Cold War Kids - Mine Is Yours

Even though their last album was not received well, I still liked it and would argue the everlasting hotness of "Against Privacy" until I die. So, I'm giving this album a listen even though initial reports have CWK trying to bank on a Kings Of Leon-style crossover. I'm afraid we're going to mire too deep in the pop and the insipidness. No offense to KoL, of course.

But that's what they do throughout the whole record. Any experimentation is downplayed. Songs are tight and streamlined. Choruses are big. And the band that has written songs about artist culture, alcoholic fathers, till-stealing homeless, and... isn't their biggest hit just about clothes? Anyway, they now stick feet firmly planted in lover's lane.

Now, I don't want to be a mopey unromantic type. I like a good love song like any good Hagarite should. But it's still a bummer pop-calculation move. And unlike the Kings, whose hooks on their breakthrough were absurdly undeniable - the CWK doesn't play things up that big. I still think that "Finally Begin" and "Bulldozer" has every making of a Train / Maroon 5 hit- but it's too far away from what I like about them.

There is one that got me. A pop tune with admittedly silly lyrics that inexplicably I'm a fan of. Just as inexplicable, is whatever reason some skaters made "Broken Open" their backing track to the video below.

So, the album has the stuff that could make it successful; but it won't make the Kids into Kings. (2.5 of 5 stars)

Fergus & Geronimo - Unlearn

First post in a while and I've decided to start with a completely new discovery. When doing so, I simply scour the new release list for the word "garage" and give it a listen. Whether it's an adjective for rock/punk/dance. A "garage" descriptor is better than "neo-" anything.

You're going to admire their pluck. They have chops to create some memorable minimalist tunes. Maybe they lean a little too heavy on that flute-sound from their distorted Casio. Also- the title of the songs themselves is all the irony they need to project. I get it; you're disdainful of the hipster scene that you're damned to all eternity to play for. You don't have to sing with that monotoned bored-to-death vocal as you do on "Wanna Know What Would I Do If I Was You" to over-emphasize.

But this is a duo (ish), and that's just one of the guys. The very next track, "Powerful Lovin'" does a fine job conjuring up the psyche-surf ballads of someday gone by. Send-ups, yes- I'm in. Parody-type plays to form some ironic pretense, I'm out. I would've said the same to Frank Zappa, but he's a much better musician than you guys.



Don't get me wrong. I'm just a little sensitive to people who get that chance to make a record use the opportunity to bitch about the people listening to their record. These guys aren't really bad at all. If there's a Top-10 Lof-Fi list of 2011, "Michael Kelly" might be on it. And the title track is the best (if only) doo-wop influenced track I've heard in years. (2.5 of 5 stars)

Birds Of Avalon

The self-titled NOT debut from the Birds Of Avalon is reportedly a departure. Previously a garage-rock band, this new one is decidedly more psychedelic. But unlike, say, a Portugal. The Man- the Birds are quite sloppy. Not the Beatles-influence at all. Actually, at their best, these guys can even resemble an early '70s Aerosmith. But not the boogie part. This album's "Invasion" sounds like a Rush-infused "Seasons Of Wither". Make sense?

There some backward guitar leads of basic rock riffs. Someone will have maracas to keep the beats less intense. And sometimes a keyboard is underneath it all. Sloppy, like garage style - but a lot more instrumentation than garage rock. And the song lengths are more on the psychedelic end of the spectrum (+5:00)

Another thing needed by garage rockers that is lacking here is attitude. Singer Paul Siler is one of the most matter-of-fact singers I've heard this side of Britt Daniel. And if you're going to lack attitude, you should at least bring some songwriting and melody to the table, which is not here either. What's left is a collection of songs that is trying to focus on the instrumentation to get it through. And the Birds are not jammy or qualified enough to make that dog hunt. (2 of 5 stars)