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Edith Frost

I was very tired today (still a little jetlagged, I suppose), but went on an outing with some friends, who also happened to be Edith Frost fans. In the kitchen of a pal's apartment, one of my friends mentioned that Edith Frost has that same quality to her voice that Patsy Cline did -- and I knew exactly what she meant. That little gravelly catch in the throat or a hook on a sustained note that squeezes your heart tight and pulls you right into the emotional core of the song. Ms. Cline was a master, and Ms. Frost pretty damn close to being one as well. Her voice can turn from shy, coy whispering to clear, crystalline belting in a split second -- and is lovely either way. Her seemingly delicate country-tinged pop songs have a lot of backbone -- kind of like how Cat Power or Neko Case kick your ass with their most unassuming songs.

I first became familiar with Ms. Frost's music when I randomly picked up her first EP a few years back, a double 7" release (this was during my 7" collecting phase -- we've all had one, right?). Over the years, I was pleased to hear Ms. Frost sing backup for a smattering of my favorite artists, including The Mekons, Kelly Hogan, and Archer Prewitt. She's released four albums to date, including an internet-only release of demo tracks, linked below.

Our best wishes go out to Ms. Frost, who has been rather ill lately -- but ever the trooper, she has not cancelled her SXSW appearance -- instead embraced the challenge with gusto. Hope your're feeling better soon, Ms. Frost, and be careful out there on the road.

Edith Frost - You Belong To No One
Edith Frost - Bluish Bells
Edith Frost - On Hold

Bonus: Download the entirety of Ms. Frost's Demos album.

Edith Frost maintains a fascinating weblog at her official site -- it's a great read. You can buy her albums Calling Over Time, Telescopic, and Wonder Wonder from Amazon.

Posted by Little Miss Rock'n'Roll on 03.12.05 at 11:43 PM | Comments (0), TrackBack (0)

The Natural History

Brothers Max and Julian Tepper make up the core of this Brooklyn-based trio. (Their drummer recently left the band, and I believe they have since added a new drummer and keyboardist/guitarist) Think of them more as the angrier, louder, more raucous younger brother of Spoon but with elements of the Kinks, Elvis Costello and various denizens of Brit Pop.

Beat Beat Heartbeat and their self-titled debut are filled with explosive, compact rock songs that contain tightly crammed-in hooks and pack a whallop. What surprises me most about The Natural History is the speed at which they seem to run through their songs, as most of them clock in at barely two and a half minutes. Max's voice is reminiscent of a rawer Britt Daniel, throaty and with a suggestive swagger, seductively rock 'n' roll. And the bass and drum lock into a knuckle-tight groove, and the room starts moving and bouncing around. The Natural History struts down the street, and takes in the room with a knowing eye, and then is gone before you know it.

The Natural History - So He'll Say
The Natural History - Run De Run
The Natural History - Beat Beat

The Natural History official site. Buy Beat Beat Heartbeat from Startime International, or Amazon.

Posted by Queen of the Front Row on 03.12.05 at 5:32 PM | Comments (0), TrackBack (0)

The French Kicks

If the French Kicks were sexier, I might like them more than Interpol. (I realize how tremendously inappropriate it is to say something like that in a short review designed to encapsulate an experience, but anyone who argues that there isn't a small component of sex appeal in everything is probably lying.) And there's something about les frères Stumpf and company that make up for their lack of projected image -- an earnestness, something heartfelt and vulnerable, even through the dirty, jaded knowingness of Nick Stumpf's vocals makes them a fair match for those other guys from NYC (the tie-wearing and not so) who specialize in what Little Miss Rock 'n' Roll and I like to call "naked male pain." Then again, it could just be the masterful use of piano and harmony, and Stumpf singing from behind his drum kit.

I first heard of the French Kicks courtesy of an Interpol flier, circa 2001. And I think most of my curiosity was about which type of "kicks," in question, were, in fact French. (Le Can-Can?) Existential meanderings aside, what I did find on first actually hearing the French Kicks was an unabashedly romantic mess. Regardless of what Stumpf is saying, he seems to offer his lyrics in the tone in which every girl dreams of: love-letters and confessions from a favorite cardigan-wearing boy. More so than any of the other uber-hip "New York bands" that the French Kicks find themselves lumped with, they manage to do the almost impossible in this age of call and response to the eighties: they craft nearly perfect pop songs. Then again, it could just be the lovely harmonies, but I have suspicions it's more special than that.

