B-Room by Dr. Dog

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. 

St. Vincent by St. Vincent

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 girl but I 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.

Salad Days by Mac Demarco

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 Salad Days.

The Wild Feathers by The Wild Feathers

            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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1eYfrT-hBw#t=33 

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPkGcKckjao&list=PLKiyKc3XlAX-7fa5NJNkcUZyuFa7qUH9C

            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. 

Singles by Future Islands

Future islands, as singer Samuel T. Herring puts it, is a "performance art band" that attempts to "make music that makes us, and our fans, feel something”. Their new album, Singles, clearly met that goal.

The band is native to North Carolina: Herring and bassist William Cashon, the core of the band, met at ECU. Later joining them was Gerrit Welmers on the keyboard. Though Herring at one point put the band on hiatus as he dropped out of ECU due to a drug addiction, the band slowly recovered as they moved to Baltimore and began their first tour. Their second album, In Evening Air, is woven with Herring's personal turmoil, as he went through a "terrible breakup that was so, so sad." Four years later with Singles, Future Islands retains the booming heartfelt vocals from previous albums, and introduces more catchy synth chords than before.

Herring calls Cashon and Welmers his two best friends. The band has lived in Baltimore since the band members left ECU, Herring got rid of both his construction job and his drug addiction, and they performed at the Depot and fell in love with the energy of the city. Since then, the band has been touring relentlessly but calling Baltimore home.

Future Islands'performance of "Seasons (Waiting On You)" on The Late Show with David Letterman, however, encompassed in one song what the band is all about-- raw, unfiltered, human emotion. Herring won the audience over with his signature growls and earnest dance moves. The music video for the same song features cowboys doin' their thang-- riding horses, going to the rodeo, chilling in fields. It's pretty unclear what Future Islands intended to portray with this music video, with random, disconnected scenes but at least the scenic images are nice. The video for "A Dream Of You AndMe" features stop motion shells and nostalgic childish art projects-- like glittery pipe cleaners-- floating around the screen, which closely resembles the mild chaos of dreams. Herring also does solo hip-hop performances, which closely resemble a dad-going-through-a-midlife-crisis.

Herring, Welmers, and Cashion chillin' on some teeth

The intro song, "Seasons (Waiting on You)" kicks off the album with discoesque synth beats that repeat throughout the song. Herring's bellowing vocals, however, bring us back to 2014, as he sings of growing tired of waiting for the ambiguous "you". Paired with his frustrated dance moves like on The Late Show With David Letterman, the overall tone of this song is fed-up. The climax of the album is in "Fall From Grace", as Herring, overcome by a building rage that angsty teens and screamo music and probably the devil can relate to, wails "WAS IT ALL INSIDE OF ME." After a moment of fear, the song calms back down. The album as a whole parallels human emotion: the tension in a suppressed emotion, the obsession with a certain thought shown through repetition, the outburst, and the calm as a result of the outburst.

Let's Be Still by The Head and The Heart

            The second full album from the Head and the Heart came abruptly into the charts as the band followed up their debut album, The Head and the Heart, three years earlier. After not making much of a stain in the indie charts, The Head and the Heart continue to delay to make their own identity. Yet another indie folk-rock band from Seattle, Washington, the Head and the Heart encompasses six members, with one female vocalist.

The Head and the Heart by The Head and the Heart was the first time we really got to know the band, with record-selling tracks including, "Rivers and Roads" and "Sounds like Hallelujah", it seems the band used just about every innovative song idea they had. As we anticipated what the quirky new band with the sheep mask and gargantuan woman album cover had to bring, we received a mix on unoriginality, repetitiveness and similarity in their second album Let’s Be Still.   

The Head and The Heart Album Cover

This beachy album is an easy listen, and it is no doubt a joy to blast in your car; it makes you feel as if you’re driving in some dramatic movie scene. Yet, put this album in a playlist with Of Monsters and Men, Vance Joy, or The Lumineers, you might not know when Let’s be Still is really playing. Through this thirteen track album, we learn little to none about the band. Their female vocalist, Charity Rose Thielen, makes herself much more apparent on Let’s be Still than she did The Head and the Heart, slightly altering the bands over all sound. Every member of the band definitely has musical talent that is perfect for a semi-known indie band, but in Let’s be Still, The Head and the Heart are trying just too hard to be exactly that semi-known, elite, and adored indie-band. 

