The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, April 7, 2010 - 5A No 'Shame 'in Dr. Dog's emulative pop Broken Social Scene will use tonight's show to test its new material in a live setting. A Scene at the Michigan An eclectic attending shows of other bands. anaia u And now that Internet culture is anaulan musclc really dictating - at least to some collective visits Ann people - what's good and what's bad, or what's happening and Arbor tonight what's not happening. There's defi- nitely more activity and more sup- port than I've ever seen." By MIKE KUNTZ The large following the band DailyMusicEditor has steadily amassed in the past decade has earned it slots at Broken numerous music festivals like Social Scene is Broken Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo and All a band whose Tomorrow's Parties in Britain. name perfectly S Scene In gearing up for May, which describes the Tonight at Peroff describes as a "more dense, group's origin: 7:30 p.m. live-show-heavy" month, the band a gathering of Michigan Theater will be playing a few dates in April friends from the Tickeisfom $15.55 - its Ann Arbor stop at the Michi- highly commu- gan among them - to acquaint nal, broken-in themselves with the newer mate- Toronto music scene. And with rial in a live setting. an album titled Forgiveness Rock "It's more like cutting our teeth Record slated for a May release, with the live show and banging out their tendency to thrive in being some new ones," Peroff said. literal will likely be preserved, In 2002 came the band's com- describing things as they are with- mercial and artistic breakthrough out pretension. with the now essential You Forgot. Counting Canadian chanteuse It In People. The record won the Feist and members from bands band a Juno Award and has since like Stars and Destroyer among ended up on numerous best-of- its ranks, the Toronto-based col- the-decade lists. lective 'is a musical force brim- "I'm personally really proud of ming with artistic talent and that record in particular," Peroff ambition. said. "It gives me goose bumps to In advance of Broken Social read those decade-ending lists. It Scene's stop at the Michigan The- makes me smile a pretty big smile, ater, The Michigan Daily recently but I also know how hard it was to spoke with drummer Justin Per- make that record. off about the new record, the "For it to get the kind of praise band's upcoming summer tour it's gotten ... I'm ecstatic." and whether the band's commonly Forgiveness Rock Record will be defined "supergroup" status really the band's first "proper" release holds weight. since 2005's eponymous Broken Peroff has played alongside Social Scene. The band has since founding members Kevin Drew released a handful of albums as and Brendan Canning since the part of the "Broken Social Scene late '90s - before the band's incep- Presents..." series, essentially solo tion - and, like the rest of the albums from Drew and Canning band, he is a product of the inces- with a number of the band's musi- tuous Toronto scene. cians supporting (including Per- "The Toronto music scene is off). very supportive of each other," The album was recorded with Peroff said. "You see other bands veteran post-rock drummer and producer John McEntire at Soma Eletronic Music Studios in Chi- cago. Peroff was admittedly star- struck. "As far as a drummer and a pro- ducer, he's one of my heroes," Per- off said. "To actually work with him and now consider him a friend is pretty mind-blowing." The band has so far released three tracks off the new record, offering a hint of what fans can expect in its upcoming live shows. of the Forgiveness sound, Peroff couldn't be more blunt. "I think it sounds like a Broken Social Scene record," he said sim- ply. Forgiveness Rock Record - a title that's maybe as ironic as it is direct - found its name fairly early in the recording process. "It's something that Kevin (Drew) was kicking around and proposed early on. ... Somehow it seemed appropriate," Peroff said. Peroff has his own interpreta- tion of what the new album signi- fies, tying its blunt title to more immediate concerns. "Records, maybe ours in par- ticular, are kind of like love letters," Peroff explained. "In any love letter you can sort of allude to forgiveness in a way. I think there's a lot going on in the world right now, there's a lot going on in everyone's lives - this is the forgiveness rock record." This summer, the band will play a string of shows in both the United States and Europe, playing outdoor festivals like the Sasquatch! Music Festival and Barcelona's Primavera Sound Festival in May. "All I know is that I'm going