15. Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain NationRating: 9.1
Like the men in every generation, the men in my generation are at that point in their lives when they start to wonder, what was life like for dad at my age? It's apparent by all the mustaches and beards hiding the maturing faces of young twenty somethings. And just like facial hair, we start trying to recreate our fathers music in our own image. For a generation whose fathers were raised on Skynard, ZZ Top, and Golden Earring, comes the Southern Rock revival. Like My Morning Jacket and Oakley Hall, Blitzen Trapper have created a truly unique Southern sound. Wild Mountain Nation borrows from a wide range of music and adds a touch of southern spice to every track on the album. There is even an occasional Mexican styling, I mean how far south must you go. 'Devil A Go-Go' is 70's New York glam refashioned through a convulsing rock and roll mariachi band. 'Wild Mountain Nation' is a call to arms for everyone in the new Southern Rock revival. "The wild mountain nation's risin' up and goin' home." Swampy metal lurches through 'Miss Spiritual Tramp', as lead singer Eric Early tramps it up. Blitzen Trapper is a cross dresser who was raised in a small southern town, population 503. Interesting enough these kids are from the Northwest, so maybe it's the sound of a Northwestern cross dresser playing dirty redneck for your entertainment. Either way it's truly fantastic. It's confused, it's distorted, and it's truly unique. Join the Wild Mountain Nation and jump on this country caravan, it'll carry you to salvation.
14. Interpol - Our Love to AdmireRating: 9.2
So here is the thing about Our Love to Admire...I love it. When I first heard the new Interpol I was psyched as all hell, but then it fell off. Interpol will be hard pressed to ever top Turn on the Bright Lights, but Our Love to Admire is easily equal to Antics. The problem that faces Our Love to Admire is that it, simply put, weighs to much. Musically and lyrically it wraps its arms and legs around you and just hangs from you like dead weight. 'No I in Threesome' is fantastic, but often feels like the museum exhibit on albums cover. It's muted excitement, blunted reality, life posed to death. 'All Fired Up' opens with the best Pearl Jam riff I've heard in years, and it's clearly Interpol's ass kickin' reach for the airwaves. 'Rest Your Chemistry' is rock and roll hedonism at its finest and most ambiguous. Paul Banks confesses, 'I live my life in cocaine, Just a rage and three kinds of yes. And I've made stairways, Such scenes for things that I regret.' The entire album is fundamental Interpol in basically every aspect, but who can fault them for that. One fault maybe that some sections faintly smell of Coldplay or some Interpol impostor. In the end Our Love to Admire is pure Interpol, unapologetically, and it rocks for that simple reason.
13. Spoon - GaGaGaGaGaRating: 9.1
Spoon killed it on Girls Can Tell, but got a little lost over the next few releases. Each was fantastic in its own right, and each contained hints that Spoon knew the way back. GaGaGaGaGa proves they did leave a crumb trail, and needless to say Spoon finally cashes in on six years of promise.GaGaGaGaGa stands as the missing link between the bouncy grooves of Girls and the experiments of Kill the Midnight. Right out of the gate Spoon finds that jumping beat with 'Don't Make Me a Target' and it's clear that Spoon have found their groove again. To keep you on your toes, however, Spoon follows that ecstasy with 'The Ghost of You Lingers' which threatens to take GaGaGaGaGa back to experimental free-for-alls. The ghosts pass on to the next realm and 'You Got Yr Cherry Bomb' makes its case for song of the year. The horn section is monstrous and blaring. The song is bouncy and funny, and Britt Daniels growls a sort of sweetness into each phrase. It's dirty in a 60's beach party movie kind of way. 'Don't You Evah' is the kinder, gentler cousin of Girls' 'Believing is Art'. 'My Little Japanese Cigarette Case' continues 2007's obsession with coke (fucking 80's revival). 'Cigarette Case' and 'The Underdog' suggest a heavy influence from Oasis circa Be Here Now (top five most underrated albums ever). When Spoon is on, there is no one in the business who can groove through a rock and roll song like they can. GaGaGaGaGa is no exception, and may be their most intimate to boot. The groove Spoon finds, makes you feel like you are sitting around the studio watching them smile at one another in recognition of their rockingness. It's magic and you need some in your life.
