Then you'll cling to me, no matter what I do...." The piano-driven What Jail Is Like.

"Ladies, let me tell you about myself. I've got a dick for a brain....and my brain is gonna sell my ass to you." That's the attention-grabbing and awkwardly-funny opening lines of Be Sweet.
I could go on, but it'll make the review unnecessarily long. The point is, Dulli is a skilled chronicler of both the breakdown of relationships, and the causes of them. He ranks as one of the best songwriters in the world on the evidence of this on Black Love. And I find it hard to comprehend that some people find him annoying (a view I've seen expressed quite a few times on the web).

Highlights? There's What Jail Is Like, with some great piano and a melody that suggests Bends-era Radiohead covering The Calling's Wherever You Will Go, plus some of the album's best lyrics, as quoted above. There's Be Sweet, which ruminates on male idiocy in the face of temptation, and then explodes into a killer riff. And My Curse, sung by Marcy Mays of Scrawl....

That last paragraph could easily have been 3 or 4 times that length. Though Black Love may rock harder, and be more accessible, this is the sort of record that gets inside you and never quite goes away; the sort of album you'll beginning quoting when reminiscing on things you've done wrong in the past. In short, YOU NEED THIS ALBUM.

5/5.

A stunning review of Virtual Heavy Pet
September 6, 2004
The Village Voice said Rick Bain "..chooses substance over style. Great songs, great hooks."

Rick Bain is back!  After a critically acclaimed debut album Crooked Autumn Sun (released in 2000), a sold out nationwide tour with the Dandy Warhols, and several jaunts with the Brian Jonestown Massacre, Portland, OR's Rick Bain took time to refocus (both his music and personal life) and ended up with a masterpiece of an album titled Virtual Heavy Pet.  Still rooted in the classics like the Beach Boys, The Beatles, and Pink Floyd, this new album is more upbeat, as opposed to the slower psychedelic pop of his previous work.  Virtual Heavy Pet starts off with the rockin' "Welcome to My Daydream", a fitting introduction to the CD with Rick's signature swirling organs, catchy guitar riffs, and even a recorder solo thrown in for good measure.  It ends strong with one of the album's best songs, "Unchained Anti-Melody".  In between these gems is a sonic ride in the genuine rock ‘n roll tradition you'd swear was written decades ago.

The Village Voice said Rick Bain "..chooses substance over style. Great songs, great hooks." The L.A. Weekly said "It's as if he's skimmed the cream of the entire 70's rock era (slightly skewed toward the British point of view), analyzed and eliminated its weaknesses, and just plain improved on the whole thing." And Seattle's fine (but now defunct) The Rocket, called Rick Bain "Portland's six-string messiah". It doesn't get much better or truer than that.

Fast forward to now. Rick Bain is all the more wiser these days as he further develops his signature sound. It's no wonder he continues to get accolades from his peers. Anton Newcombe of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, was recently asked in a Magnet magazine interview that of all the albums recorded in history, what one album does he wish he would have written? You guessed it- Rick Bain's Crooked Autumn Sun. Place your bets now that the new album, Virtual Heavy Pet, will be applauded as well.

Creeper Lagoon : Take Back The Universe And Give Me Yesterday Review
July 2, 2001
San Francisco soulrockers' frazzled second LP

This is the album that almost wasn't. Recorded on an ostrich farm under the influence of magic mushrooms, Creeper Lagoon's initial attempt at their sophomore album was such an excruciating shambles, it had to be scrapped. Band members freaked out, plans were aborted and songs rewritten in a narcotic haze. When 'Take Back...' was finally completed, with the patient assistance of a trio of producers (including Dave Fridmann), it was months overdue - and a far more accomplished work than anyone suspected this bunch of deadbeats capable of.

An indomitable spirit runs through the record like a silver thread. Ian Sefchick's otherwise unremarkable voice has a rampant, breathless quality to it - he doesn't know what he's running towards, but what he wants to get away from (inertia, self-destruction, failure). Creeper Lagoon's desire to ditch the humble restraints of indie rock and head full throttle into razzle-dazzle pop is so intense they frequently overcompensate - laying on effects with an enthusiasm bordering on the obscene, cramming several terrific melodies into every song.


They are never anything less than inspired. 'Keep From Moving' is a seven-minute Afghan Whigs-style soulrock epic, 'Lover's Leap' turns up the Bowie, and 'Under The Tracks' marks the spot where Wheat meet Built To Spill. Uplifting and transcendent, 'Take Back...' brings lustre to a hackneyed genre. Second chances should never be wasted, even if the band are.

