Album Review: The Orwells ‘Remember When’
Too often, as independent music bloggers, we get lost in all of the wrong details. We occupy our minds with genres and comparisons rather than critiquing the sound itself. We stew over whether or not the band at hand is “progressing the sound.” Do they fit the scope of our overall coverage? Have they remained true to the sound that got them to this point? Or, worse yet, are they recycling that same material without any growth? Have too many other sites already covered the album?
Bullshit.
This is about neck hairs standing firmly at attention. This is about that inexplicable shift in the seat of the pants. This is about getting to the crux of exactly why we hit skip one minute and let the track play the next. At the end of the day, this is about getting turned the fuck on. That feeling is all that any of us can hope for from the first spin of a new record.
Last week, some high school kids from the Chicago suburb of Elmhurst, Illinois provided the world with 12 reminders, averaging three minutes and five seconds in length, of what this is all about. They called this collection of reminders Remember When. They call themselves The Orwells.
The Orwells accomplished this feat by not knowing any better. By working under the naïve assumption that their collective voice mattered. They accomplished it without quoting Nietzsche – probably without knowing who Nietszche is. All they knew was that they hated their gym teacher and that it felt good to make loud noises in the garage.
Remember When kicks off “Lays At Rest” with 30 seconds of dueling, dissonant guitars. The intro sounds as if the band’s guitarists were warming up with their minds in completely different time zones. Yet somehow, played together, it works. This releases into a head-bobbing, hand-clapper that meditates on the angst-ridden grind of the day-to-day. Follow-up track and lead single, “Mall Rats (La La La La)” is the sound of a father beating his head against the bedroom wall while his son and friends make, what to him, sounds like incomprehensibly bad music in the basement. It’s as if the lyrics are designed to annoy. Punk rock.
From there, the listener is taken on a journey of what it means to be young again. That over-confidence that only comes from a life lived without a meaningful failure. Peer pressure. Insecurities. Experimentation. Anger and resentment toward what, and whose origin, proves impossible to pinpoint. It’s all laid out on Remember When as plain as the writing on the bathroom stall.
Track after track, from the husky gasp of “Suspended” to the jaunty bounce of “In My Bed,” The Orwells Remember When is gritty. It’s bold, and it kicks ass. Grab your copy from Autumn Tone Records ASAP.
Connect with The Orwells via Facebook | Twitter
Written by Rob Peoni
Band to Watch: Neonfaith
We get quite a bit of e-mail here at Thought on Tracks. And by “we,” I really mean Rob. Just like 95% of the Internet, the majority of it is garbage, but on occasion there are ones that strike the eye, or ears in our case. The latest for me is NYC’s Neonfaith, a band who “does not suck” according to their subject line of their e-mail submission. And well, they are most certainly correct, because the word “suck” doesn’t belong anywhere near the realm of their music. Limited information is available regarding this new act. What I can tell you is that the group is comprised of Lay, Fef, and Megan along with the fact that they have two pretty great singles out right now. The first, “Escape”, features mysterious, heavy synth lines along with drum kits and keys. Oh yeah, and some absolutely killer vocals. Their most recent track that was released this week, “Tied Together”, is a minimalistic soulful jam that harnesses those lead vocals with the perfect amount of pitch and control. Both singles represent a unique group with a wide range of sound worth keeping an eye on as hopefully a full length album is just around the corner. Scope both tracks below and let us know what you think.
So yeah Neonfaith, you don’t suck.
Connect with Neonfaith via Facebook | Twitter
Written by Greg Dahman
Fresh Track: The Rough Drafts “Oh My Love”
Little Rock’s The Rough Drafts is brother and sister duo Ike Peters and Katie Mitchell. Peters is no stranger to this space. His band The Coasts is a project that we’ve covered extensively and their debut, self-titled release remains one of my favorites from 2011. The Rough Drafts dropped the debut single from their forthcoming Valley Forge EP this week. Peters and Mitchell had been tossing around the idea of collaborating for a while, before finding a cause upon which to focus their creative efforts. All proceeds from the EP will be donated to the family of Mitchell’s sister-in-law, who is attempting to fund an adoption.
“Oh My Love” finds Peters doing what he does best: writing simple, straightforward songs that you will be certain you’ve been humming since childhood. The latter half of the track is backed by perfectly-arranged fills on trumpet and trombone. The mix and production was handled by Nashville producer Allan Douglas.
“It was me and my sister recording these songs, and then [we sent them to] a great musician and producer in Nashville named Allan Douglas who completely made the songs better,” said Peters. “He did it for free since he has an adopted child and is passionate about the cause, so he deserves a lot of the credit.”
Listen to “Oh My Love” below and name your price for a digital download via The Rough Drafts’ Bandcamp page. Share this track and help spread the word about a terrific new project. Click HERE for more info on the family’s adoption efforts.
Written by Rob Peoni
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