Music review - The Last Dinosaur

Hailing from the metropolis of Newark, Delaware, The Last Dinosaur is a band ready to take on conventional alt/pop with some new sensibilities and true angsty rock songs.

Their latest EP, Tales, is a melodic blend of guitar and vocal driven post-rock. The team puts together a nice blend of off-kilter beats with pleasantly repetitive guitar hooks and vocals that range from melodic to passionately raised yelling. To be clear, this is NOT screamo. They do yell, but without resulting in screeching or growling.

Tales kicks off with with the upbeat and (dare I say) dancy "Fractions". This immediately sets a mood for the rest of the EP and gets you in the mood to move with the music. The title-track is more introspective and is perfectly placed in the middle of the album, and is quickly followed by "Sway" which is bit more experimental than other tracks with a heavy keyboard riff flowing throughout the song. "Sway" is a bit of a departure, but you will be sucked right back in by the high energy closer "Loughton".

Each song is well written, well balanced, and well produced. I can see The Last Dinosaur becoming much bigger than their hometown in the near future, if some wicked smart record company will scoop them up quickly enough.

Where to hear them:

• Tales is available for free download at Mediafire


• MySpace


• YouTube

RIYL: Athletics, Head Automatica, Rival Schools

Music Review - The Fairweathers

The Fairweathers are a 3 piece alt/pop outfit based in the small town of Caledonia in Ontario. Their self-titled EP will be coming out shortly, and I gave the songs a listen after hearing about them on reddit

The music offered up by The Fairweathers is a blend of upbeat pop with other influences that seem to change from song to song. For example, "Give My Love to Her" has a clear country twang, whereas "Just Jenny" is an attempt at something more punkish.

Each member seems to be pretty good at playing their instruments: a capable drummer who keeps the beat, a bass player who ably follows the guitar line, a guitarist who plays chords rythymically in line with the song, and vocals that are clear and concise. But there is something lacking here. It seems almost that the songs are too poppy, too simple. Listening through each song I realized I would forget almost as soon as I heard it. Each song, while wholly different, blends into the next and by the time you are through listening to all four tunes, you're ready to hear something else.

The tunes are likable, but the feeling that these tunes belong in commercials and not on my headphones can't be escaped.

Where to hear them:

• Sound Cloud


• The Fairweathers website

RIYL: Jonathan Richman, Sledding With Tigers, The Goo Goo Dolls (Superstar Carwash and later)

Music Review - Ember Wreath

Ambient music is by far a hard place to nail things down and critique. I must admit, though, my first problem with Ember Wreath's latest release, Ember Wreath II, wasn't the difficult concepts of the constructs of the music, but the use of a line from that ridiculously predictable television show, Lost. I watched that show for a good 10 episodes, gave it a chance, and never looked at it again. This album is likely to go the same way.

Ambient music, for those unaccustomed to it, is not just a bunch of sounds mashed together with a Jackson Pollack like randomness. Their is a purpose to it, and Ember Wreath definitely shows direction and some semblance of idea. The problem, other than gratuitous use of crappy television quotes, is in the production value. There is a definite hiss on most tracks which, to me, indicates use of less than quality equipment or a lack of knowledge on ow to edit those sorts of sounds out in production.

If there is a saving grace here, it is the track "sleeping with the lights on". On this track the cacophony overrides the hissing (or masks it really) so that a listener can enjoy the music and not think, "Is this recorded on my dad's old TASCAM?". There are also some nice parts of "prodigal" but over excessive tubular sounds demerit the darkness of the other instrumentation.

Where to hear Ember Wreath:

• BandCamp


• Last.fm

RIYL: Mogwai, Ghosts by NIN, Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Music Review - Orange Tour

Orange Tour, hailing from Minneapolis, is yet another great band willing to make it on their own, DIY style. Plenty of bands are doing this lately, but not all of them are as good as Orange Tour.

The first thing you need to know about the band is that they really like to make references to locales in the Twin Cities. While I'm not super familiar (read: I've been to the airport there twice) with the area, as a listener I get a sense of familiarity with their hometown. The lyrics take you on a kind of sight seeing trip through Minneapolis, but without all the corny jokes those trolley-bus drivers make.

