Black Before Red - Belgrave To Kings Circle

Grade: A-
Download: Goddess In Trauma

Sometimes, no matter how much you love your favorite records, you need something completely new. And not just a new record from a band whose name you kind of recognize, but totally and utterly new to you. That's why Belgrave to Kings Circle by Austin band Black Before Red is such a great surprise.

Belgrave is their debut record, and it's really, really fun. It starts off with a little piece of abstract noise on "Underneath Gold," which quickly gives way to snappy drums, some muted horns, and a punchy bassline. Then the band's harmonized voices come in, and you know you're in for something great. The record's promotional materials stress the band's similarities to the Shins, which isn't inaccurate, but ultimately does Black Before Red a disservice. This band is all about original details, whether it's the marching band snare that sneaks into the right channel on the driving "Matagorda" or the chiming piano touches on album highlight "Goddess In Trauma." On top of these details are songs that most bands would envy, boasting melodies you might expect from Of Montreal or (yes, yes) the Shins.

When songs don't entirely work, it's simply because they don't make an impression. "Bossa Nova #7," despite a shuffling tempo that provides a brief respite from straight-ahead pop rhythms, lacks a strong melody to keep the song afloat. The next track, "Finding Peace In The City," suffers from the same problem, adding too much heft to the record's middle.

Which is why the next song, "Teenage America," comes at exactly the right time. It's the seventh track, and it features a simple 1-4-5 chord progression, "ba ba ba" backup vocals, and sweet harmonies. It's exactly what you need after a couple of downer tracks, and it's really just a hell of a song.

Black Before Red is clearly a band to keep an eye on. Debuts like this don't come around very often.

(David Brusie)

Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Grade: A
Download: The Underdog

If you had told me that Spoon would be adding a horn section to their sound for the new record Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, I would have made the face I make after tasting grapefruit, an expression somewhere between disgust and disappointment. In his article about Spoon in the June 11 issue of The New Yorker, Sasha Frere-Jones notes that Spoon "shows the rewards of restraint." Which is exactly it, isn't it? Britt Daniel's songs are basically fleshed-out sketches, with guitar and piano parts that emphasize the beat more than anything else.

So it is with great satisfaction and delight (equivalent facial expression: eating a Golooney's mushroom and onion pizza) that I report to you that Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, despite its stupid title, is a remarkable piece of work.
The first song, "Don't Make Me A Target," is vintage Spoon. It's bare-bones, with fierce, pulsating guitar work. In fact, the first indication that something different is going on comes with the third track, "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb," a Motown-like stomp with Britt Daniel using that well-loved falsetto to complement the low-end horn section. It's a hell of a track, and it alludes to greater things to come, including the Jon Brion-produced song "The Underdog," which is a propulsive, upbeat number in the vein of "Sister Jack" and "Take The Fifth." Horns ring, acoustic guitars jangle, and you sing this song all day because it won't leave your head. That's just how it works, and there's no sense avoiding it.

Now, it's easy to exaggerate the different sound of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - this is still a Spoon record, after all, and this is no reinvention. It's merely a welcome broadening of their established sound, one that retains the good ol' Spoon style we've come to know. Some songs, like "Rhthm & Soul" and "Don't You Evah," sound like they could have come from slightly tweaked versions of Kill The Moonlight and Gimme Fiction. Daniel's songwriting remains great; he still trusts his instincts to hold things back and keep you on your toes. This, of course, is all very, very good news.

Welcome, summer.

(David Brusie)