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Reviews for Blag’ard “Fresh Candy”
Ground Control Magazine
MONDAY, 27 AUGUST 2012
To paraphrase an old Saturday Night Live character, “Hey – remember the Nineties?”
The Nineties were an unusual decade; pop and rock once again started to come awfully close to being the same thing for the first time in years and a gritty, grimy independent release which had been made on a nothing budget had a chance to be the badge of honor that fans wore wore because they found it before “the next big thing” broke through and conquered the world. It was a pretty cool time – and it has come back to life on Fresh Candy, the new album by Blag’ard.
From top to bottom and back to front, Fresh Candy smacks of work made modestly in the Nineties; the artwork on the front and back covers is cheesy and misogynist, the song-titles listed are pretty formulaic and the color scheme is eye-catching only because it is incredibly garish. It’s not pretty – but as soon as the record starts to play, listeners will begin to remember how good some of those modestly made albums could be. Right from the beginning of “Candy Town,” the embryonic days of bands who would eventually become royalty like Local H and Kings Of Leon growl miserably and muffled out of Joe Taylor’s guitar, Adam Brinson’s drums and the vocals supplied by both. It’s hard to not want to fall right back into that old mindset right there, but the band keeps it up and going into “Rusted Chrome” (forget how bad the title is, Taylor’s vocal melody and lines like “If you could shout into the night/ and it would carry on forever/ like a star’s ancient light/ then maybe I would care” are worth the price of admission) just to prove that the band isn’t likely to let this idea go.
From right there, with little to no effort on their part at all, Blag’ard will have listeners eating out of their hands – but they’re only getting warmed up.
From there, songs like “Pony Boy,” “Down South,” “Integrity” and “Scape” keep the alt-rock energy flowing forth straight and true and the band really concentrates on presenting their finest performances. They do a pretty good job at it; the absence of a production value means the band has nowhere to hide so they’re careful not to overreach or produce anything they couldn’t pull off onstage with just one guitar, one drum kit and two voices. That the band seems to know their limitations on this record is refreshing, and listeners will find themselves starting to appreciate the fact that the band seems content to reside in their box, for now.
Blag’ard – Fresh Candy (blagard.com)
http://www.jerseybeat.com/philrainone.html
Despite the “eye candy” on the front and back covers of the CD (naked-girl-holding-a-guitar-that-she-probably-doesn’t-know-how-to-play look), the duo of Joe Taylor on guitar/vocals, and Adam Brinson on drums/vocals, have the cool vibe of Jane’s Addiction, if Jane’s had not gotten humungous egos after their second album, and done mostly mediocre albums after that.
Blag’ard actually down-size Jane’s Addiction huge sound, but not their mojo. “Candy Town,’ “Pony Boy,” or “Tea is for Cookie,” are somewhat off-the-wall-rockers with generous bits of twisted humor for good measure. Fresh Candy has depth and flavor (no pun intended), and they add a few bells and whistles here and there, not only to keep your attention, but to add originality. Fresh Candy is an album that doesn’t slip into tribute territory; this band is the real thing. Blag’ard are able to get to that wildness of rock ‘n’ roll, and marry it to discipline and tradition, making it sound effortless, awe-inspiring, and tight as nails.
Jack Rabid’s Best of 2012 (including over 100 LPs)
Bob Mould, Silver Age
21 January 2013
by Jack Rabid
Now that my “Top 40 Albums of 2012” two-part countdown shows have aired on Breakthruradio.com, and my Top 10 has been officially posted on the Pazz and Jop Poll web site, it’s finally time to share with you all my Top Picks of 2012 List in full.
Here is is, my top 80 albums of 2012 (plus honorable mentions) that were newly made, another 25 that were reissues and archival/historic grist, 10 singles (plus honorable mentions) and a handful of DVDs that truly all captivated me this past year. Hope you enjoy!
TOP 80 ALBUMS OF 2012, NEWLY MADE RECORDINGS
1 Bob Mould, Silver Age (Merge)
2 Nada Surf, The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy (Barsuk)
3 Maximo Park, The National Health (Straight to the Sun)
4 exlovers, Moth (Young and Lost Club U.K.)
5 Honeychurch, Will You be There With Me (Siren Electric)
…
63 Blag’ard, Fresh Candy (Pig Zen Space)……………….
Review: Blag’ard – Fresh Candy
Published November 16, 2012 Reviews 1 Comment
North Carolina’s Blag’ard offer alternative rock of the strictly “no frills” variety. Just one listen to their songs and you get the picture of a couple of working men taking their frustrations out a beat-up set of guitars and drums. That’s probably not an exciting prospect in itself but the duo of Joe Taylor and cohort Adam Brinson make the best of what they’ve got with their hook-heavy rock sound.
As ‘Candy Town’ starts the album, one can be forgiven that Blag’ard have slowed to a bluesy rock crawl but the cunning twosome soon turn it into their familiar and highly serviceable mix of raw riffage and crafty hooks. If ‘Pony Boy’ seems a little too sombre and lo-fi, there’s much pleasure to be had from the de-tuned guitars of ‘Down South’ and ‘Tea Is For Cookie’ or the infectious tension of ‘Integrity’, whose title alone could be a description of their approach.
For once, Adam and Joe sound a little jaded on parts of this record but to a certain extent musical development is not too applicable to this kind of music. In addition, whilst ‘Fresh Candy’ never tries to break out from the solid formula, in a parallel universe it’s feasible they could be just as famous as The Black Keys.