The opening track on Reality Show, "Television Lover" is a little misleading. You might get the impression this a band of lazy drifting jam-rock. As you move forward through the album, however, you find gems of harder rocking songs ("Girls in Bloomington") and even an upbeat ode to the ever beautiful "Scarlett Johansen" (it's not really, but her name is in the song).

This collection of songs is upbeat, quirky, and fun to listen to. The music is pleasantly straight-forward and pop-ish without being bland, commercial alt-pop. Highly recommended for those rainy fall days.

Where to find them:

• BandCamp


• On their Website


• On Twitter


• You can follow them on Facebook

RIYL: Lighter Paul Westerberg, Phoenix, The Waves

Music Review - Dan Dectis

Moving toward a more eclectic group of songs, Parliament of Owls by Dan Dectis is a musical journey through flights of fancy and generally upbeat, melodic trek. Coming only six months after the release of Deeply Superficial, this album is anything but rush job.

With a mixture of instrumental tunes and vocal tracks, Dan Dectis seems to strive to keep a good feeling throughout each song, and he takes a wide spectrum of genres to do it with. From folk-rock ("Joy") to jazz ("Doctober") to new age ("Maskirova"), each song bridges the gap between the song before it and the one that follows, making it possible to just let the whole album spin on repeat and not feel bored with it at all.

To say that the instrumentation is well-played is an understatement, and the voice on the vocal tracks you get the feeling Dan has been around a bit and seen enough to know it isn't always sunshine and flowers, but why not enjoy what we have and not what we have not. A great feel good album.

Where to hear Dan Dectis:

• BandCamp


• MySpace


• Uvumi

RIYL: Jack Johnson, Jakob Dylan, Bela Fleck

Music Review - Billy the Fridge

Hip-hop has been a bit stagnant when it comes to independent music. Enter Billy the Fridge, a portly gent from Seattle, WA, sporting overalls and a fresh sour cream doughnut for bling. He's vile, he's honest, he does not mince word...but does mince any MC who steps up.

It's hard to admit, but I had to pause a lot while listening through BTF's Million Dollar Fantasy Freak Show. The lyrics are so tight and food related, I had to stop, laugh, rewind, listen again. BTF is making what might be the best in fun hip hop.

The beats are tight and don't sound cheesy like some independent hip hop albums. Billy the Fridge keeps it fresh, the way he prefers his baker's dozen. With a crew that enhances, not taking away from, the melody lines and Billy's themes, songs like "Cadillac Rolling Fat" (the best line of which is "You get it, we fat and we ride in cars") roll out and make this whole album fun as hell. The best part: limited and tasteful use of Auto-tune. Thanks for that Billy...and keep being a "doughnut eating beast".

Where to hear them:

• the Billy The Fridge site


• MySpace


• Twitter

RIYL: Early Bloodhound Gang, MC Frontalot, Lonely Island

Music Review - This Is Not A Game of Who The Fuck Are You

With a name nearly as long as the last track on their latest album, This Is Not A Game of Who the Fuck Are You (TINAGOWTFAY) can truly be called a fun romp through the common concepts of angry, screaming post hard-core. Are they a bit sream-o...perhaps, but seems to at least not take it to the extreme with boring, expected movements on the 101010, an album named to either commemorate its release date or express their love of binary.

The album has a slow Intro track which is probably just to lull you into vulnerability. After that brief 56 seconds, you are assaulted with a full force double kick-drum attack with full-on guitars and throat blistering vocals. Then, just when you are about half-way through "The Great Psycho of them All", a ska like break-down comes out of nowhere.

This is what actually serves to make a mark of what TINAGOWTFAY are about: unexpected gems hidden in the serious hard core music they play. On songs like "Take to Your Guns" and "One Last Dance", the band strives to break out of the post hard-core expectancies and open up new musical ground. It's easy to see the appeal of these guys and the album in and of itself is diverse and genre breaking, which makes it a great listen for someone looking to get out of the mold of predictable music.

Where to hear them:

• Their website offers a download of the album


• MediaFire


• MySpace though they are looking for help as their page is all jacked up

RIYL: Alexisonfire, The Bella Donna, Say Anything