Regulator Watts - The Aesthetics of No-Drag

Regulator Watts existed as a band for roughly two years, '96-'98, and called Washington D.C. their home. The Aesthetics of No-Drag (1997) was their first release by the three-piece group.  Alex Dunham providing vocals and his unique guitar sound. Cret Wilson also provided vocals and handled the bass duties, while Areif Dasha Sless-Kitain was on drums. Dunham had appeared previously in Hoover, and later appeared in Abilene and Radio Flyer. Hoover has bared the brunt of comparisons with fellow D.C. band Fugazi, while Regulator Watts is decidedly the most stripped down straight up post-hardcore/post-punk sounding of the bands Dunham had fronted. I only came upon knowledge of this band in the past year or so through this solid post over at Hardcore for Nerds,
which i recommend for even more indepth review of the band's work.

Regulator Watts' sound has its share of discordant moments, but also enjoys heavy doses of steady riffs and repeated parts that allow the songs to develop enough character to individuate. You can still find places where things are broken down and the guitar is allowed to explore and dance between different volume levels and different riffs. The vocals are mixed a bit too far into the rest of the music, but this may have been purposely to attend more to the guitar and instrumentation itself. The drums sound good, the bass can get lost in the mix at times though.


Regulator Watts - "Mercurochrome"

Soaring feedback gives way to soaring guitar chords, creating Dunham's unique sound on guitar, there may be no better song he has written that exemplifies this. The vocals are called out under the soaring guitar, lyrics are audible but the vocals act as a director for the guitar, often initiating chord changes and overall direction. The bass stands out early on as well providing the steady undertones when the guitar runs up the ladder. The drums are consistent yet choppy, but roll into a more straightforward play at times along with the guitar and bass. You can feel the guitar ratcheting up and down at times. About two thirds through the song Dunham scales up to even higher levels, which is even more rewarding when he returns to the main guitar part. Things pick up towards the end of the song with a greater rush to the finish, particularly from the drums.


Regulator Watts - "The Ballad of St. Tinnitus"

Tinnitus being that ringing in your ear after seeing Motorhead without ear plugs in. You can see where this song goes after a few seconds of quite play from the guitar and drums. I love the way the guitar returns following a moment of silence. More forceful and louder. The vocals enter in as calls out in the distance. Here the guitar leads the changes and is followed by the bass and vocals. Chords are held on for what seems like forever and provide a warm and beautiful sound. Half-way through the drums move to muted high-hat hits and the guitar explores things at a more moderate level. A couple double snare hits signal a return to the predominant guitar parts. With forty odd seconds left things get forceful and turns to crashing play right up to the end note that is held and carried.

This album is unfortunately out of print and though you can occasionally find a few copies available through Amazon, they tend to be on the expensive side (think $35). Fortunately kissmysoundsystem has the whole album available for free mp3 download through mediafire.

Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles II

The second Crystal Castles formal release, both releases simply going the self-titled route, so I'll make sure to denote that this is a review of the most recent version released this year (2010). The duo that forms Crystal Castles are founder Ethan Kahn (all instrumentation and production) and Alice Glass (vocals). Both from Ontario, Canada. They've toured quite extensively since there inception, and have quite a following growing. A polarizing band to say the least, but I think it has been played up a bit too much (but everything gets played up too much).They play a sort of caustic dance music roughened up by both Alice Glass' vocals and Kahns choice of sounds/samples. Though this album sees them exploring Glass' vocals quite a bit more and to the point softening it up at times giving it an almost Euro-dance quality. I'm still getting a good feel for this album but I definitely like a few standout songs alot and see some of the other songs growing on me.


Crystal Castles - "Celestica"

"Celestica" is a good example of the changes appearing on this album compared to the previous. I really liked the little blips appearing early on panned hard left in the mix. Next we are greeted by softer sung vocals from Glass, while the music builds toward an expansive dance beat and aural experience. Thankfully the beat is broken up a bit and allowing for a chorus that brings this back to being more song like in structure as opposed to dance anthem (which isn't my sort of thing per se and really good for dance clubs but not so much for live shows and regular listening). The song length (3:47) is another key to making it work within the album, nice and short without being too full of itself. The abrupt transition by the next song on the album which happens to be my second choice of songs presented here is spot on as well.


