When great bands break up, the results usually aren’t this much fun.

From the ashes of The Matches came Maniac, igniting like a wildfire of creativity. (Yay, wordplay!)

When I drove from LA to San Francisco for The Matches’ final concert at the Fillmore in August 2009, it was not without a heavy heart. I spent more hours then I can remember listening to the band’s infectiously quirky alternative-pop-punk music since around 2002. I had seen them play in tiny, sweat-soaked community centers in suburbia and on various Warped Tour stages. I frequented their semi-routine L3 (Live, Loud & Local) shows at now-defunct iMusicast (r.i.p.) in Oakland, where teens of all ages and appearances gathered and tore the roof off the place. The band grew from local East Bay suburban punks inspired by the likes of Green Day and Rancid to a globe-trotting band on Epitaph Records.

After their energetic and infectious debut album E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals (released in 2004 on Epitaph), they experienced some success on various national (and international) tours and released their follow-up album Decomposer in 2006. That album didn’t seem to make them as popular as it should have, and its follow-up A Band in Hope was released with even less fanfare in 2008.

Personally, I blame Epitaph for not doing enough to push the band on the masses, and as a result their edgy, super-creative music that was a breath of fresh air to me and many other fans wasn’t appreciated as it should. They went on official “hiatus” in 2009 after that Fillmore show, and it is undecided if they’ll ever do a reunion gig.

Since that time, lead singer Shawn Harris and lead guitarist Jon Devoto have embarked on new projects: Devoto with his own band Bird by Bird, and Harris with Maniac, a two-piece thing featuring himself and Australian musician Jake Grigg (of the band Something with Numbers). Before releasing their new EP, Harris and Grigg maintained (and still maintain) a video blog where they cover current Billboard hits, indie-style. Sweet.

When I first saw the promo pictures for Maniac, I was frightened: the colors and oddness somewhat looked like an MGMT-ish experiment, and I failed to purchase their debut EP Extended Play until this week.

And damn, I’m glad I finally got around to it.

The future's so colorful they gotta wear shades

Die Rad is an offbeat, horn-filled number that opens the collection, and it has a sleazy swagger that makes the duo’s presence known. There’s a lot of noisy orchestration and vocal hooks going on at the same time, and it all adds up to a raucous introduction to the musical stylings of Harris & Grigg. Check out the song’s music video here to get a taste.

Always is a Promise has more conventional song structure, beginning with some strings and guitar strumming that is similar to the kinds of chords the Matches tended to use on their recordings. It sounds like both Harris and Grigg split singing duties, sometimes accentuating each other’s voices. This song sounds tailor-made for an indie romantic comedy-type movie, but definitely one that is chock full of quirk. Think something like (500) Days of Summer. We’re talking some Zooey Deschanel-like quirk, including the googly eyes and contorted deadpan facial expressions.

Hey Love throws more styles into the mix, led by a piano rhythm and some loud group vocals by what sounds like a large chorus of voices. The refrain of “hey love, take what you want…don’t make a stranger of meee” repeated over and over makes it quite infectious, that’s for damn sure.

Still MORE infectious is Fill the Lens. The song, which begins with what sounds like a campfire singalong, is the kind of song we all want to make but can’t because we’re not good at music. Maniac doesn’t have that problem. There’s some scattered chattering and laughter going on before the voices start chant-singing, until a folky guitar riff jacks things up and the real ear candy takes over. Another group singalong, this time “fill the lens with all your friends oh – now is foreverrrr” has been in my head for the last three days straight. I’ve found myself humming the tune, singing it in my head, and just generally heard it everywhere I’ve gone. If my ears could smile, they’d have already tired out their ear-face muscles with excessive smilage. That’s how awesome this tune is, and that’s BEFORE the xylophone solo in the middle. The chorus repeats a few times until the song finally comes to an end, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself clicking “back” on your MP3 player of choice, as I have frequently already.

The final track, Crowded Lonely World, is yet another change of pace. It sounds like a barber shop quartet, with echoing vocals acapella style. It’s just voices and finger snaps and a great Beach Boys vibe. I thought Maniac had maxed out all the possible melodies ever on the first few tracks on the EP, but this one uses even more delicious harmonies. By the time it ended, I was sad there were only 5 tracks on this.

Simply put, I was blown away by this EP. I honestly wasn’t expecting much from the post-Matches bands, as I had always thought their best stuff came from their group efforts…but after hearing this EP I’m convinced Shawn and Jake have a great future for the group. I hope this continues and they release more music, as this 5-song teaser is just incredibly creative and quirky, all qualities I enjoy in my music.

