Ghost and the Grace Holiday Spirit Vol. 1

Holiday Spirit Vol. 1 is a spiffy 3 song collection that will get your sleigh bells ringing.

The opening track, “The Mall,” is a big production number full of holiday sounds and rich arrangements. While incredibly well done, I almost found the song to be smug, charming, and annoying. Conversely, the second song, “The Tree is on Fire,” is a wonderful little ditty whose hook is “The tree is on fire, the window is broke, Christmas is here and I hope you choke.” Brilliant, with a simple acoustic thing going.

The EP closes out with the easy listening “Snow Keeps Falling Down,” a quaint tune with those dreamy elements we have come to expect from The Ghost & The Grace.

The band will be donating a portion of all of the money that they receive to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (www.bcrfcure.org). That is very cool. Check out The Ghost & The Grace on the web, get some chipper Christmas songs and help a good cause.

so adult - rookie

In the past So Adult have been compared to the Replacements, the highly influential Minneapolis rock band that ruled during the dawn of what we now call American “alternative” music. Although the comparison is valid, to put the two bands side by side would be a disservice to So Adult. The band definitely wears their influences on their sleeves, but do everything that their forebears did right and maintain the elements that made old-school pop-punk so great; clever lyrics, catchy melodies, and youthful abandon. Combine this with an extremely raw sound, and you get the infectious So Adult formula and a new band that this town should welcome with open arms.

Their first release, which is only available on cassette and is limited to 150 copies, is titled Rookie. The cover is graced by the image of Ken Griffey Jr.’s highly coveted rookie card, and the album itself is almost a conceptual ode to tapes in the way the songs are interspersed with the sounds of tapes rewinding and stopping. The four songs themselves are wonderful slices of energetic punk rock with catchy guitar and vocal melodies that stubbornly stick in the listener’s head. Right off the bat chugging guitar slashes begin the first track, “Citizen’s Arrest,” as lead singer Joe Olmstead spits out his earnest frustration and ennui with his vitriolic rasp. From there the EP never let’s up.

Every single one of the four songs sticks out. “Scartruck” starts out as a mid-tempo rocker that eventually speeds up and ends in a triumphant and fiery punk rock blaze. “We Won’t” has some of the band’s best and most melodious guitar work, and has many multi-faceted parts that show off the accomplished songwriting chops of such a young group.

The best moment of the album may be the track titled “Winged.” The song perfectly describes the frustration and fear of celebrating an un-happy birthday, before an incredibly catchy and exultant chorus strikes up to lift both the song’s narrator and the listener into a brief moment of fist-pumping glory. It is truly a remarkable tune, both lyrically and melodically. After Olmstead desperately describes “…25 empty bottles. Not a drip missed my lips,” he then takes flight in the chorus, fighting against his own world-weariness, and it is hard for the listener to not identify wholeheartedly. Although the entire tape is stellar, a song like “Winged” would even make Paul Westerberg jealous.

Although So Adult may choose an antiquated format for their music (the cassette does come with a digital download), and relish a sound that harkens back to a bygone era, they have released an album that sounds wonderfully refreshing. Track it down before it disappears.

Self Released
www.myspace.com/soadultnow

6 feet deep

6 Feet Deep’s new release featuring numerous guest vocalists is a fine effort by these lads from the deepest reaches of the Bellingham “hood.” The songs are crisp and to the point. Battles between pimps and hos are the theme of a majority of the compositions.

While many of the tunes have lyrics that lean on the side of hubris, I must highlight the excellent, “Mental Breakdown,” which features Loc Saint. Really good and depressing. From the production standpoint, 6 Feet is to be commended for his attention to the details of the CD with impeccable drum and beat sequences that both captivate and mesmerize the listener.

Overall I must say this is a high quality performance that would be thoroughly enjoyed by aficionados of the genre.

Self Released
www.myspace.com/wickedjmusic

rooftops - a forest of polarity

As a child, I would have this reoccurring dream: I am sitting in the passenger seat of our red ’83 Oldsmobile, my brother in the backseat. My brother and everything else behind me has been phased out and my only knowledge is that I am on the move not knowing where the hell I am going, and I am scared to death. Generally speaking, math rock and its unquantifiable subdivisions have given me a similar feeling. Maybe it’s my personality type that jumps at easily accessible song structure and melodies bouncing from verse to chorus to verse to bridge to chorus back to verse, therefore making me anxious of music with atypical signatures and dissonant chords. Forest of Polarity, the debut album by Rooftops, manages to break me through that barrier with surprising ease.

