BOAT is prepared to release their fourth album, Dress Like Your Idols, in March and we have here the first single from that album. The song is called “(I’ll Beat My Chest Like) King Kong” and it maintains BOAT’s wild throaty vocals, packed with a seemingly self-deprecating sarcasm and a penchant toward pop culture. It maintains those rockin’ guitar riffs and bouncy percussion. It maintains all those lovable rock hooks, catchy as all hell. Yet it’s slightly different from their past three releases — it’s more mature, refined a little bit, almost grown-up.

That’s odd, calling a song about King Kong grown-up, but it’s true. There’s a depth here that fits with the band’s past, but it seems a little bit older, if that’s at all possible. I’d say it is. The musicianship has grown, feels a little more together, and it works well with the song. “(I’ll Beat My Chest Like) King Kong” matches the greatest songs by BOAT. It is worthy of all the greatness we can bestow upon it, of bow-down Wayne Campbell-style “We’re Not Worthy” praise, of standing on top of the Empire State Building and yelling like a beast.

Look forward to BOAT’s Dress Like Your Idols. It comes out March 22 on Magic Marker Records. You can also find a 7″ single for the song, available now over at the Magic Marker site. You won’t want to miss this one!

Download: “(I’ll Beat My Chest Like) King Kong” by BOAT

World Atlas is slated to give us their self-titled EP early next month on Magic Marker Records. The band is joined by Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good To Me) on guitar and The Umbrella Girls on hand-claps, tambourines and back-up vocals. Fronted ultimately by Brian Groux on vocals and guitar, World Atlas is what you’d expect from a band on Magic Marker — they dig The Smiths and Velvet Underground, and list as influences the various indie-pop and twee sub-cultures.

“The Winter Stories” is the first track to be cleared off the EP and its sounds are piano-heavy with a shuffle in the percussion and a Glasgow-ish vocal pop sound. Thick with instrumentation, from harmonica to strings, “The Winter Stories” is the perfect late winter song. The sun is out and the sky is clear, but the frost has yet to melt away and the air has a harsh bite to it. It’s the perfect fireplace song, cozy and swaddled in a comfortable blanket. You could have this song on repeat all day. World Atlas couldn’t come at a better time.

World Atlas: The Winter Stories [mp3]

Hello Seahorse! creates honest, lovable pop in the vein of Mates Of State. The trio from Mexico City is centered around light, clean keyboard riffs, soft bass lines and female-fronted vocals. The music is ingenuous and unassuming. There’s no typical pretensions here, simply pleasant pop songs. “Won’t Say Anything” will surprise you with its purity, and abash you for your lack innocence.

The latest album by Hello Seahorse!, Hoy A Las Ocho, is available now from Magic Marker Records.

“Won’t Say Anything” by Hello Seahorse!

It’s been approximately three and a quarter years since I first wrote about BOAT, what was once a Seattle by the way of Chicago band. They’ve now fully integrated themselves into the northwest, and have given us three stellar albums (the most current of which was released last month; a fact I just recently, to my surprise, discovered). I’m waiting for that call; the one from the record store notifying me my order is in; the order of BOAT’s latest LP, Setting The Paces.

So, while I await what is sure to be another mind-blowing release by the hyper-sarcastic foursome with bizarre-o lyrics and frog-y vocals, I figured I’d re-post an oldie – that first feature from way back in 2006. And below, you can hear a track from each record BOAT has given us over the past three (or so) years.

And so it begins…

Where the hell have I been? Am I going deaf? Why do alligators eat people? Why haven’t I heard of BOAT before? These are a few questions I’ve asked myself while listening to the tracks posted on BOAT’s MySpace page. I LOVE this group and I am frantically trying to determine how they have escaped my radar until now.

As BOAT preps their new album, due to hit the world July 11 and subsequently titled Songs That You Might Not Like, it is difficult to understand why one would not like BOAT. They’re imaginative and poppy and their description of what they sound like is fantastic:

Reptile boy vocals being sung in the same room with many guitars, a bass, two drumsets, a Wurlitzer, several keyboards, mediocre talent, fragile egos, some soft tacos, a piece of pizza, and several Diet Cokes.

