On the surface it seems like he is just a little spun, but for regular attendees of the upstate New York festival Brownie is speaking truth. Simply put, it just wouldn’t Camp Bisco without mud, thunderstorm smoke sessions in the car, bikers keeping the nitrous mafia out, spunion wookies, and a lot of untz. For some it may be hard to understand the appeal of a  muddy festival held on land owned by bikers with some of the hardest partiers in the scene, but the attendees at camp know exactly what they are getting into and would not want it any other way. You won’t find many self-righteous hippies saving the world here; it’s just the best party of the summer with one of the best line-ups that can be seen, period.

Gift Of Gab

Camp Bisco has been steadily growing since it’s inception and in 2010 it has truly become one of the top festivals of the summer. With 15,000 in attendance and acts such as Ween, Wu Massacre, Gift of Gab, LCD Soundsystem, Thievery Corporation, and Talib Kweli on the bill this festival is hardly just for die-hard Biscuits fans. The diverse line-up with so many top-notch acts, and the addition of key elements such as the silent disco and a second stage on the main concert field pretty much ensure nonstop music from noon to sunrise. For fans of electronic music the dance tent bumps untz all weekend, leaving Camp Bisco with a feel of being both an eclectic festival and an electronic music festival rolled into one.

Long lines keep the crowds from getting too dense right up until the Disco Biscuits first set of the weekend. For those who are already in the grounds Blackalicious’ Gift of Gab throws down an immaculate set, teaching everyone in attendance why he is regarded as one of the best underground emcees to ever pick up a microphone. There are very few rappers in the world who have mastered lyrical technique like Gift of Gab and it’s truly unfortunate so many people are waiting in line during this set. After a brief Future Rock set the crowd begins to fill in and The Disco Biscuits take the stage for their sunset show. There is a definite sense of urgency on the stage, and the band clearly wants to set a high standard for the weekend. The set kicked off with House Dog Party Favor clocking in at just less than 20 minutes. The set peaks with an inverted Reactor and winds down with the ending of On Time. For those unfamiliar with the Biscuits, an inversion occurs when jamming into the ending of a song then proceeding with the beginning section.

LCD Soundsystem

The main stages finishes off on Thursday with sets from the immensely popular Pretty Lights and LCD Soundsystem. It is interesting to see the Disco Biscuits step back and take a secondary role on this night and allow these two acts the headlining roles at their own festival. Both bands deliver high-energy sets that have the crowd going wild, and it is the perfect lead in to the late night acts of the evening. Immediately following LCD is Two Fresh and Holy Fuck in the dance tent. The relaxed hip hop and jazzier stuff from two fresh segues nicely into the more experimental Holy Fuck. With Thursday’s music in the books and no Silent Disco until Friday people actually have the chance to sleep.

In typical music festival fashion, things don’t get going on Friday until late afternoon and specifically with Wu Massacre. Following a rather standard set from Big Gigantic, Wu Massacre takes the stage over an hour late and performs a set of Wu Tang greatest hits. Despite the being shortened by the delay Wu Massacre delivers one of the best sets of the weekend. Following Wu is a stellar set from Thievery Corporation, showcasing their eclectic and ethnic-infused music with a rotating cast of vocalists and supporting artists.

Pretty Lights

After night falls the Disco Biscuits take the stage for their second and arguably best set of the weekend. The music is high-energy and cleanly executed featuring nothing but crowd favorites. The highlight of the set is more or less impossible to determine at the time and the whole set is made all the better with a laser light show. Normally The Disco Biscuits do not get a lot of respect for their light show, but 2010 has seen an incredible increase in both Lighting Designer Johnny R. Goode’s creativity and financial backing from the band. The addition of Martin Mac III lighting modules, and now lasers has truly put The Disco Biscuits Light show on the same level as many of the elite bands in the jamband scene, if only for a short while.

Method Man of Wu Massacre

After a set break show from Bassnectar and a rather forgettable second Biscuits set The New Deal takes the stage in the Dance Tent for what is undeniably the best late night set of the weekend. The high-energy and extremely improv heavy livetronica pioneers absolutely destroy their set and have the entire tent thumping for the duration of their set. It is a shame this band does not tour more often, and it is always a treat to catch them live. Friday Night at Camp Bisco is no different. For those not ready for the party to end the Local Stage is transformed into the silent disco at night, where noise ordinances are no issue. The Silent Disco features two acts performing at the same time and the headphones give the listener ability to switch back and forth.  Many up-and-coming acts take the opportunity to play an additional set, and the watching people get down to silence at different tempos was perhaps the oddest thing that could be witnessed all weekend.