The French Kicks - Crying Just for Show
The French Kicks - Trying Whining
The French Kicks - The Trial of the Century
The French Kicks - Only So Long

The French Kicks website, which features the ever-nifty WWFKD (What would French Kicks Do?) advice column. Buy Young Lawyer, One Time Bells, and Trial of the Century from Insound or Amazon.

Posted by Last Girl to the Party on 03.11.05 at 12:54 PM | Comments (0), TrackBack (0)

The Baptist Generals

If anybody's been through the school of hard-knocks, it's Chris Flemmons. His raw, cracked voice is the centerpiece of Denton, Texas-based band The Baptist Generals, whooping and crooning through the fuzz. He sings like an aged, road-weary, dirt-covered, homeless soul who teeters between being enveloped by his sorrow and spurred onward by unimaginable rage. And Flemmons sings about, well, all of the shitty beauty that makes up life. There's no shiny plastic exterior in this music, it's lower than lo-fi, all distorted and creaky and imperfect, and more real than anything I've heard in a while.

And it's nearly impossible to describe exactly what the Baptist Generals sound like. Uniquely Southern and most definitely from Texas, they walk the fringes of indie rock, folk, and Americana at the same time, creating a collage all their own. Take your typical folk singer and make him a raging lunatic, lock him in the garage with an eight track, then add in your archetypal country music band but give them only acoustic instruments and then turn up all the amps to 11, and then you're almost to the sound of the Baptist Generals. Almost. The songs range from the hostile and bitter, sometimes frightening, and then they switch it up, creating sorrowful, majestic ballads with bite.

The Baptist Generals - Alcohol (Turn and Fall)
The Baptist Generals - Going Back Song
The Baptist Generals - Fucked Up Life

Official Baptist Generals site. Buy No Silver/No Gold from SubPop Records, iTunes Music Store, Amazon.

Posted by Queen of the Front Row on 03.11.05 at 11:32 AM | Comments (0), TrackBack (0)

The Reputation

To understand The Reputation, you probably need to know that Elizabeth Elmore, formerly of Sarge, spent most of her formative years perfecting Sarge's shiny power pop fueled by Midwestern punk, receiving a not insignificant amount of attention for their raw, Braid-like rock. After Sarge's dissolution, Elmore put together The Reputation. And as the frontwoman, she receives most of the attention for her sugary cooing and seductive growls that stomp and stammer all over these carefully crafted pop songs that draw heavily from late 90s alternative rock. Sweet, but with a bite, The Reputation shine because of the perfect tightness of drums, bass, and guitar, complimented by finely honed song-writing. The songs touch upon the foibles of life, relationships breaking apart at the seams, giving in into temptation, alienation at the hands of a new hometown, and bittersweet but strong women and men.

"Alaskan" is eminently hummable, and a small part of me goes "Yes!" when hearing the song's stately horns and vocal interplay between the two Elizabeths during the bridge; and I have to admit I've started many a notional road trip to "Either Coast," with, yes, the windows rolled down. The newer material, off their latest release, To Force A Fate expands their sound, bringing in expanded orchestration while still retaining The Reputation's core.

The Reputation - Either Coast
The Reputation - Alaskan
The Reputation - Face It
The Reputation - The Ugliness Kicking Around

Official Reputation web site. Buy To Force a Fate from Lookout! Records, iTunes Music Store, or Amazon.

Posted by Queen of the Front Row on 03.10.05 at 1:37 AM | Comments (0), TrackBack (0)

Ben Lee

Remember when Ben Lee was that precocious Aussie kid with the great record of folky pop songs on Grand Royal? Or when he was dating Claire Daines? Ancient history now, but if you were of a certain age at that time, they were sort of like the indie alpha couple. A lot has changed for Ben Lee over the years but he's still recording great songs and putting out carefully hand-crafted records.

His latest effort, Awake is the New Sleep, was released earlier this year and finds him a little older and wiser at the "ripe" old age of 26. And who would have guessed that the former wunderkind would have lasted so long in the music business? Awake is his 6th album and he's been writing songs since he was a teen; Lee has become one of those songwriters who toils away at creating catchy pop gems appreciated by a small but rabid audience, while the rest of the unwashed masses just mutter, "oh, him, right." Nonetheless, he appears more than content to simply put out his refreshingly unpretentious, sweet pop music and reach a willing and eager audience these days. And of course you can't talk about Ben Lee's long and solid career as a musician without mentioning the ever popular collaboration with those other Bens -- Folds and Kweller, in their side project known, appropriately enough, as The Bens.

