Album Review: Incubus, If Not Now, When? (for The Music Network)

26 July 2011

by Poppy Reid

Incubus zealots looking for a S.C.I.E.N.C.E or Morning Glory regurgitation need not bother with the latest release from the Californian genre-crossers.

Returning from a five-year hiatus, frontman Brandon Boyd, recent Harvard graduate and lead guitarist Michael Einziger, bassist Ben Kenney, turntablist/pianist Chris Kilmore and drummer/new dad Jose Pasillas have offered a bold opus intent on challenging their fans. Having said that, no bold move goes comes without a bit of healthy ostracism.

If Not Now, When?, a collection of meditative ballads and beach-bummery could be perceived as a new and innovative frontier. Boyd’s pensive, interstitially-born lyrics are put at the forefront leaving the metal guitars and colossal melodies in 2006. For some fans though, the choice could suggest a coming of age in the wrong direction, where sentiment comes across sterile and soul-searching is seen as curiously dull in comparison to their earlier work.

The album opener and title track has an almost Anglo-Saxon, church mass air to it. Boyd’s soaring vocals fill you with warm fuzzies until some of the lyrics digest, “no umbrellas, no sunglasses, hallelujah”…not exactly the poetry we’ve now come to expect from the lyricist but thankfully isn’t a handsel of things to come.

Radio ready track Promises Promises is the more likable ease toward Incubus’ new sound. With roaring sugar-pop vocals and a mellifluous instrumental backing, this is to If Not Now, When? what Southern Girl was to A Crow Left Of The Murder.

Five tracks in and it’s clear Incubus could never fail at anything they set out to do, their choice to write intricate yet blatant surf-rock musings are sure to confuse some listeners with its dichotomy. Tracks like Friends and Lovers, Thieves and Defiance on one hand all have Wish You Were Here potential, but the way Boyd has decided to deliver the lyrics, like uncontrollable verbal diarrhoea sends each song falling short.

Renowned for making his listeners work to discover the meaning of his lyrics, Boyd’s biggest challenge comes with Isadore. “I won’t rest until the world knows the name Isadore,” he sings. Recognised as the gift of Isis (the Greek Goddess of motherhood), Isadore has already been met with a number of interpretations, from a simple play on words like Ana Molly (anomaly) - I adore, to a tragic love story between Erica, her unborn child Isadore and the father.

Just when you start to resent Incubus for making you use your brain, they offer funk-rock reminiscences, In The Company Of Wolves, Switchblade and first single Adolescents. Things take a darkened turn into morose, flowing guitars and crisp vocals. Switchblade hits you like a 50ml needle of adrenaline and Adolescents reminds us of the band’s funk-rock capabilities.

Closing with the track Tomorrow’s Children, Incubus end on the sound they want to be remembered for, it’s still the morbid grit we hated our parents to but laced with enough mellow to mark their departure.

If Not Now, When? will be a slow burner because it’s so tame, much like their whole career really. However, “tame” should not be read with negative aspersions as the band have purposefully sought out this new horizon. Whether this is the best horizon to return under is irrelevant now for fans need to accept the days of alt-metal are over and either commend them for taking a risk and welcome the placid return or hope for more reissues.

Read our full interview with Brandon Boyd in this week’s issue of The Music Network #846.

Rise Against: "Punk and politics have always been synonymous" (for The Music Network)

20 July 2011

by Poppy Reid

Over a decade ago, Tim McIlrath founded four-strong band Rise Against: they’re now veterans of the Chicago hardcore scene who have been using their music as a weapon against oppressive governmental injustice ever since. 

“I think punk and politics have always been synonymous,” says McIlrath, 32. “Hardcore punk and hardcore music were politics to me and that’s what really attracted me to it. That’s what triggered my angst and made me want to be a part of it; more than just ticket sales, I saw it as a vehicle for change.”

Following in the footsteps of hardcore trailblazers Minor Threat and Black Flag, Rise Against started as a reaction to sex symbols like New York Dolls and The Sex Pistols, who glamorised drugs and destructive debauchery. The band are still very much a part of that black sheep culture but maintain a straightedge (bar drummer Brandon Barnes), vegetarian lifestyle complemented by regular activist campaigns.

After dominating the underground with 2001’s guiding debut The Unraveling and follow-up Revolutions Per Minute in 2003 (released on Fat Wreck Chords) Rise Against took a risk to reach a wider audience and signed to Universal sub-label, Geffen Records. 

“Myself and my friends were always very critical when we saw the bands we liked sign to major labels,” he remembers. “I think our fans went through that but I don’t hold anything against them because that’s how they felt.” 

