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Student attendance is lacking at events

Posted by :jprokop On : March 10, 2013
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Category: Opinion

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Students need to take advantage of all that Linfield has to offer. Many different departments and programs at Linfield offer great sports, academic and cultural events that students can go to. Additionally, the Linfield Activities Board provides unique activities for students to experience.
However, we have noticed that some students aren’t attending these wonderful opportunities. We, as students, are paying a lot to go to Linfield, so don’t waste your money.
Go to a choir concert or professor’s lecture and you might just learn something new, find a newfound interest in a subject, meet new people or get a chance to network for your future career. These should be more than enough reasons to get up and do it.
For example, when a guest lecturer comes to Linfield, every student should take the chance to go. The lectures are usually late at night, which can be hard to schedule around, but if you can go you should. Some professors offer extra credit if the topic is relevant to class content.
These guest lecturers are usually leading experts in their field so there is a lot to learn from them. When Ice Auditorium is packed full of eager students, we are presenting Linfield in a good light.
Students should also attend these events in order to support their peers. Linfield is such a small campus, and we need to come together to show that we support programs from all departments.
Linfield prides itself on being a diverse and accepting college, yet low student attendance will ultimately prove otherwise to outsiders.
Go to a choir concert and you may find a new composer to listen to when you study. Go to a lacrosse game and you might just discover that your roommate is a lot fiercer on the field than you originally expected.
Go to a guest lecturer and discover that his company has summer internship opportunities.
Let us, as a group, make it a habit to attend these events to help make the Linfield community even tighter. This is the definition of school spirit so let’s show some.
There are only a few students who consistently attend these events. Here’s thanks to the loud and enthusiastic fans who cheer at the softball games and the avid live tweeters at Mark Potok’s lecture.
Let’s use these students as a high standard to hold ourselves too. Doing this will benefit you individually and the Linfield community as a whole.

The Review Editorial Board

The ‘Harlem Shake’ has run its course

Posted by :jprokop On : February 25, 2013
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Category: Opinion, The Rest

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Throughout the years, there have always been dance moves that become ultra-hip.

YouTube has always been one of the first pop culture outlets that jump on these trends and give them their jump-start to fame.

There have been the stanky leg, shuffling, Gangnam style…and now, the Harlem Shake. The only redeeming quality about this dance is that it is done in 30 seconds.

Here’s how it breaks down (pun intended). The music of this video is a techno song entitled “Harlem Shake” that was uploaded on YouTube in February 2013.

For the first bit of the video a random person dances by themselves amidst people ignoring them.  They usually have a mask on or some sort of head gear.

About mid-way through the video, the drop comes. At this point, everyone starts sporadically dancing. After 30 seconds of people dancing like fish out of water, the video ends.

Thank God.

Let me start off by saying, what the heck?

Why do such pointless things become trends?

At least the Dougie required some amount of coordination and skill.

Previous dance moves have left room for people to add their own twist and give it a little bit of personality. The Harlem Shake makes dancing look like a big joke.

In addition, the “Harlem Shake” that appears in the videos is not actually the real “Harlem Shake.” The actual dance evolved from DJ Webstar’s “Chicken Noodle Soup” song with accompanying dance moves that appeared on the pop culture scene in the 2000s.

On top of all this un-inspirational nonsense, the song is absolutely annoying. Talk about random noises!  I guess it is natural for the dance to be lacking any real substance and technique because the song exhibits the same qualities.

If you watch the video once, the song gets stuck in your head for the whole day.

If the world was looking to create a dance that everyone can do, well, mission accomplished.

Instead, it makes you look like you are having a seizure. Performing some thing so stupid does not make you trendy, it makes you look dumb. Sorry…not sorry.

Kate Straube/Photo editor

Kate Straube can be reached at linfieldreviewphotos@gmail.com

Americana band embraces variety

Posted by :jprokop On : May 18, 2011
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Category: Culture

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Buxter Hoot’n's album cover

San Francisco-based band Buxter Hoot’n is set to release its third album since 2007 on May 30. The self-titled album embraces the original spirit that the name suggests.

