Modern Vampires of the City - Album Review
Summer, 2013
WERS is spotlighting Vampire Weekend’s latest release, Modern Vampires of the City, as our Album of the Month this August. If an overarching theme to the album could be nailed down it would be reworking something old in a very new way. The record employs classical American musical mainstays like the piano, double bass, and organ but bends, morphs and molds them to the band’s own twisted desires. The hollow reverberations and woody timbre of these instruments grounds the sound in a historical framework while allowing the band to take flights into sordid storylines and dub step dissolves.
Ezra Koenig and Rostam Batmanglij are the primary Vampire Weekend songwriting team. After the critical and financial success of the band’s second album Contra (2010), the duo began the existential task of deciding what direction they should take with the next album. “We … had endless discussions about vibes and what we think the album could be,” said Koenig in an interview with ShawConnect.
Writing.
Rollie Polie Guacamole - Live
Summer, 2013
When you think of kid’s music, what do you see? Freddy Spaghetti, Raffi? A jaded hipster in a colorful costume alluding to some bizarre form of Brazilian Anime? Or some shyster trying to mesmerize infants into action like Mogatu hypnotizing Derek Zoolander?
Rolie Polie Guacamole skips stones over those clichés and splash onto the scene with a technically savvy and imaginative sound that speaks to children and reminds their parents of the golden age of 1990s music. Rock steady, ska, pop punk, and grunge all make appearances in the liner notes that accompany Rolie Polie Guacamole’s catalogue.
Ewert and the Two Dragons - Live
Summer, 2013
Ewert Sundja is the lead vocalist, keyboard player, and namesake of Ewert and the Two Dragons. Together with Erki Parnoja (Guitar/Backing Vocals), Kristjan Kallas (Drums) and Ivo Etti (Bass Guitar), the band has molded a uniquely modern Nordic folk sound. The Estonian quartet has been making waves around Europe and only recently began touring their 2011 release Good Man Down in the U.S.
The rakish crew stopped by the WERS studio to play us a few songs on their way to a gig in Cambridge. This type of globetrotting and genre melding détente would have been impossible for the band under Soviet rule. Before their formal independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 Western pop music and even musical instruments were banned by the Estonian government. “Our parents’ generation, they all knew how to build their own guitars” said Erki. “They used phone wires to make guitar strings and they used the speaker from a telephone to make a distortion pedal.” This spirit of ingenuity and the will to overcome intense odds helped the band to find success in today’s music environment.
Caitlin Crosby - Live
Summer, 2013
Caitlin Crosby stopped by the WERS studio to play us a couple of tracks from her new EP, Save That Pillow. She was dressed immaculately in a modest floral lace dress, a house key on a ball chain around her neck, and a felt hat. She quickly warmed up and then jumped right in to the title track to her newest release. This follow up to her 2012 album Flawz continues with the theme of bolstering self-esteem and empowering youths to feel comfortable in their own skin. After a quick verbal warm-up she grabbed her guitar and began to sing.
The title track “Save That Pillow” is a thoughtful wandering tune that utilizes Crosby’s soft, sweet, and vulnerable voice to sing a tale of a girl who has been taken advantage of by a man who is only interested in a physical relationship. The perfectly executed pop-folk ballad is measured yet honest when it hits the listener with the chorus of “Get down to the bottom of why, Giving yourself away and/ Save that pillow for the one who will love you the right way.”