12. David Vandervelde - The Moonstation House BandRating: 9.2
If you ever pulled up beside me and I was singing 'No Nothin' off David Vandervelde's magnificent The Moonstation House Band, you probably laughed your ass off. May hands were flailing and the veins were bulging from my neck. I was on stage and I meant every word I sang. Vandervelde is an amazingly under appreciated artist, and I'm still bamboozled by his continued obscurity. 'Jacket' is sleazy and classic at the same time, equal parts T Rex and 50's rockabilly. Songs that he performed last year for Daytrotter, such as 'Feet of a Liar', are expanded and bloom into beautiful spacey drum circle ballads. 'Murder in Michigan' is a strange campfire sing song that uses open cord strumming to showcase layers and layers of Vandervelde's mascuangelic voice. 'Can't See Your Face No More' channels Tyrannosaurus Rex and is a folk gallop through a trippy fantastic land. The Moonstation House Band never reaches the pinnacle that Vandervelde reached with 'Cocksucker Blues' at Daytrotter, but it does display an up and coming artist that isn't afraid to go it alone.
11. Justice - †Rating: 9
There is a swagger that surrounds this debut album from Justice that almost suggests that they may have already considered themselves the crowned princes of electronic music even before recording †. Well if the crown fits, strut it. And like Travolta showing off a brand new white leisure suit, † struts down the street turning heads as it passes. 'D.A.N.C.E' (and its 15-thousand remixes) is a classic electro song on par with 'Smack My Bitch Up' and 'Block Rockin' Beats'. Justice sound industrial, and some how disco all in the same distorted synth-organ blast. 'Phantoms Pt.1' skips and stutters through a furious squall of distortion screams and pitch changes. Just when you think the pummeling is over, 'Phantoms Pt. II' drowns you in white noise before the bass breathes life back into your lifeless body with the help from some piercing strings. Somewhere Trent Reznor is listening to 'Water of Nazareth' and wondering why NIN didn't hang it up years ago. Uffie swings through on 'The Party', and you quickly remember that Justice and the gang over at Ed Banger are blazing a bright new trail through electronic music. Theirs is a distinct sound that is already being distinctly ripped off everywhere you look.
10. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the DestroyerRating: 9
It took everything in me not to put this album on my 2006 Top Albums lists. Sure it wasn't released in 2006, and in fact didn't even hit shelves until January 23, 2007. This being the digital age and all, lets just say I was rocking Hissing Fauna in like September of 06. Had Hissing Fauna actually been released in September it would have been my Number #1 album of 2006. Of Montreal finds itself at 10 in 2007 for two reasons: (a) to me Hissing Fauna is still so 2006, and (b) 2007 was a far better year for music. 'Suffer For Fashion' kicks off Hissing Fauna's grand gala with bulging bass, galloping synths, screaming synths, and garage/noise rock riffs. Seeing Of Montreal play 'Suffer for Fashion' outside in 100 degree weather in front of thousands of dumbasses dressed in stylish all black outfits is one of my most prized live music memories ever. (Pitchfork Festival = the most beautifully pretentious festival this side the Mississippi!) Of Montreal has pieced together one dark party mixtape, and if the rhythm section wasn't having the time of its life Hissing Fauna would do nothing but make you cry. Instead, songs like 'Cato' and 'Chemicals' tackle mental stability and the effects of drugs on that stability with a discotronic fantasy. 'Reject the Frequency' will get you on the dance-floor and screaming the chorus right along, but you'll ignore the denial and fear in the lyrics. The crown jewel of the whole big flamboyant show is 'She's A Rejector'. When Kevin Barnes screams, "OH NO! SHE'S A REJECTOR! I must protect myself! There's that left me bitter! Want to pay some other girl to just walk up to her and hit her!" several faces flash through my mind. Two-thirds way through the song Barnes feels he's made his point and lets the band deliver the rest of the message through walls of crushing synths, drums, and guitars. All the while the bass dances all over the song making the whole damn release an unstoppable dance. Of Montreal is the craziest live act going right now, that is if you are comfortable enough to watch a man in women's panties sing you some gloriously queer songs. No man has controlled the stage in so little in a long time, and all the while his band and random crazy friends wander around the stage doing whatever they please for you audio and visual pleasure. Oh, and did I mention the follow up is supposed to come in early 2008. Of Montreal are having a ball and can't stop, but if you listen closer you'll wonder if they just keep going so that the darkness can't catch up.
9. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even SankRating: 9.2
From the very beginning of We Were Dead, when Issac Brock gives that first crazy maniacal laugh, "Haha ha oh haha.." you know you are in for it. There is simply a pure sinister ambiance that shapes every Modest Mouse release. We Were Dead is no exception, it's an underwater morgue, a claustrophobic ship's quarters, a raving pirate captain sailing a ship bound for hell. The sheer insanity in Brock's voice is a marvel and begs the question, is it just his voice? Even at its most poppy ('Florida'), We Were Dead seems to have an ever growing maddening to it. When 'Spitting Venom' errupts in the middle and the guitars tear through the speakers, its a release that has been building for nearly the entire album. It's the furry of a mad man screaming in the middle of the street with the conviction of a brimstone pastor, anger and tears fill his eyes. Veins in his neck and trembling hands bulge and throb. He's been hurt and is lashing out in a last ditch effort to be saved. Then the fire is turned off and the boil falls to a simmer, bouncy and bubbly with horns to welcome the return to sanity. Modest Mouse are quietly leaving behind quite a prolific catalogue and may just have secured their place as the foremost indie band in this new indie explosion.
8. Daytrotter SessionsRating: 9.1
Okay, so it's not an album, but rather a website, but this website alone made the Internet worth existing this year. Everyone who's on the come up in Indie music came up through Future Appletree Studios and laid down some of the most flawless and intimate live recordings in decades. The Snake The Cross The Crowns' 'Behold the River' feels lost in the lazy river of a water park the day after your girlfriend leaves you. The National do 'Gospel' better on Daytrotter than Boxer. The Comas trudge through 'Red Microphones' at SXSW as if the song itself is eager to get out of Austin. 'A Death, A Proclamation' by Phosphorescent sounds as if it brought everything, including the clock, in Future Appletree Studio to an awe inspired stop when he played it. Daytrotter is free, educational, and adds new, free, live in studio recordings three time a week. If you don't check it you'll never know what you're missing. Everything is archived so you can download every track ever released. I highly recommend you do just that, than hit shuffle and let it play.
7. M.I.A. - KalaRating: 9
First, off let me get this off my chest. Kala would be hands down the best album of the year if M.I.A. would have just not included one song, just one! 'Jimmy' is one of the worst songs I've heard in so so many years, and it makes me furious! Eurotrash does not suit M.I.A., and it's inclusion on Kala is ridiculous if you've heard the bonus songs on the UK version. Could 'Jimmy' not have been replaced with one of them in the name of making Kala one of the finest hip hop albums ever (Seriously, the bonus UK tracks, 'Far Far', 'Big Branch' and 'What I Got' are killer.)...Wait, I've already spent too much time on my least favorite song of the year. On to the fantastic, or as I like to call it the other eleven songs of Kala. M.I.A. stepped up her game for the follow up to her last hip hop earthquake, Arular. From the Modern Lovers (or whoever sang the "roadrunner roadrunner" hook first) opening of 'Bamboo Banger' to the highly underrated Timbo cut at the end, Kala is the next frontier in hip hop. The rolling drums of 'Bird Flu' with its squawks, tribal chants, and BASS is the most amazing new sound in dance. You serious have to stand back, look at the stereo and go, "What!?!?!" The real highlights are the bangers in the middle 'World Town' and 'The Turn'. 'World Town' boasts the sickest beats and hand claps in all of hip hop this year, and the hook is a militant anthem that gives Zach de la Rocha a chubby. 'The Turn' is a slow burn jam that is just as groovy as it is hard or trippy. Unlike Dirty South trunk rattlers, M.I.A. uses the lo-end bass for more than just pissing off neighbours. The lo-end on Kala will shake everything in ear shot, but in some of the most complex and unique ways you'll ever hear. The guest spots on Kala are amazing, and in some cases the brightest spot on the track. The 9 year olds of The Wilcannia Mob make the didgeridoo jam 'Mango Pickle Down River' a thugish jump rope rhyme about fishing. Timbaland's beat on 'Come Around' is his finest not-a-Timberlake-beat in sometime, but it's the way his techno-rasp and M.I.A.'s slurred chant-and-sing flow style seem destined for one another that make the track stand out. After M.I.A. gets you all worked up through first third of the song, Timbaland comes through and lays down the law. When Timbo finally spits "I'ma gonna tell you the truth. Timbaland I'm the muh...tha..fuck..in man!", Kala is nearly over and you realize you just got through the newest hip hop classic sure to take its place musically (though not populist) among the greats like The Blueprint and The Cronic. Well it would have been, had in not been for that fucking 'Jimmy'.
6. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - MagicRating: 9.3
Look I'll be honest, I love Springsteen. Basically everything the man has ever touched is amazing (though by no means all of it). Lately, he's had a hitch in his step and the E Street Band is eager keep up. Magic succeeds everywhere The Rising failed. Magic is polished, but not overtly studioed up. It's not a patriotic salute to flags, American heroes, and Uncle Sam; it's a patriotic middle finger. Bruce wants America's real heroes home, and he'll show you the bodies to prove it's about time ('Last to Die'). He wants Uncle Sam to give us our rights back. Oh, and did I mention the E Street Band is on fire and they'll burn the entire place to the ground before you can even begin to put them out. 'Livin' In the Future' should be blasted across every radio station across the entire country the entire month of July. Oh, and did I mention the E Street Band are an indestructible tank than simply rolls over anything that gets in their way. 'Terry's Song' is a breath-taking anthem of brotherhood in the familial sense. Oh, and did I mention there is absolutely no band that can touch the E Street Band on this planet, or universe for that matter. Seriously, the E Street Band is a well oiled machine that are so flawlessly tight that they actually sound authentic again for the first time in a decade. Max is a god, Clarence is a god, Patti a goddess, Stevie a god, Bruce a god, and on down the line. Prays be to thee, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, prays be to thee.
5. Iron + Wine - The Shepard's DogRating: 9.4
Two factors made Iron and Wine's mutation from acoustic folk troubadour to eclectic folk experimenter a fantastic success. First, is the amount of time Sam Beam spent with Calexico during the recording of In Reigns and the subsequent tour that followed. Second, is that Beam must have been listening to a lot of Califone lately. The influence of both amazing bands is evident throughout the whole of The Shepard's Dog. You find Calexico in the Tex-Mex steel guitar and Califone in the complex beats that depend more on random percussion than they do on actual drums. The Shepard's Dog places Iron and Wine among the heavyweights of folk music because it proves there is no pigeon holing their sound. Lyrically and vocally, The Shepard's Dog is pure Iron and Wine with its poetic lyrics and hashed delivery. Musically, The Shepard's Dog finds Iron and Wine's sound pallet expanding exponentially. 'White Tooth Man' sounds as if there are 30 instruments going at the same time, while all the while Beam and the slide guitar tear through mood and imagery like they are fighting for air. 'House by the Sea' has a hint of African Jùjú, but what puts the song over the top is Beam's lyrics about jealous sisters and oceans. "There's a house by the sea, and an ocean between it and me. And like the shape of a wave, two jealous sisters will sing on my grave." The song ends in a distortion and percussion freakout before giving way to the island sounds of 'Innocent Bones'. 'Boy With A Coin' is the hand clap anthem of the year, and would fit oddly on a Christian rock compilation. Its lyrics find the beauty of God in the most mundane and tragic incidents in life. Iron and Wine even finds an old west juke joint groove on 'The Devil Never Sleeps', which comes and goes like a locomotive through Indian country. 'Resurrection Fern' is classic Iron and Wine and it brings a tear to your eye. It's a southern love song that's more about southern life than southern love. Three proper albums in and Iron and Wine has yet to miss a step, and Sam Beam has made himself frontrunner for best songwriter of his generation. The Shepard's Dog is fantastic because it flies in the face of everything that made Iron and Wine popular following the OC and Garden State. Maybe The Shepard's Dog will weed out the real fans again, and I can go to a show without hearing some asshole yell, "Play 'Such Great Heights'!".
