Throughout the past three weeks, Rachel and I, the blog editors, explored different albums and reviewed 10 albums and/or concerts total. Based off of our research the preliminary week, we worked to replicate some of the style and components professional reviews contained. Below you will find album/concert reviews and critiques for a mix of genres ranging from indie to pop to rap.
After our research the first week from Pitchfork, Rolling Stones, and the New York Times, we created a list of criteria we wanted to follow in our reviews:
(Roughly in this order)
·Background of an artist/previous album summaries
·Set the tone in the first few sentences
·Introduction to the album
·Comparison to other artists within that genre
·Description of the album and music itself
·Reviewing specific songs on the album
·Lyric analysis
·“Opinion” on the music and lyrics and sound
·Culture of the genre and how the music is
listened to description/review/analysis
Terrified
that April 8th would turn out the same for PNC Arena as the Time WaZrner
Cable Arena in Charlotte experienced the night before, the Raleigh crowd sat
anxiously in their seats waiting for a crazy performance form Miley Cyrus. After
a horrendous week of the flu, her beloved dog’s death, and a canceled show the
night before in Charlotte, Raleigh had low expectations for Miley Cyrus’s Bangerz concert, yet Miley undoubtedly blew
the crowd away.
Miley
Cyrus certainly has made a name for herself in the past year and made headline after
headline ranging from her hair, her break-up, her twerking, and so much more.
Though there’s plenty of negative things to say about the crazy ex-disney
channel star 21 year old, it’s hard to claim she has no talent or can’t put on
a good show. Too many won’t even give Bangerz
a listen because of the hit song “We Can’t Stop” and the other stereotypes held
with Miley Cyrus. When you really listen to all 16 songs of Bangerz, it reveals slow songs about the
heartache of failed relationships, upbeat dance tunes, girl power rebellious hits,
and ultimately every song on the album is hard not to dance and sing along to.
Miley’s live performance fell nothing short of the way her recording sounds and
the entire 3 hours of the concert were phenomenal.
As
the instagram feeds close down, and the hundreds of groups of girls put their
tongues away for pictures, a long pink twisty slide protrudes out of a giant picture
of Miley’s face, and of course there’s Miley Cyrus herself sliding down her own
tongue and kicking off the Bangerz concert
with the song “Bangerz”. This is the first time you catch a glimpse of the
midget and 6’10 dancers she dances along with the whole show.
You
can easily lose track of the amount of leotards that Miley changed into during
the concert, but it ranged from a bedazzled American flag get-up to a leotard
covered in marijuana leaves. The concert was most definitely inappropriate,
crazy, based around drugs and sex, and there shouldn’t have been anyone there
under the age of 16, but through her crazy dance moves and props, Miley found a
way to belt out each note of her set list.
Miley’s stage set up, props,
costumes and the whole ordeal were definetly crazy, strange, out of this world,
you name it. From a giant, and I mean giant, inflatable husky dog that seemed
to appear from nowhere, to a tongue slide, to a giant Barbie car, huge bed,
huge Ludacris bobble head costume, she had it all – large and crazy. A lot of
concert-goers would relate some of her graphics and videos on the big screen to
that of the biggest electric DJs, which is directly aimed at LCD and Ecstasy
users. If you saw Hannah Montana in concert 6 years ago with your 9 year old,
there’s no way you’d want to bring them to this concert. That was one of the
best parts, the majority of the audience was girls in high school, which meant
they were all the ripe age for when Hannah
Montana aired on Disney Channel. Many of Miley’s fans have essentially
grown up with her, and now that they are going through parties and
relationships, Bangerz contains song
after song of hits for high school girls.
Miley started the show off with
three of the biggest party songs on the album, “SMS”, “4X4”, and
“Love, Money,
Party” – pretty much every big party anthem except for “We Can’t Stop” and the
crowd knew that would be saved for last. Miley then slowed it down with “My
Darlin’”, and “Maybe You’re Right” which led into the incredible “FU”.
