So, out of the batch of Asian Man Records we got, I like this one the best. I was unfamiliar with MU330 prior to this. They play a pretty noisy ska. Noisy but thick and good. The instruments stick together like a good stew. The guitars go into overdrive quite a bit but it never turns into that heavy metal dung that too many “ska” groups do. The best asset these guys have is their voices. It’s great to hear a band of any genre with a really strong singer. MU330’s singer makes their energetic, catchy tunes all the better. Check out “KKK Hiway” for a perfect example of a pithy popsong put to a ska beat. “Oh My God” trades wiry guitar riffs with great horns and, naturally, a fervent vocal. “Hey Now” does the same and is perhaps the catchiest track. This is a record that should find its place among the most rotated ska in my collection. Good stuff.

This is a remarkable album in modern rock music. The tracks seem to work to remain anonymous and part of the collective whole of the record even though individually, they are great pieces of music. Rarely is a rock record constructed like this. The tracks run together as if the entire record is really one piece of music running over a changing landscape with several dramatic nadirs and apices. Washes of guitars and waves of drums and bass spill over the songs’ brightly melodic moments. “It Was There That I Saw You,” for instance, blows out of the gate with shrieking guitars, incessant drums and urgent vocals but almost immediately collapses into a delicate sweeping guitar melody before building right back up and shrieking again til it disappears. It’s an altogether thrilling opener. “Relative Ways” has all the promise of being a single for the band with its simple, catchy vocal melody floating in waves of fuzz. But, as mentioned, it’s the album’s whole sound and tracking that is the real work here. This is absolutely essential. Listen to it loudly.

There’s bits of this record that send the same chills down my spine that R.E.M. did back in the 80s, or that Belle and Sebastian and the Danielson Family did when I first heard them. The sound isn’t too unlike those groups either — sweet, clean guitars and equally sweet (high-pitched male) vocals. (more…)

Don’t make the mistake of assuming Superdrag are an indie rock band. Sure, their fourth long-player, Last Call For Vitriol, may be homemade but it certainly doesn’t sound it. No, what Superdrag are is a classic rock band. And really, they probably always have been. It’s just that they carried that post-Weezer, buzz-bin, power pop tag around with them for so long that it’s taken 3 years or more to shake it off. (more…)