Reviewsic [ri-vyoo-zik] -noun: Music worth talking about

Have you ever found a great band just to have a member of your well-respected elders tell you it was garbage? Been reminded that your music ‘just isn’t how it used to be’? Enter Paul Sipio and one of his many projects, Paul Sipio Dectet: bridging the musical gap between generations.

A few posts ago we put up the first video in an installment of music videos by Manchester Orchestra. Releasing one exclusive video for each track on their upcoming release Mean everything to Nothing, the band recently posted the second in the series at Spin.com.

You can view ‘Shake it Out’ here

You can also see singer Andy Hull perform some of the new Manchester Orchestra songs here, also from Spin Magazine.

As those of you who check the site for updates may have noticed, Telegram Sam has been less than consistent with daily posts the past week. Why is that you ask? Well, the Sleeping Lessons inbox has been empty since last Saturday, which means: Bands, Musicians, and friends of such- Send us music!

It’s hard to review albums when we don’t have any to listen to.

Being in search of legitimate pop punk is no easy task in a time that is littered with computer generated musicians and image driven music, but luckily for the all those on the hunt, Chicago’s own The Blissters are here to make things easy for you. This quartet has been gaining notoriety all over the Chicago scene for sometime, being recognized for their talent in competitions like the Starbucks Avant Garde Music Competition, which they won in 2007, through cross country radio play, and countless articles in notable publications such as the Huffington Post, Chicago Tribune and The Illinois Entertainer [to name a few].
Needless to say The Blissters have been hard at work over the years, creating catchy and cool powerpop under the management of Francesca Campbasso and recording their two EP’s and full length with Mike Hagler [The New Pornographers, Wilco]. Gracing some of Chicago’s best venues including, but not limited to, The Subterranean, Double Door and The Abbey, they’ve also played some major festivals such as The Kostner Avenue Block Party, Taste of Lincoln, and were recently asked to play the International Pop Overthrow Festival for the third straight year.
So what exactly is it about The Blissters that’s causes so much commotion? With a sound that fluctuates between the 80’s influence of new wave and the 90’s brink of power pop, the male-female vocals elude to bands like Letter’s to Cleo, circa-Tragic Kingdom No Doubt, and The Bangles. Arnold Madlangbayan and Erica Corglione create a chemistry in every sound song, bringing life to what would otherwise be overly simplistic and trite lyrics. Songs about teasing trade offs, broken hearts and uncertainty are allowed when you have the where with all to back them up. That’s not to say that lyrically this band is a dud- on the contrary there are some sharp and catchy choruses totally worth singing along to, such as in their ever popular song Just like You: “Desire’s taking over me/I wanna know where this is going/ I don’t wanna be just like you now/I’ll be the love out of you somehow/Go ahead I, I really do not mind/ I don’t see you all the time, but you’re always on my mind” It’s not deep poetry by any means, but sometimes it better to just have a good time and not worry about being reflective.
Just the right amount of synth-y sounding keys and basic bass come together in The Blisster’s music, being classic pop punk without coming off as cliché. As mentioned before, the vocals of Erica Corglione have a hint of The Bangles in them, and its no more apparent than in the song A-OK, where she’s accompanied by smooth male vocals that have all the lightness of a traditional pop punk voice, but with a little more versatility.
Songs like Electric MP3 and Wet Reckless are well formulated and exactly what I imagine being appropriate to listen to on a summer drive, or maybe for a little skip in your step as we cut the long stretch to real Chicago spring.
Instrumentally The Blissters deliver a sound that’s gruff buy polished, an impressive combination of professional mastering and garage guitar. It’s always nice to hear a band that still sounds real despite having all the benefits of studio manipulation, and there’s nothing manufactured about The Blissters.
These four musicians bring an element of lightheartedness to the ever self indulgent persona of local bands calling themselves artists, represent the forgotten element of new wave, and freshen up what has otherwise become a stale genre. Be sure to follow them as they continue to bring fun to the music scene of Chicago, and look out for the new album the band is currently in the process of creating.

www.myspace.com/theblissters

The Blissters with be playing Friday, March 27th at:
Reggies Music Joint

2105 South State Street
$5 cover, 21+ show

w/Voice Of Addiction, Burn Sand Burn and Kristen Ford and the Model Ts.

