The Honored Guests: New Record, New Sound

The Honored Guests: "Say You Will"
"Sharpened Tooth"
(from Tastes Change 2006. Buy it here.)
Schooner: "Indian Sunburn"
(from 3X4 2006. Buy it here.)
Joe Romeo: "Cat Glasses" (grab it here)
(don't think he has anything to sell just yet...)

The Honored Guests play a show at Local 506 on Saturday for the release of their second album, Tastes Change. Whatever else the title signifies, it hints at a change in sound on the new release. I really enjoyed their previous effort, the enigmatically titled Iawokeinacityasleep, so the change in direction threw me for a loop at first. Where Iawoke... had a thick, fuzzy sound, on Tastes Change, everything is more distinct -- clearer and higher. There are a lot of interesting things going on in the mix, and in some ways the eclectic production reminds me of Wilco's sonic experiments on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

In part, this shifting sound is due to the addition of Patrick O'Neill on keyboards and guitar, but also flows from a conscious effort on the part of the band to make a record that was "a little more powerful and a little more weird," according to guitarist Russ Baggett. Deliberately, then, they are moving away from some of the more overtly pop moments on Iawoke... I have to confess that I miss that a bit, but now that I've had the chance to mull over Tastes Change and appreciate it in its own right, I find quite a lot to like. The band draws influences from all across the rock spectrum and timeline, from the energetic blast of "Say You Will" to the drugged-out langour of "Grown Up Clothes." "Sharpened Tooth" is a favorite for the build of chiming guitars, and for the unorthdox drumming and percussion. There's a thoughtful review of Tastes Change in this week's Independent that doesn't seem to be online yet, but I'll come back and link it later here. It ends up about where I do: "A solid second."

Unlike the Cities release show that I mentioned last week, I think the lineup for Saturday makes a lot of sense as a group. Raleigh's Schooner [previous post] has plenty of low-fi quirks but is keeping the pop core that the Honored Guests are moving away from. "Indian Sunburn/Summer" is a track from a great local collaboration that also includes music from the lovely Erie Choir [previously], the soon-to-be defunct (no!) Sames [previous 1 2], and Wilmington's Summer Set. Joe Romeo used to be in a band called Fake Swedish, which I never got around to mentioning before they broke up. Apparently he's got several new songs in the can, and "Cat Glasses" is a sweet, piano-driven pop song.

Heard Together

That Comas show that I mentioned in the previous post is part of the CD release party for a nice compliation called Heard Together: Sounds from Northern Carolina. The fact that I've already written about most of the bands on the comp makes me feel like I've been doing what I set out to do with this blog.

Sharing the bill with the Comas tonight are the Rosebuds (mentioned here), the Sames (mentioned here), and Superchunk side project Portastatic.

Schooner (mentioned here) and Gerty (mentioned here) play at Local 506 tomorrow night, along with Transportation and Leadfoot.

And on Saturday, the Honored Guests (mentioned here), Cub Country (mentioned here), and Evil Weiner's Billy Sugarfix play at the Cave.

Here's a little sampler of some of my favorite songs from these bands (all previously posted, but I think there are some new readers since then).

The Rosebuds: "Big Heartbreak (live on KVRX)"
The Sames: "I Wish That You'd Written This Song"
Schooner: "We Let the Cat Out"
Gerty: "Magnastar"
The Honored Guests: "iawokeinacityasleep"
Cub Country: "Missed the Train"

The Honored Guests

Something about the Honored Guests' music (previously mentioned here) seems to render reviewers incoherent:

Soon you find yourself reaching out to him, as the milk chocolatey riffs swell and wash over you, enveloping your mind and just short of drowning you in their steady, hypnotic pulse, like a musical undertow. Thus, an often pretty album's intriguing musicianship is undermined by the grip of its pervasive groove. (Independent review)

Then again, when drummer Andrew Kinghorn says, "I think we sound like if Tom Petty were being held at gunpoint by a British barbershop quartet," what can you expect?

I'll just say that they're mid-tempo indie rock with some nice vocal harmonies here and there (e.g., "Postmarked"). Their debut album, iawokeinacityasleep, features some nice tunes including "Postmarked" and the spacey title track. "Days are Getting Brighter" starts off as a mellow acoustic track, but falls into the mid-tempo drone that does make the album start to sound a little samey after a while (which I think is what the Independent reviewer was getting at up there). Their next performance is January 21 at Local 506 with Cub Country and the Strugglers. (That should be a fine show! See my previous Strugglers post.)

MP3: "Postmarked"
MP3: "iawokeinacityasleep"
Also download "I Can't Keep You" and "Days Are Getting Brighter" from myspace.com
(from The Honored Guests, iawokeinacityasleep, American Laundromat 2004. Buy)

MP3: "Coming Apart at the Seams"
(from Postmarked [single], 2004. Out of print)

MP3: "Leaving"
(demo, February/March 2003)

Don't we know archaic barrel?

First, a little musical holiday gift from the fine lads of The Honored Guests.

MP3: "Winter Slide"
Just a sketch of a song, but it fits the season. It does have some of that gauzy walking-in-the-snow feel to it (which we're getting none of in NC this year), plus...glockenspiel! I'll say more about the Honored Guests later -- just came across them, but I like 'em.

And now we sing the traditional carol:

Deck us all with Boston Charlie,
Walla Walla, Wash., an' Kalamazoo!
Nora's freezin' on the trolley,
Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo!

Don't we know archaic barrel,
Lullaby Lilla boy, Louisville Lou?
Trolley Molly don't love Harold,
Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo!

Bark us all bow-wows of folly,
Polly wolly cracker n' too-da-loo!
Hunky Dory's pop is lolly gaggin' on the wagon,
Willy, folly go through!

Donkey Bonny brays a carol,
Antelope Cantaloup, 'lope with you!
Chollie's collie barks at Barrow,
Harum scarum five alarum bung-a-loo!

That's all for now. See y'all in the new year. Happy holidays, whichever ones you're celebrating.

"Good King Sauerkraut, look out!
On yo' feets uneven..."