-The Panics-- Cruel Guards-

Cruel Guards the latest record from the five-piece Aussie band The Panics. Overseas, the album has received many accolades and propelled the band into popular frenzy. Almost a year after its Australian debut, the album comes stateside October 7th.

Despite solid efforts on thier previous albums, The Panics remained largely under-the-radar. Cruel Guards shows a band with a sharpened métier and expanded sound; undoubtedly The Panics best work to-date.

Through his charmingly nasally vocals, Jae Laffer delivers poignant lyrics. And the instrumental interplay is most impressive. Cruel Guards is an ensemble of lush guitar partnered with plain-stated piano, and whimsical horns/strings moderated by rhythmic percussion. Never does it seem that any one piece crowds out the others.

Grabbing from a myriad of influences: everything from Motown to Gothic rock, it's a challenge to categorize the sound of Cruel Guards. It's as much a soft rock album as it is a pop record. So while cliché labels might not be able to define Cruel Guards, one thing is certain: the record is well-crafted.

Perhaps a little too well...

The album's biggest flaw is its overdone and cloying production. Tracks that should be intense, never seem to reach the fervor that's expected with such intimate and distressing topics. In the pursuit of perfection, the band loses its believability and the music becomes terribly lackluster. But even with its faults there is plenty to enjoy about Cruel Guards, and it will be interesting to see how The Panics are received in the US.

The Panics- Get Us Home

-Parts & Labor-- Receiver-

Who doesn’t love a little fan participation? This past spring Parts & Labor asked fans to contribute samples and sounds; noises that will be included on the band’s upcoming disc: Receiver (clever, huh).

Dan Friel (keys and vocals) along with BJ Warshaw (bass) have long been at the helm of Parts & Labor, cranking out shifty electro-infused noise rock.“Nowhere’s Nigh” hints at the band’s lean toward a more accessible pop sound- perhaps the result of contributions from new band members Joe Wong (drums) and Sarah Lipstate (lead guitar).

While the Brooklyn based band has been tight-lipped about the new album, it is due out October 21 on Jagjaguwar and definitely one to look forward to.

Parts & Labor- Nowheres Nigh

-Talkdemonic-- Eyes at Half Mast-

An instrumental duo that’s known for pioneering the ‘folktronic’ sound, Talkdemonic improves their genre-fusing techniques on recently released Eyes at Half Mast.

The band’s work has garnered tags such as: ethereal, mesmerizing, and has even been lauded as ‘the music of dreams’. Eyes at Half Mast takes a cunning step forward as Talkdemonic change focus from creating perfectly blended ensembles and instead opt for highlighting some of unique contrasts between instruments.

The tracklist is stacked with songs are as inspired as they are diverse. “Shattered Into Dyes” is a mélange of high energy garage percussion and bright viola. Later the terrain gets rattled with snip-its of bleep-y synth on the otherwise uniform “Dim Sky”. Eyes at Half Mast is a clever amalgam of orchestral instruments, electronic tones, and tight drumming. It’s a solidly entertaining album, and once again confirms Talkdemonic’s ability to pair unlikely partners.

Talkdemonic- March Movement

-Blitzen Trapper-- Furr-

Claiming albums as ‘favorites’ is always a tricky business. They can go from being the only thing worth spinning to being completely intolerable in less than a week. So, it’s with a heavy helping of hesitation that I offer up my ‘favorite’ (well, at least my favorite this week)…

Blitzen Trapper’s 4th album Furr is set for release on September 23rd (Sub Pop). Like its predecessors Furr spans the folk rock gamut with everything from lively jives to relaxed lullabies. Certainly, Blitzen Trapper has grown and perfected their sound, but it’s perhaps the immaculate cohesion of Furr that sets it apart.

Thematically and musically, the songs on Furr coalesce to achieve an album that effortlessly swells and tightens. Furr offers a refreshingly creative approach to life’s points of dissonance: youth vs. maturity, wild vs. civilized, roaming vs. settling. The lyrics weave stories of adventure and odyssey, worn boots and dusty trails- things from a different time. Or are they? Leave it to Blitzen Trapper to transform the seemingly irrelevant into something wholly relatable and reflective.

I once read somewhere that Blitzen Trapper was one of the hardest working bands around. If a cohesive, innovative, soulful, and stunning set of songs translates into hard work then I completely agree. Furr deserves the ‘favorite’ stamp, and it will easily outlast the week.

Blitzen Trapper- Black River Killer