I’ll be reviewing the Bird by Bird EP Albatross, which was also released this past week, soon.

Give Maniac a listen if you ever saw and liked the Matches on Warped Tour, or any of their great music videos or songs.

The music world could use more cool stuff like this.

Linkin Park released another new song, Wretches and Kings, which is off of the upcoming A Thousand Suns. Check it out:

If that link gets taken down, click here to listen to the track over at NoiseCreep.

This song is…weird. From the homage to Public Enemy’s Bring the Noise that begins Mike Shinoda’s MC duties to Chester Bennington’s weird reggae-ish vocal hook in the chorus, this song is all over the place.

No word yet on whether or not this is a “single” from the album or just another new track, but either way I’m even more intrigued about what to expect when the album drops in a few weeks.

Birds of Tokyo just released their third full-length album, the self-titled Birds of Tokyo. Hailing from Perth, Australia, this is a band that I’m sure you have never heard of (if you’re from the USA, at least). I wouldn’t have ever have heard about them either had I not gone to see Hot Leg perform at the Viper Room in March 2009. Hot Leg featured Justin Hawkins, the lead singer/spandex wearer of the Darkness, that hokey but fun glam rock band from England from years ago…remember them?

Anyway, Birds of Tokyo opened that show, and I was blown away by their set. I guess it would be easy to call them a “rock” band, but they incorporate some interesting orchestrations and darker melodies to their songs, not unlike fellow Aussies Silverchair (another highly underrated band out of the country).

Birds of Tokyo have won several awards in Australia and routinely have big hit singles on the radio and sold-out, successful tours all over the country…yet I have NEVER heard anything about them anywhere here in the States. Ever.

That’s a shame, because they’re really a very talented, multi-faceted band worthy of your time. Their debut album, Day One, had some gems on it, such as Black Sheets (which sounded like what Incubus could have sounded like had they retained any semblance of their early edge) and Wayside. I didn’t think its follow-up Universes was quite as good as the debut, but it still had Wild Eyed Boy and Silhouettic, both solid songs that were big hits in their country.

Their new album, though, ups the ante even more. The band sounds more polished and stadium-worthy, which I’m sure they are in Australia. The album’s first single, The Saddest Thing I Know, balances some dark lyrics and an upbeat melody really well. Vocalist Ian Kenny is the band’s strongest element, in my opinion, as his voice is a bit unique but suits the music excellently. At the Viper Room gig, he also employed some great stage presence, bringing a subtle but powerful element to the live show.

Album opener Plans, currently blowing up on Aussie radio, starts out softly before Kenny starts singing and the music builds to an epic chorus. It’s a great song for the band to bust out as the album opener on their third album, already being big stars. It has that kind of feel to it.

The Dark Side of Love boasts some great melodic guitars during the verses before a radio-friendly chorus kicks in. I don’t mean “radio-friendly” in a bad way here, it just has that bouncy melodic vibe to it. Birds of Tokyo are a great indie rock radio band, I guess I can say it that way, and it works really well.

Adam Spark lays down some slick guitars all over this album, whether they’re in the forefront of the music or if they’re in the back, accentuating Kenny’s vocals (which tends to be the case).

That’s the case with In the Veins of Death Valley, big boomy guitar riffs not really driving the song so much as laying the groundwork for the melodies (think of what Brad does for Linkin Park but with more variations in the chords). This song in particular has some nice keyboard work and orchestration going along with the song, giving it a nice haunting touch. It’s one of my favorite tracks on the record.

Circles slows things down a bit, and almost veers into adult contemporary territory with its piano work and almost falsetto-vocals by Kenny, but these flourishes don’t ruin everything, thankfully.

Wild at Heart starts out in Linkin Park territory (new school LP, with all the melodies and instruments and stuff) before branching out to better territory. It changes tempo abruptly but fluidly. I find this song pops up in my head throughout the day more than any of the others on this record, so be forewarned that it might get stuck in yours as well.

There's no more room on that couch =/

The Gap finds Kenny channeling his inner Matt Bellamy, and the song has crunchier guitars than most of the other tunes thrown into the mix. This song is definite “stadium anthem” material, with majestic crowning riffs and soaring vocals. I’d be surprised if it isn’t another huge hit single for the band.