LCD Soundsystem

Saturday may very well be the best line-up ever conceived at Camp Bisco. With so many diverse and extremely talented acts going on all day on the main concert field there really isn’t much of a reason to leave that area. The Local Stage and Dance Tent both have plenty of acts to draw people away however. Things get going early with The Disco Biscuits day set, featuring a stellar rendition of Mr. Don as well as the extremely rare Pat and Dex. Following The Disco Biscuits set there is a bit of a mix up due to the late arrival of Talib Kweli, leading to the switch of set times with SOJA and the rumor that the emcee will not be featured in Break Science’s set. These rumors prove to be untrue and Kweli delivers a short buy rowdy set featuring songs exclusively off of the new Reflection Eternal album, Revolutions Per Minute.

Eric Hilton of Thievery Corporation

The Band with the most mixed reception of the weekend is a band that always receives mixed reactions, both because of their inconsistency as a live act and the general weirdness to the music. Ween takes the stage as the storm clouds begin come into view in the background and deliver one of the cleanest and most professional sets they are capable of full of fan favorites and old hidden gems. As good as the set is many people at camp just can’t handle the brown glory of Ween. The storm clouds settle in as the set ends and many people retreat to their cars to wait out the inevitable Camp Bisco monsoon. The storm never really materializes into very much rain and but the lightning more or less cancels Papadosio’s set on the Local stage, ends Brothers Past early, and turns the final 2 Biscuit sets into one extended set.

The Disco Biscuits

Laser rain is cutting thru the air as the Biscuits hit the peak of Munchkin Invasion and Camp Bisco is in its most idyllic state. Its is hard to explain why one would host a festival in the same spot annually when torrential downpours are almost as much of a sure thing as seeing someone carried out by medical personnel, but for those who have experienced the raw glory that is Camp Bisco there really is no better place for it, and it is the best time of the year.

Words By Jason Woodside

Photos By Matt Speck and Jason Woodside

If there is one thing everyone can agree upon about The Heartless Bastards show at Chicago’s Bottom Lounge, it is that it was a thoroughly sultry experience. Even with the AC on and the fans at full RPM the ambiance was decidedly sweaty. It was a July evening that called for cold beer, an occasional cup of ice, and some rock n’ roll.

The last two times the Heartless Bastards played Chicago was when they opened for Wolf Mother and then Lollapalooza, so it was nice to know that their fans would finally get to take them in without them being under the constraints and planning of others. The near capacity crowd was treated with a long set of near 2 hours that lasted into the morning hours. People left with wet shirts, but left happy.

In an atypical move the Heartless Bastards opened with a track from their first – and unquestionably most obscure – album, Done Got Old. Immediately they jump into their brand of stomping, swaggering blues based rock n’ roll, anchored by lead singer Erika’s powerfully resonant vocals and decorated with sharply honed guitar riffs. Immediately the heat-fueled tension in the crowd relaxes.

It takes one only a couple minutes to realize what exactly it is about this band’s live performances which entices people, and it’s the surprising robust – yet deeply emotive – vocals of Erika Wennerstromon. Yes they write really good, well varied, rock music and play it even better – but that’s not what your drawn to (even though it would be enough in most cases). The Heartless Bastards have the ear-catching ability of, while playing live, having the rhythm section sound album-like by being so succinctly in time, yet having the singing coming off so plainly & pleasantly live. The balance between sounding like your albums and decidedly live is a very tough line to walk for any band, lean one way and your song is sterile and vapid, lean the other the song loses meaning or becomes unprincipled. This line the Bastards walked well for this show.

Erika put her vocal talents on display most within their subdued, more western number, So Quiet. In this song (and a couple others) the lead guitarist becomes the fiddle player, Erika plays an acoustic and the drummer departs. And even when she sang in a hushed manner, and despite the fact that she has a short and small demeanor, when singing she commands the audience’s attention with a compelling, and somewhat intangible, force to be reckoned with.

Other highlights from the evening were The Mountain, when the bastards clearly demonstrate how one can incorporate a yowling steel guitar into an aggressive indie rock song, and Out at Sea, which the bastards played with an added emphasis on the swing-feeling within this song leaving the audience wondering if it should flash the devil horns or break out into the twist. Overall they played songs from all three of their albums and it would be a good bet to say very few – if any – of those attending left without hearing the songs they attended to hear.

