Makes you feel like breaking down

Shortish post for today. Back on my Pavement kick after listening to "Heaven is a Truck." I suddenly remembered one of the first albums I reviewed after I started my radio show. It was an album by Spiral Stairs (Scott Kannberg) formerly of Pavement. However I knew nothing of Pavement at the time so I wasn't too sure about the context that I was listening to the album in. Kannberg's first solo album came in 2009 in the form of The Real Feel.

Spiral Stairs=Scott Kannberg

At first I fell in love with the punk-rock aspect of the album with its indie roots in songs such as the powerful "Maltese Terrier" and "Subiacco Shuffle," both great songs in their own right. However, I usually give an album I know nothing about a shoddy once over the first time I listen to it, which sometimes leaves room for a song to be overlooked.

The song I recently re-discovered was "Stolen Pills" off of the aforementioned album. Kannbergs lyrics are drowned out a little by the heavily distorted microphone and guitar combination and the pounding drum beat that fuels the songs fire. The guitar is a little bit Tom Petty-esque at points which really makes this song unique at some points when coupled with the lyrics and percussion giving it a post-punk feel. Anyway, enjoy the song and beware the distortion. Also be warned-it's Matador Records so I'm a little biased in the songs favor.

"Stolen Pills" by Spiral Stairs from The Real Feel (2009)

-S

Tension is high under sea and over sky

As a kid, driving to my dad's office, or any time I was in his car, we used to listen to NPR. I didn't really get a true appreciation for the staff at NPR until I started doing radio myself earlier this year. Those people are true professionals. Thus, I started listening to NPR in larger and larger doses. I was listening to this "American Life" and "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me" as often as I was watching TV. One thing that I really appreciated though was their really in-depth music reviews. One such band that was interviewed was Ted Leo And The Pharmacists.

The show interviewed Ted Leo and played some of his music. I cannot remember for the life of me what they played on the show but I knew I loved it. I went on an absolute Limewire spree and downloaded probably 15 songs and listened to all of 4 before I was on to my next band. They faded to the back of my mind and I forgot about them for about six months.

Eventually I found them again and I was impressed as ever. I looked in to them a little more and found they were carried on the Matador label (Go figure, seems like everything I listen to nowadays was at some point or another carried by Matador.) Anyway, I really think these guys are rockin'. They give off that punk sound without coming off as punk but more indie rock. They know when to shred and when the synthesizer is appropriate (something taken for granted these days). As they describe themselves they also have a "dub reggae sound" (A little debatable) and "folk rock" which I totally hear sometimes. The only complaint I may have is Ted Leo does have the slightest tendency to create vocals that sound very much the same in every song (that may just be my thought though). Anyway, I think most will really enjoy these guys.

"Little Dawn" by Ted Leo And The Pharmacists from Shake The Sheets (2004)

"Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone" by Ted Leo And The Pharmacists from Hearts Of Oak (2003)

"Biomusicology" by Ted Leo And The Pharmacists from The Tyranny of Distance (2001)

-S

Update: Ted Leo And The Pharmacists came out with a new album on March 9, 2010 called The Brutalist Bricks so far its a pretty good listen

P.S.-Happy Birthday Dad