Tuesday Bears: New King Khan and The Shrines - Bite My Tongue

A few weeks ago, we heard Fucked Up's "I Hate Summer," an exclusive short single for 2012's Bruise Cruise, which if you can figure out from the context, is a cruise with punk music on it. King Khan and The Shrines - not the BBQ show - also made the billing, which takes place next month from February 10-13.

The band's single "Bite My Tongue" will be released on the first day of the cruise, February 10. Listen below.

King Khan & The Shrines - Bite My Tongue by Bears and Bullets

Bears and Bullets Top 25 Songs of 2011: Part III

We'll continue our countdown today with songs #15 through #11.

#15: Danny Brown - Monopoly
"Monopoly" sounds genuinely like Danny Brown, born poor and raised in Detroit, generally deals with dangerous shit. The beats are strong, sullen, and dirty, with Brown noting that he's been through a lot to get where he is. But in reality, "Monopoly" is nothing more than a take to shit on his opponents, and if there's any doubt of it, he goes to length to emphasize that he'll "literally" shit on their mixtapes. It's the perfect blend of what makes XXX so great; deceivingly intelligent rhymes split between Brown's desire to be understandably weird. 

Danny Brown - Monopoly by Bears and Bullets

#14: Smith Westerns - All Die Young
The centerpiece to Smith Westerns' sophomore release Dye It Blonde, "All Die Young" takes the lighter, lo-fuzz surf-rock aura of the group's first work and blows it up in front of multi-layered keyboards and Max Kakacek's slow-tuning guitar solos to the "everyone join together" climactic finale. But more so than what it is, "All Die Young" is the sound of a band actually getting their heads together and figuring out what's great instead of what is just good.

#13: Fucked Up - Queen of Hearts
"Queen of Hearts" is your true introduction to Fucked Up's long-winded tail of David, the protagonist in David Comes to Life. But rather than space out an all-too long story to fit every finite detail of David's exploits, the group had enough sense to try their hand at hardcore story telling, I.E., lead-singer Pink Eyes still gets to spit his throat-scathing wails behind messy, sonic guitars. But the story doesn't necessarily wrap up the listener, as it shouldn't. It's Fucked Up's perfected method that still comes through on top.



#12: Freddie Gibbs and Madlib - Thuggin'
Freddie Gibbs and Madlib joining up is just a good idea. It had to be said. The eponymous track from the collaborative duo's Thuggin' EP, features Madlib's well-renown super-rich sampled beats and Gibbs' best work of the year (that includes a lot of cameos along the way). A lot of the songs on these lists have well-detailed reasoning behind their unreal quality, but when it comes to "Thuggin'," there isn't much more to say than just, goddamn, listen to how good this is. It might be a cop-out, but man if it isn't correct.

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Thuggin' by Rappcats

#11: FIDLAR - Wake Bake Skate
Pot doesn't need an anthem. It's had enough artists striving to bow to the temple of getting high and hanging out since the 50s, but we have to admit that there's something stupidly endearing about it. FIDLAR's "Wake Bake Skate," an ode to being broke, lazy, and smoking, doesn't strive to collect the ever-growing range of metaphor's of contemporary American laziness, but knows how to make it seem a lot more fun, despite the depressing reality of what they're saying. 



We'll continue our countdown tomorrow with songs #10 - #6 ...

Bears and Bullets Albums of the Year: Pt. V

We'll continue today with our top 25 countdown with albums #5 through #1.

#5: Fucked Up - David Comes to Life
In all honesty, the concept album isn't my thing. Too often the ideas of a concept album sweep away what could have been multiple tracks of endearing music, instead playing the hand of a story that isn't terribly interesting to begin with it. That's why 'essential' records like Tommy, Quadrophenia, The Wall, and Sgt. Peppers, for all their massive critical acclaim, don't truthfully pass through time as well as their super-fans would like to admit. Daring? Sure. But so was the first 'Tron' movie, and that looks terrible now. 

So, I had every right in my mind to be skeptical of Fucked Up's David Comes to Life project; a huge double-album about the omniscient David character and the pre-meditated sequence of events that follow upon meeting Veronica (both are identified in the album's second track "Queen of Hearts"). The problems that the band avoids is in their hardcore nature. While the song-writing is vital to the idea, Fucked Up thankfully understood that their punk sounds come first and foremost, not endlessly dragging through the four parts that make up the album. It almost feels like David Comes to Life destroys the concept of the concept album, playing with hearts instead of just minds.

#4: The Weeknd - House of Balloons
The man who should be on everyone's shortlist for Best Artist of 2011, Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, released three free records this year as part of a trilogy. Thursday and Echoes of Silence (released two days ago) were the final pieces, but it was his February debut House of Balloons that truly came out of no where to land him where he is right now, the best new voice in pop. Luckily, Tesfaye's edge isn't simply his voice, but his drippy, enriching production setting the pace for all three albums. The sampling is noticeable, like Beach House's "Master of None" on the seven-minute-plus "The Party & The After Party," but aren't the the most attachable portions of House of Balloons. That's Tesfaye's job, which comes through effortlessly and is hard to match.

