Three Imaginary Girls - Childstar

Download the new Turn Ons record - for free!

ChrisB — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 01:20:56 +0000

I definitely recommend downloading it. So far I'm really loving "Crystalize" right now.

Parallels

Erik Gonzalez — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 07:00:00 +0000

7.3

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000F0UUQE/wwwthreeimagi-20

One of my favorite shows on TV for the longest time was VH1's I Love the 80's. Sadly, I could waste an entire ten-hour stretch reminiscing over a decade that I really only distinctly remember about six years. But then, isn't it just like an indie rock fan, to appreciate nostalgia for things you didn't experience the first time around? Listening to Parallels, the new disc by Seattle's The Turn-Ons, one can't help but thing back to the heady days of the Jesus & Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Echo & the Bunnymen, Joy Division, and all the mid- to late 80's Britrock that filled my world (albeit not in the 80s. Ah well.) The Turn-Ons do their best to bring more of today's youths to the record shops to buy the back catalog of those seminal bands, and maybe pick up some of the other revivalists like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, the Stratford 4, and Interpol.

One of my favorite sounds in music is that echoey guitar and drums with whispery, barely intelligible vocals from the shoegazer scene (I suppose it was all originated by the Velvet Underground), and the Turn-Ons have it in spades. "A Thousand Years" sounds like a castoff from the early Stone Roses as Travis DeVries sings, "It all means nothing at all," as the guitars howls through the wall of sound. The rolling drums that open "Strange as Snow" give the song an eerily stellastarr* feel as the song slowly builds the musical crescendo with wailing guitars and DeVries distant vocals (with a little political commentary mixed in: "This is not my country and/this is not my president"). When you consider another drum-driven song like "The Northerners," you appreciate the taut drum work of Will Hallauer in particular.

"Most of Us" is a very tight dream-pop song that again seems to cut from the Stone Roses tree, but with a little more distinct personality than "A Thousand Years." The same might be said for "Adhesives," another catchy song that rattles guitars and drums across the musical landscape. Some of their slower numbers such as "Eastern Hollows" and "The Low End" feel like they feed from the same source as last year's excellent Clientele album, creating dreamy musical landscapes that you can feel lost in. "Robert Altman" alternates from a hushed, whispered vocals to a thumping drum and a cascade of guitars, suggestive of the Catherine Wheel as DeVries sings about this love the films of 1972 (oddly, the only Altman film to come out in 1972 is Images, a relatively unremembered film with Suzanne York and Rene Auberjonois — maybe they're bigger film buffs than they let on). The album closes with one of its most satisfying songs, the ghostly, drifting "Behind the Stars," rich with strings and falsetto vocals.

The Turn-Ons deserve all the good press they've garnered from their previous albums. They do an excellent job of borrowing from their obvious influences, but they take their sound into new directions that not only remind the listener of those bands they liked so much in their youth, but also allow the Turn-Ons to exist as something beyond a tribute band. (However, I do think there is a shocking lack of 1980's and 90's post-punk tribute bands. Where are the Jesus Chain Gangs or the My Sweaty Arbor Days I ask you?). Parallels is a strong collection of songs that form an otherworldly sonic experience, and should hopefully widen the Turn-Ons audience to all the kids out there wishing they were back in the 1980's again (even if they were born in, what, 1987?).

Parallels is a strong collection of songs...and should hopefully widen the Turn-Ons audience to all the kids out there wishing they were back in the 80's again (even if they were born in, what, 1987?).

Top 50 Northwest Releases of 2004: the Imaginary Readers' Poll Results

three imaginary girls — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 08:00:00 +0000

{50-41} * {40-31} * {30-21} * {20-11} * {10-1}

#10 IQU — Sun Q
(Sonic Boom Recordings)

{official website} * {buy it}

#9 The Turn Ons — East
(Childstar)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#8 Luke Temple — Luke Temple
(Mill Pond Records)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#7 Ms. Led — These Things We Say
(Fish the Cat)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#6 Helio Sequence — Love and Distance
(Sub Pop)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#5 Smoosh — She Like Electric
(Pattern 25)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig interview}

#4 Modest Mouse — Good News for People Who Love Bad News
(Epic)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#3 Dolour — Old New Friends
(Made in Mexico)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#2 Visqueen — Sunset on Dateland
(Blue Disguise)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#1 United State of Electronica — U.S.E.
(Mannheim Worldwide)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

The top 10 Northwest releases of 2004, as voted on by our imaginary readers (that means YOU!).

