The Great Escape Artist is a damn good rock record. Standard Jane’s Addiction formula: some balls out rockers, some ballads, some meandering epics, a few duds, a few unforgivable lines, a few great lines. Dave Navarro’s guitar heroics are laudable, awash in effects. Bet he’s big at Guitar Center. His Tumbler page is kinda creepy. Perry Farrell can still hit the high notes. The production is amazing. And, most importantly, it rocks. Think Twisted Tales is a cool track:

Twisted Tales

Haven’t heard a band that made this much sense in a long time.  Been obsessively listening to their previous releases, Benaki and Slight Fountain, but thinking Hermit Thrushes’ Mystery Ocean could be their apotheosis.  Like the other two records, Mystery Ocean is comprised of compositions in odd time signatures which challenge and sooth at once; ambient ruminations of the darker variety; and, lastly,  the occasional “bedroom” recording.   It clocks in at less than 30 minutes, which belies the fount of ideas ensconced within.  Meters from outer space mixed with an indie pop sensibility that breaks the heart. Lots of songs about dreaming: living dreams, walking with dreams, all kinds of dreams.  Songs lull you in with pentatonic melodies only to whiplash you with jarring angularity.  Despite its various protestations and rebuffings, ultimately something welcoming about the music, wanting to share a worldview, something intimate, revealing, raw, yet at the same time wrapped in a cloak of complexity.

In an interview with Flotzam, Yianni talks about the refusal to comply with traditional verse/melody while nodding his hat to it: “I think I just have a short attention span…I feel bored if something happens too much.”  Thank god for his short attention span; it fosters music that defies predictability and keeps the ear engaged. Yes, this record makes me extremely happy, listen after listen, affirmation that people are still pushing boundaries and composing with fire.

Would highly Benaki and Slight Fountain. They also warrant repeat listenings.

Seattle’s City Faire is a five piece band made up of a combination of different sounds and styles. At their core their songs are structured with a pop/rock style but really their sound is infused with every other genre. Their guitars whine and racket like classic rock n’ roll. The drums are smooth and upbeat. The bass gets down heavy and funky and trumpets and saxophones are used to bring in the jazz. This band is a mixed bag and they’re more than willing to use what they have.

City Faire’s songs are lead by vocalist Rachel Gavaletz who confidently bellows soulful vengeance through her voice. She is the strong female lead that funk influenced men dream of. She sings like a woman with newfound freedom, a woman who can do whatever she wants, who walks down the street with a waltz because the world is at her fingertips.


City Faire’s debut album showcases a breakthrough of self-reliance. They are triumphantly saying goodbye to old habits and making a break for new beginnings. The album opens with thundering horns “No You Won’t”, igniting a fire, immediately voicing that life is going to get better. It is real passion, real victory. The song “Laugh Through Hell” is a fast rock number that can be used as fuel for someone to get through the hard times with their head up. “Gone” is a slow ballad built up with funky beats and clapping to make an almost chanting beat. “American Body” is the catchiest song on the album with a rhythm that begs to be danced to.

City Faire is from Seattle and proud of it. This is a strong debut album that shows great passion and incredible potential. I wonder what their live show is like. Are they going to have all the horns presented on the album? Are people going to get down and dance? Are the musicians going to have a chance to let loose and show their force? Whatever it is like I’m sure it will be a lot of fun.
They are headlining The Crocodile on Friday October 14th which you can buy tickets for here (http://thecrocodile.com/index.html?page=calendar&event=9654161 ) or you can find more information about City Faire on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CityFaire.

Fallen for Hermit Thrushes.  Inventive, melodic, complex.  Avant-pop in the truest sense. Not many bands live up to that moniker. A rarified bunch, numbering the likes of early Mommyheads (Acorn, Coming Into Beauty, Flying Suit), Orchestraville (everything they made – they even pledge allegiance the genre on their website), Thinking Fellers Union 282 (not everything but definitely Strangers From The Universe), a smattering of others. 

Avant-pop isn’t exactly math rock.  Though they share affinity for dropped beats, tacked-on beats, odd time signatures, syncopation, sharps, flats, chromatic runs and complexity.  Avant-pop has vocals; math rock usually doesn’t.  

Hermit Thrushes embody avant-pop.  Check out the four songs below, which come from a smattering of different records (Mystery Ocean, Wooded Blankets, Slight Fountain, Benaki).

All of these bear repeat listening; they hold up.  They deserve more attention, more accolades.  They’re the real deal.

They are on tour right now and play Seattle next Sunday night at 2020 Cycles with Lake and Lazer Zeppelin. 

London’s Male Bonding sounds like they belong on Sub Pop. You can hear their Nirvana and Dinosaur Jr influences. When their last album Nothing Hurts came out last year it pointed toward the revival of noise-pop. They were safely structured pop songs with hooks, fast choruses layered with distortion. It was the sound of the early 90s.

Their newest album Endless Now continues that trend but sounds more like 1997. They’ve cleaned up the noise a bit, emphasized the vocals, and varied their song lengths. This is a Pop Punk album for the nostalgic underground fan; the fan that longs for the days pre-SNL Nirvana but secretly listens to Blink 182’s Dude Ranch.

The critics and listeners are probably much more nostalgic than the band. I don’t think Male Bonding was actually trying to be nostalgic. It sounds like they plugged their guitars in and played what sounded good; fast, fun, catchy punk. They dabble in angst without getting depressed. They rhyme and wail without getting sentimental. Endless Now is a good listen. It runs at only 36 minutes that flies by like a hot afternoon. I would recommend getting this album before summer ends and driving around listening to it with the windows rolled down. You’ll appreciate it.