Rare are the times living in Phoenix when one must choose between two great shows on the same night. I am faced with such a dilemma on May 10, when the Helio Sequence and Crystal Skulls play Modified, while Soul Position, Blue Scholars and One Be Lo rock the Clubhouse in Tempe. Oh, decisions. This must be what it feels like on a nightly basis in LA or New York.

Anyway, as a big RJD2 fan, I’ve already opted for the Soul Position set, and I’m sure I won’t be disappointed. That said, the Helio Sequence has captured my attention of late, thanks to 3Hive, which recently posted on the Sub Pop duo.

This is far from breaking news: The group’s last album, Love and Distance, came out in 2004. Could I possibly be behind the curve any more? No matter. Everyone Knows Everyone is such a fabulous song, full of keyboard quirks and loose rhythms.

Even more appealing to me, though, are the song’s lyrics. I’m sure I’m not the only person who has fleeting thoughts of taking off, leaving … starting fresh somewhere else. I’m oddly drawn to songs dealing with that topic – they’re my accomplices when I entertain those fancy-free notions of jetting.

Just the title of Everyone Knows Everyone tells you something; when everyone knows everyone, life becomes a little more cramped, your personal business a little more revealed. Everyone knows everyone and everyone talks about everyone. I’ve done it. We all have. It makes me want to pick up and go.

“The city where I live
The faces in the crowd
It all just makes me stop to think
This is what I’ve found”

The idea of fleeing but never realizing it is both liberating and deflating. What makes us stay where we are? Guilt? Loyalty? Responsibility? I met a guy at a wedding on Saturday who said he lives in Costa Rica. I asked, “What do you do in Costa Rica?” His reply: “Nothing.” Oh, the escapist fantasies that ran through my head after talking to him.

“There’s no escaping
There’s nothing to escape
For no good reason
I think I’m gonna stay”

I have a few favorite songs about all of this, but I’m curious if anyone else out there has some.

The Helio Sequence | Everyone Knows Everyone

At this point, I don’t need to tell you that Built to Spill’s new album, You In Reverse – the group’s first release in five years – came out April 11. More than any other BtS album, this one has made me think about my … well … lasting relationship with Doug Martsch’s music.

It all started in college (doesn’t it always?). I was living with my brother, who, fortunately for me, has exquisite taste in music. I can’t think of any other album or any other song that so stuck with me in those days on 423 S. Mitchell, Apt. C (oh, the memories), in Tempe, Ariz. For the most part, I liked my hip-hop (Digable, Tribe, you know how we do), and all of a sudden I’m enraptured by these epic guitar jams. Slowly, I was transforming … becoming (gulp) indie. I mostly remember these random weekend days … my bro would go on cleaning binges, the sounds of Perfect From Now On overpowering the vacuum. That was it: I was sold.

Off the top of my head, I can’t think of band whose music has developed such staying power with me. And, frankly, it shouldn’t have happened. I mostly despise long-winded guitar jams (artistic self-indulgence at its worst) and six- to eight-minute songs just aren’t my thing. I can remember a few times seeing BtS live, wondering when those guitar solos might end; and don’t get me started on the Cortez the Killer cover.

Yet Built to Spill’s music spanned those awkward transitional phases of my past decade: college into graduation into what-the-fuck-am-I-doing-working-at-a-newspaper-in-Lubbock-Texas? and, presumably, into adulthood. It’s music that influenced tangible moments.

Better yet, it’s done by a guy, Doug Martsch, who, by all accounts, looks nothing like we imagine (or want) a rock star to look like: balding, beard, beer gut, T-shirt, shorts. Shorts, people! He’s from Boise freaking Idaho (a great city, by the way). He plays pickup basketball (and suffers a detached retina doing so). He’s the rock-and-roll everyman. I trust Doug Martsch. I have more hair than Doug Martsch. (Those two sentence are only slightly related to one another.)

And let’s be honest: His voice isn’t all that great either. Come on, don’t fight me on this. You know it’s true. We like him (and, by association, his band) in part because he looks like one of us. So maybe we can’t play the guitar like he does, but that’s not really the point. At least it isn’t for me.

Besides, lost in those swirly, meandering guitars, is a pretty damn good songwriter. It just takes a little digging to uncover it. Martsch is the type of lyricist I admire the most, his words just cryptic enough so as not to give anything away. He makes you work and concentrate.

Either way, there’s always a certain level of comfort in a Built to Spill album for me, and You In Reverse is no different. As Frank at Chromewaves mentioned, the band isn’t breaking any new ground here. But I’m OK with that. This blog (and others) has opened my eyes to so many bands – some good, some bad, but too many fleeting by nature. A one-off hit/band fad thrills only momentarily; how much do we get out of that? We should appreciate the Built to Spills of this world, who stay by our side and really mean something to us. The rewards are much greater.

