Living in Minnesota we spend much of our time commenting and complaining about the weather. Whether it be too hot or too cold, too dry or too rainy, we’ve got something to say about it. Appreciating the above-freezing temperatures, we try to spend as much time outside from April to October as we can.
BBQs, beaches, boats and baseball consume many during the sunny, summer days. Boarding (skateboarding), books and, for the first time this summer, beer brewing are a few of the ways I like to spend my time when the sun comes out.
To go along with these activities I like to put music on to set the tone of my activity. While summer is a time where the music scene is flooded with new releases, I want to put the spotlight on a few CDs that came out this month.
Motion City Soundtrack – “Go”
This is the fifth release from MCS and their first from their own record label The Boombox Generation, with help from Epitaph. With songs like Circuits and Wires and Box Elder that remind me of the earlier MCS style found on “I Am The Movie” and “Commit This to Memory” this CD has bobbing my head a lot. “Go” also has some down-tempo stuff reminiscent of “Even If It Kills Me” like the song Everyone Will Die. I like this CD, however I don’t like it as much as “My Dinosaur Life”. They managed to get all the quirky things that you like about MCS into this CD so you will not be disappointed if you’re a longtime fan.
Children 18:3 – “On The Run”
This is the third release from the home schooled, punk rock family, the Hostetters, on Tooth and Nail records. I have been seeing this band play at least once a year for the last seven years and I am never let down from their live performances. Listening to them on CD is good enough, but seeing them live really wins people over. I’ve only listened to this CD a couple of times so I haven’t formed a complete opinion on it yet but here’s a couple first impressions:
-It’s not as fast-paced and driving as their other CDs
-There are some songs that have neat hooks that draw me in.
-There is a drum solo at the end of track 4 that goes on for about 30 seconds and then track 5 starts up with a completely different tempo. They don’t bleed together at all. This has got me scratching my head a little. Seth is a very talented drummer and they probably wanted to show that off. But they did it in an odd way. The solo makes no sense within the flow of the record. Put it as a hidden track next time and it’ll make me less confused.
Mike Behrends – Lonely for Handsome
Mike released his second album of folk, americana rock. I call him Mike because I’ve got a good vibe with him. He starts it off with Texas Romance and I couldn’t be happier about his choice. It’s a great song with a nice pace. Mike is a talented lyricist who can tell a story song by song. Buy this record for a minimum $3 or pay more if you can appreciate good tunes from someone who came Albert Lea and did it right.
These are just the releases from the month of June that I looked forward to. There are going to be tons more of releases this summer and fall that I’ll be talking about a lot. Most noticeably is the Green Day three CD release and the new NOFX coming out sometime this fall.
Adios