The Blissters go on at 9pm.

Self-production is a staple of the indie music scene and in a time of more and more major label pickup for indie bands, Chicago’s own Geronimo! hasn’t forgotten this fact.
The newly city coming Rockford, IL natives book their own shows, write and record their own music and even go the extra mile to design and make their own merchandise. Members of Geronimo! have previously played in bands such as Inspector Owl, The Laureates, The Gunshy and The Honeybear Wild, as well as recorded with Troubled Hubble, The Felix Culpa and Surround Sound.

Their second EP release via E-Van records is titled, A Different Kind of Greatness, came out January of 2009 and was mastered by Josh Miller of Troubled Hubble and Picture Books. A Different Kind of Greatness was inspired by the bands experience of moving from Rockford to the Windy City and its title is pulled from the towns official slogan. After looking at the faces that make up Geronimo! the sound of A Different Kind of Greatness can come as a little bit of a shock. This second EP has the rusty, crusty, ruggedness of garage rock/grunge, something that doesn’t coincide with the wholesome faces pictured on the album’s back cover [save for one members attire of a flannel shirt and knit hat]. In my opinion, the difference between visuals and sound is a beautiful thing. Nothing is more disheartening when a band sounds EXACTLY the way they look. They say not to judge a book by its cover, but unfortunately today we can judge a band by its haircut. Luckily Geronimo! is one of the bands keeping their “image” out of their music and just producing legitimate sound.

While the thought of grunge might turn some people off, Geronimo! is more than a group of garage inhabiting noise makers. There are some serious riffs and catchy bass happening in this EP, which is interesting because Geronimo! doesn’t even have a bass player. Instead the three-piece band uses a keyboard they’ve rigged and play mad scientist as they experiment with how to balance and fill out its sound. I’d say they’ve been pretty successful in this endeavor, and I’m very curious to see it all happen live.

With vocals reminiscent of Kind of Like Spitting’s Ben Barnett , Geronimo! delivers an unpolished sound that may be an acquired taste for some. While personally I can appreciate that imperfect whine, admittedly there are some moments of this EP that rubbed me the wrong way. Lyrically the band keeps things simple and slightly cryptic, which is fine but also keeps there from being anything that truly stands out. Fortunately some of the instrumentals put together in Geronimo! make up for that, in tracks such as Do the Driving and Approaching the Skyline where the melodies are catchy and body swaying inducing. Not to mention some great trumpet contributions.

All in all I think Geronimo! is a fine set of individuals if not just for the risks they’ve taken in delving into the sound of jam bands and grunge, their go get em’ attitude and self-reliance. I wish these new Chicago residents the best of luck and hope to see them continue to make music.

www.myspace.com/thegeronimoband

Geronimo! will be at Quenchers on March 20th www.quenchers.com for more information

Manchester Orchestra - The Only One

Heavy and attention grabbing, Group Therapy comes at you with full willingness to share their story. Lyrics that are raw, though at times seemingly trite, this band gives off the first impression of coming at you with clenched fists, when really they’ve just got their heart on their sleeve.
Making music together since 2003, with a line up change in 2004, the reformed Group Therapy has put together songs of heavy expression, telling their experiences with homelessness, loss, and drug addiction.
Though taken apart and built back up a few times over, Group Therapy has been working toward making a name for themselves, and even finished an impressive 6th out of 400 bands in the Rockstar Get a Life contest, after entering with just two weeks left until the end date.
Though the band has obvious passion and desire, upon hearing the rough tracks off their upcoming release Pieces for the Broken, we can only hope they’re saving the best for the albums big Summer 09’ debut. We cut the guys some slack, considering these are rough tracks and the mastering process does wonders for cleaning up sound, but there are a few things we’d like to hear tweaked that the best producer can’t change.
Group Therapy needs to tighten up the sound of its drum kit, which comes across sounding too cymbal-y, and with more banging than rhythm. The guitar riffs (especially those used in Grey Skies and Goodbyes) are juvenile and generic, but do show some promise in other tracks such as Come Home. Vocals offered up by the group border on unimpressive at times, but also come at the listener with strength in their gut wrenching screams and accents of “ohh’s” (Grey Skies and Goodbyes). Our suggestion is to work on getting more control of those vocal chords, because potential does seem to be there.
As was mentioned before, the lyrics of Group Therapy can be a bit trite and unoriginal, but laced within some of the monotony are a few impressive ‘one liners’.
In My Disease there’s mention of asking for “…the time to re-stitch my seams”, and in Grey Skies and Goodbyes a clever quip, saying “As the cloud rolls over this old street/Curiosity kitten had to peek/But the drop from the window was too deep”
All in all, Group Therapy is a band that is more than a little rough around the edges, but with the right focus and tweaks could be a big hit in the Chicago music scene. We look forward to seeing what final adjustments come to Pieces for the Broken and its release this summer.