Led by vocalist and guitarist Vince Dewald, the band has created a distinct sound that develops throughout the album. A blend of styles and tempo create various moods from song to song all while maintaining the feel-good vibes that are sought heading into summer.

The instruments are incorporated in a brilliant sequence that keeps you coming back for more. There are no predictable tracks, adding to the purely enjoyable experience that is listening to this album.

Many of the tracks offer an original sound that will conjure up daydreams about summer days in no time. A blend of banjo, harmonica and violin sounds are guaranteed to get you moving.

The tracks take you through a plethora of genres that include folk, Americana, a hint of country and more typical indie rock for good measure. Buxter Hoot’n’s unity, however, is maintained through the common sound of Dewald’s rich, enticing lyrics and tones that radiate the innocence of freedom and youth.

Tantalizing solos are integrated throughout the album, featuring both electric and acoustic guitar, banjo and harmonica.

“Blue Night,” one of the many distinct tracks, incorporates the delightful vocals of Melissa Merrill that intensify diversity on the album. Merrill and Dewald tackle the song’s lyrics together resulting in what seems to be an unyielding radiation of warmth. The sounds are rich and melodious and give off warm sensations that could only be amplified through the dispatch of a record player.

The album has
expanded and developed sounds that one could traditionally associate with the past and has restored them in a refreshing, contemporary way through instrumentation, lyrics and tempo. The general composition is pleasurable, outgoing and has a little bit of everything to please a wide audience.

After its fifth year as a band, Buxter Hoot’n is a well-known name in San Francisco’s music scene and seeks to expand its recognition throughout the northwest.

Currently on tour, they are scheduled to perform at Laurel Thirst in Portland on May 14. The show begins at 9:30 p.m. and admission is $6.

Be sure to check out “Buxter Hoot’n” on KSLC 90.3 FM for some good vibes  or listen online at
www.linfield.edu/kslcfm.

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Brinn Hovde/KSLC 90.3 FM
Brinn Hovde can be reached at kslcmusic@gmail.com.

 

Jazz Night concert marks music careers’ final note

Posted by :jprokop On : May 18, 2011
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Category: Culture

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The Jazz Night concert will feature the Linfield Jazz Band and the Linfield Jazz Choir, Double Vision, at 8 p.m. May 13 in Ice Auditorium.

The music will range from original compositions to big band favorites.

Several jazz band performers, including seniors Ryan Dickman, Tracy Beaver, Carolyn Blood, Helen Kehoe and Matt Moss, will perform solos during the concert.

Double Vision will feature guest artist Clark
Bondy on the saxophone. They will play songs by John Lennon and Little
River Band and jazz standards such as “Route 66.”

Senior Carolyn Blood said in an email that she asked to play clarinet in Kehoe’s feature piece. Blood used to play the baritone saxophone in the jazz band, but the clarinet is her
primary instrument.

“I’ve only been working on this piece and my solo in it for a few weeks with the band,” Blood said. “Generally, I prefer to play in an ensemble and be part of a cohesive sound in a jazz band. But to be heard, you have to solo.”

The jazz band meets twice a week, but band members have such varied schedules that it is hard to have a complete band for each rehearsal,  senior Matt Moss said in an email.

“But that’s how it is,” Moss said. “Even though it’s tough to get time for rehearsal, we always seem to put together a great set. It’s more a matter of investing yourself in the music, not your time.”

Moss and Blood joined the jazz band during their freshman year. Moss has been in the band every semester since freshman year, but Blood had to decide to cut jazz from her schedule during her junior year.

“I’m glad I got the opportunity to perform with the band again after being gone from it for a couple semesters,” she said. “It’s going to be fun to have the opportunity to end my musical career on stage with [Moss] and my other friends.”

Moss said that he has also faced challenges performing and preparing for this concert.

“After freshman year, I underwent jaw reconstruction surgery, which left most of my face senseless,” he said. “Playing a sax without feeling is no easy task. To this day there are parts of my chin and jaw that I can’t feel.  It’s been a slow progress.”

