SINGLE REVIEW: MGMT: Your Life Is a Lie

What is MGMT doing this year? Being weirder than 2010! They have continually become stranger since their debut album Oracular Spectacular, which featured the hit "Kids", became mega-popular. The sophomore record Congratulations was a supposed "non-singles" album that delved into the more psychedelic side verses the pop side of MGMT. From the single just released, it seems that they are sticking to that formula again. This 2-minute psych-weird song is paired with a very comedic music video and a performance on Letterman that sports a giant cowbell. Some might say that they are just trying to distance themselves from the pop sound that made them popular, but in terms of the always-sarcastic MGMT, they are right on track. If this is any reflection of how the self-titled album will turn out, it is an exciting wait for September 17th!

Sorry For the Delays

Hey everybody! I know its been a few months since I made my last post, but I am ready to start writing again. I have been extremely busy with my band Leaking Pigs who has been playing shows and recording our debut EP Imperfections which is set to release in a couple of months. School also has occupied a lot of my time but starting in a few weeks, some of the reviews that I will be posting here will also be published in my school newspaper. This is very exciting because I feel like I will be able to at least get a few high school students to discover some new music that isn't played on the radio. Some new/upcoming releases that I am excited about and will probably review are Ty Segall Band's Slaughterhouse, JEFF the Brotherhood's Hypnotic Nights, Dirty Projectors' Swing Lo Magellan, and Animal Collective's Centipede Hz to name a few. Watch over the next few week for some new reviews!

Top Fifteen of 2011

2011 has past and what a year it was! So many great and terrible albums (I guess like any year) came out and here's my list for the best of 2011! At the top of the list is:

1. Fucked Up's David Comes to Life is not only the best album of the year but I think one of the best Hardcore albums so far! The lyrics, the story, and the music is just so top notch on this album. This album is also up there because their performance of the songs on this record were great so here they are at the top!

2. Arabia Mountain - Black Lips
3. Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes
4. Father, Son, Holy Ghost - Girls
5. Circuital - My Morning Jacket
6. El Camino - Black Keys
7. GB City - Bass Drum of Death
8. Yuck - Yuck
9. The Shrine - The Shrine
10. Mikal Cronin - Mikal Cronin
11. The Hunter - Mastadon
12. Goodbye Bread - Ty Segall
13. Thank You, Happy Birthday - Cage the Elephant
14. In the Mountain, In the Clouds - Portugal. The Man
15. The Dwarves Are Born Again - The Dwarves

ALBUM REVIEW: Yuck: Self Title

So it has been about a year of doing this Rock 'N' Roll Explosion blog and how it has blown by! I haven't posted in a couple months due to school and band stuff which has taken over my whole life. I've been going to many shows though and have been listening to many new and old albums. Some great, some terrible, but overall I think it was a good year in music and I am ready to get back into the blogging game!

The album I am reviewing today is Yuck. A record that since upon buying it about a week ago, I have not stopped listening to. I was first interested in this band a couple months ago but after listening to a couple of songs, I wasn't really into them. Then last week, I was sitting around and thinking, "I wish there was another new album that I could get really into." I then remembered Yuck and decided to give them another chance and I am glad I did because this album did meet that quota. My favorite tracks on this album are: "Get Away" "Suicide Policeman" "Operation" and "Rubber". "Get Away" is the opener and a very good introduction to the album. The guitars are noisy and the vocals are distorted, things I really like in songs. "Suicide Policeman" starts off with an acoustic guitar and very nice and soothing vocals. This song to me sounds nothing really like the rest of the record but it fits so well into it. Max Bloom, the lead guitar player, sings on "Operation" and really makes it his song. The lyrics on this song as well as the whole album seems very personal and kind of depressing. A perfect example to me of the depressing parts on this album is "Rubber" a 7 minute slow song that drones on and on. I love droning songs as you can see if I listen to songs by Sleep and such. This song is also a great end to Yuck because "Get Away:" starts in a very upbeat tempo and "Rubber" is slow, long cap to what was done on the record. I love this record and I will be posting the best albums of 2011 in a few days!

