The Dirty Dozen - April 2010: WHY? Takeover

Admiral Fallow – Squealing Pigs (Lo-Five, 5 April)
[Listens intently]
Yoni: I liked this better when it was the guitar picking and it sounded like a solo act. The band is cool but it’s more typical. It became a little dramatic, a little too college screamy.
[Song builds to its climax]
Yeah, that’s too much for me; it’s cacophonous and I like mellow shit. It seems sincere and the lyrics are good. I’m not really into that big band trend – I don’t know if his live band is like 12 people on stage with freakin’ horns – just keep it simple.

Sparrow and the Workshop – I Will Break You (Distiller, 5 April)
Yoni: Sounds like Cat Power, her voice. I like the sound, it's real basement and the drums are right up front, I like that. I like the little switch up in the time signature too. Her lyrics aren’t quite as compelling as I would like, they’re a little easy, perhaps not from her soul soul but more about what she thought she should say. But the structure of the song is really nice, it’s a thumbs up altogether.

Efterklang – I Was Playing Drums (4AD, 19 April)
Yoni: They’re famous already, they don’t need my help.
[Bass kicks in]
I do love bass guitar, man, more than anything. But what am I going to say about this? I mean it’s really good, high-end production, thought-out songwriting. I can’t say it’s putting hooks in me right now but I like the little triplet thing they keep doing with the rhythm. It's the sound of a really established band that knows what it’s doing – that may not necessarily be a good thing, though.

Malachai – Snowflake (Double Six, 12 April)
Yoni: Wow, is it overdriven like this or is that your speakers? It has a White Stripes kick to it, a little bit of Kinks. It almost sounds like footballer rock. It’s approaching that, but it’s dirtier.
[Checks the press release]
It’s on Double Six, the Domino subsidiary. It sounds like Domino’s new thing. It's good, though, I can’t hate. It’s not something I’d put on, but it's considered pop.

Silver Columns – Cavalier (Moshi Moshi, 19 April)
Dave: Do you know of Adem, or The Pictish Trail? This is their new collaboration.
Yoni: A-D-E-M? I’ve seen that, never heard him though. This is too upbeat for my taste, too dancey. Sounds a bit like Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie on vocals. It’s in seven though, you rarely hear that in dance music, so that’s kinda cool. They’ve got good voices and the track's not like an overload; it all sits together in the right way. I’m all for people trying some different shit, especially if they're more known for being singer-songwriters.

Over the Wall – Settle Down (Motive Sounds, 5 April)
Yoni: It’s like Wolf Parade – those vocals – like Spencer [Krug].
[Pays close attention to the lyrics]
There’s some real emo sentiments in there, some Bright Eyes kinda shit. I don’t really like Bright Eyes that much; some of it’s a little too dramatic for me. This sounds sincere, though, they’re coming from the heart and I like that.

Mariachi El Bronx – Holy (Wichita, 26 April)
Yoni: I’m always gay for mariachi.
[Checks the press release]
I'm not seeing any south of the border Latin names in the roster and I’m a little weird about a bunch of white dudes playing mariachi shit. It’s like, y’know, stay true to your roots. It reminds me of – what’s that group called – those guys from Arizona.
Dave: Calexico?
Yoni: Yes, it’s the same thing there. There’s something false about it, like it’s a shtick. This sounds contrived to me. Obviously they’re good musicians, you can’t take that away from them, but I’d just rather listen to real mariachi in Spanish. What’s their label?
Dave: Wichita.
Yoni: I like Wichita, now I feel like a hater. And I’m hating on Bright Eyes too. Oh man, what am I doing?

Sweet Sweet Lies – Overrated Girlfriend/The Day I Change (Dumb Angel, 19 April)
[Barely lasts a bar]
Yoni: [Chokes on his food] Get it out! Take it away! Oh god, let’s just leave it at that!
Dave: Is that your first 'thumbs down'?
Yoni: [Laughs] Yeah. I’m sure they’ve very nice guys, but that made me feel very uncomfortable. When you feel uncomfortable like that it’s something within yourself where you know you have a part of whatever you hate about them. So it’s in me, it’s on me.

Mother Mother – Hayloft (Last Gang, 19 April)
Yoni: Sounds pretty typical so far.
[Vocals kick in, reminiscent of a Japanese schoolgirl on crack]
Nevermind! I thought this was about to be something else until those vocals kicked in. I don’t know what Last Gang Records is, but I don’t think this is going to do what they might want it to... maybe it will. Not my cup of tea, but kinda cool sounding.

Andrea Triana – Lost Where I Belong (Ninja Tune, 5 April)
Yoni: That’s a little too smooth for my taste, doesn’t sound rough around the edges. Her voice is a little too good. The production’s a little stiff, it sounds looped...it’s a bit too rigid. I’d enjoy this while I was sippin’ a latte or something, but I wouldn’t listen to it at my house.

Adam Stafford - Shot Down You Summer Wannabes / Frederick Wiseman (Wiseblood, Out Now)
Yoni: Where’s he from?
Dave: Falkirk originally, but he lives in Glasgow.
Yoni: Oh great, I’m going to say something bad about him, then he’s going to be [at Stereo for the WHY? gig] tonight and kick my ass.
[Song starts with a looped, echoing vocal]
That’s more my style. It reminds me of that TV on the Radio song – Ambulance – on the first full-length when he does that. This is only coming out of one speaker, though.
Dave: It’s coming from a speaker on the floor too.
Yoni: I thought that was just some wild panting from another room.
[Keeps listening]
This is my favourite thing yet, I’d listen to this all the time. I’d be afraid with a guy like this, though, that he’d start to get a bit of attention, he’d hire a band and his shit would sound totally average.
Dave: He had a band – Y'all Is Fantasy Island – who just split up recently. There was nothing average about them, though.
Yoni: If it’s a single voice I’ll enjoy watching someone perform a capella if they do it right. That’s definitely good shit, that’s great.

The Twilight Sad – The Room (Fat Cat, 5 April)
Yoni: Sounds like The National a little bit, which I like a lot.
Dave: Peter Katis mixed their first album, but he didn’t have anything to do with this...
Yoni: Ha, and it’s the one that sounds the most like the National? I’d say somehow it manages to marry both crushing noise and sparse elegance. I like how it progresses into that noise too... nice, and very live sounding. This is probably the only other thing that I would listen to on my own, out of everything you’ve played. That and Adam Stafford, it’s more up my alley.