Less is more… Copper Dalton

The Prefect alt rock lyric in my opinion is one that says everything you are thinking without really saying anything at all. Simple lyrics that resonate with each listener in their own way should be the goal of all Alt Rock bands and any lyricist. Soul Asylum does a phenomenal job of this in their 1992 song Runaway Train. The lyrics mean something unique to everyone who listens to it, and yet it’s made up of a simple hook with verses that you understand and can relate to.

So I was searching Jamendo looking for something to post and I decided to use album art as my catalyst to listen to an album. I came what looked like 3 guys playing live in a smokey club (Very Indie IMO), and gave it a shot. The Band is Copper Dalton, the album is Slow Carnival. 

The thing about Copper Dalton is that I can’t find anything about them. There is no link to their website, or their Myspace on Jamendo, there is no bio or album information. Simply this, the genre, Rock. I see that and I know I have to listen to it. 

Track 1 is “Slow Carnival”, it is reminiscent of Johnny Cash country. The vocal is what makes it unique, a voice that sounds ravaged by cigarettes and whisky, but is still melodic and dynamic.  The Lyrics have a definite hook that can get stuck in your head.

Track 6 “High Horse” feels like America, or Cat Stevens, almost folk, punctuated acoustic guitar picking, with delicate cymbal work, and a haunting organ or horn part (Its hard to tell). Lyrically it has the same stylistic writing and passion for the message.

Track 9 is melodic and driving in sections an reserved and constrained in others. The song “Widows Walk” feels like a battle, and not just a battle between dynamics of loud and soft like in any song, but rather the epic battles that happen with your brain and your heart. The instrumentals following the chorus are loud and jarring and feel to me like the argument your heart makes in  this battle, while the lyrics and the subdued music of the verses and chorus feel like the reasoning and wisdom offered by your brain. The song really invokes a feeling of internal turmoil that present with hard decisions. This song is In My Opinion a Hit.

This album is Licensed under the Creative Commons License and is available for  legal download for free from Jamendo. 

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Hit the Road Jack… Cause the Crazy Ivans said so!

I posted that video because the second I read the title of the Debut from  The Crazy Ivans, this was the only song I could hear in my head.

 

That being said… Take young people and force feed them, generic passionless radio pop rock and the result will be the lost generation. These were the circumstances that bread the Sex Pistols and the Punk rock movement. The Crazy Ivans are a product of this same formula. 6 young people from the heart of Texas inundated by  “bubble gum” and repulsed by that have started a return to  real American Punk. 

In the UK, Punk Rock is held in high regard, with names like The Sex Pistols, and The Clash, being uttered with the same reverence as royalty, and these band’s leaders, Sid Vicious, and Joe Strummer being in the company of God. But here in the U.S.; punk has become washed out and watered down, Green Day who used to be American Punk royalty, has been to reduced to bubblegum pop. This album is a brilliant reminder of Punk Rock’s glory days.

The Crazy Ivans have surpassed merely a “Punk” album, as it features some toned down acoustic piano rock, and even some thrash metal.

Their debut, “Go Back to Russia, Sucka” (Thus the Video post), has feelings of punk, and piano rock, and even metal, with good musicianship and, vocals that are reminiscent of female rock innovator Janis Joplin, this is a great debut. 

The one drawback to the album, is that the bands lack of experience writing an album. Lyrically it could be better but lyricism is not something that can be taught, its only learned by experience. So I wait anxiously for their next release but in the meantime, this album Rocks!

Downloads are available on Jamendo in MP3 format, and Licensed under the Creative Commons License.

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It’s not a Paper Moon… It’s Paper Tiger!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paper Tiger as a band are hard to figure out… From Genre to style to influences its really hard to pinpoint where this band started. Paper Tiger is currently made up of 2 friends from The Netherlands (They are usually a 3 piece band and are currently looking for a drummer). This release is their debut album, its titled “Everyone Here” and it has something for everyone.

This album takes pages from the play books that made The Beatles, Ricky Nelson, and the Everly Brothers popular in the 1950’s and 1960’s with the production values, techniques and electronic additions of 1970’s disco stars The Village People and The BeeGees, and 1980’s pop bands Flock of Seagulls, to weave an intricate sound that I haven’t heard before. Combine this sound with lyrics that feel as if they were penned by Alternative Rock legends like Michael Stipe (R.E.M.), Bono (U2), or Beck, and you have the future of Alternative or Indie Music.  

This Album is truly a joy to listen too.

Please Download and Enjoy, and contribute to the artist if you like it.

Album available on Jamendo.com, and is Licensed by Creative Commons.

Its offered for a Free Download Here