Buyer’s Guide: SummerStage 2011
"Daunting" doesn't even begin to describe the schedule of free and benefit shows that's now available on SummerStage's official site. That's why we went ahead and narrowed the field down a bit, from the rockabilly revivilaism of Wanda Jackson to the teeth-rotting indie rock of Wavves.
See you at the front of the line, fellow New Yorkers?
Storming the Gates of Central Park
-
more »
Precocious Brit Florence Welch fired a bullet into the head of the U.K. music scene in 2008 with the single "Kiss with a Fist," a punk-infused, perfectly juvenile summer anthem that had critics wiping the names Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, and Kate Nash from their vocabularies and replacing them with Florence + the Machine. While the comparisons were apt at the time, "Kiss with a Fist" turned out to be a red herring in the wake of the release of Lungs, one of the most musically mature and emotionally mesmerizing albums of 2009. With an arsenal of weaponry that included the daring musicality of Kate Bush, the fearless delivery of Sinéad O'Connor, and the dark, unhinged vulnerability of Fiona Apple, the London native crafted a debut that not only lived up to the machine-gun spray of buzz that heralded her arrival, but easily surpassed it. Like Kate Bush, Welch has little interest (for the most part) in traditional pop structures, and her songs are at their best when they see something sparkle in the woods and veer off of the main trail in pursuit. "Kiss with a Fist," as good as it is, pales in comparison to standout cuts like "Dog Days Are Over," "Hurricane Drunk," "Drumming Song," "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)," and "Cosmic Love," all of which are anchored to the earth by Welch's knockout voice, a truly impressive and intuitive trio of producers, and a backing band that sounds as intimate with the material as its creator. [Lungs was also released in a Deluxe Edition that included Lungs: The B-Sides, a bonus disc featuring studio tracks like Swimming, Falling, and Heavy in Your Arms, the latter of which appeared on the soundtrack for Twilight Saga: Eclipse, as well as live cuts (You've Got the Dirtee Love"), demos (Ghosts), and remixes (the "Yeasayer Remix" of Dog Days Are Over").]
Also On the Main Stage
-
more »
Cults aren't the first group to rise from anonymity to buzz-band status, and they certainly won't be the last. More remarkable than how Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion crashed the major-label party, however, is the distinctive neo-retro pop style they've brought along with them. Borne partly out of a youth spent listening to an especially eclectic oldies station and a nine-hour drive bonding as a couple over an iPod stacked with Lesley Gore, Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake, Cults' aesthetic is one of the most refreshing developments in pop music since the aggro-bubblegum of Brooklyn's own Sleigh Bells a year ago. Put simply: Nothing else sounds quite like this.
Self-produced with only minor polish from engineer Shane Stoneback — who worked with Sleigh Bells, and with Vampire Weekend, too — these 11 songs make good on the substantial promise of last year's sole single, "Go Outside." Follin's lilting, girlish voice soars over blithely chiming glockenspiel, trebly guitar, shimmery synth, funk bass and computer-sculpted beats, a slight patina of lo-fi haze still intact throughout. Equally integral are the sampled quotes, which include disturbingly resonant words from cult leaders and psycho killers.
Stylized samples aside, though, Cults can always fall back on songs that effortlessly capture a rich palette of coming-of-age feelings. The previously released material still sparkles: "Go Outside" embodies millennial ambivalence about offline existence; "Oh My God" longs for a life less humdrum and "Most Wanted" explores why we crave what hurts us. The new songs match the quality of their predecessors, from Stockholm syndrome romance "Abducted" to "Walk at Night," which is "Killing Moon"-bleak, on through to "Bumper," a lovers' duet that's something like the "Give Him a Great Big Kiss" by way of "Irreplaceable" by way of "Young Folks."
"So fuck you," Follin enthuses cheerfully, rejecting self-improvement advice amid a squall of shoegaze guitar noise on "Never Heal Myself." Running away from other people's expectations leads Cults someplace wonderfully their own.
Further Listening Across All Five Boroughs
-
more »
Nathan Williams's previous album was hailed as energetic, invigorating and, above all, youthful. That may be true, but, sonically, it was a muddled mess. King Of The Beach gives the caked-on grime a much-needed power wash, and the change is remarkable — now the hostility cribbed from Nirvana and Yo La Tengo's textural influences — previously obscured by distortion — ring through clearly.
The signal-to-noise ratio has improved in a metaphorical sense as well — on Beach, Williams builds choruses by repeating moments that, in the past would have been fleeting. Most of them boast a newfound percussive propulsion, thanks to the recent addition of Jay Reatard's former rhythm section.
The songs feel like careful sculptures rather than fortuitously documented bursts of creativity: Slower numbers like "When Will You Come" and "Baby Say Goodbye" carry genuine emotional baggage — but even lighthearted tunes like "Super Soaker" and "Convertible Balloon" feel like the moment where the mopey teenager realizes he's young and full of potential and finally decides to stop dressing like a goth. Improbable as it might seem for a Wavves album, King of the Beach is the sound of growing up.