ALBUM REVIEW: Girls: Father, Son, Holy Ghost

The sophomore record by Girls is a record of maturity for them in many ways. This is their second effort in a recording studio, the first being the Broken Dreams Club EP, has a very different sound than their first album, Album. This record has a definitely higher fidelity than the first one and the fact that they recorded with one solid band instead the two of them (Christopher Owens and Chet "JR" White) or a mess of players shows in the music. The songs are also more mature in my mind. I feel this record has more of a straightforward pop sound, but then again they have a song like "Die" which is their hardest rocking song recorded and one of my personnel favorites. I have to say I don't always have these songs stuck in my head all the time like the first record and the EP, but the quality and the just overall beauty of this record is enough for me. I would have to say my favorite tracks on this record would be "Honey Bunny" a song which sounds like it could go on the first record, "Die" the Fleetwood-Mac influenced song, and "Vomit" a 6 minute song about Christopher Owens driving around looking for an ex-girlfriend that he couldn't get over. I listen to a lot of abrasive music and I think Girls isthe other side of the spectrum in my music collection.  The whole album is great and I totally recommend it to someone who wants a really nice album to put on if you don't mind a few long beautiful songs!

September 3rd:Fuck Yeah Fest

After the week of Butthole Surfers I managed to get a ticket for FYF, the festival where I first saw Screaming Females, Thee Oh Sees, Ceremony, and many more, I figured I'd have to go again this year. I thought the lineup looked pretty good so of course I bought a ticket. I get there early to go see Tijuana Panthers, the band I missed  not being able to get into Ty Segall's show until I snuck in only to catch the last 3 songs of Ty's set. Tijuana Panther was really good, I liked the surfy feel and the pop-ish vocals. I saw part of another band's set before going over to see Ty Segall's set. This time they had added a second guitar player which was cool, he played different things and was pretty noisy. They played well, but I think their set was too short. (I like to see long sets by bands I listen to a lot) They ended it with a rad version of  "Caesar." So then I walk around checking out other bands after them, none of them were really gripping me (None of them were really bad, they just weren't getting me like I wanted) until Girls went on. I wasn't the hugest fan of the band, only liking a couple of songs, but they were great! They had a full band with backup singers, who were amazing singers, and they went straight into my favorite, "Lust For Life" and on went their set. (Now that I saw them I am into them, even the songs I didn't like before I do now) and then went to go see the Descendents play an hour set of a bunch of great songs. The highlights would have to be "I'm the One" "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" and "Sour Grapes" They are still hell of performers! Then came the other headliner: Death From Above 1979, one of my favorite bands who I never got to see when they were first playing. They opened with my favorite song "Turn It Out" and they blasted into their set. The crowd went wild at their show, having at least two circle pits going at once. They played songs like "Romantic Rights" and "Little Girl" and after they were done with their crazy loud set I walked off into downtown Los Angeles and hung out there until going home a few blocks away and going to sleep at about 3 A.M. and not waking up until much, much later.

ALBUM REVIEW: Mikal Cronin: Self Title

During Ty Segall's set, Ty announced that his bass player, Mikal Cronin, has a solo album coming out in a couple of weeks. I talked to Mikal through the gate and thanks to his kindness I got a copy! The next day I woke up and put on the album. This record really blew me away! Mikal Cronin seems to mix 60's pop with garage and it seems like there's a little folk influence in there. I really love how the tracks will go from a nice acoustic guitar to fuzzy electric guitars playing songs that you can sing (or hum) along to. One thing that really suprised me was the vocals. The singing added with the harmonies just makes the songs even better! My favorite tracks would have to be "Apathy" "Gone" (Which I think is my favorite song, I love the way the other instruments come in and the what I think is synth during in the chorus is just really uplifting) and "The Way Things Go" This track is the last one on the record and it ends in a kind've frenzie after really poppy melodie, piano, and fuzzed out guitars. This record is one of the best I've heard this year and I've listened to it at least 7 times in less than a week. For all you Los Angeles residents go to his show on September 14th in downtown for the record release show. I know I'm going to be there!

Purchase the record on September 20th at: www.troubleinmindrecs.com

Go see the show: The Smell
247 S. Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012