Pulled Apart By Horses - Tough Love

Pulled Apart By Horses' self-titled debut was awesome. It might have been a bit too hip for hardcore fans and a bit too heavy for indie kids, but that resulted in them finding a niche that few other bands occupy. The debut seamlessly combined fun, silly lyrics with hardcore, grunge, and metal influenced riffing. Tough Love is a continuation of their self-titled in this regard. It features similarities in structuring, riffing, and lyrical content.

As they said in an interview, Pulled Apart By Horses has definitely stepped up their game instrumentally. The riffs are more fluid and precise, and thus sound a bit more 'professional.' That's a hit or miss prospect really, considering a lot of the appeal on the self-titled was the fun, amateurish instrumentation. Tracks like "V.E.N.O.M.," "Everything Dipped In Gold," and "Night Of The Living (I'm Scared Of People)" show off their new talents pretty well. Others like "Some Mothers," "Bromance Ain't Dead," and "Wildfire, Smoke & Doom" have the DIY post-hardcore sound of the debut. For the most part they combine elements of the latter successfully with their new techniques.

To be completely honest I find it hard to really express myself about this album. The production is fine and pretty comparable to the debut, the songs are catchy, and it has a pretty similar atmosphere as well. "Night Of The Living (I'm Scared Of People)" might be my favorite track on Tough Love with its atmosphere and odd riffing. "Epic Myth" has a relatively grunge-sounding part which annoys me and the chorus is vibrato driven. "Wolf Hand" opens with a really cool riff but the hook is weak which is disappointing. Other than that the majority of the tracks are typical Pulled Apart By Horses tomfoolery, and thus awesome. It's a bit more detached than it's predecessor though as I mentioned earlier, and honestly that takes away a bit of the appeal.

7.5 out of 10

Tracklisting:

1. V.E.N.O.M
2. Wolf Hand
3. Shake Off The Curse
4. Epic Myth
5. Some Mothers
6. Night Of The Living (I'm Scared Of People)
7. Wildfire, Smoke & Doom
8. Bromance Ain't Dead
9. Give Me A Reason
10. Degeneration Game
11. Everything Dipped In Gold

Tough luck finding a link for this...

The Dø - A Mouthful

Getting my vidya game on, I've recently been playing Saints Row: The Third. Decided to check out some of the bands on the in game radio, and since I'm now on a self-proclaimed quest to find female vocalists who aren't annoying like the banshees in your favorite symphonic metal bands, I decided to check out The Dø, a French-Finnish indie/folk pop hybrid. Their debut A Mouthful is pretty interesting if solely for the fact it's so eclectic.

You can hear it all on A Mouthful. Jazz, indie rock, hip hop, folk, pop, whatever. It's all on here with Olivia Merilahti's odd but sweet sounding voice. I read some quotes from reviews and critics compared her voice to Bjork's and Eminem's. How the fuck does that make any sense? Well you have tracks like "Searching Gold" and perhaps "On My Shoulders" which I could see having the Bjork aesthetic, but the latter reference is much less audible except on "Queen Dot Kong," the track that made me go out and get this album. Here Merilahti essentially raps while accompanied by brass. It's refreshing, different, and interesting to hear. Something you can't say for most pop music these days.

The more standard tracks like reggae-influenced "At Last," "On My Shoulders," and the bouncy "Tammie" are all great as well. The folk break "Unisassi Laulelet" is decent if just for the break it provides in the middle of A Mouthful. There are some more predictable tracks like the girl-rock "Stay (Just a Little Bit More)" and the melancholic "Song For Lovers" which are a bit of a letdown, but overall the album is pretty enjoyable. Both Merilahti and Dan Levy utilize a plethora of instruments and the production accentuates each very well. Although it's not the most deep listen in the world, A Mouthful is definitely worth a try. There's bound to be something that you can enjoy on an album as eclectic as this.

7.75 out of 10

Tracklisting:

1. Playground Hustle
2. At Last
3. On My Shoulders
4. Song For Lovers
5. The Bridge Is Broken
6. Stay (Just a Little Bit More)
7. Unisassi Laulelet
8. Tammie
9. Queen Dot Kong
10. Coda
11. Searching Gold
12. When was I Last Home
13. Travel Light
14. Aha
15. In My Box

The Antlers - Burst Apart

Time for something different. Don't worry, it's just one review!