There have been other distractions for Moss in preparation of this concert.

“Both of my majors require thesis papers so it seems like I’ve been writing since last February,” he said. This summer also marks a huge change in my life with graduation, and I’m also getting married in August.”

This concert will be the seniors’ final jazz band performance at Linfield. Moss said that he has mixed feelings about this final performance.

“I’ve been a part of jazz ensembles since sixth grade so I’ll really miss it. On the other hand, I’m excited,” Moss said. “It feels right that this last concert will showcase the styles that we have been playing over the last four years. It’ll be a good send-off for all of us.”

Moss said that the best part of being in the jazz band is the music.

“It’s jazz,” Moss said. “It hits me deep.”

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Sharon Gollery/For the Review
Sharon Gollery can be reached at linfieldreviewculture@gmail.com.

 

 

‘Concentrated Chaos’ reveals diversity in student artwork

Posted by :jprokop On : May 18, 2011
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Category: Culture

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Senior Adriana Daoust fluffs the feathers out of a pillow in a performance piece about losing her virginity during the opening reception of “Concentrated Chaos” on May 11. Megan Myer/Online editor

Senior Adriana Daoust fluffs the feathers out of a pillow in a performance piece about losing her virginity during the opening reception of “Concentrated Chaos” on May 11. Megan Myer/Online editor

Ceramic teapots, an artist’s performance and wood carvings gave presence to the Miller Fine Arts Center on May 11, at the opening reception of the 2011 Thesis/Portfolio exhibition “Concentrated Chaos.”

The event, sponsored by the Linfield Gallery and the Department of Art and Visual Culture, began with presentations by junior and senior art majors in the Withnell Commons in front of family and friends. The students explained their influences, progression and style behind their beginning works to their final portfolio and thesis projects.

The artist talks were then followed by a reception in the Linfield Gallery, where the students’ artwork could be viewed up close.  For nine of these students, the event marked the end of a collegiate career.

“I’m hoping I can do this for a living,” said senior Amanda Holtby, who has already made a profit selling one of her 25 handcrafted, ceramic teapot sets. “I have several people interested in buying my sets.”

Holtby, one of four students required to create a website for her artwork, in addition to the final project, said she was inspired to create the teapots because they are the classic test of the potter’s skill, integrating the basic elements of a functioning piece. She also described her work as introspective and meditative.

Holtby said she has an idea of how she hopes visitors of her exhibit will react toward her project.

“Ceramics is not deeply philosophical,” she said. “I hope viewers will take away a sense of playfulness and appreciation [for my work].”

Senior Adriana Doust used her education in theatre courses and acting experience in the Linfield Theatre production “Execution of Justice” to perform her artwork.  In her piece “Loss of Innocence” Doust confronted her own spirituality and sexuality in front of viewers during the reception, using a knife to cut open a white, pillow and her hands to crush strawberries over the fabric.

“It was more heartfelt than any object could convey,” Doust said about her performance. “It was the easiest and genuine way to convey the message behind my art.”

Doust said she often relies on her journal to resurface emotions that influence her work.

“It helps me reflect on how I felt during a certain time and get back into the zone,” she said.

Junior Ebonee Atkins used the theme of man’s relationship with nature as the driving force behind her collection of pieces titled “TIMBER!!,” which featured two wood-carved pieces mounted on the gallery wall.

Atkins said she wanted to make a political statement with her art.

“It’s about the relationship between man and nature and how we destroy and take advantage of the environment,” she said.

Atkins said she is influenced by land art, the use of natural materials and organic media to make art in nature.

“I like the fact that it will be here forever and it would be interesting to see how it can change or stay the same overtime,” she said.

Other portfolios displayed works centered around beading, photography, video, sewing, paint, drawing and the use of sheet metal and chicken wire to convey diverse personal and political messages.

After listening to the artist talks and viewing the students’ portfolios, senior Emily Hopping found a connection within the exhibition.