Top 50 Northwest Releases of 2004: the Imaginary Readers' Poll Results {20-11}

three imaginary girls — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 08:00:00 +0000

#20 Transmissionary Six — Get Down
(FILMguerrero)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#19 The Graze — Iowa Anvil
(J-Shirt)

{official website} * {buy it}

#18 Blessed Light — Love Lights the Way
(Mill Pond Records)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#17 Beehive — Cycle A
(self-released)

{official website} * {buy it}

#16 Aveo — Battery
(Barsuk)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#15 The Thermals — Fuckin' A
(Sub Pop)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig live review}

#14 Tennis Pro — Happy is the New Sad
(Cake Records)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#13 Elliot Smith — from a basement on the hill
(Anti-)

{official website} * {buy it}

#12 The Lights — Wood and Wire EP
(Childstar)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig live review}

#11 Blue Scholars — Blue Scholars
(self-released)

{official website} * {buy it}

The top Northwest releases of 2004 as voted on by you, our readers (see winners #20-11 here).

Top 50 Northwest Releases of 2004: the Imaginary Readers' Poll Results {30-21}

three imaginary girls — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 08:00:00 +0000

#30 Robb Benson — The Tree Mind
(Roam Records)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#29 Viva Voce — Heat Can Melt Your Brain
(Minty Fresh)

{official website} * {buy it}

#28 Pleasurecraft — Lost Patterns
(Pleasurecraft Music)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#27 Man of the Year — A New and Greater Toyko
(self-released)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#26 Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter — Oh, My Girl
(Barsuk)

{official website} * {buy it}

#25 Mercir — As Small As the Center
(self-released)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#24 The Fading Collection — Stems
(self-released)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#23 Biography of Ferns — Memory's Servant
(Tellous)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#22 Charmparticles — Sit Down for Staying
(Childstar)

{official website} * {buy it} * {tig review}

#21 Robert Roth — Someone Somewhere
(Pattern 25 Records)

{official website} * {buy it}

The top Northwest releases of 2004 as voted on by you, our readers (see winners #30-21 here).

Sit Down For Staying

imaginary stella — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 08:00:00 +0000

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002VKZHU/wwwthreeimagi-20

charmparticles.jpg

Nearly a decade ago, while living in Eugene, Oregon, a band came onto my radar that blew me away. They were nothing like all the gritty punk bands that also called that town home, nor the bouncy, flash-in-the-pan, horn-infusion acts like Cherry Poppin' Daddies. This band was dark, moody, their sound awash in reverberating beauty. That band, Drive, was a mainstay in the Eugene music scene but, after the band went through some personnel changes and a few of its members moved north to Portland, Drive called it quits.

So it was exhilarating when I first heard Charmparticles on John Richards' show on KEXP, as part of the "Your New Favorite Band" section of the Morning Show. The voices, the droning, shimmery guitars — all of this sounded strangely familiar. Never one to shy away from googling anything and everything, I plugged in the band's name and, sure enough, there were two recognizable names: Guitarist/singer Adam Wayne and bassist/singer Pamela Rooney, two of the founding members of Drive.

Charmparticles, based in Portland and which also includes Sarah FitzGerald (guitars) and Nathanael Merrill (drums), recently released their second effort, Sit Down For Staying, mixed by Erik Blood (The Turn-Ons, The Catch). It is a gorgeous six-song EP and an album that should be immediately scooped up by any fan of shoegazer (Charmparticles' sound is undeniably comparable to staples of that genre like My Bloody Valentine, Lush, and Ride).