4. Radiohead - In RainbowsRating: 9.5
What can I say? I mean really, it's Radiohead. I've never had the fantastic privilege to write a review for the band that has made me the music listener that I am. What's more is In Rainbows is one of Radiohead's finest moments. From the outset, '15 Steps' pulls you back into the realm of Radiohead and you remember why that's the place you've always retreated to for so long. It's warm, it's dark, and it's flawless. The glitch beat dances with the drums and bass. Thom Yorke croons as Thom Yorke does, and the music is unmistakably Radiohead. Then comes 'Bodysnatchers' and the dirtiest riff to be recorded in many a year. Radiohead is first and foremost a rock band and 'Bodysnatchers' leaves no one in the room questioning that fact. 'Nude' sounds like an OK Computer single b-side that some how hid out for 10 years. It's atmospheric, it's paranoid, and it has a guitar tone that I once thought Radiohead had purposefully forgotten. The layers of guitar on 'Weird Fishes/Arpeggi' beg the question that most Radiohead songs warrant, and that question is "How in the world could they ever do that live?" (To find out watch Scotch Mist.) Half way through the track the guitars all but disappear, and Radiohead really get going with an ambient freakout matched by none. Amazingly, Thom Yorke even finds time to sing about love, and on 'All I Need' proves there is nothing like a Radiohead love song. Love has never sounded so ominous and there is a scary feel to the sound that matches the fear love induces. 'Faust Arp' is acoustic Radiohead that is usually saved solely for live performances. 'Faust Arp' shows that pretty acoustic songs can fit right in the middle of the epic sounds of a Radiohead album. However, there is no time wasted in getting back to a huge sound as the drums of 'Reckoner', which sound like they were recorded in a dark cave, pound through the quite ambiance left by 'Faust Arp'. If I had to pick a low point on In Rainbows it would be 'House of Cards', and the only negative thing I can say about it is that it sounds like a My Morning Jacket song from Z. 'House of Cards' is amazing none the less, as Yorke and crew echo a slow groove gondola ride through a tunnel. As they exit the tunnel Radiohead hit 'Jigsaw Falling Into Place' and it instantly feels like the late 90's again. 'Jigsaw' is the most old school Radiohead song they have made in this decade, and suggests that their sound is coming full circle finally. To close it all Radiohead keep it simple with the piano driven 'Videotape'. Beautiful is the only word that can describe 'Videotape', just pure, simple beauty. Lyrically it may be the saddest song in Radiohead's catalogue, with lyrics like "When I am at the pearly gates this will be on my videotape' and 'You are my center when I spin away, out of control on videotape'. In Rainbows is in my opinion Radiohead's third best album ever, behind OK Computer and The Bends. In addition, In Rainbows may very well have cemented Radiohead position as the most important band of two decades. Not many bands can say that, and that says a lot about both Radiohead and current state of music.
3. Okkervil River - The Stage NamesRating:9.3
The Stage Names is the most rock n' roll album of the year. Want proof? It's a rock n' roll album, about rock n' roll and rock n' roll's favorite mistress, love. "You can't hold the hand of a rock n' roll man..." is the message Okkervil River is trying to convey from start to finish on The Stage Names. I wouldn't call it a concept album, but rather a novel album. Look at the liner notes and the lyrics are full, punctuated sentences. Each song adds another chapter of details and abstract observations of the environment and characters. Press play and listen to the struggle for connection in the glare of the stage lights. 'Unless it Kicks' is a steamroller of a song, that goes goes goes with no sign of slowing. Then it's,
"What breaks this heart the most is the ghost of some rock and roll fan, floating up from the stands with her heart opened up. And I want to tell her, 'your love isn't lost', and say 'my heart is still crossed!' I want to scream, 'hey, you're so wonderful! What a dream in the dark--about working so hard, about glowing, so stoned, trying not to turn off, trying not to believe in the lie all on your own.'"
