Elf Power - 'The Winter Hawk' (Kindercore)

I remember Elf Power. I remember seeing them, even them staying at my house, liking them, both this 7" and their first full-length.... but I don't remember anything about what they sounded like. This isn't to say they were forgettable, but I guess I forgot them. (I do remember them covering Eno's 'Needles in the Camel's Eye' live, and it was pretty good). This is their debut 7"; they were led by a really lovely guy named Bryan Helium, and were affiliated with the Elephant 6 label, though perhaps in a second-tier setting. This is a nice record; post-R.E.M. jangle (they were from Athens, after all), some violin playing, and a warbly clarinet opens things up with 'Grand Intrusion Call'; 'Heroes and Insects' goes for a dirgy, almost doom-like instrumental approach before some trebly strumming lightens it up. This seems a million miles away from the catchy Beatlesisms of the Olivias, until the B-side comes with the title track. This is more like it, "it" being that lackadaisical indie-pop sound that I still associate with the Kindercore label. Vocal harmonies and some recorder (or melodica, or something) makes this easy and light, but still not particularly 'catchy'. It's a pretty mixed bag, this 7", and stronger than I remember it - let's face it, I don't remember anything - and maybe its diversity is the explanation. The closing cut, the impeccably titled 'Exalted Exit Wound', takes things out on a fuzz+acoustic combo, instrumental again, and reminding me a bit of 'Here Come the Warm Jets' (the song), again an Eno connection. 

Chisel - 'It's Alright, You're OK/The Guns of Merdian Hill' (Gern Blandsten)

Ten months without a post!  Sorry about this corner of our little alphabetical world - somehow 7"s get overlooked and I tend to do them in batches.  We left off with Chisel last year and pick it up with a 7" that might actually belong chronologically before 'The O.T.S.'.  Post-8 AM All Day Chisel never did much for me, apart from a few songs here and there. 'It's Alright, You're OK' feels like a tune with a bit more pop chart potential than anything before. Leo's voice has always been high in the mix, and there's a lot less guitar scrapings, instead being driven by a bouncing bassline and an organ-swirl chorus. That said it's a lot less 'heavy' and the traces of 'punk' are removed in favour of a more feel-good, soulful mod pop. I like this song a lot, but you have no idea how many times I listened to it in high school. The b-side is a song that for some reason I always thought was a cover, but it's actually not. It's a bit more driving, with some good strumming, maybe a return to form of their old Nothing New-era sound.  It's lacking the one spark of greatness to catapult it out of B-side territory, but at this point, I'll take it over the flip.