It took me listening to about 20 acts to get to a musical group that I actually had anything to say about. That’s kind of a lot of groups, you know? There were a few decent hip-hop groups in that midst, but notheinr that really called out to my fickle ear-brain. Maybe I was just looking for somehting a little more…EuroTrash.

Discrete Encounter: It’s like the Eurhythmics and Johnny 5 in a passionate GHB-fueled sixty-nine, and I am ALL ABOUT THAT. The grinding, industrial pulse, the false harmonic pick squeals and chunka-chunka riffage, and ice-hearted, stoic female vocals drenched in reverb and digital delay… Plus, just look at them:

Man, I wish my band was that photogenic. Or that Euro-chic. Either way, listening to their throbbing electro makes me want to hold up in a former slaughterhouse-turned-disco, dressed entirely in leather and dance until my bowels turn to jelly.

Check Discreet Encounter’s MySpace here. YOu can buy their new album, 2B1 here. For $25? Really?

Every so often I find myself flipping through CDs in a jaded attempt to fins something, anything, with a little authenticity, originality or…well, something that doesn’t suck. It can be a tough job, actually. If only there were more bands like Surface of Atlantic, who really spoke out to me through the filter-less din of internet music. With softly uttered vocals, droning guitar repetition, swelling keyboards and minimalist electronica underpinning the unassumingly beautiful songs, Surface of Atlantic can easily knock the copy of Coldplay’s Parachutes or Death Cab’s Transatlanticism out of any sweater-wearing dorm rat’s CD changer. The aesthetic is decidedly mellow, but this is not to say the music lacks the right amount of rhythm to push it along at a simmering mid-tempo. Tracing the musical genealogy of this Montreal quintet back, you might find albums by Slowdive, Sigur Ros, Postal Service or The Poor Rich Ones populating their catalogs. This is truly noteworthy, and we suggest you stop what you’re doing and look into this majestic stuff.

Their latest LP, Ephemeral as we Speak, is available now.

Buy it on iTunes here.

Check out Surface of Atlantic’s really well put together Official Web Site for more up to the minute details (or, you know, look at their MySpace….)

Instrumentation
Dave Douville: vox+guit
Marco Gervais: guitar
Martin Poisson: bass
Francois Graham: Piano/keys
Fred Bujo : Drums

Discography
Ephemeral as we Speak LP - 2007
Fairmount Avenue EP - 2006

So our music inbox has been stuffed with bands, may of whom are now overdue for a writeup, or at least a semi-friendly rejection letter. I hate being behind on things, so in an effort to get through the clutter, here’s a great big super-post of about seven or eight band of the day bands.

Here’s the deal. Each and every one of these bands deserves my undivided attention to truly get a good idea of what they are about. But they’re not going to get that. Nope, I will be listening to them for the exact amount of time it takes me to write a paragraph about them. Some will fare better than others. Some will be treated unjustly. Some will not even get a chance. Life’s tough, time’s short, and I got other blogs to blog. On today’s Band of the Day Menu:
James Sudakow
Rider Jones
Margot Blanche
Dan Weintraub
Lansdale Station
Jump Back Heart Attack!
Front Row for the Meltdown
Lawrence Blatt

James Sudakow
A little electronic with heavy bass, fronted by an electric violin. I always though electric violins were the shit:

Yeah Brad Neely, you’re right. Life DOES rule, especially if you’re James Sudakow and play heavy instrumental electric violin electronica.

See? Totally! You know those people who bought the Tool String Quartet album? I bet they would rock Mr. Sudakow while playing World of Warcraft and fucking rule over all the other internerds. They’d be like head of the Theif’s Guild or whatever. Me? I can’t get into this. It’s like Yanni with a distortion pedal and drummer who can’t get enough Taiko. NEXT

Rider Jones

Well, I see from their MySpace page’s headline that Rider Jones is no more. “RIDER JONES 2005 - 2008 R.I.P” I assume that they are already done…either that, or by the end of the year they will be done. Or maybe they just changed their web site and are terrible at conveying that info.

Oh, the perils of being in a band. NOW we get to reviewing you and your band is already broken up. If only I had gotten to them back in January, perhaps I could have provided the shot in the arm they needed to continue. Oh well. Too bad, because they don’t sound half bad. They don’t sound half good either. Wussy acoustic finger-picking pop does nothing for me, but at least their lyrics aren’t as cliche as the music… Oh wait, never mind…they just sang “star light, star bright, first star i see tonight…” without a hint of irony. Yeesh. Get me out of here. NEXT

I will praise the rest of the bands’ deeds or fuck their shit up after the JUMP: it will be worth it, dear reader. Trust me. Would I lie to you? (more…)

This is a bit atypical of the bands that we generally choose for Synthesis Band of the Day. No horn-rimmed glasses, waifish broads with ugly indie-rock haircuts, ‘roid-bicep hardcore meatheads, striped sweater wussies or epic Dungeons & Dragons progressive metalheads. No, Phredley brings the funk-rock.

