Sounders continue their domination of the Fire

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The Sounders embark on a hectic stretch of five games in fifteen days with an opportunistic 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire. Not only that, but with this victory they stretch their undefeated run against the Fire to seven games at four wins and three draws.

After some nervy opening minutes in which the Fire held the vast majority of the possession and nearly gained the lead via Daniel Paladini save for a selfless block by Osvaldo Alonso, the Sounders eased their way into the match. The Sounders broke the deadlock in the thirty-ninth minute, Eddie Johnson feeding David Estrada in the box, whose subsequent pass deflected off of the leg of German international Arne Friedrich. Johnson then went on to win the eventual game-winner in the sixty-seventh minute, poking home the ball amidst chaos in the box after Johnson mishandled a free kick from Fredy Montero. Marco Pappa, who came on as a substitute in the sixty-first minute, added the consolation goal for Chicago, the strong wind aiding his in-swinging corner kick inside the far post past Michael Gspurning.

The Sounders return to action in just three days time, hosting the LA Galaxy on Wednesday.

Unexpected Heroes

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The most unexpected of heroes combined for the lone goal of this afternoon's match-up between the Sounders and the Colorado Rapids. Zach Scott provided the goal, a beautiful snap header that redirected the ball inside the far post, off of the assist from Alex Caskey off of a corner kick. Caskey proves to be the most unlikely of the two, despite the goal being Scott's first of his MLS career, as he wasn't even in the starting eleven until he was called upon at the last minute due to an injurie Alvaro Fernandez picked up in training.

There was no lack of action leading up to the goal. After an uninspiring first half that saw the Rapids dominate possession and largely dictate the game, the Sounders came out like they had something to prove and absolutely took it to the Rapids. In fact throughout the entirety of the second half Colorado could only register a single shot to the Sounders 12. The two most notable chances both involved Fredy Montero, one that saw a perfect through ball from Eddie Johnson knocked away by Rapids 'keeper Matt Pickens and another drawing Goal of the Week skills out of Pickens through a beautiful chip that he had to scramble to tip over the bar.

Throughout the week leading up to the match there was much anticipation surrounding the one notable storyline of the match: Brian Mullan's first time playing at Century Link after the injury to Steve Zakuani. The crowd of just over 38,000 did not disappoint in let their ill feelings be heard, boos raining down upon Mullan whenever he touched the ball. Ironically he almost played the spoiler in the match, cleaning up on an Omar Cummings shot saved by Michael Gspurning but ruled to be offside.

Notes

• This afternoon's match saw both Eddie Johnson and Alex Caskey's first MLS start
• With ten points out of five matches the Sounders now average two points a match
• With today's shutout the Sounders' defense has now totalled three shutouts on the season and Michael Gspurning now has a goals against average of just 0.40

Album Review - Conversation Piece

Review

When Kurt Travis got unceremoniously dumped from Dance Gavin Dance for the return of former vocalist Johnny Craig I was definitely upset. Had I known that this album would come as a result of that event, I would instead be delighted at Travis' departure from DGD. While DGD stands as my all-time favorite post-hardcore band (although A Lot Like Birds is in a position to threaten that title), Kurt Travis far transcends anything he could have done with DGD in his debut with A Lot Like Bird's in their sophomore album Conversation Piece.

A question that really begs to be asked is what genre does A Lot Like Birds fall into? While they bill themselves strictly as a progressive band, upon a full listen-through of Conversation Piece they prove to be far more than that. In fact, Conversation Piece more or less represents three different genres: progressive, experimental, post-hardcore, and indie (yes indie). It's incredible how smoothly and easily the band makes the transition from genre to genre from song to song. As as example, while Properties of Fiction would strongly be considered post-hardcore with a fantastic interchange of Travis' singing and the screaming of Cory Lockwood, the next song, Truly Random Code, with it's guitar noodling and it's atmospheric electronics is, despite the presence of screams, essentially what I would strongly consider to be indie. Post-hardcore and indie being among my all-time favorite genres, this fusion is nothing short of bliss. Adding Kurt Travis and his top-notch clean vocals into the mix just takes the album to another level altogether.

Instrumentation certainly deserves discussion as well. As mentioned above, Conversation Piece proves to be a representation of various styles of music and with those differing styles come a vast range of instrumentation that is without a doubt impressive. From the chill guitar noodling of indie on Truly Random Code to the intricate and technical guitar-work of progressive and post-hardcore in tracks like Orange Time Machines Care and What Didn't Kill Me Just Got Stronger, A Lot Like Birds never fails to impress. Accompanying these varying guitar styles is the usage of various other musical elements to add to the experimentation, most notably tribal drums and electronics. It all comes together to create a musical package with an overall massive amount of variety, treating the listener to something different at each and every turn.