Built to Spill | The Wait

I’ve been thinking about the Pitchfork Music Festival, for which my wife and I are securing travel plans. (Hooray, Chicago!)

So far, the lineup is really solid, with Spoon, the National, the Mountain Goats, Band of Horses, Aesop Rock and Tapes ‘n Tapes among the highlights (at least for me) so far. But it got me thinking: How did Pitchfork select its lineup (which still is not officially filled out)? More specifically: What bands would agree to play at a festival organized by a music publication notorious for its acerbic, snobby and sometimes ridiculously vicious (did I get them all?) album reviews?

In an attempt to answer my own question, I delved into some admittedly surface research. I went to Pitchfork’s site and used its search engine set to “Reviews” and plugged in each band and recorded the rating given to each album. I didn’t bother looking at the authors of said reviews, although that certainly could be a tell of certain consistencies across an artist’s catalog. So, keep in mind here the, ahem, science is a bit crude.

The results are somewhat revealing, if not totally expected: Of 60 albums reviewed from 13 artists (not including Hot Machines, for which there were no reviews) booked so far for the festival, the average rating is 7.64 (458.6 total divided by 60 reviews).

The highest-rated artist with more than one album (Band of Horses drew an 8.8, and well-deserved, I might add) is Silver Jews at 8.76. The lowest-rated artist is Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at 6.92; a 4.0 on Tej Leo (?), Rx/Pharmacists was a killer.

The highest-rated invdividual album (full-length) was the Silver Jews’ American Water, which scored a 9.9 (ooooh-so close to that iconic 10.0). The lowest-rated full-length was the aforementioned Tej Leo. (Although, Mission of Burma’s Accomplished best-of collection got a shabby 1.9, which was more a product of the reviewer’s distaste for Ryko’s packaging and not so much the group itself.)

So, what does this all say, other than that I struggle to use my time wisely? Well, you could argue (as I would) that a conflict of interest exists. A publication that (supposedly) objectively critiques the work of musicians has no business putting on a festival with those same musicians. It implies (perhaps on a subconscious level) a quid pro quo is in place.

Because I work in the media as a sports copy editor at a major newspaper, I think of the old sportswriting adage: “No cheering in the press box.” In other words, writers must, above all else, remain objective in their coverage of a team. Same goes for music.

However, the obvious needs to be stated here: If the Pitchfork honchos are going to organize a festival, they’re not going to invite musicians or bands they don’t like. But think about it. Do bands who have been reviewed favorably feel an obligation to return the goodwill and agree to play the festival? On the flip side, will Pitchfork be swayed in future reviews to look kindly upon artists who performed – not to mention helped raise money and awareness for the site in the process?

I think it’s an interesting topic to explore and should be examined as more bands are announced. I may be oversimplifying the whole thing. But I’m confident in one thing: Travis Morrison will not be invited.

(Here is my crude Excel spreadsheet.)

At what point does a group like Eagles of Death Metal stop being ironic? More important, what’s our threshold, as fans, for this? How long can the joke carry on?

I know. Lots of questions. See, this tears at me because I really like Josh Homme. Some might say I have a “man-crush” on him. … Oh, wait. I think I’ve said that.

Anyway, I was pondering this after listening to this new Eagles track. I really am a big fan of Queens of the Stone Age, so my tendency is to give Eagles a free pass. But, at some point, we have to take this seriously, right? When does this all just become too patronizing? We spend money. Is it a joke? Is it serious? Sometimes I can’t really tell.

Because I’ll tell you one thing: I’m tired of the ironic T-shirt trend. So are Eagles of Death Metal the ironic T-shirts of rock? Death Metal … satan hand sign … yeah, it’s funny. Sort of.

That said, the music is pretty damn good. So, again, where does that leave us?

Eagles of Death Metal | Don’t Speak (I Came to Make a Bang!)

I’m cheating a little bit today: I posted on Silversun Pickups last week during my stint as house guest at Gorilla vs. Bear. The problem is, I like them so much that I wanted to represent at my own site.

The great KEXP, through its song of the day podcast, introduced me to the band, a quartet from Los Angeles named after a liquor store on Sunset Boulevard. (I shall do my best to visit this Silversun Liquors when I’m in LA next week.) As I said in the GvsB post, I do believe we’re in the midst of a shoegazer revival. Frankly, I couldn’t be happier about that. Bands like Hum and Catherine Wheel were (are) some of my favorites that would fall under that category, loosely defined by a sprawling sound but still with melodies you can grab onto. Comparisons to Smashing Pumpkins wouldn’t be too far off the mark either.