The classic lighters went into the
air – or modern day lighters a.k.a. the flashlight of your smart phone – for “Maybe
You’re Right”. Back to back songs about Miley’s ex-fiance had the girl-power of
the stadium going wild. The sad, slow beat and lyrics of “Maybe You’re Right”
took the teenage girl from “You may think I’m crazy / that I’m lost and foolish
/ leaving you behind / maybe you’re right” to the angry, crazy lyrics of FU “I’ve
got two-oo-oo letters for you / One of them is F / and the other one’s U”. The
beautiful red gown Miley was in for “Maybe You’re Right” got ripped off into a
short, spicy red leotard for “FU”; the sequence and set up was perfect for the “break-up”
segment of the song.
Though a lot of Miley’s fans hoped
for some old songs so they could relive their middle school and elementary
school jam-session days, they were only fulfilled with “Can’t Be Tamed” and “Party
in the U.S.A”. “Can’t Be Tamed” was the strange massive, creepy looking dog
scene that you weren’t quite sure how to react to. Raleigh awaited for the
tears to start flowing as they had in New Jersey and Brooklyn previous nights. The
blow up dog was a huge replica of her dog who had just passed away earlier that
night. Miley Cyrus had broken down in previous nights, and in New Jersey, cried
for almost the entire show about her beloved dog Floyd. Miley pulled
through that night though and sang “Can’t Be Tamed” without break. Just prior
to this crazy stage prop floating on to stage, one of Miley’s very interesting and
fun-loving transitions played on the big screen while she changed into her
getup.
At the start of the show, Miley had
announced if she was taking a little extra time bag stage she was “either
puking her brains out or having an emotional breakdown”. Despite her mess of a
week, Miley kept it professional yet personal as a real artist has to do.
“Can’t
be Tamed” brought the crowd about halfway through the show and any doubts the
fans had about Miley’s performance were certainly shot to hell by now. Miley’s
voice was unstoppable and hitting every note, her dancing was crazy, talented,
and ultimately just entertaining, her stage set-up, backdrops, backup dancers,
videos, and more were clearly out of this world, and every word Miley spoke to
the crowd was genuine, sober, and intimate.
Miley’s
slowest song on the album “Adore You” made the crowd wince and let out an “oh
no” when a big engagement ring appeared on the stage. Everyone expected some
direct references to her very recent ex-fiance Liam Hemsworth, but instead
Miley made the crowd crazy with a “Kiss Cam” while she absolutely beautifully,
and just like on the track, sang “Adore You”. Everyone in the arena was
swaying, laughing, and singing along to “Adore You” while they watched the
crazy couples in the front row fight to get on the big screen.
During
one of Miley’s crazy transition on stage, she somehow appeared at the opposite
side of the arena, towards those with standing seats at the back. Accompanying
Miley’s laid-back spot on her stool were just a couple of guys on the drums and
guitar. Miley broke out some of her favorite covers to sing and spent almost 30
minutes just sitting talking to the crowd. Miley brought the pace down with
some Lana Del Rey, Coldplay, and Dolly Parton covers; she definitely did the
stars justice and kept the crowd rolling with her jokes and personality shining
off the little stage at the back.
Miley
had reached the last stretch of her concert when she returned to the big stage.
She would perform just three more songs until her stellar double encore. Miley’s
unusually long set list as well as her eccentric stage sets kept the star up
and dancing and singing for the entire three and a half hours, even when
recovering from mental and physical illness.
The
“final” ballet of the night was a mix between slow, steady, belt-it-out jam and
an upbeat, bouncy song with “Someone Else”. When she left the stage for the “last”
time, the crowd went wild. Though Miley tells every crowd their “the loudest
and craziest”, it was hard to imagine a louder arena with more energy and excitement
than PNC Arena at that time. Usually encore chants last maybe a few minutes
before it starts to very slowly tune out, the crowds did not stop cheering for
Miley to get her crazy self-back on the big stage. Sure enough, not after long,
the opening beats to “We Can’t Stop” came overhead and the arena somehow became
even louder. Miley’s crazy encore to her three biggest hits ever, “We Can’t
Stop”, “Wrecking Ball”, and “Party in the U.S.A.” definitely ended her Bangerz concert with a bang.
