{"id":4923,"date":"2011-07-11T19:49:23","date_gmt":"2011-07-12T02:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/?p=4923"},"modified":"2011-07-19T23:56:55","modified_gmt":"2011-07-20T06:56:55","slug":"2-more-new-cds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2011\/07\/11\/2-more-new-cds\/","title":{"rendered":"new music: 2 CDs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-count=\"none\" data-via=\"reviewermag\">Tweet<\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/company-car-pic.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/company-car-pic-150x150.jpg?resize=150%2C150\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-4924\" \/><\/a><strong>Company Car<br \/>\n<em>Stop Hitting Yourself<\/em><br \/>\nCompany Car Music, 2011<br \/>\nwww.companycarmusic.com<br \/>\nReviewed by Kent Manthie<\/strong>    <\/p>\n<p>    A new DIY band that hails from San Francisco, Company Car, is a basically listenable, not off-putting band that has a certain upbeat quality to their songs that, unfortunately, we have to put in that box called \u201cEmo\u201d &#8211; now, after so many hits to the genre, kicks to the balls and put downs and plain dismissals, it\u2019s almost not fair to even call yourself \u201cemo\u201d anymore because of the negative connotation it has,  but to be fair they have a good, rocking ambience about them, not just dwelling on chicks and materialism, they do get in to other ideas, at least taking the time to do some thinking about what they lyricize about, etc., but it\u2019s the sound that just doesn\u2019t prick up my ears, you know?  It\u2019s just a generic, radio-friendly \u201cemo-rock\u201d style &#8211; while they may not be singing \u201cemo\u201d subjects, the music screams \u201cemotional outburst\u201d.  <\/p>\n<p>    I wish <em>Stop Hitting Yourself<\/em> could\u2019ve been different &#8211; a more personal, maybe introspective type of new sound that has more of a chance to be noticed than the musical equivalent of a \u201cred\u201d Honda, you know?  <\/p>\n<p>    The one song that does stand out is the title track, \u201cStop Hitting Yourself\u201d &#8211; it works with the heavier beats, the time changes, the hard-charging attitude.  Basically, it\u2019s a song that I think I would enjoy seeing played live &#8211; watching a band play their music, whether live or in a video somehow adds a certain visual quality, where instead of the lack of imagination that is inherent in just hearing it gives one a different take on the song, in a more meaningful way.  Another song that breaks out a bit is \u201cPhillips Head\u201d, which has a bit more of an edge to it that makes it stand out a little more.  Conversely, the next tune, \u201cWeekend\u201d slows things down a bit, it\u2019s not quite a ballad, but starts out with a morose beginning and then speeds up back to the \u201cemo\u201d feel, but with its time changings and its ups &amp; downs it shows at least a little variety to it.  While one doesn\u2019t need worry about the mood of the album going too far one way or another since it\u2019s all pretty much a rousting record that serves as a platform for a new band and the songs that they\u2019ve written, it goes on to the latter part of the disc, with songs such as \u201cVolunteer Firefighter\u201d and \u201cEnglish Eye\u201d not being filler, like some overstretched CDs do to fill up the space on the disc &#8211; with an average of 80 minutes of time on a CD an ambitious band might want to work and work and fill up that disc up to its limit just so there\u2019s no time wasted.  Well, you don\u2019t have to worry about that on <em>Stop Hitting Yourself<\/em>, it basically continues on in the last three or four songs in the same verve they started off with, so that you won\u2019t get that \u201care they ever gonna end?\u201d feeling.  \u201cConnecticut\u201d &#8211; is a cut that\u2019s got a few extra chops on it that make an extra mark &#8211; some splashy guitar hooks and turns that take fast bends.  Also worth a mention is the final track, \u201cSilhouette\u201d which, if you get through it, rewards you with a song that has a more raw and fiery edge to it.   <\/p>\n<p>    All in all, <em>Stop Hitting Yourself<\/em> is a worthwhile rock record, one that you probably might hear on you\u2019re local modern rock station one of these days.  And if you do &#8211; bug the DJ to quit playing the one song that they\u2019ll end up playing over and over forever &#8211; and tell him you want to hear \u201cSilhouette\u201d &#8211; not a huge departure, but one that will have you taking them a little bit more serious.  Seriously!  <strong>-KM<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/young-reps-pic.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/young-reps-pic-150x150.jpg?resize=150%2C150\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-4925\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/young-reps-pic.