"Gorilla Manor" by Local Natives

I. Love. This. Album. Now that you've been warned, continue!

I came across this album a few months ago when I first started really getting into indie style music/folk music, etc. I had fallen in love with the music of Fleet Foxes. I loved the vocal harmonies and the songs which were simple but, at the same time, could be majestic, epic, and all sorts of awesome.

With "Gorilla Manor," Local Natives catapulted themselves above Fleet Foxes in my book. They have everything Fleet Foxes have, plus one thing. They can rock as a full band - electric guitars, drums, a bass, and keyboards (a quick way to make me a fan).

The album is a diverse collection of universally well-written and well-executed songs. The melodies and hooks are extremely catchy. The amount of musical diversity is astounding and leads to an extremely refreshing set of tracks.

What sets this band apart, however, is their complex vocal harmonies. Simply put, they're spot on. You really don't need a ton of lyrical complexity when three people's voices mesh together this well. Local Natives do both. The band also has the maturity to include purely instrumental sections in their music, something that's always a plus in my book.

As I posted earlier, these guys are amazing live as well. I couldn't have been happier when I heard on stage EXACTLY what I hear in my headphones. I look forward to their new album that should be coming around the bend sometime this year.

My three favorite songs on the album are "Wide Eyes," "Shape Shifter," and "Stranger Thread."

Here's a link to their Myspace.

http://www.myspace.com/localnatives

Please remember to keep checking back in, like the page on Facebook, and click on the link on the "I Need Your Help" post!

Until next time, enjoy the music!

Andrew

Live Performance - Local Natives

Hey all,

I'll be writing a review of Local Natives' album either tonight or tomorrow, but I wanted to get this post up here while the amazingness is still fresh in my mind. Today at UCLA, Local Natives played an AMAZING hour long set. I was in indie music nerd heaven. They sound exactly the same live as they do on the album!

They played a lot of songs, the more commercial songs, the less commercial songs. I'm really looking forward to hearing on their new album which the frontman said was due in the next year.

If you get the chance to see this band live, do it. They have great on stage energy and they seem like a nice, quirky bunch of guys. They definitely have some new fans after today, because Bruin Plaza was full to bursting with cheering music lovers.

It does the heart good :)

Until the review,
Andrew

The Best Albums of March 2011

Hey all, it's time for the best albums of March 2011. This was another good month for music (but there have certainly been better). There have been several good albums, but none that necessarily blew me right out of the water. Still, there was some solid music, and I'll lovingly recommend three albums to you, because it's what I do!


"Last Night on Earth" by Noah and the Whale

Last time around, Noah and the Whale produced a mournful but amazing album. This album is great too, but in a very different, much happier way. At times, they verge on electro-pop. Loyal and longtime fans may think that's a bad thing, but I think they did it tastefully in what is an anthemic and joyful album.

"Build A Rocket Boys!" by Elbow

Gotta love Brit rock. Elbow's new album is at times intimate, and at other times amazingly epic. In both settings, the result is pure goodness. Great melodies, great vocals, great flow, great everything. It reminds me a little bit of Aqualung, but a rock-ier version as opposed to a ballad-based band. This band deserves much more exposure, and look for them to be in a future post. Definitely my favorite album of the month, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it shows up in my top albums of 2012 post.

"Lucky Street" by Go Radio

My feelings for Go Radio are well documented. Great hooks, outstanding choruses, and amazing lyrics from the always clever Jason Lancaster. A great choice if you're looking for 45 minutes or so of diverting alternative/punk rock. Nothing new here, but what's here is great!

As April begins, I once again look forward to some great new music! Not many major anticipated releases (Dr. Dre has pretty much monopolized April hype at this point), which is a great thing for a blog called "Great Music You Haven't Heard." Remember to look up the Facebook page for this blog and like it, recommend it to your friends, and click on the link in the "I Need Your Help" post.

Thanks again and as always, enjoy all the music out there!

Andrew

"Lucky Street" by Go Radio

A couple years ago, Jason Lancaster left one of the better punk/alternative bands around, Mayday Parade. A bit later, I found out that he had become involved with another project called "Go Radio." Since that point, the band came out with a couple EPs and finally one full length, the recently released and definitely great "Lucky Street."

Now, I'm still a fan of Mayday Parade, but there is a component that only Jason Lancaster brought to their music. The great hooks are there in both bands, but the magical Jason Lancaster ingredient is lyrics. He is one of the best lyric writers I have ever had the pleasure of hearing.

Go Radio's songs are personal and reflective, sometimes happy and sometimes sad, but always powerful.

Now, the music of Go Radio is straight punk/alternative music. But man, is it good. The electric guitar work is great and melodies are always catchy, but my favorite songs are the ones when the main players are Lancaster and the piano. It is those songs that hit home the hardest, and it is those songs that set Go Radio apart from the songs of other punk/alternative rock bands out there.

If you're in the mood for about 45 minutes of super well-executed alternative rock music, this is the perfect album for you. The songs are great to sing along too, and just about every chorus is just the right amount of rock, just the right amount of consistent lyrical presence. All in all, just plain solid.

My three favorite songs on the album are "Why I'm Home," "Forever My Father," and "The Truth Is."

Here's a link to the band's Myspace!

http://www.myspace.com/goradio

Until next time, enjoy the music, please click the link on the "I Need Your Help" post and look for the post on the best albums of the month coming soon!

Andrew

"With Arrows, With Poise" by The Myriad

I'm reaching way back into my vault of music for this one. I first came across this album three years ago, bought it for the album artwork, and listened to it a ton only to forget about it later (that's the problem with a music addiction folks, sometimes it results in music ADD). Then, a couple days ago, I rediscovered it, and have since been listening to it repeatedly.

The album is "With Arrows, With Poise" by The Myriad. I went to investigate why they haven't released any new music and found out that the band's drummer tragically passed away after a fight with cancer. The band's music still lives on, however, and for that I'm glad.

There is an undercurrent of darkness to the whole album, a sort of quiet urgency that wouldn't be out of place in a movie scene (imagine the protagonists hiding, fleeing from some shady foe that don't really see or understand). It makes for some pretty powerful music (and though the band is known as a Christian band, these songs are by no means limited in their appeal to music listeners of all creeds). The lyrics are dark, reflective, and earnestly delivered by a frontman with a great voice and a solid falsetto.

The choruses on this album are what makes it special. They're just flat out catchy; in fact, all of these songs are really easy to sing along with. And with some of the awesome song titles on this album (examples are "You Waste Time Like a Grandfather Clock," "Don't Let Them See You!," and "Polar Bears and Shark Fins," you'll want to).

The final piece of this puzzle is this music, a polished but gritty and dark set of well-executed songs and riffs that inspire some definite head bobbing. This album is just plain good.

My three favorite songs on the album are "A Clean Shot," "A Thousand Winters Melting" (one of my all time top 20 favorite songs), and "Don't Let Them See You!".

Here's a link to the band's Myspace, which is still up and running (but it's a little eerie; to be honest, it's a bit like being in a Myspace ghost-town).

http://www.myspace.com/themyriad

Until next time, enjoy the music!

Andrew