Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

I would be hard pressed to know who to recommend this music to. Instrumental dirges of long durations. Of the four tracks, two are 6:30 each and the other two are 20 minutes in length. This is drone music in general; and it must be good because its in the upper echelon of every year end list.

Godspeed... formed in the nineties and broke up ten years ago. And to their credit, if this is the kind of music you're into- they definitely acheive a quality sound out of it.

None of these tracks sound pieced together, like epic instrumentals often can. These songs feel like they were exactly composed and performed live in the stuido.There is often an ascension that is executed to feel like a battle scene movie score. At the fifteen minute mark of "We Drift Like Worried Fire" the drone is given a steady backbeat which would be a great place for a mosh circle.

Unfortunately, I wouldn't be giving this any more spinds than I would your average opera. My rating, as always, reflects my own taste. (2.5 of 5 stars)

KISS - Monster

We're doing this like I do all of my childhood faves. A track-by-track review of the new record. Just stream-of-consciousness kinda thing. I won't dwell over it too long. Song titles will link to some A/V stuff so that you can play along.  ...Initial thoughts: I have higher hopes for this record than I generally would:

• I've heard a couple of songs (two) that I do quite like.
• The band has lived together longer (with the new guys) and may gel better.
• Thayer has a lot of writing credits. He's good. He DOES Ace, but probably feels more like Angus.
• Van Halen proved that an old washed up band can still do it and do it well!

Hell Or Hallelujah
The strong first single, ambitiously added as the first album track. (as KISS likes to do) The riff is derivative, but not in any specifically tired way. Just general '70s arena rock. Nugent/AC/DC/Aerosmith/KISS. If I threw it closer to anything, it'd be "Train Kept A-Rollin'". Regardless, it's as easily KISS own as any one's. And the bridge is particularly bad ass. It cracks the tempo in half as just as you're steadily toe-tapping, you suddenly become forced in a headbang. A quality Paul-off.

 

 

 

Wall Of Sound

Initially, you'll run into the wall of the fact that these may be the simplest cliché lyrics ever, which for KISS, is saying something. But really... "take a shot / best you got / roll of thunder / spell I'm under". so... yeah, this has been done. But the tune is heavy and totally feels good. This won't be the first time, though, that I challenge some new spirituality in Gene's lyrics. I'll start here: "Let the floods go raging by / Let the sinners wash away / To the dark of man there's a ray of light / There begins another day". This, again, seems like trite spiritual lyrics to the outside world, But to a hardcore KISS fan, this would be a huge change.  Gene's general optimism has NEVER extended to "sinners" or "rays of light". Let's talk later....

 

Freak

This one, I don't mind saying, is going to have to grow on me. It's heavy, and it's heart is in the right place. But it plods, where it should shuffle. And it's angst-y disguised as "pride", It's got the Lady Gaga message, "I'm a freak, and I like what I see." But KISS has always bee about "Rock on, I wanna be President!" KISS doesn't need to be accepted. KISS needs to rule.

 

Back to the Stone Age

This one has a big time feel of "Thou Shalt Not" here, musically. (A song from Revenge) The lyrics though are again over simplified as one of those neanderthal man-strength. This kind of thing before has been more monstrous. Monsters have more intellect than cavemen. Which rolls some eyes. But regardless, the Born-Again-Gene count comes up to two with the lyric, "I prayed to the sun / I've got a one way ticket to kingdom come". Discuss amongst yourselves.

 

Shout Mercy

This one doesn't actually shout "mercy" or "awesome" or "suck" or anything from one side to the other. It's actually fun. And as much as I hated Mötley Crüe's "Primal Scream" when it came out, they have since very effectively turned it into a rousing cloud pleaser. I could see KISS doing the same with this, if they ever gave new songs a chance to be played live.

 

Long Way Down

This one, however, is an immediate 5-star jam. Very Zeppelin-y; or more specifically, reminds me of Yardbirds' "Shapes Of Things to Come". Nothing lyrically is a new concept here, like I said. Men are puppets to the will of woman. And that's fine. We don't look to KISS to originate ideas, we come to them to perfect them. And this song runs to the red.

Eat Your Heart Out
This is an AC/DC castoff. Starts off with an a capella intro to underlie the "rawness" of the recording. This finally realizes that the production value purposefully sounds like it was recorded in a garage.

