Featured Release: Foo Fighters - Wasting Light

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light

April 12, 2011 | RCA

It would go without saying that the Foo Fighters are on the top of the list as for being on of the greatest rock bands in the last two decades. After 16 years of ups and downs the now five piece outfit is back with their seventh studio album "Wasting Light". The band started the recording process on this album back in August of last year with producer Butch Vig (Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins etc...). Dave Grohl and the band went in a different direction on this album, rather than it's predecessors this eleven song masterpiece was not recorded in a top notch studio facility, but rather Dave's garage and to a tape machine mind you. Going towards a more honest direction, the band could not rely on the ease and benefits with recording digitally. With that sort of pressure in the studio the band strived for perfection without studio magic. 

Normally I would say that with most full lengths you find a handful of songs worth listening to, and the rest were obviously written as filler songs. However, this is not the case and every song on this album is just as good as the last if not better. Albums were meant to be played and listened all the way through, and If you don't do that while listening to this than you have some serious mental issues. The opening track "Bridge Burning" immediately pulls you in and doesn't give up for a minute. I think if I had to choose one part in a song to listen to as I was faced with death it would be the chorus to this song, at least thats the impression it left on me. Following suite would be the single "Rope", which begins with a great delayed guitar track with rhythm guitar overlaying the off-time tempo. At first it sounds a bit off but as soon as the next beat falls you begin to understand what's really going on and it's awesome. The song "Dear Rosemary" features Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü) singing alongside Dave Grohl. For those of you familiar with Bob's signature vocal style, its no surprise to you that the two make a great collaboration.

The Foo Fighters did it right on this album, covering many of the styles and sounds that they are known for while expanding further into new territory. With such songs as "White Limo" (an obvious Motorhead

influence) to a more straight forward and open ballad "These Days", it's no doubt that this album is all that you would expect if not more. It has an overal feeling of heaviness, and not just in the sense of tempos and meters but with the lyrics, sound and overall mood. Perhaps one of the most powerful songs on this recording; "I Should Have Known" features a dark and gloomy chord progression with multiple layering from violin and vocals to a dirty, grungy and powerful bass line from the legendary Krist Novoselic (Nirvana). The song has a lot of passion and meaning behind it, and you can tell that there was a lot Dave wanted to say with this song, and he executed it perfectly. This by far has my vote for "Best Rock Record of 2011", unless there is someone out there who thinks that they can top what Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Pat Smear, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett  have created here, in which case I highly doubt it.

Check out the Foo Fighters playing "Wasting Light" in its entirety live in their studio.

New Music /// Like Wolves - Her As Earth (HEX Records)

Rochester's Like Wolves recently posted a new song off of their upcoming full length LP wich is set to be released this summer on HEX Records. Expect very fast and aggressive songs but with lots of creativity and dissonance with their sound. This new song is by far a step in the right direction for the band, especially at 1:23 of "Her As Earth". With the bands previous efforts of fast and intense playing they add some new flavors on this track; mid tempo grooves and cleaner guitar melodies remind me of early Young Widows to an extent.

Keep on the look out for Like Wolves this year, I am very confident in saying that the rest of this record wont stray to far from awesome from the sounds of this song.

Interview /// Tigers Jaw (Full Interview)

This interview was conducted towards the beginning of last year so it is a bit outdated at this point. I posted some questions from this interview several months ago and meant to put the others up so I figured I would just post the interview in its entirety. Recently the band just put out a full length entitled "Two Worlds" on Run For Cover Records that is worth checking out, enjoy the read!

What is your name and what do you do in Tigers Jaw?
ben walsh, guitar and vocals

How did the band start up? What were your first goals and aspirations when you guys had the idea to do a band?
adam and i started the band in late 2005 and recorded a few songs in adam's basement with two other members who quit shortly thereafter. we recorded a very minimalistic album called "belongs to the dead" for the summersteps records handmade series. brianna joined the band in summer 2007 and then we went through a few lineup changes before dennis and pat joined, forming the current lineup. our goals starting out were just to write music that was something we liked and that was a departure from bands we'd been in before. we were very motivated by the scranton band okay paddy(rip).

What bands were you all involved in before Tigers Jaw?
tigers jaw was my first serious band. pat and dennis were and still are in a band called three man cannon. adam was in a band called kosmos. i don't believe brianna was in a band but she's been involved with music for a long time. some of us were in other bands during tigers jaw, most notably captain we're sinking. adam and i tend to get kicked out of bands pretty frequently.

Where do you get a lot of your influences from both lyrical and musically?
we have been blessed with meeting a large number of great people and great bands since we started and we are very influenced by them. additionally, all five members have a varied taste in music. my favorite album of all time is "in reverie" by saves the day, and recently i've been listening to a lot of the sidekicks, osker, and brand new. lyrically, we are influenced by every relationship, every interaction we have, every positive and negative feeling, and just growing up in general.