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Reviews and interviews fro Blag’ard “Mach II”
Chris Parker · 24 Sep 2009, 3:20 PM
Blag’ard has delayed the release of its second LP, tentatively titled Mach II, to the beginning of next year. Guitarist Joe Taylor now plans to accompany its release by unshelving the long lost Capsize 7 album he recorded with the old alt-rock act in the mid ‘90s before they were dropped from Caroline Records. Fusing the jagged angular spirit of Polvo with Achers of Loaf’s hooks, Capsize 7 was one of the Triangle’s most underappreciated coulda-beens. He brings a similar bristling sound to his new outfit, fueled by drummer Adam Brinson’s sizzling kit work. We spoke to Taylor about the forthcoming releases.
INDEPENDENT WEEKLY: So what’s up with the new Blag’ard recording?
JOE TAYLOR: The Blag’ard record was pushed back to an unforeseen medical situation in my family, which basically meant I had to derail my life for about a half a year. I got back on track with getting my shit together. We are going to record the record starting in October. We’re going to record with Nick Peterson and start tracking on the 6th—coincidently, the day after my birthday. So it’s a nice birthday present for me, and then we’re doing it on one-inch reel-to-reel. I hadn’t recorded with audio tape in a long time, so I’m psyched to be working with Nick and going down on reel-to-reel. We’re going to do 10 songs, and because of the fact that Fall crept around and we hadn’t recorded the record in September or August, we said, “Putting a record out in November doesn’t make any sense, so let’s just wait.” So it’s going to come out in January.
How old will you be?
38.
Where are you recording?
Nick’s tape machine is currently not operating, so we’re subcontracting through a buddy of his, and we’re going to record out of this guy’s place in Raleigh on his tape machine. Nick’s going to engineer it.
What’s the reason for putting it to tape?
I recorded with my old band, Capsize 7, in the ’90 on audio tape, and I like the way it sounds. It’s more performance-oriented from the musician’s standpoint. You have to do better when you’re tracking because it’s not as easy to edit with audiotape. With digital, you can pinpoint a micro-section down. Also, because with the loud amplifier, the way that goes down onto the tape it adds a nice a nice effect the way a loud sound will bounce onto audio tape and hit it hard and cause a little bit of distortion. It gives it a different feel.
We recorded with Nick for our last record, and that was all Pro-Tools. I’m happy with that record, but I wanted to try something different and see what would work the best to give it a different flavor. I was concerned because if we were using the same engineer and basically all the same equipment, we’d get a very similar sounding record. And there’s not a problem with that, it’s just that I wanted to put out something new and different.
We have been playing them out live for the past 7 to 8 months. Basically, we’ve just been writing the record and playing it live since February. There are one or two songs that predate Bobcat. They’re just reworked by me and Adam to have our take on it, versus what they were originally. The one difference between this record and the last record is me and Adam have matured as a songwriting team. An idea gets more analysis and evolves more during the writing process than it used to. An old idea run through that machine sounds different. So putting a couple old songs out, I’m cool with that.
Tell me about the Capsize 7 lost album.
Capsize 7 was together from 1991 to 1997, basically. We broke up like October ’96. We were on Caroline Records and released one full-length record with them, and they picked up the option to release our second album and give us the money for it. So we went out to California and recorded that album with Mark Trombino, who went on to record Blink-182. He was the drummer for Drive Like Jehu. We recorded that album on 2-inch audio tape in a great studio, and we had the record done. After the record was finished, Caroline dropped us. But they gave us the rights to the record when they dropped us.
I don’t know how it worked out that way, but [Local 506 owner] Glenn Boothe, who was our A&R guy, he somehow finagled that. So we had the rights, but because the band broke up and because of the fact that I basically lost my shit, I couldn’t get it together enough to find new members to do the band. It just sat in the can for like 13-14 years, and then it just seemed like now is the time to do it. I called the guy up and had him ship me the tapes, and they were just bounced down to Pro-Tools. Nick is going to help me mix down the songs that weren’t mixed down, and we’re going to finish it up and put it out. It’s a 13 song album, and I’m putting it out on a limited number of CDs because I don’t know what that format is good for besides press and radio. And it’s going to be available as a download from my music site,pigzenspace.com.
I’m not trying to recreate or jumpstart Capsize 7. I just wanted to get this record out because I think it’s a good record, it would be silly not to put it out and, selfishly, I want it to shine on my new project. The Capsize 7 album is going to be called Horsefly and the Blag’ard album is going to be called Mach II.
By Stephen Carradini Thursday March 4, 2010
There’ s nothing “indie” aboutBlag’ard’s gritty, two-man garage rock other than the band’s unsigned (and therefore “independent”) status. These ten songs don’t spend time on atmospherics, mood or arrangements; they get straight to the rock’n’roll. This aesthetic gives the best songs on Mach II an urgency that is rare in any sort of rock’n’roll, much less the bare-bones two-man variety.
Indie-rock vet Joe Taylor (ex-Capsize 7) holds down the guitars and vocals, while newcomer Adam Brinson cranks out the drumming in this duo. The majority of the urgency comes from Taylor’s guitar work. Taylor rarely leaves a moment without guitar in it; while the lines can be angular at times, they never pause. By never letting up, Taylor covers the roles of bassist, rhythm guitarist and lead guitarist. His buzzing guitar sound is reminiscent of The White Stripes’ early guitar work, as the guitar work is definitely distorted but not so much so that you can’t hear what’s going on.
Brinson’s drumming fills out the sound in a very Meg White-esque way, contributing simple but appropriate drumming. Brinson does exercise more chops than White, but it’s a similar style. Brinson’s not showing off his drum skills, and it fits the sound well. He shows some syncopated work on “Snowball” and makes a solid drum line out of a repeated fill on “Harmony,” but most of the tunes use high hat, snare and kick drum in a consistent and insistent manner to match the propulsive qualities of Taylor’s songwriting.
