Indie Rock Dance Dance Rock Indie Rock

7 MP3 Songs
ROCK: 90's Rock, POP: British Pop



Details:
Anthemic, consice and ultimately catchy pop songs in the always lovely context of rock. Astouding vocal harmonies. Familiar at once without being derivative.

Rally Boy's music points towards its influences openly; thankfully, it avoids slavish imitation -- mostly. "Undrest" features a bridge that Paul McCartney would sell his farm for. "Stuck" sounds suspiciously like something Paul Weller would write, were he feeling upbeat, replete with crisp, clean soloing. Unfortunately, it seems to end just as a reasonable head of steam is developed -- a problem that also occurs elsewhere on the disc. Despite the addition of some crazy clarinet work (and garbage-can percussion), "Low E" sometimes seems a little too musically indecisive to save it from the "could've been a Weezer track" file. Likewise, "Slang Tips" sounds like the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in a clean pair of pants, jamming with the Clash, though with no clear sense of purpose. On the plus side, "The Check-Out" gives a nod to Yo La Tengo in the verse, but pulls clear just in time for a marvelously fuzzy chorus that inexplicably brings to mind images of people dancing the twist. This is a good thing, considering the song's subject-matter seems to be firmly in the domain of the indie-boy-who-just-lost-his-girl whine. "Submarine", the disc's closer (discounting a five-second track called "Ping", which does exactly what you'd expect) is this endeavor's saving grace -- a Pixies-esque tune that breaks into a tropicana-styled cheesefest. It's the perfect end to an album that proves that being dumped ain't no excuse for sounding miserable. More, please.

There's something about bare bones pop that's just so goddamn ridiculous, you can't help but love it. You know the kind I'm talking about, right? It's the strained vocals which stand out there all alone, the simple guitar that accompany them, the lyrics which are inevitably derived from someone's college thesis or personal manifesto, or something. Rally Boy wears their heart on their sleeve on this album, and you can tell. At times, it's a little schizophrenic--track five ("Slang Tips") sounds WAY punk compared to track one ("Undrest," which totally smacks of Weezer). But when RB is really focused, it's pure poppy indulgence, with a range of melodies that just kind of fall into one another before hitting the uniform chorus. You'll want more of this feeling, and you'll love the rest of the CD for the moments when it shows up again.

Les membres de Rally Boy ont tout compris. Ils mélangent les deux éléments qui font les bons disques indie d'obédience américaine. Dâun côté, ils laissent sâexprimer dans leurs paroles un certain mal de vivre, une mélancolie raffinée, de lâautre ils écrivent des musiques entraînantes, énergiques et obsédantes. Hooks & Crutches, leur mini album est rempli de petits moments de bonheur qui rappellent les premières fois. La première fois que jâai écouté âFake Bookâ de Yo La Tengo, la première fois que Weezer a pointé son nez sur ma chaîne ou la première fois que jâai vu Divine Comedy en concert. Tous ces instants de ravissement naïfs qui mâont marqué sont réunis sur ce disque. Ici le pop-rock est roi, les dieux de la galaxie Rally Boy sont les Beatles, the Jam et Weezer. Il ne faut pas se voiler la face câest parfois un peu basique (« Low E ») ou ça finit en queue de poisson (« Stuck ») mais câest quand même diablement bon des sautiller sur place comme un fou en écoutant quelquâun vous raconter ses peines de cÅur. Les deux derniers titres de ce mini album tranchent un peu avec le reste. âSubmarineâ parce quâil explore une ligne qui joindrait les Pixies et Dean Martin, flottant entre énergie pure et musique pour cocktail mondain. âPingâ parce quâen 5 secondes il justifie son titre et rappelle que Rally Boy est avant tout un groupe potache. Pas de prise de tête, juste du plaisir.