10616 - LOUIS XIV - SLICK DOGS AND PONIES (2008)
LOUIS XIV
''SLICK DOGS AND PONIES''
JANUARY 18 2008
46:39
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1 Guilt By Association 02:51
2 Air Traffic Control 03:53
3 Misguided Sheep 04:29
4 There's A Traitor In This Room 03:39
5 Sometimes You Just Want To 02:33
6 Tina 03:32
7 Stalker 03:49
8 Free Won't Be What It Used To Be 03:30
9 Swarming Of The Bees 02:30
10 Hopesick 05:31
11 Slick Dogs and Ponies 06:38
12 Dirty Knees 03:41
All Tracks By Brian Karscig
**********
James Armburst/Guitar (Bass)
Reginald Brown/Strings
David Campbell/String Arrangements
Connie Carter/Strings
Larry Corbett/Strings
Shaun Cornell/Piano
Joel Derouin/Strings
Armen Garabedian/Strings
Jason Hill/ARP Synthesizer, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Bass), Guitar (Electric), Organ, Piano, Vocals
Alain Johannes/Flute, Guitar
Brian Karscig/ARP Synthesizer, Bass Guitar, Choir/Chorus, Composer, Glockenspiel, Group Member, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Organ, Piano, String Arrangements, Vocals
Helen Lueng/Strings
Mark Maigaard/Drums, Glockenspiel, Piano
Darrin McCann/Strings
Sara Parkins/Strings
Steve Richards/Strings
Natasha Schneider/Bass, Harpsichord
Andrew Schulman/Cello Arrangement, Strings
Tereza Stanislav/Strings
Mister Raymond Suen/String Arrangements, Strings
Evan Wilson/Strings
John Wittenberg/Strings
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Tim Sendra
Louis XIV's first album was a sleazy, breezy dose of AC/DC-inspired rawk & roll that put over its swagger with a cheesy wink and a playfully sexy bump and grind. It was the kind of record Brian Johnston might put on when he's sitting down at home to relax; totally silly and a lot of fun. Their second album Slick Dogs and Ponies is a decidedly darker effort with a greasy strand of evil congealing right below the surface. The sound of the album is much fuller and less punchy, songs are weighted down by gloomy strings, vocals are framed by vocal choirs, and the raunchy guitars that propelled the first album are pushed to the background. It's a more mature and substantial sound but the record lacks the snap, bounce, and goofiness that made Best Little Secrets Are Kept a success. The lyrics are less fun, too, to put it mildly. The duo of Jason Hill and Brian Karscig seem wasted and defeated by drugs, sex, and life in general, and all the humor and silliness they previously displayed have been completed erased. The songs tell tales of modern life gone wrong, derailed by sordid sex, drug use, and all sorts of unpleasantness. "Stalker" is grimy and might leave you wanting a shower, or at least a quick spin of a Donovan record, to make you feel clean again. "Hopesick" is a the kind of weary, beaten ballad you'd expect from an arena rock band on their seventh album; it sounds tattered and desperate, like they can barely even function as a band. The moments of rocked-out swagger are fleeting and ultimately drowned out by a musical and lyrical heaviness that turns the album into a real downer. Of course, there's no reason a band can't make a depressing and bleak album if they want to. The real problem is that Louis XIV were damn good at being air headed and sleazy. They aren't very good or convincing as desperate and strung-out rock & roll casualties.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Johnny Loftus
The core unit of San Diego's Louis XIV had originally played together in the rootsy, alt-rocking Convoy, which issued an album called Black Licorice in 2001. Having moved on by 2003, vocalist/guitarists Jason Hill and Brian Karscig and drummer Mark Maigaard hooked up with bassist Jimmy Armbrust and began fleshing out the Louis XIV concept -- irreverent, oversexed lyrics and songwriting that channeled glam, scratchy punk, and vintage Rolling Stones. A self-recorded EP caused quite a stir locally, MP3s helped spread that buzz to England, and Louis XIV released more material to keep up with the growing demand. That spring and summer they played the 2004 South by Southwest festival, toured the U.S. with the Killers and Von Bondies, and signed with Atlantic Records, which issued the introductory EP Illegal Tender in January 2005 and the debut full-length The Best Little Secrets Are Kept the following March. After time spent touring -- and being banned in Alabama for the nature of their lyrics -- the band returned in 2008 with their second album, the decidely more somber and world-weary Slick Dogs and Ponies.