When Taylor gets comfortably vocally in a song, it becomes a highlight. The lighter feel of “Snowball” allows Taylor to sing instead of snarling, and the melody one of the more memorable. Album standout is “RCO,” which scales back the intensity a bit to feature a sinister vibe, eerie backup vocals and a haunting chorus. “Life in Reverse” is the best of the straight-up rock tracks that they have here, as Taylor turns in a good vocal performance. The tight opening riff in “Ophelia” is also worth noting, as it steals the show from the rest of the song (even the whistling!).
The garage-rock of Mach II is messy, urgent, insistent, imperfect, and all rock. There’s no question as to what Blag’ard set out to do with this release, and they knock it out of the ballpark. If you like gritty, raw, untainted rock’n’roll straight outta the garage/Detroit, then Blag’ard is in your corner.
Mach II More Like Mach 10 – “Raleigh Music Dot Com”
Posted by shardee428 on 2010/3/2 11:52:55
Chapel Hill, NC–Chapel Hill’s Blag’ard is a two man show producing high-energy rock and roll. Their latest album, Mach II, is no different, and immediately pumps you up with fast paced guitar riffs and pounding drums. This one is sure to make you jump up and down or bang your head (or both).
I was amazed at the fullness of the sound since it was coming from just two people. Joe Taylor provides lead vocals and guitar, while Adam Brinson backs Joe up on vocals and provides body moving beats on drums. Authentic punk rock style vocals by both men are a delight to listen to and put a smile on your face. The men harmonize beautifully together.
The album provides ten tracks and provides a current yet unique punk sound. It opens with a track entitled “Get Some” and closes with R.C.O. A personal favorite of mine was “Harmony.”
Throughout the album, you’ll hear many hooks that will be impossible to get out of your head. It also makes for great road trip music as it would be impossible to NOT feel the energy and adrenaline that just pours out of this album. It will definitely keep you alert for a long drive. Roll down your windows, open your sunroof, and enjoy.
Mach II was produced by Chapel Hill label Pig Zen Space and recorded at Track and Field, also in Chapel Hill, by Nick Petersen in the fall of 2009. The album was mastered by Carl Saff and is available for download in its entirety at www.pigzenspace.com. The cost is $3.50.
If you’re looking for upbeat, authentic, punk rock, Blag’ard is where it’s at.
For more information about Blag’ard, feel free to check out the band’s website at http://www.blagard.com.
Leonard’s Lair (leonardslair.wordpress.com)
Review: Blag’ard – Mach II Published February 18, 2010
Relatively unknown though they may be, Blag’ard provide a valuable service of sorts. And when not running his window cleaning business, Adam drums and sings with Blag’ard along with guitarist and fellow vocalist Joe Taylor. Together this North Carolina duo offer the lean, macho alternative to Placebo’s popularised angst. ‘Mach II’ is the commendably taut and muscular follow-up to 2008’s debut long player ‘Bobcat’.
Blag’ard build their songs on the foundations of mighty riffs and punk vocals. ‘Major’, a fine case in point, benefits from a mighty hook-filled chorus and ‘Babushka’ my not be a brave cover of Kate Bush but it’s a cracking song in its own right. There’s no let up in pace or intensity and even at their quietest ‘Jenny G’ sounds pretty bone chilling. In fact, these aren’t just men churning out hooks for a cult following. There’s a dark heart to this record too. So much so, when you hear the title to ‘Ophelia’ being screamed it sounds more like “Oh failure” whereas, on a less subtle level, Taylor claims on ‘Life In Reverse’ that “There are people who would like me to shoot myself in the head”.
As with the first album, ‘Mach II’ uses a refreshingly no-frills approach to production and songwriting. However, don’t be too deceived by the simplicity of the arrangements, as many of the tracks feature complex chord changes and the end result is a punk record full of melody.
PUNKGLOBE
Mach II
Pig Zen Space
By: Ginger Coyote
BLAG’ARD
Blag’ard are two piece band from Chapel Hill North Carolina with a big rock sound… Comparable to a 5 piece band.. The music is big and full.. The band Features Joe Taylor who was in the 90’s indie band Capsize 7 who were signed to Caroline Records. Joe Taylor is best known for his ability to play crunchy, and very catchy guitar riffs.. He only excels what he does best on this CD.. Drummer Adam Brinson holds down his end with much skill.. The songs are infectious and leave you wanting more… I really enjoyed every song on this CD. Stand outs are “Get Some” , “Harmony” and “Life In Reverse”. . Pig Zen is Joe Taylor’s label and he has also recently re released the Capsize 7 CD on Pig Zen Space …
Palabra Y Sonido/Word And Sound
Blag’ard “Mach II”
Buena sorpresa el poder oir esta banda,acabo de recibir el disco hace un par de dias y no lo paro de oir.10 temas interpretados por solo dos personas,guitarrista/vocal,baterista/vocal.Su musica se podria definir como Collage Rock,con algunas influencias de bandas alternativas de finales de los 80`s.Su sonido es crudo pero a la vez melodioso con construcciones sonoras claras y definidas.Las letras son metaforicas acerca de la vida.Da gusto oir bandas que toman diferentes influencias para crear un sonido propio.Totalmente recomendable este lanzamiento.
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Was a nice surprise to get this release,i just recived this cd few days ago and since then im listen non stop the music.10 track playing by only two persons,guitar/voice,drums/voice.You can say their music have something of Collage Rock but also of alternative 80`s sound.Their sound is crude but at the same time very melodic with music structures that are very well played.The lyrics are about life.Is always cool to listen a band that having different influences do their own sound.Higly recomended.