On The Unspeakable Scene, the band finds itself channeling its inner Silverchair (post-Diorama) with great efficiency. Kenny really sounds like Daniel Johns here, with some eccentric multi-octave vocals and choppy, quirky guitars and melodies all over the place. It’s one of the better tracks on the album, too, really demonstrating the band’s versatility.

Album closer If This Ship Sinks (I Give In) closes things out in grand fashion, starting out quietly and erupting into a wall of guitars and urgency, before wrapping up with a somber outro accompanied by more elaborate strings and piano. It’s quite majestic.

The only problem I can find with this album is that there’s no American distributor. This album, just like the previous two, hasn’t been released here, and that’s too bad. I had to track this album down on iTunes, where it’s mislabeled as having been released in 2005. A band like this deserves more attention than it has…sure, they’re huge in their home country, but they should be big here too. They’re apparently taking Silversun Pickups out on tour in Australia in the next couple months, so hopefully the Silverlake golden boys (and girl) put in a good word or two and Birds of Tokyo find themselves more active stateside. I can dream.

I was fortunate enough to randomly notice them at a tiny gig in Los Angeles a year ago. I hope that wasn’t the only time I’ll see them.

Pick up Birds of Tokyo if you want to check out an accomplished, under-the-radar indie band that is well worth your time.

Then God Willin’ & The Creek Don’t Rise was released.

There certainly was a lot of expectation being that LaMontagne was releasing an album giving credit to a backing band for the first time. Consisting of guitarist Eric Heywood, bassist Jennifer Condos, drummer Jay Bellerose, keyboardist Patrick Warren and pedal steel guitarist Greg Leisz, the Pariah Dogs boast extraordinary musicians who have backed for the likes of Alison Krauss, Fiona Apple, and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

With an immensely talented backing band and a longer artist name to deal with than usual, it seemed logical to expect a bigger sound from Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs. Also, maybe Ray would lighten up a little, start growling over some funky, rockin’ tracks. Maybe he might stray away from his usual sparing instrumentation and replace it with jukebox songs you could play at the bar without wanting to kill yourself after. Maybe he might just surprise us. And for approximately half the album, he kind of does.

Album opener, “Repot Man” sounds like it was made in the 70’s. Now of course, those who have listened to anything LaMontagne has released in the past won’t find this to be all that shocking. The production of his albums and the soulful croon of his distinct vocals has always given the listener the feel of a different time. A time when music was made from the heart in a small room, with other like-minded musicians, filling the recordings with a sound that you just can’t find in music nowadays. “Repot Man” offers a grooving bass line and riffing guitar that works supremely well when matched with LaMontagne’s famous voice. When Ray sings (as only he can), “I’m ’bout to do what your daddy shoulda done, I’m gonna lay you right across my knee,” the sensual mood of the first track hits a fevered pitch.

In order to cool off possible overheating, the second track slows down to a leisurely paced folk triumph, “New York City’s Killing Me.” Just as a grooving bass line works in the first track, the pedal steel of Leisz works in perfect harmony with LaMontagne in the second. The track is possibly the album’s most inviting, offering somewhat lighthearted folk beauty while Ray suggests that people in the city could care less if you die. Oh, the irony. Other highlights include the banjo-led “Old Before Your Time” and the majestically composed title track.

While LaMontagne is to credit for these brilliantly written songs, it’s somewhat peculiar that the other half of the album sounds so similar to previous works of his as a man with only a guitar and a voice.

The prospect of Ray LaMontagne with a full time backing band gave fans endless ideas of how God Willin’ might sound. However, I doubt that many thought that it might sound a lot like when the “Pariah Dogs” wasn’t a part of the band’s primary name. Whether LaMontagne had trouble breaking from his penchant as dreary singer-songwriter, or maybe a halfway fleshed out album was released due to only five days in the studio, one can only hope that next time around he fully commits to the excellency of the Pariah Dogs as band members, not just players. That is, if you’re looking for something different from Ray LaMontagne.

To quote The Pet Shop Boys, "You're so flamboyant."

Released on June 28th (forgive me father, for I have sinned for not reviewing it earlier), Night Work explores the usual Scissor Sisters themes: Troubled youth, getting dressed in drag queen-like garb to go out, and sex (whether paid for or not). The quality that makes this particular endeavor stand out from The Scissor Sisters’ previous two albums is that Stuart Price was at the helm as producer. You may know his work from a fantastic record called Confessions on a Dance Floor or maybe you know him as Les Rythmes Digitales. And if you don’t, you probably don’t listen to The Scissor Sisters anyway.