Ben Lee - Begin
Ben Lee - No Room to Bleed

Ben Lee's offical website. Buy his latest album, Awake is the New Sleep, from Amazon.

Posted by Little Miss Rock'n'Roll on 03.10.05 at 1:22 AM | Comments (0), TrackBack (0)

Say Hi To Your Mom

Eric Elbogen is a geek's geek. He records hundreds of songs under the Say Hi To Your Mom moniker in his bedroom in Brooklyn, New York and Say Hi To Your Mom's albums are chock full of sweet, sad-puppy-eyed love songs about girls who make "pop music from the future" and play video games. "Let's talk about spaceships, instead of you and me, okay?" he sighs about the girl he can't bring himself to make a move on. This is idiosyncratic, minimalist pop from the gawky little brother of your best friend back in high school, the little guy who shyly mumbles about tractor beams and decoder rings.

It's entirely charming indie pop with just a touch of emo and a slight electronic bent thanks to a ton of background synths and Moogs, which seems perfectly natural for someone singing about geekery and awkwardness in all its many forms. But the music is far from cold, instead creating a warm, comforting, subtle background to Elbogen's barely there vocals. It may take a bit of teasing to get him out of his shell, but Say Hi To Your Mom is completely worth the effort.

Say Hi To Your Mom - Super
Say Hi To Your Mom - Pop Music of the Future
Say Hi To Your Mom - Let's Talk About Spaceships

Official Say Hi To Your Mom site. Buy Numbers and Mumbles from Euphobia Records, iTunes Music Store, Amazon.

Posted by Queen of the Front Row on 03.09.05 at 4:50 PM | Comments (0), TrackBack (0)

The National

A bunch of rock snobs from Ohio schooled themselves in the hipster rock canon, moved to Williamsburg, and then realized what a farce the New York Scene was. Out of this epiphany was born The National who make emotionally unstable rock with Americana roots with shades of Leonard Cohen.

"Never tell the one you love / That you do," sings Matt Berninger in his wounded, guilty croon, in the opening song off of Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers; instead of professing love, they appear to recommend writing an entire album of heartbreak and misguided decisions, composed under the haze neon light of late night diners and along the gritty deserted streets of Brooklyn at three in the morning. And on occasion, Berninger cannot take the pain he's inflicted on himself, collapsing into a pile of rubble and tortured screams as in "Available." The rough edges of The National's dark, brooding songs mix beautifully with moodily atmospheric backgrounds. Like constantly irritating a recent wound, The National are not content to let bygones be bygones, instead documenting every painful detail of every beautiful disaster, down to the smallest speck of dirt. Resigned to misery, their songs tackle regret, sorrow, and guilt, while swaying back and forth along with pedal steel, keyboards, and violins; it's the emotionally cathartic flicker of lights that will soon burn out and leave behind only faded memories.

The National - Cardinal Song
The National - Available
The National - Slipping Husband
The National - Wasp Nest
The National - Cold Girl Fever

The National official site. Buy Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers from the band's site or Amazon.

Posted by Queen of the Front Row on 03.09.05 at 11:10 AM | Comments (1), TrackBack (0)

Saturday Looks Good to Me

From their name alone, you'd expect Saturday Looks Good to Me to be the next in a long list of midtempo, easygoing, indie pop acts, possibly with a slight emo edge. But with the wispy vocals, bouncy guitar, and lazy brass introduction to All Your Summer Songs, you soon realize that this is a different beast entirely. "Meet Me By The Water" invites us to dance along the river's edge, and to bring a record player and our Raincoats 45's.

The sweetly innocent songs extend a hand and invite listeners to take a walk down memory lane, ambling down roads paved with the rose-colored nostalgia, remembering the sounds of Phil Spector and the like, blooming with layers and reverb galore. Saturday Looks Good to Me employs a revolving cast of musicians, of which songwriter and producer Fred Thomas remains the core member, four-track mentality firmly in hand. And buried within lo-fi tambourine shakes and Motown sensibility, are three minute pop gems sung by the likes of guest vocalists like Ted Leo and Tara Jane O'Neil. Every Night and All Your Summer Songs are a lazy weekend dream filtered through easy grins, broken hearts, strolling lovers, swelling string sections and that classic pop song sound that can only be found in Oldies sections in record stores and Burt Bacharach singles. Morning, indeed, always comes too soon.

