The question is, how many times can an artist come out of retirement?
Critics shat on Jay Z’s first comeback, 2006’s “Kingdom Come”. It was too soft they said, too much about wealth and fame. Not enough of the street and the struggle. With “American Gangster“ he returns to his roots, filling in gaps about his father, money laundering, and what it feels like to be successful. “American Gangster” is a concept album/unofficial soundtrack to Ridley Scott’s film of the same name. The parallels are numerous- as in the intro where various definitions of a gangster are accompanied by sound clips from the movie. The 14 tracks follow the story from the uptown dope-king ambition of “American Dreamin’ “ to the big-payback crash of “Fallin’.” Jay Z evokes the 1970s drug underworld, playing on old heroin brand names (China White, Black Rain, 91/2 Weeks) in “I Know”.
Jay stands where Dylan did in the late Sixties; he wants to get back to making music without getting stuck under his own legend. With “American Gangster” then, he finds himself on the right track.

Now I’ll leave you with a video of Jay Z performing “American Dreamin” off of his new album, “American Gangster”. Enjoy.

The self-titled CD from TV Heart Attack came across my desk a few weeks ago but for some reason I put it aside. Maybe it was my work load, or bands with bigger profiles that caused me to procrastinate on the TVHA disc. Maybe it was my phobia of mannequins (see above). Probably a combonation of the three excuses.

When I finally got around to it I found I was more than pleasantly surprised. Truth be told, the CD has been on constant rotation here at the office ever since.

Now usually when I see a group of handsome dudes who’ve formed a band I pre-judge them as wankers. Good looking guy bands dont usually produce music with soul or substance. But then again neither did Nickleback. But I digress. Fortunately for music fans TVHA are not wankers, they’re just handsome and skilled. I guess there’s nothing wrong with that.

The album opens with “Hypnotic Eyes”, a nod to Psychedelic Furs-era dark romantic pop, updated for the 2000s with a muscular and rawer sound. In fact most of the album’s 11 tracks sound as though songwriter, lead vocalist/guitarist Jason Corbett was raised on a steady diet of John Hughes films (1983 to 1987 era). This is not to say the album is a derivative and obvious throw-back to the 80s which tended to be a popular formula between 2001 and 2004 with bands like VHS or Beta, Stellastarr, and Franz Ferdinand to name just a scant few. TV Heart Attack deftly blend their penchant for “Pretty in Pink” with a decidedly modern approach as well. This is most evident on stand-out tracks like the Queens of The Stone Age-tinged “Bang, Bang, Bang” and the full-on assault of the albums heaviest track, “The Art of Burning Bridges” (apparently recorded in one take), in which Corbett and lead guitarist Kelly Nordstrom trade guitar solos (the only ones on the entire album really) that put most famous guitar wankers to shame.
If you like your Police mixed with some Gang of Four, then drummer Rob Chursinoff ( Tegan and Sara, Ben Lee) and bass player Wes Regan (Ben Lee touring keyboardist) will please on the dance-punk romp of “Don’t Walk Away”- a song whose drum and bass interplay, especially near the end of the song is spare, pugilistic and booty-shaking all at the same time.
It’s refreshing today to hear a band who mix their influences in a way that generates their own unique sound. If you’re tired of 80s re-hashers, Emo,Emo,Emo, or cooler-than-thow indie beard rock, then TvHeart Attack’s self-titled debut is for your listening pleasure.
Check out TVHA songs on their Myspace.

Video for “Bang Bang Bang”

First things first, to understand what you are getting yourself into; let me introduce the band and all the instruments they play.

Nathan Bond - guitar, vocals, keys
Jonathan Nee - banjo, keyboard, train whistle, slide whistle, mandolin, vocals
Abraham Couch - Upright, fretless, and other bass related instruments
Jesse Adams - guitar, vocals, mandolin
Dylon York - drums, percussion

As you can see there are plenty of sounds to explore with Band Marino. They are listed as an Indie Rock band, which by the first two tracks “American Patriot” and “I Have a Dream” you can clearly see the classification.

The song “I have a Dream” gives you the best of indie rock and folk. The “swing rock” guitar licks at the beginning grab your attention and keep it through the entire song. Only about 35 seconds in you get this eerie violin that throws a folky twist into the mix, only to be brought right back to rock with a guitar solo. After returning to the verse you are struck with a mandolin solo for the interlude (there’s that folk again). This is only the first song filled with a smorgage board of instruments and genres.

“Chasing Rainbows” is fairly straight forward folk, to me anyways. Got to the love that banjo though!

“Elephants Are Grey” could quite possibly be one of my favorite tracks. Though there intentions were probably only filler as the track is only a mere 52 seconds; it’s just the sheer fun and originality that catches my interest.

“Every Time I Make A Girl Cry I Know I’ve Done My Job” has to be the poppiest song on the album, with catchy chorus’ and guitar lines. Again there is a massive amount of instrumentation that is sure to catch your attention.

“Feel It In The Air” slows things down with a great ballad.

Now, as I can see I’m getting ahead of myself and listing every song on the album. If I were to do so all you would be reading is how much I enjoy each song, and that will become boring for you…

So just got and order the album and hear for yourself this extremely diverse and well rounded album. They are all great songs and to be honest the ones that I have posted above (same as their myspace) don’t do the album justice, the real jems aren’t listed - Like “Como Se Dice Senorita, Act 1: The Layman’s Lament”! My personal favorite.

Be sure to check out our exclusive interview with Band Marino.