Nuevo Para Lunes

Ahhh, Monday, how we hold you in such contempt, how we wish you would go the way of the Atkins diet and become irrelevant.  But, alas, you're here, the bane of our weekly existence, the inevitable blight that I like to call, "the herpes of the week."

Some of us were lucky enough to have good weekends that involved Patron and seeing two transvestite Elvis impersonators duke it out of who gets to sing, "Jailhouse Rock" (no, as a matter of fact, I'm not talking about myself).  Some of us stayed close to our families (although I can't imagine why ANYONE would do that) and some of us, AHEM, have spent the last week buried somewhere, under an avalanche that was My Morning Jacket performing each of their albums in its entirety.  That being said, I hope everyone had an outstanding weekend and managed to fall in love with some new, unknown band.  If not, you, the loyal readers of The Steam Engine, have me for that very reason.

If you remember, I dedicated this space to a few bands from Mississippi last week.  This band is a holdover from that bit of info simply because I was really trying to decide if I liked them as much as I actually do.  The verdict is in.  They are a seriously good band.

It says, quite plainly, on their website that Colour Revolt is Jesse Coppenbarger and Sean Kirkpatrick.  They trace their beginnings back to Jackson Academy in Jackson, MS and then to the University of Mississippi in Oxford.  Their career has seen them shuffle members in and out, have the recording of their debut EP delayed by Hurricane Katrina and tour with bands the likes of Dinosaur, Jr., Okkervil River and the geniuses that make up Explosions in the Sky.

I have all of their stuff and, initially, I struggled to figure out how to describe them without just playing a song.  Then, for whatever reason, I was listening to their new album and it hit me.  The album opens with a searing, free associative song called, "8 Years."  As I listened to this song, it reminded me of "popular" by nada surf, but then I heard other things and the most glaring comparison is the one I'll use here, now.  The really remind me of "Gentlemen" era Afghan Whigs.  Until then, I hadn't listened to Afghan Whigs since college.  They were critical darlings in the post grunge era and Colour Revolt reminded me of how a band could write great songs and play great music with no trade off.  Listen to "8 Years" and tell me you don't hear Afghan Whigs.  You can preview their new album at the link I provided above and you can also get their Daytrotter Session HERE.

Alex Brown Church fronts a band called Sea Wolf, and I've been listening to them for a few years now. For their last two albums, they have worked with producers, Phil Ek (The Shins, Band of Horses) and Mike Mogis (Monsters of Folk, Bright Eyes, M. Ward) and if you like any of the bands you just saw, you're going to like Sea Wolf.  With them, you get a very accessibly organic sound that brings to mind bands like Okkervil River, Fleet Foxes, Matt Pond P.A. and the early work of Sufjan Stevens.  Church began playing as Sea Wolf and enlisted a myriad of musicians playing in Los Angeles and working on demo songs.  Of his debut LP, Interview magazine said, "His music is both erudite and unvarnished, a blend of swirling melodies, literary balladry and damaged art-rock composition."

Personally, his music just fits perfectly with the changing of the seasons.  That probably sounds sappy, but it's just what I think about when I hear Sea Wolf's music.  Listen to "Leaves in the River" and tell me that you don't hear the rain in the background with the lyrics and think about autumn.   Sea Wolf is worth listening to and you can check out their Daytrotter Session HERE.

If you're interested, you can check out my autumn playlist right here.  You can check out what I've been listening to lately (which includes both Colour Revolt and Sea Wolf).  You can also check out a little Kings of Leon write-up at the same place. 

As always, feel free to leave your comments and feedback in the comments section or you can always email me and suggest new music to me.  I'm always on the lookout for new and interesting stuff, or, if you like, you can send me love letters or hate mail.

Have a good week, boys and girls.  By the time I'm back here next Monday, both Halloween and my birthday (they're both 31 October) will have happened so I'll have plenty to say.  For extra credit this week, check out Easy Star All Stars.  Any band that takes Radiohead's "Kid A," Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" and the Beatles, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club" and transforms the albums into reggae masterpieces is worth looking into.  I have and I highly recommend it.

No felonies this week . . .

Chris