Care to get a little deeper with that? What sort of frustrations either positive or negative drive you to write the lyrics and music that you do?
i don't know that i'd put it that way, being driven by frustration, exactly. when i write a song, nothing is too deliberate. if i sit down with the intention of writing a song about something specific, i come up with absolutely nothing. it kind of just happens bit by bit when i'm thinking about something else. certain lines are directly influenced by things like failed friendships/relationships, or not feeling competent, or growing up but having no idea what i'm doing. other times i write lyrics and they don't seem to be about anything at all.

Tigers Jaw is a pretty unique band name, where did the name come from and who thought of it?
technically phil elverum thought of it. the name is taken from a microphones lyric. it was adam's call on naming the band tigers jaw though.

Give us a brief rundown on your touring history? What bands have you been on the road with and what was your favorite experience?
summer 2007 we toured with Louch and the Green Chair. The band was comprised of adam, myself, and Louch's handsome drummer thomas filling in for us. The shows were scarcely attended but it was our first experience touring, and was very worthwhile and enjoyable.
summer 2008 we toured with title fight. we toured as a four piece (adam dennis pat and myself). summer 2009 we toured with our soulmates in kite party. it was our first tour with all five of us. this past january we toured with end of a year and aficionado.
we can't pick a favorite band we've toured with. a few of those bands are tied and all for different reasons that are unable to be compared.

You get the opportunity to travel to a lot of amazing places when touring, what have been some of your favorite spots to play the past few years?
personally, i really enjoy playing in boston and new york city. cleveland was very good to us this past january. playing in canada was great but i've never been so cold in my life. i'm not too picky though, i just enjoy traveling in general and just visiting places i've never been to before.

You guys put out a self titled full length in 2008 and on vinyl in 2009, how did that come about and why did you decide to release the vinyl on another label?
the cd was released on the now-defunct scranton label prison jazz records. the label had no intentions of releasing it on vinyl. our friend nick from photobooth offered to press it on vinyl so we did. we didn't have much of a budget so we hand-screened the covers ourselves.

What are some bands out right now that you would like to tour with?
the menzingers, balance and composure, make do and mend, any of our friends' bands. the list goes on and on. we wouldn't say no to touring again with bands we've already been out with either, of course.

When you sit down and write music what do you take in consideration, or do you sort of let the song shape itself and let it come out naturally?
personally, i don't always consider songwriting a deliberate process. it seems when i am least concerned with writing music, i am more inclined to come up with something. ever since we solidified our lineup after many temporary members, songwriting has gradually become more of a group effort, and hopefully that trend continues because everyone in this band has plenty to contribute.

2009 came and went what were some of the highlights for you guys as a band?
touring with kite party was great. they are some of our best friends and write incredible music.
as with every year, we consumed a large quantity of pizza, which is always a highlight in my book. releasing the spirit desire 7'' and designing lots of new merch were successful ventures for us and therefore noteworthy.

Best record of 2009?
the sidekicks-weight of air

2010 is now upon us, what are some of your guy's plans for this year, a new record? Touring? etc…
The plan includes both a new record (and split) and touring as well. no plans are definite as far as touring goes as of right now. the split, which is with friends balance and composure, comes out on may 11th on both run for cover and no sleep records. the full length does not have a release date yet, but look for it by this summer for sure.

How did you guys get hooked up with Run For Cover records for the next two releases that you are doing?
we were introduced to jeff from rfc when we toured with title fight. we were pretty sure he didn't like us. as it turned out we were wrong. jeff is a great guy and he's doing a lot of good things with the bands on his label. we were both interested in working with each other, so that's how it worked out.

Will there be a bigger production on the upcoming full length, and are there any plans yet on where you will be recording?
the upcoming full length is currently being recorded at skylight studios. we are producing it ourselves. expect a more natural and aggressive sound. we are very excited with how this album is coming together and plan to have it out by this summer.

Personally where do you see the band going in a few years from now, do you have a vision of what you guys will sound like or do you just want to see what happened and where you guys end up?
i don't know where we'll be in a few years. it's kind of a goal to be able to tour in europe so maybe we can make that happen. as long as we're enjoying playing music i don't care where we are. hopefully we can keep touring and releasing music, and hopefully people will continue to treat us as nicely as they have been. we are eternally grateful to any and all fans that we have. being in this band and being able to travel and meet so many awesome people has been such a humbling and great experience. 
as far as what we will sound like, we will just keep writing music that we enjoy playing. we wouldn't change the way we write music to keep up with any trend or to cater to any specific audience. we make the music that we want to make and we are grateful for anyone who enjoys it.

Any last words or closing remarks?
listen to our friends: kite party, title fight, three man cannon, the sidekicks, make do and mend, the menzingers, balance and composure, gypsy, and transit, keep an eye on run for cover records, tigers jaw loves vince ratti, buy us a van please, skateboarding in '10, and i think that's it for now.