CD & Concert Reviews – Agenda Magazine Archives

A.i. and Soccermom at the Roxy

I’m not going to lie. I don’t like the Strip and the 80’s were the most worthless decade of music in the last half century. This is my opinion. Please don’t write me about the wonders of Duran Duran. It won’t change my mind. The only reason I mentioned it is that you should be forewarned about these sorts of things in a review. Think of it as a “Smoking isn’t the healthiest choice now is it?” label on a pack of Parliaments or finding out on a blind date about the “restraining order misunderstanding with the ex” before the hor’dourves. Always err on the side of journalistic ethics I say.

On a Wednesday night I was invited to go see A.i. perform at the Roxy. They have an 80’s sound; The Roxy is on the Sunset Strip; Hence the warning. The Roxy has a great history from Neil Young playing its opening to being Belushi’s last bar before OD’ing. The usual mix of doom and glamour that Hollywood wears so well. The bar is physically well designed with plenty of $5 parking, room to dance, and the ability to up to the stage for feeling the music. The downside includes a two drink minimum if you want a seat, the drinks are rather meek, and I’ve never looked at a concert calendar and said “Wow I have to go to the Roxy this week.” I’ve searched behind palms trees for Pehrspace more times in the last year than I’ve driven to Roxy but with the right vision it could become a destination again.

The opening band Soccermom is a four piece originally formed in Venice straddling the divide between new wave and New York art punk. Both laudable aspirations but during the show the adjective that kept coming to mind was wholesome. When lead singer Helen Nishimura screamed expletives while swigging Miller Lite and keeping her dress from falling it came across as cute and harmless. This isn’t exactly what a punk band goes for. The audience wasn’t much help. Even the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs would have trouble shaking down the house if the crowd kept a ten-foot invisible barrier.

Soccermom – http://www.soccermomband.com

The headliner was up and coming locals A.i. who’ve been getting airtime at KROQ. These kids are young but they’ve been bred into the business. Nick (vocals and guitar) and Zack (drums) come from a long line of artists and entertainers. Zack got his start at the age of 13 as the bassist for Steve Vai’s answer to boy bands Bad 4 Good. The last member of the trio is Milen Kirov (keyboard/synth bass) whose parents teach Bulgarian folk music. A.i. was previously signed to Dreamworks producing the uneven 2002 albumArtificial Intelligence before returning to the unwashed indie masses with the soon to be released Sex & Robots. This may be the most appropriate album name since Led Zeppelin’s IV.

The guys have the rock star look and the knowledge of how the music industry works. As I said in the beginning I don’t personally care for the 80’s but you can’t flip through a music magazine without finding some band rehashing old riffs and beats to force the shoe gazers back to dancing. That’s fine. We need more dancing and A.i. may ride that wave to success.

From what they played the upcoming album will be a more mature, more coherent collection of songs. They range from heavy synth rock anthems like “Far Away” to the more fun electroclash “Hey Now.” There are moments when they would tap into that same electrorock vein of LCD Soundsystem, Ghostland Observatory, or Junior Boys but then they’d switch course to less inspired fare. If you’re going to download one song I urge you to choose “Tell Me U Luv Me.” It is a hit waiting to happen. The song is so infectious it should come with penicillin. A.i. hasn’t swayed me from my neoluddite ways but they are definitely a band to keep an eye on.

A.i. – http://www.aimusic.com and http://www.myspace.com/ai

The Roxy Theater – http://www.theroxyonsunset.com

The Fratellis’ Costello Music

When I first heard about The Fratellis, I was pretty skeptical. Ever since The Libertines imploded, NME has heralded the UK’s next big band, and usually they’ve been a bore. For every genuinely good act like the Arctic Monkeys, there have been ten more disappointments like Razorlight, The Kooks, Babyshambles, and Louis XIV.

The Fratellis are deserving of their buzzworthy status. The Glasgow threesome —Jon Fratelli (vocals/guitar), Mince Fratelli (drums/vocals), and Barry Fratelli (bass)—formed in 2005. The Fratelli name is supposedly Barry’s mother’s surname, but then again, I wouldn’t believe a word these kids say. What I would do is jump around life a fool to nearly every single track. They don’t reach for epic melodrama. They don’t pull superstar poses. They just play happy light music.

I’m a sucker for clever word play and melody. In “Flathead” Jon sings: “Just because she feeds me well; And she made me talk dirty in a pink hotel; Doesn’t mean she’s got eyes for me; She might just want my bones you see.” Quirky, dancy, and melodic could be used to label nearly every song on the record.