Signing to Universal was ideal for Rise Against; through an ironic happy marriage between underground rock and major label, the band rose to commercial fame on their four subsequent albums. This success overcame their initial hesitation of whether they could use the wider forum for combative sermons without succumbing to capitalist pitfalls.

“Instead of demanding that we make this multi-platinum, gigantic, worldwide phenomenon, they allowed us to be the band we are, at the size we’re at,” he says, “but it is kind of an anomaly, I will admit, you don’t have a lot of bands like us that have a comfortable relationship with their label. It’s sort of unheard of.”

In March this year, Rise Against released album number six, and with protests addressing the corruption surrounding Hurricane Katrina, homophobia, global warming and the cowardice of war, Endgame is their greatest proclamation to date. Always the intellect, McIllrath says because of the world we live in, he needed to blazon the fans with his standpoint.

“We live in a generation where you need to grab people right away. There were a lot of things that I wanted to get across on this record and I put them all unapologetically on top of each other in the hope something would trigger a reaction from the audience.”

Surpassing a reaction, Endgame’s second single - an attack on homophobic bullies Make It Stop (September’s Children) - is part of global movement It Gets Better, a non- profit support organisation for LGBT teenagers.

With Rise Against shaking their white-knuckled fists and sharp tongues in every deserved direction, the obvious question is whether their blistering riffs and music will dim underneath the political push. However, the fact that Endgame peaked at #2 on the ARIA Album Chart and in the top six in five other countries, proves McIlrath was careful not to mess with the trademark.

“I want to be a new voice and a fresh voice,” he tells TMN. “I want to talk about things that maybe for the person that’s listening, it’s the first time they’ve heard these things talked about. But at the same time I have to think ‘What music is going to do these lyrics justice?’ Because if it’s a shit song, nobody’s going to care about the messages.”

Luckily, justifying poignant lyrics with immediate music has been Rise Against’s gateway drug for 12 years now. “It’s the sugar coating on the bitter pill,” McIlrath explains. “We can hook you with the guitars, we can hook you with the chorus and bring you into the hold; once you’re in then maybe you’ll really engage in thought and peel back the layers to see the lyrics.”

Rise Against may have taken on the gargantuan task of sparking a revolution through song, but as their career thus far has proven, fighting the good fight against tyrannical atrocities is a humble and never-ending war.

Live Review: Rise Against, Sydney (for The Music Network)

Photo credit: Ken Leanfore

18 July 2011

by Poppy Reid

Saturday July 16
Entertainment Centre, Sydney, NSW

After 12 years, six albums, a plethora of lineup changes, and enough world tours to rival a business class trolley-dolly, one wouldn’t think it's just not possible for Rise Against to get any better.

Tim McIlrath, co-founding bassist Joe Principe, fourth-year guitarist Zach Blair and seasoned drummer Brandon Barnes shot this theory into oblivion at Sydney’s Entertainment Centre on Saturday night.

Opening with Chamber the Cartridge, McIlrath bounded onstage sans guitar and belted out his vocals to an arena of admiring nods. Principe wasted no time in showing off his high kicks and punk jumps; he bounced his way through new track Satellite and old favourites The Good Left Undone, Heaven Knows and Re-Education (Through Labor) which saw a back drop fall of Rise Against’s symbol overlapping the American flag.

:: Check out the live pics from the night here.

“I want tonight to be a celebration, I want tonight to be a fucking party,” yelled McIlrath, sweating bullets. “In the last year a lot has happened to the four of us; I bet a lot has happened to you, but if you made it here tonight it means you fucking survived, so this song is for you.”

The band seared into Survive before a sea of closed fists and sporadic circle pits. New Endgame singles Make It Stop (September’s Children) and Help Is On The Way saw McIlrath drenched in red light, his right arm held up in helpless concern for the tracks’ muses before he repeatedly pounded his fist hard against his heart.

:: Read the album review of Endgame here.

Security were put to full use for the whole set as a rolling queue of bodies flowed consistently over the barrier. McIlrath reached down and shook the hand of one floating fan during The Dirt Whisperedbefore he tumbled onto a guard and was marched back to the masses.

The band exited and McIlrath stood alone on acoustic guitar. “How's my general admission main floor here, you all right?” They answered in screams… ”Well Australia I've missed you so here's a love song alright?” The dizzying sway of mobile phone lights filled the venue for sing-along ballad, Swing Life Away.

Guitarist Zach Blair returned to join McIlrath on acoustic for Hero Of War. “That was nice, me and Sydney had a moment over here,” McIlrath joked. “I dunno if you saw that Zach.”

Three zealous fans used the break to attempt a three-tiered people tower. “Whoa we've got fucken’ Cirque du Soleil over here!” he laughed. “You guys can break whatever you want we've got paramedics back there.”