Frontpeople Ana Matronic and Jake Shears

Price’s distinctive production style blends well with The Scissor Sisters’ glam rock/electronic sound. The marriage of these two tours de force (yes, that’s the plural of tour de force, like cul de sac is culs de sac) of gay electronic dance music will make you want to burst with sheer elation on the last track of the album, “Invisible Light.” The up and down bassline of “Any Which Way” is also classically Les Rythmes Digitales, as featured on most every track of the 1999 album, Dark Dancer.

From left to right: Randy Real, Babydaddy, Del Marquis, Jake Shears, and Ana Matronic

Night Work, though similar in many ways to The Scissor Sisters’ debut and sophomore albums, is a departure in the sense that it is purely an homage to just having fun, whereas their prior albums always had at least one “message” song on it (i.e. “It Can’t Come Quickly Enough,” a surprisingly non-sexual song from their first album, and the somewhat cheesy songs “Land of a Thousand Words” and “Everybody Wants the Same Thing” on Ta-Dah! The new album’s title alone, Night Work, winkingly suggests fun with its allusion to prostitution.

The oh so glam rock pair of scissors on every Scissor Sisters album

So, to the confused, the transsexual, the homosexual, the heterosexual, and even the asexual, Night Work guarantees everyone to have a good time on the dance floor. Courtesy of Stuart Price.

Sunn O))) – Death Becomes You

Off to the merry old land of Oz

Thirteen minutes of a sludge sounding riff, that’s all this song is. And yet it sounds so huge, dark, and brooding… it’s amazing that a few guitars can create this much fucking noise. Then there’s the finishing two minutes, with that absurdly rumbling bass and the odd way the track seems to collapse into itself – odd because there wasn’t really much going on to begin with, mainly. How this kind of music can actually sound good still baffles me.

Aphex Twin – Ventolin

Hello, in accordance with Megan's Law...

Leave it to Richard D. James to take such deliberately ear piercing noises, throw them together, and make a followable melody out of them. Yeah, it sounds like taking repeated sonic blows to the ear drums until they draw blood, but it’s strangely appealing; even stranger considering that the abrasiveness only gets worse as the track progresses…

Melt-Banana – Giggle on the Stretcher

Nyaaaahhhh

Contemporaries like the Locust or Boredoms cover a lot of the same ground this Japanese noise rock group does, but there’s a certain quirky personality to Melt-Banana, most of it courtesy of Yasuko Onuki’s vocals… er, shouts, and guitarist Agata’s wide array of effects pedals and tremendous creativity with the treatment of the sounds produced. Giggle is an early example of both at their finest.

Hour of Penance – Thousands of Christs

GRAAGGG WE'RE SO TOUGH

There are several death metal groups getting great acclaim this year; some understandable (Immolation) and some puzzling (Defeated Sanity), but Hour of Penance’s latest easily blows the competition out of the water. Not only is this unrelentingly brutal (and LOUD), but the incredibly tight structure is evident right away, and it even has what is probably the best quality a death metal record could have – you can actually tell the difference between the songs!

Venetian Snares – One Eye

Straight pimpin' mayhem, yo

Chopped up snare and bass drums, mangled guitars, spliced vocal samples, and fuck knows what else propel this pounding cacophony through its four minute length. Not only is it unforgivingly ear scraping to begin with, but Aaron Funk teases with the slightest traces of a melody in spots, before piling on even more confrontational noise to mask them.

Sonic Youth – Pacific Coast Highway

We're too cool for everything

Certainly no strangers to creating noisy (and at times in their earlier days, downright deranged) soundscapes, this cut off their 1987 album Sister shows everything that makes Sonic Youth so damn fun to listen to – that loud, creepy opening for instance, with Kim Gordon sounding as unsettling as ever, making lines like “Come on baby, just like that, you say,” sound far more frightening than they should.

Pig Destroyer – Boy Constrictor

CEREAL TASTES GOOOOOOOD!!!

This track carries more unreasonable rage in its minute running time than most songs can accomplish in five. Random injections of groove, instruments pounding in conjunction, and of course J.R. Hayes’ towering screams.. it’s no surprise that this band is such a huge favorite in the grindcore scene right now.

John Zorn – Demon Sanctuary

Mmm make luv 2 da rekkedz

However John Zorn got the idea to mix surf rock, grindcore, and jazz fusion is beyond me… but the the results are ingenious. The utterly insane gibberish being shouted over everything is the icing on the cake, and is pretty much guaranteed to get anybody in your vicinity to wonder just what the hell it is you’re listening to.