Rooftops is Mark Detrick (Lands Farther East, Sunset Riders, Treasures), Drew Fitchette (Braille Tapes, Praise of Folly) and Jonathan McIntyre (Johnny V, Snow Cuts Glass, Narrows, Moons & Goochers) on guitars and Wendelin Wohlgemuth (Braille Tapes, Praise of Folly) on drums. Recorded at Bayside Recording Studios by Mr. Paul Turpin, Forest of Polarity opens the course on a lush, well-crafted soundscape, through two proper introductions and into a land to which I am a stranger. Several minutes have passed. I know not where I am or how I got here but I know that I am not scared. My ears are so absorbed into the sounds of fingers jumping around fret boards like they’re playing hopscotch, and these perfect drums, that when the vocals hit, I’m almost surprised to hear them. Quicker than I realize I’m actually hearing three voices, they’re gone, and forgotten, until they reappear down the path and suddenly I’m in an opera house, seeing the Eye of Jupiter and everything that lies between life and death.

Forest of Polarity features Sara Jerns [Pan Pan, The Love Lights] , Kat Bula [Thimble vs. Needle, Pirates-R-Us; Feed & Seed] & Dylan Rieck [The Crying Shame], all of whom, also with the help of Turpin, help Rooftops in creating not just the most intricately beautiful math pop album I have ever heard, but a community mantra, a rhythm of notes which plays our existence in harmony. While available for d/l via interwebs, physical copies include wonderful photos and design by Cameron Jennings that feel nice to hold in the hand. This is Bellingham at its finest and I’ll say it now: my vote for best album of 2009.

Clickpop Records
www.myspace.com/rftps

As it turns out one man and his electric guitar can make quite the pop EP. Simply put, Five Songs About Mistakes is, ironically, pure bliss. And that’s even when the subject matter isn’t the most optimistic. But that’s the beauty of it: the clever word play makes you forget that you’re depressed about the content.

Rife with “why didn’t I think of that” lyrical moments, Eruptagain’s release has plenty of soul-searching, self-deprecating moments that almost all can relate to, as evidenced by the title. In addition to being able to craft good melodies, he is also good with parallelism, given the formulaic song titles. The most noticeable thing about the first track, “Smoke and Mirrors,” is his powerful voice; a sonorous, “I’ve been there before” timbre that instantly pulls you in. Then there are the hooks, of course. There’s plenty of emotion in the simple, yet powerful chord progressions. Sometimes, a full band isn’t needed, it’s in the way. These tracks stand alone.

The hands down, best song on the EP is the third number, “Ins and Outs.” The music in the chorus alone will make you want to listen over and over. But the lyrics are what make it stand out. “If you swear you get out, I’ll do my best to burn it down as we go,” he sings as the tune picks up intensity.

The only curiosity is why there are, in fact, six songs on the disc, in spite of the cleverly worded title advertising, well, five songs. But when that’s the only glitch on an otherwise gem of an offering, you know you have something good in your hands. After listening a few times, it becomes obvious that a good balance has been struck with the songwriting. It’s hooky enough to lure a casual listener, but there’s also enough of a Jeff Buckley air to lend it genuine substance.

While there are many layers to the music, the good thing is that there’s no learning curve. It’s instantly pleasing and doesn’t necessarily take numerous listens to “get it.” There’s no word on a full-length album as of yet, but this slice of pop perfection is more than enough to tide you over.

Self Released
www.myspace.com/eruptagain

Oh at last a rock ‘n’ roll record. First of all it’s always neat when a trio calls themselves a foursome and thanks Kirby Pucket in their liner notes. Secondly I’m distraught because I never got to check out CT4 live before their recent break-up (hopefully, like nearly every other band in Bellingham rock ‘n’ roll history, they will reform).

The band’s 5-song record, Tiger Shark, is a fabulous ray of sunlight in the November monsoon we have been enduring. The CD gets the heart pumping right from the start with the infectious “chutes and ladders,” a Replacements-like stomp led by singer/bass player Cristina Boutista’s killer performance, which by the way is the highlight of the record for me. Ms. Boutista is an explosive singer along the lines of Pat Benatar and Joan Jett, her passionate screams gave me goosebumps on my goosebumps.

That is only the beginning because Meghan Kessinger brings it home with her neat, hooky guitar parts and introspectively cool, geeky lyrics that are refreshing in this world of hipster jerks as outlined in the awesome “Fiscal Year.”

The band then rolls the poppy “Once Electric,” which really sounds like a “hard rockin’” Pat Benatar song and features insane drumming by Valerie Brogden, who also kicks arse throughout the effort with perfect skins. It all comes to a boil on the records last song “If we were Robots,” which has Boutista screaming ferociously that “I won’t be sleeping tonight.”