Crystal Castles - "Doe Deer"

The almost "horn section" sound that is chopped up to fit the drum beat blasts right off the top of this song. This is the stuff that really catches me. Its a short song (1:38) that revs things up. Glass' screeching vocals run through the post-production gambit and come out in position to powerfully carry the high-end over Kahn's ultra-fuzzed out low-end creations. Nuanced sounds creep in and out as the song progresses, both in regards to the instrumentation/sounds and in the vocals.

Crystal Castles II contains 14 songs within with only one reaching beyond the five minute mark so it avoids becoming too bogged down. Addmittingly my least favorite song is "Year of Silence" which samples a Sigur Rós song and I just find annoying (to be clear I generally like Sigur Rós). I think the fact that I can find songs like Doe Deer so enjoyable on the same album plays to band's polarization at times, but I think the ultimate end result is better for it even though it means a few clunkers.

Here's a link to their website, Crystal Castles Official Site. You can find a link to purchase the album in both cd and mp3 formats. The 'ole myspace page has a few more songs for listening pleasure as well.

Kaki King - Junior

I've written about Kaki's previous album Dreaming of Revenge not that long ago. Junior was just released last month and Kaki has been on a supporting tour that I was lucky enough to catch at her stop here in Cleveland at the Beachland Ballroom last week. This was my first time seeing her live, and I came away impressed. After giving Junior a few listens through and considering its role in her live show I had just witnessed I have come to think of it as a nice complimentary piece in her portfolio of music, something that was definitely a pleasant part of her overall performance. She continues to move towards more of the pop-indie genre, adding more songs with vocal parts as opposed to her earlier works witch focused almost solely on guitar. Her live shows, I can imagine, have improved because of this. The ability to mix in a few of her newer and catchier songs with some of the those demonstrating her dazzling guitar mastery from her earlier albums (and still occasionally appear on the newer ones), have gone a long ways to broaden the experience of those in attendance at one of her shows. Having Jordan Perlson (drums) and Dan Brantigan (multiple instruments) on stage helped as well as their play was solid in support of her lead.

So now on to Junior, it follows the direction set by Dreaming of Revenge towards increasing the number of indie songs with vocals and reducing the number of guitar focused instrumentals. In the live format, this is a welcome exchange as I mention above it allows her to draw from a wider variety in picking songs to tour on. On this album it works well, but I have to say, you begin to miss the instrumentals to a degree. Now don't be mistaken in thinking that she went off writing stripped down simple songs, that is not the case, and even within the catchier of songs there are still elements of guitar play that peak into the immense-level of talent within her hands. What I see from this album is a potentially the stepping stone towards a break-out successful combination of her talent at playing the guitar and a developing songwriting skill that may espouse itself in her next album.


Kaki King - "Spit It Back in My Mouth"

I chose this song because the beautiful guitar in the beginning coupled with Kaki's soft voice is an example of what I hope to see develop as she continues her writing development in future albums. I encourage extra attention to these struck notes as the dexterity involved is quite impressive when seen in person, and can sometimes be taken for granted when only listening to a cd or LP. I also enjoyed the simplicity of the song structure, its parts aren't overly complicated, and allows the play to enrich the sound. The drumming here is basic, but does a wonderful job working mostly off of the high-hat, snare, and kick drum, with a focus on the high-hat playing speeding the beat up. Dan Brantigan's contributions on whatever that weird instrument he plays help to form the chorus parts and bring a dance element (along with some of the lyrics) to the song as well.

Junior is available through the record label Rounder Records for about $12 in cd form and $10 for the MP3s. She is also still currently touring in support of this album and those dates can be found here at her website's tour page.