“They all look physically very different, but in several of the artists’ speeches they mentioned elements such as identity, memory and the ephemeral which indicates passing and things that don’t stay the same,” Hopping said. “I see an exchange of ideas, but then the artists took those ideas and went in different directions.”

“Concentrated Chaos” will be open to the public for viewing through May 29.  The gallery, located in Building B of the Miller Fine Arts Center, is open Monday-Friday from 9-5 p.m. and Saturday from 12-5 p.m.

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Felicia Weller/Copy editor
Felicia Weller can be reached at linfieldreviewcopy@gmail.com.

 

 

Execution of Justice murders with emotion

Posted by :jprokop On : May 18, 2011
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Category: Culture

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Senior Alessa Karlin, portraying the wife of Dan White, breaks down as riots occur during the production May 5 in the Marshall Theatre of Ford Hall. Megan Myer/Online editor

Senior Alessa Karlin, portraying the wife of Dan White, breaks down as riots occur during the production May 5 in the Marshall Theatre of Ford Hall. Megan Myer/Online editor

The Marshall Theatre invited a  welcoming audience May 5, for the opening night of the play “Execution of Justice.”

Junior Cody Levien said he doesn’t go to plays — ever. He attended the first “Execution of Justice” performance and summed it up in one word: “emotional.”

Levien’s uncle was a part of the gay community in San Francisco during the late ’70s when the city’s mayor, George Moscone and city supervisor, Harvey Milk were slain. Milk was the first openly gay man elected to public office in California during the 1970s

“He was there for the whole thing,” Levien said. “If anything, [seeing the play] was more of a learning experience.”

The aftermath of the assassinations drove the focus of the play.

Written by Emily Mann, the play documents the
trial proceedings of the man responsible for the 1978 double murders, Dan White.

“There were two murders that were committed and it was clearly proven, and yet they only gave him manslaughter,” Jane Lieber Mays, who watched the play with her husband, said. “That hit home because it’s indicative of what continues to happen in this country. People just make stuff up, and they are swayed by this emotional stuff that people make up and they vote according to that.”

Lieber Mays said she knows about Milk because she’s from that generation.

“I was in the ’60s when we were actually rioting,” she said. “I’ve been in it before.”

Lieber Mays praised the way the theater’s new equipment allowed the program to integrate varying forms of multimedia into the production.

“What they were able to do with [the equipment] was astonishing — we went through without a glitch tonight,” she said. “It was seamless; it was just beautiful.

The stage featured powerful projectors that the Department of Theatre and Communication Arts purchased using  a grant from the E.L. Wiegand Foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves charitable and educational purposes.

Lieber Mays said despite understanding the levels of interpretation
attempted, some of the play’s symbolism was distracting. However, she was blown away by the acting.

“The level of acting was amazing,” she said. “The level of acting is always high-quality, but they were up a notch this time. It has to do with the director and the commitment of the actors and probably the subject matter.”

“Shedding light on a part of history was the main objective for the play’s production,” Janet Gupton, associate professor of theatre arts anddirector of “Execution of Justice,” said.

“I felt like after the movie Milk came out, it was a good time to do this play because it picks up where Milk left off,” she said. “It’s a good chance for people to know what happened to Dan White and what happened in the trial.”

Levien and Lieber Mays said the summation scenes toward the end of the play stood out to them.

The audience was moved during the confession scene of Dan White, played by junior Aaron Granum and junior Daphne Dosset, who played the court clerk and the young mother roles in the play, she said.

“You could see people turning their programs into fans to dry their wet faces,” she said.

The gravity of the play was compelling, leaving  audience members in the middle of understanding and grief.

“It’s a lot of stuff to ask of them, but I think [the cast and crew] learned a lot by doing this show. [We] learned a lot of history and about the human psychology but also the human spirit,” Gupton said.

Gupton said that she has a high respect for public servants, those who are “willing to lay their life on the line knowing that they could
really make someone angry.”

“To discover these injustices in a world where we’re more accepting of everything, and realize that this happened in your own country, has to be a deeply moving experience,” Lieber Mays said.