In the five years since Drive's demise, Wayne and Rooney have improved their craft mightily. Layer upon layer of distorted guitars, open, plump drums, and ethereal harmonies comprise the lush songs. Wayne and Rooney's vocals are a natural match, as showcased on shared songs such as "Solvent" where chanteuse Rooney adds a floating echo to Wayne's words.

The swooping beauty of the title track is undeniable. Wayne's verklempt vocals align with the wave of distortion cascading through the speakers. And, three minutes into the song when Rooney chimes in, it's a goosebump moment.

"A/O", featuring Rooney on lead vocals, emulates the best of Ride. The watery guitar work toward the end of the song is perfectly swirly, perfectly spine-tingly.

Layer upon layer of distorted guitars, open, plump drums, and ethereal harmonies comprise the lush songs.

East

The Mad Professor — Thu, 03 Jun 2004 07:00:00 +0000

8.2

http://www.child-star.com/store/

east.jpg

A long time ago, as a little kid, I had this printing kit I liked. In actuality it was a collection of really small rubber stamps, each with a single letter or number etc. on — and you'd press them into a hand stamp one at a time, until you'd made a message like "Preston North End FC rule OK", or "I love Francesca" and then stamp it all over your school note book. Of course if you wanted to make a longer message, it would invariably take forever to assemble, and you'd always run out of this or that letter before you were done and have to try and figure out how to finish the message off quickly without using the letter 't' or 'o'. Spool forwards a few decades to the internet age, and it's probably a good thing html isn't coded the same way — otherwise I'd be sure to run out of my little bold-encoding and rubber stamps for all the bands the latest The Turn-Ons album has reminded me of over many an enjoyable listen.

So, that utterly irrelevant historical anecdote aside...

While Seattle's The Turn-Ons debut album drew comparisons to great British rock pioneers of the 60s and 70s, David Bowie and Marc Bolan (of T-Rex), their second, East, has similarly spooled forwards a few decades to draw upon the early sound of the Britpop genre of the late 80s and early 90s. Listening to each track conjures up a nostalgic feeling for many a great Britpop band, including early Verve, Pulp and Blur, as well as the likes of Ride, Chapterhouse, Supergrass, The Stone Roses, Lush and even My Bloody Valentine.

The Turn-Ons' three guitarists generate a hypnotic, layered sound, heavy on reverb, that washes over dreamy vocal lines as East opens with "Skyscrapers" and "New Jesus," reminiscent of Chapterhouse. While the ethereal vocals are never more apparent than on the acoustic "Won't come home", the best stuff here is in the middle of the album where East really hits its stride with the more melodic and rock-influenced "Feels alright", one of a couple of tracks that again harkens back to the Bolan era. Next up my personal favorite, the wonderful "PS I love you", which sounds like a glorious cover of that never released Ride song (with Kevin Shields (MBV) a guest on guitar), right down to its minimalist lyrical content (a Ride trademark). This is followed by "Neighborhood killer", the most obvious tip-of-the-hat to Marc Bolan and "This is the end", which similarly sounds like a long-lost Damon Albarn song (Blur). Eventually the lazy "Sunday afternoon" brings down the tempo with a soothing melody that reminds me of Pink Floyd's "Wot's...uh the deal" from "Obscured by Clouds" (which should have subsequently been renamed "Obscured by Dark Side of the Moon"). Finally, East closes out with "Sideways", which not only returns to the layered guitar reverb of the opening track "Skyscrapers", but with a stylish twist also reuses some of the lyrics from it.

Ultimately, being reminiscent of so much without ever sounding like trying be like anyone in particular, The Turn-Ons show that they have managed to assimilate their various influences into a style very much their own. I really like this album and I suspect any fan of the Britpop heyday would welcome a fresh take on the era.

Time to stamp "The Turn-Ons Rock" all over my notebook...

The Turn-Ons show that they have managed to assimilate their various influences into a style very much their own. I really like this album and I suspect any fan of the Britpop heyday would welcome a fresh take on the era.