Ear To The Ground - Crosstide

Here's one you may have missed first time around, in early 2001 I read a glowing - if not well hidden review in Rock Sound magazine, for a new EP from a little know band from Oregon, USA. The review recommended "for any fans of Jimmy Eat World or Foo Fighters", naturally this got my attention. After a lot of 'googling' I found the EP available to buy on the Engineer Records website. On the strength of the review I ordered the Crosstide EP, Seventeen Nautical Miles. A snap decision turned out to be a good one, a very very good full length EP. I’ll leave the description of the Crosstide sound to their own website (see excerpt below), using the words of a certain dark lord who’s in the press quite a bit at the moment – ‘most impressive’

"The name, Crosstide, spawns from Pablo Neruda's poem, Waltz, which describes rough currents surrounding a calm spot in the ocean,—a perfect metaphor for the Crosstide sound: Lush vocal melodies surrounded by bright atmospherics and sweeping guitars."

The release of their full debut record 'Opposite Day', is set for August 2005 (keep a look out for the promo tracks ‘Talk Radio’ and ‘Making Friends’), and I for one certainly can't wait to see what they've come up with.

Further listening...

Official Site: http://www.crosstide.net/
http://www.musicforamerica.org/music/artist/9391

Crosstide - Seventeen Nautical Miles EP http://www.engineerrecords.com/label/releases/ign015.htm

Tack Listing:
Between the Headlights
High Wire
Black Eyes
Not at All
Backwards
Two Hours
Dixon
Waiting
Dissolve
Yesterdays

If there’s one song you listen to today…

make it ‘My Love Has Gone,’ by underrated genius Josh Rouse.









Head over to www.joshrouse.com and wait for the little music player to pop up, then hit the playlist, and have a listen. It’s a bitter sweet beauty of a song, from his latest album 'Nashville.'

Foos Noos

A long winded appetite whetter!










Ok, so you’ve probably heard the new Foo Fighters single ‘Best of you,’ by now. Yep, its good hard mighty rawwk from Dave Grohl and the boys. But we’ve heard it before have we not?

Thus, what we really are waiting for is side two of the new Foos album ‘In Your Honor.’ (Dammit why can’t they write ‘honour’?) This, in case you were unaware, is the mellow, acoustic side. It is the antithesis of everything the world has come to expect from the hard rocking band, and if early reviews are correct, it’s gonna prove to be very interesting indeed…

As Lloyd Grossman would say on Through the Keyhole, ‘lets look at the evidence.’ Firstly, there’s the surprising inclusion of Norah Jones. That song could go either way… beautiful, or dare I say it, cheesy. I predict it will be the first option though because have you ever heard Dave Grohl write anything cheesy?

Secondly, the album features a 15 year old song called ‘Friend of a Friend,’ which Grohl wrote about Kurt Cobain. Now, this song was originally included on a tape of Dave Grohl demos entitled ‘Pocketwatch,’ which was released in 1990. For anyone who has downloaded the track from that album, they will know how haunting and strange it is, with Grohl solo on an acoustic guitar playing just two chords. Bear in mind that haunting + strange = good.
The lonely, sad emotion of the song is made even more so with the lyrics (remember, they are about Cobain)

he’s never been in love,
but he knows just what love is.
He says ‘nevermind’
And no-one speaks.

He thinks he drinks too much
Cos when he tells his two best friends
‘I think I drink too much,’
no-one speaks

Apparently, Grohl has re-recorded the song for the new album, and one can only hope that this does not take away its sad beauty.

It is this album that might prove to be the biggest insight into Grohls’ psyche that we have ever had. Referring to the song ‘Still,’ Grohl is quoted on RollingStone.com as saying ‘I couldn't believe that our band is capable of making something so beautiful." It's one of the most personal songs Grohl has ever written, about a kid in Virginia who committed suicide on train tracks. "After the ambulances split, we found pieces of his skull and we played with his bones," says Grohl, who was ten at the time. "The acoustic album runs deep."

Finally, for anyone who witnessed the Foo Fighters on Later with Jools Holland recently, they would have seen Grohl perform solo the song ‘Razor.’ This, it would seem, is the little sister of ‘Aurora,’ with Grohl playing a continuous floaty riff throughout. It really does bode well for the rest of the album, which is expected to be the perfect soundtrack to summer 2005. Well it will be mine at least! Here’s the tracklisting to the mellow side of ‘In Your Honor.’

’Still’
’What If I Do’
’Miracle’
’Another Round’
’Friend Of A Friend’
’Over ‘N Out’
’On The Mend’
’Virginia Moon’
‘Cold Day In The Sun’
’Razor’

Hands up those who like Rival Schools...

For those of you who are still earnestly waiting for a second Rival Schools album, well IT’S NEVER GONNA HAPPEN COS THEY SPLIT UP! But wait! Whats this?? It’s the return of Walter Schreifels, the Rival Schools and Quicksand frontman, and he’s got a new band!
Walking Concert (yes that’s really their name, but its original at least) carry on where Rival Schools left off, with edgy vocals, (not very catchy) melodies and guitars that jangle! In actual fact, on first listen, these songs are more appealing than Rival Schools.’ Walking Concert are poppier, a bit like Weezer being possessed by the spirit of Kurt Cobains guitar playing left hand (as opposed to his gun holding right hand).











If you didn’t like Rival Schools, then there is probably nothing here to draw you in. But for anyone who loved RS, or simply wants to hear something a bit different, check out Walking Concert. Visit their website www.walkingconcert.com for an mp3 of ‘Whats your new thing,’ or head to www.amazon.com and have a listen to some clips. I recommend the song ‘Mustang Ford.’ Plus they’re on tour in England throughout June.

If there's one song you listen to today...

Make it ‘Sleeping Citizens’ by Paloalto. Although these guys are from the States, they sound like the (rather attractive) lovechild of Travis and Muse (honestly, don’t let that put you off!) Unfortunately, Paloalto (pronounced pow-low-ow-toe) have not had much success despite much critical acclaim, and seem to have disappeared from the face of the earth. For fans of Jack Black (not Black Jacks, those chews which make your tongue black), Paloalto had their song ‘Going Going Gone,’ featured on the soundtrack to his film Shallow Hal. Anyway, check out a few of their songs here http://www.americanrecordings.com/paloalto/ then go buy their album ‘Heroes and Villains.’ Recommended songs are ‘Last Way Out Of Here,’ ‘Hangman,’ and ‘Throwing Stones,’ And I apologise for all the (brackets.)