Self Released
www.myspace.com/connecticutfour

Candysound’s Teo Crider and Tom Fitzgibbon continue to show immense growth and diversity with their new Million EP.

The underage group, which sprouted from the awesome teen punk rock band The Cherubs, is showing a penchant for 60′s psychedelic combined with Crider’s own Emo tendencies. The result is a fabulously original sounding “thing” coming from these fellows. The title track was certainly one of the best songs I’ve heard this year, Crider’s Stratocaster and Fitzgibbon’s skin working like a fine oiled machine in a White Stripes kind of way. The song also has Crider using a multitude of guitar tones as the different parts of the tune unfold. The lyrics ask us if “there must be better things” in an explosive crescendo that is worthy of the word crescendo.

This band is on its way to sounding a bit like one of the world’s greatest bands The Boo Radleys. This 3-song EP would be a good one to have on hand. Check them out online and live in Bellingham, Burlington, or Seattle.

Self Released
www.myspace.com/candysoundmusic

Compilations have long held a special place in my heart; within this special place is an even special-er space devoted to local compilations. This appreciation began sometime in middle school after discovering North of Nowhere, a 19-track CD of Bellingham bands, most of whom I have never even heard of, and has continued with the help of Four Dots, ancient KUGS cassettes and impressive collections by MASA, Estrus, Clickpop, Murder Mountain and countless other DIY efforts.

My appreciation is not just in being able to easily discover new bands (at least to me), but in that they serve as documents for our community’s musical history. Breakfast For Dinner, self-released from the ruins of Friendship City, steps up and offers 11 tracks into our town’s legacy, including intimate solo efforts from Cumulus, Nick Duncan and Coty Hogue, So Adult channeling a sober Westerberg, Stuck and Femme Uke’s adult-friendly sing along “F’uked Up”. Council of Lions contribute a track not found on their new EP while the now defunct Connecticut Four do the opposite.

Closing this record is Party Thighs’ ode to crazy cat women, and Aryeh Gonif lamenting backward Seahawk caps at Rumors. Despite its short playtime, Breakfast For Dinner covers a lot of area and serves as a great snapshot for Bellingham 2009.

Self Released

Clear and concise.

No, Biagio Biondolillo hasn’t just turned in a term paper, but his new CD, Alone On This Here and Now, offers a refreshingly simple take on the singer/songwriter routine.

Featuring 10 short tracks that boast no frills, Biondolillo traverses a number of themes and topics ranging from love to reflection to self improvement.

However, he addresses the potentially dicey topics with grace, cleverness and ease as he never bogs down the content by getting unnecessarily deep.

The music itself has its fair share of hooks, but calling any given number catchy would be a stretch.

And that’s not a knock on the superior acoustic guitar work and musicianship, either. It’s just that Biondolillo has done a darn fine job of having his music mirror his lyrics, and vice versa. It’s not too happy, not too sad.

“Deeper I Go,” the second track, is a bittersweet ode to how good things once were with a lost love. Bitter, because of the sadness of the subject. Sweet, however, because of the melody itself and the bright key it’s played in. On “Man I Want to Be,” however, it’s the exact opposite. The tune is a bit haunting, but the lyrics are downright inspiring.In addition to the guitar, there are many instruments here and there to embellish the sound and mood of certain tunes.

“Battleship,” the last tune, features a string and horn section that fades at the end after a dramatic crescendo. All in all, a fitting end for the album, given the vibe displayed throughout. Pound for pound and tune for tune, this album is like the perfect pair of jeans; it goes with anything.

This time of year? Throw on some hot tea, light some incense and you’re good to go. Then come summertime, nothing would go better with a sunset by the bay.

Corridor Records
beepcycle@live.com

The Librarians are an ultra tight folk combo with an evident slick sound on their new 6-song record.

The album starts strong with the haunting “Gone” which made me feel like I was in a surreal black and white film in the south that had the Devil involved somehow. Real strong stuff, total pro. After the instrumental “Sweet Lucy” the band strikes it up with “A Guide to the Outdoors” live from The Honeymoon which is a real treat if you are in to that kind of hippie, aura, folk, tree hugger, soft, introspective, emo rock. I also thought the horn was very neat in this song. Another tasty instrumental, “Western Spaghetti” is followed by the pleasant “Sunday” with neat 3-part runs that were intoxicating and the best vocal harmonies of the CD. This was my favorite song. It’s like a great classic 50′s song that could live forever.

Self Released
www.bisonbookbinding.com
Things wind down with “Steamboat Slough,” another foot tapping instrumental that made me recall my days as a young boy on the Mississippi with my friends Tom Sawyer and African American Jim.

All in all, a very enjoyable collection from the Librarians that will have you checking out this book time and time again.