matt pond PA : Several Arrows Later

I was contemplating a review for this album... but since Rolling Stone has beat me to the punch (front page on their website) I simply must now. They have forced my hand.

matt pond PA didn't really make it on my radar until quite recently, and it seems that they've been busy trying to do so for awhile. Since they began their major-distribution onslaught in 1999 (CMJ making a note of the event), they have put out five albums in five years. The emotional "EMO" lyrical and musical material seems to be the kind of stuff that would be the result of living in a small town somewhere in my part of the country. No small feat when you're living in a van travelling the country.

Well, matt pond PA's quest for ironic indie-rock fame is complete as their latest release "Several Arrows Later" has graced the likes of Penthouse Magazine and now Radio Free Tobias.

Several Arrows Later is one of those records I wanted to like as soon as I heard it. The sheer amount of catchy melodies and precise, upbeat basslines really hit me in the face in an indie rock smile with a shrug kind-of-way. The jangle-pop guitar sound immediately struck me as being similar to acts I know such as Hey Mercedes, Pete Yorn, The Promise Ring, REM...this album is sure to be compared to The Shins, Coldplay, American Football, The Frames, Yo La Tengo, etc, etc, etc, etc. All of this blathering adult-contempoary comparison could be a kiss of death for this eight-piece band (at least, eight different people are credited as full-time musicians in the liner notes).

Oh yeah, about that. Several Arrows Later, while singer-songwriter material at heart, has heavy usage of pedal steel, violin, cello, vibraphones and wurlitzer. Wurlitzer. Eight people. Red flag?

So, all things considered, it seems like it could be really good or really bad.

Several Arrows later really is helped by some strong tracks which hold together what is a really cohesive album. I know there are some mixed opinions on lead singer Matt Pond's vocals, but I feel they really complement the music quite well and are never the focal point of the music. Pond keeps it low and dry.

The arrangement is done really well and shows a lot of musical competence. Much like the vocals, the 'extra' instruments really add texture to the music rather than drawing attention to themselves. Unlike other orchestrated pop, you almost don't notice that there is much more than some indie guys playing guitars and a drumset. Rarely are any of the strings featured alone.

Once one gets past the pop explosion, there is substance to be found. The songs have a very verse verse chorus kind of structure, but the ambient orchestration helps round it out, a good example of this being the opening track, "Halloween". From song to song, the flow is never really disrupted. This is a great example of an album. The track order is smartly and effectively done.

Several Arrows' greatest strength can also be a weakness. It suffers the curse of something you have to be "in the mood" for. The vocals are mixed pretty low, and this can cause it to seem like background music if you aren't actively listening. If nothing else, it's enjoyable background music.

"Several Arrows Later" really strikes a chord with me and captures the feeling of autumn in the northeastern US very well. The October 11th release date and the brown and leaf-filled artwork is no coincidence. Those who don't buy into the whole seasonal, regional thing will find music that draws from many familiar sources while maintaining a sound exclusive to this band. One track trickles into the next, like the weeks of this all-too short season in this part of the country. The emotional setting captured by this "Several Arrows Later" strikes me as being very poignant and genuine, something that is very rare in an album.

Review: Chained to the Crown

Tiara's new release "Chained to the Crown" blazes new trails for the iconic Columbus band.

The recording of CttC has a stark 'wide open spaces' quality, and this seems to say something about the current direction for the band.

"I think it's really hopeful, which, for me is kind of strange," said Tiara frontman Eric Rottmayer, defining the mood of the record. "It's definitely a contrast. A lot of the other (older) stuff is a little more emotional. I wouldn't say emo, but a lot of people put that tag on it."

CttC is of an inrospective tone, in lieu of the driven indie-pop that Tiara is more well-known for. A good example of this is "Expert Eyes", whose deliberateness is punctuated by a choral repetition of the phrase "expert eyes". The next track, "Green and Grey" has a defined country flavor, Rottmayer's soft croon complemented by new member Erik Kang's slide guitar.

If anything else, while representative of Tiara days of yore, introductory track "We Learned from the Best" and the next three tracks collectively detract from the overall meditative feel. These songs, particularly "No Better for It" are very good songs in their own right, but stick out when clumped together in an upbeat chunk in the beginning of the record.

Chained to the Crown when listened to as a whole, is an emotionally complex collection of songs which manage to be wistful about growing older while still looking to a future full of promise.

to think how long we've gone and how far/ from "we're the same" to "the next face"

With a strong promotional effort to follow the Chained to the Crown October 25th national release, thanks to label We Want Action, it seems like Tiara finally has a chance to be one of the next faces in the national arena of indie rock.

Harvey Danger : Little by Little Review

Remember Harvey Danger? Their first major release "Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone" included the quintessential annoying hit single "Flagpole Sitta". Well it wasn't as much annoying as we were all oversaturated with it, as tends to happen every time the national music industry decides something is a good thing. In terms of my lifespan, to go back to this era is a significant journey, and my middle school years is a place I would rather not tread at this point in time.

Of course, the success of such a novelty song just screams "one-hit wonder"... or to clarify, one mainstream-commercial success wonder. They put out another release in 2000, King James Version, to a certain amount of critical, if not financial success. The band was dropped from Warner Brothers and promptly broke up. After working on side projects, the band reformed in 2004, and started working on what became their new album.

The band is releasing their new release "Little by Little" in its entirety on their website. In the band's own words, here's why they're doing it. People are encouraged to make monetary donations to their cause, or to simply buy the CD, with an extra 30 minutes of music.

To be honest, releasing a record for free on the internet is going to make more of a splash than putting out a new one on any sort of label would. So does the record itself deserve any attention?


Little by Little certainly has a different overall sound than the last two records. The song "Cream & Bastards Rise" sounds a little more akin to older material with a stark post-grunge, sarcastic edge. With the musical climate as it is, the distorted guitar and 60's keyboards almost seem derivative. Also, it's a huge pet peeve of mine when a song screams SINGLE!!!! and this song definately does. It disrupts the flow of the album. This song is a connection to previous records, but seems out of place on what is overall a more reflective piece. If anyone actually buys this album for the single, there's a chance they might be pissed. It doesn't fit the record.

Piano, played by guitarist Jeff J. Lin, has a very prominent role on much of the album, with four of the first five tracks starting with piano introduction. This will cause comparisons to Ben Folds, Keane, and even Elvis Costello, and all are not entirely off. Regardless, this makes this section sound a lot the same.

Generally speaking, the record all meshes pretty well, with the exception of Cream & Bastards. The piano introduction section is limited to the first half of the record, with the more diverse stuff being in the latter half. Piano remains quite prominent thoughout, and is very well complimented by the excellent vocals of Sean Nelson. The whole of Little by Little is quite poppy, and bears comparison to the mood of Transatlanticism. Jangly, Chris Walla-esque guitars keeps pace.

Lyrical content remains mischievous, but turns introspective at times and even dabbles politically on "Diminshing Returns". A reoccurring theme seems to be focused on disappointment and seems to allude to the bands meteoric major-label experiences.

All this aside, the knock on the album is that it is not special in any way, besides the vocals. Musically speaking, while interesting at times, overall it does little more than announce the return of the once-successful band. This record doesn't do much to set itself apart and sounds quite a bit like a lot of music out there.

After a five year break, it seems that Harvey Danger is ready to make a splash on the music industry, but not entirely by the quality of the release. Little by Little is a solid, if unremarkable, album. It holds its ground in some respects but will ultimately be overshadowed by its unconventional marking strategy.