It has been often said that a rock band will show their true talents in the slow songs, that anyone can be loud or fast. If this is the case then the Heartless Bastards will fair just fine, as their ability to play downtempo or all-out is equally great. But they also can claim to play everything else in between well also, the swing-rock song, the quasi-country number, the building rock song, the happy ones that make you want to dance. And all the while you have Erika there leading the way with a self-evident, Napaleon-like, musical momentum. Who wouldn’t follow along? These guys are for real.

By Sean Brna

Sean.brna@ourvinyl.com

Introduced by “A Peace of Light”, a wordless track containing the measured harmonizations of three female vocalists’ (Amber Coffman, Angel Deradoorian, and Haley Dekle of The Dirty Projectors), the initial sound of this album is elegiac and understated. While this tone is carried throughout with tracks like “Walk Alone” and “Dear God 2.0”, there is an unmistakable, underlying sense of self-empowerment and gratitude incorporated into songs like “The Fire”, and “How I Got Over”.

The degree to which The Roots allow such a broad-based array of genre’s to influence the sound and construction of their music is one of the qualities that has sustained their fan bases’ interest in them over the past seventeen years, but what I found most enticing about this album was the clarity of self expression displayed in the bands lyrics. This characteristic is most prominent in Now or Never; a verbal realization that in order to reconcile with negativity in your past, one has to utilize self-awareness to regain control and structure their future in ways that will serve them productively. Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter even mentions himself in this song; “I’m ready for the next chapter and page to start acting my age/and part ways with Black Thought from back in the days.”

The Roots collaborated with an unconventional number of guest artists, with featured singers on every track other than two 42-second-long songs. One of the most notable artist’s incorporated in the making of this album is John Legend’s help in re-working his song “Again” to become the track “Doin’ It Again”. With Legend’s smooth, yet cogent vocals, alongside a higher register piano in the background, this track definitely displays a more soulful, gospel element than the other tracks. The famous R&B singer is also featured in The Fire, a fantastically well written homage to self-motivation and inner strength that manages to remain authentic and spirited.

Monsters of Folk – a supergroup made up of Bright Eye’s Conor Oberst, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, and M. Ward’s Mike Mogas – participated in the re-construction of an older Root’s song Dear God into what is included on this album, Dear God 2.o. This is perhaps the most overtly socially conscious track, commenting on global issues ranging from Chinese labor, over-dependency on technology, drug abuse, and endangered species.

After announcing that they planned on calling it quits when it came to producing albums in 2008, fans of The Roots were not expectant of any more releases until Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson made public their plans for a ninth album. Anxiously anticipating  ”How I Got Over “after the release date for the album got set back three times, the public largely appreciated the maturity and reflective attitude displayed in this set of tracks. And although some may disagree that the selling point of this album is the content of the lyrics, that only offers more praise to The Roots ability capture an audience with their uniquely modified style of Hip-Hop.

By Lacey Smalldon

Any recounting or assessment of Further seems as though it should be at least loosely structured around the order of the tracks, due to the impressive and consistent continuity of the album. There are almost no pauses or breaks in or between songs, and layers of beats often overlap until it becomes inconsequential which track you’re listening to and easier to classify each segment by it’s unique incorporation of the various electronics used by the Brothers.

In “Snow,” measured and almost angelic whispers of “your love keeps lifting me, lifting me higher, lifting me higher” initiate the sparse incorporation of lyrics or vocals into the album. Introduced with sporadic beeps and pulses the song eventually levels off into understated swells & releases that play off the varying tone and intention of the vocals of Rowland and Simmons. This creates a parallel, yet distorted, intertwinement that bleeds through the typical second-long break in-between tracks and does not diminish completely until a good minute into the next song, “Escape Velocity.” The momentum in this twelve minute long track builds periodically, taking a few minutes to rev-up in what I can only imagine as being a continuous inhale until the Brothers are satisfied with the amount of impetus and exhale into sound explosions. But what tickles my fancy most about this track is the words that it goes out with; “wow, that was some experience. Now just let me adjust the spacial controls and we’ll move to another observation point.” With that, they move onto “Another World.”

Though the album plays fluidly, with little to concretely distinguish the songs, “Horse Power” is perhaps the most distinctly independent track. Using samples of real horse neighing and carried by a hurried back beat, this is definitely a more deliberate execution of what was clearly a premeditated song nugget and less of an impromptu creation.