“Wrecking
Ball” was done absolutely beautifully alone on stage. With no cats, psychedelic
space ships, giant dogs, back-up dancers, or cars, Miley Cyrus showcased her
vocal ability before coming back on stage one more time in crazy patriotic
gear.
There’s
no doubt Miley Cyrus has guts. She does what she wants when she wants, just as “We
Can’t Stop” says, “It’s my mouth I can say what I want to”. Though the
no-longer-teenage star has been bombarded with ridicule and criticism, she
still comes through for her fans no matter what. It’s no secret Miley Cyrus can
be inappropriate, rude, and frankly a little scary at times, but she has a
talent that can’t be mimicked.
Bangerz as a whole didn’t come with
sky-high standards when the public thought Miley had fallen into the deep end
with her “crazy” new short hair, because obviously the length and color of your
hair is directly correlated with your success as an artist and your sanity as a
human being. With her first real, professional tour and album, Miley has given
her “Smilers” an overwhelming amount to smile about.
The ninth album from the Avett Brothers was unanticipated and
for all the right reasons. The Avett Brothers have had an incredibly successful
career, but Magpie and the Dandelion
offered us nothing new from the band. The Avett brothers consist of two
brothers, Scott Avett and Seth Avett, however they include three other members
– Bob, Joe, Mike and Paul – who tour and record with them. The brothers have
officially been recording and making music since 2000, but their whole life
have grown up with a passion for music. Considering the band has produced 9
albums in 14 years, and over 100 songs, there’s no doubt that this band has
talent, experience, and established a name for themselves. However, their most
recent album was a dud compared to The
Carpenter.
The Carpenter included hit after hit of
upbeat, powerful music with inspiring lyrics and addicting melodies; Magpie and the Dandelion was a
combination of depressing, slow, scratchy songs that was nothing compared to The Carpenter. Almost every song on the
album is a classic, angsty, break-up song. Though they haven’t lost their
talent or sound, there definitely were not many fans blown away by these eleven
songs.
Magpie
and the Dandelion consist of a back and forth combination between whiney
tunes and successful lullabies. The Avett Brothers voices are unique and successful
in their usual type of song; however they obtain no charming, sleep-inducing,
bird-chirping, melodies with their vocals chords. Despite their harsh, croaky
voices, they still attempt to sing the soft, slow songs on Magpie and the Dandelion. This is semi-successful on one or two of
their tracks, but overall the rest of the whiney, similar songs aren’t songs
you want to listen to more than once.
The Album
cover for Magpie and the Dandelion is
more eccentric and exciting than their previous eight album covers, which is
ironic considering this is probably their least exciting and upbeat album to
date. A large percentage of the album has a heavy amount of bird imagery, and
one of the brothers, Seth Avett, actually relates himself to the magpie in an
interview with Music Mix. (Music
Mix) Their secondary song “Morning Song” expresses the bird and magpie
references the strongest.
“Morning
Song” is the most similar track on Magpie
and the Dandelion to their older style and sound. Though the slower and
more solemn beat isn’t a crowd pleaser 9 times out of ten 10 on this album, The
Avett Brothers pull it off in “Morning Song”. This secondary track on their album
pulls off the intimate yet gloomy song; however this should have been the only
song on the album with this style and subject. The calming acoustic guitar
pulls into the lyrics “Hurt so bad / You don’t come around here anymore”, the
songs continues on about apathy, alcoholism, hopelessness, and “the magpie on
the wire warned of those / Dead until the high / Shamelessly alive until the
low”. The song brings a perfect amount of agonizing lyrics with a slow,
peaceful acoustic melody to create the heartbreaking track The Avett Brothers
were going for, as I mentioned though, this is the only track that succeeds in
that goal and it is the only one that was needed on the album. The repetition
of the same type of song and style kills Magpie
and the Dandelion.
The Avett
Brother stated that Magpie and the
Dandelion consisted of a majority of songs that were left over from The Carpenter; that’s exactly what the
album feels like – songs that just didn’t quite make the cut (Music
Mix).
Dr. Dog’s B-Room is their seventh full album since
2003. Following the hard act of their success from Be the Void, B-Room falls
flat in comparison. With Toby Leaman on bass and vocals, Eric Slick on drums,
Zach Miller on the keyboard, Frank McElroy on guitar, Scott McMicken on lead
guitar and also vocals, and Dimitri Manos switching between instruments, Dr.