It’s meticulously hypnotic. It’s super-duper catchy. It’s wonderfully filled with lovable organs and heavy drums, my favorite instruments in the world (hand claps and melodicas) and a few oohs and aahs. This could very well become my favorite band. With a song off what I can only assume is their first full length or EP, Life is a Shipwreck, another off some random thing called Under the Covers with Grandma and two off their upcoming release on Magic Marker Records, I am left with yet another feeling of despair: where can I get a copy of the former two? The latter is easily found on the MMR website for $10, or on Amazon for damn near $16. But I can find no trace of Shipwreck or Grandma.

Part of the answer of where to find these albums and why the band has escaped my radar comes in the MMR bio of BOAT, attributed to one H. Fozzelberry:

This dream began taking shape with the release of a handmade album and EP “Life is a Shipwreck,” and “After All.” After several trips to the Paper Zone and Kinkos the band found themselves selling out of their homemade hand crafted albums and EPs as they began playing shows from Vancouver to San Francisco. Be it a house show or a biker bar the band is known for never playing the same show twice and never leaving the stage without sweat soaked shirts.

For now, I will have to settle for adding BOAT as a MySpace friend and picking up a copy of Songs That You Might Not Like off Magic Marker Records.

…and so it ends.

Originally posted July 8, 2006 (one month and two days after starting the site) on the old version of FensePost, I’m struck by just how much things have changed over the past several years. I’ve met D. Crane and his merry band of musicians. Crane once dedicated “Period, Backslash, Colon” to my mustache at a show at The Vera Project. I know J. Long (formerly of Racetrack out of Bellingham) and his girlfriend Erika through our mutual friend Keenan (formerly of Patience Please). I’d like to call them all good acquaintances, if not friends.

We’ve all come a long way, from those humble beginnings. Me, in the beginning of my music blogging days, FensePost in its infancy. Them as a newly transplanted band looking to make a name for themselves in the Emerald City of Rain.

Listening to “Lately”, it’s easy to hear why some are calling Setting the Paces the band’s most accomplished work yet – it sure sounds that way to me. And that’s saying a lot, as Songs That You Might Not Like and Let’s Drag Our Feet were both outstanding albums. There is one key consistency between all three *gratis* tracks (one from each album) and it’s that they’re all very solid, cohesive, good tunes.

So to call my eager awaiting of Setting the Paces a mere anticipation would be an understatement. I can’t f*ing wait!!!

To appease my longing, and somehow vicariously make it a little less hard to bear, here is a track off each BOAT album on Magic Marker. We’ll start with “Lately” off Setting The Paces, hop over to “(I’m A) Donkey For Your Love” from Let’s Drag Our Feet, and finally reminisce over “Last Cans Of Paint” from their debut MMR release Songs That You Might Not Like:

BOAT: Lately [mp3]

BOAT: (I’m A) Donkey For Your Love [mp3]

BOAT: Last Cans Of Paint [mp3]

Directly upon the heels of two stellar releases, Every Scene Needs A Center by Tullycraft and Daughters And Suns by The Owls, Magic Marker Records treats us to a bit of a surprise. Where the label’s typical release is inundated with pop and twee, Fred Thomas’ Flood can almost be considered experimental folk, or even freak folk. Learning Thomas’ history in pop will help the listener understand this release and its home on Magic Marker.

Thomas’ better known group currently resides on K Records after a few noted releases on Polyvinyl. His bubblegum pop in Saturday Looks Good To Me has traces of the obscure features he now puts in his solo folk project. These elements give Flood that unique, near freak folk sound most obviously in “Little Songs” and “Last One”, two of the most phenomenal songs on the record. Likewise, the opening title track, “Flood” includes light traces of production.

Thomas’ solo project is primarily just that, with inclusion of a few friends. Magic Marker boasts that the record “brings this special breed of basement heartstring pop music into a new, bold place.” It’s an adequate statement as the lines between the progressive folk and SLGTM’s pop attraction can be very thin. And in Flood, Thomas will shine with memorable hooks and bare-all lyrics. It’ll only take a moment to see, despite the gigantic differences between Saturday Looks Good To Me and the Thomas solo act, that the two worlds are still strikingly similar.