The track “Whistle for the Choir” walks the line between romantic and jester with lines like “And though I may be a beggar; And you may be the queen; Though I may be on a downer I’m still ready to dream.” The track “Henrietta” explores seducing a housewife, and virtually every song is in some way light-hearted fare about dealing with the fairer sex.

If you’re in the mood for depth you’re better off listening to Saul Williams. The Fratellis’ strength is following in the footsteps of fellow Glasgowians Franz Ferdinand and Belle & Sebastian. Franz has made a career of solid indie rock, reworking eighties sounds enough for kids to dance to today. Belle & Sebastian are better than anyone else, except maybe the Lucksmiths, in telling a story no matter how tragic in a way that will keep you grinning.

The only big complaint I have with Costello Music is the replacing of “Cuntry Boys and City Girls” on the American album. I admit the title isn’t the greatest pun, but it was the second best track on the original album, the best being “Chelsea Dagger,” dedicated to Jon’s wife who was a burlesque dancer. Any song that can get approval from a party of hipsters and make my mom smile is a tune worth saving.

Whether at their concert or alone in the car, The Fratellis compel you to sing along at the top of your lungs. Go out right now and add it to your summer commute play list, and everyday will be sunshine and mimosas. The music isn’t eternal, but it sure is a lot of fun. I give the album 3.5 stars.

http://www.thefratellis.com

CD Reviewed by Justin Le Mort

Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black

A few weeks ago I was arguing with a friend from across the pond on which of us would claim Amy Winehouse for our own. I argued since she already had a boyfriend, it was too late for her to play the lesbian card. She countered that American imperialists have stolen enough women from England. I know what you’re thinking. Why fight over just another alcoholic twenty-three-year-old Jewish female Motown singer from London? O. K., maybe that wasn’t what you were thinking. This isn’t another cookie cutter chanteuse , and that’s the point. She’s not only reinterpreting the sound of a forgotten era, but she has the emotional sincerity to back it up. Our standoff was ended with the news of her marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil. I guess I’ll have to start wooing a Pipette.

Winehouse’s first album, Frank , was a huge success in England but wasn’t released stateside. I strongly recommend the album if you can find it. Her latest, Back to Black , raised her to new levels both commercially and artistically. After completing Frank , she met her eventual husband. Infidelity and the usual self-destructive behavior ensued, leading to an extended break-up laying the emotional groundwork to Back to Black , with such telling tracks as “Tears Dry on Their Own,” “Love Is a Losing Game,” and “Wake Up Alone.”

In a world of cardboard cutouts lip-synching prefabricated songs, an artist like Amy Winehouse is a punch to the gut. These songs aren’t only the despair of a regretful lover. They drip with innate sexiness and pays homage to Sarah Vaughn and the Shangri-Las without being bound to innuendo of their eras. Collaborating on the sound for half the album was New York producer Mark Ronson, who brought in the fabulous Dap Kings, best known for their work backing Sharon Jones. This perfect storm of Winehouse, her tumultuous relationship with Blake, Ronson’s vision, and the Dap Kings made this one of the best albums of 2007.

The first song and single is “Rehab,” inspired after her label attempted to get her treatment for alcohol abuse, to which, according to the song, she replied “No, no, no” just in time for the Spring wave of drunken debutantes. “Me and Mr. Jones” has possibly my favorite line of the year so far with “What kind of fuckery are we? Nowadays you don’t mean dick to me?” You never heard the Supremes say that.

Every song but “He Can Only Hold Her” is written in first person with words that could have been ripped from a journal. We may not agree with the way Winehouse lives her life, but we can understand the passions that went in to her songs, though at no point does she ask for our sympathy; and judging by her career, she doesn’t want it. It isn’t just the words. She has a gin-soaked voice, ill fitting of her age, and over her short career she has shown impressive musical instincts. If you still have doubts, go download the album’s namesake “Back to Black” or “You Know I’m No Good”; and if at the end of the song you’re not transported to a time when bars were smokey and jazz was king, then feel free to ignore me.

The problem with reviewing Back to Black is that Winehouse the artist and Winehouse the person are so intertwined that you can’t separate the two. On one hand you have this small woman with a beehive singing beyond her years. On the other you have a troubled woman who has a history of cutting herself, eating disorders, and substance abuse. During her Coachella performance, the crowd cheered every time she took a drink. Rarely have I been so disgusted at an audience. Winehouse has all the warning signs of a tragic “Behind the Music” episode. Maybe the marriage will help her live happily ever after. Maybe not. History is littered with the craters of shooting stars, but Amy Winehouse has created two records that should be in your collection, and that’s better than most. I give Back to Black 4 stars.

http://www.amywinehouse.com