The abrupt appearance of drums and an assortment of percussion instruments on “K+D+B” contributes an entirely different dimension to the album. What starts out as a funk-inspired sound morphs into an electric ambience that is carried into the closing track, “Wonders of the Deep.” The amount of energy generated from the music propels the end of the sound-experiment into a cascading, synthesized harmony complete with climaxing percussions. After reaching these transcendent eruptions, the drums stop and the sound fades, leaving the listener with only a lingering sense of wonderment and the urge to press repeat.

By Lacey Smalldon

After achieving commercial success with a solo album and two albums with rock supergroup Velvet Revolver, Scott Weiland comes back into the fold to lend his vocal talents to one of the most prolific bands to come out of the 90’s grunge rock movement.

Stone Temple Pilots is a nice amalgamation of all the different phases we heard the band go through with previous albums.  This is why fans of theirs might be very indifferent towards this particular album.  As a fan of STP for most of my life I was excited to hear what they had come up with in the last 9 years.  The answer is basically, “nothing much, but we also didn’t change anything.”  They even show how little they changed things up by offering a live cut of one of their old singles, “Vasoline,” on the deluxe version of the album thus telling their fans, “Sorry if this isn’t up to par, but here’s something we know you will like.”

Of the tracks on the album, “Peacoat,” seems to show the most resemblance to harder popular radio hits cut by the band such as classics “Dead and Bloated”, and “Vasoline.”  Weiland’s voice plays the star on this track, but a haunting bass line right from the start make it a fun tune to listen to.  “Dare If You Dare,” can be put alongside “Interstate Love Song” and “Creep” as a more ballad song which truly shows the range of Weiland’s voice, which surprisingly still has a life to it after all these years and a few stints in rehab.  Dean DeLeo shows on this song that he can still play his axe with the best of the grunge rock movement with a wicked solo that will almost surely be featured on the next installment of Guitar Hero.

While the album is musically and technically what you would expect from a band that has essentially been playing together for close to 2 decades, the writing is surprisingly subpar.  There are no signs of those very insightful lyrics that have been emblazoned on the legacy of albums past.  “Take time with a wounded hand,” from “Creep,” and the entire lyrical composition of “Plush” stole the thunder away from the rest of already good albums; Stone Temple Pilots doesn’t have that.  The singles either took a back seat and they set out to lyrically write a balanced album and fell just short, or Weiland snorted the last piece of lyrical creativeness he had up his nose.

So, if you feel compelled to hear this album, and if you were a fan of STP in the past I encourage you to do so, go into it with a closed mind instead of an open one.  There is no real “wow factor” on this album that will convert people into fans of STP, but there is nothing to drive their old fans away.  They way I looked at this album was just a casual catching up with an old friend, and if you look at it that way it will be a fun listen.

By Mitch Inkrott

The most prominent and notable characteristic of this latest album (and perhaps Devo’s music in general) is their striking blends of multi-layered synthesizers, heavy back beats, hand clapping, and experimental electronic frequencies. Each song has a slightly or drastically altered combination of these techniques, contributing to the album’s holistic identity while still allowing for substantial differentiation between tracks. No Place Like Home is the most dynamic and sophisticatedly constructed track on the album; starting with what sounds like a heart monitor then dipping into a refreshing piano section that swells with soft-synth effects into a mystic, echoing combination of keyboards and lyrics that introduce the song with the herald “a song of truth and beauty for you.”

Mark Mothersbaugh, Devo’s lead singer and co-founder, has a quirky, David Byrne-esqe quality to his vocals that contribute to the bands deadpan humor, that when coupled with the electronic, dance-beat background music creates the distinct, and off beat attraction to their brand of social commentary. In Don’t Shoot (I’m a Man), Mothersbaugh sings of the working man/woman’s ambition for more exposure to authenticity while condemning the sense of burden felt as the result of the universal problems they feel helpless to control. Amongst shouts of, “Don’t Shoot! I’m a man!”, the bass-heavy, synthetically dubbed background levels with, but does not detract from the pleading lyrics. This comparability between what seems to be light hearted, dance-tempo instrumentals and the almost monotone delivery of substantial, socially conscious lyrics defines the trend that Devo has embodied as their unique combination between content and musicality.

Aside from the how catchy each song is, the quality that contributes to their danceability has also opened an invitation to the band members to use a song’s background beat as the track’s staple and allow for the degradation of lyrical quality and quantity. The albums starting track, Fresh is an example of what is musically one of the strongest tracks but lyrically weak. However, I would not consider this to be a significant down side to the album because as previously mentioned, there are tracks on this album that sufficiently balance the saturation of synths, beats, and verbal relevance.