In my fledgling college days, back when tie-dye wasn’t as vomitous and my roommate’s constant Phish-Grateful Dead-Phish musical rotation didn’t drive me completely bonkers, I would have broken my left leg to check out a band like Phredley. Now bad photoshop effects kinda irk me, patchouli oil makes me want to hurl and hippie funk in general just pisses me off. But not Phredley. They’s alright.

Based around a brother-sister duo (Phred Brown on Vocals, Guitar & Horns; Alesha Brown on Keys & Vocals) and a rhythm section (Paul Loos, Drums & Vocals; Samuel Tobias Winn, Bass & Vocals) Phredley lays down funk that is far closer to the heart of nearby Detroit than that of longhair revivalists in Colorado or Vermont. And when they stray toward the pop side of the spectrum, it comes across more as radio-friendly than looking for a parking lot miracle. More importantly (for me at least), their lyrics hold water. With the aforementioned hippie-funk enthusiasts, it’s most often the lyrics that drive me to enraged hysterics; Phredley uses some clever (or nearly clever) turns of phrase. No, Phred’s not Leonard Cohen by any means, but in a sometimes poppy, sometimes rocky funk quartet, it works. Their track “The Truth About Capricorns” also has some pretty, Beatelesque, tonally complex passages. If you’re a big fan of Ben Harper/Jack Johnson/Maroon 5, or your ’70s R&B records don’t have much dust on them, do yourself a favor and look into Phredley.

I don’t usually do the Band of the Day thing, but today I’m going to hijack it. Because I already love Flobots…

Hailing from Denver, Colorado, the group consists of:

Jonny 5 - Emcee, Vocals
Brer Rabbit - Emcee, Vocals
Andy Guerrero - Guitar, Vocals
Mackenzie Roberts - Viola, Vocals
Jesse Walker - Bass
Kenny Ortiz - Drums
Joe Ferrone - Trumpet

… who all made a killer album in 2007 called Fight With Tools, and were recently signed to Universal Republic Records. Check out the songs on their MySpace site, especially their hit “Handlebars” which recently made it’s debut on LA’s KROQ. Their sound (not their message) is like Eminem meets Cake and it’ll have you repeating the last four syllables of everything you say. Everything you say. Everything you say. (Ok, I realize that was 5 syllables.) Catchy beats, interesting lyrics, and a message of hope for a “fully engaged, non-violent society” equals ice cream to my ears. Here’s their website. Check ‘em out, add a song to your MySpace page and don’t forget to sing along.

So yeah, I’m still playing catch-up from the week of Sodom & Gomorrah music debauchery known as SXSW. One of the things that pretty much none of us got around to was checking in on our hopeful SonicBids artists, crossing their fingers for a little press from the good old Synthesis Blog. We got a lot of overdue artists waiting for a response from us, so in an effort to get back to everyone I will be cranking out the reviews like whoa. We’ll start with a dozen for today.

Usually, I spend a good 20 - 30 minutes with each artist I’m writing about before even beginning to express my feelings about their music. But there’s really no time for that right now, and besides, judging a book by it’s cover is the NEW JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY, so this is all real-time reviews on the first listen. If I fuck up your or your friend’s band it just goes to show that you should be doing better to impress me. ME. First listen, that’s all you usually get anyway. With that caveat, on to the show:

Will Hanza sounds like he was really bummed when Jeff Buckley died. There’s a lot of parts in his songs, they go a lot of different directions, but it’s mostly powerful, sonic rock with tentative valleys. This shit’s got some subtlety and nuance, I will have to go back and listen some more. Great band to start with. I suggest you look more into them as well.

Built By Snow first sounded like Replacements meets Jimmy Eat World meets other crappy melodic nu-alt rock bullshit. VideoMatt would like these guys more than me. Their recording sounds a little rough, but I’m already warming up to Built By Snow. And yes, I do understand what I just did there. Warming to Snow? Brilliant, yes? Nah, these guys aren’t half bad. They’re like 1/3 bad.

Lachi is not really pissing me off, but she’s not getting me pumped either. Jazzy-alternative rock. Think Regina Spektor imagining herself as a ’60s lounge singer, and missing the mark a little bit. But as Lachi sings, “I guarantee I’ve heard worse.” Poppy, but nothing amazing here. And you know the whole idea behind the song “Video Killed The Radio Star?” Yeah. Think on that.

Zobapago classifies themselves as children’s music. It’s pretty fun. If I had a kid i would probably subject them to far worse stuff. Like that Rockabye Baby series: Wussy acoustic/glockenspiel renditions of AC/DC. No, Zobapogo is way better… Oh shit, it just got annoying as fuck. Story-time, with narrator. Crap. But then again, hell, I feel like I’m learning something, I can always brush up on my counting and ABCs. I am also learning that the saxophone was created by THE DEVIL. Agh!

