Overlooked Alternatives: matt pond PA, Tomahawk
Published June 20, 2007
As usual, I'm making sure that there are widely different releases to talk about. This is, after all, basically how my entire music collection looks and how my brain works. I'm just as likely to jump between bands like this as any other completely different types of music at any time. Playing them back to back is risky to your mental health, but you should be fine. You may not, however, be legally allowed to play two bands like this at the same time - it might result in warping the space-time continuum.
matt pond PA - If You Want Blood: An unusually aggressive title for this gentle chamber pop outfit, this EP precedes the upcoming full-length album, Last Light, due out in late September, and introduces new bassist Steve Jewett who replaces Daniel Mitha, who left the band last year. If you like dramatic, jangly pop-rock with liberal doses of cello and a singer whose voice sounds like old maple syrup, this might be just the band for you. Oh, and this EP is said to be "extremely limited" - something like a couple thousand copies.
Tomahawk - Anonymous: Take one part Faith No More/Mr. Bungle, one part Jesus Lizard, and one part Helmet, and then let them tour through Indian reservations for a while. What you get is this new Tomahawk album of songs inspired by the sounds of Native Americans. Melvins bassist Kevin Rutmanis has left the band, but I'm sure Mike Patton has enough weird noises tucked in his throat to fill the void. What remains to be seen is exactly what this album is going to sound like - what little I've heard sounds an awful lot like Patton's other project (one of many other projects), Fantomas, rather than Tomahawk. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends on how you feel about Fantomas.
- Overlooked Alternatives: matt pond PA, Tomahawk
- Published: June 20, 2007
- Type: News
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Adult Alternative, Music: Alternative Rock, Music: Hard Rock, Music: Indie Rock, Music: Metal, Music: News, Music: Rock
- Part of a feature: Overlooked Alternatives
- Writer: Tom Johnson
- Tom Johnson's BC Writer page
- Tom Johnson's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
It's a shame that Matt Pond PA hasn't become a bigger band over time. They were on Carson Daly's show a couple years back, featured on the OC a couple of times, and was a Rolling Stone band to watch out for going into 2006.
But they had their equipment stolen from them (in New York in Feb. 2006) and band members seem to come and go almost every year now. It's hard to keep momentum going if you can't keep a solid lineup of band members together for any length of time, I guess.
So that's too bad, but I'll still buy their records, including this EP, 'cuz no matter who is in Matt's, they always put out good music.
And yes, Tomahawk is underrated (and overlooked) as well. And the Jesus Lizard comparison is an interesting one, as they were overlooked during their time, I believe.
I should have both of these later today, but I have no doubt there'll be some good stuff to dive into, Charlie.
By the way, in case it wasn't as obvious/clever as I thought it was, it's not just a comparison. Duane Denison was the guitarist in the Jesus Lizard (and John Stanier was the drummer of Helmet.) But, yes, tJL was criminally overlooked during their time - and they still are sadly rather unknown. Let's hope David Yow's new band, Qui (who will have an album out this fall), will get some exposure for everyone involved.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/65433)
Tomahawk's "Anonymous" is a trip.
The intro, "War Song", sounds a little like a Delirium Cordia song from Fantomas.
But the rest of the album is something that stands on its own. "Antelope Ceremony", "Mescal Rite", "Song of Victory", "Ghost Dance"...what other group has similar songs to that?
FORGET Faith No More or Bungle or Jesus Lizard or Fantomas-it doesn't sound like them at all.
Wether or not you like it depends on wether you want to hear another "Tomahawk" or "Mit gas" cd, or wether you want to hear new music (period!) from one of the more interesting groups labelled as experimental rock/metal. Hats off to Duane Denison.