Weekly Top 10: Songs Without Choruses

The days of the one size fits all, hook-heavy, verse/chorus/verse formula are long gone. These days, songs come in many shapes and sizes, and although we have nothing wrong with a good catchy chorus, this week's Top 10 highlights our favorite songs that do without. These tunes make it on their own merits, without the help of a memorable rallying point. They stand out for their unique structures and varying styles. Check them out below.

[Previously on Animal Noises: Weekly Top 10: Songs About New York]

Best of 2009 So Far: #6-10

If you were with us yesterday, then you caught the first part of our commentary on the best albums of 2009. If not, check out #11-15 here before proceeding.

Below are albums #6-10 (in opposite order) for the year thus far. For the albums that have been reviewed here already, we've also included a link to the original review. Some things have changed. Others have not. Either way, all original reviews were left as they were.

10. Brother's Blood, Kevin Devine

Just like my commentary on Manchester Orchestra, I was impressed by Kevin Devine's progress and maturity as an artist here. He shed many of things that made his music either too raw or too naive, and the result was a colorful and dynamic effort I'm still pleasantly surprised by.

9. Heavy Ghost, DM Stith

I told you that you'd be hearing about this album again this week. Moving, and sometimes even a bit haunting, Heavy Ghost is a coming-out party of sorts for David Stith, and I'm honestly surprised we haven't heard more about it. Hopefully some more blogs pick up on this one before the end of the year, because it's definitely a must-hear album.

8. Bitte Orca, Dirty Projectors

Calm down. It's still in the top 10. On top of that, it's an album that grows on you quite a bit with each listen, so who knows, maybe it'll continue to rise from the 8 out of 10 I originally gave it upon its release. Everyone's talked about this one, but I'll just say that it is one of the more unique and graceful records of the year, and one you need if you don't already have.

7. Person to Person, Foreign Born

Another one that people have seemingly slept on so far this year. The band's second effort is rife with bright spots and memorable tracks as it utilizes an infectious energy and brilliant sense of the moment to hook you, quite easily, into a record I can discover more about with each listen.

6. Hold Time, M. Ward

As Ward's newest collaboration suggests, he now truly is a "Monster of Folk". Building on all of the goodwill generated last year by She & Him, he puts together an album that has some impeccable flow to it, as well as a charming demeanor that feels more warm and inviting every time. To me, it's definitely his best effort to-date.

And then there were five. Hopefully you enjoyed parts of this second post of three. The final portion, numbers one through five, will be up on Friday, so be sure to stop back in for that, as well as our review of Discovery's LP.

Kevin Devine on Daytrotter

Hope everyone's having a good week thus far.  If anyone's interested, Kevin Devine, whose new album we talked about a few weeks back, has a new session up on Daytrotter today.  All of the songs are stripped down versions of songs off of Brother' Blood, from the short session he did for Daytrotter.  If you liked the sounds you heard on the new album, I'd highly recommend checking these out here.  And remember, if you haven't yet gotten a copy of Brother's Blood, it is out now via Favorite Gentlemen Recordings.

Pre-Screening: Kevin Devine

Album: Brother's Blood

Artist: Kevin Devine

Label: Favorite Gentlemen

Due Out: April 28th

Sorry if the beginning of this sounds an awful lot like my review of Manchester Orchestra's latest effort, but well, there's a lot of similarities- all of which are positive. Kevin Devine's newest release, Brother's Blood, is everything you'd expect it to be. His singer-songwriter nature, the southern influence that comes out of nowhere (he's from Brooklyn), and the conflict he feels both internally and externally. Still, it feels like Devine grows up a little bit here (not that his old material was immature), and seems more comfortable in his own skin. I'll compliment it from the get-go as a truly enjoyable listening experience, and just offer some advance notice that many readers who frequent his work will be pleasantly surprised and intrigued by what you hear.

The record starts with "All of Everything, Erase," a track which fits in nicely with anything that Kevin's ever done before. It's a quick-tempo acoustic number setting up the themes of the record, most of which I outlined in the opening paragraph. There's another element here though, and that's his stress on freedom within the lyrics. Political statement or personal statement, either way, he seems "free" of something, and much more at ease than he's ever been. The next track, "Carnival" (featured on this site a month or so ago) is still what I said it was then- a moody roller coaster that lulls you into a sense of security multiple times before finally opening up and giving you that trademark Kevin Devine agony wail. It's all about bad dreams, according to him, something easily seen by the listener. As the ending dissipates into the start of "Time to Burn (Another Bag of Bones)," you start to sense a building tension in the music and vocals, seemingly just waiting to erupt at the right moment. Throughout the record, there are many tense swells of emotions, as he reaches that line right before the breaking point, only to retreat again and start over. The production value on these tracks, along with the background noise, are superior to the artist's older work, and like I said earlier, shows some real signs of him coming into his own.

