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Saturday, 27 March 2010
Bright Men of Learning * Tody Castillo * The Sour Notes
Bright Men of Learning (Houston, TX.) "Professed fans of Tom Petty and the Replacements, the Bright Men do a good job of blending the open strum of Petty's popped-up Americana and the rough edges and everyman focus of the 'Mats hopped-up garage."
-Chuck Zak, Delusions of Adequacy"Distant echoes of Black and Blue-era Stones, as well as the more re-cent releases from Pavement and the Replacements, are all easy to detect on this 11-song collection from this local quartet."
-John Nova Lomax, Houston Press"All the songs...are top-notch Preddy, who has been etching out his brand of country-fed rock'n'roll for well over a decade."
-Lance Scott Walker, 002 Magazine
Tody Castillo - (Houston, TX) "When an artist’s work is as lauded as Castillo’s 2005 self-titled release, it could prove difficult to live up to the expectations. While Castillo doesn’t seem to have tried very hard to avoid that perception–with infrequent live performances and release dates that came and went–thankfully his latest songs dispel any such myth. A deeply personal album, Windhorse finds Castillo opening up about fatherhood, marriage, death, and the inevitable lost love. If anything’s readily apparent, it is that Castillo has matured over the past few years–as a result, so has his songwriting." - Houston Calling's Favorite Albums of 2009
The Sour Notes- (Austin, TX) "For a band as prolific as the Sour Notes (an EP, 7-inch, and now two full-lengths since 2008), the quartet has not only proven remarkably excellent in their quality of output, but also continue to impressively push themselves in new directions. Each release, beginning with the 2008 EP The Meat of the Fruit, has taken their instinctive pop-rock pulse and expanded their sound in arrangements and sensibilities. To some extent, It’s Not Gonna to Be Pretty is an appropriate title for the quartet’s sophomore LP - not because it’s not an excellent album, but rather because compared to their earlier pop leanings, the Sour Notes here seem to consciously be moving at times into more rock textures, unafraid to break up the melodies with more jagged edges. It’s the album’s balance of the quartet’s new harder inclinations with those more familiar pop elements that gives it a fully formed and rewardingly diverse feel, however.
It’s Not Going to Be Pretty starts unassumingly enough with the soft syncopation of “Beyond Recognition.” If frontman Jared Boulanger hearkened Transatlanticism-era Death Cab for Cutie in his earlier efforts, “Beyond Recognition” shades more of Ben Gibbard’s work with the Postal Service, with a touch of a more pop-polished Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. But it is the newly inducted vocal contributions of Elaine Greer that add the most to the song, and the Sour Notes’ current sound. She balances Boulanger’s introspective sincerity by at once reflecting and countering his sentiments.
“Do-ers & Say-ers” immediately breaks the spell of the opener, though, rippling electric guitar as Boulanger ups his vocals to a pop-punk shout and the song cuts a bitter, condemning tone: “You ought to fault who couldn’t tell her that she’s a whore, All by herself now and it’s not her fault.” These two sides of the Sour Notes – the calm desperation of “Beyond Recognition” (and “One Word Emotions”) and the rankled charge of “Do-ers & Say-ers” at times come together excellently, as they did on “Never Mix Never Worry” from their recent 7”. On It’s Not Going to Pretty, “One Fell Swoop” may be the best mix, pummeling guitars opening to Boulanger’s call of “I’ll be the nocturne hymn you’ll dream upon, A bitter lover in dull moments.” The song never careens out of control, but teeters on the edge to be pulled back as it mirrors the apparent emotional conflict roiling through Boulanger’s mind.
Unfortunately, this force doesn’t reemerge again as engagingly on the rest of the album, but the Sour Notes have plenty of other elements to show off throughout. “It’s the Hair That Makes the Dress Chic!” is an unexpected three minute long instrumental piece with a slow and ominous build, and “Familiar Presence” returns to their pitch perfect pop, infectious in spite of the horrible Eighties-style synth line buried in the back of the song. But “Time Will Tell” jumps from the speakers with minimal and straight-ahead licks that wander midsong into shifting distortion and then a dreamlike psych-pop lull.
The penultimate “A Cute Little Ruin” likewise slides from its mold of gently sincere pop balladry into a minute-long gossamer blur lifted by Greer’s looped “ahhs,” and “The Distant Knell” closes on such an achingly disarmingly tone, the struggle that Boulanger seems to relate in the lyrics is blindsidingly bleak. While the song seems to be a self-implored restraint to giving up, perhaps even suicide, it’s beautifully wrought.
It’s Not Going To Be Pretty is certainly the Sour Notes’ best effort to date, showcasing their diversity as they continue to adjust the musical reach to adequately match Boulanger’s poignant pull, both as songwriter and vocalist. Because Boulanger lays everything so emotionally bare in his songs, it’s a difficult proposition to simultaneously allow his sincerity to realize its impact and keep the songs from drifting into a too emotionally complex and heavy state. The band continues to show a number of different stylistic approaches to accomplish this, and though they still may not have quite found that perfect balance, there is no doubt that with the progress they continue to display that they will soon." - Austin Sound Review
Last Update Saturday 27 March, 2010