#3: Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
Hip-hop too often settles with good, or just good enough. While some parts of the product remain pre-eminently consistent, truly pushing the boundaries isn't thought of as a necessary notion of the genre, it seems. For every great record that leaks through, there's another that just seems good, or passable, but not terribly imaginative. With the combined work of Ishmael Butler (ex-Digable Planets member) and Tendai Maraire, Black Up, the first studio release from Shabazz Palaces, is some of the smartest, most intricate, and deeply profound work the genre has seen in years. The narratives are existential tomes of race, materialism, and atmospheric elements only engraved in the deepest caverns of thoughtful construct. Combined with the other-worldly sounds the duo work with, and Black Up proudly comes out as one of the most imaginative efforts in recent memory.

#2: Bon Iver - Bon Iver
If there's one phrase that works for Bon Iver's self-titled release, it's "embarrassingly good." From the album's roaring opening, "Perth," to the slightly confusing, but heartwarming "Beth/Rest" (some won't agree with that), Bon Iver is too good even for the common cynic to thoughtlessly ignore. The sounds are too rich, Justin Vernon's voice is too sentimental, the craft is too perfect, the consistency is ... too consistent.

Every album has it's impossibly high moments ("Perth," "Holocene"), but rarely do they truly separate from the rest of the record, as it does here. From "Michicant" to "Calgary" to the aforementioned "Beth/Rest," fanfare is split to where the record stands tallest. But that distinction says more for Bon Iver's overall quality than anything else. It's a question worth asking, even if there's no direct answer.

#1: M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
Expectations were pretty high for Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, M83's sixth studio release in ten years. The previous records were consistently formative, but usually ended up plateauing after a couple remarkable singles ("Run Into Flowers," "Kim & Jessie," etc.) There always seemed to be an innate ability for Anthony Gonzalez to not only replicate those stand-out moments, but captivate them with something bigger, something that required more time. And it's pretty easy to see how big Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is; nearly 80 minutes and two albums worth of material. You'd figure Gonzalez would fizzle somewhere.

The album scorches in the opening, with "Intro," "Midnight City," and "Reunion" - three tracks that have already marked their way through the past few weeks as singles, and the expectations are pretty much met. That pitch-perfect manifestation of imagination and childhood enchantment Gonzalez has a complete knack for are packaged in what could be perceived as a deluxe issue, unrelenting and unconscious. It's hard not to get completely lost on the first or second listen, but that's what a perfect record should do. It needs to be so good you don't care about anything else.



We'll continue next week with our Top 25 Songs of the Year ...

Fucked Up - I Hate Summer

Timing aside, Fucked Up have released "I Hate Summer" through Matador Records a few months prior to the band's scheduled Bruise Cruise trek - a punk rock cruise line that I'll let you figure out for yourself. This time, the band takes a step back from the David Comes to Life message and just shits out good music.

Fucked Up - I Hate Summer by Bears and Bullets

Wednesday Bears: New Fucked Up video - The Other Shoe

Two months after the release of David Comes to Life, Fucked Up premiered the second video from the epic 18-track for "The Other Shoe." It's a continuation of the love story from the first video ("Queen of Hearts," in case you forgot) that actually features the entire band this time around, all presented by NPR.

It's a pretty easy bet that this won't be the last video from David Comes to Life, which is out now courtesy of Matador Records.

Fucked Up - The Other Shoe

Monday Bears: Top 10 Albums of 2011 ... so far (Pt. II)

Here's part two.

5: Smith Westerns - Dye it Blonde

4: The Weeknd - House of Balloons

3: Black Lips - Arabia Mountain

2: White Denim - D

1: Fucked Up - David Comes to Life

Bunch'a live performances

A solid handful of live performances have made their way around today, including two Arcade Fire songs on Sound Opinions (WBEZ 91.5 Chicago).

Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) (Live on Sound Opinions)



Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait (Live on Sound Opinions)



Le Butcherettes - New York (Live on Terroreyes.tv)



Fucked Up - Queen of Hearts (Live at NXNE Toronto)

Tuesday Bears: Stream Fucked Up's David Comes to Life

Happy post-Memorial day weekend to everyone. We'll get back to normal work ... now.

Fucked Up's much anticipated follow-up to 2008's The Chemistry of Common Life, David Comes to Life; a monstrous 18-track rock opera split into four separate acts, is available to stream in its entirety over at NPR. As for it's place in the 2011 discography - it's up there.

The actual LP is set for release next Tuesday in that ol' USA North America via Matador Records.

Wednesday Bears: New Fucked Up - Queen of Hearts

Little by little, pieces of Fucked Up's anticipated rock opera David Comes to Life have been slowly released over the past few weeks. Today, the group released the album's fourth of four singles "Queen of Hearts," before the album's official release June 7. However, Matador "Buy Early Get Now" customers can download the album in four parts starting May 10.

The band also released their upcoming tour schedule, with a June 26 stop in Philadelphia at the First Unitarian Church. Get there, or check the remainder of the tour here.

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