Category Archives: Mumford and Sons

Chilly Primates

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In an interview recently with Alex Turner (main songwriter and frontman) and Matt Helders (drummer) of the band Arctic Monkeys, they mentioned that they are not big fans of the popular folksy sound of Mumford & Sons. “Too many banjos”, I think, the exact quote. It struck me as important, since Mumford have really polarized people. People are very passionate about the love or disdain for Mumford & Sons, never simply offering a “They are OK” comment. I’ve often felt that those who HATE Mumford, do so because of the constant rotation they seem to have on just about every radio station format here in the States. I wonder what people would think of Arctic Monkeys if they were always on the radio. Would the Arctic Monkeys even get light rotation on American radio? Sadly, I think the answer is no.

Post/Psychedelic Rock doesn’t get many rotations on terrestrial radio. I, for one, wish it would. Radio isn’t made for the likes of me. That’s fine though, as the main reason I started this blog was to reach others like me. Maybe to at least convert as many people as possible, to bands NOT on the radio, is a more specific goal.

The latest Arctic Monkeys album was released on June 6th, but the band streamed the entire album from their website before the official release to allow fans to decide wether they wanted to buy it or not. The album title, Suck It And See, is not a fuck you to anyone in particular. I had thought it might be a message to the record label perhaps. The band has stated in interview that it is simply an offer, a suggestion of sorts. Try it, and you might like it.

If a band like Queens of the Stone Age is something you dig, you may find Suck It And See a nice companion album. Josh Homme is someone these chilly monkeys have worked with before. There are two main elements that stand out on Suck It And See: the guitar textures and the rich visual imagery of the lyrical content. On every one of the 12 tracks, these two aspects will leave you pretty satisfied. My favorite track, and the track the band is most excited to play while on tour, is “Brick By Brick”.

Click link to play Arctic Monkeys – Brick By Brick

If you are already a fan of the Arctic Monkeys, you will notice the continued departure from the sound that shot them to stardom. I think the change makes sense. It’s a sound that’s more accessible and sustainable. The album, overall, is well-rounded and consistent, and sure to please any rock music aficionado. It’s more tortoise than hare, to make an analogy. The band has a hard enough time even remembering the words to their old material while on tour, so continuing to evolve their craft makes the most sense!

The band will be in Vegas this year (9/24/2011), that’s not a show I will be missing. Check this link to see if they might be somewhere you are.


Check out the video below for some insights on the new album. Don’t worry, they are not stoned or drunk, that’s just how the sound in every interview I’ve ever seen. (I suppose they could ALWAYS be high…)

  

Scatter These Ashes All Around

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“We Are Bound To Save Some Souls Tonight is a record full of dirges, shanties and shithouse anthems, transmitted from a land where your dancing is proportional to your depression. Eric Rykal is someone to keep an eye on”

– My Old Kentucky Blog

My post about Mumford and Sons got me an opportunity to review the new album from Eric Rykal’s band, The Gentle Guest. The band’s PR firm describes The Gentle Guest as the “hyperactive brother of Mumford and Sons”! The band released the new album, Cast Off Your Human Form on July 20th. I love how this album is absolutely a dark and bluesy explosion of Americana, only now it’s drunk after drinking from a big ole cup of trouble and sins.

These boys from Eau Claire, Wisconsin have really created something special with this sophomore effort. Not that their freshman release is anything to scoff at. We Are Bound to Save Some Souls Tonight was a fast burning fuse of an album, a combustion so fast and strong it will ignite the synaptic pleasure center of your brain. Let us listen as the match makes contact:


Download The Gentle Guest – She Devil

“I gave her a kiss, and she ran right off with my soul…”


The new album was recorded by Rykal not only in the local hometown studio that he owns and runs, but also in several surrounding locations including a basement here and a living room there. The musicians involved on the album are a rotating list of Eric’s friends from the Chippewa Valley. How do you take that kind of sound out on the road?

Playing the new songs live has been a bit of a chore for the band, if not for trying to recreate the feeling of the album, than just for the simple task of fitting all the members and instruments on stage. “We’ve had upwards of 8 or 9 people,” says Rykal. “We wanted it to be some sort of rowdy, theatrical spectacle. We figured having a ton of people on stage was the easiest way to accomplish that.”

Sounds like an epic show…I can’t wait to see them live! There is one song on the new album that is very stripped down, and actually is one of my favorite tracks.

Sometimes a chorus of voices and a hand-clap is all you really need…


Download The Gentle Guest – Who Is Gonna Love You

Before you head off to buy the albums of The Gentle Guest, quickly check out the tracks they did for Daytrotter!

your boldness stands alone among the wreck

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weep for yourself, my man,
you’ll never be what is in your heart
weep little lion man,
you’re not as brave as you were at the start

One of my good friends shared an album with me on Friday that really caught me off guard. It’s rare that someone shares music with me that I haven’t heard about. It’s rarer still to have someone suggest a band to check out that is as successful as this band has been.

Mumford and Sons has sold out just about every show on their U.S. tour. They are playing just about every major festival in the states. In the U.K. their debut album, Sigh No More has gone Platinum.

rate yourself and rake yourself,
take all the courage you have left
wasted on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head

Check out the video for one of the best songs off the album in my opinion:

but it was not your fault but mine
and it was your heart on the line
i really fucked it up this time
didn’t I, my dear?

It’s one of those songs that, after the first time you hear it you just put it on repeat! I love the F-Word and I love the banjo!

I was immediately curious what the lyrics of the song were trying to convey. I had some ideas, but I looked it up anyways. Check out what Marcus Mumford himself has to say about Little Lion Man:

“It’s a very personal story, so I won’t elaborate upon it too much. Suffice to say, it was a situation in my life I wasn’t very happy with or proud of… and sometimes when you can’t describe a feeling with your own words, it’s almost easier to express in a song. And then, when you get asked about the songs, it’s quite difficult to explain. It’s a conundrum — you don’t want to seem self-indulgent explaining yourself; it’s always awkward. Which is weird again, because it’s never awkward actually singing them. I suppose the song should stand on its own and people draw their own interpretation from the words.”

Mumford and Sons reminds me a lot of The Snake, The Cross, The Crown (or TSTCTC for short), another band I love. Since it appears that TSTCTC are breaking up, I guess I am doubly thankful for having someone recommend Mumford and Sons, as I have a hole to fill.


Download Mumford And Sons – Roll Away Your Stone

Cause you told me that I would find a hole,
Within the fragile substance of my soul
And I have filled this void with things unreal,
And all the while my character it steals

BONUS TRACK:

Download Mumford And Sons – Little Lion Man (Ben Lucid Remix)