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It’s time to spotlight the indie rock sensation Dear and the Headlights. First off, if you’re an auditory learner, check this link for the Podcast concerning the group. Dear and the Headlights is headed by front-man Ian Metzger. After a bit of a rough inception, the group gained notoriety at an alarming rate; going straight from two small demos to a full record deal with Equal Vision (of Dashboard and Armor For Sleep fame). They are currently hopping from large arena to large arena with Jimmy Eat World and Paramour. Pretty big deal. But I digress, the music is solid, to say the least. They’re a nice break from the plethora of poppy quartets that could be opening for *ahem* Paramour. See for yourself by checking out the Dead and the Headlights Myspace. Again, you can listen to our Podcast (such a handsome voice!), and for the multimedia icing of this virtual cake, this blogger found a picture. How good Papa Tom is to his precious few online readers.
-Tom Crouse
The Most Serene Republic that is. These guys are good. They are the first group to be signed on Toronto’s Art’s & Crafts label without somehow being associated with Broken Social Scene. Quite a feat. But it seems that little is beyond the grasp of these seven talented individuals. I’m not sure which musical quality I find most endearing: The bodily percussion, the poppy sensibilities, the vibrato piano solos, the layered harmonies, or the strained shouts of “she took a sad song, made it sadder!” Mmm…mmm…good, as momma Crouse would say. A reputably energetic and entertaining stage presence doesn’t hurt either. The Most Serene Republic is actually playing a show in Omaha as I type this. They are literally about to walk onto the main stage of The Slowdown and please an enthusiastic crowd of Omaha’s Canadian indie junkies. This blogger apologizes to his readers for not informing them of this performance earlier, and it is only with a great deal of regret that he missed the show himself. I guess the best we can do is curl up with a copy of their Underwater Cinematographer album and dream of what could have been.
Click the pic for their Myspace. Dear me, sir Yost, I had forgotten about multimedia!
-Tom Crouse
Living in a community as quaint and rural as Vermillion has its ups and downs. Neighbors that will mow your lawn while your out of town? That’s a plus. A decent amount of live music? That’s a different story. While we cannot expect to see great live gigs in Vermillion that often (and bless our local groups who treat us to good shows when they can), we shant have to travel far. Enter, Omaha’s One Percent Productions. Yes, readers, familiarize yourselves with 1% Productions, as they have their fingers on the pulse of the Omaha concert scene. Strike that, they are the pulse. Using the resources of such venues as The Slowdown, The Waiting Room, Sokol Auditorium, and Sokol Underground, One Percent Productions books upwards of 1-3 shows in the greater Omaha area every night. Bop on down to www.onepercentproductions.com and see for yourself. Yes, the two hour drive can seem a bit daunting, but good live music is always worth it. Embrace the tunes, book the tix, and join the One Percent Society!
-Tom Crouse
It’s difficult to be familiar with the local music scene and not know the name We All Have Hooks For Hands. They’re undeniable. But, this post is not about the quality of their music, nor is it a review of their 2007 album The Pretender. This post was created to alert the dear readers of a phenomenon that occurs once in a blue moon… a Hooks show in Vermillion. Alas, the nine eccentric members of We All Have Hooks For Hands have decided to give a little love to their USD fans by having a show at Maya Jane’s this Friday the 29th at 7:00pm. Given the raw energy and stage presence that comes with a live Hooks show, I recommend that everybody and their mamas get down to Maya Jane’s on Friday. Shows in Vermillion have a history of being unexpectedly 21+, so minors beware. To the rest, get off your butts, get on your feet, get to Maya Jane’s, and get hooked on Hooks.
- Tom Crouse
First off, let me begin with an apology. The title for this entry is awful. It does, however, bring you (the avid online reader) into the right state of mind. Forget that 800-year-old goofy mathematician and his spiraling number ratios, and focus some attention on the rising Indie starlet group The Helio Sequence. Get it? Fibonacci Sequence/Helio Sequence? Still pretty bad.
Let not my hostility toward ancient mathematical laws fool you, The Helio Sequence move in a strangely precise pattern. It could just be an infantile correlation in my mind that links any quasi-electronic group with algebra, but I can’t help conjuring images of TI-83 calculators and quantum mechanics when listening to the jams of The Helio Sequence. Let’s examine their 2004 release Love and Distance. First off, Harmonicas? Do they even have a place in modern music? Judging by my heartbeat when the first (and quite originally titled) track Harmonica Song hit my play list, I’d say there is still some power to be milked from the old mouth harp. I don’t know whether to embrace the electronic grooves or move like an aging jazz-ster on Bourbon Street. Needless to say, the combination of both genres is delicious. Then comes Repeater. I never thought I would love a song named Repeater as much as I did when I was a massive Fugazi-head, but our Helio Sequence has proved me wrong. Call me an over-produced-indie-electro-fan all you want, Repeater showcases a raw mastery of musical fluency. These guys are good. The rest of Love and Distance clips along wonderfully, floating over standout tracks like Everyone Needs Everyone and Blood Bleeds before launching into the surreal world of So Stop! Imagine being a delicate robot fetus, floating tenderly in the artificial womb of your mechanical mother; nothing in the world matters, and the weightless atmosphere of mama’s android placenta provides everything to you. That is So Stop! to a T.
In this far from comprehensive band review, I have highlighted only the album Love and Distance. These Indie-electro masters have also crafted the LP’s Young Effectuals, Com Plex, and 2008’s Keep Your Eyes Ahead. The Helio Sequence are about to embark on an international tour, keeping in stride with the success of most other Sub-Pop groups. My cliché band review conclusion goes as such: The Helio Sequence sound like The Unicorns if they instituted a Mercury Program in the 8-bit Monster school of music. Go check ‘em!
Tom Crouse
Their Myspace, currently filled entirely with Keep Your Eyes Ahead tracks:
http://www.myspace.com/theheliosequence
Two words (combined into one word): TuneGlue.
This new online “music map” serves as one of the most complete music suggestion sites on the web. It seems that places like www.pandora.com have opened the floodgates for music recommendation. TuneGlue is a powerhouse of RIYL information, combining knowledge from both Amazon’s and LastFM’s relationship data. And it’s oh so easy to use! 1. Think of an artist you like. 2. Type that artist in TuneGlue’s search bar. 3. Watch as a little “pod” appears. 4. Click on the “pod” and hit expand. 5. Watch as a flurry of similar artists erupt in all directions from your original search. 6. Lather, rinse, and repeat. Enjoy!
BTW, here’s the address: http://clients.onyro.com/tuneglue/
Here in the States, the phrase ‘rumble strips’ is tagged with a connotation of monotony and highway hypnosis. It conjures images of annoying little bumps that prevent over-exhausted Americans from driving their motor vehicles into a ditch. Rumble strips produce a sound that no one wants to hear when behind the wheel. In Tavistock, England, however, The Rumble Strips are producing sounds that everyone can get behind. Ambiguously formed from a long-lasting friendship between five English dudes, The Rumble Strips have no real inception date. Their formula for success combines one part Captain Beefheart appreciation, two parts expert musicianship, a dollop of ska sensibilities, and a splash of lo-fi simplicity.
Upon the first listening 2007’s Girls and Weather, one finds a pleasant instrumental surprise. Horns! And how refreshing they seem! The horn section, long since bastardized by the ever-stagnant ska genre, finds itself full of life in the hands of The Rumble Strips. The brass melody bursting inside your eardrums during the track Alarm Clock bears testament to their obvious horn section mastery. As a song that is primarily about breaking an alarm clock and sleeping in, it serves as an ironically powerful motivator for getting up and seizing the day. Enter: Girls and Boys in Love. What is that you say, Rumble Strips? A poppy piano-riff driven piece? I’ll give it a listen! Heck*, I’ll even dance like a southern Baptist minister extracting Lucifer from his congregation. Devil, be gone! At this point, as I am running out of space and clever phrases, I will simply mention the tracks Time and Clouds as other standouts from the album.
Fresh off their debut release of Girls and Weather on September 10 of 2007, The Rumble Strips are just finishing the tail end of a European tour with Mark Ronson. There is no rumor yet of a stateside tour, but with enough luck (and support) maybe we could find ourselves with one more set of Rumble Strips on the American interstate system!
Tom Crouse
Sample the Rumble Strips’ tunes on their Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/rumblestripsuk
Or check out the awesome video for Alarm Clock here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Qp4C-54u3o8
*A blogger’s self-censorship.
ZibraZibra, CrazyLoco!
April 8, 2008 in Band Review, Vermillion Scene Commentary | by thomascrouse | Leave a comment
Those of you with fingers directly on the pulse of Vermillion music scene already know of the oncoming storm. On Friday, April 11 2008, the tidal force known as ZibraZibra will brutalize the shores of Maya Jane’s. The Twin Cities quintet is bound to completely rock the faces off all who dare to attend. Perhaps there is a glimpse of foreshadowing in ZibraZibra’s self-described genre title… simply stated, they are “German Pop/Live Electonics/Metal.” And what a winning combination their sound proves to be. I strongly suggest all my readers to head over to the group’s MySpace and listen to “Arcade Catastophe.” And to all you 21 plus-ers out there, don’t miss ZibraZibra (with local heroes The Golden Bubbles) at Maya Jane’s this Friday at 9:45pm.
-Tom Crouse
Here is the promised MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/zibrazibra