Let's Be Still Album Cover

            Though let’s not “judge an album by its cover”, the very posed photograph of two band members is what they chose to resemble Let’s be Still; the whole essence of the album definitely does give off the “laying in grass, watching the clouds, and not really listening to the album because you are so lost in your thoughts” vibe. Many of the tracks included in the album embody just that; the track “Summertime”, has about four alternating lines that is easy to tune out and just have as background music. When “Summertime” is over, the lyrics “Summertime / I’ll make you mine” will undoubtedly run through your head, and your heart, for a couple hours. Hopefully “Summertime” was not where you stopped though, the following track “Shake” is one of Let’s be Still’s pride and glories.

            “Shake” starts off with a strong beat, much like that of Artic Monkey’s sound, and it is a song about beginnings and ends of a relationship, memories, and includes an analogy of nature and wind in comparison a deceased relationship. “Shake” is a song from the album that really shows who The Head and The Heart is, as does the music video for the song.

                      Since the video is just a montage of the band recording, traveling, and playing in a field, by the sixth track we really get a look into The Head and the Heart's essence and what they are like as a band. The combination of Charity Thielen and Josiah Johnson voices are strong and melodic to the lyrics “And the memories we made / Will never be lost, no / And the look on your face / We both knew the cost / But the wind, yes, the wind keeps howling” and “Even if it was a mistake / I can’t forget your face / Even if it was just a day / You won’t forget the one / Who’s making you shake”. The song kicks off with a bass drum and clap which transport you to the middle of a crowd at a euphoric arena; you can imagine, in the arena, The Head and the Heart opening for some well-known indie band that they hope to one day be. The shake in the song is a relatable one to a wide audience; a song with breakup and mistakes as the context, it's hard to see how it couldn't be a hit.

            The next winner song on Let’s be Still is their namesake itself, “Let’s be Still”. Although a little different from their normal sound, “Let’s be Still” has a definite happy-go-lucky feel. The acoustic guitar, simple drum beat, and electronic keys give this simple song the vibe of exactly what the song speaks to: “Just for a moment, let’s be still” and “You can get lost in the music for hours, honey, / You can get lost in a room. / We can play music for hours and hours / But the sun’ll be coming up soon”. The voices fade off at the end, and it’s at the last beat of the music, your consciousness ceases to exist; if you’re lying in bed at night, the last beat of the music will commence your sleep.

                                                           Live Acoustic "Let's Be Still"

            Over all, Let’s Be Still was a success for The Head and the Heart despite their lack of originality and variety. The band has yet to leave their “opening-act” stage, and with their recent work, will probably always be an opening-act band. Though The Head and the Heart has not become a headlining band from Let’s Be Still, there’s no denying that even though they’re not lyrical geniuses or even have much personality portrayed in their music, Let’s Be Still is an enjoyable album including talented musicians on each track. 

Acid Rap by Chance the Rapper

Chance the Rapper's new album is more like an emotional roller coaster than a mere mixtape. I guess it's just a reflection of his personality-- in an interview with Rolling Stone, Chance calls himself "many thing… constantly evolving, and it's just the beginning" . Taking listeners from euphoric to on the verge of tears to anxious to euphoric all over again, Acid Rap speaks the voice of Chance's fellow Chicagans who are constantly in danger. Acid Rap, his second album, did much better than his first-- even receiving a nomination for the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards. Like Macklemore in a way, Chance uses his popularity from his music to make powerful statements, as he described the drug obsessed, gang ridden, unstoppable Chicago neighborhoods. He even put the album up for free download here so his messages could reach everyone.

The entire album is filled with sounds. Even though I could do without the piercing "agh!" that's all over the place, the mixture of reggae-y beats, piano, saxophone, and choral voices is really working out for Chance.

"Pushaman/Paranoia", though constantly changing tone, somehow works really well. Chance excitedly yet suavely sings about the "Pushaman", or drug dealer. Then, about three minutes into the songs, the beat fades and slows down, clearly paralleling the narrator's high. Then comes the sudden, heartbreaking, lyric, "They murking kids; they murder kids" that can't possibly be missed. Chance, or Chance's character in this song, seems to note the drug problems in his neighborhood yet at the same time cannot avoid these problems. This same concept appears in "Cocoa Butter Kisses", where Chance touchingly misses his mother and grandmother's kisses, but, Chance wails,  because of "cigarettes on cigerettes/ my mama think I stank".

But it's okay, guys, because in "Everybody's Something" Chance tells us that "everybody's somebody's everything/…/ nobody's nothing". And, since "what's better than followers is falling in love", as we learn in "That's Love", maybe the world just needs Chance the Rapper to spread some love.