Posts Tagged: war on sound

2009 / 4 stars / reviews / the bird and the bee — No Comments
14
Oct 09

Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future (2009) by The Bird and The Bee

ray guns are not just the future the bird and the bee

The Bird and The Bee
Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future
2009, Blue Note Records
electronic, indie pop
4

The Bird and the Bee seem like yet another artsy duo attempting to find success in the indie pop field with their second album Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future; even the title of their album is appropriately off-beat to fit that image. But the songs on Ray Guns are rather simplistic instead of esoteric, both in lyrics and in beats. Yet even those lyrics and beats are haunting enough to be memorable, and it’s that catchiness that really carries this album – see “Love Letter to Japan.” I do have to applaud them for subtle jazz influences and the fact that lead vocalist Inara George’s voice is great when she’s singing or speaking. Hey, let’s face it, a good singer doesn’t necessarily know how to pull off a chant or even sound good when they’re not singing, but George does.

“My Love,” “Meteor,” “Diamond Dave.”
myspace, last.fm
Moonbabies’s War on Sound, Stephanie Dosen’s A Lily for the Spectre

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2008 / 4 stars / electric president / reviews — No Comments
24
Apr 09

Sleep Well (2008) by Electric President

Sleep Well by Electric President

Electric President
Sleep Well
2008, Morr Music
electronic, indie pop
4

While this album was my introduction to the band Electric President, Sleep Well is their sophomore effort and quite an impressive one at that. It’s always odd describing an album or a group as ‘indie pop’ since ‘pop’ is really just a shortened version of ‘popular,’ but Electric President is like the Moonbabies in that they can only be classified as the indie version of pop. Stylistically, the album features influences that range from the Beach Boys to the more modern versions of pop. Lyrically, the album is an emo-shoegaze dream with weird alien references and metaphors that seem to come from no where. In fact, I’d say that the album overall sounds like a lullaby to a apace alien, which makes Electric President even more enigmatic and alienating (I can has puns) than they are purported to be. A strange work, but pleasing and interesting at the same time.

“It’s Like A Heartbeat, Only It Isn’t,” “Monsters,” “We Will Walk Through Walls.”
myspace, last.fm
The Moonbabies’s War on Sound, Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion

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2005 / 4 stars / moonbabies / reviews — No Comments
16
Oct 07

War on Sound (2005) by The Moonbabies

Genre: indie pop/shoegazer
Rating: ½
Check Out: “War On Sound,” “Stars of Warburton,” “Arnold Layne,” “Ghost Of Love”
Official Site, Myspace

A nice ‘mini-album’ from a Swedish pop group that’s difficult to hate. The lyrics and production remind me of the Beach Boys and maybe some Imogen Heap in there, based on layered sounds alone. However, Heap has a deft hand with her melodies, while the Moonbabies fling them at you when you’re not expecting them at all.

As a result, their sound comes off a bit discordant at times. This really comes to head in “Ghost of Love,” which begins with a beat so jarring it sounds as though the CD was skipping while the .mp3 was being recorded. The sound doesn’t stop, either, not for a good four minutes. It’s definitely one of those songs that you need to listen to over and over to actually not get a headache from it.

All the others are just pure pop classics, such as “War On Sound,” which was featured on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. It’s hard to believe these guys are indie, but they really are.

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