For years, Kyle Andrews has struggled with a dirty secret. He was, in the eyes of so many, a "singer-songwriter", his past pockmarked with words like "sweet," "catchy," and perhaps most often of all, "bedroom." However, according to Kyle, his latest full-length release Robot Learn Love only sounds like a bedroom pop album if your bedroom happens to be on an escape shuttle hurtling towards an exploding star.
Robot Learn Love is probably the closest Kyle Andrews has come to a concept album. Throughout, he explores themes of modern life -- love, heartbreak, hurt, and longing-- experienced through the filter of technology. "We work, create art, and communicate every day through some sort of computer device, some sort of robot," Kyle says. The album itself is a product of its theme: from the album art, inspired by a cellphone snapshot sent from the other side of the world, to the instant message abbreviations in song titles, and the composite of vocals collected by email in a single afternoon to form the chorus of "Lazer Tag With Imaginary Friends."
Despite its walls of electric guitars, raw synths and blasting drums, Robot Learn Love was conceived and recorded almost exclusively by Kyle himself. Robot is an exercise in duality: lo-fi vocals recorded through built-in laptop mics, others recorded through top-of-the-line studio preamps, drums simulated with software in the bedroom, and backing live string players tracked at pro recording studios. Half drowning in a swirl of stuttering synths, Andrews' plaintive cry, "Why's it got to be so complex?" at last gives way to a rest, a breath, only to be sucked back into the lush chaos. Throughout, Andrews balances the bombastic sonic textures with personality and warmth.
Kyle Andrews on Facebook
"From the first note of “Back To Life,” the album’s opener, the tone and cadence of Kill It Cut It Down become immediately evident. The aggressive-but-bright pop-rock anthem begins with frontman Josh Foster pounding a rhythm into his piano keys, followed by a flood of lyrics that are generally grittier than the glossy and polished music accompanying them imply. The texture created by the seemingly-intentional contrast between melody and lyrics keeps the music smart, leaving room for versatility within each track. Despite the candid nature of Foster’s lyrics, Kill It Cut It Down is not at all transparent.
Produced by Jim Wirt (Fiona Apple, Incubus) in Cleveland, Ohio during the dead of winter, Parachute Musical further exemplify their proclivity to finding the harmony in contradictions. Describing their month in Cleveland as “the coldest month of our lives,” the final product sounds like a sunny and colorful summer album, untouched by freezing temperatures and Christmas carols. The music on Kill It Cut It Down subsides and escalates when you need it to, but the band reels it in during some of the crescendos, safeguarding the songs from falling victim to fist-pumping pop-rock melodrama.
The most impressive part of this album may be Josh Foster’s vocals. Powerful and melodic, it can sometimes be difficult to focus on what he’s saying because he makes it all sound so good. The band sounds solid during the loud moments, but the quieter moments of the songs shine a necessary spotlight on Foster’s lyrics and vocals, a trick best played on “Back To the Bottom,” when the music noticeably takes a backseat to each verse so the story of Foster’s past can momentarily steal the limelight.
“Losing You” is the album’s closer as well as its brightest diamond. A slow-build ballad about the beginning of the end of a relationship, the vocals and instruments on this song soar in a flourish of talent and heartbreak. The end of the album is the best place for this track because, as great as the rest of the album is, this one is difficult to get past.
Kill It Cut It Down asserts its solidity in finding perfect balance in the midst of contrast. Rather than creating a sloppy and contradictory album, Parachute Musical have found logic in the conflicting components of their music and created a lively and reflective album that will probably sound equally as fantastic when you hear it live." - Brianne Turner / Audioholic Media
Parachute Musical on Facebook
FishHawk is an Atlanta based band. Their dance flavored electro beats, mixed with the soul of the 70’s and the decadence of 80’s “synthpop”, evolved into what is now known as the signature FishHawk sound. FishHawk formed during the summer of 2006 with producer and multi instrumentalist Andy Slagle and lead vocalist and wordsmith Nick Nickerson. Shortly after the completion of the 1st project, Matt Williams joined the band helping with live instrumentation. They have since toured up and down the east coast and released two albums and the recent EP "Spacehawk" all three available on iTunes. Fishhawk’s innovative style is molded from a variety of genre’s that have been melded together to create their unique style. Infectious melodies and textures from guitars, keyboards, pedals and voices soar overhead, coloring the energetic rhythms that keep you moving all while being entranced by the soulful and poetic lyrics that seem to be channeled by your own subconscious.
Fishhawk on Facebook
$8 in adv, $10 DOS, 18+
Doors @ 9 pm
Advance tickets available @ Ticket Alternative, Criminal Records,
Decatur CD, Fantasyland Records and the following CD Warehouse locations: Buford, Duluth, Kennesaw, Lawrenceville and Roswell.
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