 

The Devil Is Me

This is the other song I heard before today. And it really is a backbone. It keeps Gene relevant. Yes.. he says he doesn't care about "relevance", but then writes these songs asking God to make him relevant. A huge, "Unholy"-thick song. The vocals as strong as ever. Count three, to my born-again-Gene hypothesis.
"I woke up in a sweat and heard the Lord's decree / The Devil is me / I fought myself to be set free / Because the Devil is me"

 

Outta This World

This one was written by Tommy, and it's actually pretty good. And it's mostly done in Ace's style, which is kind of a drag, because I know that Tommy can do otherwise. But then a Cheap Trick-y chorus pops up and throws some personality in there. It still focuses on the space travel thing, which is all Ace. If that's your base jump, I say write songs about being stoned instead.

 

All for the Love of Rock & Roll

Almost straight blew this off as a clear junior rip off of "Mr. Speed". But then I just let it ride and let it play party in my face. Like "Never Enough" from KISS' last record, it doesn't break ground, and is in fact, immediately familiar as something else, it still shows the unique child-like heart of someone who was doing a fresh cover of a classic. Take it that way. You'll have more fun.

 

Take Me Down Below

It's good. And by "good", I mean that "Uh! All Night" good. That "Love in an Elevator" good. That "Let's Put the X in Sex" good. THAT good. Remember "Room Service"? Yeah, it's like that. Only now you're 50. Psst, KISS... sometimes 12 should be 9.

 

Last Chance

Another middle of the road good song. I won't tell you that it's better than "Shout Mercy" or "Wall Of Sound". It's placed correctly at the end of the record. It's has that feel. You'd think that a bombastic '70s band would always have that bombastic clché ending. That's a quirk of many bands. KISS has never been like that. Even when the closing songs are among the strongest, ("Do You Love Me", "Black Diamond", "I", "War Machine") there's a coda which tempers the ending. Anyway- it's a good song.

 

Final thoughts: Those tracks that I heard going in left me a little more disappointed in the songs that didn't match up to those. So maybe my expectations were high in that regard. But Monster is DEFintinely a stepping stone on top of the last . Which is really good. Starting with the slipshod cash-in effort of Psycho Circus; if Sonic Boom was 50% better than that, then Monster is easily even 50% better.

 

Again, it all comes down to timing. The cd holds more information than the vinyl, so now we have to "give the people value" by filling that info-void. I say bullshit. Cut three of these songs, and KISS would have a near-classic.

The Mountain Goats - Transcendental Youth

To be fair, I'm only familiar with a few of the 25 or so albums that John Darnielle has put out with the Mountain Goats. But this seems to be a wider reaching effort than I've heard before. Generally, John is known for his descriptive lyrics. And there is no lack of that here.

The words stay true to the Goats' past. Frustration, fear and loathing in the fast lane. But musically, it seems more dynamic that the usual indie-folk acoustic fare. The opening track has an almost retro-pop vibe that could be a GBV song if it had more distorted guitars and a throatier vocalist. From there, we get a desolate piano ballad and a horn soaked hacienda.

It cools off a while in the middle. The strength of the first few tracks overshadow the storytellng vibe that John is known for in general, alhough here it is too subdued. There's no chous-riffic chant of making it through this year if it kills you.

The closer title track is a last ditch saving grace in this relatively short collection. It brings back the horns amoungst a light shuffle to give a perfectly Christmas-jazz feel. Maybe it's just cold outside and maybe I'm too old. But I certainly wasn't transcended. (2.5 of 5 stars)

Murder By Death - Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon

The new one by a Bloomington favorite, "My Hill", sets the tone as something way more dark than the whiskey soaking that we started at with MBD's last release. The band stays with a less-celebratory feel throughout. The old country folk storytelling is still there, but we're not getting the yarns about waking up in your own drunken piss. Instead, we get Cold Mountain descriptions of walking through the woods to find a home or a love.

And that's still fine. "Straight at the Sun" still gets the listener going with trotting bass line. And then "I Came Around" - while taking place a a funeral, still turns itself to celebration of a life that was only appreciated once it was gone.

