Music Under Fire

Car trouble and a missed show defined Tuesday night for MUF. Missing a show is a terrible thing for us while car trouble is what it is. With many tour dates still ahead for the three groups that played that night - Eulogies, Great Northern and The Dear - we're confident we can at least get other people to the shows.

Fortunately, Phrequency attended the show on May 5 and did a writeup. Good job, guys and gals.

Headlining the tour is Great Northern, although the other groups alone remain reasons to attend. Led by Rachel Stolte's punkish rock vocals, Great Northern released Remind Me Where the Light Is last week in what is gradually becoming one of the best albums of the year. "Numbers" jumps out immediately despite being placed towards the end, yet amicable tracks "Story", "Houses", "Telling Lies" and "Snakes" all extend the album's overall fervor.

Eulogies, who released Here Anonymously in early April off of Dangerbird Records, come in as the proverbial wild card. The latest recording doesn't necessarily match their self-title debut, but for pure listening reasons, is well-worth purchasing. The first two tracks, "Day to Day" and "Eyes on the Prize", share striking similarities in vocal style, so neither stand out. As a whole, Here Anonymously doesn't rely on flashy riffs to propel it, rather a evenly-paced progression helped showcase individual talents. Their video for "Eyes on the Prize" is currently featured on MTVU's Freshman Videos.

Also on Dangerbird Records, Montreal's The Dears are a sight. Seven members and a wily style. The 2008 release of Missiles never reached great heights, yet the single "Money Babies" kept the group on the map with its fun lyrics and upbeat attitude. The group has expressed interest in working on a new album as soon as touring ends, which could be as early as next month.

Tour dates for all three groups are below, as well as a few mp3s and a video.

MP3: Great Northern - Mountain (buy)
MP3: Eulogies - Bad Connection (buy)
MP3: Eulogies - Two Can Play (buy)

If death metal is your thing, then MUF just wants to let you know that a ton of that slashing metal released this week, yet we didn't post any of it. We will not be covering that music genre at this moment. What can be said about this week is that a few gems are out there and we only were able to brush the surface.

Great Northern, a group we will be catching next week with Eulogies and The Dears, released their grunge pop album Remind Me Where The Light Is this week. We really look forward to Rachel Stolte's vocal presence and some crafty guitar play from Solon Bixler (30 Seconds To Mars, Earlimart, Sea Wolf).

On a much more downtempo wavelength is Tosca. The Austrian duo of Richard Dorfmeister and Rupert Huber have been the vanguard for melodic trance since the release of Opera in 1996 and their latest efforts should be no less impressive.

Other notable artists releasing this week includes: Ben Lee (The Rebirth Of Venus), The Disciplines (Smoking Kills) and Halestorm (Halestorm). We previously got into Ben Lee when he dd a cover of Modest Mouse's "Float On". His music has also appeared in a Dell commercial. Enjoy the new music.

MP3: Great Northern - Houses (buy)
MP3: Tim Easton - Weight of Changing Everything (buy)
MP3: Tosca - Oysters In May (buy)

A Camp - Colonia (Official) (MySpace)
Ben Lee - The Rebirth Of Venus (Official) (MySpace)
Ben Folds - Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella! (Official) (MySpace)
Black Crowes - Warpaint Live (Official) (MySpace)
Bob Dylan - Together Through Life (Official)
Diamond Watch Wrists - Ice Capped at Both Ends (Official) (MySpace)
The Disciplines - Smoking Kills (Official) (MySpace)
Great Northern - Remind Me Where The Light Is (Official) (MySpace)
Halestorm - Halestorm (Official) (MySpace)
Jimmy Bosch - Million (Official) (MySpace)
Kevin Devine - Brother's Blood (Official) (MySpace)
Los Straitjackets - The Further Adventures of Los Straitjackets (Official) (MySpace)
Melody Gardot - My One And Only Thrill (Official) (MySpace)
Mr. Doc - Beat Salad Vol. 1 (MySpace)
Selfish Cunt - English Chamber Music (MySpace)
Tim Easton - Porcupine (Official) (MySpace)
Tosca - No Hassle (Official) (MySpace)

My, my.... there is a ton of music this week and as if our brains weren't on overload already, here is more to look forward to.

Most notable this week from the pop-punk scene are As Tall As Lions' EP Into The Flood, the rising pop-punk rockers The Matches with their third album, A Band In Hope and The Hush Sound, who will try to best their previous effort Like Vines with Goodbye Blues.

Keep your eyes on Sera Cahoone (featured on our 100th post) this week as well as Great Northern and experimental rock band Mogwai, who seems to endlessly create album after EP. We've also been anticipating the latest from the Bravery with The Sun and the Moon Complete, who will try to top their smash hit self-titled release in the UK back in 2005. Oh, and Teenager's have been buzzing lately as well with their release of "Starlett Johansson" from Reality Check.

Lastly, if you want to check out some UK electronica, check out Clark with their release Turning Dragon, which has gotten a rave review from Pitchfork.

MP3: The Matches - Wake The Sun
MP3: 13Ghosts - Beyond The Door
MP3: Great Northern - Telling Lies
MP3: The Teenagers -- Love No (Tepr Remix)
MP3: The Hush Sound - Boys Are Too Refined

13ghosts - The Strangest Colored Lights (MySpace)
A Kiss Could Be Deadly - Self Titled (MySpace) (buy)
Adam Green - Sixes & Sevens Co-founder of the Moldy Peaches (MySpace) (last.fm) (buy)
Alive In Wild Paint - Ceilings (MySpace) (Facebook) (purevolume) (Virb) (buy)
Article A - Stay Now (buy)
As Tall As Lions - Into The Flood (MySpace) (purevolume) (last.fm) (buy)
Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward (MySpace) (buy)
Big Dipper - Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology (buy)
Birds of Avalon - The Outer Upper Inner EP (MySpace) (buy)
Black Tide - Light From Above (MySpace) (buy)
Bravery - The Sun and the Moon Complete (MySpace) (YouTube) (buy)
Clark - Turning Dragon (MySpace) (buy)
Coathangers - Shake Shake 7"