Bon Iver – Bon Iver

“Open your mind, release your dreams” – a memorable quote from a memorable evening. It is fair to say that Bon Iver are not the most well-known band currently recording music, but trust me when I say that both live and on audio tracks, they do not disappoint. On their current tour promoting their second album, titled Bon Iver, the Americans made a single night stop in Dublin, performing at the Grand Canal Theatre. For music fanatics, this was the most highly anticipated concert of the year. Tickets were scarce, but I managed to procure a handful for some friends and I. Countless people scattered outside looking for spare tickets; whilst inside there was a vast array of checked shirts and bearded gentlemen.

I myself was shocked when the band appeared on stage following the superb support act of Kathleen Edwards. Nine individuals playing countless instruments from the conventional rock to jazz and classical varieties; you name it, they probably played it. It was in this instance that I realised just how intense this concert would be. They played songs both old and new, with somewhat mystical lighting and even more powerful vocal effects (created by the vast quantity of people singing). The songs from the new album were the main reason behind all of these instruments. Two drum kits create a vibe so great for songs like Perth and Minnesota, WI, the first two tracks on the masterpiece of an album.

So powerful was the concert that the standing ovation after the usual fake exit was a solid five minutes of applause. The rest of the album follows the same pattern of overwhelming musical brilliance and lyrical genius. Back at the time of the sale of the tickets they made one song in particular free to download, Calgary, off of the new album. A song about a mythical land, as stated by Justin Vernon, the front man, Calgary gives listeners a fair idea of how the rest of the album would sound. It is not a pop sound, so do not ever expect that this would be a chart topping sensation. Bon Iver are not about topping charts or making money, they are about sharing music and sharing the experiences of music with their listeners. One thing was wrong at the concert prior to the applause, but we, the general audience, knew that this would be remedied in the encore. Their most popular song and one I would highly recommend one should listen to, Skinny Love, was the closing song of the concert (off their first album ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’). This song, if you like it, will have you hooked.

Bon Iver playing Blood Bank - Grand Canal Theatre 20-10-‘11

So what more can I say? The concert spoke for itself; it was absolutely fantastic, but I’m a fan so I would say that. The album, Bon Iver, is something that may not be everyone’s cup of tea. The unique style of the band makes their music much more about appreciating the intricacies and detail of the songs, both vocally and instrumentally. It will not be one for the shower singers, but rather one that music lovers will sit around listening to, mellow and relaxed. For its alternative style it may not be fully appreciated as the musically great album that it is, and so for an unbiased marking I could not give it five stars (as much as I would love to). However, it is still a very good album and a recommendation from yours truly. At four and a half stars, this is one I feel that people cannot afford to at least give a chance.

– Conor C

Review – Brand New: The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me

‘Well take me out tonight,
This ship of fools I’m on will sink.
I’m my own stone around my neck,
{If you’d} be my breath, there’s nothing I wouldn’t give.’

Millstone

 Brand New’s third album, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, is appropriately named. It’s a concept album which grapples with the theme of inner questioning; it’s about a young man struggling with his own conscience and with the person that he has become. Faith is also a huge theme in the album and Jesse Lacey (the writer) uses Christian imagery to express this turmoil. It’s an incredibly dark album about losing faith in both God and yourself, and realising that you’ve become someone that you never wanted to be – someone that your faith taught you was an evil person.

‘Hey, hey, hey, Mr. Hangman,
You go get your rope.
Your daughters weren’t careful
And I fear that I am a slippery slope.’

You Won’t Know

Musically, the album is hard to classify. It’s a mixture of alternative rock, pop-punk, and emo, with a few indie elements thrown in for good measure. However, Brand New has a unique sound that’s worth listening to yourself before judging based on these categories. The music can be beautiful and mellow or it can be harsh with bitterness and anger. It’s nearly always dark, matching itself with the lyrical content. However, it is almost always very catchy at the same time; it’s both accessible and deep, which is an impressive feat for any creative work. The singing is also great: one interesting technique that is often used is to layer different lyrical lines over one another in harmony. (I suggest listening to Archers to get a good idea of the albums’ style.)

‘Who do you carry the torch for, my young man?
Do you believe in anything?
Do you carry it around just to burn things down?’

The Archers’ Bows Have Broken

The lyrics throughout the whole album are unrelentingly dark and emotional, and you can definitely see the emo influence there. But unlike most emo music this album is actually very mature and adult. The issues Lacey sings about are moving and come from the heart; he’s genuinely anguished by the things he has done, and his inability to stop himself from doing evil things. Perhaps the quality that sets this album apart from others – and that makes such dark lyrics believable – is the honesty that Lacey writes with. It’s not about ‘hating myself and wanting to die’, it’s about looking at yourself and realising that you are not, in fact, a good person – that, in fact, you are quite the contrary – and that you only have yourself to blame. It’s about crying out for help but not having any hope that anyone will answer. You can relate to his torment because it’s something that I think every adult goes through at some stage in their life.

‘I know you’ll come in the night like a thief
But I’ve had some time alone to hone my lying technique.
I know you think that I’m someone you can trust
But I’m scared I’ll get scared and I swear I’ll try to nail you back up.
So do you think that we could work out a Psalm?
So I’ll know it’s you and that it’s over so I won’t even try.
I know you’ll come for the people like me
But we’ve all got wood and nails,
And talk dirt at hating factories.
We’ve all got wood and nails,
And we sleep inside of this machine.’

Jesus Christ

Lacey does not shy away from lyrics that could be considered shocking, offensive or even blasphemous. He doesn’t say these things just for show though; the songs are more about his horror and despair he feels because of the things he can say and do than the things themselves. Limousine, in my opinion the best song on the album, takes this intenseness and self-loathing the furthest. The song is about a 7 year old girl, called Katie, who was travelling home after being a flower girl at a wedding, when a drunk driver crashed into the limousine she was travelling in. She was decapitated in the crash. In the song Lacey sings from two perspectives, the mother and the drunk driver, and it’s hard to say which is more moving – Lacey, I think, identifies himself with both. It’s a song that you can’t listen to without being touched by the horror of what happened. The guitar solo at the end of the song is simply incredible, and it captures perfectly the emotional intensity of the tragedy.

‘Your beauty supreme.
Yeah, you were right about me.
But can I get myself out from underneath
This guilt that will crush me?
And in the choir I saw our sad Messiah.
He was bored and tired of my laments.
Said, “I died for you one time, but never again”’

Limousine

 The one ray of hope that is seen in the album comes in the second last song, Archers. Denouncing a man who preaches religion but does not live by its teaching himself, Lacey calls him ‘a voice that never sings’. Lacey is, at the very least, singing about the good and evil that are at war within him. It’s a cathartic album, and listening to it, although you are hopefully not as troubled as Lacey, is a very cathartic experience. It’s a masterpiece on every level.

Rating:5 Stars

‘What did you learn tonight?
You’re shouting so loud, you barely joyous broken thing.
You’re a voice that never sings, that’s what I say.
You are freezing over Hell,
You are bringing on the end, you do so well
you can only blame yourself, that’s what I say.’

The Archers’ Bows Have Broken

– Kevin M