M. WARD

After much egging by my friends to check out M.Ward's last album, Transistor Radio, I gave in and loved much of the album. The thumping bath tub drums, guitar sounds that range from lo-fi to plugged in electrics sound like they are wafting out of a Dixeland dive bar are wonderful and are taken to another level on his new album, Post-War. From what I have read, Transistor Radio was a exploration or homage to the sounds heard before World War II, starting out of the depression but still have fun where they could. This new CD is a look at the sounds heard following the war and how music helped people then and we can benefit now, during the war in Iraq.

The song that I have seemingly fallen in love with is Chinese Translation. I liked it originally for it's fast-paced, guitar bopping story of a broken heart. Following seeing Matt and his band perform on David Letterman last week, I have fallen more in love with the song, especially the brushed drums and choir girl voices that kick in at the end. The rest of the album seems a bit scattered to me, moving from slow stories of losing a good buddy to jumpy stories of asking a lover to wait for you to come back. I think it would have worked better if it was a full arc of stories but I am not giving up on it yet.

Chinese Translation
Requiem

SEE THE LETTERMAN APPEARNCE


Preview more tracks and get tour dates at M. Ward's MySpace page

Buy the album Post-War here.