Fleet Foxes

Borrowing from ageless folk and classic rock (and nicking some of the best bits from prog and soft rock along the way), on their self-titled debut album Fleet Foxes don't just master the art of taking familiar influences and making them sound fresh again, they give a striking sense of who they are and what their world is like. Their song titles reference the Blue Ridge Mountains — never mind that they're actually from Seattle — but it's the ease and skill with which they mix and match British and American folk and rock from the far and not too distant past that makes the band's music so refreshing. While this mix could be contrived or indulgent, Fleet Foxes use restraint, structuring their flourishes into three- and four-minute pop songs full of chiming melodies and harmonies that sound like they've been summoned from centuries of traditional songs and are full of vivid, universal imagery: mountains, birds, family, death. Despite drawing from so many sources, there's a striking purity to Fleet Foxes' sound. Robin Pecknold's voice is warm and sweet, with just enough grit to make phrases like "premonition of my death" sound genuine, and the band's harmonies sound natural, and stunning, whether they're on their own or supported by acoustic guitars or the full, plugged-in band. "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" and "Meadowlarks" show just how much the Foxes do with the simplest elements of their music, but Fleet Foxes' best songs marry that purity with twists that open their sound much wider. As good as the Sun Giant EP was, Fleet Foxes saved many of their best songs for this album. "White Winter Hymnal" is remarkably beautiful, building from a vocal round into glorious jangle pop with big, booming drums that lend a sense of adventure as the spine-tingling melody lightens some of the lyrics' darkness ("Michael you would fall and turn the white snow red as strawberries in summertime"). The suite-like "Ragged Wood" moves from a galloping beat to sparkling acoustic picking, then takes a trippy detour before returning to a more thoughtful version of its main theme. "Quiet Houses" and "He Doesn't Know Why"'s driving pianos show off the band's flair for drama. Dazzling songs like these are surrounded by a few songs that find the band leaning a little more heavily on its influences. "Your Protector" nods to Zeppelin's misty, mournful side, and "Blue Ridge Mountains" is the kind of earthy yet sophisticated song CSNY would have been proud to call their own. But, even when the songs aren't as brilliant as Fleet Foxes' highlights, the band still sounds alluring, as on the lush interlude "Heard Them Stirring." Throughout the album, the band sounds wise beyond its years, so it's not really that surprising that Fleet Foxes is such a satisfying, self-assured debut. (AllMusic)

MGMT

This band is opening for Beck on his US Tour

Dr. Dog

"Let go of the old ones/We've got some new ones," sings Scott McMicken on "The Old Days," a woozy parlor-room piano-rock reverie. The Philadelphia band's albums have always sounded like they should be filed alongside "old ones" like the Band, the Beach Boys, the Beatles and the Bonzo Dog Band, but Fate feels less like a straight tribute to Dr. Dog's elders and more like a finely tuned collage.

"The Breeze" begins as a trembling folkie ballad for acoustic guitar, piano and harmonica, then trippy multitracked vocal harmonies ride in on a reggae-lite bass line. "Army of Ancients" is a gospel-flavored power ballad that nods to John Lennon and declares, "I'll skip the sermon and stick to the booze!" The pleasantly apocalyptic "100 Years" crossbreeds a weathered Workingman's Dead levity with a Sgt. Pepper circus vibe. It's all more evocative than memorable, with the exception of "From," a harmony-rich keeper about love and God and choo-choo trains with singalong verses and a perfectly constructed guitar break. More like that one would be nice. But then again, some of life's greatest pleasures are the ones you don't quite remember in the morning.(Rolling Stone)

Albert Hammond Jr.

A big part of what made Albert Hammond, Jr.'s first solo album, Yours to Keep, such a pleasant surprise was that it sounded like a lively working holiday right after the Strokes' albums were beginning to sound like a job for the band. And because Yours to Keep was such a pleasant surprise, expectations were higher for its follow-up, ¿Como Te Llama? Maybe it's just coincidence — or the fact that a couple more years passed since First Impressions of Earth was released — but ¿Como Te Llama? sounds a lot more like a Strokes album than Yours to Keep did. A few songs, like "G Up" and "Miss Myrtle," have the happy-go-lucky, Beach Boys-meet-Guided by Voices pop whimsy of Hammond's debut, but he spends most of the album tracing the sound of his day job. That's not necessarily a bad thing: "In My Room" boasts the same contrast between aggressive playing and flowing, almost soft melodies that make the Strokes so great when they're at the top of their game. "The Boss Americana," which intersperses choppy verses with fluid choruses, would be a standout on an album released by Hammond or his main band. Hammond sounds like he's channeling Julian Casablancas' world-weary Noo Yawk rasp on "Borrowed Time"'s vocals, while its angular riffs and rhythms nod to Spoon and Elvis Costello. "Victory at Monterrey," which pairs a disco-tinged beat with spring-loaded riffs, serves as one of many reminders on ¿Como Te Llama? of what an entertaining and distinctive guitarist Hammond is (the searing solo on "GfC" is another one). Obviously, Hammond — along with the rest of the guys in his band — has more right than most of the acts who copy the Strokes to borrow that sound, as well as more finesse with it. Actually, it's when Hammond ventures further from this territory that ¿Como Te Llama? sags a little. The '50s-inspired melodies on "Rocket" and "You Won't Be Fooled by This" don't sound as fresh as they did on Yours to Keep, and some of the breakup ballads are a little too indulgent for their own good. However, "Feed Me Jack or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Peter Sellers" is one of the album's most charming and affecting songs despite its mouthful of a title. Some of ¿Como Te Llama?'s individual songs are stronger than the material on Hammond's debut, but as a whole, it's a shade less engaging than Yours to Keep — though it's still enjoyable enough to please most Strokes fans(AllMusic)

Zack Is Back

Anti- Records is pleased to announce the signing of One Day As A Lion. An on-going creative collaboration between two like-conscioused individuals, One Day As A Lion will release their eponymous debut EP worldwide on July 22nd.

The band writes:

“One Day As A Lion is both a warning delivered and a promise kept.”

“A defiant affirmation of the possibilities that exist in the space between kick and snare. It’s a sonic reflection of the visceral tension between a picturesque fabricated cultural landscape, and the brutal socioeconomic realities it attempts to mask. One Day As A Lion is a recorded interaction between Zack de la Rocha and Jon Theodore from Los Angeles, California.”

“The name taken from the infamous 1970 black and white, captured by legendary Chicano photographer George Rodriguez featuring a center framed tag on a white wall in an unspecified section of Boyle Heights. It reads: ‘It’s better to live one day as a lion, than a thousand years as a lamb.’ This record is a stripped down attempt to realize this sentiment in sound.”

This one is for you, Joel.

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What's the verdict on the new album?