The final show of “Execution of Justice” will run at 7:30 p.m. on May 14 inside the Marshall Theatre of Ford Hall.

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Septembre Russell/Copy chief
Septembre Russell can be reached at linfieldreviewcopy@gmail.com.

 

Portland band provides upbeat rock album

Posted by :jprokop On : May 11, 2011
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Category: Culture, Opinion

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Image courtesty of www.tenderlovingempire.com “Only Good Thoughts Can Stay” will be released May 10 on Tender Loving Empire.

Image courtesty of www.tenderlovingempire.com “Only Good Thoughts Can Stay” will be released May 10 on Tender Loving Empire.

Portland band Jared Mees & The Grown Children and their third album, “Only Good Thoughts Can Stay,” sound much like you would think at first — a bunch of adults acting like children and making music.

Their music is catchy, upbeat and downright fun. A playful innocence is preva¬lent from the get-go with the opening track, “Hungry Like a Tiger,” which feigns a sense of naivety and quickly gives way to heartfelt purity and more introspection than is immediately apparent.

The album brilliantly combines electric guitar riffs and piano chords with sweet yet complex melodies from horns, strings and the vocals of Mees and others.

Rather than smothering each track with energetic chord progressions and pep¬py lyrics, each song is deeply personal but maintain a posi¬tive outlook on life, making for for an immensely fun and cathartic experience.

“Good Thoughts” strikes a great balance between lively, danceable rock and deep, thoughtful lyrics. Mees’ pronounced singing is strong and creative, but it is through the intricate music of the rest of the band that the listener establishes a deep connection with the words. You can dance, clap and sing along and still come out with a fresh look at life, love and friendship.

The band keeps most songs on the album longer than four minutes to success¬fully shake free of the of the two-to-three-minute restraint of the typical single. How¬ever, none of the tracks ever become dull or repetitive; they each are filled with vari¬ance and driving energy and provide Mees, and each of the many instruments used, ample opportunity to make their presence known. The sheer vivacity and depth of each track beautifully push the listener through the entire album.
The sincerity portrayed in “Good Thoughts” is what ultimately makes it an enjoy¬able and exciting sample of the music that’s coming out of Portland right now. It’s one of those albums that you can tell the band had a ton of fun making. One listen through is bound to get almost anyone moving and singing along (at least in their heads).
The album is clearly the band’s strongest work, bring¬ing with it a more refined sound and complexity that grabs and holds attention throughout.

Some of the most interest¬ing tracks include the seven-minute-long emotional pow¬erhouse “Tiny Toy Piano” and the catchy but personal “Billy Bird.” The humor¬ous and somewhat morbid “Graverobbers” tells the story of a graverobber who meets poetic justice when he is buried alive by his accomplice — all to a driv¬ing rhythm reminiscent of a hoe-down. The final song, “Shake,” sums up the album by literally “shaking all these blues away” because “only good thoughts can stay.”
In addition to being a front man, Jared Mees also runs the emerging Portland record label/store/art collec¬tive Tender Loving Empire, responsible for the likes of Y La Bamba, Loch Lomond and Typhoon.
This album will be released May 10 and the band will have two release shows May 14 in addition to touring around Oregon and Califor¬nia. The first show (all ages) opens at 6 p.m. at Backspace and the second (21+) opens at 9 p.m. at Someday Lounge in Portland.
Tune in to KSLC 90.3 FM or listen online at www.lin¬field.edu/kslcfm.html (on campus only) to hear tracks from “Only Good Thoughts Can Stay.”

Braden Smith/Managing editor
Braden Smith can be reached at kslcmusic@gmail.com.

Senior performs cello music in last Linfield performance

Posted by :jprokop On : May 11, 2011
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Photo courtesy of Carolyn Blood Beaver plays the cello during her senior recital on May 1 in Ice Auditorium.

Photo courtesy of Carolyn Blood Beaver plays the cello during her senior recital on May 1 in Ice Auditorium.