From there, it's "Hand of God (When You Breathe...Breathe)," an uptempo track about getting over and moving on. Even with the subject matter though, it's not depressing, but rather, fun to listen to. Song structures have become more complex on this record, and there are some real layers and personalities to every song. Next up, the title track, "Brother's Blood," which could, at times, substitute in for a Brand New song, and overall, is some real, legit rock and roll. It's still weird to type that, but I remember I thought it the first time I heard this song. Once the guitar solo kicked in (I know, a Kevin Devine guitar solo? but it works), with its soaring echo effect and later, the screaming over it all, I was floored. I anticipate you will be too if you've ever listened to him before this record. The middle then starts to mellow out. "Fever Moon" brings us a much more intimate experience than the previous song, as Kevin does his best job at writing an 80s love duet, with surprisingly positive results. The next two tracks will be familiar to fans of Daytrotter, as both "It's Only Your Life" and "Murphy's Song" were featured during his session on the site. They're both the type of songs you'd expect from him, just more grown-up. However, one point of interest is the short interlude into Department of Eagles "No One Does It Like You" intro at the 1:30 mark of "Murphy's Song".

And then you hear a pop beat, in the only sense that Kevin Devine could pull it off- with an acoustic guitar and a drum machine. What starts off slow in "I Could Be With Anyone" suddenly turns into a bright and synth-y pop track, very uncharacteristic of him, yet somehow, appropriate on this album of firsts for the artist. The pleasant surprises are some of the album's best aspects, and this song's no exception. "Yr Husband" has a similar effect, starting off sounding like a Devine standby before shifting gears, lightening up, and incorporating more effects than I've ever heard him use, culminating in a solo to complete the track. The last song, instead of being a sorry, sad and slow number, incorporates Devine's best friend, Brand New's Jesse Lacey, to create "Tomorrow's Just Too Late". It's still acoustic, but the harmonies work to perfection as the two croon about a bittersweet ending, both within the relationship of the song and the album itself.

Positive growth. That's all I ask for when returning to an artist's work, and Kevin Devine delivered in a way I'd never expected. The sound was together, mature and refined, yet still true to his nature. He tried some new things, but never seemed to be struggling with it. It was ambitious, yet conservative. All-in-all, I don't think fans of the man could be much happier with the product they got out of this one. The high point may exist in the middle, but the rest of the album is worth the listen, as each song tries to spin what he normally does in one direction or another. I'm still impressed as I'm writing this, and I can guarantee you'll feel the same. Similarities include Colour Revolt, Cassino and I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business.

Rating: 8.5/10

Best Track: "Brother's Blood" (Not up on Imeem, so here's "Hand of God")

New Kevin Devine, "Carnival"

As many may or may not have heard, Kevin Devine's new album, Brother's Blood, unfortunately leaked in February, a full two months ahead of its scheduled release.  As disappointed as Kevin has been in that fact, however, he is still hyped up about its actual coming out party to the general listening public in late April.  Part of that, of course, includes talking to equally excited news folks, such as the good people over at Spin.  Devine recently sat down with them to talk about the new record and similar topics, as well as hand them an exclusive mp3, which all of us fans are free to download.  

"Carnival," a song Kevin claims is about bad dreams, is in fact, a ride of sorts.  The ups and downs, and overall moodiness of the track lends to the bizzaro-world circus feel one may get when imagining nightmare carnivals.  Even if you think you've heard all that Devine has to offer, trust me, I thought the same.  Brother's Blood, especially on "Carnival" and "Time to Burn (Another Bag of Bones)" vastly changes my perception of the artist (but more on that when the time comes).  Go to Spin to check out and download "Carnival," and be sure to follow some of the other links up on the page to download some other exclusive tracks from Kevin.  Brother's Blood is out via either Favorite Gentlemen or Brand New's Procrastinate! Music Traitors April 29th.