Boom Bip & Dose One – Questions Over Coffee

OH MY GOD WHAT DID YOU DO

DJ Bryan Hollon (also known for his part in the popular duo Neon Neon from a few years back) provides some seriously spacey, drugged out production to back up MC Adam Drucker’s borderline pretentious ramblings that frankly seem to drift in and out of any sort of  genuine sense, until the point where he bluntly admits that he’s making it all up as he goes along. “And it feels goooood.”

Ween – Mister Richard Smoker

Looks like they're HUNG OUT to DRY LULZ

No one has ever made such obnoxious music sound so appealing and… well, good. Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo Jr. have always been spectacular songwriters and musicians, and their country parody/tribute album, 12 Country Greats, was no exception. Some of the tracks feel like genuine (if a bit silly) takes on old country and western, but the songs like this feel as if they were made for the sole purpose of making people think “…what the fuck is this shit??”

Gotta Catch ‘Em All

The Pokeball is the standard method of catching Pokemon.

The basic premise of Pokemon is that you “Gotta catch ‘em all”. This, oddly enough, is the same premise with social networking. The more friends you have, the more people who like what you’re promoting, or the more people that comment on your status updates, the better. The more different types of people, mindsets, and backgrounds you have, the more likely it is that you will reach someone who understands you, wants what you are selling, or can provide assistance in a situation. Pokemon knew this before Myspace was even theorized.

The Pokedex

Now, you have lots of Pokemon, but that’s not very helpful without some form of organization. To combat this, Pokemon gave us something called a Pokedex. It has random bits of information about each of the Pokemon, such as their weight, size, and type. Myspace and Facebook have similar things called profiles. People fill out these profiles and say their age, professions, relationship status, likes, dislikes, etc. This allows you to know who you are targeting or which Pokemon to use in any given situation.

But you can only use six

Seriously, Magikarp does nothing.

Pokemon originally had 150 types of creatures that you could catch, but you were restricted to using six at any given time. Originally we thought that this was because the scope of the game would be obscene if you could use all 150 at once, but that wasn’t it at all. Pokemon was creating a top list. Social networking sites mirrored this later. Myspace, for example, originally allowed you to pick eight friends that would be listed as your top friends. Why would they do that? It seems like you’re just isolating all of your other Pokemon. But, it makes sense. Just as with your real life friends, experience is only gained when a Pokemon is used in battle, and you learn to trust, love, and depend on specific Pokemon. When you choose your six Pokemon, or your eight Myspace Pokemon, you’re really just saying that these are the friends you trust to fight for you. Sometimes, you change up the order because you hope that another Pokemon can become useful. Sometimes, your friends are just Magikarps (Pokemon #129)that refuse to evolve and can only use splash.

A metaphor for friendship

It’s not just a metaphor for social networking. It’s a metaphor for friendship. You should go out and catch ‘em all. Catch all the friends you can, because sometimes a lame Pokemon like Metapod will evolve into Butterfree, and then you win the game. Sometimes your worst enemies become your best friends. And sometimes, if you’re really lucky, one of your Pokemon will make you peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

Jamiroquai, the funk/soul/jazz/pop/dance/electronic/everything band that broke out into the mainstream world in 1997 with the song (and video) Virtual Insanity, just released their new single, White Knuckle Ride, the first single off of the group’s upcoming album Rock Dust Light Star, which is due out on November 10th.

Here’s the song:

Obviously, it’s the same sort of song Jamiroquai is famous for: an uptempo dance track with funky bass lines and electronic flourishes…and while it isn’t as immediately catchy as, say, Little L, Canned Heat, or Feels Just Like it Should, it’s still a bombastic new tune.

The band went back to the organic sound with this album, which was recorded at frontman/primary band member Jay Kay’s house in England, so this record has a chance to be a whirlwind of greatness.

As someone who saw the Virtual Insanity video every day all the time on MTV in the late 1990s and never stopped paying attention to the group, I’m pumped for the new album. Jamiroquai rocks.

This song is a great taste of things to come, and I hope the album finds a distributor here in the USA, or else I’ll be forking over a lot of clams for an import release….but we’ll see.

Of course, this song is decidedly different from most of Linkin Park’s output thus far into their career, for better or worse. This isn’t really a “rock” song, it’s more of an experimental/electronica type thing, but we’ll have to wait until September 14th to see if the rest of the record sounds like this….I hope it doesn’t, but that’s just me talking.

Either way, this is quite an artsy video, what with the smoke machines and jarring editing.