This review was originally published December 17, 2007 on the old version of FensePost.

Fred Thomas: Last One [mp3]

Magic Marker Records [CD, 2007]

1. Flood
2. Snow Bright
3. No Money
4. Little Songs
5. No, Thank You!
6. At The Start Of The Sun
7. There Was A Flood
8. Re-Dream
9. Ocean Of
10. Sunburn Peel
11. Last One

When I think of indie-pop in the states, I think of a few key labels: Matinee, Magic Marker, Happy Happy Birthday to Me and TwentySeven. These four make up some of the best US released pop music I know. It’s on the second, Magic Marker, that The Faintest Ideas now call home. The Faintest Ideas hail from Sweden, a country I adore and admire, but their name and sound signifies something completely different, removing much of the Swedish pop influence for those a bit more British, circa C86.

“You’re Beautiful” may just be the best punk rock love song every written, and it comes in at barely over one minute in length. It’s a common feature on What Goes Up Must Calm Down—no song tops three minutes. “Capitol Between Brackets” has a snare-heavy percussion that hints of Boyracer while the lyrics and vocals retain the British influence. “Everything Is Black” alters the tone of the album, leading with sad vocals rather than the more upbeat ones generally found throughout the What Goes Up.

While “You’re Beautiful” takes the title of best punk rock love song, “Dexter’s Got A Sinister Heart” follows it at number two. It combines aspects of punk with pop like many other songs on the album, but the excellent placing of multiple vocals are what make the song shine. “Gun Totin Hooligans” brings in a new influence—Morrissey and The Smiths. While always an underlying presence (How can you be influenced by C86 and not also list The Smiths as a major influence?), it is most apparent here.

“Decapitated” is another powerful song, taking The Fainest Ideas’ ability to have hard, driving background music while contrasting it with vocals that make the music sound slower than it really is. The album closer, “Lose the Downside”, removes much of the driving sound to literally become the slowest song on the album, providing the perfect, calming closer for an album both rowdy and exciting.

Overall, I am most surprised by the fact that The Faintest Ideas are from Sweden and not Britain, which is seconded by the surprise that the album wasn’t released in the late 80s London rather than Portland in December 2006. Still, it’s exciting to discover bands like this—they have the ability to make you want to get up off your ass and jump the hell around.

This review was originally published December 21, 2006 on the old version of FensePost.

The Faintest Ideas: Nosebleeders On The Track [mp3]

Magic Marker Records [CD, 2006]

1. You’re Beautiful
2. Dear Leibniz
3. Capitol Between Brackets
4. All Stars
5. Dexter’s Got A Sinister Heart
6. Misses Misses
7. Everything Is Black
8. Gun Totin Hooligans
9. Nosebleeders On The Track
10. Try Too Hard
11. I Hear It But I Don’t Like It
12. Mountains Of Tics
13. Nothing Will Ever Happen
14. Decapitated
15. Lose The Downside

When I discovered BOAT (MySpace), I pre-ordered Songs That You Might Not Like and started a FensePost feature article on the band within ten minutes of initial discovery. Still, when I received the album, it took a while for me to give it a full listen and it took a few weeks to really appreciate the music. A week and a half ago I drove to Spokane and finally gave it a good spin. Multiple listens, a few coffee stains, and two worn edges later, the result was miraculous.

I felt i could relate to many of the songs. The sarcastic, frog-like vocals are throaty an have an amateur sound. But it enhances each track as many are awkward fairy-tales of lonely children and misunderstood youth. Such vocals add to the creativity and innovative nature of the band. The fairy-tale aspect is most apparent in tracks like “Clogged Castle” and “Elephant Ears”. The former discusses how being called names like “Reptile Boy” and having a broken home affects childhood. The latter stands out as one of the more powerful songs with its rapid strumming, background shouts, emotional chord progressions, and lyrics about the failed public education system.

