What I’m Listening To: The Alarmists, The Ghost And The Hired Gun

• Artist website: www.thealarmistsband.com
• Listen at: www.myspace.com/thealarmists
• Available on: Amazon MP3, eMusic

The Ghost And The Hired Gun is the debut full-length album from Minneapolis five-piece outfit The Alarmists. It’s another album I downloaded off eMusic based on nothing but a title (one of these days I’m going to get burned doing that), because seriously, how cool is that album title?

I’ve been listening to this album and trying to write this review for a couple months now. I got stuck, though, because I couldn’t figure out what it reminds me of. And after pouring over my music collection for weeks, I’ve figured it out. I couldn’t nail the sound because what this album conjures for me isn’t another band, it’s a movie. If Quentin Tarantino had been looking for an album that he could lift straight into Kill Bill without having to change a thing, it would be The Ghost And The Hired Gun. There’s a spaghetti-western twang to the whole album, which is otherwise solid indie-rock, that is brilliantly executed. The sound is lush, guitar-based and embroidered with surprisingly prominent keyboards. The vocals are quiet and laid-back and lead singer Eric Lovald’s delivery is at times almost delicate, though the sound is a little too complicated to achieve true fragility. The lyrics are wonderfully complex, a little obscure but not so much that the band loses its immediacy.

Standout tracks are “Hired Gun,” “The Places I’m From” and “Ghost.”

What I’m Listening To: Warm in the Wake, American Prehistoric

• Artist website: www.warminthewake.com
• Listen at: www.myspace.com/warminthewake
• Available on: Amazon MP3, eMusic

I picked up American Prehistoric at eMusic, without previewing a single song. All I needed was one look at the track listing. Any album with a song named for Joseph Campbell was destined to end up on this site.

I’m glad I went for the impulse-download, because I’m not sure I would have been sold on the album after a preview. Warm in the Wake’s sound is a little further into the alt-country spectrum than I usually enjoy. The country influences on American Prehistoric, though, are brilliantly balanced by an indie-pop feel, ala Eisley or The Silversun Pickups. All three groups use the same dreamy vocals threaded through lush, complex music. Lead singer Christopher Rowell’s delivery is a delicate croon embroidered by a wonderful range of instruments, particularly jazz-inspired keyboards. On American Prehistoric, Warm in the Wake have constructed an extended metaphor comparing the U.S. to the Roman Empire, but this is the kind of concept album where you have to know in advance what the concept is or you won’t pick up on it. I went looking because the lyrics are a bit obscure, but delightfully intelligent and cleverly constructed.

Standout tracks are “Pawn Shop Heart,” “Devil With A Fist” and “DNA.”

What I’m Listening To: Love In October, Pontus, The Devil, and Me

• Artist website: www.loveinoctober.com
• Listen at: www.myspace.com/loveinoctober
• Available on: CD Baby

I discovered Love In October back in January when they were Spin.com’s Artist of the Day. I like to check in with Spin.com, but don’t often adore their recommendations. So when I first listened to “Petrula the Destroyer” I added the band to my list of artists to watch and moved on. A month after grabbing Pontus, The Devil, and Me, though, I’m totally obsessed.

Love in October has the same kind of musical schizophrenia as Say Anything, but instead of emo-alternative, Love in October plays power-indie-pop. The band was founded by brothers Erik and Kent Widman, who are originally from Sweden, something you’ll need to know when you get to “Vi Går till Stranden” and realize you can’t understand it. Unless you’re Swedish. Then you’ll be fine.

Pontus, The Devil, and Me is remarkably cohesive, something the band acheives by infusing each song with a playful optimism. Lead singer Kent Widman’s vocals wander up and down the intensity scale from earnest and delicate (“Song 11″) to strident and growly (An Average Idea”). The lyrics are conversational, ala Motion City Soundtrack, but Love In October’s sound is much more pop inspired.

I had a hard time picking standout tracks, because every song is so different. I seem to play “Find Me Sunshine,” “Method To Madness,” and “An Average Idea” over and over, so start with those.

No album review today, sorry.

As previously noted, I have the flu from hell and can’t muster enthusiasm for anything other than going back to bed. I can’t even turn this into an amusing rant, and I was going to try. I’ll be back tomorrow, I promise.

What You’re Listening To: February 17 – 23, 2008

This week’s most viewed albums are:

• Lorene Drive, Out Alive
• The Gay Blades, Ghosts
• The Meadows, First Nervous Breakdown (tie)
• Weatherbox, American Art (tie)
• Them Terribles, Rock, Paper, Terribles (tie)