RITSHAG
BLAG’ARD – MACH II (2010 PIG ZEN SPACE)
This and one other album (CAPSIZE 7) were, at the time of printing this issue, sent to me in an email from Joe, who plays in both bands and runs Pig Zen Space (a cool idea for a download site, where every album goes for $3.50 with $2.75 of that going to the artist, and comes with a PDF of the artwork). Blag’ard plays some really rockin’ tunes, with minimalist instrumentation (just guitar anddrums here, folks). I was hesitant to say so based on the first track on my first listen, but everything after that is awesome. After getting more of a feel for what they’re going for, I can even enjoy that first track now. Can’t compare them to any bands I’m familiar with, maybe 0 Pioneers!! but even that would be a stretch because Joe’s vocals are very clean in comparison. Favourite song: Ophelia (the whistling part gets me every time). In the end, this album is only gonna cost ya $3.50 from Pig Zen Space, so if you’re in the market for some new music give it a shot. (www.pigzenspace.com)
MISH MASH MUSIC REVIEWS
Capsize 7 – Horsefly
Blag’ard – Mach II
Pig Zen Space
This duo of releases features guitarist Joe Taylor, formerly of Capsize 7 and now with the duet Blag’ard. Capsize 7 was a Chapel Hill-based quartet in the early 90s who was briefly signed with Caroline Records. They recorded an album in 1996, Horsefly, which was never released by Caroline, and has now finally resurfaced and found new life. The group had a flirtation with indie-rock fame, sharing the stage with likes of Archers Of Loaf and Superdrag, before their disappointing drop off the radar in the mid-to-late 90s. The music here has that distinctive mid-90s indie edge, reactionary to the rise and fall of grunge rock which had been dominating the scene up until then. It’s a smart sound that is wound around tight, noisy dual-guitar lines, driving beats, and unassuming vocals. Good stuff, and a shame that it had to sit idle for so long.
Fast forward to 2010 and Taylor’s new group Blag’ard, where the aforementioned indie rock group sound is stripped down to the primer. It’s just guitar, vocals, and drums, but don’t try to make any comparisons to the likes of the White Stripes et al, because this is certainly a different ball of wax. Taylor and drummer Adam Brinson both sing, sharing the vocal load while trading off harmony lines, filling in the gaps left by a lack of bass and other instrumentation. The setup is basic and simple, but the rhythms and melody lines are progressively complex and weaving. When you add the dueling vocal patterns to the mix, the sum is much greater than the parts. There’s a lot going on here, and it’s hard to believe there’s only two guys with two instruments making all this ruckus.
MISH MASH Mandate: Time Warp
Five Words With Blag’ard, Corbie Hill · 26 Feb 2010
There’s a treacherous drive—alternating clay and gravel, and passing over a shallow creek—that turns off of a certain Chapel Hill road and leads into the trees. After several hundred yards, the red clay driveway opens, revealing a little house that’s more of a hermitage.
It’s the warmest it’s been in several weeks today, and I’m sitting in the sun with Adam Brinson and Joe Taylor—together, Blag’ard. They’ve recently finished their second album, Mach II. It’s a solid unit, a catchy if menacing rock record that squeals off the lot like a muscle car and handles like Luke Skywalker’s X-wing.
Being at Joe’s house is like looking through a window into his mind: There’s a kind of sacred disarray here that contrasts the piercing clarity of his thought process. It’s organized, sure, but it’s organized the same way a forest floor is organized. His black Gibson, the guitar from his Capsize 7 days, leans against a wall like a fallen branch. Fliers on the walls tell tales of shows and bands long gone. Looking out the windows of the little room where this loud, loud band practices, I again see the trees and a gentle slope that falls toward the creek. This could be anywhere. Joe’s pretty intense, and Adam’s one of those gleeful dudes who makes himself laugh on a regular basis.
They have agreed to take a verbal Rorschach test, of sorts.
DISTORTION
ADAM BRINSON: It makes me think about water because I’ve always been fascinated with how water distorts light. It just makes me think about water for some reason.
JOE TAYLOR: That’s cool, because water slows light down, gives it a different look. It’s pretty fucked up that the denser something it is, it actually slows light down. Light is so fucking fast, you’d think it would just go right through water and be like… [Laughs.] That’s the wild card to pull out in the paper-rock-scissors game. Paper, rock, scissors, water.
Distortion, to me, is… I definitely prefer clarity. I think distortion is just a loss of information. I think that, as far as music goes, music is an attempt to communicate things that aren’t easily communicated. So distortion is just backsliding.
HARMONY
AB: [Laughs.] All my answers are just going to be like, “Distortion makes me think about swimming, and harmony makes me thing about singing.” [Laughs.] I think harmony is a lot like family too and doing something together and collaboration and accord.
JT: “Harmony” is one of our best songs. To give you a background for that song, I had a really tiring day one time last summer. I had gone swimming and worked out and I was really burnt—just like dumb tired. I went to a coffee shop, and the girl who was working there, her name was Harmony. She was, like, really beautiful, like, “Oh my fucking god. I’m a retard now. You just crushed my monkey brain.” So I tried to talk to her, and it just sounded stupid. I don’t think I’ve felt that dumb in a decade. So I wrote the song when I got home to make myself feel better.
THE INTERNET
AB: We are getting on it a lot these days.
JT: I’m just glad there’s not another thing a band has to do besides the Internet, radio and press. Can you come up with one more useless thing for musicians to do, please? Why don’t we all have to go and, like, I can’t even come up with a good metaphor. Competitive gardens? How else can we spend our time without playing music? I think it’s energy put towards competing to see who can do the best nothing and that doesn’t necessarily translate into making yourself successful. I don’t think that there is a way to become successful. I think there are great bands that are never going to get big, just because. I think that there are shitty bands, obviously, that get big just because. There is no “how.” There is no way to do it. You either do or you don’t.
AB: And you’ve gotta be at the right place at the right time.
SLEEP
JT: I went a whole year when I wasn’t awake in the morning, when I was in Capsize 7. We had a record contract, and I didn’t have to work. I went a year without waking up in the AM hour.
AB: It’s unnatural, not coming up with the sun.
JT: Probably because we stayed up until 4:00 every morning.
