REVIEWSDAY (Boooo, Hissss)

By now everyone has weighed in with their opinions on Microscopic Metronomes, for the readers of this blog there is nothing new or revolutionary that could be said that would set yet another review apart from any of the others. We have all come to a general consensus that this EP is a good thing. Many in this city have pegged Wild Moccasins as the little band that can. Wild Moccasins are the Barrack Obama of local bands. You open the dictionary to “people’s choice” and it’s the same picture of Cody Swann that your weird-ass dictionary has for “mustache”. (Where the hell did you get that dictionary?) What holds me most in awe is not so much the music, which shimmies through you like your own private Rilo Kiley dance contest, but it’s the machine that these little guys have built. As a musician I can’t help but take notes on how incredibly savvy these guys are. Plenty of bands are young and cute and have good music and many are even incredibly nice people. But what sets the Moccasins apart is that they have all of these qualities and to paraphrase a Houston band of years past they “know how to use them”. Only a jaded fool would not seek to be caught up in the joyful world of Microscopic Metronomes, of the Moccasins themselves and all of the hope that they entail.

Speaking of jaded Fools…(boooo,hissss again)

Also in rotation this morning is the new Born Liars LP Ragged Island. It seems that unforeseen transitions go hand in hand with each of Born Liars releases. That by the time the music hits the shelves it becomes a historical document never again to be precisely recreated in a live setting. In the case of Ragged Island it is a double shame as this stands as a memory book of all the awesome party times we had in 2008. And though it is a permanent document to carry forward, nothing can beat the Liars in the flesh. But with the pending personnel changes it is what we have to hold on to. Spilling beer and indiscreetly smoking inside just isn’t the same without Scott Snot wielding his guitar like Thor’s Hammer above a sea of pumping fists. But I digress. Ragged Island is the sound of a band unconsciously in flux. They start off with a story of where we have all been but then set off in a new direction so subtly that it does little to detract from the album as a whole, but still manages to let the listener know that things will be different from now on. And like it said on my 10^th grade history teacher’s wall “the only way to be better is to be different”. Though I was seeking rock and roll comfort in the arms of Ragged Island, I received mixed signals, but found myself far from disappointed and look forward to Born Liars 2k9.