from Spain to America in 48 hours with two shows to play," Peroff said. "There's some crazy stuff in the future, for sure." Broken Social Scene will be playing the Michigan Theater tonight at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available from $16.50. By EMMA GASE Daily Arts Writer Who doesn't love some good, energetic guitar pop? Dr. Dog may not be reinvent- ing the wheel, but it sure is spinning it pret- ty hard. Dr' Dog Though Shame, Shame they've caught Anti- flak in the past for their obvious infatuation with the Beatles and other '60s psychedelic bands, on Shame, Shame the Philly rockers remain dependent on their pitch- perfect harmonies and clangorous recordingsound to keep their own thing going. And while the influ- ence is there, the music can stand on its own. The record kicks off with "Stranger," an immediate display of co-lead singer Toby Leaman's sharp-shooting pop instincts. This is Dr. Dog at its best, with a spare drumbeat and guitar riff that leads into a swelling chorus of harmonies. Leaman may sing, "I do believe / that there's no more tricks up my sleeve," but we already know better than that. The album's lead single "Shad- ow People" starts out innocently with Scott McMicken's unusual helium-infused scratchy vocals backed by only an acoustic guitar. Slowly but surely, the song cre- scendos as he demands, "Where did all the shadow people go?" McMicken sends the song into a barrage of honky-tonk piano in a devilishly danceable beat that wouldn't sound out of place in a saloon. Still, you can't delve too far into Shame, Shame without hearing the looming (but not overbear- ing) presence of the Fab Four. "Where'd All the Time Go?" begins with a Magical Mystery Tour-esque tape loop with indis- Attention bands:-Not every cell phone picture should go on your album. cernible radio jumble in the back- each song are complemented by ground. It could be dismissed as each other. McMicken's power a tired rip-off if the band didn't pop majesty of "Mirror, Mirror" sound so damn infectious when is nicely balanced out by Leaman's the descending chords of the vers- more traditional vocals on the es make way for the pop-perfect lethargic bluesiness of the title chorus. track. Unlike 2008's Fate, which had some standouts but was overall a tad lackluster, Shame, Shame is Pure pop music both more consistent and deliv- ered with more conviction. Often that owves a lot to lauded as an excellent live band, the Fab Four. now more than ever the charisma translates in the studio. Leaman and McMicken may draw from the oft-visited arsenal of clas- If nothing else, Shame, Shame is sic '60s chamber pop and old- an album with a vibe. In keeping school rock'n'roll blues, but on with Dr. Dog's old-school tenden- Shame their songwriting chops cies, it clocks in at less than 40 and superb harmonies give them minutes. Isolated, the songs are license to do so. all melodic and quirky enough When you get down to it, Dr. to put individually on a carefully Dog creates good, pure rock constructed mixed CD, and as a music. And if you don't like that, collective entity the nuances of shame on you. Eryka"'h converts back to 'Baduizm' on latest Television this terrible might as well be a crime By LINDSAY HURD Daily Arts Writer A gripping crime scene epic that involves murder, weap- ons, manhunts and broken The F ve families seems like a recipe for Chronides an entertaining Thursdays show. But some- how A&E turns atlO p.m. this foolproof A&E formula into use- less and corny programming with "The Fugitive Chronicles." A&E's latest spin on the crime scene show reenacts infamous manhunts from the past using actors and interviews with cops. The show tells the story from the criminal's point of view using a voiceover from the actor playing the criminal. A&E presents this "inside look" into the mind of the criminal in order to offer a fresh perspective on cop shows. However, with lines like "I'm the tiger who lingers back and r forth in the cage" and "I'm just an original country boy," it seems like the writer for "The Fugitive Chronicles" needed to let out some superfluous creativity into these "true" stories. Add in the melodramatic suspense music, obnoxiously placed commercial breaks and a jump cut from a cop getting shot to kids making pizza, and A&E has got itself a cheesy crime show that's obviously des- perate to stand out. Besides the tacky voices, the so- called evil fugitive from the pilot wasn't a notorious serial killer or a legendary terrorist. Instead, he was just some mullet-repping hick named Bucky, wanted for attempting to kill three cops after he escaped from jail. Are there really