FRENCH KICKS The Trial Of the Century LP
 Vinyl LP format
[CD on Startime International]
The second full-length from Brooklyn's FRENCH KICKS came in 2004 as a slight left turn after their noisier debut EP and album, and began to the establish the sound that the band has become more widely known for. We have very few of these vinyl LPs left (the pressing was limited to 1000 copies), and they are no longer available for retail distribution. In other words you can no longer buy this in a record store. Individuals can purchase an LP through this site once our shopping cart feature is activated, or in the interim, by sending us a message through our facebook page.
Review from AllMusicGuide:
Just as One Time Bells distanced the French Kicks from their messy garagey/post-punky beginnings, The Trial of the Century finds them moving even farther away from loud drums and guitars. Instead, they deliver a prettier, more restrained sound that suggests a fusion of New Order's crooning vocals and the Cars' restless rhythms -- they started out being influenced by one aspect of '80s music and now take inspiration from a different side of that decade's sound. Indeed, the skipping rhythm and twinkling guitars and keyboards on "Oh Fine" would do Tears for Fears proud, and "Following Waves" sounds a little like the synthier side of Talking Heads crossed with the Kicks' own previous highlight, "Close to Modern." But unlike many other contemporary bands that borrow from synth pop and new wave, the French Kicks don't sound stranded in the '80s. Like a less electronic version of the Postal Service, on The Trial of the Century the band invokes nostalgia for that decade but puts it in a different context. The album's centerpiece, "Was It a Crime," uses cheesy synth string and brass sounds to give the song a strange majesty that adds to its poignancy. Aside from the bouncy opener "One More Time," initially most of the album tends to sound more like watercolor sonics than immediate songs, another departure from Young Lawyer and One Time Bells. The lack of loudness may disappoint some longtime French Kicks fans -- "Yes I Guess" comes the closest to the band's old sound, but even then it's far quieter and more polished than anything from their previous releases. Still, the band's new direction isn't impossible to reconcile with their older work -- their songs have always had a pop heart, and the mix of keyboard-laden, low-key rock and lighter-than-air pop on The Trial of the Century sounds fresher, or at least less easily dated, than a lot of the garage rock, synth pop, and post-punk rehashings of their contemporaries. Granted, the downright sophisticated-sounding pop of "You Could Not Decide" and the gorgeous closing track, "Better Time," might not be an expected sound from the French Kicks, but sometimes this kind of surprise can be the best thing a band can do. Better yet, after the surprise of it fades, The Trial of the Century is still a subtly striking album that only gets better with repeated listening.
RED LIGHTS unlucky genes CD [2005]
 $8.91 at iTunes
This now-defunct band from California's central coast was primarily fronted by James Paasche, a long-time friend and former roommate of M. Ward, while he was living in San Luis Obispo and working at the local independent record shop, Boo Boo Records. Red Lights was initially formed and christened with drummer Eric Pettis and two of James' record-shop buddies, Ryan Ratzlaff (guitar) and Shawn Hafley (bass), and later rounded out with the addition of auxiliary players Jim Bowers and Ross Heiman, who would switch off playing keys, guitars, and other random bits.
The band wrote, rehearsed and recorded at bass player Shawn Hafley's home throughout 2004 and early 2005, and eventually the album was released to strictly local acclaim. There are two record shops in San Luis Obispo, and Unlucky Genes immediatly shot to #1 best-selling CD at both shops, and stayed there for 5 consecutive weeks at one of them. This made sense since by then, RED LIGHTS had opened shows with Neko Case, Calexico, The National, Dios, French Kicks, Menomena, M. Ward, Division Day, and a host of similar artists, and consequently was able to draw crowds of 200+ at their own local shows. In 2005 the band embarked on its first and only mini-tour, alongside label-mates The Tallest from Chicago, to the Pacific Northwest and back. Following this tour, James married his long-time girlfriend and was accepted into graduate studies program at Bowling Green University, so the newlyweds picked up and moved across the country. Soon after, Ross Heiman moved to San Francisco and founded the band ARCADIO, while Jim, Shawn, and Ryan briefly played in a band called Midnight Shark Attack with their friend Mike Funk (For Stars, Rodriguez) before Jim moved to Los Angeles.
