We endorse John McCain

To round out our list of endorsements in this year's Presidential primary, Never Learned to Swim has decided to throw its support behind Senator John McCain for the Republican nomination. As with our endorsement of Senator Obama for the Democrats, this means only that we believe that Senator McCain is the best candidate the GOP has to offer, especially in light of endorsements from Rudy Giuliani and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Senator McCain is familiar with the workings of Washington, but has a history of being able to reach across the aisle and work with Democrats to compromise in the passage of legislation. This emphasis on bipartisan pragmatism solidifies our belief that he is the best in the Republican field to unite our polarised nation and to begin to mitigate the excesses of the current administration.

Record Review: Chris Walla - Field Manual

Rating: 4.7 / 10.0

“All hail an imminent collapse. / You can fumble for your maps, / But we’re exhausted by the facts.”

Such are the first lines on Chris Walla’s solo effort, Field Manual. Don’t say he didn’t warn you (it was too easy). This is a record that has been discussed for a long while. Expectations have percolated and in time risen to a slow boil as Walla stayed too tight lipped about the whole thing, pushed back the release date, etc. etc. Bottom line, given that Mr Walla took his sweet-ass time with this one, it should be a hell of a lot better than it is. Which is to say, it should be half-decent.

The article heretofore published on this very blog (http://neverlearned.blogspot.com/2008/01/early-word-on-field-manual.html) has proven prophetic in every aspect except one: this record does not really highlight Walla’s skill as a producer. Apparently, nobody told him that that was all he’s good at. But no, we get his (mediocre) vocals and his (mediocre) guitars overwhelming the mix. Not a good call, Mr Walla. The songs are uncreatively written, uncreatively arranged, and bland. There are no risks taken, and Walla is far from a master of convention. It is difficult to talk about specifics in a record that is so willfully superficial.

Where second track “The Score” wants to sound more like Death Cab for Cutie’s earlier work, it ends up just coming off like angry pop-rock that you would hear on the soundtrack to an extreme sports video game. The hugest problem is that Field Manual doesn’t sound like a record put out by a member of Death Cab for Cutie, it sounds like a record put out by a fifteen year-old who listens to a lot of Death Cab for Cutie…and just broke up with his first girlfriend. It’s clear that Walla spent the entire writing process asking himself, “What Would Ben Do?” Which begs the question, “Why put out a solo record at all?”

This apery is never clearer than on the ridiculous “A Bird Is A Song”, where shameless Gibbardisms – “Concrete canopy, / mountains of symmetry, / city policy / the city air,” and “a seamless operation upon ignition” – meet Gibbard-inspired harmonies, a melody supported by a sixth and an octave. “Everyone Needs A Home” sounds like another Plans b-side. Oh yeah, and “Geometry &c.” couldn’t really sound more like “Crooked Teeth” if it tried. I suppose the best b-side in the bunch is “Our Plans, Collapsing.” The unexpected, even brave, key change leading into the last verse is a breath of fresh air, and the closest Walla comes to taking a risk. If there had been more of that, the score at the top of this post would have been higher, I promise (maybe not much higher, but certainly higher).

What damns Field Manual is not that Walla rips off other bands – that I could at least understand (maybe not altogether forgive, but certainly understand), a side project is the perfect outlet for all the influences that don’t get infused into your main project’s sound. But here, Walla isn’t channeling his secret, heretofore unexpressed love for Justin Timberlake or LCD Soundsystem. His biggest influence in this Death Cab for Cutie side project is…Death Cab for Cutie. So I ask again, “Why put out a solo record at all?”



-PTC

Tours, tours, tours

Well, another day, another bitchin' tour to report. Two NLtS favourites - The New Pornographers (bottom) and Okkervil River (top) - will tour together (and separately) this spring. It is unclear as to whether the tour dates that have been formally announced are the only ones that will be offered. If so, the west coast will be woefully and entirely ignored by both bands - no shows in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, or Los Angeles are currently on the itinerary. We'll keep you posted if and as more dates are added.

