Operators - Blue Wave

Operators - Blue Wave

Released on April 1 via Last Gang Records

If the prospect of a Wolf Parade dance album excites you, then boy have I got some news. Operators is the new outfit from Dan Boeckner, best known as one half of the dynamic lead vocals from Wolf Parade, a band that itself just ended a lengthy hiatus. While the group’s other singer, Spencer Krug, has been moonlighting as Moonface, releasing critically acclaimed but, to my ears, underwhelming piano ballads, Boeckner has popped up in a few fairly high-profile gigs, including Divine Fits (with members of Spoon) and the Handsome Furs. None of these groups have sounded like his new gig, Operators, who’s debut album, Blue Wave, mashes up Wolf Parade’s herky-jerky guitar riffs with honest-to-goodness synth-pop for a collection of propulsive dance songs that are hard-wired to get you moving.

Boeckner’s wail might seem a strange bed partner with the polished sound of a synthesizer, but while the electronics often wrap the songs on Blue Wave in, well, a wave of sound, the proceedings never sound artificial. Instead, his voice compliments and augments the more organic sounds brimming in the background; the ragged guitar, pounding drums and occasional appearance of saxophone are constantly fighting for attention over the thick and colorful synth, giving the songs a manic quality that will befit your instinct to dance. The early one-two punch of “Control” and “Cold Light,” two album highlights, go even further into the dance-pop sound, with the former building itself on top of a straight-up club beat, and the latter mining the type of warble-y, nostalgia-meets-night-out sound that would feel right at home in a John Hughes movie.

The two best songs on the album, though, find the perfect balance between organic and inorganic; “Blue Wave” jumps from E-Street Band to New Order as if it were a natural arrangement, and even throws in an explosive sax solo and Apologies to the Queen Mary-style freak out at the end, while “Bring Me the Head” layers distorted synths and throbbing drums that build on themselves like a disco Jenga ready to topple. In fact, the weakest tracks on the album are those that hew closest to something Wolf Parade would put out. Opener “Rome” and penultimate track “Evil” aren’t bad songs by any means, but their more classic guitar-heavy sound comes across a bit muddy and thin when sitting next to the lush, modern sounds on the rest of the album. 

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Mothers - When You Walk A Long Distance You Are Tired

Mothers - When You Walk A Long Distance You Are Tired 
Released February 26, 2016 via Grand Jury/Wichita

I spent the first few minutes of Mothers’ debut album, When You Walk a Long Distance You Are Tired, trying to figure out when exactly Angel Olsen started a new band. Lead singer Kristen Leschper’s yodel-esque yawp and the band’s scruffy charm mirror that of Olsen’s breakthrough album, Burn Your Fire For No Witness, to a tee. Don’t be surprised if you see this comparison in 90% of the things you read about this album, but don’t shrug it off as some copycat, either – Mothers has put together one of the finer debuts you’re likely to hear in 2016.

Opener “Too Small for Eyes” is terrific, if a bit misleading. Leschper warbles her way through a wistful tune, her voice nudged along by a softly plucking guitar and the occasional piano chord or swell of strings. It’s a fragile, vulnerable song that doesn’t necessarily indicate the sound of the rest of the album, but certainly introduces its recurring themes. Lines like “I hate my body/I love your taste” oscillate between insecurity and infatuation, capturing Leschper’s s constant internal conflict about herself and her relationships. She later sings in the same song, “Became something loaded with doubt/bullied by love, too small for eyes.” 

The lyrics offer a clever, subtle upending of the power dynamics traditionally featured in songs about new or fading love. While most songwriters take the perspective of either the scorned lover or the one in power, Leschper sings about the types of relationships that are often overlooked in music – those in which dominance and submission aren’t necessarily based on words and actions, but on passiveness and resignation (“I wear this dress of indifference, and I find it quite becoming”). The subsequent collection is more shambolic and guitar-forward than the opener, but Leschper continues to explore this territory, giving an intimate voice to the typically voiceless individuals in unbalanced partnerships. At the end of the excellent “Lockjaw” she sings “I cut out my tongue, seeing yours would speak for the both of us.”

If all of this sounds a bit heavy, don’t worry – the album has a natural lightness of touch that balances Leschper’s reading-someone-else’s-diary intimacy. Part of that has to do with her voice. Like Olsen, it can sound optimistic and injured at the same time, and it inherently makes the songs more interesting because you never quite know where it’s going to go next. Likewise, just when you think you have the band’s sound figured out, they go ahead and drop something like the explosive “Lockjaw,” or the pretty, polished climax of “Hold Your Own Hand.” That’s the album’s greatest strength; despite the thematic consistency, the songs manage to surprise and gut you, often at the same time, from beginning to end.

