en ia RIERA EH PO Luke Simcoe, OP Contributor ALEAISONFIREC Downloaded: Alexisonfire — Crisis (Advance copy) Spank Rock - YoYoYoYoYo The Roots — Game Theory MSTRKRFT — The Looks Listened To: Rogue Wave — Descended Like Vultures Ex Models — Zoo Psychology Welcome to my inaugural column! I’m stealing the format ‘from Nick Hornby’s column in The Believer (for his version, simply replace “Listening To” with “Reading”’), and will sort of give a rundown on the various albums that ve down- . loaded, errr... bought... on I-Tunes, and what else has been in my rotation lately. Pll try to dedicate the downloaded sec- tion to new material, but the gloves are off in regards to what I’ve been listening to. It won’t always be the newest or rarest, but my plan is to occasionally turn you on to something undiscovered, get you to dust off something you’ve forgot, or at the very least, bombard you with my glaring status as a member of the musical intelligentsia. I’m also hoping that they'll stick a picture of me next to the column. Alexisonfire — Crisis * : On Crisis, Alexisonfire complete the slow descent into medi- ocrity that they began on Watch Out! The ringing tones, intri- cate fretwork and cryptic personal lyrics that made their debut so good are gone, replaced by wall-of-sound distortion, chug- Tunng — Mother’s Daughter ae pear Stuff Pve Been Listening To ging power chords, too many whoa-ohs, and boilerplate teenage angst. When I first heard AOF’s eponymous album, I was convinced that the boys from St. Catherines were going to save hardcore, so it pains me to put the boots to them, but Crisis is almost unlistenable. Spank Rock - YoYoYoYoYo In 1987, Big Black released an album called Songs About Fucking. Spank Rock has basically put this album to a bunch of electroclash beats and replaced Big B with MC Naeem Juwan. Spank Rock succeeds as a joke band; the beats are cool and Juwan can rap, but vapid lyrical content is vapid lyrical content whether it’s aimed at sexually frustrated indie-hop kids or sweatsuit clad Busta Rhymes fans. This album is like a condom; it has its purpose, but it’s ultimately disposable. The Roots — Game Theory It’s the Roots... every album knocks. Each new album consis- tently fails to deliver on the promise that they showed on T/ladelph Halfiife, but that doesn’t mean that each new album isn’t better than 90% of what gets put on wax in the hip-hop world. This is Puestlove and company’s first album for Def Jam, and despite the presence of Jay-Z at the company’s helm, Game Theory is a return to form for the Roots after The Tipping Points brief foray into the mainstream. MSTRKRFT — The Looks I could go on about this album, and how awesome it is that they named themselves after Canadian Tire’s tool brand, but and Other Songs 5 Brady Ehler, OP Features Editor this is... tung mother's daughter and other songs 8 THE OTHER PRESS SEPTEMBER 14 2006 Writing album reviews for a college paper is a labor of love. I only write about those bands that not only do I love, but specifically of bands that I love that I feel deserve more exposure. To be sure, I get a kick out of exposing unknown bands to a wider audience. It makes me feel like ’m doing the world some good, and besides... I like to be the first to know about a great band that is destined to become extremely popular. So, it is with great pleasure that I introduce you all to Tunng, an electro-folk outfit hailing from London, UK. Mother's Daughter is the best debut album I have heard in a long time. It blends the seemingly polar-opposite genres of electronica and folk with startling ease, especial- ly since the music is a hybrid of singer-song- writer contributions of Sam Genders and the electronic noodling of Mike Lindsey, a pair of blokes who had no previous interaction before creating music in Lindsey’s studio. Lindsey and Genders complement each other like chips and mayo — you wouldn’t think the big story here is the demise of Death From Above 1979 Jesse Keeler, who was half of DFA and is half of MSTRKRFT, posted an open letter on the band’s myspace page detailing how he and Sebastien Granger had grown apart, and how he didn’t want to end up “like the Rolling Stones.” I can really appreciate that. DFA was a zeitgeist bart and nothing they could possibly do could top You're a Woma I'm a Machine. 1 also think that Mr. Keeler is aware that it’s g ting harder and harder to find genuinely refreshing rock, anq that a lot of people, myself included, have been turning to electronic music in search of something new. The Looks mig not be the most amazing techno album, but it is going to ba an indie-friendly introduction to the genre for those in searg of a new buzz. Rogue Wave — Descended Like Vultures I finally downloaded Descended Like Vultures a few weeks ago} and I’ve become completely enthralled by Rogue Wave’s Death Cab-for-grown-ups routine. I can’t stop listening! And best of all, unlike Mr. Gibbard, Zach Rogue seems to know how his body works! Ex-Models — Zoo Psychology Do you like the Blood Brothers? Do you wish they were md abrasive, less structured, and made albums full of one minuf songs?! Then Ex-Models are for you! Luke Simcoe will be back in a week with even more ways for you to blow $150 in fifteen minutes at a record store.- it would work, but it does. This is not cut and paste affair a Postal Service; the album leans more towards the folk side o things in some songs, and more towards the electronic side i others, but it all seems like if came from the same era. I’m n sure when that era was or will be, but it reminds me of a__, futuristic parallel dimension set in 1960. | Mother's Daughter is certainly a refreshing taste of choco- | late-mint ice cream in a freezer full of TV dinners. I must sé however, Tunng definitely takes a cue from the Notwist, anc more specifically, their 2003 album Neon Golden, although | Tunng presses forward with new sounds and techniques to | push the genre a step further.