no other fugitive cases in all of the U.S. this show could cover? While the fugitive in this story did make it to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, it was only because he hid out in the woods for 156 days and the cops couldn't find him. Even after he was captured, the cops even admitted that good ol' Buckylooked ill and weak and they couldn't believe this was the man who was causing so much terror. What's worse for the drama is that he surrendered. Instead of the big showdown that had been advertised, Bucky just gave up. The show is promoted as "grip- ping" because it tells tales of infa- mous manhunts. But really, all it gives you is some deadbeat dude who camped out in the woods for half a year. There's nothing grip- ping about it. Needless to say, A&E might want to spend its time chronicling stories its viewers actually want to watch. With the endless amounts of crime scene and cop shows that television offers, the network should realize that it doesn't need the melodramatic effects to get attention. "Unsolved Mysteries" and "America's Most Wanted" are so successful because the crime stories are entertaining and excit- ing - not because they use gim- micky sound effects. Stilted writing and boring criminals mar A&E's latest. If you're looking to veg out by watching a cop show, any old episode of "CSI" that you've seen a thousand times would be far more entertaining than listening to some batty writer try to sound like a rough and tough criminal. About the only entertainment in "The Fugitive Chronicles" comes from a few good laughs at its corny attempt to be relevant. By JOE DIMUZIO For the Daily The music video for "Window Seat," lead single off Erykah Badu's New Amerykah Part Two (Return ** of the Ankh), is intriguing. Not Eryhkah because of the Bdu controversy, impending legal New Amerykah trouble or nudi- Part Two ty, but because (Return of of its ending. the Ankh) During three Universal Motown minutes of walk- ing in Dallas, Texan's Dealey Plaza, Badu gradu- ally strips naked, coming to a halt before she buckles and collapses, recalling John F. Kennedy's assas- sination. After a brief spoken monologue, the camera focuses on a new figure: a shining, braided, Bitches' Brew-styled goddess. As sunlight floods the lens, the god- dess rushes forward. Billed as the conclusion of a two-part sequence, Return of the Ankh is the sequel to 2008's New Amerykah Part One (4th World War). War, which was hailed as a muscular collection of pro- test songs, brought Badu the most acclaim and attention she'd received since her Grammy-win- ning debut, 1997's Baduizm. Cut- ting closer to that album's cloth than War, Ankh is an assortment of loose and organic funk, without the politics. With a title borrowed from the drug-film classic "Holy Mountain," introspective lyrics and a little bit of nudity, Return of the Ankh is all about rebirth. Beginning with the spare and angular "20 Feet Tall," Badu even sounds naked. Next to a light echo and percussive keyboards, you can actually hear the creaking of her piano bench. From there, Ankh's first half plays with a great sense of sequence. Following "Tall" is The Giving Tree has a bad trip. "Windo ing fum incredil tion of Ankh am accessib pop sati MuNN) L m J; j ple-cen sounds] In al results obligate "Love" ingly ft variatio w Seat," a confident, glid- momentum-less "Fall in Love nk number that sounds .(Your Funeral)" follows after a bly effortless. This sensa- cute session-tape interlude. By ease gives the songs on "Out My Mind, Just in Time," n instantaneous feeling of the 10-minute, three-part closing bility; from the sunshine- number, the lack of inertia results ire of "Turn Me Away (Get in a bit of boredom. Y)" to the pulsings sam- This is regrettable, because Ankh does have thrilling moments. From the heartbreak- ing, lusty funk of "Gone Baby, ess politics, Don't Be Long" to the barely- there atmospherics of "Incense," ore smooth, there's plenty to get lost in here. j.ams. Recalling the personal, strident aZZy soul of Stevie Wonder's Ful- fillingness' First Finale, later- era Marvin Gaye and neo-soul tric "Umm Hmm," Badu contemporary D'angelo, New both breezy and assured. Amerykah Part Two (Return ofthe few cases, this confidence Ankh) bears the mark of a confi- in over-indulgence. The dent musical force at work. try J Dilla-produced track Now if only Ms. Badu can focus chugs along unconvinc- a little bit harder through the or six minutes with little smoke, we can see that brilliant n or build. The similarly goddess she aspires to be. SUMMER ARTS. BEATS THE BANANA STAND. E-mail join.arts@umich.edu for information on applying.