Dog brings in some hints of old-time-square-dance-country in this album, which
is new to the band.While I acknowledge that
Be the Void is obviously impossible
to top, B-Room is a step down from
their previous album yet still an accomplishment.
The band is from West
Grove, Pennsylvania, and they have a good time. They all have nicknames that start with the letter T, such as Thanks, Teach, and Taxi which are McElroy’s,
Slick’s, and McMicken’s, respectively. Their genre has ranged from Psychedlic
rock to Lo-fi to Baroque pop, ever since Leaman and McMicken started making
music in eighth grade where they wrote original songs. This developed into a proeject
called Raccoon, and when their buddies Ted Mark and Doug O’Donnell came in on
drums and on guitar the band was Dr. Dog. Mark and O’Donnell left while Dr. Dog
had some local fame in Pennsylvania, but never anything more than that. With
the release of Toothbrush in 2002,
their second album, another band called My Morning Jacket asked Dr. Dog to tour
with them. This got the New York Times to notice Dr. Dog, and Dr. Dog signed
with Park The Van Records. From here, their fame accelerated. They appeared on
four different late night shows: Conon O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, David Letterman,
and Craig Ferguson.
The cover features a
door with “B-Room” written on it in a childish font, with a music note for the
dash and two film roles for the O’s. Next to the door is a red emergency light
which is flashing, illuminating the aread around it to show the dirt on the
walls and the door. There is a logo that reads “B-Room LLC” that is both on the
door and on the wall next to the emergency light. What the “B-Room” means is
vague. Is it a bathroom? Is it some guy named B’s room? The lack of clarity was
most certainly intentional by Dr. Dog. Last but not least, photo shopped over
the image and is a tacky “Dr. Dog” in yellow and red, which looks like the
titles I used to make with WordArt when I was ten years old. At least one thing
on the album cover makes sense: the band name.
“Phenomenon” is the
fifth song from the album, which has a folk, country vibe that clearly stands
out from all of the other songs on the album. Manos switches between the banjo
and the fiddle, at one point with a crazy psychedelic violin solo that turns
into rhythmic squeaking. “Too Weak to Ramble”, the preceding song, is one of
the only songs on the album where the emotion seems genuine. The vocals are the
focus, with a muted guitar in the background. The lyrics speak of self-pity, “too
low to get up, too weak to try. Too drunk to stagger, too gone to lie.” The verses
accelerate into, “I always told myself I’d make it out of here alive,” which
the singer belts out, with all of his heart.
“Long Way Down” is my
favorite song from the album. The combination of the syncopation from McElroy
and McMicken’s guitars, the trumpet that Manos brings in, and the static in the
background makes this song funky while nostalgic. It’s a nice lighthearted and
fun break after “Too Weak To Ramble”. “Long Way Down” is reminiscent of “How
Long Must I Wait” from Be the Void, in the sense that it has lyrics that ramble
off the singer’s tongue, harmonies out the wazoo, and funky syncopated beats
that easily blend with the lyrics. In “Long Way Down”, there’s some high-pitched
ghostly “ooh”s that introduce the lyrics: “I fell asleep around quarter to
four. I had a dream my baby didn’t want me no more”. The lyrics continue to
tell a story about the narrator’s ups and downs. The song winds down to just
the highhat, a trumpet solo kicks in, some more eerie “ooh”s, and the band repeats,
“you can laugh about it, if you just let go”. The advice of the song, to “just
let go”, fits in with the funk and the excited trumpet.
B-Room
as a whole is disconnected. It’s as if each song wants to steal the spotlight,
and Dr. Dog is just trying some new things out. It’s good for artists to try
something new, but it doesn’t make a great album when it’s all over the place. B-Room is just some experimentation by
Dr. Dog.
