Review: Bell Gardens, Hangups Need Company

The Bell Gardens
Hangups Need Company EP
B

If you’re in the mood for something slow, sweet and hypnotic, you should definitely check out Bells Gardens’ new EP, Hangups Need Company. This EP includes some very pleasant and relaxing tunes, with lots of long, continuous melodies that seem to evoke that sort of beachy feeling of water or sunlight on your skin. It’s extremely easy to compare Bell Gardens to the Beach Boys; Hangups Need Company is like a 2000’s-era version of Pet Sounds with a bit more sadness thrown in. My only problem with the EP is the content of some of the more sad tracks. For example, “End of the World” is a little over the top – it involves a bit too much “boo hoo my girl doesn’t love me anymore” type whining. Otherwise, while this EP isn’t going to blow your mind, it would make a good soundtrack for a day of chilling out in the summer. Listening to it makes me want to lie on a nice, empty beach and relax. Check out the track “Can We Get” – that was my favorite.

-- Elena Solli

Review: Rachael Sage, Delancey Street

Rachael Sage

Delancey Street

C

I hate to take an artist down. Clearly Rachael Sage put a huge amount of effort and emotion and all that good stuff into her new album, Delancey Street. The songs express some nice sentiments about “The Choreography of Love” and “learning how to fly” and whatnot. I mean, we can all relate to the kinds of emotions she sings about; love, heartbreak, etc. My favorite part of the album is Sage’s cover of Hall and Oates’ “Rich Girl,” which is just a great song in the first place. Sage provides us with an interesting female perspective on this song. I suppose. I mean…I think. Alright…I give up. I hate this album, and I can’t think of anything nice to say about it anymore. This is the most boring album I have ever listened to. Every song sounds exactly the same. It sounds like a corny Lifetime movie…the kind you watch with your mom while eating ice cream out of the carton… the kind you wonder why you started watching it in the first place. It’s full of super boring, lite-fm-station-type crap. If you dig this kind of stuff…as in, if you dig the kind of music my mom probably listens to while knitting, then pick up this album. And by that I mean, don’t bother.

-- Elena Solli
Host, "Fun Dip and Cherry Coke," Thursdays 10 pm - 12 AM on WGTB

Review: Mar, The Silence

 Mar

The Silence

B 

 

If you want to get the full effect of this album, turn of all the lights in your room, maybe light a candle and listen to the whole thing in it’s entirety.  Because Mar’s The Silence is incredibly creepy and strange and Dark-Side-of-the-Moon-esque, and it deserves an appropriate listening setting.   Not going to lie, it kind of freaked me out a bit when I first started listening to it, but in a good way.  Mar’s sound is low and full of minor chords and extremely slow drum beats, and it’s kind of funky.  If you like Animal Collective or Pink Floyd, or if you’re just into weird experimental music in general, you would like this album.  Beware, though – there is a track called “Red Rum” (a reference to the movie The Shining), if that gives you any clue into its creepiness.  Mar is a collective of a bunch of different musicians hailing all the way from Arkansas to make you feel uncomfortable with their unsettling tunes, and they will probably succeed in doing so.  So sit back, put this album on in your tiny dorm room, and contemplate the awesome crazy things you can do with music if you’re willing to engage in a little experimentation....

 -- Elena Solli

Host, "Fun Dip and Cherry Coke," Thursdays 10 pm - 12 AM on WGTB

In-Studios This Week

We've got three KILLER in-studio performances and interviews this week, so make sure to tune in!

Wednesday April 7

The Spring Standards

2 pm

As our artist of the week, the Spring Standards have impressed us with their album and now grace us with their presence via the WGTB radiowaves. DJ Elena Solli hosts.

Saturday April 10

Toolshed Massacre

2 pm

On the heels of their newly released EP, the Pennsylvania rockers sit in for a Saturday afternoon session before their show at The Electric Maid in DC. DJ Caroline Klibanoff hosts.

Sunday April 11

CRAIG from CRAIGSLIST

10 pm

The actual, revolutionary Craig of Craigslist fame stops by SAXAppeal to chat with DJ Mike Hayes.
RSVP to the Facebook event here.

Review: Quakers on Probation, Every Living Thing

 Quakers on Probation

Every Living Thing

A

Quakers on Probation mix the perfect amount of cornyness and folksy guitar-based tunes to create an all-around enjoyable, relaxing album, entitled Every Living Thing. They sound kind of like the Beatles and/or John Lennon, circa 1965/the rubber soul era, but with a bit more folk thrown in. Some of the lyrics carry the kind of cheesy sentiments we’ve all sort of heard before, such as the line. “you used to like to throw stones at all the plastic people you said who lived in glass homes,” from the song “pay it forward.” When I first heard that, I thought, “gee, phony plastic people gettin’ ya down again, guys? Come on.” I wasn’t having it. But then, their chilled-out, raw tunes calmed me down and I realized that sometimes, there is a time and place for corn in this world. And Quakers on Probation seem to know how to do corn right. Plus, they balance it out with some of their more comical lyrics, such as the line from the same song, “pay it forward,” that discusses “heroes” who apparently “arose reincarnate in your madness and jumped through your cake, like ghosts singing ‘happy birthday fucker.’” What exactly does that mean? I’m not really sure, but I kinda dig it. Also, I would like to restate that the name of this band is Quakers on Probation, which is kind of an awesome band name. Oh and also, their photo on their myspace page features the Quaker Oats guy with a pirate’s eye patch. Just sayin’. They’re worth checking out.


-- Elena Solli

Host, "Fun Dip and Cherry Coke," Thursdays 10 pm - 12 AM on WGTB

Review: New Monarchs, Electrocaching

New Monarchs

Electrocaching

B

The exhaustive refrain featured in two of the songs off Electrocaching goes: “I am searching for a message in the electric sounds that are running through my head.” As I listened to this line as it was repeated over and over again, I couldn’t help but think, “gee, New Monarchs, me too, what exactly does your music mean?” It’s not that Electrocaching isn’t potentially enjoyable – if you like light, Postal Service-esque synthesized beats and melancholy lyrics, perhaps you’ll like the New Monarchs. However, the only message I could find between their electric sounds is that the New Monarchs are two sad guys from Minneapolis who like to play with synthesizers when they’re bored. In the song “Six or 12” they sing, “five years of spinning LPs at these parties and I’m still waiting,” as if to suggest that they are still waiting to find their collective voice. They seem to have good musical potential, but they haven’t yet created a strong enough sound that will set them apart from other electronic duos or bands. Each song off Electrocaching gives off too much of the same sound, and none of the songs seem to be able to stand on their own. Their best attempt, in my opinion, is the title song, Electrocaching, as it seems to be their most “catchy” song, however, the New Monarchs have yet to prove just how “Electro-ca[t]ching” they can be.

-- Elena Solli
Host, "Fun Dip and Cherry Coke," Thursdays 10 pm - 12 AM on WGTB