By David Thomas
February 3, 2004
It’s looking like 2004 may be the year the music world officially crumbles.
Signs of portent and doom are everywhere. And indie music fans should not be
celebrating. Don’t think this is the big leagues' problem alone. Right now there
are too many indie labels out there trying to capture the same share of the
market that has always existed, yet is now shrinking.
So many people grabbing for a slice of the pie makes things that much harder
for artists, labels and the buyers that try to keep track of it all. A recent
letter from Suburban Home, an indie label and distributor, was distressing to
say the least.
“As the retail music industry continues to go through hard times, we have just
been informed our biggest record distributor will be sending us a substantial
retail return. This is the second return in two months, and they total $40,000.
Without getting into specifics, this means that we will not be expecting a
payment for quite some time.
For an independent business like mine, this could prove to be the end of
Suburban home…”
Virgil Dicerkson, Suburban Home
www.suburbanhomerecords.com
I’m not going to tell anyone to go buy Suburban Home records just to help out
their financial situation. But it wouldn’t be a bad thing if you’ve downloaded
any of their artists or burned copies of their CDs to go out and buy one. Go to
their site and check out their store.
Even though Suburban Home isn’t the biggest of the indie labels, the epidemic is
only going to get worse. I hate being the doomsayer and carrying this theme
over from the last column but things don’t look good. However here are a few
uplifting musical moments I’ve experienced in the last few weeks.
Pick of the Week
BLUE SKY MILE, Sands Once Seas (Initial Records)
BLUE SKY MILE sounds like they’ve totally missed out on the emo revolution.
They obviously haven’t heard any of the new bands with screaming vocals over
melodic guitars and pounding choruses or even the bare-bones take of acoustic
emo. It seems like they’ve missed everything that’s happened since the PROMISE
RING broke-up.
Their style features ringing guitar tones that are crisp and free of most
distortion, a perky upbeat bass and a crystal clear singer in Jerry Kansky. It
doesn’t really matter that you’ve heard all these songs before in some
incarnation by some other band, the fact is you haven’t heard them done so well
since the turn of the millennium.
“Never Say Die” has a number of tempo changes and a catchy chorus that
exemplifies the band’s dedication to producing a quality record that still
makes toes tap. And while many (and I mean many) of the lyrics sound rehashed
from other band’s songbooks it doesn’t detract too much from the overall
enjoyment. Sands Once Seasis an album you can file right between those
old favorites and never notice that it came out last week.
Out of Nowhere Pick of the Week
THE LIFT, Road To Hana (Little Red Records, www.theliftstation.com)
I get dozens of e-mails asking “If I send you my CD will you review it on the
esteemed MoviePoopShoot.com?” Well, the esteemed part may be left off but trust
me, I get a lot of these requests. Usually what happens is I reply with my
address and say I’ll give it a listen. Than I either never receive anything or
end up with a really awful demo CD-R.
THE LIFT’s Road to Hana arrived at a slow time and got mixed into the
short stack of CDs on my desk to be played in my computer as I was working.
Sometimes I just blindly grab a disc and slip it into the tray without even
seeing what it is.
As the tiny speakers came to life with a big rock crescendo from “Bury The
Lead,” I could’ve sworn I was listening to PHANTOM PLANET’S latest. Except I was
more impressed with the song than past PHANTOM PLANET offerings. This made me
want to see who was producing PHANTOM PLANET these days. Of course, the case I
grabbed belonged to this nobody outfit called THE LIFT.
This Los Angeles band managed to sneak one by me. And they had me hooked. The
songs on Road To Hana are impressive in their complexity, catchiness and
big rock sound. Hearing the soaring vocals and solid drumming just served to
reinforce my beliefs that I was listing to a great record. Half-way through the
12 tracks, I was still interested and even towards the end I was still paying
full attention to the high-quality production and polish of the record. There is
obviously a love for early, Bends-era RADIOHEAD, but also an appreciation of
rock that truly guides the group’s hand.
I have no idea how successful this band is or if they even tour. The only thing
listed on their Web site is the option to purchase Road To Hana. So that
means I’ve given two free plugs in one column. www.theliftstation.com
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