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/young-reps-pic.jpg?w=200&amp;ssl=1 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><strong>The Young Republicans<br \/>\n<em>What\u2019s Yours is Mine <\/em><br \/>\nSelf-Released, 2011<br \/>\nwww.mikeferraro.net<br \/>\nReviewed by Kent Manthie<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>    The name of this band is either a hilarious form of irony or it\u2019s a statement of the way these guys think and act.  I\u2019d sure like to think it\u2019s the former and not the latter, because if it is the latter, then, well, you can count me out as any support mechanism.  I, myself do everything I can to bring down the GOP and their screwed-up constituents-idiots who actually vote against their financial interests just because they\u2019re man is anti-abortion or is some fringe kook who wants school prayer back, the 10 commandments in state government buildings or some crazy, silly stunt like that, which of course, will never happen. <\/p>\n<p>   Anyway, so far, while listening to <em>What\u2019s Yours is Mine<\/em> is telling me that they are more of the latter &#8211; the facetious, ironically named band for whom the right-wing is as abhorrent to them as to any other educated, unbrainwashed person in the country.  <\/p>\n<p>      Actually, these Young Republicans are pretty cool, they have a mellow, acoustic guitar-driven sound that is endearing and at the same time rather catchy.  <\/p>\n<p>     The main force behind the Young Republicans is Mike Ferraro, who writes all the lyrics and Jonathan Andrews, with whom Ferraro writes the music.  On this CD they are not enslaved to any label.  They put it out on their own and so control all the copyrights and make all the money.  <\/p>\n<p>     Somehow I get this sense of Elliott Smith the more I listen, but not quite as dark or introspective.   They have this kind of low-fi thing going mixed with a sort of hip-folk thing-think Folk Implosion (Lou Barlow\u2019s side project with John Davis).  I would hope that they stay indie and don\u2019t start getting heavy radio rotation, that would just ruin it all.  Part of the allure is the indie\/underground thing they seem to have going.  If you happen to come across What&#8217;s Yours is Mine and you really end up digging it, you\u2019ll get this thing that you\u2019re there biggest fan (and I\u2019m sure there\u2019s a whole bunch of others who feel the same, which is what makes a band like this get a cult-following instead of bloating into some stadium rockers who have to play at these damn huge stadiums just to accommodate all the kids that the local radio station hypes and gives out tickets to.  No, they belong in dark little clubs where un-tainted hipsters can go and not be cheek to cheek with some dumb white suburbanite who buys Vans at JC Penney\u2019s.  <\/p>\n<p>    Some of the cooler tunes on What&#8217;s Yours is Mine include \u201cOverdue\u201d, \u201cAbsolutely Nothing\u201d, \u201cThe Way it Feels\u201d and \u201cTwo as One\u201d.  Not that the other ones suck &#8211; the whole album is a low-fi jamboree, no studio polishing, no propaganda and no REAL Republicans!  <\/p>\n<p>     Apathy is a word I think of the more I listen to it, so when I think about the sort of audience that they might engender I don\u2019t see a lot of hope in thinking that they will get the facetiousness of the name of their band and then think a little bit about how screwed up this country is and that if they just got all their friends together and actually organized, protested and voted, then things could actually start to change.  But sorry to say, apathy is the name of the game and that\u2019s cool, if that\u2019s what you\u2019re into, but &#8211; hey &#8211; when some corporate-shill starts running the country again and this country is so awful that it is actually better to move to a different country then you can\u2019t really blame anyone but your own do-nothing selves.  Sorry &#8211; don\u2019t mean to preach, but that\u2019s just the truth and you know I\u2019m right. <\/p>\n<p>    Anyway, dig these Young Republicans and don\u2019t accidentally get fooled into going to a REAL Young Republicans meeting &#8211; you\u2019ll know you\u2019re in the wrong place as soon as they start talking.   <strong>-KM    <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TweetCompany Car Stop Hitting Yourself Company Car Music, 2011 www.companycarmusic.com Reviewed by Kent Manthie A new DIY band that hails from San Francisco, Company Car, is a basically listenable, not off-putting band that has a certain upbeat quality to their songs that, unfortunately, we have to put in that box called \u201cEmo\u201d &#8211; now, after so many hits to the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,573],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3301,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2010\/11\/16\/devines-jug-band\/","url_meta":{"origin":4923,"position":0},"title":"CD review: Devine&#8217;s Jug Band","author":"mookie","date":"November 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I met with the editor of the Reviewer the other day at a Point Loma coffee house and he gave me a fat stack of CDs to listen to. 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