Senior Tracy Beaver played her senior cello recital on May 1 in Ice Auditorium. Her concert featured music by composers such as Beethoven and Bach.

Adjunct Professor of music Susan McDaniel accompanied Beaver on piano. Beaver played with rich, deep vibrato. The audience responded positively to the performance.

Junior Katherine Allum praised Beaver for her hard work and dedication. She said she liked all of the pieces, especially the first one, for different reasons.

“I played a very small piece when I played the violin as a young child,” Allum said, impressed that Beaver memorized the “Suite III for the Unaccompanied Cello in C major.” “It’s magical to see a soloist take a stage.”

Junior Chelsea Janzen said the performance was impressive.

“Beaver memorized Bach and added her own style, which made it really cool,” she said.

Beaver said she chose the cello and stuck with it because it was the prettiest instrument.

“In elementary, I got to choose any instrument,” she said. “I chose bass and took it up for a year, but bass is too big to carry around, so I chose cello.”

Beaver is classically trained in all genres, but said she enjoys playing more modern and romantic music, such as The Beach Boys.

She said one of the challenges she faces is balancing academics with her music major.

“I pick things that are harder to learn, which makes me become a better musician,” she said. “If I hear a piece that I like, no matter how hard it is, I’ll try to play it. Overall, I triumphed, and I learned to be a better musician while passing all of my academics,” she said.

Beaver said she wants to open a private studio and be a studio musician for movies and sets after she graduates. She will continue to play cello in a string quartet in her home town of Reno, Nev.

Sherill Roberts, adjunct faculty member for cello, praised Beaver for her work.

“She has learned how to listen to the sounds she makes on the cello and judge whether she is playing in tune and
appropriately to the style of the music,” Roberts said. “She has grown in this regard during the last four years. She has been a great addition to the music department. She has played in many ensembles on campus and off, including some professional gigs with the Mello Cellos and one with the Portland Cello Project. She has been in the Linfield Chamber Orchestra all four years, which is a great
honor.”

Beaver said she thought her recital was a success.

Yoko Gardiner/For the Review
Yoko Gardiner can be reached at linfieldreviewculture@gmail.com.

Linfield bands play for fame during competition

Posted by :jprokop On : April 30, 2011
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Linfield held the second Battle of the Bands competition April 28 in Ice Auditorium. Students were treated to performances by rising young musicians.

The winner, Prowler, won studio time, a possible record deal and a slot to play in Wildstock slated for May 20.

However, all bands put up a tight battle. The bands were led by sophomores Evan O’Kelly and Brittany Baker and juniors Nic Miles and Danny Brown.

Junior Danny Brown fronts the winning band, Prowler, which plays classical metal. This is his first time performing at the event.

“I figure I’ll be nervous, but if I have fun I should be OK,” he said.

Band members for Prowler include juniors Logan Veith on rhythm guitar, Dan Smith on drums and seniors Andrew Sherman as lead guitarist and Garrett Garceau on bass.

Brown said one of his biggest challenges was finding people to play in the band.

“I don’t know too many people who play this kind of music,” he said. “I asked my roommate Logan and Andrew Sherman mentioned Garrett Garceau and he brought another friend, Dan Smith.”

Brown said he is inspired by bands including Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Queensrÿche. He also mentioned the significance of the songs his band played: “Ignorance: (Falling Sky),” is about environmental ignorance, and “Battle Weary,” is a song about a soldier who deals with going to battles.”

O’Kelley, whose band doesn’t yet have a name, includes junior Jessie Georgen, lead vocalist; sophomore Wes Yurovchak, on drums, and freshmen Sylvan Tovar on bass and Will Chou on violin.

O’Kelly says he loves playing in the band.

“When you work hard at something, it’s rewarding. It’s pretty satisfying to put on a show,” he said.

O’Kelly’s music is a mix of rock and blues, inspired by the likes of Eric Clapton, John Mayle and Miles Davis. As a band leader, he faces many challenges including putting songs together.

“We only had a week to put together songs, we were busy with school work as well,” he said.

