Pass the Grand Duchy on the Left Hand Side

Grand Duchy - Petit Fours

The inimitable Frank Black. The man is truly an under-appreciated icon of American rock music. Whether it was with the Pixies shaping the face of modern rock, his early solo-work using synthesizers to great effect way before the current 80's fetish, or his later Americana/ alt-rock work which is as good as anything from Ryan Adams or Conor Oberst, Black Francis has put out consistent, quality rock music. For a primer on his post-Pixies work get his first, self-titled album and 2003's Show Me Your Tears. These two albums wonderfully highlight the range of Black's musical talents.

But to the topic at hand: 2009's Petit Fours, recorded with his wife, Violet Clark, under the moniker Grand Duchy. I know nothing of Clark, but she certainly holds her own. Album opener, 'Come On Over To My House' is a solid, but unspectacular song which ends up sounding nothing like its intro implies. Following that, Clark gets her turn at the helm with on the excellent 'Lovesick' which, backed by a steady beat, solid guitar riff and synths, is a solid little pop gem.

Not until the third song 'Fort Wayne' do we get to hear husband and wife share the stage. One could be excused if hey heard this song and thought it was some lost Pixies b-side. A Black acoustic riff with his falsetto (seriously, this guy has so many singing voices) and backing "La-La-La's" from the Mrs. sounds like it could easily be Black and Kim Deal. But Clark lets you know its her, transitioning from the vague, airy la-la's to a speak sing to a whispery en francaise delivery.

From there we move onto the chilled out 'Seeing Stars' which contrasts nicely with the contained aggression of what is probably my favorite song of the album, 'Black Suit.' Next up is 'Long Song' followed by 'Break the Angels' with a baseline easily reminiscent of 'Gigantic.' The solid 'Ermesinde' sees Clark dipping into the mainstream bucket with a splash of autotune.

On the terrific album closer 'Volcano,' Mr. Black, very gentleman-like, allows his wife to have the stage last and she delivers. The song builds intensely with thundering tom-toms and metronome snare culminating in Clark's cries of 'It's gonna blow!'

Over the summer I was privileged to see Frank Black at a very small solo show. It was an amazing experience to see a person whose voice and music has been with me for half of my life. Do yourself a favor and see him in whatever form you can: solo, with the Pixies or, in order to see his freshest work, Grand Duchy.

Under New MGMT

On Sunday night, I was one of the lucky few 500 people to get tickets to the Kia-sponsored free MGMT show. It was my third time seeing the band and, once again, they did not disappoint. In a tight, hourlong set they managed to squeeze in all of the best songs from Oracular Spectacular along with four new songs from the upcoming album 'Congratulations.' This rumor mill provides more detail on that, and the youtube dot com has some medium quality live footage of the new jams which I shall lank below.

The band opened with a what I think is Flash Delirium (no youtube video), one of my favorites from the new songs. I could have sworn that the steady wall of noise opening was going to lead into this classic. 'Song For Dan Treacy' has a strong Smiths feel to it. My least favorite was the progish 'It's Working.' It doesn't really come through in the clip, but I kind of felt a weird Charlie Daniels inspired by Kashmir/early Beatles vibe. They encored with the title track 'Congratulations.' As you can hear, it's a bit of a departure for the band. I felt it's pacing and melody to be kind of Lennon-esque. The final song of the encore was 'The Handshake' which is absolutely stunning live. Their guitar player adds so much to this band live and really puts on a show when it's his turn. If you haven't yet seen the MGMT, be sure to nab some tickets the next time they come through. Even if it's not free.

P.S. As promised in my last entry, I promise to post some new reviews soon. And as always, commentary is strongly encouraged.

The British Are Coming!!!

Perhaps you've heard some of the hubbub about the remastering and re-release of the entire Beatles catalogue. Personally, I hadn't paid too much attention as I'm pretty familiar with their catalogue, but this article caught my attention. Enjoy.

New reviews will be up shortly. Thanks for your continued patience and patronage.

Phoenix

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

If you read this blog or watch SNL, chances are you've already heard (of) Phoenix and the hype surrounding them. I'll be frank: I enjoy the album, but do not particularly think it is all that and a bag of chips. Also, I don't see the comparisons to the Strokes (whom I've been enjoying a lot of lately), other than the fact that both bands seem to ascribe to a straight-line -to-the-finish school of songwriting rather than a tangential way. But these Frenchies do craft themselves some catchy pop/rock songs with hooks big enough to land them some solid radio play.

Album opener 'Lizstomania' lays the foundation for the rest of the album with loud-quiet-loud dynamics, a peppy beat, simple but pleasing melodies and talk-y lyrics with a dash of synth thrown in. 'Love Like A Sunset' takes a seven minute electronic journey, with vocals eventually kicking in at about the 6:13.5 minute mark. 'Fences' is has a little bit of disco funk that definitely lets you know what time it is and "1901" is another album highlight.

My main beef with Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, other than a pretentious title, is that the songwriting becomes a little rote. By the time the fifth track "Lasso" came on, I thought to myself, "Didn't I already hear this song?" But I suppose I can credit it to being a cohesive sound, which they certainly have, rather than lazy songwriting. One thing is certain, though: This album will be on plenty of Lizsts at the end of the year.