Let’s get it out of the way, first thing, because it’s going to be the comparison that everyone makes: Jessica Larrabee is Chan Marshall’s vocal doppleganger. Now that we’ve addressed the obvious, we can move on and sing further praises.

Larrabee, performing as She Keeps Bees, has put out a fantastic album titled Minisink Hotel. Kicking off with the lo-fi ass-kicker “Stand Where I Can See You”, it’s immediately clear that this lady can stop you in your tracks with her voice alone. “Lucille” is much in the same vein, with a good mix of hollow drums and distorted vocals.

“Cage Match” features a dreamy guitar line with broken-hearted vocals, while “Fangs” and “Arm’s Length” keep things going along for the album’s first half.

Ambient thunderstorm sounds mark a bit of a turn for the album’s second half, featuring more diversity with folky vocal harmonies, bells, and an organ accompaniment that compliments the acoustic guitar and Larrabee’s smoldering voice.

The last three tracks of the record form a near-perfect ending. “Mercury” lets in a new softness and vulnerability in Larrabee’s voice that has not yet been heard on the record, while in the opening line of “Two Thousand Lights” she claims “I’ve lost two thousand years / my soul’s been around, been around…” and one can’t help but believe it. The album closes with “Revival”, a waltz with a haunting, distant piano and heavy kick drum and hand claps that is easy on the ears but assaults the soul.

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To find out more about She Keeps Bees and Minisink Hotel, check out the website here.

The lead single “Closer” from Bleed the Dream’s latest release Killer Inside is a prime example of the direction the album takes. Though Bleed the Dream is known for touring with bands such as Yellowcard and Hawthorne Heights and appearing on both the Vans Warped Tour and Taste of Chaos, the new single and album falls more in the category of hard rock than punk or emo.

While the later tracks on Killer Inside tend to lean vaguely in the direction of So Long, Astoria-era Ataris (“Tell Someone Who Cares”), earlier cuts have echoes of acts like Disturbed and Godsmack – particularly “Voices” and “Drowning is Painless?!”.

Vocalist and new recruit Mark Holmes favors a singing style throughout the album reminiscent of 80s pop/hair-metal vocalists. The slower, ballad-y “Vampires…Don’t Kill For The $” culminates in a polished chorus that would make any hairsprayed and eyelined man in spandex proud, while “This Parking Lot’s A Murder Scene” updates the 80s sound a bit and puts a little weight in the verses.

The highlight of the album is track two, “A Killer Inside”, which is a catchy tune with a standard hard rock sound. Says guitarist Dave Aguilera, “As far as our progression goes, we’re all music lovers and we love everything from country to metal to pop to hardcore…We just wanted to keep it fun and interesting.”

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Killer Inside dropped on 4/10/07.
Click here for more information about Bleed the Dream.

On Wednesday, May 16, Say Anything, Saves the Day, Meg & Dia, and Manchester Orchestra descended upon Stubb’s Waller Creek Ampitheatre for an intense evening of music.

Starting the show off strong was Atlanta, GA band Manchester Orchestra. Their aural assault was filled with vaguely Christian overtones culminating in a finale that left lead singer Andy Hull screaming and trembling while four drummers beat away in unison (drummers from MO and Saves the Day on kits with one of Say Anything’s guitarists and bassist on single drums).

Next up was Meg & Dia, a sister duo who offered a mix of emo-esque rock and mid-nineties send-ups. Early on Dia’s vocals were weak, but they improved throughout the set - to her credit, it may have been an in-ear problem as she alternated between putting them in and tearing them out. Though Dia was fun to watch, the overall package was lackluster, with their worst at a lilting, undertempo rendition of Blind Melon’s “No Rain” that lacked the life of the original.

Veteran rockers Saves the Day were next to take the stage, kicking off with “The End” from their latest album Sound the Alarm. The band was full of energy, with singer Chris Conley continually thanking the crowd and expressing his happiness at being there. Saves the Day played two new songs from their album coming out in September, “Can’t Stay the Same” and “Radio”. The rest of the set was a mix heavy on tracks from Stay What You Are and Through Being Cool, with Say Anything’s Max Bemis joining the boys on guitar for “At Your Funeral”, a dream of his since high school according to Conley.

Heading up the bill was six-piece outfit Say Anything. An immediate community feeling was imposed with a mass sing-along to hit “Alive With the Glory of Love”. Singer Max Bemis paraded dramatically around the stage, which would be obnoxious if not for the theatrical nature of Say Anything’s music. Halfway through the set, the band debuted a new song (”People Like You Are Why People Like Me Exist” and followed it up with an old release, “A Walk Through Hell”. The set ended with Bemis’s anti-hipster diatribe “Admit It!”, during which members of Manchester Orchestra and Saves the Day tackled Bemis and bandmate Parker Case, attaching handcuff-toting blow-up dolls.

A deal for $17, the tour with its current lineup has its last show tonight in Dallas, TX.

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If anyone has pictures from the Stubb’s event (new aquaintance Amanda?), please email me at mixtapesandheartbreaks@gmail.com

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Songs played (may or may not be complete based on how good my memory is)

STD: Shoulder to the Wheel, Rocks Tonic Juice Magic, Holly Hox Forget Me Nots, At Your Funeral, Cars and Calories, As Your Ghost Takes Flight, Nightingale, Firefly, Anywhere With You, Head For The Hills, The End, Bones, Eulogy, Can’t Stay the Same, Radio

SA: Admit It!, Alive With The Glory of Love, Belt, Every Man Has A Molly, Metal Now, The Futile, Woe, Wow I Can Get Sexual Too, Yellow Cat (Slash) Red Cat, People Like You Are Why People Like Me Exist, A Walk Through Hell

There is no doubt that Elvis Presley left behind an unforgettable legacy. Whether you are a fan or not, you undoubtedly know something about him – one or two or twenty hits, his penchant for fried foods, or the sad fact that he died on the toilet [well, almost; in reality he died a few feet away]. Though one would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t know who Elvis was, it was his greatest fear that he would be forgotten. In the duo biographies Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love, Peter Guralnick makes sure that his memory will live on.

Both volumes of Elvis’s story are well written and delve into an incredible amount of detail. Spanning from childhood to death, Guralnick tracks not only Presley’s career, but also his relationships, friendships, losses, and personal habits.

Last Train to Memphis is more upbeat and captures the magic of Elvis’s career. Each chapter is accompanied by a picture of Elvis, with an amazing final picture of Elvis on a train back home, listening to a portable record player. The volume begins with Elvis’s birth and ends with his enlistment in the Army. The highlight of the book is the chapter “Jailhouse Rock” which portrays Elvis at the top of his game.

Careless Love picks up with Elvis still in the Army, stationed in Germany where he met future wife Priscilla. The second volume has more pictures, but they aren’t as moving as those found in the first volume. The tone of Careless Love is more subdued than Last Train, and reflects the downturn of Elvis’s career and personal life. There are still high points – the reader can feel the excitement of the recording session that spawned such hits as “Suspicious Minds” through Guralnick’s retelling. Careless Love also has more scandal [drug use, adultery, death threats], but manages to be revealing without crossing the line into sensationalism.

Together, the two volumes paint a picture of Elvis’s life that is both unfinished yet complete, sad yet still hopeful. Even to the most casual of fans, Guralnick’s story is an engaging look at one of the most talented performers of all time.