During final tracks Architects and Ready To Fall, Principe was all high kicks and silly skips while McIlrath asked us to sing at the top of our lungs - “Now I’m shouting on the rooftop ready to fall!”

“I've heard some loud voices here in Sydney,” the singer stroked our egos. “I've seen some crazy shit here in Sydney.”

Security handed out cups of water to ready us for the three-track encore of Entertainment, Saviour and Give It All. An intricate guitar solo after an epic session of warring guitars sent us off with McIlrath’s scream in mind-blowing form as he wailed “I don’t hate you, I don’t hate you!”

The four black-clad punks didn’t offer any visual bells and whistles or special effects, what they did offer was a tight, ballsy set that was as perfect as it was anarchic.

He thanked Australia’s Sea Shepards who the band had spent the day with and before he swung his mic high and fast like a warrior readying a spiked bommy-knocker, he said: “If you put your heart into something you can make a difference.”

Album Review: Simple Plan, Get Your Heart On (for The Music Network)

05 July 2011

by Poppy Reid

Simple Plan broke the mould of the typical pop band three years ago when they released their third record. The usual life span of a boy band in their genre usually follows the trajectory of: 1. Release struggling debut album which takes a year to catch on but blows up Platinum-style when it does. 2. Offer successful sophomore complete with charting singles, Platinum status and a now solid fanbase. 3. Proceed to unveil a flop of a follow-up as the band endeavour to keep said fanbase whilst progressing in sound to gather more recruits.

For this Canadian five-piece though, despite being described by critics as their worst, their eponymous third album did relatively well in the charts, even peaking at #6 in Australia. This year, the band have seemingly gotten too comfortable; their latest record is the punny return to form Get Your Heart On, which, although it maintains all the elements that garnered them worldwide success in the early noughties, does one thing wrong... it maintains all the elements that garnered them worldwide success in the early noughties.

Playing it safe is usually commended by long-time fans, but when a band with Simple Plan’s longevity targets such a niche market, the question msut be posed; are their listeners are still interested? Are lyrics about being an outcast, crushing on someone and err, feeling like an astronaut (re: Astronaut) really as believable now as they would have been when they weren’t over thirty years old? Or did their fans ditch Simple Plan years ago, along with their youthful indiscretions?

Conversely, with catchy as hell hooks, simple pop-punk riffs and well preserved themes, it would be vacuous to expect anything else.

Just one track in and you’re itching for your Chuck Taylors and Poster Power collection; You Suck At Love offers up vintage Simple Plan nostalgia and keeps you there for Can’t Keep My Hands Off You. Weezer frontman, Rivers Cuomo adds the first taste of change on the record with a short cameo filled with his trademark self deprecation - interestingly, the lyrics were written by lead singer Pierre Bouvier and drummer, Chuck Comeau.

The collaborations continue with first single and comeback track, Jet Lag featuring Natasha Bedingfield. It’s the same old pop wrapped in a punk bandana but it’s too damn singable not to bop along to. However, the fact it’s placed so early on the record only adds to the disappointment further along; latter tracks just don’t pack the same punch. Another notable co-write is on the energetic Freaking Me Outwhere All Time Low singer Alex Gaskarth chips in a few lines.

There are a few surprises on the record, Last One offers up a dose of hard rock, while K’naan collaboration Summer Paradise sees Simple Plan flick the switch and dabble in folk territory. Amazingly, 1 pop-punk band + 1 rap artist + 1 vocalist channelling his inner folk artist = success!

Get Your Heart On may be too stuck in yesteryear for some of the band's matured zealots but for all its repetitive wailing, high-energy riffs and lyrics stocked with enough corn to slake the Backstreet Boys, Simple Plan are only a reflection of today’s popular music culture. Whether you want to partake in this repeat of history, however, is up to you.

Get Your Heart On is out now through Warner Music Australia.

Darren Hayes: Recapturing the spark (for The Music Network)

05 July 2011

by Poppy Reid

You don’t wanna repeat yourself, but at the same time you don’t want to shoot yourself off to the old folk’s home.”

In a day where a pop icon’s reinvention has become an art form, it’s all about meticulous planning and an avant-garde PR team. Rising to fame in the early ‘90s as one half of multi-Platinum selling Australian duo Savage Garden, and following this with a nine-year solo career, Darren Hayes soundtracked an epoch, marking himself as one of our most talented pop exports. After an ever increasing hiatus between his past three records, this lull takes the cake, with four years of ambivalence in the lead up to October’s Secret Codes and Battleships.

Hayes has his Australian manager, Cathy Oates to thank for dragging him back into the limelight; he was walking his dog near his London home when Oates, who he shares with Angus & Julia Stone, phoned in a wake up call.