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Cocktail Recipe: The Boulevardier

The Boulevardier. Every time I order one I’m 100% sure I’m pronouncing it wrong - even my French-speaking wife just shrugs when I ask how to pronounce the name of this drink. I’ve pared it down to either a bastardized American version that sounds like I’m ordering a certain well-meaning butler from an 80’s sitcom, or I get way too French with it and sound like the type of pretentious ass who pronounces “Croissant” like I just jammed a stick in my leg. None of this matters, because most bartenders won’t know what you’re talking about anyways. C’est la vie. Still, this drink is worth the hassle, because it’s as delicious as it is boozy – very. It’s pretty much a whiskey Negroni, and if you don’t know what a Negroni is, than I envy you your sweet innocence. Some recipes measure this out to a 1-1-1 ratio, which is the wrong way to do it because it means you’re tasting less whiskey and more sweet vermouth. Less whiskey is never the answer.

- Two ounces your choice of non-crap whiskey. I prefer rye, but you do you.

- One ounce Campari.

- One ounce (or maybe a little less? I don’t like the sweets) sweet vermouth.

- Mix and shake with ice.

- Pour out straight or over a few rocks.

- Garnish with an orange-peel after rimming the glass.

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Diiv - Is The Is Are

Diiv - Is The Is Are

Release Date: February 5, 2016 via Captured Tracks

For all the publicity Zachary Cole Smith seems to garner in the indie media regarding drug use, erratic behavior and his relationship with fellow indie-darling Sky Ferreira (all very decidedly “rock-and-roll”), the music his band, Diiv, puts out is actually pretty tame. Not that I’m complaining. We’ve seen our fair share of musicians who seem to believe that being “rock and roll” is more important than actually making good music. Cole does what he does in his personal life in a relatively unflashy way, and makes the music he wants to make similarly. Diiv’s rolling, dreamy rock may not amp you up or pummel you into submission, but its combination of dueling guitars dreamily cascading around each other, driving bass-lines and Cole’s voice, sounding like it’s forever under water, creates its own world that’s a pleasure to get lost in.

Diiv’s new album, Is The Is Are, makes good on the promise of the band’s debut, Oshin, which was plenty good, if a bit aimless. Where Oshin (appropriately) gave one the feeling of floating in the sea – an enjoyable enough endeavor if you’re content with going nowhere for a while – Is The Is Are feels like it’s actually taking you somewhere. Whether or not you’re heading in any particular direction or just moving in circles is beside the point; like Oshin, the songs bleed into each other, providing very little by way of diversity, but the momentum will likely carry you through the album’s 63 minutes faster than you might anticipate. I attribute this to a heavier focus on the bass, which chugs along like an engine underneath the album’s dense 17-track runtime. The reverb on the guitars has also been cleaned up a bit, highlighting solid guitar-work from Cole on lead and Andrew Bailey backing him up.

You’ll have a pretty clear idea of what you’re in for within 30 seconds of opening track and album highlight “Out of Mind.” When Cole sings, “You’re out of sight and out of mind” over a nostalgia-tinged melody – part Real Estate, part Sonic Youth – you get the sense he’s not talking about any individual person but about everyone. Is The Is Are is very much the sound of being lost in the singer’s own thoughts and anxieties, specifically those revolving around his struggle with addiction and a conflicting desire to push people away and want them to stay, and so your reaction to the album will likely hinge on how much you buy into his worldview and very particular sonic fixations.

While the lyrics are mostly hidden under a wash of reverb, making the literal meaning of the songs hard to decipher, the atmosphere of the songs conveys clear feelings of isolation, self-doubt and melancholy, all without ever becoming gloomy or self-pitying. On the contrary, the songs have an air of hopefulness, most likely a result of Cole’s recent sobriety (relative – he kicked heroin but still drinks and smokes weed). While it’s clear the vocal treatment is done so to achieve a particular sonic mood, I do wish the lyrics were a bit less muffled, if only because it seems like Cole has a refreshingly mature perspective on his personal problems.

It’s the interplay between all of these dueling elements that ultimately makes the album a compelling move forward for Diiv. Cole’s internal struggle defied by his eventual optimism; the dreamy melodies paired with the persistent bass and drums; the lilting backing guitar tumbling around the jagged lead guitar; they all find a balance that makes what should be tension feel more like harmony. While harmony may not be the most “rock and roll” thing in the world, it certainly works for Zachary Cole Smith. One can only hope that his struggle for clarity and sobriety continues to produce such mesmerizing music.

Check these songs outs:
"Out of Mind"
"Bent (Roi's Song)"
"Take Your Time"
"Loose Ends"

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