You can see the smoke in the spotlight and feel the pain of longing sung from the stage. 'Plus One' is a send up of the groupie in the corner. The Stage Names is simple American rock in the vein of the Band and the Counting Crows, but what makes The Stage Names stand out is it ability to take an American sound and make an American movie. The Stage Names is the best rock and roll movie never made. 'Our Live is Not a Movie or Maybe' sets this movie feel from the opening of the album. The Stage Names even has an already written sequel (see number 22). On several tracks Okkervil adds to the sense that this is an album about rock n roll by swiping song structures and lyrics directly from classic rock pieces. 'John Allyn Smith Sails' transforms from an Okkervil song to the Beach Boys 'Sloop John B' somewhere in the middle. Even stealing the musical structure and lyrical melody. What was once "So hoist up the John B sail, see how the main sail sets, call for the captain ashore 'let me go home'. I feel so broke up I want to go home." for Beach Boys is now "So hoist up the John B sail, see how the main sail sets. I've folded my heart in my head and I wanna go home." for Okkervil. The effect of the lyrics, the music, and the over all story concept is amazing, thought provoking, and heart shredding. Okkervil River is yet another band who has a few albums under their belt now that make you start to wonder...what could happen next?
2. Arcade Fire - Neon BibleRating: 9.4
The sheer scale of Neon Bible is awe inspiring. No album in 2007 dared to be this grandiose and epic on every single track and in turn as a whole. The sound is epic, the lyrics are epic, and the subject matter is epic. Neon Bible is the post 9-11 OK Computer in that it is a paranoid case study of society in this terror stricken time. 'Black Mirror' sounds like it is always looking over it shoulder for security cameras capturing every step it takes. The title track is one of the finest songs to appear in 2007 and stands as a sort of criticism to the apocalyptic religious zeal that took hold of the world when terror became the driving force of every decision. 'There's not much hope for survival if the Neon Bible is true." The organs on 'Intervention' make the entire song seem huge and larger than life. Lyrically Win Butler uses 'Intervention' to put this new age religious war/crusade under the magnifying glass. "I don't want fight. I don't want to die. I just want to hear you cry." 'The Well and the Lighthouse' feels like two different songs, with the first half standing as a churning exercise in rock and the second half as a baptismal sing song of resurrection. '(Antichrist Television Blues)' is the most blatant post 9-11 fear anthem on Neon Bible, and Butler sings of how "Planes keep crashing always two by two" and pleading "Dear God I'm a good Christian man." The song itself is upbeat and driving, slowing only for the bridge before reemerging in full force. Arcade Fire ends Neon Bible on a more personal note with 'My Body is a Cage'. It starts slow and quite, a sort of soul song about fear of love and commitment. Throughout the song there is a slow and steady build toward a closing that is as huge and epic as anything on the album. The drum plots along as the organ, horns, strings and ambiance grows and grows to a breaking point that brings Neon Bible to a close that is dark and mythic. Neon Bible is a concept album that aims to understand how the future leaders of this great world view the current state of the world. Want to know how it feels physically, psychologically, and socially to be a twenty something who came into the real world just as it was being torn apart, listen to Neon Bible. No other band has tackled the issues Arcade Fire does on Neon Bible so accurately and beautifully. Neon Bible is a classic album that will be remember for a long time to come if for no other reason than it is an amazing time capsule of a horrifying period in time.
