Tegan and Sara - The Con

I used to wonder whether or not I should refer to Tegan and Sara as a guilty pleasure. On one hand, they kind of come off as bubble gum rockers perfectly suited for sound tracking an episode of Grey's Anatomy. But on the other hand, they come off as a stylish indie pop duo that make approachable records. I have dismissed the former point of view in favor of the later because Tegan and Sara have steadily made good music and they have a cool that seems to attract more cool. They've been covered by The White Stripes and Ryan Adams, and Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla has been involved in producing their last two albums. The first of those two is The Con, which features Walla along with his Death Cab For Cutie band mate, Jason McGerr, as well as Kaki King, and Matt Sharp. Even while surrounded by all that cool, Tegan and Sara manage to maintain their sound, letting the mood differentiate the record from their other work by occasionally replacing poppy angst with sincere melancholy and vulnerability. It also seems emotionally direct, largely due to nine of the fourteen tracks clocking in at three minutes or less. These shorter songs tend to keep me from settling into a mood before the next song creates a new one. The Con is simply Tegan and Sara at their best in a display of musical accessibility, artistic focus and, of course, cool.

Tegan and Sara MySpace

Contra - Promotion vs. Hype

Today Vampire Weekend released their much anticipated/overly hyped album Contra and it felt like one of those indie albums that could never live up to any expectations that early promotions have built up.
A couple of years ago when Vampire Weekend was an internet buzzband, I never gave them much thought beyond their music. I watched as their identity evolved from unknowns to preppy ivy league grads to indie rock darlings with a growing fan base, billboard charted singles and songs featured in movies. When a follow up to their debut was announced in September 2009, the hype began to snowball into the avalanche that was a weekend long sneak peak of the album on satellite radio, appearances on both The Tonight Show and The Late Show within a week of each other, an episode of MTV Unplugged, and a direct message in my MySpace inbox reminding me that their album was on sale. If i didn't plan on getting excited for this album, they were going to find a way to make me. So could a record that seemed to be doing everything short of begging me to listen to it be any good?
Yes.
Contra is good, but it's not an album that will surprise anyone or change the musical landscape. Vampire Weekend doesn't change their sound, so much as mature it in the sense that they seem more comfortable with it. If you liked their first record, it's safe to say that you'll like this one and it's exactly what a band's sophomore effort should sound like. But the intense promotion was inescapable to me online, on tv, and on the radio. Why push so hard for something that would naturally appeal to so many people? Spread out those talk show performances. Chill out with the radio interviews. If the record is good, it will sell. Maybe I just enjoy watching artists like Vampire Weekend emerge with a fresh sound, rather than having that sound attempt to overwhelm my conciousness.

The Coast Is Never Clear

At surface level, Beulah's The Coast is Never Clear is a fantastic album that had me enamored from my first listen, and the story surrounding the band around the time that they made this record has kept it interesting.
Miles Kurosky, the band's vocalist, wrote much of the material for the album while in Japan, and mailed demo tapes to each of his band mates. Their individual interpretations led to different styles of music on some songs, which gave way to a variety of instruments featured on any given track. The lyrical tone of the album was influenced by Kurosky having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder just as the band began recording. The fusion of upbeat California pop, alt country, and garage rock was met with dark and down beat lyrics. The result could have been a disaster, but the album stands out among the band's other work (which is also good and worth checking out). Many artists try to fuse genres and juxtapose mood with varying degrees of success, but Beulah's ability to do so on this album comes off as sincere, especially in the context of how the material was developed and arranged.

Beulah MySpace (Unofficial)
Miles Kurosky MySpace