www.myspace.com/grouptherapy313

If you’re a singer looking for an instrumental match up with an affinity for melodic instrumentals and deep driven bass, then Chicago’s Ford’s Theater just might be the group for you.
Hailing from the Windy City, Ford’s theater is a four-piece band that has worked tirelessly to achieve a sound that is smooth, complex, and fluid. Constantly striving for the unique, the band is equal parts of all its members, giving personality to their melodies. Citing such influences as Appleseed Cast, Piglet, and Radiohead, Ford’s theater is a promising creation.
Currently in the process of creating a new EP, the band offers a few tracks to preview online at [www.myspace.com/fordstheater]. In these tracks you’ll find seamless percussion and what sounds to be Spanish inspired guitar parts. Some tracks, like Swifts Swifts and Tarantism, have an ambient, floaty quality to them while others, like My Senses Have Formed come at its listener hard and fast, but never rushed. There’s a sense of precision and control in the music made by Ford’s Theater.
Citing hopes to find a singer and put lyrics along with their already appealing music, Ford’s Theater is a band worth checking up on as time passes.
Ford’s Theater will be playing at Swing State in Gurnee, IL with Give Away the Pilot, Venice Gas House Trolley, and Stephanie Nilles on March 18th.

Jamie Lynn Noon has been named a break out artist of the last year, with a hit on MTV’s top 10 Soundtrack, and praise from fans across the nation. The Los Angeles artist has certainly been working to make a name for her self, promoting endlessly and broadcasting her music from multiple websites.
A Moment to Break is her debut EP, which she not only wrote and performed, but helped produce along with Kevin Harris. The EP was released in January of 2009. 22 years old and a native of the California Bay Area, Noon has been playing music all of her life and follows in the footsteps of such musicians as Linda Perry, Chantal Kreviazuk, and Chrissie Hynde- as her decorated biography on myspace states.
Though her talent is nothing to question, this EP fell a little flat to us. Each song seems to be just as soothing and melodic as the last, but unfortunately that continuity comes across more repetitive than anything else. The saving grace to the parade of slow tracks is the song ‘Second of Spark’, a much lighter and diversified song in comparison to the rest of the album. No one is saying that slow and steady can’t win the race, but there comes a time where you need to take a turn to keep moving forward. This EP lacks the sense of progression that makes listening to multiple tracks from one artist possible.
Though a little slow, and admittedly difficult for us to get into, we have to give Noon props for her music writing ability, particularly the use of time signature in Blind, which comes to the listener as a waltz, something not easily done. Lyrically A moment to break is reflective and sincere, something that can strike you in the right place when you’re going though a tough time. An attribute that is entirely fitting, because Noon is the forerunner of the ‘Til Ya Make It Organization (www.tilyamakeit.com) which is a site advocating charitable causes and works as a forum for her fans to share their own stories of overcoming hardships. Noon is also releasing a corresponding single, “Til Ya Make It” which was featured in the television series, Saints and Sinners.
All in all, Jamie Lynn Noon is an artist whose efforts are to be respected, and a good fit for anyone who enjoys inspirational music. A Moment to Break is available on iTunes, Amazon and an array of other sites, all of which you can be linked to via her myspace- myspace.com/jamielynnnoon

www.jamielynnnoon.com