Review: Seapony – “Go With Me”

It’s a simple question: Do you like twee? If you do, chances are you’ll love Seapony’s Go With Me. If you don’t, well, that leaves things a little more up in the air.

The most common refrain with this album is expected: “We’ve heard this all before.”

And it’s true. “Dreaming,” “I Really Do,” “Go Away,” “So Low,” and “With You” all find themselves as carry-overs from the two singles released before the full-length. It is welcoming to hear these tracks again, but it also means that the listener is hearing only seven new songs—almost an EP.

The rest of the new songs follow the same format as the singles. There are very few chord changes in the rhythm guitar while the riffs played by the lead can often be mistook for different tracks on the album.

There are a few standouts, namely “Blue Star,” which was the first mp3 released for this album. “Blue Star” has a fuzzed out rhythm guitar part coupled with the expected riffs floating over top. The vocals of Jen Weidl are soft and crooning over the careful guitar picking, creating one of the more atmospheric songs on the album.

Interestingly enough, the standout track from the Seattle band’s debut full-length is the one that sounds nothing like the others: “Nobody Knows.” The tenth track on the album, it could easily be lost in the shuffle around it, with the simple chord progressions and the overall happy sound of Go With Me.

But “Nobody Knows” has a darker side to it. The upstroked guitar chords on the offbeats create a more somber atmosphere. It would be easy to say that this song is reminiscent of Beach Fossills’ recent What A Pleasure EP. The somberness is rather jarring for the way the album progresses, making it the most memorable track on the album, displaying versatility from the band.

While some might consider this album to be extremely flat and bland, it is perfect for the summer. The band’s Seattle origins might suggest a somber record, but Seapony gives something perfect for windows down cruising instead.

Now if they would not play only 21+ venues for their first shows on the East Coast.

Stream Go With Me here.

Download “Blue Star” here, “Dreaming” here.

–Daniel

Stream: Oxes, “Orange Jewelerist”

If you were lucky enough to attend the last Whartscape last summer, you got the chance to see one of Baltimore’s most infamous bands, Oxes perform a show for riders of the Light Rail around Franklin Street, and finally a new track from around that time has appeared. They recorded it last summer during their few shows, their first in several years. It’s called “Orange Jewelerist” and it’s a heavy one. More controlled then the Oxes I’m used to, but it still is fairly “epic” if I may overuse that term. It’s a bit reminiscent of something Battles would make, except with a bit more punch. I’m quite looking forward to their return to the music scene.

-Kevin

New track: Cults, “You Know What I Mean”

Here’s a new track from one of my favorite national buzzbands as of late, that they posted to their soundcloud a few days ago. It’s a short number that starts out like it could be right out of Phil Spector’s catalogue, but it switches up to an almost ’90s style pop song in the chorus, shrouded by reverb on the soaring vocals. Definitely looking forward to hearing more from their expanding list of songs. Definitely a band that’s making 2011 look excellent so far.

-Kevin

Video: Yuck – “Get Away”

Check out the new video for the first track off Yuck’s self-titled album, “Get Away.” It has the pretty intense your feel to it, and the live shots are all pretty sweet. Plus, the album is sweet.

Yuck plays Black Cat with Tame Impala in D.C. on May 6.

–Daniel

Dum Dum Girls, Minks, Dirty Beaches at Black Cat

I finished off this weekend’s epicness last night with a band that had been on my list to see for a while, Dum Dum Girls, along with some rising talent in Minks and Dirty Beaches. It was a rainy night in D.C. so I questioned my ability to bring myself to get into town, but I already had my ticket and had to see Dum Dum Girls after skipping their Merriweather Post Pavilion show with Vampire Weekend for the sole purpose of seeing them at a small venue.

Future Islands at Creative Alliance (with pictures!)

Future Islands (photo by Vera)

Sure, you’re probably already thinking “man, Fresh Heirs reviewing yet another Future Islands show. How many can these guys do?” Well the answer is as many as we damn well want. But this one was in fact different. To commemorate the Residents Open House at Creative Alliance at the Patterson, Future Islands played 2 sets, one acoustic [for the third time I might add] in the gallery and one in the normal electric setup in the theatre of the artist residency.