Verdict

After getting dumped from Dance Gavin Dance, Kurt Travis seems to have found a new home in A Lot Like Birds. With his addition came a complete style shift to something akin to a fusion of post-hardcore and indie, and it definitely proves to be among some of the best music I have ever heard. If you're into either genre (particularly post-hardcore) I strongly suggest that you look into this album.

Score

[5/5]

Top Picks

Truly Random Code, Vanity's Fair, Properties of Friction

Around the Rest of the League, Week 4

Friday, March 30th

DC United [4-1] FC Dallas

If you had asked me prior to this match who would win, I would have said without hesitation FC Dallas despite being weakened as they are by injuries and international call-ups. As it turns out, they really didn't have much of a chance against a DC side whose offense has finally begun to click. Blas Perez did provide a brief period of hope for Dallas, canceling out Maicon Santos' golazo just before halftime. That hope would last only midway into the second half, as DC proceeded to steamroll Dallas.

Saturday, March 31st

Toronto FC [0-1] Columbus Crew

While continuing to show strongly in the CONCACAF Champions League, Toronto continued their league struggles last Saturday falling the Columbus Crew and losing at home for the second consecutive time this season. As long as Torsten Frings is sidelined with the hamstring injury he picked up in the season opener against the Sounders, I expect Toronto to continue struggling to get results.

New York Red Bulls [5-2] Montreal Impact

After dominating a weakened Colorado Rapids 4-1 last week, the Red Bulls and Thierry Henry continued rolling with an equally impressive 5-2 victory over the Montreal Impact. I mention Thierry Henry specifically because he has essentially carried the team in both matches, netting five goals and assisting two goals, accounting for roughly seventy eight percent of the goals in the two game span. A defense strengthened with the presence of Wilman Conde has aided in their recent success as well.

Philadelphia Union [0-0] Vancouver Whitecaps

Despite the hubbub surrounding Sebastian Le Toux's return to PPL Park, the match was a fairly boring affair ending in a boring nil nil result. Despite having one of the deepest front lines in the league, Vancouver continued in their offensive woes, the absence of Camilo and Hassli certainly not making things any better. Likewise, the Union continued in their general struggles as well, although a clean sheet will certainly prove to be a confidence booster for rookie 'keeper Zac MacMath.

Portland Timbers [2-3] Real Salt Lake

What has been said to be one of the best matches of the young season, this one was far from lacking of goals or drama. After RSL took the lead midway through the first half on a Alvaro Saborio penalty kick, the Timbers found their way into the game and grabbed the lead thanks to a pair of clutch goals from the second-year rookie Darlington Nagbe (one of which was incredibly reminiscent of his goal that won Goal of the Year last season). The Timbers failed to hold the score, however, as RSL struck twice in the dying minutes of the match to leave Jeld Wen with all three points.

Seattle Sounders FC [0-1] San Jose Earthquakes

Injuries have certainly been piling up for the Sounders, as it was evident from how they performed in this match just how much all these injuries are beginning to take a toll on their effectiveness on the offense. If not for the penalty controversially drawn by Steven Leinhart and converted by Chris Wondolowski, I'm convinced this match could have ended nil nil. The Sounders certainly got a much better handle on the match in the second half, after letting San Jose dominate much of the run of play in the first, but they simply lacked both luck and the offensive punch needed to convert their chances.

LA Galaxy [1-3] New England Revolution

This is without a doubt the least anticipated result of the weekend. Not only did the Galaxy's defensive woes continue in the absence of Omar Gonzalez, Landon Donovan being sidelined thanks to injury saw their offense become almost non-existent save for a fine goal from Robbie Keane to prevent the shutout. A statement was definitely made by Bruce Arena on his team's recent string of performances through the taking off of David Beckham at halftime. Not to be forgotten about this match was the impressive performance given by the Revolution. Granted it is only one match, but that performance should definitely be a confidence booster for the new-look side as they move forward.

Sunday, April 1st

Colorado Rapids [2-0] Chicago Fire

The absence of Jeff Lawrentowitz due to suspension proved to be the Rapid's downfall last week when they fell 4-1 to the New York Red Bulls. The difference between a Rapids with Lawrentowitz and one without is almost night and day. With him back in the line-up Colorado returned to winning ways, Omar Cummings and new signing Kamani Hill providing the goals.

Chivas USA [0-1] Sporting Kansas City

Chivas' offense continued to remain lifeless, seeing the Goats get shut out once again and in four games they have only managed to find the back of the net just once (notably in their shocking victory over RSL). A hot SKC side who remain the only MLS side so far this season to remain undefeated was far from a preferable opponent for this struggling Chivas side to face.