Big Orange Crayonmusical thingsTiara Again Cast In Anyway Records Anyone who says that independent music has taken a downturn in recent years isn't looking hard enough. The best example of this is Eric Rottmayer. He's the kid behind Tiara, and a number of other brilliant releases as Yesteryear, Metronome, and Eric Metronome. Of all of the bands he's in, Tiara is the most indie rock and probably the most similiar to Built to Spill. Not to say it's derivative though, just that anyone who likes one will most likely like the other. There are quite a few splendid songs on this disc: "it's a message", which also showed up on a 7" a few months ago, is just a wonderful indie rock song, as are "the film" and "red carpet ride" all of which are those types of songs that give me goosebumps every time I listen to them. Also, "When There's Nothing" which was one of my favorite songs on Eric Metronome's Lime Green cassette, got a shiny new Tiara workover, meaning that it has louder guitars and is just more rocky in general. And really, pretty much every song on this disc is worth getting stuck in your head for a few days; they're all really hooky, melodic, and cleverly written so you can't get tired of them. Whenever Eric Rottmayer's in a band, it always produces mind blowingly catchy, yet somehow sad and lovely songs that I simply fall in love with. you should, too. So yeah, as long as bands like Tiara are around, any complaints about the state of indie rock are bull. There's still genius to be found out there and if they aren't a huge freaking example staring us all in the face, my perception is totally screwed. Total score: 712 out of 712 |