The Jesus And Mary Chain - Psychocandy

This is just one of those albums where my expectations for the style of the album were not what I expected. And in this case hoped. Psychocandy is a pretty downtempo dream pop album when you take away the layers of distorted guitars. I was hoping the sound would evolve and maybe get louder and more agressive as the album went on, but that was not so much the case. It was content to slowjam, but I was not so much. There are a few tracks on here that do excel, but not enough for me to warrant a recommendation.

Calories: 242.0
Distance: 2.00mi

Liars - Liars

Holy shit is this album intense. Right out of the gate I was sprinting like my life depended on it. Like I was out for blood. The intensity never really lets up either, which really got my adrenaline pumping. The loud, wailing guitars, the punctuated drumming sitting below thick bass lines and heavy distortion. Each song has it's own sense of style, sometimes being a noisy as possible, other times just content to slow it down slightly for some funkiness. Liars really hit their stride here, and made me hit my stride too.

I ran my quickest mile (and two miles) so far and almost instantly could tell this album was something to be cherished for my workout times. Guttural. Visceral. Stunning. Perfect.

Calories: 362.7
Distance: 2.83mi

Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual

Ice Cream Spiritual is a weird album. Growling and shrieking and howling are the only sounds you're going to hear out of the lead vocalist's mouth. Really loud, abrasive, shredding guitars abound that give it almost a wall of sound aesthetic. It really comes off as chaotic. I'm not sure how to form an opinion on it, but I think it worked admirably in my desired setting. Not much else to say really.

Calories: 291.8
Distance: 2.27mi

Iceage - New Brigade

Yes! I have returned from my sort of forced vacation. My plan for the rest of August is to do at least five albums a week, getting back to my original intention for this blog. When September hits I'm unsure of the fate of this blog as college will be absorbing my resources in a way I've never experienced. But that is then and this is now! One could say this upcoming month contains a New Brigade of albums. (I'm so sorry.) But enough about my exploits in life, what the hell did I think of Iceage's debut album?

I thought it was fantastic. The aspect I thought was most interesting on this album was the drumming. It's relentless, non-stop, and hypnotic. The guitars are absolutely noisy, howling and screaming over everything, which may sound like a blase way to describe a punk rock album, but I digress. The music on display in these 24 minutes comes off as overwhelmingly triumphant and perfect for a well needed sprint to the finish line.

Calories: 212.3
Distance: 1.64mi

Japandroids - Post-Nothing

This may come as no surprise to anyone who has heard Post-Nothing, but its a really good  noise/garage rock album. It's melodies are not all that complex and it's hooks are easy to belt out, which translates well to the goal of workouts. The lead vocalist maintains moderate control but is still drowned out by instrumentation, which is what you should expect from garage rock. Not all that much else to say other than it was fun.

Calories: 310.1
Distance: 2.37mi

Women - Public Strain

The first thing that came to me about Public Strain is that it reminded me heavily of Deerhunter's Halcyon Digest, but that is the closest comparison I can make for Women. Women seem to tend to have quite a bit less vocals then Deerhunter, and when there are they are getting drowned out by the woozy guitars. The album's second half is more melodic than the first half, and it sort of saved the album for me. It was an admirable workout, but not exactly what I was looking for.

Calories: 317.9
Distance: 2.56mi

Thee Oh Sees - Help

Help is my first venture into alternative noise rock group Thee Oh Sees. I was initially expecting just another loud and maybe dark rock band, but this album's content perfectly matches its cover. It's an ultra fun jam from start to finish. With a female vocalist proving backup melodies, punchy guitars, heavy percussion, and even flutes occasionally, this album strives for energy and succeeds on all counts. It's just pure, unadulterated fun. That's why I believe I have discovered yet another perfect workout album.

Calories: 312.9
Distance: 2.43mi

No Age - Nouns

Nouns is the first album so far to push me to what I believe is my physical limit, for now at least. This album provided a nice assortment of noisy indie-rock songs that made me literally say to myself "I have to run to this." That is why I believe this is yet another perfect workout album.

Calories: 249.4
Distance: 2.02mi

Lightning Bolt - Wonderful Rainbow

Today we have Wonderful Rainbow, a sort of counterpoint to that Sleigh Bells album Treats I did on Tuesday. Whereas Treats was extremely loud but still made for a great workout experience, this album shows that some albums can be just too loud and too noisy for their own good. The first four tracks gave me hope for the rest of the album, but I just found most to be too fast too often. This might be an advantage for some people, but not for me. The second half of the album also becomes quite a bit noisier and loses it's tempo more frequently, which certainly threw me off.

Overall, I just flat out did not have the endurance to keep up with Wonderful Rainbow.

Calories: 262.2
Distance: 2.43mi

Sleigh Bells - Treats

The thing about Treats is that it seems as though someone half-way through the creation of this album decided to turn the loudness up to eleven. That may not seem like a compliment, but it is. Even with that amount of noise pumping directly into you, it still has an air of straight up pop-friendliness. This combination of loud and aggressive noise structures and the heavier pop beat definitely lends itself well to an exercise setting.

My only gripe was that when it was over, I wanted more. Luckily their second album dropped this month.

Calories: 255.6
Distance: 2.03mi