RCO
JT: “RCO” brings in the idea of the enigma and mystery in music—an element which has been cheaply whored out with the Internet, where everyone is racing to expose themselves as quickly as possible to anyone who might possibly become a fan. I think “RCO” should remain a mystery. It’s a secret, and if you don’t know, I’m not gonna tell you.
AB: I never really thought about what it meant, at all. I never really listened to the lyrics that much.
JT: It was a fun song to put together. In practice, it came together really quickly. I think Adam said something like, “It was like making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Done.”
Music Review: Blag’ard
BY LINNIE GREENE
Like any good student of rock ‘n’ roll, it’s clear that Blag’ard has done its homework.
On Mach II, the Chapel Hill duo has crafted a set of anthemic, anarchic songs that recall the hard-rocking garage greats, and while the tracks vary in their effectiveness, Blag’ard asserts its old-school roots with a big middle finger to indie fads.
“Life in Reverse” exemplifies Blag’ard’s ear-splitting punk rock abilities. The song’s infectious melody and forceful guitars have the effect of CPR — it’s a sudden spark that breaks the monotony of previous tracks, jolting the listener back to attention like a shot of adrenaline.
Blag’ard
Mach II
Dive Verdict: 3.5 of 5 Stars
The song has a palpable sense of urgency, and despite a few too many lyrical repetitions, Joe Taylor’s nonchalant, snot-nosed vocals are at their most potent on this track, searing his snarl into the listener’s mind.
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Reviews and Interviews for Blag’ard “Bobcat”
Bla’gard – Bobcat
Some people hailed The Loon by Tapes N Tapes as a near masterpiece because it put some balls back into indie music. The genre is home to plenty of groups who seem afraid of their amplifiers, such as Death Cab for Cutie and Bright Eyes, and that’s exactly why groups like Blag’ard need to exist. Heavily influenced by Polvo’s Today’s Active Lifestyles (Bias alert! – That’s one of the best CD’s of the 90’s!), Blag’ard blend elements of noise and whammy freakouts with straight forward, punkish indie rock. If nothing else, the best way to sum up Bobcat is with the word ‘fascinating’.
“Bachelor Party” is a pretty good example of a Blag’ard song: the chorus chords could totally have been swiped from The Toadies, and the verse is entirely based around natural harmonics. There’s one guitar and a drumset, but the sound never comes off hollow because of the noisy execution. The song goes out on a noisy 30 seconds of cymbal-filled crescendo—peak, and then the next song’s bizarre guitar lines begin. Each song functions on its weirdness as much as its groove, and because of that each song pretty much rules.
My main complaint about Blag’ard is that their vocals always seem kind of just tossed on last minute, and that’s because the two band members sing themselves. I understand the logic of not wanting to hire a third member since you already did everything yourselves, but the group would really have benefited from an enthusiastic frontman. As it is, songs are weighed down by what sounds like a really really bored version of Green Day’s Billy Joe Armstrong. However, with each listen the vocals became less and less important to me since the drums and guitar are like nothing else out there right now. You just have to get used to the fact that the singing isn’t meant to be the focal point of the music and then it’s all good.
There’s something really exciting about the two man approach, though. There’s no hassle or anything, two guys just walk into a room and record some jams. There should be minimal artistic differences and not too much battling for the spotlight, and (I have a point, I swear) the music should sound just really direct because of all that. The White Stripes totally sounded like exactly what must be going on in Jack White’s head, and Death From Above 1979 are something incredible in terms of precision. Right along those lines of logic stand Blag’ard, and the public eye doesn’t turn on these guys right away then I’ve lost all faith in the concept of ‘buzz’.
For Fans Of: Polvo, Sonic Youth
Don’t Believe Me? http://www.blagard.com
~by Eric Loranger, antiMusic
www.antimusic.com
Bla’gard – Bobcat
We at Morkleson have had the pleasure of receiving numerous albums via mail in the past week or so. I may be chastised for stating as much, but I have not interacted with music in any non digital form with much frequency in…years? Blag’ard’s Bobcatalum was the first one I received and, well, owe it to the novelty of a small physical representation of their music or some tactile fascination I experienced handling the small piece of plastic, but I quite enjoy the album. Admittedly, my bias was skewed in a negative direction after reading the first few lines of their “bio,” mentioning their “hollywood” handsomeness, but the music itself was enough to swing me back the other way. Blag’ard is a two-piece from Chapel Hill, NC that plays honest, hooky, raw indie-rock songs. Their crunchy, lo-fi production style and winding song structure takes me back to the indie rock golden days when bands like the Treepeople were still out there killing it- relying more on emotion, grit, and strong song writing to propel the listener rather than heavily layered songs, walls of sound, or playfully quirky keys and xylophones. (Not that I’ve got beef with any of those). It’s refreshing to hear something erring on the side of the under-cooked, which is the same quality that draws me to bands like The Contraand Jay Reatard. Enjoy a few tracks from Blag’ard. If you crave more, you can head to their myspace page or to www.pigzenspace.com, where you can download the entire album.
~Morkleson
http://morkleson.net/
Bla’gard – Bobcat
Top marks for bravado go to North Carolina duo Blag’ard who are described as “Hollywood handsome” and drummer Adam even has a great personality, to boot. Their music is a far more brutal beast, however, made up of crunchy lo-fi riffs and punk vocals. Nevertheless I found their first EP ‘Blank Faced Clocks’ endearing thanks to the no-nonsense focus on hook-laden songs. Can ‘Bobcat’ their first long player continue that trend?
In short, Adam and Joe can continue the trend. There’s no subtlety here just a set of short, incisive songs kicking off with an ode to Yul Brynner. There’s clever melodic twists abound; ‘Shame’ managing to work a chorus around the word “surgery” whilst ‘Dogskin’ and anthemic centrepiece ’Bachelor Party’ successfully bridge the gap between Placebo and old-school grunge. However, by the end of the record I did begin to tire of the formula; as the duo struggle to replicate their EP form consistently over the course of a full album. Having said that, penultimate song ‘Kick Out Queen’ features some excellent, urgent riffage.
