The Drums sophomore album, “Portamento” is a dark, jangly pop record that excels to the utmost degree. While it feels like a retread of their debut album, the surf pop outfit has drifted more into a melancholy sound reminiscent of The Smiths (and so many earlier 80s acts). Jonathan Pierce remains a hopeless romantic on “Portamento”. However, even with the simplicity of lyrics such as “And I believe, that when we die, we die/so let me love you tonight, let me love you tonight”, The Drums are infectiously catchy. Within minutes, you’ll be singing along to nearly every gem on this album as well dancing your little heart off. One thing is for certain, a lot of personal memories and ominous undertones lie embedded within the record. Happy go lucky and let’s go surfing type of lyrics have been replaced by the thought of ex-girlfriends, ex-bandmates and the feeling of “right now”. The Drums have grown wiser, albeit not quite to the extent of reinventing their sound, but still expanding on a resonance that simply works, most of the time. “Portamento” was released on September 6th, 2011 on Universal Island Records. Score: 8.3 out of 10.
Cymbals Eat Guitars have such a ferocious sound. With so many new acts these days using electronics, it’s quite refreshing (and seemingly old-fashioned) to hear raw, guitar-driven, augmented tunes. Audacious, strong writing, and an amalgamation of garage rock, pure noise rock, and haunting melodies, sophomore record “Lenses Alien” is deeply penetrating to your senses. While the theme of the album feels a bit scattered, each song works near flawlessly its own right. Cymbals Eat Guitars is a band to watch out for and one that both mainstream rock acts and hard rock bands should be not only envy of, but jealous of their stunning conclusions to their songs. “Lenses Alien” was released on August 30th, 2011 on Barsuk Records. Score: 8.1 out of 10.
NewVillager’s sound is pure experimental. Their self-titled debut album has it all—crazy arrangements, pop and R&B influences, but still falls into the elusive indie rock universe. Definitely a sound that defines “alternative”, NewVillager may be onto something. They are taking the best parts of each genre and blending them together. At the end of the day, what you end up with is something truly impressive, inventive and awesome. The record has a grand sound, with excellent production values. The record truly hits the mark. NewVillager’s sound is different and almost groundbreaking. They may not be creating entirely new soundscape, but the pastiche of tunes is allowing them to separate themselves from nearly everyone else. NewVillager has the ability to become leaders with their mesmeric sound. They are pushing the envelope in unthinkable ways, but I hope they have the staying power to continue along this path. As long they don’t succumb on being merely followers with subsequent releases, the future of NewVillager appears to be unpredictable in the best kind of way. The self-titled album was released on June 20th, 2011 on IAMSOUND Records. Score: 8 out of 10.
Published on October 1st, 2011 by Mountain Views News
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