Nic Miles, Musical Entertainment Chair for the Linfield Activities Board, opened the concert with his own band, which earned enthusiasm from the crowd.

The judges of this year’s Battle of the Bands were President Thomas Hellie and Michael Huntsberger, assistant professor of mass communication.

Linfield students gave enthusiastic feedback.

Sophomore Nora Burnfield said she thought “they were all great, the styles were all different. It’s hard to judge.”

She said it was hard to choose which band she wanted to win.

Freshman Kayla Truax said she thought the “last one, Prowler, they’re fantastic.”

Josh Merrick, area director for activities said he enjoyed the variety displayed in the show.
“They were all so different in styles, and they performed really well. I thought Prowler earned the prize and it was an exciting show,” Merrick said.

Yoko Garinder can be reached at linfieldreviewculture@gmail.com

For photos of the event, follow this LINK

Ballerina Black’s album foreshadows success

Posted by :jprokop On : April 30, 2011
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Photo courtesy of www.ballerinablack.com Ballerina Black’s debut album “Cattle Arithmetic” was released January 1, 2010.

Photo courtesy of www.ballerinablack.com Ballerina Black’s debut album “Cattle Arithmetic” was released January 1, 2010.

Let me begin by saying that I wasn’t expecting much from a band named Ballerina Black. A band’s name tends to give off the subtle impression of an album’s content. Given this, one might assume Ballerina Black to be a contrived mixture of some sort of pseudo-intellectual pop music, but that person would be wrong. It would seem that Ballerina Black, like the Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin or other bands with unusualmonikers, might have more to offer than its name would suggest.

The band’s latest album, “Cattle Arithmetic,” starts off strong with the track “Leaves,” which opens with a peppy bassline that builds into an overwhelmingly lush instrumental backing. Grungy with an influence of southern California mellowed punk, “Leaves” offers a snapshot of the complementary multiple personalities showcased on this album.

“Kelly Pain,” the second track, finishes off the genre worldview of Ballerina Black with a healthy dose of Gothic ramblings and sets the listener up for an album that sounds mostly like different permutations of the first two tracks.

This is not to say that this album is boring or not worth listening to. If you enjoy the sound of The Cure’s late-’80s foray into the Gothic genre, then this album, which sounds like a slightly more updated version of that signature melancholy moaning, will resonate with you. As much as there’s a touch of The Cure frontman Robert Smith’s gravel in the vocals, there’s also a good heaping of a lighter tonality which might be more familiar to fans of AFI lead vocalist Davey Havok.

There is an evident flow throughout “Cattle Arithmetic,” and even songs such as “Squeeze Through” and “Rivals,” which are less vocally and lyrically creative than others, have a great feeling of soft dirtiness about them. “Squeeze Through” exudes its strong bass undertones into a pool of filthy, dark satisfaction, while “Rival,” has a heavier, more metal version of the thudding backbeat.

“Cattle Arithmetic”features some songs you should listen to just because of their titles, which, honestly, do a great job of appealing to the inner 12-year-old in each of us while also speaking to the song’s content. Titles such as “Microphones in the Mattress” provide apt visual description of what we should expect aurally and delivers a rhythmically thudding base and lyrics that convey all of the plaintive sadness of going solo.

A well-rounded album, “Cattle Arithmetic” draws the listener into its dark bowels, smothering us in the suffocating beauty of its raw emotion.

The sound that Ballerina Black has plied throughout the album seems founded on a lush blend of guitars and basses complementing their brand of vocal yearning. Combine this with its angst-filled lyrics and Ballerina Black should be popular with the younger generation that needs a creative outlet for its angry self-obsession.

In light of all of this, whether “Cattle Arithmetic” is actually good seems irrelevant. It fills a necessary niche and just like the people who will enjoy listening to them, Ballerina Black doesn’t seem to mind being quietly popular.
Tune in to KSLC 90.3 FM to hear tracks from Ballerina Black’s debut album “Cattle Arithmetic.”

Eric Tompkins can be reached at kslcmusic@gmail.com