OPR 01_28_08

Monday, January 28th, 2008 @ 10:05PM

An hour of new music and whatever else Mondays from 11p to midnight.

the small hours_owner of my honour - reminds me of nightmare of you and would kick more ass if they didn’t try to sound like morrissey so much but better than most things i get in the mail.
the whigs_right hand on my heart - why do all these bands sound like 80s deep-love-rock?  i don’t know either but the whigs are good because it isn’t moody like the cure (nothing wrong with it) but actually have a good pulse to them.  the album, mission control, is out now.
the kills_u.r.a fever - the kills are excellent if you like a bit of noise in your music.  bands this and the liars and maybe fiery furnaces are at their best when they can be somewhat coherent but not completely trying to be weird.  i like weird but i like to dance too.
chris walla_sing again - you may know chris as the guitarist from death cab for cutie and the wackiness the ensued when his laptop with all the tracks for the album was ceased at the border.  he plays about every instrument on the album and while it is good it is still not as listenable as death cab.  we have to wait a month or so from new music from that band.

the loved ones_sarah’s game - your typical fat wreck fair, much like lagwagon but then again lagwagon doesn’t sound like themselves these days.  the good thing about this band is there aren’t a lot of band representing this sound these days aside from maybe against me in any noteable fashion.
emigrate_new york city - this band is from the founder of rammstein and less industrial than the german outfit.  reminds me a bit of the jesus and mary chain but the lyrics are kind of cheesy.  though if you like rammstein why not?
hot chip_shake a fist - whether surfing the web or throwing a dance party hot chip works.  often simple beats and a whitened-down stevie wonder vocal by alexis the songs are extremely catchy and deserve all the hype as a live band as well as on their LPs or many, many eps and remixes.

sons and daughters_ chains - i first heard this band in 2004, the best year for music in this decade as far as i can tell, and they were simply great intense and beaty scottish rock.  i saw them open up for bright eyes and the crowd certainly wasn’t there for them and it reflected in their performance but i like them anyway.
louis xiv_tina - you could easily argue that hanging out with the killers didn’t do this band any favors but at least half the new album is still the great, f**k you inspired rock that came from their first album, the best little secrets are kept.  certainly not a band you would expect to come out of san diego but on this new album, slick dogs and ponies, louis do exactly what the killers did on their second album, grew up.  i am still a huge fan of louis xiv and can’t wait to see them next saturday to see if some of these songs light up for me performed live.

against me_stop - well, the age old question of whether you can be punk and sound like queen has been answered.  that combo should not be this catchy but you know for sure because all the old school fans hate this band now for trying to make a buck.  guess everyone can’t be starving artists forever.
vampire weekend_a-punk - this band is a sunny spot on a slow starting year and my one true recommendation for purchase so far.  from brooklyn and throws back to the obvious reference to guys that listened to graceliand too many times but more than that the album is completely listenable from front to back.  the only compliant i can muster is the name doesn’t match the music.

tiger army_pain - just a nice sendoff for another opr coming to and end.  thanks for listening

--Corey