Certainly the simplicity of the music means there’s no time for introspection, solos or even space to breath but Adam and Joe work the best out of an apparently limited setup of vocals, guitar and drums. So for those who like their music raw and uncomplicated, ‘Bobcat’ comes highly recommended.
~The Weblog of Leonards Lair
http://leonardslair.wordpress.com/
Gone fishin’: Blag’ard is Joe Taylor (left) and Adam Brinson |
Blag’ard’s injuries have been numerous and fancifully acquired. The Chapel Hill duo of singer/ guitarist Joe Taylor, 36, and drummer Adam Brinson, 26, seems destined for near-misses and closeness-to-catastrophe. Lucky for us, that spirit of physical abandon translates to the band’s tightly wound, super-energetic rock music. As it’s been said, play what you know.Brinson, for instance, got hit by car in July. “A friend of mine was on one side of the street and I was on the other side,” he remembers. “He was crossing over to my side, and just to mess with him, I started crossing over to his side. I was watching him instead of traffic, and I got hit by an F-150. It threw me 20 feet through the air. I didn’t hit my head or anything, but my knee swelled up real big.” The same knee already sports a gnarly bite scar, courtesy one of Brinson’s four dogs.
“It was like a Hitchcock movie,” Taylor says. “I was at home washing dishes, and I dropped a plate. Just as it broke in half, the phone rang. It was Adam, telling me he’d just been hit by a car.”
Brinson and Taylor make a striking pair: Sitting on a bench outside of the Chelsea movie theater, Brinson bears a beatific Californian look, with long blonde hair and a beard, although he’s lived in North Carolina his entire life. Taylor is tall and imposing, with piercing eyes hidden under prominent brows and a distinctive grunge-era haircut—long on top, shaved almost bald around the sides and back.
Today, he has some fresh-looking stitches on his left forefinger. A sledgehammer accident, of course: “I could see the tendon in there,” says Taylor, “which allows the finger to extend. If I’d nailed that tendon my guitar playing days would’ve been done.” The scar on his finger will become part of Taylor’s physical record of crashes and scrapes, just like the older one under his chin. He explains that one best.
“A bar where I was working was having a private party. This guy got mad at me because his girlfriend was being argumentative, and I told them to get out. I was a little rude, not professional. So he came around the bar at me, swinging wildly like Captain Caveman. I’d taken like half a year of jujitsu, so I spun him around and pinned him on the ground. But I didn’t pin down his head with my forearm like I should have. I just had his arms pinned down to his sides and was looking down into his face, and I said, ‘How do you like me now?’ That’s when he bit me on the chin.”
Chaotic mischief, close calls and good stories drawn from weird mundanity: This is what Blag’ard is all about. The shenanigans are apparent on Bobcat, the band’s jumpy yet highly melodic debut LP, which profits from Brinson’s kinetic drumming and Taylor’s highly recognizable guitar style, at once lyrical and neurotic. His melodic lines skitter into queasy string-bends; for a vocal equivalent, imagine someone singing a sprightly melody but vomiting at the end of each line.
“If you know Joe and have a feeling for his personality, his guitar playing makes sense,” says Brinson. “You get the sense listening to it that this isn’t your ordinary person. I mean, look at his haircut.”
Brinson’s post-punky rolls and weird fills are a sure fit for that anxious guitar style. On Blag’ard’s debut EP, Blank Faced Clocks, drummer Bill Buckley provided a steady, classic rock-influenced backbeat. This pairing works better.
Taylor came to Brinson because of a common problem for musicians in their 30s: “When I moved back to N.C.,” Taylor says, “I was playing with a three-piece, and the guys I was playing with each got their significant others pregnant, and quit.” When Taylor recruited Brinson, he told him, “You’re going to get your girlfriend pregnant.”
And that’s exactly what happened. Brinson, now married, is the proud father of three-month-old Buck. But it’s another near-miss, as Taylor’s sticking with the band. They simply practice during the day, agreeing that one reason for keeping Blag’ard a two-piece is not having too many schedules to coordinate.
Taylor knows a thing or two about another sort of near-miss, too: During the Chapel Hill indie rock boom of the early-to-mid-90s, which vaulted bands such as Superchunk and Archers of Loaf to semi-fame, Taylor fronted Capsize 7, which was signed (and subsequently dropped) by major label Caroline. Taylor became understandably disillusioned with the record industry.
“We had our share of brushes with big labels back in the Capsize days,” he explains, “and when I was playing with Lystra in L.A., I got a few phone calls like, ‘You guys are great; you’re going to be the next whatever.’ They make you feel great for a couple weeks, and then you feel like crap because they’ve raised your expectations and nothing comes of it.”
So Taylor started Pig Zen Space, a burgeoning label through which he has self-released both Blag’ard recordings and some Capsize 7 seven-inches, and where he eventually hopes to release the “lost” Capsize album, which they recorded after being dropped from Caroline. The label’s online component (www.pigzenspace.com) will offer high-quality downloads of that music for a reasonable price: “I am no longer waiting for [Mr.] Mxyzptlk [a D.C. Comics trickster character] to pop out of thin air and sign me.”
