Review: Crywank "James Is Going To Die Soon"

Ok, so a while back, the foreman of this site, Bugger, posted about a guy called James who went by the name of Crywank. I downloaded his demos for his album "James is Going to Die Soon" and I fucking loved it, this guy is awesome, i'm his top listener on last.fm and honoured to be so.

All that said, the actual album "James is Going to Die Soon" doesn't do it for me as much as the demos did. There are a few changes to the songs themselves that I didn't like too much, particularly on my favourite song by the guy "Zains, Cam4, Wah-Wah and Sirens". The lyrics are slightly different, which is okay, but the thing that I dislike is just that his voice seems to have less depth on the album, it's less emotional, less passionate. When he shouted his lyrics on the demos it came across as shouting because of his emotions his feelings, on the album, it seems like more of a "Okay I'll shout here because there's a shout here", it's a good album, it just doesnt match the passion of the demos. I still enjoy listening to it, and there are some new songs on the album that are pretty cool, but if it comes at the cost of the song Blur, which i fucking love, I'd rather have blur, I also wonder why "Harvey Milk Shit on The Table", wasn't re-recorded like the others. I like it, but id rather have the demos any day.

The Album

Crywank

So this guy friended me on last.fm and I listened to his demos. Apparently, he read(s) this blog! It fits in with much of the stuff on this blog. He barely plays guitar and sings about his emotions and cites influences like Andrew Jackson Jihad and Paul Baribeau. I'd recommend it to any fan of heart-on-the-sleeve lyricism. From the Myspace bio:

"I say I'm anti-folk inspired by punk and outsider music, if you want though you can just call me out as just some guy who can't play guitar very well. I wrote these songs out of frustration and sadness and they ended up making me feel a lot better, I hope they have a similar effect on you."

Myspace

Last.fm

James Is Going to Die Soon

Failed Attempts at Facial Hair

This is the project of a hipster with twinkle in his eye, a ukulele in his hands, and a notebook full of name-dropped bands and witty romantic lyrics.

The first time I heard this guy, it was with a song entitled, "Grindcore Girl", a story of love, loss, and The Locust. I think I love this guy so much because of his personal and hilariously blunt lyrics, or it could be I feel my heartbeat race when I hear a band that I know mentioned in equally obscure music. But either way, I'd recommend this guy. I've heard of him being described as a hipster Never Shout Never by my friend. Then I told my friend to shut the hell up and to listen to some more Crass.

Myspace - You can get the entire album here for 3 bucks. Shipping/Handling included. If you're smart you'd buy this.
Last.fm
Girls, Friends, and Girlfriends

Paul Baribeau

In the past few weeks this man has become my favorite songwriter. His music is mostly basic: acoustic guitar, untrained voice, blunt lyrics. It's raw and sincere and his stories don't sound fudged to me like I think a lot of lyricists do. That last part is just speculation/ wishful thinking though. Anyway, he's on Plan-It-X Records, and he fits right at home with the likes of Ghost Mice and Kimya Dawson. I ordered Grand Ledge before writing this post. I got Unbearable two weeks ago and have been listening to it almost nonstop. I also can't pick just one song to post in YouTube form, so here are two, and the other stuff I usually post when I write for this blog like I used to do all the time three months ago.

Myspace

Last.fm

Paul Baribeau

Split with Ghost Mice

Grand Ledge

Unbearable

Buy This Shit from Plan-It-X Records

I think this quote from the above link describes it best: "He will destroy you, if you're a human."

Kimya Dawson

Look at that hair!

Sorry I'm not one of those special people who knew Kimya Dawson and the Moldy Peaches before Juno. I wasn't old enough to be that cool in 2007.

So Kimya Dawson used to play and write and sing in silly lo-fi band the Moldy Peaches. Then the Moldy Peaches broke up and that other guy Adam Green started writing chamber pop with the same silly vulgar lyricism. Kimya Dawson kept similarly simplistic instrumentation but with newfound stream-of-consciousness heart-on-sleeve lyricism. I generally regard Remember That I Love You as my absolute favorite album because it lyrically outshines the rest of my collection. Her most recent release is a children's album called Alphabutt. I will make my baby brother listen to it in the near future.

Official Site

Myspace

Last.fm

I'd definitely recommend her most recent standard studio albums (Hidden Vagenda and Remember That I Love You) over her older stuff. It took her a while to grow out of the Moldy Peaches.

I'm Sorry That Sometimes I'm Mean

Knock Knock Who?

My Cute Fiend Sweet Princess

Hidden Vagenda

Remember That I Love You

Alphabutt

Matty Pop Chart

This guy's name is Matt Tobey, he was in bands like Abe Froman, Canine Sugar, and Good Luck. This is his solo project which basically involves him playing either guitar, piano, basic drum, or some sort of bell. This has to be the single most adorable music project I've ever heard. It gives me the warm fuzzies all over, and I would suggest it to anyone who likes being happy. I definitely think everyone should listen to this. He also did a Split with Kimya Dawson, but the songs are just on later albums. But if you're somebody who really likes to hear Demos, I'll upload it later.

Last.fm

Label Page

Self Titled

Everyone Does Everything

Good Ole Water

Edit by Bugger: I put the second video here because I feel like it's an excellent representation of the "atmosphere" his music creates.

Andrew Jackson Jihad

These guys are so cool, not gonna lie. Andrew Jackson Jihad is this Folk-Punk group from Pheonix, Arizona. They recently released an album earlier this year, 'Can't Maintain', where they experiment with more electric guitar, and it definitely works well. They constantly are switching members except for these two shown in the picture. Their most well known album so far is 'People Who Eat People Are The Luckiest People in the World'.

Website

Myspace

Last.fm

Can't Maintain

Only God Can Judge Me

People Who Eat People Are The Luckiest People in the World

Split with Ghost Mice