SINGLE REVIEWS

Tsar - Songs From the Upcoming Album Band-Girls-Money
With their sophomore effort still unreleased after several years in the making,
Tsar has been kind enough to give its fans a taste of what's to come on Band-Girls-Money
once it comes out. This promo CD features four of the songs that they've been featuring
in their live shows over the last few years. Tsar's slightly harder edge than was shown
on their debut album is apparent from the get go with the opening track Band-Girls-Money,
a screaming tale about the president. Wanna Get Dead, a live favorite, is amazingly 
catchy with hooks aplenty throughout the song. Wrong is simply Tsar at their best, 
showcasing both their power and their finesse in a display of songwriting genius that
needs to be shared with the masses. Straight, the closing track, was reviewed when
it was released on 7" but it hasn't lost any of its appeal over numerous listenings. Get
ahold of this CD if you can while you wait for the album to come out.

Belle and Sebastian - I'm A Cuckoo CD (Rough Trade)
The fun and poppy a-side of this single is from the Scottish band's Dear Catastrophe
Waitress album. It's a great song featuring Stuart Murdoch's more outgoing vocal style.
The fist b-side, Stop Look And Listen, sounds like a Simon and Garfunkel song played at
the wrong speed. It's a lyrically rich folk song played at almost breakneck speed and 
while not too different from their normal sound, it once again highlights the band's
willingness to explore new musical territory on their b-sides. Next comes another 
version of I'm A Cuckoo. This one is a remix by the Avalanches. It's not as good as the
original version as far as I'm concerned but at least they made it their own with it's
radically different sound. The last song on the CD, (I Believe In) Travellin' Light, is
a very pretty, if not exceptional, smooth and mellow folky song. (Belle and Sebastian
at Coachella on May 2, 2004).
 

Tsar - Straight 7" (Birdman)
The first ever 7" from LA's Tsar and it rocks hard. This record really captures
the energy of Tsar's amazing live shows better than their first album did. The A-side
is the anthemic Straight featuring Daniel Kern's fantastic guitar work and enough energy
to make you hit the ceiling in excitement. The b-side is one of the most hard-rocking 
Tsar songs to date, The Creature in Disguise. It took a few times seeing them play it
live before I really got into this song but now I love it, espcially singer Jeff 
Whalen's extended screaming part near the end. I don't know what he's saying but I can't
wait for that part every time I hear the song.

The Vacation - They Were the Sons EP (Fierce Panda)
A promising debut EP from this foursome. I like each song on the CD better than
the next, except for the closing song Liquid Lunch which is not up to par with the
others. It starts out with White Noise, a pretty straight ahead rock song with an 
explosive chorus. The second song, Make Up Your Mind, is much more frenetic and
fast paced, sort of reminding me of a Peechees/Pattern song without the snotty 
vocals. My favorite song by far though is No Hard Feelings, a much more mellow but
melodic and boppy song whose chorus has started to get stuck in my head. I am anxious
to see them live at their upcoming LA shows (Every Monday in February 2004 at Spaceland).

The Frumpies - Frumpies Forever 7" (Kill Rock Stars)
This four song single is quite a leap forward for The Frumpies, who consist
of Bikini Kill and Bratmobile members. The songwriting potential of The 
Frumpies is much better utilized on this single than on the Frumpie One-Piece
CD, which collected all their early songs. That collection did have some great
moments, but many of the noisy songs sounded too much alike. That's been 
remedied here, beginning with the bubbly, infectious first song, Frumpies 
Forever, where they recall past times in London with girlish glee. A more somber
tone is taken on We Don't Wanna Go Home, which laments the current geographical
distance between the members. The B-side includes a cover of The Rolling Stones'
Tell Me. With this great single, my view of The Frumpies has changed intriguing
side project to a darn good band with much potential for the future.


Pedro The Lion - Progress CD (Suicide Squeeze)
I've begun to realize that David Bazan's voice is one of my favorite new
voices of the last few years. I came to that conclusion while listening to this
EP which contains two new songs and radio sessions of two previously released
songs. The two new songs here, titled June 18, 1976 and April 6, 2039, sound no
different than most Pedro The Lion songs. Slow, melodic, lyrically rich. All 
this is good. But Bazan's achingly emotional voice makes every Pedro The Lion
song seem like a new and wonderful experience, including these ones here.


Jen Wood - This Uncontainable Light CD (Tree)
Jen Wood's latest effort, this four song EP, is probably her best solo
material to date. Shorter, more straightforward songs than on No More Wading
and Getting Past The Static make this enjoyable from start to finish. The 
opener, Ride, really spotlights Wood's voice throughout the quiet early parts
and then nicely picks up the pace with a beautiful melody thanks to her backing
band of Katrina Thomson and Jayson Tolzdorf. See-through has Wood trying to 
convince the object of her affection that she's harmless and not a threat to
inflict more pain. An entire album of this quality is something to hope for from
Wood in the future.


Belle and Sebastian - Legal Man/Judy is a Dick Slap/
Winter Wooskie CD (Matador)
Legal Man has started to grow on me a bit. While not a Belle and Seabastian
classic, I do like the middle-eastern tone of the music and the "get out of 
the office" and enjoy life message. A bit different sounding than anything
they've done which does keep it interesting. Judy is a Dick Slap is a ho-hum
instrumental so we'll move to the most worthwhile song on the single. A lilting,
60's sounding tale of a boy who supposes that he may be in love, Winter Wooskie
ranks up there with the best Belle and Sebastian songs, making this single
essential to your Belle and Sebastian collection.


Death Cab For Cutie - Underwater/The Army Corps of
Architects 7" (Sub Pop)
Death Cab For Cutie often gets lumped into the emo section of the music
world, which I am not a big fan of. However, like Pedro The Lion, Death Cab 
For Cutie does without the excessive emotion and gyrations of that "genre"
and have simply come up with two quiet, melodic, beautiful songs on this 
release. Throw in the heavy metal artwork and you've got a brilliant 7". This
one is only available on Sub Pop's single club so find it if you can.


The No-No's - The Damage Done/I Deserve Someone Nice/
It Ain't Easy 7" (Chromosome)
The No-No's will never be mistaken for being the most profound band of
our time, but they are fun. Here they give us a sugary sweet song about a ray
of hope in the computer age and (what else?) a sugary sweet song about a 
friendly stalker. Not to mention their go at It Ain't Easy (of David Bowie
fame). Quite a nice single that only gets docked a half a point because the
wonderful Heather Dunn doesn't appear to be in the band anymore.






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