The Boxing Lesson is kinda making me feel good. Yeah, really good. A bit of Britpop meets dark psychedelia, like Cure, Failure, things like that. I like dark and moody music, and wait, they’re from Austin and going on tour? The Boxing Lesson, you are winning so far. Look these guys up as well, worth your time and patience.

AN ASIDE: Oh, I’m probably a terrible person and not deserving of my position as a music journalist for just glossing over all these hard working musicians with hopes and dreams and thousands upon thousands of hours clocked in to making their art… OH WELL. Continuing…

Carole Troll from NYC plays blues and jazz standards with a honeyed voice that has felt the pain for years and years. Oh man, that high note just sent a shiver. Good shit. Too bad blues has been sullied by too many white dudes with Hawaiian shirts and mustaches. And her last name is Troll? Stage name anyone? Oh shit, this cover of “Summertime” is terrible. Slap bass was also created by THE DEVIL. Otherwise Carole is legit.

Michael Stollaire…where to start. Okay, first off, Michael, that picture is terrible. Just terrible. You’re a goofy looking dude making a goofy looking face. Now the music, sounds like you really like Dire Straits, but Knoffler you are not. Nor are you Nightranger. This is some ’80s power rock, fist pumping ear punishment. I hate this. I really, really hate this. Terrible. The lyrics sound like the kind of shit you hear in the background of an afternoon teen drama television show….only audible and far more obnoxious. This makes me want to poop. It’s better than coffee and cigarettes, and probably worse for you. “This smells like trouble.” Indeed. You missed the cocaine LA Hair heyday bro! But pornos always needs soundtracks, so…. Wow dude.

BrothaRemixx…”All my lyrics are written by God and delivered by me.” I still want to shoot the messenger. Sorry man, that bio intro got off on the wrong foot. Actually, BrothaRemixx has got pretty good flow, and I like the juxtaposition of positive Love of God / brotherhood lyrics and total gangsta knockin’ beats. I bet the devil is pissed about this. This is on some angry Christian soldier shit. God’s into some fear tactics then? No doubt.

Mama’s Dirty Li’l Secret from Brooklyn. Damn, there are some screws that need to be tightened here. Apart from the recording not sounding all that hot, the drums sound like they’re about to fall apart. It’s on some punk rock meets hard rock, and, well, I’ve heard this style done a hundred times better. This bar rock needs a lot of work. These lyrics are weak, too. Meh. If I was like 10 beers deep, I might have other feelings. Right now, I just want this to be over.

Gumshen, from Seattle. Okay, warmed over grunge? Remember when Bush tried their best to rip off Nirvana and failed? This is like Gumshen ripping off Bush ripping off Nirvana, but without the painfully awkward lyrics. I mean, at least you can laugh at Bush’s lyrics. Gumshen’s doing nothing for me, they are existing in the void between decent and terrible. With a terrible band you can actively hate it (see Michael Stollaire), and that produces a little joy. But a band that is in the nether world just kinda sucks, like when the inside of your nostril itches and you know the minute you scratch it some hot girls will walk by and see you picking your nose. So you just suffer a little. But Gumshen’s recording actually sounds really good, so they at least have the tech side working for them. Lyric: “I’m a bastard and a loser deserving of all your hate.” You got it!

The Sandoval Band. Considering that I hate a good 99% of funk music, I must say that 30 seconds in I don’t hate the Sandoval Band. Perhaps it’s just because I feel bad for destroying my buddy Dain Sandoval’s Socially Pink song the other day, but for goodness sake, The Sandoval Band is currently residing in the exclusive roster of white-boy funk bands that don’t totally piss me off (John Scofield, Medeski Martin & Wood….I think that’s about it). And yes, I see that the Sandoval Band isn’t all white boys….they just kinda sound like it. Maybe it’s the whole Christian Wonderbread bent. Christian funk? If I were Jesus, I’d feel conflicted.

Evangenitals have the best name of the batch, easily. They have pictures in their myspace of Kyle Gass and Dio, so there’s a few bonus points right there. The music, a female-fronted pop-folk, meets hillbilly stomp - easygoing groove with lyrics that I would consider, well, kinda forgettable, but with potential. Their singer Juli, however, was a fledgling pro boxer before an injury forced her into a new career path, so for the record, I FUCKING LOVE AND SUPPORT THIS BAND DON’T HIT ME.

The Wrap Up: So what have we learned? The Boxing Lesson from Austin is legit, Will Hanza is legit, the Evangenitals might kick my ass if I don’t say something nice, The Sandoval Band is decent, I would stay at Carole Troll’s bar lounge set until the bass player started slapping, and I couldn’t care less if the other bands were playing at a venue near me. Except Michael Stollaire - I’d see that shit in a hot fucking second.

Shitty bands: 0
Synthesis: win