Saturday Looks Good to Me - Ambulance
Saturday Looks Good to Me - Meet Me By The Water
Saturday Looks Good to Me - Keep Walking

Official Saturday Looks Good to Me. Buy Every Night from Polyvinyl Records, iTunes Music Store, Amazon

Posted by Queen of the Front Row on 03.08.05 at 12:51 PM | Comments (1), TrackBack (0)

Eugene Mirman

Russian emigre and NYC resident Eugene Mirman isn't a musician, he's a comedian -- and a really funny comedian at that. Bucking the trend of playing comedy clubs, Eugene's gone on tour opening for Modest Mouse and The Shins, and his live album, The Absurd Nightclub Comedy of Eugene Mirman, was released by Suicide Squeeze Records. Along with Patton Oswalt and Demitri Martin, Eugene Mirman is a standard bearer for what I suppose could be called the indie rock, stand-up comedy movement.

Funny thing about that live album — I was there with friends for the recording at Piano's on NYC's Lower East Side. Until the show went on, the night had kind of been a horrible experience and I nearly came to fisticuffs with the manager over my meal. But I had gobs of fun during Eugene's set, and if you listen hard enough, you can hear my jovial little laugh (especially on "Shapes for Sale") through the whole album as we were squashed up very close to the stage. And well, my laugh is pretty distinctive. (I am not, however, that lady who's whooping. I don't whoop.)

Eugene Mirman - Seattle, Steakhouse
Eugene Mirman - Florida
Eugene Mirman - Shapes for Sale

Eugene Mirman's website. Buy his live album, Absurd Nightclub Comedy of Eugene Mirman from Amazon.

Posted by Little Miss Rock'n'Roll on 03.08.05 at 4:21 AM | Comments (1), TrackBack (0)

(U.S.E.) United State of Electronica

With a name like United State of Electronica, what exactly do you expect? U.S.E. are the consummate party band of now, today, Saturday night, 2005.

What began as a joke band (an imaginary electronic band from Mannheim, Germany) quickly turned into the makings of an overnight sensation. Brothers and sisters of the get-the-crowd-moving music of Daft Punk and Junior Senior, their self-titled debut is stuffed to the gills with pure joy and happiness, and more fun than you can shake a stick at. Recently, their bouyant electro-pop has been making a splash in Seattle, the hometown of this seven member-strong collective. Strobe lights, brightly colored t-shirts, and huge, huge house beats abound and their live shows are described as grin-inducing, spazzed-out spectacles of synthesized beats and lots of vocoder. Lots of vocoder.

Winking irony, solemn detachment, stuffy pretentiousness? You won't find a whit of that here because U.S.E are all about the L-O-V-E. "This goes out to those who wanna shake it and raise their fists," goes "All Sounds All People" before slamming into the happy wall and shout-along tune of "Open Your Eyes." And "Who doesn't wanna have fun now?" they ask in "Climb the Walls (Umbrella of Love)." I'm entirely inclined to agree.

U.S.E. - It Is On!
U.S.E. - Emerald City
U.S.E. - Vamos A La Playa

Official U.S.E. site. Buy their self-titled debut from Sonic Boom Records or download it for free.

Posted by Queen of the Front Row on 03.07.05 at 2:01 PM | Comments (0), TrackBack (0)

Man Man

Imagine that Captain Beefheart's demented second cousin meets a warped Tom Waits, galavanting with two Franks (Black and Zappa) in the backwoods of Philadelphia and you're pretty close to the dark, deeply strange stylings of Man Man. Frontman Honus Honus' voice is reminiscient of Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse's sputterings, full of grunting and yelping set against the joyous chaos of Wolf Parade or Need New Body as the rest of the band joins in, often with chilling, otherworldly screeches and piercing falsetto and the occasional creepy angelic choir.

Man Man act like a jaunty children's orchestra of keyboards and brass instruments pinned up against a wall of shout-singing, punctuated with unusual percussion as drummer Tiberius Lyn doesn't hesitate to use everything, including the kitchen sink, as a drummable surface. Which is not to say that Man Man is overly noisy or pretentious art-rock. You get the sense that they took stock of someone's garage filled with dusty rattles, rusty metal fans, broken keyboards, a discarded flute, long forgotten songbooks and made music the only way they knew how: quirky, fascinating, but still accessible. Freaks of the world, feel not alone, as this band is for you, as the live show is filled with toy instruments, Japanese umbrellas, and animal masks.