CMJ New Music Review of Take Back the Universe and Give Me Tomorrow
May 7, 2001

Three years after emerging from San Francisco as a modest bunch of indie rockers Creeper Lagoon is finally ready for the major leagues. It didn’t come east. To complete Take Back The Universe, Creeper reportedly wrote more than 100 songs, recorded in several cities with a number of producers (including Jerry Harrison and Dave Fridmann) and stalled for time by releasing a six-song EP (Watering Ghost Garden on SpinART). So you’d assume that the ensuing full-length would sound strained, maybe even cobbled together. Not so. Songwriters Ian Sefchick and Sharky Laguana have assembled a collection of catchy rock tracks and near-psychedelic diversions that flow together without pandering to mainstream tastes. “Up All Night” and “Wrecking Ball” are typical Creeper Lagoon, at once anthemic and laconic – satisfaction guaranteed. Exemplary guitars are sprawled across the disc, whether unaccompanied (the brief acoustic reverie “She Loves Me Not”, amid a laid-back vibe (the power ballad “Naked Days”) or sliding around a Bowie Stardust mood (the freaky, distorted “Lover’s Leap”). Even overproduced fare like “Under The Tracks,” all radio-ready guitar solos and bouncy piano figure, fits the overall complexion. That Creeper managed to stay true to itself is an achievement in its own right, but to simultaneously crank out a disc with this much spark and general appeal is almost a miracle.

            -Richard A. Martin

A review of Jim Noir
December 8, 2000
"He writes killer songs."
 
From a Manchester, UK
bedroom to your stereo via outer space, we’re overjoyed
to introduce the new album from Jim Noir. He’s named it after
himself, but don’t be fooled into thinking he’s run out of ideas –
Jim’s eponymous second album is one of the most expansive
pop records you’ll hear this year.
 
Jim’s music has always been a melee of different styles and
influences, and this album sees him delving more into his
electronic side and going further with melody and vocals than
he’s ever gone before.
 
Jim Noir’s previous album, Tower Of Love, garnered critical
praise including:
 
“One of the best pop/rock records of 2006.” - Skyscraper
“Melodic genius.” - The Guardian

“A glowing psychedelic pop opus dedicated to feeling good
quirkily.” - Filter

“Noir’s elaborately muktitracjed recordings make his gentle
bitching irresistible. He writes killer songs." - Blender

Scott Thill talks about Three Mile Pilot's second release
May 4, 2000


Three Mile Pilot's second release thankfully added enough guitar to their bass-specific first album, Na Vucca Do Lupu, to retain their strikingly original sound while still satisfying those who retain a more dynamic musical palate. The results worked out perfectly: Where standout tracks like the multi-movement rocker "Circumcised" might have sounded a bit thin when the crescendoes came to pass, with lead singer Pall Jenkins' guitar on board, they feel like tidal waves swallowing entire cities. But that doesn't mean Armistead Burwell Smith's amazing basslines and Tom Zinser's percussive atmospherics don't still share center stage with Pall's truly innovative authorship. Smith and Zinser roll through Chief Assassin like a John Entwhisle/Keith Moon

SPIN Magazine does a review of Take Back The Universe
February 8, 2000
Creeper Lagoon delivers thirteen gorgeous, melodic, post indie-pop gems

Voted “Best New Artist” by the readers of SPIN Magazine, with this album Creeper Lagoon delivers thirteen gorgeous, melodic, post indie-pop gems.  Splendid E-zine wrote:  “Take Back The Universe... is full of solid songwriting and catchy melodies that do not pander to the cliches so often found in mainstream pop/rock albums.”  And with this album, Creeper Lagoon has found that perfect mix between the creativity of its initial release and the accessibility necessary for mainstream audiences.

Creeper Lagoon spent some intense time working on Take Back the Universe… with a handful of producers;  most notably ex-Talking Head Jerry Harrison (Live, No Doubt), Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev), and Mark Trombino (Jimmy Eat World).  This variety in amazing talent at the production helm  created an expansive, coherent sound throughout the album, showcasing Creeper Lagoon’s ability to write incredible music- from indie-pop to country to psychedelic rock influenced tunes.

An Interview with band member Michael Cooper
November 30, -0001
Brief Q&A

Here’s a brief Q&A I had with band member Michael Cooper:

SDMUSICSCENE: When did you form Hyena and what would you say your biggest musical influences are?

COOPER: Michael Jackson & Prince….

SDMUSICSCENE: What is it about your music that you feel sets it apart from the rest and are you happy with the way your music is reaching your fans?

COOPER: That it’s made from mixing science and sex. Yes people seem to have fun with it. It’s uplifting and what’s the point of life if there isn’t love and fun?

SDMUSICSCENE: What kind of experience do you plan on bringing to the stage performance wise?

COOPER: We want you to dance and that’s the bottom line but when you open your eyes you can see that we aren’t DJ’s. We are musicians playing live dance music. Also we project visuals by AVicious across the stage to trip out the performance visually. They are synched to our music and have been known to cause euphoria.

SDMUSICSCENE: What are some of the challenges you have faced with distributing your music in an ever changing digital world?

COOPER: Well we did a soft release through our website but soon will get it to ITunes and all. It’s really not that hard.

SDMUSICSCENE: Tell me the funniest story you have experienced as a band so far.

COOPER: Playing a show with a metal band and watching people that were there to see the metal band get into it. I thought it was entertaining at least….