Formally known by
Sufjan Stevens’ tour, as the singer and guitarist The Polyphonic Sphere, and from
being featured on the Kid Cudi song “MANIAC”, St.Vincent has established her
weirdo identity as an independent artist. St. Vincent is commonly the opener, starting
the show for Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear, and John Vanderslice. Or maybe you know
her from the soundtrack of Twilight’s
sequel New Moon, or from “Rosyn” by
Bon Iver. St. Vincent, her fourth
album, is just like the singer: creepy, yet a lot of fun. I suppose it makes
sense she named it after herself.
St. Vincent’s real name
is Anne Clark, but the stage name St. Vincent means a lot to Clark. Though it
was also her grandmother’s middle name, St. Vincent is inspired by Dylan
Thomas, a poet who died in Saint Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center. Clark said
in an interview with New York Times that “it’s the place where poetry comes to
die. That’s me”. Born in Tulsa but raised in Dallas, Clark was constantly
surrounded by music in her youth. She was the tour manager for her family’s
band Tuck & Patti, and later attended Berklee. There, she collaborated to
make Ratsliveonnoevil, her first
released EP. After dropping out of Berklee, she joined the Polyphonic Sphere.
Her fame as a solo artist didn’t take off until after Marry Me, her first solo album. Clark found herself with Actor in 2009 and has accelerated after
that with the Strange Mercy release
in 2011.
Actor album cover
Clark,
in an interview with New Yorks Times, spoke about being a girl in the male
dominated indie rock genre: “growing up, I was never made aware of the idea
that because I’m anatomically female, my fingers and brain don’t work as well.
I never did feel like I was constantly having to overcome, ‘I’m a girlbutI can
play.’ That’s just silly.” This sure correlates to how unafraid she is to
intensely be her weird self. You go girl, St. Vincent.
Clark’s music video for
“Actor Out of Work” from the album Actor
sums up Clark as an artist. While the context of the video is unclear, the
parallelism between Clark in the video and Clark as an artist is uncanny. In a
dark, secluding setting, Clark sits in a chair while ordinary people, who
aren’t expecting anything soul-crushing line up to meet with her. Clark puts on
her boombox and calmly sings, “You’re a supplement, you’re a salve… you’re an
extra lost in the scene”. The people, in response, all break down to tears. St.
Vincent is happy to be tearing these people apart, as she sings “ooooh”s as if
nothing happened. Just like she is in the music video, St. Vincent is
disturbing, perplexing, and happy to be shattering people.
The video for “Digital
Witness” has some obvious similarities to “Actor Out Of Work”. Both videos show
a mass of ordinary people, while Clark stands out. Though everyone is shaken by her presence,
Clark calmly sings the song. The angle switches between zoomed in to her voice
and showing Clark with the other people. These people are dressed identically
and constantly performing pointless and mundane tasks. In “Digital Witness”,
however, Clark’s gaze is not directly at the camera like it is in “Actor Out Of
Work”. She stares all around, as if distracted by something; it can’t be a
coincidence that she is singing about TV.
The chorus of the song, which Clark repeats often while a synth follows
the notes of her vocals, goes “people turn the TV on, it looks just like a
window”. Clark is commenting on how distracting media like TV can, and how
people escape their own lives and go into the TV world. “Digital Witness” acts
as a criticism for the digitally consumed age we live in.
Around the same time
she dyed her hair grayish-white, Clark released St. Vincent. The cover of the album shows Clark seated, proudly
showing off her disfigured, oddly colored afro. Her raised eyebrows and solemn
mouth combined elicit a “what are you looking at, punk?” kind of feel. Behind
Clark is a plastic, rose-colored throne; behind that, a funky black and white
beehive pattern which give the entire image a trippy vibe. Clark’s outfit, a
long-sleeved shiny black dress that touches the ground, the throne, and her
confident and rigid body language make her appear royal.
“Prince Johnny”, the
third track on the album, feels strangely normal at first. Clark, directed at
Prince Johnny, sings, “You’re kind but you’re not simple. By now I think I know
the difference”. Here, she might be referring to Prince John of the UK, who is
believed to have had a type of mental retardation. Clark comes off as kind and
understanding which, on second thought, seems pretty out of character. Then, we hear her wail “remember that time we
snorted” and the song suddenly makes more sense. “Prince Johnny” is reminiscent
of a Lady Gaga song that’s much less family appropriate.
