The Album Review for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Read Album Reviews

Finish Ticket’s new album, “Tears You Apart” was released on February 26, but tonight is their album release party at Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco. 

Since everyone on the Internet are too busy to read full reviews online (or Rolling Stone are just too lazy to write them) I’m going to review the new record track by track, in 140 characters or less each. (That’s 1,400 more characters than you’d get with the big name reviewers!)

1. “Numb” : Very mysterious. Amazing intro to the album. Chorus will be a big singalong live. Drum and bass groove is excellent. Guitar sounds dirty!

2. “Doctor” : Another melancholy verse and building pre chorus before another big singalong. These brehs know how to do a chorus. Is every song a single?

3. “Catch You On My Way Out” : Second favorite song. First time I heard this live I was blown away. The recording really captures both a raw feeling and big atmosphere.

4. “In The Summer” : Summer song of 2013. Evokes such familiar and nostalgic feelings. Awesome basslines. Varied vocal melody in bridge makes it a perfect song.

5. “Naïvé-tea" : They’ve gone into outer space. Brian Graves could live in this transitional song.

6. “Lying Through Our Teeth” : This song could be on the soundtrack of a space western. Such a spooky melody and gang vox. They pull off this new direction so well.

7. “Tranquilize” : Huge drum and vocal sound. Sad and uplifting at the same time. Another one for the space western soundtrack. Could be another single.

8. “Pockets” : Another song that showcases big parts while retaining simplicity. Third favorite song. The difference from the verses to chorus is awesome

9. “Killing Me” : Very impressed that they can have so many different sounds. The perfect song for wandering around on a warm day. Yet another single!

10. “Bring the Rain” : Guitar sounds are so interesting. Great use of dynamics from everyone in this song. The bridge is beautiful. 

11. “Take It Out” : Perfect final track. This is the song every album needs to go out to. It makes you want to hit repeat and let the whole album play again. 

Overall, “Tears You Apart” is an incredible release, not only for a local favorite. Any band would be proud to have written and recorded this album. (Oh yeah, my favorite song was track 4. 140 characters is not enough!)  Listen to the album and buy it here. 

Finish Ticket’s album release show is tonight at The Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco. Also performing is our very own Nik Bartunek with an opening solo set, the new group holychild and our favorite vampires of Ghost & The City. The show starts at 10:00pm. More info can be found here.

Strange Tales from The Viper Room

To commemorate our return to the Viper Room on March 28, I’ve put together some fun facts about its history and our history with it.

The last time we played at the Viper Room, we did three shows in 24 hours: we drove down to LA for the show, did our first photo shoot with Aaron Blumenshine, drove back up to Piedmont to play UC Berkeley the next morning and then down to San Jose for a show that night. Brian Graves flew off in a private plane at some point during this trip and even formed a doo-wop group in the process. 

We also had an incident with some intoxicated English women who chased me down the street after I had convinced them to “pay a fiver” to go into the show and see Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon, who were drinking at the bar. Our van was parked for us in a spot that also seemed impossibly small by a parking lot attendant who was a professional Tuvan throat singer. 

Knowing we are probably in for another bit of weirdness, I decided to look into some other oddities of the Viper Room and the chance that they’ll happen to us:

The singer of the Counting Crows supposedly worked at The Viper Room as a bartender in 1994 in order to escape his overnight fame. “Mr. Jones”, their biggest hit and widely remembered as “one of those funny 90s songs” is actually about the possibilities of what this fame may entail, written at a time before singer Adam Duritz even thought it possible. The irony is the song about fame is what made him famous and ultimately seek escape.

Chances of Adam Duritz making my vodka: 10 to 1.

The Wikipedia article on The Viper Room describes it as a hangout in the mid 90s for musicians and Hollywood actors, including Jennifer Anniston and Angelina Jolie. There’s got to be a Brad Pitt joke in there somewhere, but I’m not TMZ; I own a chair.

Chances of Brad Pitt being my real father: 20 to 1.

Finally, the group Brian Jonestown Massacre had a hilarious fight on stage at the Viper Room during an industry showcase in 1996. The video below almost seems like it was staged, it’s that ridiculous.

Chances of the guy from the Brian Jonestown Massacre attacking us while we play: 2 to 1.

Our set at the infamous Viper Room in Hollywood, CA is on March 28. Doors are at 7:30 and we play at 8pm sharp. You can purchase tickets for the show here. We hope you’ll join us for what will inevitably be a strange and wonderful night!

-RB

I’m gonna be playing a solo set to open the night for our pals Finish Ticket this Friday. I’m particularly excited about this show, because my childhood friend Paige will be doing back up vocals for me! Definitely gonna be a special set, and overall special show, so please come out to support! - Nik

P.S. Get Tickets because this baby is about to sell out - 

http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/eventV2/210411?__utmx=-&__utmv=-&__utmk=203329681&__utmz=1.1363735435.1.1.utmcsr%3Dgoogle%7Cutmccn%3D%28organic%29%7Cutmcmd%3Dorganic%7Cutmctr%3D%28not+provided%29&wrKey=DC8A9E9E11BB58F4A01B4429756B5120&__utma=1.1034389959.1363735435.1363735435.1363735435.1&__utmc=1&__utmb=1.1.10.1363735435

Music From Saharan Cellphones

A couple weeks back, we visited the UC Davis radio station, KDVS 90.3FM for an on air acoustic performance. Not only was it a super awesome visit in general, but we were able to browse the library that they have there. One record that caught my eye in particular , was a project called ‘Music From Saharan Cellphones’. This is what the description of the project was:

In much of West Africa, cellphones are are used as all purpose multimedia devices. In lieu of personal computers and high speed internet, the knockoff cellphones house portable music collections, playback songs on tinny built in speakers, and swap files in a very literal peer to peer Bluetooth wireless transfer. 

The songs chosen for the compilation were some of the highlights — music that is immensely popular on the unofficial mp3/cellphone network from Abidjan to Bamako to Algiers, but have limited or no commercial release. They’re also songs that tend towards this new world of self production — Fruity Loops, home studios, synthesizers, and Autotune. 

In 2010, various versions of saharan cellphone music were released on cassette. Many of the songs were unlabeled, giving no insight to their mysterious origins. In the past year, the artists have been tracked down to collaborate on a commercial release. As such, 60% of the proceeds go directly to the artists.

The description also goes on to explain that if you travel the desert-town market places of North Africa, and you hear someone playing a song you like off their cell phone, they will gladly Bluetooth, or swap you, the song, free of charge. Imagine if The Pirate Bay wasn’t just a website, but a group of actual people sitting around drinking tea, talking, and going about their daily business. Talk about the coolest communal musical experience ever. I was instantly hooked on this idea. Our friend, and KDVS veteran, Zuha, told me I could check it out in one of the listening rooms. And listen I did. It’s a great record, and totally out of the box for what we get here in America. Definitely check this record out in the widget below: