RISS&ENTERTAINME Raising the Fawn — The Maginot Line Brady Ehler, OP Contributor John Crossingham and Scott Remila return with a worthy follow-up to Raising the Fawn’s epic 2004 release, The North Sea. However, the new album, The Maginot Line, was record- ed by a different band. Shortly after The North Sea was recorded, band members, Julie Booth and Jon Drew decided to call it quits. For the new album, a new drummer, Dylan Green, was added to the fold. Julie was not replaced and the band decided to continue on as a three piece. With such a drastic change in the structure of the band, it is a little surprising how similar The Maginot Line sounds to The North Sea. There are differences, however. As a whole, the new album is more reserved. Gone are the light-hearted pop sensibilities that salted The North Sea. This release is a much darker, restrained affair, especially as the album progresses. The triumphant moments are still there, but they are a little less joyous. The emotional high-points of the album are in the sad parts, such as the tender finalé, “Nocturne No.2,” a aeditor@ gmail.com love song that is whispered over an arpreggiated electric guitar. Still, the dynamic and unbridled creativity of Raising the Fawn remains intact. There are hushed instrumentals, relentless, spiraling epics, and mini-songs linking the larger compositions throughout the album. What is so refreshing about The Maginot Line is that there is always wide range of different approaches to the songs, so the album stays fresh for a long time. The musi- cians attack their instruments in new and exiting ways from one track to the next. Crossingham uses chords that your guitar player’s handbook forgot to list, and then some. Even so, The Maginot Line is also quite accessible. I have always thought that if marketed correctly, Raising the Fawn could make a shit-load of money. They have that rare gift of being both extremely listenable, yet on the cut- ting edge of rock. Brady Ehler, OP Contributer The Eagles of Death Metal — Death By Sexy To those of you who haven’t heard the band before, EODM is not, in fact, a death metal band. They use dis- torted guitars, bass, and drums like a death metal band, but that is where the similarities end. No, Death by Sexy is decidedly more sexy than deathly, as all songs are about lust, screwing, or wanting to screw. The lyrics are especially sexy. Here is an excerpt from “Just Nineteen”: “I gotta feeling that you wanna come ovet/I get you here and I will make you roll over/Now look it baby, you’re just nineteen.” Ok, so it’s not exactly deep, but so what? Death by Sexy isn’t about pointing out the flaws in our society, nor is it a vehicle for personal catharsis. No, this album is about the simple joy of listening to catchy music...very, very sexy, catchy music. As with the previous release, Jessie “The Devil” Hughes and Carlo Von Sexron (aka Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age fame) deliver a batch of tight- knit, bluesy pop-rock-with-an-edge gems. Essentially, these are pop songs about girls, custom made for indie nerds. Yes, finally such a thing exists! And because Death by Sexy is so tongue-in-cheek—and rock as fuck—there is no guilt in listening to it. If you liked the band’s debut, Peace, Love and Death Metal, then you will not be disappointed. Death by Sexy is in a similar vein, the songs are just tighter and more refined. If you haven’t heard EODM before, I suggest putting this disc on at a party—you'll love them forever. This is pure concentrated party music; it’s got a solid beat, it’s energetic, but not grating, and it is, of course, sexy as hell. The only real downside to this album is that all of the best tracks, which also happen to be the fastest, are on the first half of the album. As a result of this initial, furious love-making, Death by Sexy blows its load prematurely. Fortunately, the disc dutifully soldiers on with slower, more drawn out compositions for less intense, but longer-lasting pleasure. TV on the Radio — Return to Cookie Mountain Luke Simcoe, OP Contributer I was a big fan of Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes, and at the risk of sounding ignorant, I’m going to admit that I have no idea if TVOTR’s latest album title is a reference to something or just an amusing title that has no deeper meaning. It gives me that feeling that ’m missing out on something, but in this era of blogging and CNN, I just don’t feel like doing any thorough journalistic research. Anyway, on to the music, right? With Cookie Mountain, TVOTR establish themselves as one of the most original bands to come out of New York, or anywhere else for that matter. I get the feeling that TVOTR crafted this album to enhance their live repertoire a bit, and in this way, the album is a success. Songs like “Snakes and Martyrs,” “Blues From Down Here,” and particularly the opener, “Playhouses,” are punchy, energetic, and catchy, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them performed at Richard’s on May 6. It’s not a complete departure by any means though, and the album definitely contains all the indie rock/synth/jazz/blues/gospel fusion that has become the group’s trademark. “Let the Devil In” even contains a quiet a cappella backing track that harkens back to the band’s eatlier cover of The Pixies’ “Mr. Grieves.” If the album has a downside, it’s that in its quest for live punch, it falls prey to over-instrumentation. The drums, guitar, synths, and sometimes horns step up their presence on this album, and do so at the expense of front- man Tunde Adebimpe’s vocals, which are easily the band’s best instrument. Cookie Mountain is a great record that sus- tains itself better than Desperate Youth, but there’s not a song on it that can go toe-to-toe with the evocative and haunting glory of “Staring at the Sun,’ the band’s best and most well-known track. Nevertheless, when so many other New York bands, including The Strokes, Interpol, and yes, even The Yeah Yeah Yeahs—I’m probably going to get stoned to death on the concourse for that one—have gone the way of the cookie cutter, Return to Cookie Mountain is refreshing and unique enough that it still ranks among this year’s best albums.