"Hipster" has become such a meaningless term with all those forum-reading internet dipshits throwing the term around at everything that doesn't fit their opinion. I know because I am one of those forum-reading internet dipshits, but at least I try to use the trite label with a degree of integrity.

With that said The Antlers are a very "hipster" band. Their music is comprised of simple, mellow indie rock songs with a lot of subtle ambient nuances. Sounds like it could be cool if done right, right? Indeed. And it was pretty awesome too back on Hospice. With Burst Apart The Antlers took a page from Pitchfork's guide on how to appeal to idiots and replaced their fleeting yet powerful wisp-like atmosphere with a more boring and predictable pop approach. However the atmosphere is still there, buried under a thick, crusty layer of banality.

The first three tracks on the album are a testament to this and honestly hardly worth paying attention to. Both the opener and "French Exit" are boring and uninspired, play off of beats and chord progressions we've all heard before, and not worth listening to. "Parentheses" - the Itunes (iTunes?) single is an absolute mess of a track with an emphasis on rhythm, but I feel like it does a good job of leading into "No Widows" which is actually pretty good. Here that dreamy atmosphere from Hospice seems to manifest itself due to a great use of (subtle) keyboards.

The second half of the album is much stronger and even a bit folksy at times. "Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out" even has a banjo, and it's actually used competently. The track "Hounds" is a grower, with an almost post-rock like vibe to it. It's pretty cool, especially when the trumpet comes in though I've never liked when vocal melodies become the mainstay of any track and they do prior to the trumpet. There's also a lot of ambiance with songs like "Tiptoe," "Corsicana," and "Putting The Dog To Sleep," but sadly most of these tracks are more about making up for the atmosphere that the first half of the album sorely lacked. Overall the album really isn't worth more than a listens and perhaps a song or two.

5.25 out of 10

I was actually going to see this band live with my girlfriend but the tickets sold out before we could buy them. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't if they were going to play most of this album...

Tracklisting:

1. I Don't Want Love
2. French Exit
3. Parentheses
4. No Widows
5. Rolled Together
6. Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out
7. Tiptoe
8. Hounds
9. Corsicana
10. Putting the Dog to Sleep

JEFF The Brotherhood - We Are The Champions

Man all I wanna do is play some fucking video games but all this schoolwork piled up the week before break and I haven't had time to do anything but study my ass off. And so is life. However, now that I'm back onto the review scene, I'll try to update at a regular pace.

JEFF The Brotherhood is a unique musical duo from Tennessee. Brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall are the masterminds behind the music, and although they're only recently bursting onto the indie rock scene, they've got quite a few limited releases under their belt stretching all the way back to 2002. On We Are The Champions, JEFF The Brotherhood combines elements of psychedelic and garage rock with punk and old school '70s and '80s heavy metal.

"Hey Friend" is the definition of the latter heavy metal style and sets high standards for JEFF's latest excursion (ironically . After all this is the type of music that JEFF The Brotherhood excels at. Going into We Are The Champions I was expecting a more cohesive doomy, psychedelic rock album. I was caught off guard when the punk beats and four-chord progression on "Cool Out" came on. The frustrated riffing and down-toned progression made the out-of-nowhere blast beat ending feel that much more appropriate. Tracks like "Bummer," "Diamond Way," and to an extent "Wastoid Girl" however are much more low-intensity and reminiscent of older Weezer. These tracks are more dull, less inspired, and honestly dripping with insipidity. I've always hated Weezer and their ilk for that reason.

There are a few more gems on We Are The Champions though. "Shredder" is a personal favorite, combining punk-esque rhythms with schizoid guitars. "Ripper" brings back that classic heavy metal and psychedelic rock sound, with trippy sounds, structures, and noise lacing slow doomy riffs. The whole album is in fact layered with a degree of fuzz and noise. In fact if there's one word I'd use to describe We Are The Champions it would be "FUZZY." The album is noisy, not too heavy, and caked in effects, like early heavy metal. Although technically indie rock, the punk and heavy metal influence leads to an easy, and relaxed, listening experience that has some redeeming features despite the more derivative tracks.

7.0 out of 10

Tracklisting:
1.  Hey Friend
2.  Cool Out
3.  Bummer
4.  Shredder
5.  Diamond Way
6.  Endless Fire
7.  Ripper
8.  Mellow Out
9.  Stay Up Late
10. Health and Strength
11. Wastoid Girl