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Jeremy Larson
Salvation Club
Jeremy Larson makes it clear from the get-go how he likes to design a song. It needs a slow, affecting melody line contrasted with a driving beat. And he had no problem pulling out all the stops on Salvation Club: syncopation, center-stage cello, subtle electronics, and fluttering piano lines that almost force the listener to take a gasping breath.
His lyrics remain apathetically adorable, focusing on love, loss and why it probably doesn’t matter. Yes, taken out of context, there are a few cringe-worthy lines (“the pseudonym for love is pain”). But the stories behind them are far too charming, relatable and believable. Show me one person who hasn’t been frustrated or hurt by personal relationships, and I’ll show you Jeffrey Dahmer.
Online: myspace.com/jeremylarson
Choice spin: “Improvable”
DHC
The Take Over
It’s probably liberal-guilt-fueled hope that I “just don’t get it” that leads me to justify the misogyny and shock-value lyrics found in club rap. (Though I do find it hard to grant that same justification for a rap duo out of Springfield that advertises knocking a woman’s teeth down her throat.) Lyrics aside, DHC clearly has a well-thought and well-planned delivery, as they spit triplet and sixteenth-note lines almost effortlessly. It’s the catchy back-and-forth choruses and atypical beats that keep this album memorable.
Online: myspace.com/thenewdhcentertainment
Choice spin: “I’m Just Sayin”
Cloud City
Everything is Getting Colder
With a new name and a little help from local producer Jeff Smith, singer-songwriter A.J. Moore and the boys have really grown up on Everything is Getting Colder. A.J.’s vocals run from whispers to on-pitch, yet affecting, shouts over a sea of guitar delay and sustained piano chords. But the songs continue to climb until climaxing into riveting instrumentals, seen in the likes of “This Will Destroy You” or “Explosions in the Sky”. I’ll be the first to admit how surprised and overwhelmed this EP left me.
Online: myspace.com/cloudcityofficial
Choice spin: “Swimming”
Washington Irving
Zinn Arcade
Washington Irving’s debut album, Zinn Arcade, manages to capture everything I love about ’90s alt-pop without feeling dated: It’s straight-forward musicality designed to infect you with anthems of middle-class boredom. Singer Brett O’Neil is either sliding through slower melodies almost sarcastically, or he’s punching through a mouthful of disenchanted prose.
It’s like Michael Stipe, a bottle of Prozac and The Blue Album made beautiful babies, and Zinn Arcade is just marinating in that placenta.
Washington Irving has six songs from the album available for free on the band’s MySpace.
Online: myspace.com/wairving
Choice Spin: “Procrastination is for Lovers”
