Cerulean

In 1991, I was fourteen years-old and living in California with my family. My older brother was back home living with us after completing basic training for the Army Reserves. We shared a room for about a year, and I was given access to his massive tape collection, a blessing which helped foster my ever-growing obsession with music.

It was at this time that I began graduating from my 80’s roots. I’d been listening to a healthy dose of some of the more well-known “modern rock” bands of that period for a few years. Bands like The Cure, The Smiths, Depeche Mode, and REM were my musical universe, ever since the same older brother introduced me to a path at least slightly removed from the dark side of mainstream radio with a mixtape of assorted Cure songs (with everything from Boys Don’t Cry up to Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me) which he layed on me in the fifth grade. While those bands were certainly a decent foundation, I was naturally starting to want more variety.

So I dove into my brother’s tape collection and began listening to some newer bands like Ride, Chapterhouse, and Lush–basically bands in the poppier end of the shoegaze pool and what is sometimes referred to as “dreampop.” [It would be several years before I heard MBV and Slowdive, unfortunately.] There was something very fresh sounding about those bands. Effects heavy and with plenty of swirling distortion, it was like nothing I’d heard. I remember walking around my neighborhood listening to Whirlpool on my walkman and being filled with this crazy energy. I was inspired to make a music video for Ride’s “Vapour Trail” with my parent’s camcorder which consisted of me basically riding around on my bike and shooting the scenery and people in highspeed shutter mode. What can I say? I’ve always been really into bike safety.

LA’s Cerulean reminds me a bit of that time in my musical life. The music of their 3rd album, No Sense In Waiting (2005, self-released) certainly mines some of the same territory of those early 90’s bands. And though they tend toward the more compact, song-oriented rock side of things, they do convey a similar vibe. There’s not much drifting feedback or jam-y parts going on here. All but one track is up-tempo. On the other hand, the album is laden with overdriven melodies and cascading guitars, with plenty of delay effects. A few even approximate something like the rush I feel when I hear those opening reverbed toms of “Decay,” one of my favorite tracks from Ride’s Nowhere. My one real gripe is what I can only describe as the somewhat heroic quality of the music and of the male vocals, which I find mildly annoying. That, and the album has a sound that is maybe a little too consistent. Otherwise, this a pretty solid record and well worth checking out. And hey–with all these bands still mining the 80’s post-punk/new wave sound, these guys actually sort of sound ahead of their time. What irony?

Cerulean: “In Pictures”

March 30, 2006 | Filed Under Music | Leave a Comment

Stop-Gap/Premonition

Hey folks. Just a quick update in lieu of a real post (coming soon!!1)…

First off, did I call it or what? Pitchfork gave the Band of Horses record a glowing review yesterday (along with an eight-point-eight and a “best new music” tag). The significance? Well, lets just say that when I was logged into my favorite P2P app yesterday afternoon, practically everyone downloading from me had Band of Horses queued. I counted at least fifteen or so. I was wondering what the hell was going on, but when I checked Pitchfork it all made sense. I’d had a hunch, and sure enough there it was. Hype machine or not, it can’t be denied that those people are tastemakers.

Also, the new Stereolab record, Fab Four Suture, is actually pretty damn good! Listen to “Get a Shot Of The Refrigerator” and tell me it’s not bad ass. More of the same is not a bad thing when it’s quality stuff.

The French film, Cache, is excellent but very frustrating. A good review can be found here. [Warning: kinda spoiler-y]

New updates coming soon:

Hey, Remember the 90’s? - a new band sounds like bands did when I was new to new bands.

Girls With Guitars - a trio of intriguing folky females from the past.

March 21, 2006 | Filed Under Film, Music | Leave a Comment

A Little Bit Country, a Little Bit Rock y Roll

Band of Horses is a local Seattle band about to make it big. They recently signed to Sub Pop to release their debut album, Everything All the Time, which comes out on March 21st. While I try never to play favorites when it comes to music (because, lets face it, there’s just way too much good shit out there at any given time), I have to admit they are indeed my current favorite band. I just can’t stop listening to them.

Solid indie rock (a la its 90’s heyday) and lonesome country-ish tunes combine to deliver one of the strongest debuts I’ve heard in a long time. The midtempo rockers remind me a bit of Built To Spill, especially when it comes to the vocals. Some of the slower, twangy tracks like “I Go To the Barn Because I Like the,” “Monsters” and “St. Augustine” wouldn’t sound out place on an Iron & Wine record.

There was a substantial article published in this week’s Stranger to coincide with their show last night at Neumo’s. I definitely recommend checking that out for a more in-depth look at the band. And you can bet that yours truly was in attendence at the show, but guess what? I was sick with the flu and had to leave after only three songs from Band of Horses because I couldn’t stop shivering. Oh, what luck! Anyway, last night was the first stop on tour which will take them through most of the Western half of the country, including a spot at SXSW on March 17th. If I remember correctly, the band mentioned they’d be hitting the East Coast sometime after that. I urge you to see them without a fever.

Since the band’s MySpace profile currently features my absolute favorite song from the album, “The Funeral,” here’s another song to enjoy, the appropriately-titled album opener.

Band of Horses: “The First Song” [MP3]