Clark ends the album with a beautiful ballad called “Severed Crossed Fingers”, featuring the wonderfully
poetic chorus, “spitting our guts from their gears, draining our spleen over
years, find my severed crossed fingers in the rubble there”. The disturbia
really portrays St. Vincent herself. As Clark puts it,“you can’t apologize your way into people’s
hearts, you have to go full force.” She’s starting to make sense to me.
After gaining
significant popularity by touring with Japandroids and with his second album 2 which he released in 2012, Mac Demarco
returns with Salad Days. This twingy
album somewhat bores the listener’s soul with his relaxing and barely
interesting vocals. At the same time, if you’re trying to chill out under the
sun, Salad Days is the ideal mood. Salad Days is significantly less
exciting than both 2 and Rock and Roll Night Club, Demarco’s solo
album and notably more, well, sleepy.
Mac Demarco is a stage
name: the real genius behind the music was born in British Colombia under the
mouthful of a name Vernor Winfield McBriare Smith IV. While living in Alberta,
his mother soon changed his name to McBriare Samual Lanyon DeMarco.With a gap
between his teeth, with a face much creepier than one would assume from his
voice, with a cigarette perpetually always in his mouth, Mac Demarco is surprisingly
lovable. This 24-year-old comes from a family of musicians—his grandmother was
an opera singer and a music teacher; his aunt a singer in Hot City Brass. He
currently has a strange obsession with Pinball, and bought his own pinball
machine which features Alec Baldwin for $3,000.
The cover features
Demarco himself in a trucker hat and plain blue sweatshirt, absentmindedly
staring at the camera. From the looks of this photograph, Demarco appears to be
your average stoner hanging out somewhere dark and therefore sketchy. The title
of the album is scribbled on beneath his awkwardly blocked name—basically as if
a five year old wrote on it. Demarco doesn't give two hoots about the artwork; the creepiness of the cover contradicts the tone of the album, but falls hand-in-hand with
the easy-going ways of the songs. The cover photo from 2 is similar to this easy going style, as it shows Demarco
carelessly throwing up a peace sign and a goofy smile. Demarco’s album artwork
seems to regularly contribute to his placid style.
“Salad Days”, both the
intro and namesake of the album, has the rhymescheme of AABBCC etc., with
Demarco singing “na na na na” in between. Demarco’s recognizable calm voice
causes a nostalgic feel as he sings about “getting old/ chip up on my
shoulder”. The “na”s are the perfect combination of slightly annoying yet
admittedly catchy as they seem to represent the oh-well-what-can-ya-do-that’s-life-maaaan
kinda vibe. Still, Demarco comes off as passively upset about “rolling through
life, to roll over and die”. Ending suddenly yet satisfyingly with a major
triad, “Salad Days” overall has an oh
well feel.
“Let My Baby Stay” is a slow break from the twingy guitar that
sounds the same in all of the other songs from the album. While the lyrics are
about losing love, the tone of the song is more hopeful than “Salad Days”—maybe
because there’s more hope in keeping love than there is in escaping death. Mac
Demarco sings to some unknown force, telling him or her or it, “please don’t
take my love away/let my baby stay, let my baby stay”. Though the lyrics could be powerful, Demarco
sings them disconnectedly and lacks emotion. He ends with trying out falsetto vocals which easily conclude
the song.
I expected more from Salad Days. While 2 was undoubtedly all-that-and-a-bag-of-chips, Salad Days feels like an attempted replica of 2. Mac Demarco hasn’t grown as an artist between 2 and Salad Days—he’s clearly past his SaladDays.
Coming in
with a bang, The Wild Feathers debut album was a glorious introduction to the
potential of this new band. Their fourteen track album, including two bonus
tracks, is an addictive, dance-worthy, and quality addition to the folk-indie
genre. The Wild Feathers are a relatively new band, only having been together
for four years, and their talents matched each other’s instantaneously. Though
originally formed in Austin, Texas, the band kicked off their career in
Nashville, Tennessee (All
Music). Not after long, the band signed
with Warner Bros and was quickly sent on tour with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson.
The Wild Feathers have successfully created their own style rather than
mimicking those of their idles such as The Allman Brother and Neil Young.