Blag’ard’s unusual name comes from the phrase “Black Guard,” which Taylor discovered while reading a series of books on the British Navy’s role in the Napoleonic Wars. “One thing they would say as an insult,” explains Taylor, “is, ‘That was really blag’ardly.'” Such obscure details, drawn from life, inform Taylor’s lyrics as well. While many of the songs on Bobcatfocus on the usual stuff—emotional states, romance and so on—a few stand out for their curious subject matter and their strong sense of the local. “30 Flavors” laments Chapel Hill’s changing socioeconomic environment. “R.E.M. Song” deals with a secret (and ultimately nonexistent) R.E.M. show that was rumored to be happening at the Cat’s Cradle back when it was still on Franklin Street. It’s an outsized metaphor for thwarted expectations and a pseudo-mythical Chapel Hill indie rock past.Appropriately, Bobcat‘s cover ties these aspects of Blag’ard together—physical pain, failed expectations, humor and a little craziness. As Taylor and Brinson practice, a skinny woman in a bobcat suit crouches in front of the drums, staring at the camera. Taylor came back to Chapel Hill from Los Angeles to celebrate the birth of his niece, Olwen, four years ago. He was planning on returning to L.A., but an area front porch was having none of it.
“I got really drunk one night, and I was lying on a porch railing. I dared myself to roll off the railing, which was about eight feet up in the air. … I rolled off and broke my ankle, which facilitated me moving back from L.A. because I couldn’t work. So thank you, Olwen, for giving me that gift,” he remembers. “Then, she learned the words ‘vomit’ and ‘bobcat’ in the same week, and would get them switched around. So she would talk about the dog vomiting by saying, ‘Freddy got bobcat all over Maevy’s shoes,’ or ‘Maevy slipped in the bobcat.’ I just thought that was funny, and that’s where the title of the album came from.”
Here you have to pause and be thankful that Taylor didn’t choose Olwen’s other new word as his record’s motif. One can only imagine what the model for that photo shoot would’ve had to endure. Well, it’d make for one helluva Blag’ard story, at least.
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Reviews of Blag’ard “Blank Faced Clocks”
Blag’ard – Blank Faced Clocks EP
It’s hard to make a rock band with just two band
members but Joe Taylor and Adam Brinson make
quite a racket with this solid EP of brittle indie rock.
‘Monk’ occupies the territory between Pavement’s
guitars and Queens Of The Stone Age’s moody
vocals and on ‘Peaches And Cream’, Brinson
squeals like Placebo’s Brian Molko yet the
music backdrop is deliberately lo-fi and brittle.
‘Losty’ is the duo at their best as a catchy
chorus dominates whilst the riff is perfectly
suited to alternative radio play. By comparison,
‘Friends Like You’ is a decent song slightly
tarnished by some over-reaching vocals and
finally the distinctly slower ‘Jenny G’ is all
sinister slow-building dynamics; consequently
revealing more depth to their oeuvre. Granted,
Blag’ard’s rough-hewn approach won’t endear
them to everyone but their visceral, dynamic
music can be surprisingly infectious.
~Leonard’s Lair
www.leonardslair.co.uk
Bla’gard – Black faced clocks
Ex-Capsize 7 member Joe Taylor is making his own
music now. Although he receives some assistance
from drummer Bill Buckley on the EP, Taylor is the
heart and brains responsible for Blag’ard. Under this
premise, the one man band’s “Blank Faced Clocks” EP
is a heavy guitar-driven recording that remains edgy
and raw by way of its lack of polish and spontaneity.
Taylor puts an unconventional spin on the EP that
works, creating catchy and unpredictable songs with
lively riffs.
Sounds Like: Loose, raw guitar rock
Key Tracks: “Monk”
Bla’gard – Black faced clocks
This is octave heavy, mid-nineties rock and the
artwork couldn’t be more fitting. Straight out of
Chapel Hill, Bla’gard don’t play wistful alt-country
or generic college rock, which the town became
a hot bed for thanks to Merge records and Superchunk.
Somewhere between Helmet, Bluetip and Weezer,
these boys appear to be having a lot of fun with
the two man band, guitar and drums set up.
Sat at my desk at work today ‘Black Faced Clocks’
sounds awfully refreshing, when 10 years or so ago
it wouldn’t have. This says more about the safe
fumblings of every modern rock band with an eye
on the prize since the Strokes, than about the
band’s concept. British band Distopia are probably
doing a lot more for this (presently rather ropey)
genre of Pavement fans with loud Gibson Guitars
and psycho grins. On the other hand, ‘Losty’ is
perhaps the most ostentatious lo-fi indie rock
song since Urusei Yatsura called it a day.
~“Survivors”, Orlando Goodall
Blag’ard – “Blank Faced Clocks’ (Pigs Zen Pace)
Blag’ard are raconteurs of reductionist rock, although
employing just a single guitar and drums, Guitarist
Joe Taylor and drummer Adam Brinson, project a
fuller sound than many of the skinny legged, mop
headed indie kid bands to whose audiences they
will undoubtedly appeal.
I am a supporter of ‘less is more’; I’d have a band
with just drummers if left to my own devices, so I am
attracted to this minimal set up.
This five song EP peaks at track three ‘Peaches In Cream’,
with one of the most inventive guitar riffs I’ve heard for
a while, strings like slack elastic bands distort and stagger
the tempo while the drums syncopate stutteringly behind
a oddly asexual vocal.
There are similarities between Joe Taylor’s voice and
Brian Molko of Placebo, but less whiney and with only
half the mascara.
This band seem to have concentrated their activities close to
their Chapel Hill, NC, USA home but should they come this
way they would find a ready audience for their brand
of guitar based lo-fi rock. I’d check them out if they ever
come near to my country retreat.
-Dee Generate celebrity reviewer for Trakmarx
www.trakmarx.com
BLAG’ARD “Blank Faced Clocks”
CD Unusually when I get stuff
out of the blue like this, it’s bad… but this time (at least)
it’s pretty impressive. Impressive and catchy. Impressive, catchy
indie rock. Great sounding guitars and good vocals with some
strong, desperate, but also driving lyrics. Sounds good and I am
curious because there is talk that this guy is a one man thing…
I cant imagine that being as good as on CD, but I would give
it a shot…I imagine if some sorts of virus struck musicians,
and only musicians,BLAG’ARD would be one of the survivors
and replace something that has a hold on everyone now with
their own brand of sonic awareness.