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TO THE TOP
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''SLICK DOGS AND PONIES''
JANUARY 18 2008
46:39
**********
1 Guilt By Association 02:51
2 Air Traffic Control 03:53
3 Misguided Sheep 04:29
4 There's A Traitor In This Room 03:39
5 Sometimes You Just Want To 02:33
6 Tina 03:32
7 Stalker 03:49
8 Free Won't Be What It Used To Be 03:30
9 Swarming Of The Bees 02:30
10 Hopesick 05:31
11 Slick Dogs and Ponies 06:38
12 Dirty Knees 03:41
All Tracks By Brian Karscig
**********
James Armburst/Guitar (Bass)
Reginald Brown/Strings
David Campbell/String Arrangements
Connie Carter/Strings
Larry Corbett/Strings
Shaun Cornell/Piano
Joel Derouin/Strings
Armen Garabedian/Strings
Jason Hill/ARP Synthesizer, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Bass), Guitar (Electric), Organ, Piano, Vocals
Alain Johannes/Flute, Guitar
Brian Karscig/ARP Synthesizer, Bass Guitar, Choir/Chorus, Composer, Glockenspiel, Group Member, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Organ, Piano, String Arrangements, Vocals
Helen Lueng/Strings
Mark Maigaard/Drums, Glockenspiel, Piano
Darrin McCann/Strings
Sara Parkins/Strings
Steve Richards/Strings
Natasha Schneider/Bass, Harpsichord
Andrew Schulman/Cello Arrangement, Strings
Tereza Stanislav/Strings
Mister Raymond Suen/String Arrangements, Strings
Evan Wilson/Strings
John Wittenberg/Strings
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Tim Sendra
Louis XIV's first album was a sleazy, breezy dose of AC/DC-inspired rawk & roll that put over its swagger with a cheesy wink and a playfully sexy bump and grind. It was the kind of record Brian Johnston might put on when he's sitting down at home to relax; totally silly and a lot of fun. Their second album Slick Dogs and Ponies is a decidedly darker effort with a greasy strand of evil congealing right below the surface. The sound of the album is much fuller and less punchy, songs are weighted down by gloomy strings, vocals are framed by vocal choirs, and the raunchy guitars that propelled the first album are pushed to the background. It's a more mature and substantial sound but the record lacks the snap, bounce, and goofiness that made Best Little Secrets Are Kept a success. The lyrics are less fun, too, to put it mildly. The duo of Jason Hill and Brian Karscig seem wasted and defeated by drugs, sex, and life in general, and all the humor and silliness they previously displayed have been completed erased. The songs tell tales of modern life gone wrong, derailed by sordid sex, drug use, and all sorts of unpleasantness. "Stalker" is grimy and might leave you wanting a shower, or at least a quick spin of a Donovan record, to make you feel clean again. "Hopesick" is a the kind of weary, beaten ballad you'd expect from an arena rock band on their seventh album; it sounds tattered and desperate, like they can barely even function as a band. The moments of rocked-out swagger are fleeting and ultimately drowned out by a musical and lyrical heaviness that turns the album into a real downer. Of course, there's no reason a band can't make a depressing and bleak album if they want to. The real problem is that Louis XIV were damn good at being air headed and sleazy. They aren't very good or convincing as desperate and strung-out rock & roll casualties.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Johnny Loftus
The core unit of San Diego's Louis XIV had originally played together in the rootsy, alt-rocking Convoy, which issued an album called Black Licorice in 2001. Having moved on by 2003, vocalist/guitarists Jason Hill and Brian Karscig and drummer Mark Maigaard hooked up with bassist Jimmy Armbrust and began fleshing out the Louis XIV concept -- irreverent, oversexed lyrics and songwriting that channeled glam, scratchy punk, and vintage Rolling Stones. A self-recorded EP caused quite a stir locally, MP3s helped spread that buzz to England, and Louis XIV released more material to keep up with the growing demand. That spring and summer they played the 2004 South by Southwest festival, toured the U.S. with the Killers and Von Bondies, and signed with Atlantic Records, which issued the introductory EP Illegal Tender in January 2005 and the debut full-length The Best Little Secrets Are Kept the following March. After time spent touring -- and being banned in Alabama for the nature of their lyrics -- the band returned in 2008 with their second album, the decidely more somber and world-weary Slick Dogs and Ponies.
**********
TO THE TOP
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