THE TALLEST The Future Burns the Sun CD [2005]
Emerging from the ashes of a Junior High Cure cover band, The Tallest are a band from Chicago via Louisville Kentucky, where this debut album was recorded. Influenced by 90s era brit pop like the Verve and Blur as much as it is by Americana-based acts like Wilco and Neil Young, The Future Burns the Sun was recorded at Above the Cadillac studios with Jim James and Johnny Quaid of My Morning Jacket and bears the distinct mark of that collaboration. Finishing touches were added by Greg Norman at Electrical Audio Recording in Chicago and the album was mastered by JJ Golden in Ventura California.
Following a couple of tours at the time of this album's release, The Tallest recorded several excellent songs for a follow-up album with Mr. Norman in Chicago. Shortly after these sessions, the band replaced their drummer (who left to start a family with his wife), embarked on one more tour, and then went on hiatus. The unreleased songs have not yet been mastered or slated for release-- the key word here is yet.
CRUSHSTORY A+ ELECTRIC LP [2000 (Y2K)]
This is the release that kicked off the Squid Vs. Whale label back in 2001. The album was recorded in '99, released in 2000 on CD in the USA and in Japan, and then released on vinyl LP (USA only) in 2001. After two 7" vinyl singles, this debut full-length, myriad personnel changes, and a handful of tours in the U.S. (and one in Japan), Crushstory was laid to rest in May of 2002. While active, the band played shows with At The Drive-In, Creeper Lagoon, The Jealous Sound, Low, Poster Children, Samiam, Track Star, Versus, and several other noteworthy acts of the era.
Reviews:
Although this comes advertised - via reviews of their two previous singles - as a treat for fans of Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson, it doesn't come across that much like either. If Crushstory shares anything with the old, clever new wave curmudgeons, it's in the vocals, not the music. Granted, the singer (no name on my advance copy) does sound a lot like the former Declan McManus, thanks to a similar nasal tone and pronounced slurring vowels style, but the band sounds more like The Jam or The Gas and Big Star having some kind of melding party with a classic '60s pop group. The guitars come meaty and thick and fast sometimes, with whooshing, old new wave (The Cars) organ and Rhodes piano (see the rapid 'Escape from New Rock'). Or they come a-banging post-glam power-pop like The Replacements might trot out ('Let's [Action]'). Or they hit at the high-stepping XTC-does-The Kinks ' 'Sunny Afternoon' with a Herb Alpert trumpet on the best song, 'All Natural'. Or they switch to a mod-band urgency, like the ace 'White'. These guys do it all, and do it well. / Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover, # 48 - June 2001
Hook-laden, organ-drenched power-pop with a sweet tooth, Crushstory delivers an electrical combination of all that is good in indie-rock: hook-y guitars, warm vocals, toe-tappin' rhythms, and a cute approach to pop in general. This record will get you going, have you singing along, and feeling every sugarcoated note. Punchy, soft, driven, and beautiful, A+ Electric is a strong delivery of strong pop songs. I'll give it an A-. / Alex Steininger, In Music We Trust #37, March-May 2001
A+ Electric is full of delectable hooks and well-placed turns of musical phrasing. With all the electric piano and some of the upbeat guitar work, this record resembles the cheerful, mid-'90s pop of Zumpano. The vocals have the decided echo of Elvis Costello in them, which works very well. Track one, "Let's [Action]," gets high marks both for possibly being a cryptic reference to the great Let's Active and for the way the vocalist evokes the provocative, yearning Costello. There are other affinities between Crushstory and said nerdy pop icon. Most of the songs on A+ Electric keep to Costello's "brevity is better" formula, and rarely wear out their welcome or try your patience. In this regard, Crushstory understands what good pop is about: if you can pack verse, chorus, verse and phenomenal bridges into a short song, it's not necessary to go over 3:30. (Maybe tracks 11 and 12, weighing in at 6:03 and 6:59, respectively, represent momentary lapses in reason. Is there any great need for an indie jam band?) Nevertheless, Crushstory's A + Electric is a solid record. Here's a group that's definitely worthy of much wider attention. / Randall J Stephens, Ink 19 (ink19.com), April 2001
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