Tuesday, October 27, 2009

It's Impossibeeeeaaarrrrhl-ah!

Sorry to be away for so long, gang. I had a long week of waking up at 4:30 a.m. to go save America. I was supporting a war game, which is nothing like what it sounds like.

A full night's sleep is very important to me, so I was going to bed at 8:30 p.m. every night this week, no joke. One of those nights, I got a text message from one of my readers (sidebar: the person who sent me the text message is more of a "long-time friend" than a "reader," but I'm trying to make the blog sound legit) that said something to the effect of "What's the TLA scoop on the band "House of Heroes?"


So, I hit up Amazon MP3 to listen to the band, and it turns out they have a free 3 song EP, "The End is Not The End." The cover features a picture of what I looked like in college.

You know how sometimes you'll eat something, and all you can think of is, "this tastes like something I've had before...what the hell was that, I really liked it...maybe it's Erin's chili...nope, nope, I think it's my mom's pork...nah, that can't be it...shit..." and so on? You forget to actually taste what you're tasting, but instead are thinking of everything it reminds you of. Well, I have obviously , and this short EP was just like that.

All I could think of when I was listening to it was how much I like Matchbook Romance. House of Heroes reminding me of Matchbook Romance is a good thing for me, but a bad thing for House of Heroes. It's kind of like when the car you just bought reminds you of the car you really wanted.



They also remind me a little bit of The Anniversary. Again, it's like when your new girlfriend reminds you of how much better your last girlfriend was.


Forgive the low quality link - you really need to hit up Amazon and at least preview this stuff in good qualty

Anyways, I was underwhelmed by House of Heroes's songwriting and performance, BUT they did remind me to listen to Matchbook Romance and The Anniversary, so I'll call it a win. Tip of the hat to Anthony for turning me on to them, and rekindling my flame with The Anniversary and Matchbook Romance. They both have this pomp and theatrical quality to them that is so rare, and so fine. Definitely art.

The albums to buy from those two are "Your Majesty" and "Voices" respectively.

The album that changed my life summer of 2003. 
Must get: "Sweet Marie," "Peace, Pain, & Regret"



The album that made me realize that epic songwriting is still alive. 
Must get: "Monsters," "You Can Run, But We'll Find You"


Anyways, good day in music for me, reconnecting with some old favorites.





                           

=



If you haven't heard of Them Crooked Vultures, and it's likely that you haven't, you are missing out. Them Crooked Vultures is a supergroup comprised of Dave Grohl from Nirvana and Foo Fighters, Josh Homme from Kyuss and Queens of The Stone Age, and John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin.


Wait, did you say Led Zeppelin? As in, Led-fucking-Zeppelin?!

Yeah baby. And you can hear the influence too. This group is so monolithic and incomprehensibly badass, that they elude comparison. Dave Grohl is one of my personal favorite musicians, and I am pleased to say that he is back behind the drum set for this album. Just listen to him play, he is a monster. Josh Homme's signature downtuned and heavy, (but not metal) sound is alive and well, and he serves as the group's lead singer, with attitude and power, and better yet, confidence. Unstoppable force type confidence. And what can be said about John Paul Jones? He was the bass player and keyboard player in Led Zeppelin from start to finish, and his production ear guided the band's sound, which is really important, but hard to describe to non-recording-nerd people. Let's just say, that "sound" you associate with Led Zep is more JPJ than you may have guessed. Self-titled album out November 17, which is shaping up to be a huge day for album releases.



  
Next up on the block is Switchfoot, with a new release coming November 10, "Hello Hurricane."



This links to an unintentionally hilarious video on their website, where you can pre-order the album

So, I haven't been able to preview much of it, but they say on their website, "if you're not crying, why are you singing it?" --- proudly proclaiming their deep emotional connection to this batch of songs. To me, it seems like it will be solid, more of a listen-in-the-car album than a play-at-a-party album, but it has some U2 overtones (religious connections aside) and some very straightforward and boring pop progressions and rhythms. I hope the album has their signature way of making normal (boring) progressions cool by leaving some absence in the arrangements. Like I said, drops November 10.

Fall Out Boy has a new single out, clearing a path for their forthcoming "Greatest Hits" album, "Believers Never Die." Verse: stud. Chorus: dud. Pre-Chorus: Super-Stud. "Believers Never Die" hits shelves November 17. Not sure how I feel about a band of dudes my age releasing a Greatest Hits album.



Atreyu has a new album out today. It's called "Congregation of the Damned" (has a nice ring to it, yeah?) and is a lot more pop than their previous releases; something you couldn't tell from the title and album cover, which looks like fried hell. It sounds like a mix between Good Charlotte and A Static Lullaby, kind of confusing. Amazon is blowing it out for $3.99 like they do, which is cheaper than the toll I have to pay to drive to work, so I'll probably pick it up. Maybe I won't though, because it's really boring. I miss their older stuff like this (below). Verdict: boring, letdown. Bring on the older stuff.




And now, the moment, you've all been waiting for:



Is he kidding?

Glory, glory, Hallelujah, Creed is back together! New album, "Full Circle" released yesterday. I will be getting a tribal arm band tattoo and renting a Camaro to celebrate.

Seriously though, say what you will about Creed, but I just love singing their songs in the car --- it's a hoot --- especially when the wife is with me.

Wearth aerhms whi-do-pearnh-ah!
Unnn-daer the surnhlearght!
Wehlrkearhm to this plearce-anh, I'll show yeaurh evry-thearnh!
Wearth aerhms whi-do-pearnh-ah!

Then for the rest of the day I grunt everything in Scott-Stapp-voice. We pass a movie store and I say
"Cearnh we reaehrnt a mooo-vearnh-ah? May-beahn ah eaction-thrillearnh?!"

Music is supposed to be fun, right?
-Hunter



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