1. Menomena - Friend and FoeRating: 9.5
Once in a blue moon a band you've never heard of comes around that blows your mind in ways you never thought possible. It's been sometime since that had happened to me, and then enter Menomena and Friend and Foe. Friend and Foe is one of the most amazing albums I've ever heard and is the most surprising release I heard all year. Friend and Foe dropped quietly in late January and I paid it no attention whatsoever until May when they were announced as performers at the Pitchfork Music Festival. My biggest regret of 2007 is that I didn't hear Friend and Foe at the beginning of the year because I don't understand how I went so long in 2007 with out having it in my life. It is impossible to explain Friend or Foe, and I'm almost tempted not to type a single word for fear of doing injustice. From the opening track 'Muscle n' Flow', it is evident that Menomena play by no rules. The drums pound, the guitars are disjointed, and the vocals flow between light to furious with each passing second. When Menomena reach the freakout in the middle of the song they let it all hang out. The guitar says fuck the beat, and the beat says fuck the guitar and both shred through the rest of the song independent of one another. Then comes 'The Pelican', the most amazing indie Ozzy song ever written. The bling-bloom of the piano is countered by sinister vocals until a guitar busts in and tears the entire house down. From that point on, when Justin Harris forcefully yells "Take It!", it's a marching rock and roll jam full of distortion and disorganization. 'Wet and Rusting' brings the electronics to the forefront, and comes to the realization that "It's hard to take risks with a pessimist." It could be argued that the star of the whole show is drummer Danny Seim who unveils abstract rhythms that play with one another more than with the actual music. Each song sounds like a different band and each song is absolutely amazing. 'Air Raid' is all drums, bass, and saxophone that bounce off one another before smashing together only to pull apart again. 'Weird' is synth heaven, and feels like two lovers fighting over who is the coolest. Oh and then comes the saxophone, which tends to be the most unexpected and most appreciated instrument on the entire album. The places Harris decides to add the baritone add new dimensions to each song it is featured in. The high mark of Friend and Foe comes in the middle of 'Rotten Hell'. The song is basically a kiss off to all the haters of nothing in particular, but rather haters of anything. After a few weird piano driven minutes the song stumbles into an even weirder chant buzz bass drums trance before reaching a choral "Ahhhhhhh!' As the last h slips from the chorus' mouth the song explodes, and with conviction Harris lets loose my favorite lyrics of the year:
"Well it's high time we stepped outside, drop the gloves and settle this like a man. Well we might stomp and hem and haw, we might not fight but we won't walk away. No we won't walk away."
'Running' is a Sesame Street song on acid, and the track itself sounds like it is running from the demon voices in the background. Wishing an enemy dead has never sounded as good as on 'My My'. It could be argued that this track is a blatant Flaming Lips rip off, but then you would be giving the Lips more credit than they deserve. Many times Friend and Foe feels like a Flaming Lips record, but I'm telling you it's better. Where the Flaming Lips sound weird because they want you to think they themselves are weird, Menomena sounds weird because their music itself is weird. Friend and Foe is the most unique album in a year when several bands found their own unique sound. The whistle track on 'Boyscoutin' really sounds like a clan of boyscouts backpacking through a Disney movie forest. 'Evil Bee' could be a Radiohead song with its lyrics about "Oh to be a machine, Oh to be want, Oh to be useful." The vocals on Friend and Foe are a group effort with each of the three members taking their time at the mic. On songs like 'Ghostship' you get to see just how these three distinctly different voices can mesh to make one strange harmony. "Between the skin and bones is where the West was won," is a line keyboardist Brent Knopf repeats throughout 'West' and stands as a perfect example of how Menomena can say nothing at all and still make it seem important and powerful. Friend and Foe is flawless from start to finish. It leaves you guessing and in sheer awe. If you know me, you know there is no band that I have talked about more this year than Menomena (not even Radiohead). The reason is that no one has made an album this different and profound in sometime. Going into 2007 I expected the greatest album of the decade to come from this year, and while I'm not sure Friend and Foe is that good...it certainly may be. Listen to this album, listen over and over and over. Listen to it in your car, in head phones, and on the couch. Listen to it and hear how Friend and Foe continuously opens up and unveils more and more each time around. Listen and at some point it will hit you just how good this album is, and just how overlooked these three kids from Portland, OR really are. Long live Friend and Foe, the best, most amazing album of 2007.
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