Quick Hits

but this is not the case with Boomkat. Taryn’s style is part party rockin’ rap attempts, part I’m an independent grrrl, fear my roar, and part tired sex/relationship clichés. Some songs contain all three styles, rendering them directionless (er, rather, more so). The opening line from “The Wreckoning,” the album’s first single, goes, “I came, I saw, I kicked some ass/the pain I cause it makes me laugh...the way I do my thing is strange/I just inject myself into your vein.” With that voice and those lyrics, she’d better stay away from my bloodstream. The only bright spot (or at least not completely dark) is the song “Daydreamin’,” an ode to their deceased father, childhood, and general reminiscing. The lyrics are simple but sweet, and the track is fittingly dreamy.

A bad album is forgivable. What is not forgivable is comparing songs on that bad album to incomparable artists. Both Kellin and Taryn have done this, likening their music to that of Prince, Janet Jackson, even Motown and the Beatles. The only interesting aspect of this project is the tooclose-for-comfort (or legality) relationship the siblings seem to have. The incestuous undertones bubble over on their duet for the song “Crazy Love.”

Despite my overall dislike of Boomkatalog One, I do relate to some of the lyrics. When Taryn sings in “The Wreckoning,” “Things will come and things will go/one thing that I know for sure...you don’t give a shit about me/so I’m walking out the door,” all I can say is, “You go, girl!” —Mike Zapf

G LOSSARY: HOW WE HANDLE OUR MIDNIGHTS (Undertow)

CDs in our mailbox are always a reason for excitement, but the little package from Nashville put me over the top. Inside was the brand new CD from Glossary, How We Handle Our Midnights. Last year’s EP, Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts, was a true gem. It contained five songs that covered the wide and very difficult terrain of loss, want, desire, and struggle with grace and confidence. It stayed in the player for quite some time, and with each play, a little more nuance came to light.

On their new release (which features songs from DFAGH), lead singer and songwriter Joey Kneiser unspools songs with complex thoughts that are subtle and encompassing, as in “Remember Me Tomorrow Tonight,” where he plaintively sings: “Turn the radio up tonight, so I can watch you dance across the sky,/and open up the car doors wide, so the music can feel the night,/tomorrow if I run out of life, remember me how I was tonight,/just so scared, but still alive and that makes everything all right.” He writes superb songs about the loss of youth, dreams of escape, and the desire to climb up and out of the

T HE FLOATING CITY: KING BEAR, F RIGHTENED C HILD (self-released)

The first pressing of the Floating City’s EP is an elaborate affair, wrapped in red-inked wax paper and opening into a majestic pop-up of the title characters. The band has taken the local music scene by storm in the last year, impressing fans and critics alike with its dark, arsty sound.

Each of the five tracks here bears a myriad of moods with skilled instrumentation and beat fluctuations. “Violent Star” kicks off the disc in a funereal way before exploding in a mass of sounds a lá Sunny Day Real Estate as singer/ songwriter Gareth Schumacher finally proclaims, “You were born with the sun in your eyes.” “I’m Leaving” has an achingly slow beginning before swelling into a melange of sound; Schumacher’s voice rises to a scream to be heard over the din. “Say You’ll Stay” is a gently optimistic track, offering hope amid the despair.

Comparisons to Radiohead’s more somber material can certainly be made, though Schumacher’s voice is far flatter than Thom Yorke’s. Still, his vision is commendable and his lyrics equally poetic. (LH)

BRITTA PHILLIPS AND DEAN WAREHAM: L’A VVENTURA (Jetset Records)

The voices of Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips were first linked on the song “Mermaid Eyes” from Luna’s 2002 release, Romantica. Many people, myself included, wondered if there might be more to come from the pair. L’Avventurais the answer. The 11 songs feature their unique voices, both together and apart, on an album produced by Tony Visconti. Visconti, who has worked with a veritable “who’s who” of performers over the last 30 years, fills out the sparseness of their vocal styles with some truly inventive arrangements. The obvious reference of the CD is the music produced by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin in the late ’60s, and Phillips and Wareham fill the roles perfectly. Like that music, theirs is sly, silky, sexy, and very romantic. It reveals the ache of the heart and the foolishness that is passion.

Wareham’s voice has always been an acquired taste, but the selection of the material on this CD is well-suited. I especially liked “Moonshot,” the Buffy Saint-Marie song, which offers an expressiveness, somewhat buried in a cynical whine, that perfectly relays the song’s message. Two of Phillips’ solo efforts on the disk sound classic. “Out Walking” and “Your Baby” (both written by Phillips) have a retro sheen that makes them timeless. I could have lived without hearing “Random Rules” and “Indian Summer” (both covers), but they do no harm to this great album for summer lovers. (JD)

SEVENSTAR: SUPERSTARWRAPAROUND (self-released)

Though their demo disc was recorded in lead singer Grant Essig’s bedroom, the lack of production did not detract fro the essential truth—the band has talent and a sound all its own. Superstarwrap-around, a six-song EP, moves the band ahead in quality of production and musical direction without diluting the band’s charisma one bit.

The pop songs SevenStar make do not stray far from themes we are more than used to: love, love lost, chicks, etc. They are solid, and Essig delivers them in the breathy voice of someone relating a story from the next barstool—calm, but always on the verge of excitement. The other members of the very cohesive band include Jaclyn Mayer (bass), Jeremiah Miller (drums), and Dustin Keller (acoustic guitar). Keller’s playing, espeically on the standout track "Blue," is essential to the band’s fluid and promising sound.

Superstarwraparound (produced solidly by Jason McEntire and Essig) is a great move forward for the band. But to fully appreciate SevenStar, you still have to see them live. Their performances are much looser and more fun. The band members enjoy themselves and you will, too. When this project expands to a full-length, I hope more of that fun makes it in to the “professional” mix. (JD)

T OMAHAWK: M IT GAS (Ipecac Records)

On a trip one night through the back roads of Missouri, I came across some strange creatures sitting in the bars and alongside those roads. I remember drinking with these people I came to call hill folks. As I got back into my car, I shoved in the selftitled first release by Tomahawk and stepped on the gas to find my way back to civilization.

After listening to the Mit Gas, the newest release by Tomahawk, I get the feeling that Mike Patton has been down this same road and is not afraid to take listeners down it also. It is a place where half-breeds and incest are the norm. I am not sure if Patton is trying to scare the fuck out of his listeners or just wake them up to the real freaks that inhabit our lands.

On this second release, Tomahawk operates more as a cohesive force that is not afraid to further expand the parameters of metal. The aggression that this creature spews forth on tracks like “Mayday” and “Rotgut” is enough to turn most posers running for their mommies. Ending the CD is the combative and melodic “Aktion 13F14,” which instructs the listener on the basic principles of hand-to-hand combat as the band judiciously marches you forward until the time comes and you must release all your built-up tension on the unwilling victim. (RE)

WYDOWN: ROCK ENDS (self-released)

“Welcome to a spirited rock odyssey,” it says on the sleeve of Wydown’s EP, a statement that, I have to say, is pretty accurate. There is a range of emotions that these seven songs seem to come from, as well as some interesting instrumentation. String arrangements are used throughout