And then there were five

June 30, 2010

By Eliza K.

If you were wondering what bands make up the soundtrack to LHNA’s summer so far, here are some albums and EPs I’ve had on repeat as of late:

Learning by Perfume Genius

Pitchfork may have named “Mr. Peterson” Best New Track but really this is an album that must be heard as a whole. Keep your Elliott Smith and Conor Oberst analogies to yourself: for me, this is a man with a unique personal vision and a record that appears to be completely self-contained, as if it was produced in a social and cultural vacuum, away from all the ‘indie’ music circles and the pop culture references, the distracting noises and the nuisance of incessant boring existence. “Learning” decidedly turns it’s back on the world and looks inwardly. Here are the sort of songs you want to hear on a long bus ride, while looking at & not actually seeing the cars, streetlights, buildings, pairs of eyes flash by. It’s not an album of pointless self-reflection though; it’s an album that attempts a careful appraisal, and ultimately a radical reorientation, a change – in a word, healing. Or, if you prefer, learning.

(Lots of thanks go to Jen for pushing this album on us)

Perfume Genius – Learning

Perfume Genius – Lookout, Lookout

Bon Chat, Bon Rat EP by Bon Chat, Bon Rat

This is…strange. I think I like it. On the one hand, I’m a bit embarrassed for liking it because it sounds like the kind of thing 17-year old Tiesto fans would have playing in the background while staring at a trippy screensaver and smoking pot. On the other hand, I’m not actually embarrassed because it also reminds me of early These New Puritans, before they figured out what to do with their ideas and how exactly to channel their creativity. (“channel their creativity”. Hmpf. That sounds just like the kind of expression those kids would use) This could be something good. Or it could be Editors’ ‘experimental’ (3rd) album. Who knows?

Bon Chat, Bon Rat – Map of São Paulo

Bon Chat, Bon Rat – Nowhere Paradise

Far and Near EP by Panda Riot

Panda Riot remind me quite a bit of the Deer Tracks, and not just because of the animal theme common in their band names. The surreal atmosphere, the wistful guitars, the light, mellifluous female vocals – it’s all there. The songs are a little slow to start (it takes 2min+ for a reverberating guitar to come in and finally kickstart “Julie in Time”), but once you’ve heard them you start feeling as if you’ve always known them. They once soundtracked the movies in your head, now forgotten daydreams, made-up stories that were yours and yours alone. You are a different person now. These stories matter little in the present. If you’re honest with yourself though…well, if you’re honest it would be quite comforting to have them back.

Panda Riot – Julie in Time

Panda Riot – When You Said/ When I Said

Reel Around Me by Soda Fountain Rag

I’ve been keeping an eye on these guys for a long time. I positively adored the summery “Red Tape” and enjoyed a handful of other scattered songs of theirs. However, their first album “It’s Rag Time” failed to convince me as a whole. The songs seemed a tad disjointed and their individual qualities not capitalized upon. So it’s really nice to see their efforts finally materializing into something more coherent with their latest album, “Reel Around Me”. The skillfulness and sheer cheek with which they switch from twee-pop playfulness to marching-band hymn (and back again) in “You Are Not Invited to My Wedding” is a joy to my cochlea. As for “Pirate Love”, the other representative for the album I’ve included here, it’s a song that has the sweet nostalgic feel of a children’s nursery rhyme and ends with the words “You’ll be a pirate now… in other words, you’ll be gone”. You are expected to follow this with wistful sigh which, we promise, will come easily.

Soda Fountain Rag – You Are Not Invited to My Wedding

Soda Fountain Rag – Pirate Love

Gemini by Wild Nothing

Yes, it’s everywhere. Every self-respecting music lover has been, is, or will be writing a review of this album at some point during 2010 (perhaps at the end-of-year roundup in December). There have been lots of comparisons with The Pains of Being Pure At Heart. It’s interesting to note however that, while The Pains asserted with the confidence of youth that “we will never grow older, we will never die“, Wild Nothing display a more seasoned attitude towards the passage of time, seeming to be painfully aware of the precious, rapidly evanescent, impermanent moment: “Our lips won’t last forever and that’s exactly why I’d rather live in dreams and I’d rather die.” (Carpe diem, brothaz!) It would be fairer then to say that, rather than copying a massively successful (dare I use the H word?) band of last year, Wild Nothing are merely continuing the nostalgic guitar-pop tradition of the 80s (what was then called “new wave”) and adding their own twist to it. Critics and kids alike seem to be loving it so they must be doing something right.

Some album reviews collected by Any Decent Music? here.

Wild Nothing – Live in Dreams

Wild Nothing – O, Lilac

Tags: 2010, bon chat bon rat, deer tracks, electro, folk, guitar pop, lo-fi, pains of being pure at heart, panda riot, perfume genius, soda fountain rag, the pains of being pure at heart, twee, wild nothing