-Shawn Abnoxious
There’s something weird about this duo, because while I
was listening to it originally it was UK indie names that
were going through my mind, from The Three Johns to
Diatribe, to Wedding Present and Disco Students. Not
what you expect from an American duo, but then maybe
Joe Taylor and Bill Buckley are unusual men. In fact it’s
really singing guitarist Joe, as drummer Bill was called in
to help with the EP.
‘Monk’ finds Joe yelping strongly about being the
loneliest man ever, over surging backing vocals in a very
simple song; so simple it’s absurdly catchy. ‘Losty’ is
friskier, with friction between the guitar chiming fast and
drums being politely supportive. ‘Peaches In Cream’ is
like apocalyptic lo-fi glam, if you can imagine crossing
Placebo with Jon Spencer Blues having a breakdown?
Quite the little stormer.
‘Friends Like You’ has, “with friends lie you who need
strangers?� which is a good line, over more concise,
linear guitar guile, then ‘Jenny G’ is calmer, with
stamping drums and cutely gracious guitar, over which
angst-ridden melodic vocals spill out. The song staggers
boldly along and starts shuddering with verve towards
an audacious end, although it does get unnecessarily
weird and ugly too.
An unexpected thing, and quite intriguing.
~THE MICK 30, December 2006
We have become so inundated with digital recording,
it is very difficult to remember what music was
like before quality recording became cheap,
effectively moving musicians out of the raw,
dungy garage. Blag’ard is a throwback. Maybe
Blank Faced Clocks was recorded digitally, but
Joe Taylor and Bill Buckley definitely bring the
dirty, plodding, idle rock that I remember seeing
with ten other androgynous individuals in Buddy Holly
specs ages ago. The beer-soaked sound system weighs
about 700 pounds, but only cost $75, the sound board
badly needs its pots cleaned, but no one will ever
care enough to clean them, and the basement floor is
damp enough to shock Joe and Bill if they accidentally
touch their lips to the mic. This is Blank Faced Clocks;
an album designed for those who seek the hidden.
“Monk” is the perfect beginning to such a departure.
The tempo is so retarded, and the distortion so past
its proper peak, the music sounds like early metal,
or early Polvo. The chorus, which asks, “Would you
like to get to know the loneliest man ever”, should
be a mantra for this band. The loneliest band ever.
The vocals sound a bit overdramatic, like Ween, but
if this can be overcome, “Monk” is solid. The vocals
temper a bit during “Losty”, while the tempo jumps,
which results in a rocking romp. This masterpiece is
also where the “Blank Faced Clocks” reference is found;
emblematic of where this track fits in importance to
the 5-song EP.
In “Peaches In Cream”, there is a guitar line, full of
bending strings, during the verse similar to Built to Spill.
The sexuality of the lyrics, wrought with frustrating
images and guilt, put this in line with Sebadoh’s
“Homemade”. Musically, throughout the EP Blank
Faced Clocksis pretty consistent. The guitars keep a
solid beat, while the guitar is distorted in such a way
that chords are thick to a muddy degree, though
individual strings are piercing (reverb).
Lyrically, the EP is a bit more dynamic, at points
masked in imagery, while other moments bring simple
brutality. One of the latter moments arrives on “Friends
Like You”, where the witty “What’s not the opposite
is true”, is followed by the stark, “With friends like
you, who needs strangers.”
Blag’ard is straightforward indie rock (although my RealPlayer
is telling me it’s Art Rock), but the stork who was sent
out with this baby got sidetracked for more than a decade.
Regardless of the time trap, Blag’ard is beauty in all
its ugliness.
~Patrick Muldowney, ANTImusic
Joe Taylor is the mastermind behind Blag’ard,
which is essentially a one-piece band. However,
on Blank Faced Clocks he is assisted by the
drumming skills and backing vocals of Bill Buckley.
The album was recorded in North Carolina and put
out by Joe’s own label, Pig Zen’s Pace.
The rawness is ever-present throughout the 5-song EP,
yet it doesn’t hamper the quality or the opinion of the
album. In fact, it may even be asset, setting
Blag’ard apart from the pack of singer/songwriters.
The beginning track ‘Monk’ , a well spliced, spacey
piece which gives ample time to reflect on the
ambient sounds. The second track ‘Losty’
more straight-forward rock song, showing that he
can cut to the chase and just rock out. The middle
piece is a great number entitled “Peaches in Cream”
showing a stranger, more off-key side to the tunes,
driving hard to the point that variation is a key
factor on this album. “Friends Like You” is a great
song, likely my favorite on the album. It showcases
some nice guitar work with what is my favorite vocal
line on the album when he begs the question,
‘With friends like you/ who needs strangers?’
The final song, ‘Jenny G,’ is a nice closing to
the album, though pegging love-lost stereo-types.
All in all, I was pleased with this album but not
blown away. The potential of Joe Taylor is undeniable:
the combination of his skillful guitar playing, song
writing and unique vocal work are all strong assets.
Hopefully Blank Faced Clocks will have enough
momentum to fuel his musical passion into the horizon.
~Josh Hogan
josh@orchidscurse.com
Blank Faced Clocks EP (Pig Zen’s Pace)
Joe Taylor and Bill Buckley pull a little Flat
Duo Jets duty–as in two-man guitar drum outfit,
not psycho retro renovators. The songs are
generally bright pop tunes, played with often
frightening abandon. I love the sleek sound.
Just rings with happiness.
~ Aiding and Abetting
Kozik Tour Poster is new, Initialed and Numbered by Kozik. Always stored flat – never rolled. Comes shipped in a poster tube. Original 1996 printing.
Poster is new and never handled, always stored flat – never rolled, comes in a poster tube.