Cheyenne is a rock group whose members are mostly from Norman, Oklahoma but who now reside in Brooklyn. Despite their current residence (go Brooklyn!), to these ears they’re much more influenced by those Southern-slash-Midwestern roots than by the affected, irony-drenched post-rock that can sometimes permeate the Brooklyn scene. And that’s a very good thing. Lead singer Beau Jennings has been compared to Pedro the Lion’s David Bazan and I’m not one to deny it, but musically Cheyenne is far more downhome and far less emo. “The Whale” builds from steady handclaps and a sturdy piano melody into monster guitar riffs and chiming keys tuned to a playful yet pensive harmony. “Painting Horses” follows a similar classic pop formula but conjures a deeper roots rock aura thanks to Josh Harper’s climactic, chicken-fried guitar solo. There’s been a rewarding Southern rock resurgence over the past several years thanks to the likes of My Morning Jacket, Kings of Leon, Band of Horses and others. Cheyenne deserves to be added to that list, even if they’ve decided to call Brooklyn home.
Clare & The Reasons
It’s fall. It may be 87 sacreligious September degrees in NYC right now, but as far as I am concerned it is fall. I want my braised meat, I want my long sleeve shirts, I want cups of tea and I want old school loungey twilight songs. Husband and wife duo Clare & the Reasons are perfecto for such seasonal urges. I think I once mentioned my secret compulsion to enjoy sappy soundtrack songs (it’s true, I’m sorry), and Clare & the Reasons (who named their album “The Movie”) are like all the joys of my secret musical vice without the any of the cringey guilt. Its plucky and sweet enough for my to get me my fix, but wacky and hip enough that I can play it for others and anticipate a jealous “wait, who is this playing??” Love that. Plus, the entire delicious album is on Emusic.
Neighborhood Texture Jam
One last Memphis music history lesson. I saw Neighborhood Texture Jam at the Antenna Club in Memphis in 1988 (as nearest as I can recall), and one their most appealing features was the absurd song subjects, like “Torsoes of Murdered People” and my personal favorite, “Mall Boutique” on the life of a mall worker. The suggestion box at 3hive recently got an email about NTJ, so with their new website comes the opportunity to share the NTJ love. More MP3’s can be found at their website.
Hasch’m’Méneum
This is a fun mystery.
Having stumbled upon Hasch’m’Méneum through the backalleys of Last.fm, I have yet to find any more information on them. The best source of information comes in the way of the “electrojazz†tag given to them on said social music network. Normally we at Moodmat shun genre names, especially those of the hastily taped- and stapled-together variety. But this one ain’t bad. Hasch’m’Méneum’s “jazz†has a blues-y chug to it, and their “electro†bubbles a bit under the surface. So songs like “Heliotrope†wouldn’t be out of place in a Jazzanova set, and “Slide†evokes the “future sound of Hull,†a.k.a. Fila Brazillia. Who are these masked men? And why did they leave us two free albums to download?
Dan Sicko (special guest to 3hive.com)
The Hudsons
The Hudsons often describe themselves as a hard-working band, making this an appropriate Labor Day post. Offering up a solid blend of folk & country, I ran across this Austin trio while researching Texas bands for my friend Tim. He’s got a friend moving there, and wanted to clue him in to the scene (which is probably pretty big, considering the size of the state and all that). I was hooked on the clean sound and classis lyrics of the Hudsons from “It Just Takes One”; that is, after all, all it took. If you like what you hear — and this goes for you too, Tim’s friend — head over to the band’s website for a half dozen live tracks, or to Sonicbids for more studio recordings.
Plane
“Blood on the Waves” starts with a guitar melody that anyone with the slightest knowledge of the Manchester sound will know. But just in case, Plane doesn’t make a mystery of their influences: listed right at the top of their “Sounds Like” section on MySpace is Joy Division. It would be slightly more accurate if they could convey that it sounds like that uncharted territory between the premature fall of Joy Division and the far-from-inevitable rise of New Order. And that should tell you a lot about the depth, intelligence and even newness that you can expect from Plane. That first tingling guitar progression is as familiar as they come, but what comes after proves that Plane is no nostalgia act. Chicago’s still a blue-collar town, like Manchester, and Plane is workingman’s new wave—you can take your nihilism to the dance-floor without feeling even a pinch self-conscious.
The Bosch
I usually don’t read e-mails from publicists — sorry… I know it must take so long to cut and paste our names (usually incompletely or incorrectly) into the form messages you send out that often do not reflect any real understanding of what this blog does — but Tony’s pitch for The Bosch caught my eye. Now, I’m not usually one for crazy, mixed-up comparisons, and I almost got lost in the ones provided for The Bosch: Joey Ramone, Dick Dale and Brian Wilson, or maybe The White Stripes, The Violent Femmes and Phil Spector, or even The Clash, the Femmes, Spector, Bruce Springsteen and Man… Or Astroman. However, I like enough of these performers to download a few tracks, and I liked them enough to share them with you. This NYC quartet offers short, rich, intense songs that are better enjoyed on their own, without comparison. These are from their newest album, Hurry Up, while four more off Buy One, Get One, from 2005, are available on the band’s website.
The Airborne Toxic Event
Any band using Don DeLillo references for their nom de plume are friends of mine. The Airborne Toxic Event is named after a chapter in DeLillo’s 1985 novel, White Noise. Their EP sounds as if it was recorded during that same era. The band has been wafting across Los Angeles airwaves and blogwaves with their upbeat yet dour songs, the tempo made for the dancefloor set, the lyrics for the brokenhearted. It’s still too early in their career to determine how things will pan out for The Airborne Toxic Event, they’ve only released four songs, but considering they’ve had a run of shows and a single release in the UK there’s a good chance they’ll be affecting a lot more people with their own White Noise.
LoveLikeFire
Can you really fall in love at first sight, or is it just infatuation? Romeo thought he was in love when he first saw Juliet: “Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! / For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” I’m feeling a little loopy myself after hearing “S.O.S.” from San Francisco’s LoveLikeFire. The song blows open like a track from Bossanova, or Trompe Le Monde, then settles into a nice Cure-esque riff (“A Forest?”) and finally into a breathtaking chorus where singer Ann Yu sounds like a more forceful Siouxsie. I love LoveLikeFire like I love all of the above. No, I know it’s just infatuation. I don’t have a long relationship with LoveLikeFire. I haven’t put in hours and hours of intense listening. I haven’t dreamt or loved along with their music. It sure feels like love though. Call it what you will; I’m going to let myself wallow in the butterflies I get from LoveLikeFire.
Licorice Roots
Let me preface Licorice Roots by saying they’re an acquired taste. I admit I almost didn’t last twenty seconds into their record. Their wobbly, off-kilter sound knocked me off balance at first. At first. But I held strong and as soon as I ventured four tracks deep, their song “Hey There Little Love” saved the CD from certain eject-death. I learned to appreciate Licorice Roots for their peculiar low-fi-ness. It’s as if The Seeds were playing underwater, with a sprinkle of attitude courtesy of Ween. My swimming trunks are on and I’m in mid-cannonball, ready to take the Licorice Roots plunge! P.S. If the vocals are a bit much for you, check out the title track “Caves of the Sun.” It’d make a great soundtrack to a SpongeBob SquarePants Spaghetti Western.