Catch Vampire Weekend Live

If Vampire Weekend's self-titled debut (reviewed below) strikes your fancy, you can catch them live in San Francisco tomorrow night. They're playing Popscene, on 330 Ritch. Take advantage of this chance to see them fresh off of their glowing Never Learned to Swim review (and Pitchfork Best New Music accolade) before they truly blow up and they start playing them on adult alternative stations or whatever.

Record Review: Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

Rating: 8.3 / 10.0

Hype is a harsh mistress. It builds expectations where they may not belong. It raises the bar before there is even a bar to be raised. Very few records have the stamina to match the hype. Chris Walla’s upcoming record Field Manual probably will not match the hype surrounding it. Wilco’s legendary Yankee Hotel Foxtrot did (and then some). Afro-popping, indie sheensters Vampire Weekend’s eponymous debut was surrounded by a confusing amount of hype. It was touted as supermodern, innovative, controversial, what have you. What it ended up being was a record that didn’t match the hype, but didn’t try to.

Vampire Weekend is not a revolutionary record. It smacks of fellow New Yorkers White Rabbits’ Fort Nightly from beginning to end; Ezra Koenig sounds uncannily like Greg Roberts. The influence of the Magnetic Fields and Andrew Bird are hinted at (while that of Talking Heads is pretty clear), in addition to the obviously African and Baroque persuasion of Vampire Weekend’s sound. It’s a very interesting sound, but Vampire Weekend sound too much like White Rabbits to be considered revolutionary. But then again, they never claimed to be revolutionary, they just released the damn thing.

And in any case, after listening to this insanely catchy and supremely fun record, it is impossible to hold any grudge against Vampire Weekend. They are masters of songcraft and, more importantly, of their own style. The band is confident and unashamed throughout the record. It is a wonderful record, full of summery, sing-alongable gems. Arrangements like theirs are easy to botch and make sound kitschy, but kitschy this record is not. It never sounds too cute for comfort, never awkward, but always interesting. By walking this line so brilliantly, Vampire Weekend have given us a record that is impossible to listen to only once.

Single and lead track “Mansard Roof” starts the record off right and sets the tone for the remainder of the album: syncopated, (instrumentally and lyrically) strange, but anchored down by stunning, masterfully sculpted melody. The critical success of Vampire Weekend is that they balance their quirk with obvious musical sensibility rather than overwhelming the listener with either. This band doesn’t sound like they are trying to convince anyone of anything, they sound instead as though they’re simply looking to enjoy themselves making beautiful music. Novel concept.


-PTC

Tour to end all tours?

In support of their forthcoming album, Accelerate, college rock gods R.E.M. will enlist NLtS faves (and AOTY finalists) The National and Modest Mouse for support. Dates are spotty, but this makes the LCD SS/Arcade Fire tour from last year looks like kids' play. Representing the last three generations of independent rock, this tour should really bring together the aged, again, and young hipster alike.



You can catch Accelerate on April 1; as reported here, The National at Coachella; and all three in Berkeley at the Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley May 1.

Record Review: Blood on the Wall - Liferz

Rating: 2.4 / 10.0

I've been wrong before. I've been late to jump on a lot of bandwagons. But I'm aware of it. I've come to instinctively second-guess myself when I listen to and don't like a record. I always ask myself, "Is this really not good, or are you just not giving it a fair shake?" What I've learned is that usually, after a few listens to a record, you come to understand its merits and charms. So, more often than not, I find that records that I initially don't like end up being records that I respect, appreciate, and enjoy listening to (even if they aren't necessarily hot favourites). Sometimes, though, I just don't like a record, and I'm pretty sure that I don't like it because it's just not...good. Brooklyn-based Blood on the Wall's latest effort, released through The Social Registry label, is the latter kind of record.