Silversun released the EP Pikul (available at iTunes) last year on Dangerbird Records and a much-anticipated (by me) full-length should arrive in 2006.

Silversun also is part of an affiliation of bands known as The Ship, which includes the very cool Earlimart and So Much Silence favorite (like favorite) Radar Bros.

Silversun on MySpace.
The Ship on MySpace.

Silversun Pickups | Kissing Families
Silversun Pickups | Lazy Eye (from KEXP in-studio)

We went to the Rhythm Room last night to see Band of Horses. I must be late on the draw: These guys are stupendous. I bought their album, Everything All the Time, on iTunes yesterday and I’ve already listened to it a good two or three times. (I didn’t take any pics of the show … bad blogger, bad!)

Seriously, with the Shins, Rogue Wave and Band of Horses, Sub Pop has the market cornered on a great new sound. (Or maybe it’s a revival?) Band of Horses’ open-ended, three-chord power is stunning and has an absolute grip on me. I see the Shins-meets-My Morning Jacket comparisons. But Bands brings something else: a bigger, more aggressive approach.

On stage, the sound was inspired and, frankly, mesmerizing. Our Swords, with two bass guitars and a pulsating drum beat, was a highlight of the show. That is, until they closed with the amazing Funeral. There’s something about frontman Ben Bridwell’s upper-register vocals underpinned by those sprawling guitars and convincing drums.

Listen. It’s my favorite of the year so far.

Band of Horses | Funeral

So, Annie (that’s the wife, y’all) and I are listening to my newest fave Figurines (previous post) and I keep telling her, “Think Built to Spill.” Then she says, “You know who they sound like? … Pinehurst Kids.” Oh, snap! She’s right.

Back in 1999, when emo was all the rage, I was digging on the Pinehurst Kids, a three-piece emo/punk/pop/whatever outfit from Portland, Ore. The group released three full-length albums, but I the only one I own is Viewmaster, a compact and powerful piece of greatness. It’s one of those albums that holds nostalgic value – I can instantly attach a time in my life to the music – but it’s also just a really solid CD.

And as I’m listening to Viewmaster now and digging up information on the Internet, it appears the group is making some sort of comeback, which is great. The Pinehurst Kids were never so sappy and emo that you’d write them off as soft; there was a punk edge to it that kept the emotion a little more real.

Visit Pinehurst Kids on MySpace. The band is also offering some MP3s here, but I’m going to bust off a few tracks from Viewmaster.

Pinehurst Kids | Flicker
Pinehurst Kids | Lumper
Pinehurst Kids | Pretty Whistle

Also …
I think Annie and I will be checking out Band of Horses tonight at Rhythm Room in Phoenix. Can anyone confirm or deny they put on a good show?

And we have a winner in the Ian Love CD giveaway. As chosen by Ian himself, Tim at People of Paper won with his submission of two words to describe the cover art on Ian’s self-titled debut. His words were: “tender traveller.” Congrats, Tim. And thanks to everyone who offered their thoughts. I made Ian decide so I wouldn’t have to! (And, Tim, we’ll be in touch!)

Rare are the times I jump into an album by a band I’ve never heard of with very high expectations. Helps keep disappointment to a minimum.

Well, Figurines are proving to be the exception. The four-piece outfit from Denmark is winning me over with bright guitars and singer Christian Hjelm’s somewhat off-key (not quite Clap Your Hands off-key) yet charming vocals.

The group’s influences – Pavement, Built to Spill, Neil Young – are all pretty clear. But the rhythms and melodies are a little more taut in the hands of Figurines. At times, chord progressions move quickly; think Built to Spill on Red Bull.

Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke is a fan. And I’ll be damned if I just missed Figurines on KEXP the other day.

Buy Skeleton at Amazon. Check out the group’s media and downloads page for more goodies.

Figurines | Silver Ponds
Figurines | Rivalry

Some good shows continue to pour into Phoenix, including this April 2 date for the Cloud Room at Rhythm Room, another Stateside Presents offering.

By now, you’ve all got the scoop on the Cloud Room, right? Jesus, I hate to link to Pitchfork, but here ya go. It’s actually a decent story. Anyway, I’m usually telling my wife to listen to this band or that band. But when she came home one day and said, “Have you listened to the Cloud Room?” I had no clue who she was talking about. She heard the insanely catchy Hey Now Now on Sirius and was hooked.

Of course, the trick with a band who punches out a great track is to get past that song and find some meat on the rest of the album (buy here), which I do believe there is on the group’s self-titled debut. I’m sure you know where to find Hey Now Now (maybe even at the group’s Web site). Here’s a couple different tracks:

(For those in Phoenix, tickets can be purchased here for a scant $7.)

The Cloud Room | We Sleep in the Ocean (highly recommended)
The Cloud Room | Blue Jean