“The Bar is too Low to Fail” has a light swagger and catchy verse as does “Last Cans of Paint”, making these songs more prominent than others. “Holding All The Globes” is a sing along/clap along anthem perfect for audience participation.

The group lists Tullycraft as one of their major influences. Thus, they find a natural home at Magic Marker, who has released a few Tullycraft albums over the years. While some songs have hints of this influence, “Beast for Hire” sounds like it could have been written and sung by Unicorns (pre-Islands).

The album title Songs That You Might Not Like depicts just that: this is a group that you might not enjoy—one whose obscure vocal styling may be too much for some, whose odd lyrics others may not associate with, and whose overall style is not necessarily conducive to today’s mainstream. But for those who give the album a chance, will be able to see depth in the painful childhood memories represented in the lyrics, and enjoy the addition of sarcastic reptile-like vocals… the album will be a pure delight.

This review was originally published August 17, 2006 on the old version of FensePost. Above photo by Fense.

BOAT: The Bar Is Too Low To Fail [mp3]

Magic Marker Records [CD, 2006]

1. Greasedip Hairclip
2. Clogged Castle
3. Last Cans of Paint
4. Trained By Trains
5. Free The Birds In The Stall
6. Beast For Hire
7. Elephant Ears
8. March In The Streets!
9. The Bar Is Too Low To Fail
10. Holding All The Globes
11. I’ve Got Ninjas
12. Quickly & Quietly
13. Lanterns & Laughing Ladies
14. Noun Crown
15. Remember The Romans
16. Return Of The Rainbow Shoelace
17. Songs That You Might Not Like

Despite being released in 2004, “Air” off Our Hopes And Dreams by The Owls was one of the frequented songs in my playlist last summer. The song maintains its pedestal spot as “Best Song By The Owls,” despite the recent release of Daughters And Suns. But where Our Hopes And Dreams as a whole maintained brevity in terms of my attention, Daughters And Suns finds the Minneapolis band with many more repeat plays.

The biggest difference between Our Hopes and Daughters is not necessarily the lyrics, which have remained fairly similar in style and prose, but the vocal styling of Maria May. Our Hopes is vocally and musically playful and light, most noticeably in “Air”, but Daughters finds May and her backing band maturing by leaps and bounds. The first single may be “The Way On”, but don’t be surprised if that’s soon followed by videos and 7” singles for “Welcome To Monday” and “Peppermint Patty”, two stellar pop tracks.

The vocal and musical maturity also means that select songs possess a more contemporary sound, but it is not always the case. “Yellow Flowers” and “The Lucky Ones” may fit that description, but the catchy “Apocalypse” is closer to the style of “Welcome To Monday”, whose lyrical hooks put Daughters in the same realm as ex-Delgados front-woman Emma Pollock’s solo debut from earlier this year. “Isaac Bashevis Singer” switches things up; here May’s songwriting relates more to Jenny Lewis than Pollock.

Brian Tighe selectively joins May on vocals and, on Daughters, takes over lead on tracks like “Peaceful Place”, “Black Hands Of Time”, and the catchy closing track “Channel”. Whether Tighe or May is fronting the vocals, Daughters And Suns is likely to maintain a steady home in your future summer playlists.

This review was originally published December 5, 2007 on the old version of FensePost. Above image by D. Romunds.

The Owls: Peppermint Patty [mp3]

Magic Marker Records [CD, 2007]

1. The Way On
2. Yellow Flowers
3. Welcome To Monday
4. Peppermint Patty
5. All Those In Favor
6. Bury Your Mind
7. The Lucky Ones
8. Apocalypse
9. Isaac Bashevis Singer
10. Peaceful Place
11. Little Stranger
12. Black Hands Of Time
13. Airplane
14. Channel

In sociology there is an ancient debate that continues to rage today: are our instincts influenced by nature or nurture? On one side, nature argues that it is our inherent instinct that rules—that which is passed on from generation to generation. The nurture argument, on the other hand, would argue that we are a product of our environment. Much like the determinism versus free will argument in philosophy, when posed the question, many would say there are elements of both that make up our personalities and explain why we do the things we do.