It's not challenging. It's just garage rock infused with an unhealthy, grating dose of teen-like angst brought to you by three people who have listened to way too much Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Blood on the Wall wish they had the appeal of YYYs, but none of them are half as proficient as the corresponding member of YYYs are on their respective instruments. Neither Courtney nor Brad Shanks can even begin to approach Karen O's calibre of vocal delivery; they just end up screaming a lot. Their arrangements are asinine, uninteresting and droning, which means that every song sounds strangely like the one that preceded it. Their banal hooks and ridiculous lyrics belie not only their lack of songwritng talent, but also the fact that they are trying way too hard to sound like the latest, greatest, devil-may-care garage band. In a nutshell, this record simultaneously forced and lazy, sophomoric and overwrought.

To be fair, Liferz is not a total wash. The title track is halfway decent. It's the only instant on the record where Blood on the Wall seem to have some conception of their limited strengths, and stick to them. On this track, they sound almost (almost) halfway like the Sonic Youth/YYYs lovechild they dream of being. And when they just chill the fuck out for a bit on "Lightning Song," it's the best minute and forty-nine seconds on the album. Courtney Banks sounds less like Karen O with strep throat, and more like a female Thurston Moore. Something to be aware of, maybe, for the next record.

At the end of the day though, Liferz is little more than Blood on the Wall's grandiose vision of what they should sound like and what their image should be confounded by their lack of talent. They draw from too many disparate influences without bringing anything of their own to the table to tie it all together. The result is a record that no one need worry about missing out on.


-PTC

Record Review: Radiohead - In Rainbows [Disc 2]

Rating: 6.9 / 10.0

B-sides/bonus records are a dangerous business. Collecting the scraps from the cutting room floor and compiling them in such a way so that they make sense and fit together is a daunting task. When it comes to this tricky practice, people (okay, critics) posit arguments like, "these songs didn't make the album for a reason," and claim that releases like this one is that they are "for fans only." The greatest danger about putting out a b-sides record is that despite the fact that they are not presented as album-worthy tracks, we critcs still hold them to the same critical standards to which we held the source album itself.

This particular collection of songs, then, had some large shoes to fill (especially here at Never Learned to Swim, where its parent album earned our coveted Album of the Year honours). In Rainbows was an astonishingly consistent and compelling assortment of songs that flew in the face of genre labels. Each song was part of a larger pastiche, which by all accounts should not have felt cohesive, but did anyway. Therein lay the genius of In Rainbows, in its cavalier impulsiveness.

It would be unfair to say that the second disc unequivocally lacks the diversity of the source album. It doesn't match it, but that's not the problem. The problem is that these songs have such striking stylistic parallels on the album proper, that they seem contrived. Rather than being an extension of the stylistic diversity of the first disc, it seems to be a bland photocopy of parts of the first disc. "Go Slowly" Xeroxes "Reckoner", "Last Flowers to the Hospital" can't escape the shadow of "Nude," "Up on the Ladder" smacks of "Jigsaw Falling Into Place," "Bangers and Mash" could try to but probably wouldn't be able to sound more like "Bodysnatchers," and "4 Minute Warning" is just like "Videotape" except not half as beautiful. The only exception to this rule is the standout "Down Is The New Up," which creates an identity all its own.

This criticism is far from an indictment of the release, however. It is merely a testament to the fact that this b-sides release shows where Radiohead's creative limits lay while they were putting In Rainbows together (they're human; who knew?). That said, it's by far the most cohesive b-sides record I've ever listened to - it hangs together like an album all in and of itself rather than seeming a hodge-podge of odds-and-ends (pardon the excessive hyphenation). The quality of the songs is lower than that of In Rainbows, but that just means the songs aren't perfect. This is a good record that was unfortunately (for it) released in the wake of (and therefore can only be regarded as the bastard cousin of) a legendary record. It is one thing to stand on the shoulders of a giant, it is quite another to fill his footsteps.


-PTC