Japandroids - Celebration Rock - 06.05.12

[Blaze]

Not sure how much I'm buying the hype on this one buddies. It could be all The Replacements comparisons that are being bandied about or it could be that this is THE SUMMER ALBUM of the year. It's certainly not bad, but only one song is definitely kicking my ass ("Fires Highway") and the rest are decent so far. I don't really get much of a Mats vibe from this band, so don't know why they're drawing so much comparison. Maybe because there's a bit of energy and slight sloppiness there? Certainly not any more than just any alternative band nowadays. I could hear Craig Finn singing "The Night of Wine and Roses"...something about the vocal delivery about that one that reminds me of The Hold Steady.

Don't know why the bloggers and pitchforker type people are banding together for this one. Guess they have a bit of an underdog appeal as they almost broke up in the process of making this album. My money for a similar band that has a lot more interesting things going on with it that will have a release this June as well is Henry Clay People.

[chogdog]

Yeah I don't know either. This is very overhyped and indistinguishable from a lot of other band singing this sort of anthemic modern rock. And they follow the chogdog rule numb #1: Any band they critics say sounds like the replacements almost always does't. I'm also not sure why pitchfork is on the band wagon. I've been meaning to link a pitchfork interview where one of the guys talks about how talented Jack White was but how none of the replacements were really that talented. Which made me like them even less I don't think the guy really knew what he was talking about; see below.



Pitchfork: As far as contemporary artists, I feel like that mythic aura is present in somebody like Jack White, too. Is that something you personally aspire to?
BK: I don't know if you can aspire to be that necessarily. In some respect, Jack White became that because he's Jack White. If you listen to the early White Stripes records, it's the same Jack White. That voice is the same. The songwriting ability is there. The guy just has that special thing. People like us cannot aspire to be that; you have to accept that it's OK not to be a Jack White. It's unfair to put that burden on yourself.
There's a difference between people who are born with that special thing and people who love the people who are born with that special thing so much that they want to try their best to get as close as they can to it. I don't consider myself to be a very creative person. We have to work really, really hard to write a song we think is really good. I mean, we have two records in three years, and the records only have eight songs each. It's a slow process. It might take a whole month to write a song we think is good.
If you lock Jack White in a room with an acoustic guitar, he's gonna come up with something great. If you don't have that gift, you have to grind away-- that's more what our band does. The Replacements seem like a band where no one was born particularly great. They were just along for the ride and kind of accidentally came out with something incredibly powerful.

[bltkmt]

Dipshit comments there...the Mats obviously had shitloads of talent. They just had focus issues at times.

I like Fire's Highway too...hear a bit of Tommy-style vocals in it.

[Blaze]

They kind of remind me of Titus Andronicus a little bit with the way their anthems come across. That one had a lot of hype, but I like this one more. Good part is that the CD is only 8 songs long before it wears too thin.

[Lord Summerisle]

I really like this. Listening now and think it's great. I think The Replacements comparisons are more fitting than for some of the other bands that get compared. These guys seem less studied and literary in their approach and more ragged and honest maybe.

[bltkmt]

My money for a similar band that has a lot more interesting things going on with it that will have a release this June as well is Henry Clay People.

Need more info on this band...where is a good place to start with them? Anyone have a Spotify playlist?

[Blaze]

Listen to Somewhere Along This Golden Coast. They have a new one coming out in a couple weeks.

[Blaze]

Be curious to know what DADDY thinks...the descriptions seem like they would be up his alley.

[darkhorse]

Based on their dumbass comments, I might just have to return the new CD I just bought.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

They kind of remind me of Titus Andronicus a little bit...

They me remind me of Titus Andronicus in the sense that TA's lead guy also comes off as douchey jackass in an interview (see Sound Opinions episode from last year). Not only are the Replacements comments off the mark, but the Jack White hero worship is sorta nauseating. Can't stand the guy, myself.

[Beldo]

He's off the mark, but to be fair, I think he thinks that's a compliment. He knows the way his band does things and he likes to think the Replacements did things the same way, even though they clearly didn't.

[Sandusky]

Not bad, not bad

[Sandusky]

Not nuts about the dude's voice but digging some songs. Nothing new here. Chog, am I crazy to hear Superchunk influence? Definitely hear the drunken spirit of the Mats Twin/Tone years. Need a few more spins to really call it, though. Hearing disparate sounds. Trail Of The Dead to Seaweed to Marah to Grand Champeen--their sound is all over the place.

[Sandusky]

"The House That Heaven Built"

[Blaze]

Not nuts about the dude's voice but digging some songs. Nothing new here. Chog, am I crazy to hear Superchunk influence? Definitely hear the drunken spirit of the Mats Twin/Tone years. Need a few more spins to really call it, though. Hearing disparate sounds. Trail Of The Dead to Seaweed to Marah to Grand Champeen--their sound is all over the place.

I hear some Trail of Dead. And there may be a bit of an 80s sheen to the guitars that sounds like some of those bands. Don't hear any Marah. They sound a little emo to me at times, the good kind. I like about 5 songs. Don't care for the cover.