New Music Initiative 052: Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus is a new Jersey band that got a lot of buzz around their second album 2010's The Monitor.

I only recently discovered them via Iowa Public Radio, which plays a lot of good (read: college and public access) music in the evenings.

A band named after a Shakespeare play and that released a concept album around the Civil war is sort of a scary proposition.

TA are ambitious and that ambition shows in all aspects of their music.

I find it hard to categorize. Rolling Stone compared them to Thin Lizzy and The Replacements.

I probably wouldn't have went with those particular bands, but the genres are pretty spot on.

My favorite TA moments are when they sound like The Clash circa 1978. (Lead vocalist Patrick Stickles has a bit of a Strummer vibe). They also do carry a bit of that Recent Generation Springsteen Influenced Sound of The Gaslight Anthem or The Hold Steady. At other times, it's just a bit of classic stadium rock (which i suppose is where the Thin Lizzy comparison comes in).

On the Shelf 080: Martin Rossiter

Oh, 90s Britpop.

It's legacy is Oasis vs Blur (Oasis surely had the bigger pay day, but I'd rather be Damon in 2012), and Menswear jokes (oh, and there was Pulp, too).

There were a lot of very good and interesting bands at the time, though, and I was a big Britpop guy.

One of my favorite bands was Gene fronted by Martin Rossiter. gene specialized in songs for the lost and lonely- Morrissey-style songs.

1995's debut Olympian didn't do Moz songs better than Morrissey, but it at least did Moz songs better than Morrissey was doing himself in 95.

Follow-up Drawn to the Deep End was where the band found itself and made an album that I consider an under-appreciated classic.

I followed everything they did, but like many bands, Gene gave us diminishing returns until they split.

Rossiter has been largely unseen in the last decade, just now emerging with the largely self-funded The Defenestration of St Martin released earlier this month.

It is the typical fare and since there are only so many Moz Songs to be written, Rossiters's topics don't seem too far away from later-day Moz titles like "I Have Forgiven Jesus", "I Know Very Well How I got my Name", and "Satan Rejected My Soul". (Rossiter's visage has also become increasingly Moz-like in the passing years).

Still, despite the topics, the execution is pretty strong, and a lot of the British music mags are pushing this as a late year "Best Of 2012" contender

Rossiter's album is a collection of piano ballads. Like Brett Anderson, that shouldn't be surprising, but it makes the music far less accessible without the occasional hard rock guitar.

It's good to have Martin back, and I encourage fans to check it out (or if you didn't catch him the first time around, and like similar artists).

Not for everyone, sure, but a strong comeback from someone we miss.