New Radiohead Album: The King of Limbs

There’s a new Radiohead album! I’m crying!

Seriously y’all. The King of Limbs is the next album Its up for looking at/pre-ordering at radiohead.com

Sorry this isn’t more organized.

I’m so happy.

Review: Thank You, Golden Worry

I had heard a bit about Thank You prior to seeing them back in November in the cold out behind the Current Gallery in Baltimore, and it was a really enjoyable sound that I hadn’t heard of before.

It’s a very rhythmic sound that they seemed to hone on their latest EP Golden Worry, a quick little 30 minute jam out from Thrill Jockey. At first when I heard them live, I thought they would be among the slew of Baltimore bands that couldn’t capture the energy in the studio, but this really isn’t the case, or at least not in the 6 tracks showcased here.

The opener “1-2-3 Bad” is somewhat of a roller coaster of an opener, in the best way possible. With two guitars fighting against each other, occasionally almost acting like keyboards, the drums provide for an almost krautrock like experiment.

The second track starts off on a different track, with an almost Arabian sounding keyboard part, very delicate and fragile sounding. Like a breath of air caught before we head back into the intensity that starts up with the vocals.

The vocals are by far the largest surprise on the album. Almost ethereal sounding, they fight a losing battle against the instruments for who can be distinguished more, and with the guitars dancing to the drums, its nearly impossible for the vocals to win. But this isn’t a bad thing. It creates a sort of awesome distanced sound of harmonies.

Another change is felt by the third track “Pathetic Magic. ” It starts out as a combination of the first two. Harsh drums. Explosive guitar. All that jazz. But the way it ends sort of has this quality that reminds me, almost entirely of the early versions of “Taste” by Animal Collective in the sort of spaced out magic.

The second half of the EP starts out with “Continental Divide” which is filled with screeches and sceams  coming from who knows where. In fact, I think I heard a jaw harp somewhere in the mix. It’s almost dance-able, in the weirdest of ways.

“Strange All” goes back to the previous sounds of the band, from earlier releases, building on organs and intense drum lines with intense, rather un-melodic vocals that bring back memories of Terrible Two from 2008.

Album closer “Can’t/Can” points towards yet another new dimension in the bands sound. The guitars bounce between a clean sound and a distortion pedal. They build and crash multiple times, sending us off on a journey before bringing us back down to earth with intense singular beats and tones. As the final note wears out, we already want to buy return tickets, if I may use such bad music journalism cliches.

-Kevin

Review: Winks, Daisy Ingraham

A little surprise coming out from my local Baltimore favorite Winks, Daisy Ingraham, is a 3 song EP recorded straight to cassette by Chase O’Hara in his bedroom. Its a quick little treat that certainly could signify a change in direction from the usual Winks sound (still trying to get my hands on their latest full release, She’s Done). It’s more experimental in nature, and has a lot of noise that is probably aided by the low fidelity of the cassette.

The first track, “The Bottle Has Your Name On It But My Lips On It” has the essence that reminds me of the earliest Modest Mouse releases. Its a simple guitar and vocal track with noise puncturing holes all throughout it. The titular second track is almost of the same idea, but with more of an ambient sound scape, with noises of a seemingly unknown origin appearing throughout. However, throughout all the sound, you still get the general pop melodies that made Winks enjoyable in the first place. Final track “Ennui” starts out sounding like a guitar being thrown straight into a PA system. Eventually the wah-wahs pick up and we start to pick up a more traditional song (though still not entirely “normal” by any means of the word).

The EP is available off of mediafire right here (via http://www.bmoremusic.net/). Don’t forget to check out their last full length She’s Done, off of Friends Records

-Kevin

Streaming: Ducktails – “Killin’ The Vibe” Feat Panda Bear

Fresh Heirs’ possibly ironic favorite Ducktails recorded a version of his song “Killin’ the Vibe” with our non-ironic favorite Panda Bear and its now up for stream on soundcloud, and above. The Panda Bear part isn’t overwhelming but you can definitely notice his choir-esque tenor making the appearance. It’s a nice track for me to actually bring in the new year seeing as I’ve been doing a less then average job of listening to new music (sorry but Morrissey has gotten in the way).

-Kevin