By Lacey Smalldon

Black Mountain brings to the table a sort of catchy, and at times funky, psychedelic rock n’ roll. And while they at times anchor their sound in the blues, unlike many other “traditional” psych bands, they gladly will replace that with a more funky and/or progressive sound. They seem to like the challenge, which they usually conquer, of morphing psych-rock playfully with other genres. And while they use development and evolution in their songs, they are usually progress leisurely, in what amounts to a deceptively natural manner.

On this night they played a fairly even mix of material from their first two albums, Black Mountain and In The Future, and unreleased material to was new to the audience. They were at their best sounding when they played powerful and direct, yet with a subtle overall sound. This reflects their philosophy well because they often mix and match their male and female vocalists, and always employ a lot of detailed sounds in their compositions. In fact, they have the ability to overlap their two opposite sexed vocalists most perfectly, creating a delightful new and singular voice. It really stood out in their live show. It was on such tracks such as “Queens Will Play” and “Druganaught” in which they exemplified these first-rate attributes and created for some of the best musical moments of this Thursday evening.

Yet, while they delivered a night filled with high level of musicianship and displayed that which has allowed them to create two solid albums, there was something about their performance on this evening that led me to think this band’s talent may lie more so in creating albums as opposed to playing live shows. At times the singing came off as preachy and at other times one found themselves being slightly fatigued by these songs, which isn’t what happens when listened from off their record. It was on such songs as, “Don’t Run Our Hearts Around”, a rich & building stompy rock song, which positively leaps off the record when played at home, but somehow was just slightly vapid live.

But that being said, their live show not living up to their albums is only a valid observation because their two released albums really are extraordinary. They are delicate, fun-loving, yet truly unyielding psychedelic rock expressions. And this being the first time this author has taken in their talents live, one has to give them a benefit of the doubt, anyone can have an off night. Either way though, I can’t wait until that new material I heard comes out in album form…

By Sean Brna

The reason this album is such a let down is because of the talent that McCoy clearly has.  He has a naturally gifted voice and an ear for good backing tracks. The problem here is that McCoy failed miserably with the writing of this album. Even bringing hip-hop veteran Cee Lo Green in for a track couldn’t save it.

Lazarus was either meant to be played strictly on the radio to get McCoy his first ever #1 single as a solo artist, or to display Travie’s ability to write music.  I hope it was the former.  Lyrics from the single “Billionaire”, “I wanna be a billionaire so f@#!ing bad, buy all of the things I never had,” show his immaturity as a songwriter.  The beat behind this song is great, it is reminiscent of Sublime or comparative to the new hit band The Dirty Heads, it’s just that the lyrics are very juvenile and not thoroughly thought through.  Who wants to hear a millionaire bitch and moan about not being a billionaire?  Think Nickelback releasing a song about wanting to be a rock star.  There is no thought put into the song and no connection can be made with the audience.  Sure, we as a casual music fans want to be a billionaire, but we aren’t crying about not being on the cover of Forbes like Mr. McCoy the multimillionaire.

The rest of the album doesn’t get much better.  The song “Akidagain” appears to be his attempt at being sentimental of his childhood.  Throughout the song McCoy attempts to act a little bit “ghetto” but then tells the story of trading Garbage Pale Kids cards and playing wiffle ball while listening to Wu Tang Clan.  It’s hard to get behind this song and see it as an emotional story.  In all honesty it’s a vapid attempt at recreating R. Kelly’s hit single “I Wish.”

McCoy still possesses the talent to become a legitimate name in music despite the pathetic try at songwriting, mindless efforts to fool fans into getting behind him and his all too emotional memories of an extremely typical childhood.  He needs to quit writing the songs he thinks people want to hear and write what he’s really feeling.  Add these thoughts and expressions to the beats he is so keen and adept to making, and hopefully his next album will cause a little bit more of a stir.  His audience knows what he’s capable of after hearing his work with Gym Class Heroes, now he just needs to accept his talent and stop trying to be someone he’s not.

By Mitch Inkrott

The Sleepy Sun are a six-piece band that plays a very interesting style of psychedelic blues-rock. It is entirely, and unabashedly, based on the fundamentals of hallucinatory rock established in San Francisco in the 1960’s. And yet they are of today’s indie movement. It’s not easy to pinpoint down how-or-why that is, but this author finds that while their music is rooted wholly in the past – they way they move (and at time jump) through their music is entirely contemporary.

