The Royal Bear's debut ep is ideal. It's got four songs on it filled with a juicy wallop of flickering guitar work and New Romantic rhythm – add to this synths and pensive vocals, then shake it up and let it have its way.


The Royal Bear - design by Russ Smith

At its heart it's dance music. Pins in My Heart pops open the ep, complete with cowbell, rapid drumming and lines like In class we would share glances/keep secret our romances – I always like things that rhyme and it's cleverly done. Last Leg is a perfectly dramatic heartbreak piece with groovy guitars: I can stay out way out later than you every night till I don't know you anymore. Better Off Lonely has some really cool bass work in it, another thing I think that is important in music – as are the lyrics that fit so well: This conversation's making me lose my sentimentality . . . Save your tears/I'm sure someone will be impressed. The final song of the ep, Dance Alone, gathers all strength and explodes: Your fishnets make me sweat . . . Don't make me beg or dance alone.

Though the band's sound is nearly an anomaly in Seattle, they remind me a bit of Classic Nouveaux, Visage and Ultravox – singer Rain's vocals are quite similar to Midge Ure's yet different enough that they are not derivative.

Brent Amaker and the Rodeo live in Seattle but by some mystery I did not know about them until last month. They are cowboys dressed in black and they are entirely welcome in the Seattle music scene.

I can say a lot about their attractive image - again, they're cowboys dressed all in black - and surreal live show but first this is a music review. Some music I love right away and some I have to hear over and over again to decide on it. This music hit me in the gut immediately and I love it. The songs' structures are so perfect that I don't care if you like country music you will like this country music.

Their first cd is the self-titled 2005 Brent Amaker and the Rodeo. The longest song, Bring Me the Whiskey, clocks in at 3:14 - it's the cd's epic. You're No Good opens things up, complete with perfectly placed horns and a nice twang guitar. The lyrics throughout the cd are clever - still about lost or tortured love and bar fights you want in country music - but I think the music has a sense of humor about itself at the same time. I've Got a Little Hillbilly in Me has handclaps and one contagious refrain. My favorite song off here might be Sissy New Age Cowboy: I hope you won't mind if we mess up your pretty face, someone's got to put you in your place. I don't know, you just want to hang around with whoever does these songs. Especially when Amaker asks Is the Rodeo in Town? in Get the Hell Out, you want them around - it all sounds like a party. You can criticize and say the songs are in the same key but this is fine with me. The vocals are durable and deep - entirely able to carry off the drinking pieces and the more romantic Babe: I Figure Satan had Something to Do With the Creation of You - and he's got something to do with the creation of B.A.R.

Their new cd Howdy Do! begins with Welcome to the Rodeo. I like that this cd has a welcome and an Outro (and rattling bottles in the background) as in old country albums. This one is bold enough to tell you No Refunds in the welcome, and why would you want one? I'm the Man Who Writes the Country Hits is a great classic and They Make Cowboys in Montana reminds you in Texas They Make Men and to Keep Your Loved Ones Close - Kill the Rest. These songs build cool scenarios with galloping rhythms and Amaker's voice has an entrancing quality. I get the impression he could be singing about anything and it would sound sexy. The title track is sweet indeed and Walking in My Sleep is haunting. This is the Gun, where Amaker sings Die I Will But Not Before I Break Your Heart is as warped as it is gorgeous. . . okay you can break my heart.

When the Futureheads debuted with their self-titled cd in 2004 it was a pivotal moment for me – and I think for music. I don't know of other bands that sound quite like them and they're superb songwriters – you listen to Carnival Kids or Stupid and Shallow and tell me these aren't inspired songs. In 2006 they followed up with News and Tributes, which included the brilliant and matchless The Return of the Beserker, Favours for Favours and Burnt. They achieved what very few bands achieve – they made two amazing cds in a row.

Now they are back with This is Not the World, a cd that puts them in an elite spot for me along with the Beatles – that's right, the Beatles. The talent in this band is deep – in many ways deeper than is fair. That they can keep up the momentum of their previous work and in some ways do it better – it just shouldn't be allowed. Lucky us it is.

The cd opens up with The Beginning of the Twist, where singer/guitarist Barry Hyde asks Why Don't We Get it Started with a Kiss? I also love the backing vocals in this song – combining vocals is something the Futureheads do so well and with real style. Think Tonight's powerful beat is fantastic – listen to Dave Hyde's drumming closely – the guitar work is spiny and crafty and the lyrics are nimble:I Take Risks but I Don't Rely on Them. Radio Heart is a tight, I will call it romantic piece in some ways: We've Never Met but We've Never Been Apart. Sale of the Century is simply one of the best songs I have heard – it's got seriously throbbing guitar and bass work and the vocals have an intriguing distance to them. Hard to Bear is I think in some ways one of their most moving songs – the stammer Barry Hyde uses in You're not Always Going to Miss Her Tttttttouch is right on, as is the vocal blending. Again, the guitar work is fabulous and slightly different than in their other songs. Guitarist/singer Ross Millard makes a late appearance on the cd – track 8 – in Work is Never Done. It's a gem with a really cool but brief guitar solo. See What You Want to See is just awesome – and it's an apt song to close out the cd with a bang: Don't Reflect What You Can't See in Me .

Working with Primal Scream's producer, Youth, suits them. There's nothing superfluous about their music – everything there is necessary. It's constantly forceful and rampantly gorgeous.

-This review originally appeared on my Seattle PI Blog, Beat Back.-

Alison Goldfrapp is a goddess. She has done it again and released a super sexy cd with her co-composer Will Gregory. Goldfrapp's is as surreal as it is consoling with dreamy tunes and cool vibes.

Starting off with Clowns - complete with bird sounds and easing into the fairy tale of Little Bird - Seventh Tree recalls their Felt Mountain. This is a good thing. I really love all tracks on this cd - Happiness has an oompah beat and the vocals are breathy and sexy. Eat Yourself is melodic and hauntingly sad; A&E is a key track - a paean from a mental ward and I just think the concept is brilliant. It even has frog croak noises in it. Perhaps the real center of the cd is Cologne Cerrone Houdini. I am not the only one who has long-hoped that Goldfrapp will snag the next James Bond theme. It is a high honor and I think this track in particular of almost anything they have done screams the Broccoli people need to sign this band up. Fast. Her voice will make the difficult title of Quantum of Solace hot.

It's a cleverly put together cd ending with a poppy Caravan Girl and the love song Monster Love. I am always amazed by how Goldfrapp brings strange sounds together and makes them even more different than I can expect.

Check out the video for A&E and photos I took of Goldfrapp at the Showbox.