Jay Mathes

Author: jaymathes

  • New Albums Out (Last Week)

    This past week featured some pretty terrible new releases. If you’re looking for bad metal, you could listen to the new Black Sabbath. If you want late–to–the–party pop rock, you could listen to Goo Goo Dolls. But it wasn’t all bad. My favorite record of the week was easily Jason Isbell’s Southeastern.
    Check it out here:
    Another album for the week is Eleanor-approved Jimmy Eat World’s Damage. Nothing new, but fun summer music. I’m sure some high schooler who just got his license will deem this the best record of the summer. Check out the song Byebyelove:
    Let me know what you think!
  • New Music Review: Phoenix’s Bankrupt!

    New Music Review: Phoenix’s Bankrupt!

    You’ve gotta know something.

    This week, I’m really diggin’ Phoenix’s new album, Bankrupt!

    And who ever said that nothing good comes from France anymore? Well thanks to this group, you can’t say their music isn’t any good. Next observation: these Frenchman sing in English. Again, what kind of French dudes are these? Well, I’ll tell you: darn cool ones.

    Their new album is exploding with synths.  The vocals and harmonizations remind me a lot of psychedelic Beatles era stuff, and the synths bring me back to early 90’s pop. Catchy, in-your-face. Michael Jackson-esque, at times.

    But strap yourself in because this album is *loud*. Probably too loud. Wait… I’m listening to “S.O.S” right now… This album is definitely too loud. Yeah, ear fatigue, as they call it. Check it out. But be warned: it’s best played quietly, cuz this stuff will smash your brains in from both ears.

    Take a deep breath when track six comes (Bankrupt!). It’s a much-needed ear break. And sounds pretty dang cool, too. It also helps that one of these guys knows music theory.

    Here’s a link to the album on iTunes:

    https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/bankrupt!-deluxe/id602320012