“I was walking my dog and she was like ‘what are you doing? This is ridiculous!’” says Hayes, 39. “She really set forth this plan which was that she wanted to go and get me a new major publishing deal, a new major record deal and get me a great touring agent.”

Oates made every one of these things happen and although Hayes signed on dubiously with Mercury Records Australia, he admits he’s now “obsessed” with the Universal Music sub-label. “A lot of artists have this fear of a major label, I’ve certainly had it, because I experienced it. You can have your record killed at the hands of an A&R committee.”

Hayes is referring to his second solo record, The Tension and Spark, which he released through Columbia Records in 2004 to a chartless fate. Hayes parted with the label in 2006 to start his own independent venture, Powdered Sugar.

Like most of pop’s luminaries, Hayes has undergone a series of reinventions as he’s dabbled in different genres, and although some of his fans didn’t follow the osmosis, Hayes says they were necessary stepping stones.

“It’s like I was a carpenter who made houses and I made pretty good houses, but I got bored so I started making pottery and the pottery was fine,” he laughs. “But no-one was really asking about it.“

Still, with a new label behind him and the guarantee of creative control and a wider audience target, Hayes says he was very conscious of the pitfalls associated with a comeback record. “The quick fix solution is to be trendy and make a record which is sort of, disastrously hip. This isn’t that at all,” he says. “I always want to make sure that there’s a reason for me to bring out a record. The best reason is that I believe in it."

This time around Hayes reunited with US producer Walter Afanasieff who worked on Savage Garden’s Affirmation and his first solo record, Spin; guitarist Rex Goh who he hadn’t recorded with in 15 years and enlisted some of the industry’s best collaborators including Grammy Award winning mixer Robert Orton, Carl Falk who co-wrote the album’s first single Talk Talk Talk, Steve Robson (Taylor Swift, Leona Lewis), Phil Thornalley (Pixie Lott, Natalie Imbruglia), and long- time collaborator Justin Shave (The Potbelleez). With a team of pop masterminds behind him, it’s surprising to hear Hayes’ managers sent him back to the drawing board halfway through the recording process.

“I felt like I was almost there and they had to sit me down and say ‘you’re not there yet, you have to keep going, there’s one more song you haven’t written yet’,” he says. “They were so right, my favourite song of the record was written as a result of my managers telling me to go and write one more song.”

That song is Blood Stained Heart, an emblematic track which covers the thread of Hayes’ labour. “[It’s] about the worst day, the worst night, the worst year of your life... You’ve got nothing to hope for but you’ve just got each other,” he explains. “It’s basically that moment where you wish you could take the bullet for somebody... It’s hopeful though. The songs are saying don’t give up on us because without you there’s no point to this story. It’s a two-person film here. It’s not gonna work as a soliloquy.”

Secret Codes and Battleships is out this October through Mercury Records.

Album Review: Kids Of 88, Sugarpills (for The Music Network)

04 July 2011

by Poppy Reid

New Zealand synth-pop duo, Kids Of 88 summed up their own sound saying it’s a mix between “a late ‘80s police drama intro theme and a sophisticated super hussy.”

While their take on the debut may be somewhat sugared with their renowned sense of humour, they might be right on the dirty money.

Sugarpills may have borrowed influences from New Order, MGMT, the unavoidable Kraftwerk and interestingly, one Britney Spears, but they’ve added just enough sex and grit to set them apart from the playbooks of their predecessors.

Singer Sam McCarthy, and programmer/keyboardist Jordan Arts love their dizzy synthesizers and pumping drum machines; their big break came in the form of stomping single My House. First released independently in 2008 on their label Dryden Street Records, the track reached #3 in the charts in 2009 when Sony Music offered a distribution push; and this track isn’t even the album’s highlight.

Just A Little Bit bounds through dizzying claps and hard kick drum beats; McCarthy’s slightly perturbed argot only adds to the pop perfection that warrants at least three repeats before moving on. Then there’s the heroic ‘80s track, Feed The Birds where McCarthy throws in a curve ball and alternates between singing and rapping.

However, it’s not all ‘80s tributes and drum loops, KO88 cross into experimental territory in San Fran where a fantasy of the city is overlapped with delicate guitars and flute refrains. The singleDowntown keeps up with the playful and somewhat facetious themes on the record, it’s a paean to poor clubbers with a seesaw bass line and ever labouring synth pad.

Sugarpills offers a number of tracks ready for the gobbling of indie’s flippant synth-pop lovers. It spins with swirling beats and pulsating percussion; this mixed with the lyrics of an ephemeral culture makes for a solid debut that only opens the floodgates for future releases.

Sugarpills is out now through Sony Music