Live Review + Album Review: Apes & Androids @Red Door [12.21.07] + Blood Moon Released!

Still groggy from our respective naps, my friends and I headed over to the Apes & Androids show in Chelsea. The performance space is simply called "Red Door" - upon entering, doubts rushed in. Was it worth disturbing my precious sleep to hear a good band get raped by bad acoustics and questionable atmosphere?

Apes & Androids struck their first chords as a fog machine rolled out some clouds. Their live set, showcasing much of their debut album Blood Moon, commanded us to move our limbs accordingly and sing along where our plebian vocal ranges allowed. Green laser lights shone through the band members onto the crowd, proving that laser lights aren't just for boy bands and stoner planetariums. Impressive multi-tiered harmonies and throwback stage antics had the audience in a tizzy. Any element of "bad" at this shoddy venue died a glamourous death.

I'd love to elaborate more on the show, but the last thing I will point out is the d-bag suited mess that spilled beer all over about five people in the audience, ending with a finale on my own dryclean-only shirt. Where do some show-goers come from? I digress...the key to this post is that Loose Record is publishing the first "official" words on Blood Moon before the blogosphere runs rampant with references to Queen, Prince, and Beck Hansen. Besides, I totally invented Queen in 1970.*

We graciously received our review copy at last Friday's show, the day the CD arrived from the press. I've since been asked how people can get it before the January 19th CD release show at Mercury Lounge, and my best answer is to keep checking their Myspace page for updates.

Blood Moon is an 18-track narrative that touches down to earth with strong hits "We Don't Understand You" and "Hot Kathy," and returns to the home planet after dropping the surprising epic "Riverside." One of the understated gems is "Sweetest Secret," a sexy number that tells a dark story and clinches with a satisfying snare-driven outtro. Acoustic guitar overdubs add an overall air of crispness and sparkle to much of this record. And it goes without saying that David and Brian's striking lead vocals, along with the band's harmonies, help brand Blood Moon as "pop-opera." (If you prefer, replace this with another made-up music fusion term.)

It's easy to note that "Johnny & Sarah" smells heavily of Queen, and similarly somewhere in the album there is a synth hit that distinctly reminds me of Queen's "Body Language." "Locked In A Car" channels Radiohead's sombre masterpiece "Life In A Glasshouse." While Apes & Androids' influences are clear, the outcome is far from a carbon copy. Blood Moon is a welcome and original product that walks at a different pace from the hoards of new music I've trod through in the past year. (Visualizing the stacks of promo CDs lined up against my wall from 2007 alone will help measure the weight of this statement.)

Your next steps:
1) Watch Apes & Androids live first and let your senses be overwhelmed.
2) Spend the $15 to buy the full album, rather than stalk blogs to piece a measly 4 tracks together.
3) Visit RCRD LBL and download the outtake "Creepy Girls."

[Live photos by Justin Ouellette]
* Fact checkers can chill out.

Album Review: Earlimart Mentor Tormentor [Shout Factory, August 2007]

Do you every wish you lived in L.A.? It’s okay to admit if you do, I grew up in New York and even I have days that I would trade jammed packed soaking wet November train rides to cruising the 405 in the perpetual spring/summer of the desert life.

If you ever do decide to give up on New York and go west then chances are you will end up with neighbors like Earlimart. Laid back, nice, and the kind of people you could see yourself sitting down for drinks and a barbeque with.

While listening to their new album Mentor Tormentor I remembered that their last album was dedicated to Elliott Smith. I think (whether they say or not) this one is too. The willowy vocals and quiet guitars certainly shake forth the ghost of the dead troubadour. What’s missing however is not the earnestness but rather the subversive brutality of Smith’s black lyrics mixed with his honey coated voice. When the Earlimart gang croon to you they mean what they say in a way that never leaves you wondering if they actually wish you would fuck off.

What’s nice about this record is that it shows progression. The instrumentation and the style of playing aren’t a huge difference from past efforts but the strength of the melodies is rock solid. They are more engaging and as a result the record has a great consistency from top to bottom. This is not the album that will change your life but it is another step in the right direction.

Never forget vigilant reader that the misery inflicted upon you through high rent, cold winters, hot summers, and the constant stream of barfing frat boy I-bankers pissing outside your apartment every weekend keeps you aware that life takes endurance to get by and makes you strive to achieve great things, and if you ever feel like hanging out in Silver Lake, just pop on Earlimart and feel the sunshine.

Album Review: George Harrison All Things Must Pass [Capitol, November 1970]

George Harrison had made a mark with "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," but few expected a solo offering from “the quiet Beatle” to be the near masterpiece All Things Must Pass turned out to be.

Phil Spector, who produced the record, overcame previous criticisms that a “Phil Spector recording” serves only Phil Spector and not the band: it is incredibly lush but never slick; effortlessly organic and human the way an unpretentious performance from a virtuoso artist should sound.

Harrison himself (his music and his outlook) is the star – but it never feels like it’s about “George Harrison, the guy." John Lennon’s solo album Plastic Ono Band, released only a month later, is full of John Lennon’s demons – he lays them bare and it’s a beautiful and rare thing to experience that kind of intimacy with such a tortured artist. Harrison had demons too – who doesn’t? – but he sings his happiness through and alongside them in songs that were fit for the Beatles but perfect just for George.

A smile can change the sound of a voice – and it’s clear that Harrison was smiling through nearly every moment of this record. What’s a better perk-up than that? Take a listen, you’ll see what I mean.