The Sleepy Sun commenced their show with Marina, off of their second – as well recently released – album, “Fever.” Immediately their male + female vocals stand out as a central, and powerful, live musical tool. By having a fierce, yet wispily angelic, female vocalist – in addition to the guitar wielding male lead-singer – is how this band creates “their sound.” Her microphone was laden with heavy & wide reverb, as well as being incredibly sensitive (this was evident between songs when any noise made near this mic would echoe out into the audience). So by altering how close she sang to the mic, or how on-axis her voice was to the front of the mic; she could control with great minutia how her “verby voice” sounded. It was marvelous to watch her swing her head, and change her distance from the microphone, and hear how it would change the sound of even sustained-echo-wails.

The Sleepy Sun also put on display their ability to present quite loud rock n’ roll that was utterly crisp and also so much an apparent product of honed teamwork. They employ a multitude of quick, at time sudden, transitions between energy, tempo and sometimes genre altogether. Even when these movements happen abruptly, they played through them so calmly and with such little notice, that you become numb to the musical talent being displayed in front of you. In fact the band members often had their eyes closed, or would stare off into nothing, needing not to eye each other whatsoever as they played through their elaborate psychedelic expressions.

The Sleepy Sun, while just having released a new LP, played a few new unreleased tracks. Yet they were best on this night on their 9 min song Sandstorm Woman, which they ended with. Simply put, they played this bewildering blues rock number – that consists of what feels like 4 distinct “movements” of sorts – absolutely sensationally. It’s how they end their album, “Fever” and it was a solid show ender as well.

They played only 9 songs, and while their songs are longer than the average, this author was left wanting much more music; a bittersweet feeling to leave an audience member with. More focus could have been given to the male lead singer, his vocals often being drowned out – which was the sole aspect of the performance that felt unbalanced. So while maybe one of those opening bands could have been sacrificed for more Sleepy Sun time, it was overall a thoroughly satisfying rock experience for all who attended. The Sleepy Sun have a latter-day haight-ashbury attitude, and channel it through potent & dominant blues-rock; and seeing them live assures you it’s a sincere and awesome amalgam from this San-Francisco band. Can’t wait to catch them again.

By Sean Brna

sean.brna@ourvinyl.com

Starting with the song “Blue Blood Blues,” which White admits as being “bluesier and heavier than we ever thought we could be,” the band focuses on the raw talents of the musicians as opposed to concentrating on any emotional appeal or substantial meaning behind the songs. What can be appreciated about this album is the sensual and experimental quality of their usage of complimentary sounds and rhythms. Contributing to the sensual nature of the music is the funk beats exhibited in the rhythm by hitting most notes at the end of each count. The prominence of the bass is complimented by the drums and percussion, setting the foundation for each songs rhythm. In addition, White and Mosshart’s vocals mimic and play off of the shrill, droning, and muffled sounds of the electric guitar.

The first three songs (“Blue Blood Blues,” “Hustle and Cuss,” “The Difference Between Us”) stand out as being able to hold their own with more distinction between them than the rest of the album. Upon hearing the names of those first three, the listener can immediately recall clips from each song, recognizing the difference between the beats and holistic sound. Following is the choked out, half sung, half spoken track “I’m Mad,” Mosshart’s tamest yet most cynical sounding performance. Apart from the album’s single, songs six through ten sound like a continuous jam of funk beats and experimental electric guitars and percussion broken up with multiple stilted variations during key changes. The lur of The Dead Weathers is that their music creates a strong, enticing atmosphere that does not rely on the meaning of each song but purely on the sound. The lyrics are a contribution; certainly not the foundation of their music.

This album’s single, “Die By The Drop,” is also capable of standing alone – a twisted, dark yet uptempo track reliant on call and response tactics by Mosshart and White. At times it is hard to tell their filtered, stern shouts apart from the shrieks produced by White’s electric guitar. What makes this song a single is that it keeps in tact the Weather’s tendency towards ugliness, but it cleans it up a bit – sounding less raw and a tad more refined.

Sea of Cowards is a satisfactory yet predictable follow-up to The Weather’s first album, Horehound. A lot of the tracks from Cowards have recognizable similarities to some on Horehound, not necessarily in a redudent sense, but what would have really thrown the audience for a loop is a progressive step into an evolved sound that was still true to their first album but for lack of a better word, matured.

By Lacey Smalldon