Music: CD Reviews

Cue revs up the glockenspiel for full-on rock

Cue: "Bring Back My Love"
(Earth Gets Black)

Slowly but surely, Austin has become home to — and become associated with — a vibrant colony of bands playing stately instrumental rock.

Before any of them was Trail of Dead, who these days seem to de-emphasize their once-massive instrumental passages. (Besides, they were always a little too punk rock.)

Then you have your Explosions in the Sky, who were building epic guitar rock before anyone else. And there's A Five and Dime Ship and My Education, both of whom pursue much the same muse.

These are bands that have worn flat their copies of "Mogwai Young Team" and Godspeed You Black Emperor's increasingly influential debut "F#A#oo," not to mention Slint's insanely seminal "Spiderland" and any Neil Young record that Slint dug. ("Zuma" comes to mind.)

Now we have Cue, who play down those bands' dynamic guitar shifts in favor of a full-on chamber rock feel: Piano, violin and glockenspiel drive these melodies. "Bring Back My Love," the band's second album, is a strong outing, alternately delicate and muscular. Drums are thunderous but distant, kept deep in the mix. The bass plays a tasteful supportive role. Clarke Dominick's piano and Stacy Meshbane's violin are where the action is. They trade off the melodic truth-telling from song to song, almost in dialogue, each instrument delivering a particular chapter or delineating a theme. It's lovely, often majestic stuff, suitable for listening sessions both ambient and deep.
— Joe Gross

Cue play Friday with the Octopus Project, Shearwater and the Sun at Emo's.

The Bloody Tears: "Downhanded"
(Licorice Tree)

It's Saturday night and you don't feel like going out. Put on this new CD by Austin's teen canteen soul champs and you'll soon find yourself primping in front of a mirror like the "Downhanded" cover girl, ready for handstamped liberation. The Bloody Tears yank you back to the sweaty frug of Mitch Ryder, when "Double Shot of My Baby's Love" and "Nobody But Me" ruled the airwaves. But the way Randall Stockton turns his harmonica into a steamy sax monster gives this workout a whole 'nother layer of bluesy tension.

Musically, lyrically, philosophically, there's not much new going on here. Ain't nothing but a garage party, as singer/guitarist Eric Makowski sounds like he's in the middle of a bobbing crowd and guitarist Billy Steve Korpi slapfights with organ man Big Jeff like they're showing off for a pretty girl in white boots.

Your cab has arrived.
— Michael Corcoran

Signal Lost: "Children of the Wasteland"
(Prank)

Now that the metal titans of Kylesa have left Prank Records, Signal Lost stands as franchise players, the most compelling band on a boutique label known for same.

Sure, "Wasteland" appeared last year, but honestly, it's been slept on locally long enough. Signal Lost's anthemic mid-tempo hardcore punk is the kind that never quite goes out of style. There's always going to be yet another generation of hacked-off twentysomethings that find release in its rough melodies, black twill jeans and direct-yet-vague lyrics screaming at oppressors both real and theorized.

This feels and sounds like a debut, but these four kids bleed potential as they buzz and howl their way to a singular voice. To serious hardcore fans, the intricate guitar melodies on "Children" might sound like indie rock, but singer Ashley's tough, on-key bellow is straight out of punk's best traditions.

They can even be forgiven for working their band name into the song "Emergency Broadcast." Now that's charisma.
— Joe Gross

Signal Lost plays Monday with From Ashes Rise, Coliseum and the Observers at Emo's.

The Crack Pipes: "Beauty School"
(Emporer Jones)

On their fourth album, the Crack Pipes seem to have decided to throw all caution to the wind and try to simply embody as much American music as they possibly can. Forget about just being a punk band or a garage band. They're going to be everything at once, thanks, and you can just get out of the way.

The title track fries up some country blues, "Sexy Pepsy" finds the funk and "Reflections in a Bad Light" turns a nasty coke habit into rock (music, not the stuff you smoke) that staggers around the room, trying to find its footing, before blacking out in the corner. And that's just the first three songs, kids.

They've even found politics here and there. "East Side Injections" takes abstract aim at the junkie life east of Interstate 35 (at least, I'm pretty sure that's what it's about). "Q&A" answers the question everyone has always asked of them: What's up with the terrible band name? Over the most soulful groove the Pipes have ever wrought, singer Ray Pride speaks his mind's answers: "As long as there's a poor side of town/we'll be called the Crack Pipes." Bring the lightning down, guys. Oh, wait, they already have.
— Joe Gross

The Crack Pipes play a record release party Friday at Beerland.