Coltrane Motion – Hello Ambition!

Coltrane Motion - Hello Ambition!

photo credit: chicagosnacks.org

The title of Coltrane Motion’s sophomore album, Hello Ambition!, is probably about as accurate a name as could have been conceived for this collection of 10 tracks from electro-pop duo Michael Bond and Matt Dennewitz. Combining droning, repetitious sounds with eclectic rock and vocals isn’t easy — nor common, mind you — but the Chicago boys seem to mash them together with considerable ease.

The beats on Hello Ambition! are simply infectious. It’s damn near impossible to sit through the album’s musical stylings without bobbing your head and wiggling your toes. That is, of course, if you haven’t already gotten up out of your chair and started waving around other appendages.

Michael and Matt rely heavily on their drum kit and unyielding beats to keep things moving and in focus. This is particularly true of a track like “High Tide,” which takes off a bit noisier and more scattered than the rest, yet maintains its ground thanks to consistent drum throbbings.

Most everything on Hello Ambition! could find a home on the film soundtrack of a snappy, coming-of-age indie. “My Heart Might Go On,” for instance, has a coarseness about it thanks to a hint of lo-fi, yet is softened by a playful tambourine and repetitive lyrics. Michael, the duo’s vocalist, claims that “the party is over” and that he’s “tired of being young” — the unofficial calling card of desirous, albeit distressed youth.

“I Forgot There Was a War On” may be the album’s anthem. It’s Coltrane Motion’s stab at mixing dance rock with funk, and it goes down very smoothly. Like most everything here, it’s hard to listen to just once.

Before Hello Ambition!, which Coltrane Motion released earlier this month on its own label, datawaslost, the duo debuted with its first full-length album, Songs About Music, in 2007. According to the boys, they aim to “make a dance record that sounds like what we dance to: girl groups and big beat and fuzzed-out indiepop.”

Hello Ambition! (2010)
(mp3) Coltrane Motion – I Forgot There Was a War On
(mp3) Coltrane Motion – Please Call it a Comeback

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Jenny and Johnny – “Scissor Runner”

It’s a special week for rock-pop aficionados. Jenny and Johnny, a spankin’ new music group formed by Jenny Lewis and her Scottish boyfriend, Jonathan Rice, just released their first single, “Scissor Runner,” as a free download. The song, a deliciously fun anthem just in time for summer, will be on the group’s forthcoming debut, I’m Having Fun Now.

Yet don’t think every Jenny and Johnny track will match the cutesy lyrics of “Scissor Runner.”

As their site states, “The exuberance of love songs like ‘Scissor Runner’ mask some of the record’s darkness, with Lewis chronicling the economic demise of her beloved California in ‘Big Wave,’ Rice’s haunting vocal on ‘Animal,’ and both songwriters raising a middle-finger kiss off in the acerbic ‘My Pet Snakes.’ The overall result is genuine and original pop music for Right Now.”

Lewis, of Rilo Kiley fame and also a pair of solo albums, met Rice about five years ago while working on her solo debut, Rabbit Fur Coat. The pair struck up a creative friendship and lent help to each others’ respective recordings. Rice has actually performed with Lewis for every live show of her solo career to date.

Touring for the album, which may drop as early as August 31st, kicks off September 1st at the Rio Theater in Santa Cruz, CA. The full list of cities and venues is available here.

Noticeably missing from the tour are stops in Arizona. Due to the state’s new immigration policy, which Jenny and Johnny say “legalizes and sanctions racial profiling,” the group refuses to play there.

“To all our rad southwestern peeps, we’re sorry that the brutes are running the show and we hope they get voted out of office.”

I’m Having Fun Now (2010)

(mp3) Jenny and Johnny – Scissor Runner

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