Monday, April 07, 2008

Why I Can't Wait To See Speed Racer



Surely you all have seen the trailer for the upcoming Speed Racer movie, right? If not, please take a gander.



I'm sold. I have to admit that when it was announced that a Speed Racer movie was going into production, I didn't have high hopes, even with the Wachowski Bros. attached. I was pretty sure there would be some nifty action with them helming it, but the whole idea of a big-screen adaptation made me groan. The show was so goofy and frenetic to begin with and any real life interpretation would likely result in an empty and soulless product.

Friday, April 04, 2008

Tally Hall - "Taken For A Ride"



Tally Hall isn't really all that new. Their debut album on Atlantic Records, Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum, is just a remixed and remastered version of the same album they released on an indie label a few years back (it even cracked my top 100 list in '06). But even a couple of years on, the songs are still fresh. I remember the first time I ever heard of these guys. I saw them open up for Puffy AmiYumi and had no idea what to expect. All I knew is that a lot of tweens were there solely for them and they had quite a following. They opened up with "Good Day", which I thought didn't completely suck at the time, but it didn't raise my hopes. Then came another so-so song which I can't recall and I thought I was going to be in for the longest 45 minutes of my life. Not too long after that, they went into "Welcome To Tally Hall" and I was won over by its mix of goofy hip-hop charm and power pop. The next song after that was "Taken For A Ride", which is where they totally earned my respect. It was a composition that seemingly had a surprise at nearly every turn. It started off in ELO territory, turned into a Beatlesque ballad for the choruses and somehow became a new wave tune before it was all over. It was there where I understood the appeal of Tally Hall. More than just the gimmicky ties, they deservedly earned their following with their chops and songcraft. Even in 2008, "Taken For A Ride" still gets major spins from me and with good reason. Tally Hall have learned well from their power pop forefathers and taken the most melodic and vibrant elements and injected them with a heavy dose of glee. I honestly think these guys have the potential to blow our minds away after a couple more albums.

Tally Hall - "Taken For A Ride"

To buy Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum from Amazon, click here