As someone who quite liked In Rainbows, and... hell - basically a little bit of everything the band has put out, I was prepared for an exciting collection of songs again this time around. Plus, it's eight songs - which could mean that they've trimmed the fat and delivered the top round of their material. However...
Starting with track one, I would call "Bloom" fairly uninspiring. Thom pines on the meaning or non-meaning of life or non-life while an incandescent electronic rhythm lays underneath. Odd time signatures makes not a great song. Neither does throwing in visions of jellyfish. And then, it's track two and I'm afraid that this collection is going to be all animal references and crazy rock-less beats.
The polyrhythmiclandscapes continue throughout. Songs are non-descript trance-like electronic collages. It feels like Yorke's "The Eraser". Only the single, "Lotus Flower" feels like a fully realized song, but the rest sound like they tried to make Lotus a 15-minute song and then convinced themselves to break it apart. This half of the album gives us bastardized sons of one song.
The other half gives us a morbid piano ballad, which- and I'm sorry - could be on a Coldplay record and no one would know the difference. A lazily remixed acoustic guitar track and another quiet pop tune.
So now, instead of thinking they trimmed the fat, I feel like the band got together and rushed out the first thing that came to their collective heads. Next time, instead of aspiring to be the king of limbs; you should try being the Assistant Director to the heart, mind, body & soul. (1.5 of5 stars)
In all honesty, I have not been following the Strokes since they became hipster darlings at the onset of their debut. So what I see as progressive movement from a band of mush-mouths and muted guitars to a band way more polished and produced may actually be a more natural progression than I am otherwise willing to witness firsthand. Because I wasn't even that big a fan of the debut...
So instead of the post-punk riffage that made up "Is This It?" the sounds are more dynamic. And instead of the muddled vocal, Casablancas is way out front with a huge melodic presence. The first track has a Duran Duran vibe, another sound like a Radiohead demo. The best example is "Two Kinds Of Happiness"- which comes off like the best Cars in the verse but lets go as frantic awesomeness in the chorus. That and "Gratisfaction" are over-the-top pop goodness that should propel the group to a wider audience.
And while none of these tracks may make it on to my year end Top 10 list, I was pleasantly surprised by the growth of the Strokes and I would have to assume the band's fans are going to rave over it. (3 of 5 stars)
Someone liked the Smashing Pumpkins a whole lot growing up. Being as how that can be a polarizing comment, I'll explain. As I mean it in only one sense.
Think of that moment when the song "Today" goes from quiet guitar plinking to full on seven layers of guitar noise. The Joy Formidable do that in every song. The quiet/loud dynamic is pushed to the highest digital levels on the board. They also love to play out those monster-chords for a long time at the end of the song.
For example on the first track, "The Everchanging Spectrum Of A Lie", the proper song ends at around the 5:00 mark. But then they stretch the thing out another 2:45. When listening to that track for the first time, I thought to myself that there was no reason for this. But then around the middle of the album, this concept started to grow on me. As if the JF were getting lost in their own recording. It felt like a good live performance.
Having said that, The Big Roar is lacking the dynamics to maintain your interest for 12 songs. A lot of it comes out sounding the same. It's good, but you'll only walk away with the pieces you connect with, and the rest will seem like lesser versions of that. (3 of 5 stars)
A surpise of quality or disappointing levels could come, I have no idea which. Having been a BIG fan of The Seldom Seen Kid, I was far less thrilled with one of the older releases. I'm a little afraid that my oft-played "Kid" was simply a fluke.
Track one starts pleasantly moody and unassuming and while I grit my teeth at discovering it's 8 minutes long, it wasn't too long until they really let go musically. A trait that I must say sets Elbow apart from their other Manchester (or London) breathren; they have real artistic ambition. Additionally, I can lay bets that if Elbow release "With Love" they should see the same hit radio results that Edward Sharpe and Mumford similarly enjoyed with spirited high-praise positive songs last year.
The album continues with more excellence, including what may or may not be my favorite on the record. But it does incite me to really consider jumping a train so that I can sing along with it in a British stadium. A must. (5 of 5 stars)
"100 Lovers" may suggest here that Nick Urata got laid a lot more after DeVotchKa's success. Because it's a little more upbeat than previous efforts. Which is not better or worse, just a little different.
Each album has a feel to it, and over the course of 12 songs or so, that feel is manipulated to the greatest extent possible. So, while each record has 3 or 4 favorites, it may leave a little more to be desired to round out a fantastic full effort.
100 Lovers is no different. Like I said, it's more upbeat. There's no "Dearly Departed" haunting lullabies in this effort. But it's certainly not a pop crossover either. The band is playing more with texture, where each instrument is applying throughout the whole song. Not to mention, Nick's lyrics are a lot more robust here. He's trading away some of the operatic heartbreak tones in previous vocal performances, but it's getting a lot more in intellectually. And that has value. Previously, DeVotchKa may have painted a portrait more with melody and mood, and here there's more going on. Here, the tunes are not as dark and the themes are less mournful. Nick is still biting in some of his female descriptions, but the overall feel is one of hope. That it's worth the trying, as oppose to it already being a lost cause.
My concerns deal with the two wasted minutes of "Interludes" and the throwaway whistle track "Exhaustable". It reeks of an Edward Sharpe pleasant bullshit rip-off. And I can understand the motivation to do that, but know that I'm calling you out on it. But don't get me wrong. We've got a good 3/4 of album to chew on and it's got teeth. (3 of 5 stars)
As someone who quite liked In Rainbows, and... hell - basically a little bit of everything the band has put out, I was prepared for an exciting collection of songs again this time around. Plus, it's eight songs - which could mean that they've trimmed the fat and delivered the top round of their material. However...