The Man In A Blue Turban With A Face is strongly hypnotic, slowly revealing layer upon layer of intricacies not visible to the naked eye. Surreal yet still strongly melodic, Man Man draw upon freak folk, the fringes of klezmer, and the twisted undercurrents of underground rock to great effect.

Man Man - Against the Peruvian Monster
Man Man - Zebra
Man Man - I, Manface
Man Man - 10 lb Moustache

Man Man's official site. Buy The Man In A Blue Turban With A Face from Ace Fu, iTunes Music Store, or Amazon.

Posted by Queen of the Front Row on 03.07.05 at 1:13 PM | Comments (1), TrackBack (0)

Sleater-Kinney

All-woman trio Sleater-Kinney, formed of vocalist/guitarist Carrie Brownstein, vocalist/guitarist Corin Tucker, and drummer Janet Weiss, make ferocious, political, and intelligent rock music. The one-two punch of Brownstein's sultry swagger and Tucker's nearly banshee-like yelp combined with Weiss' machine gun assault intersect perfectly with complex pop hooks and memorable lyrics that just happen to be eminently repeatable slogans. Still going strong after over a decade, S-K excel at guitar fueled catharsis coupled with smart, engaging lyrics tackling everything from consumerism, feminism, and the music industry.

Every time Sleater-Kinney release new material, critics fawn, fans swoon, and we ask ourselves if this is their peak moment, their shining glory in the rock pantheon, and we should be grateful to have witnessed the climax of a band that challenges expectations. Yet, over the course of several albums, their sound has moved away from the tense riot grrrl-inspired aesthetic to straight-laced rock'n'roll to, dare I say it, classic rock. Their intense live performances depend less on teenage punk fury nowadays, and more on strong, womanly rage.

Whether it's the enveloping anthems like "Step Aside," "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone," or "Words and Guitar," or the bluesy stomp of "Sympathy" or even the glittering sparke in "You're No Rock 'n' Roll Fun," Sleater-Kinney time and time again demonstrate agility, inventiveness, and brilliance, culminating a band that's consistently upped the ante for all bands in the independent music scene. (Plus, these talented ladies sure know how to bring the rock; not that they haven't always rocked pretty damn hard, but the tightness of the band has only increased triplefold over the last few years.)

I caught them at the cramped, sweaty Mercury Lounge in New York last week, one of two sold-out shows where they were testing out material from their upcoming album The Woods. The new material kills, but in an entirely different way than, say Call the Doctor or The Hot Rock. For Sleater-Kinney appear to have added the occasional hammer of bass (for a band that has gone bass-less for so long it's shocking, I know) and turned it up to eleven, thanks to the the lovely noise from distortion pedals and guitar solos, as Brownstein finally indulges her inner guitar goddess. The sound is all encompassing in its fullness and the songwriting is as strong as ever.

Sleater-Kinney - Sympathy
Sleater-Kinney - Entertain
Sleater-Kinney - Rollercoaster
Sleater-Kinney - You're No Rock 'n' Roll Fun
Sleater-Kinney - I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone
Sleater-Kinney - Words and Guitar

Official Sleater-Kinney site. The Woods comes out on May 24 on Subpop Records. In the meantime, buy One Beat from Kill Rock Stars, Amazon, iTunes Music Store.

Posted by Queen of the Front Row on 03.06.05 at 3:03 AM | Comments (0), TrackBack (0)

The Kings of Convenience

The Kings of Convenience unfairly, I think, recieve a lot of flack as the "easy listening" whipping boys of indie rock. Since when is it a crime to write an beautiful, easygoing, mellow pop songs that are beholden as much to Burt Bachrach as they are to Harry Nilsson and Elliott Smith? Haters, please don't hate the Kings of Convenience just because they don't follow the hip sounds of today. Their roots are in traditional, instanteously classic song-writing. 'Cause Norwegians Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambæk Bøe are all about the love. (By the way, this is one showcase you'll definitely find me at — I've been waiting to see the Kings of Convenience live for about four years now.)

Kings of Convenience - I'd Rather Dance With You
Kings of Convenience - Winning a Battle, Losing the War

The Kings of Convenience website. Buy their new album, Riot on an Empty Street, from Amazon.

Posted by Little Miss Rock'n'Roll on 03.06.05 at 2:01 AM | Comments (0), TrackBack (0)