The band consists
of five singers and artists all from the Texas area; Ricky, Joel, Taylor, Ben
and Preston had all been previous lead singers in bands before The Wild
Feathers. Their infectious voices were made to be harmonized together; the
change of singer(s) per track keeps The
Wild Feathers intriguing and unique. The originality of these band members
transfer their sound over into each song, from slow, acoustic folk tracks, to
upbeat rock and roll songs, The Wild Feather’s show that their talent stretches
far and wide. The Wild Feathers undoubtedly made a tidal wave of an
introduction as a band.
The album
kicks off with “Backwoods Company”, and it starts the The Wild Feathers off with a powerful bang. The undeniable talent
from the guitarist and bassists together gives off a mix of The Black Keys and
Cage The Elephant, which isn’t a surprise considering The Wild Feathers and
Cage the Elephant share the same producer. The music video is a powerful, sporadic,
and intense montage of the band performing, friends running and dancing through
the woods, and a party to “Backwoods Company” in the woods. The facial
expressions from the dancers, actors, are intense and a little bit nerve-racking.
The song and music video are addictive and The Wild Feathers beautifully
combined their drums, base, and harmonies to create a perfect opening track.
The album cover
for The Wild Feathers isn’t anything
special, which is tolerable considering the music stands out enough on its own.
The graphics of the cover definitely portray the hipster, young, mountaineer,
folk, and badass band they are quickly becoming.
The number one, chart-crashing worthy, legendary track of the
album is one of the many that shows their true talent and original sound; “The
Ceiling” is a superb track including unstoppable lyrics, voices, and instrumentals.
It was a dangerous move making their biggest track six minutes long but there’s
no doubt that they pulled it off. The Wild Feathers broke the status quo for
love and breakup songs. This upbeat, catchy tune has you singing and dancing to
lyrics “I remember everything, little girl learning to sing cause she's crying /
all over me / Well I did what I did, and I didn't mean anything”. While there
isn’t a real story to follow “The Ceiling”, the song succeeds to spark multiple
emotions in our hearts and the anger associated with a failed relationship.
Just when
you think the song is coming to an end around three minutes and thirty seconds,
the band pulls out another couple minutes of beautiful acoustic harmonies. The
lyrics “we should be easy” send you into a paradise of peace and bliss. Multiple
members of the band harmonize for the first 10 lines, until the lead vocals
kick in and you find yourself unsure of which melody to sing along to. Many of
The Wild Feathers songs transport you into the middle of a movie scene and you
feel as if the world around you couldn’t be any more cinematic. “The Ceiling”
sends you to the end of a beautiful and artsy yet tragic drama where you star
as the main character.
The music
video of “The Ceiling” starts off completely silent in a quaint room, with almost
Native-American looking decorations, and a single guitarist on the couch. As
the song continues, the other band members transport to the room from scene to
scene until every instrument and voice is being utilized. A beautiful and
innocent girl portrays the girlfriend of the relationship in the scenes in
between the bands performance. The majority of the shots are taken in first
person from the boyfriend’s point of view, but there are multiple close up body
shots of a distressed and wounded boyfriend. The scenes couldn’t represent the
feeling of nostalgia any better than they do. Along with the vocals and lyrics
of “The Ceiling”, The Wild Feathers music video really draws you in to a whole
new world. Even those with the wildest ADD could focus on this song with the
way it takes you through twists and turns and keeps it intriguing. Most six and
a half minute songs have you changing the song by four minutes, but “The
Ceiling” keeps you in deep thought and entrancement through every second of
this now classic Wild Feather song.
If there
were a check list for making a successful, indie-rock band, The Wild Feathers
hit just about every point there was and more. These five men pulled together
something that very few bands can accomplish. They’ve made huge accomplishments
after only being together for four years; with songs such as “Backwoods Company”,
“The Ceiling”, “Hard Wind”, “If You Don’t Love Me”, and “How” should top the
list of your new favorite indie-rock songs. Though their accomplishments aren’t
record-breaking chart makers or a well-known award, they have certainly found a
sound and name that creates an incredible combination of everything beautiful about
rock, folk, indie, and acoustic music.