Transitioning the nature versus nurture argument to a discussion on Every Scene Needs A Center by Tullycraft could be an argument on the album’s title, which would be worthy of an essay in itself. It could also refer to the experience of growing up and how nurture, or our every-day experiences and environments, appears to have transitioned the band from its raw twee-punk early days to their current smoother and more produced sound. But this is not necessarily the case either. Instead… I have no clue where the fuck I was going with this. One moment it appears that the group may have matured a bit from their wild and crazy early days. But who am I kidding? These are songs about punks writing love songs (“The Punks Are Writing Love Songs”) and vampires (“Dracula Screams Of Tiger Style” and “If You Take Away The Makeup (Then The Vampires Will Die)”) and the extraterrestrial (“The Lonely Life Of A UFO Researcher”).

Every Scene Needs A Center is indeed a diversion from Tullycraft’s early work, but not so much that the elements which made fans fall in love with their prior albums have disappeared—they have not, as Every Scene Needs A Center is riddled with similar songwriting styles. Simply put, the primary change is found in the production value; this album was recorded entirely on analog tape. Other than that, Tullycraft are their same ol’ selves. Still, the production elements are surprising and spark wonder in how their live performance sounds. Sean Tollefson’s vocals on the album are soft compared to the loud ruckus I was witness to at this year’s SXSW. And the best part is: either way, Tullycraft is brilliant!

In “The Punks Are Writing Love Songs”, the band recites the title as lyrics over and over in the chorus, making a catchy and memorable hook (a common theme to their songs). The guitars are still loud and the drums are still loud and everything is extremely loud but the vocals, which are soft but just mixed up to be very loud too.

A common feature throughout the album is the use of backup vocals—in fact, a common feature is the use of fellow Northwest pop artists! “Dracula Screams Of Tiger Style”, a song that begins slightly slower that the punk-twee filling the rest of the album before returning to quick punk hooks we’re used to from Tullycraft, includes members of Math And Physics Club [Saundrah Humphrey on violin], BOAT [Dave Crane and Mark McKenzie on backup vocals], and Patience Please [Keenan Dowers and Ray Proudfoot on backup vocals]. There are others, but the names escape me.

One major surprise is “The Lonely Live Of The UFO Researcher” which, like “Dracula Screams Of Tiger Style” begins slower than the typical Tullycraft tune. The instrumentation here is much lighter, including a warble-y guitar. In fact, it’s one of this writer’s favorite tunes off the album. Later is a crowd sing-along; you can almost visualize Tollefson asking the crowd to sing the title of the track at select moments during the song: If you take away the makeup / Then the vampires they will die. The same backup vocalists found on “Dracula Screams Of Tiger Style” can be found on “If You Take Away The Makeup (Then The Vampires They Will Die)”. Another favorite is, of course, “One Essex Girl”.

No matter in what incarnation—matured or no—Every Scene Needs A Center is simply wonderful. I’ll always love “Twee As Fuck” and “The Last Song”, but Every Scene Needs A Center, as a whole, is Tullycraft’s best work. The general positive descriptive phrases apply: fun as all hell, hook-y and catchy and filled with joy, a party for you ears. A party for your ears. I like that. Every Scene Needs A Center is, above all else, a party for your ears.

This review was originally published November 9, 2007 on the old version of FensePost.

Tullycraft: The Punks Are Writing Love Songs [mp3]

Magic Marker Records [CD, 2007]

01. The Punks Are Writing Love Songs
02. Fangs On Bats
03. Georgette Plays A Goth
04. Bored To Hear Your Heart Still Breaks
05. Clique At Night Vandals
06. Dracula Screams Of Tiger Style (Parts One And Two)
07. The Lonely Life Of The UFO Researcher
08. A Cursed Miss Maybellene
09. If You Take Away The Makeup (Then The Vampires They Will Die)
10. Misgiving
11. The Neutron
12. One Essex Girl
13. The Secret History Of Devil’s Paw
14. We Know You’re Cute, You Told Us