But the remainder, while good, is still more of the same. MBD haven't transposed their spaghetti western epic into anyhing that's thematically broader. I like the sounds, but the songs still never climb out of the ditch dug by the ditch-digging protagonist. My advice is to pick up your cello and hit the city lights. (3 of 5 stars)

The Whigs - Enjoy The Company

Ridiculous album cover aside, the Whigs step up their game to poise themselves as the new Foo Fighters. And that's a simplistic comparison, but you won't help to add two and two together to see that the timing of FF's retirement couldn't have been better for this Athens group.

I'd be hard pressed to ever say that you should start your experience to a band or an album with an eight minute song, but the fact is "Staying Alive" is a key highlight to this record. It starts with a Von-Bondies style slick-garage feel and then jams into familiar stadium rock. Except then they add a horn section. It breathes a fearless breath in what could otherwise sound formulaic.

"Summer Heat" too, while simplistic, is a memorable hooky rock jam straight from some eighties FM Top 40 rock list. I'm gonna bet that Parker Gispert owned an Everclear record when he was young. But the Whigs swing back into indie territory once in a while. "Couple of Kids" has a preciousness about it while still being a quality rock tune.

Get behind the band right before they kick over to mainstream success. When the band gets some more money behind them, it's sure to get even better. (3.5 of 5 stars)

Bob Dylan - Tempest

The first strains of the 35th Bob Dylan studio album excitedly feels like something was caught in a field recording in the 1930s. But seconds later, the song kicks in and it's suddenly clear that it's 2012 again. But don't get the wrong idea, as "Duquesne Whistle" kicks the album off, you can tell that while this Dylan is the aged Dylan; the production and the musicians accompanying are top notch.

An old-timey country western feel and a room that must be a group of guys playing together. "Soon After Midnight" furthers this feel, this time in a slow romantic waltz. And it doesn't matter that Dylan's lyrics this time lean to the simple- the desire is the point. This is also true of the favorite "Long And Wasted Years", which is a quick and dirty tale of a man catching up with a lost love. You soon, though, begin to wish that Bob had kept this simplicity concept in lieu of the direction he went.

The album has a live feel of a band that are bringing classic tales from the turn of the century up to the present. It's not always my cup of tea, though. "Narrow Way" kicks off the sufferage from what is a common Dylan complaint; too many verses. Verses that are all separated by a common chorus and the result is insanely repetitive.

And that is not the only epic here. The western short stories "Tin Angel" and "Scarlet Town" average eight minutes. And the 14:00 title track is about the sinking of the Titanic... the movie version. It even says, "Leo took his sketchbook..." As good as you think a folk shanty might be executed, it still has nothing that the listener could relate to. A misstep to be sure. Another seemingly untimely tribute is "Roll On John"- which is indeed about the 25-year-passed death of John Lennon. An odd subject choice.

Dylan's latest is nowhere near the 5-star classic that Rolling Stone magazine dubbed it. And with all of that excellence that I was praising earlier about the band and production- the album fails to make itself dynamic as he has done with his previous few albums of this millennium. Once you realize this, it gets a little stagnant. It's rare to say this, but Dylan could have used an editor. (2.5 of 5 stars)

Two Gallants - The Bloom and the Blight

One of my favorite groups ever. A duo from the Frisco bay, their guitar/drum attack has never been much harder than aggressive folk. No kind of play on the kind of Black Keys or White Stripes blues or alt-rock scene. But not Alt.Country either. Even while Adam's guitar was amplified acoustic mostly, his vocals have a punk rasp about them. And he screams way more than he howls.

This album takes quite a turn. Maybe the Two have seen some kindred spirit in the Keys and have been disenchanted by their arena-rock turn to superstardom. But they learned a thing or two about volume, if nothing else. Tyson is pounding his drums with anger unseen before and Adam's guitar is now being pushed through some effects tube and a bigger amplifier.

But dumbing down, nor selling out is this.The Two still spin the log-winded yarns about the weary trail rode by those who need only the road. The loves lost and the green eyes of the fair maiden that haunt and comfort their dreams.

A couple tracks, "Decay" and "Broken Eyes" stay acoustic and lilting. The former a sad dirge and the latter something more akin to Pearl Jam's "Just Breathe". But the remainder of the album rocks. It strays from being perfect however. "Winter's Youth" doesn't add anything lyrically to the age old adage of aging. And "Willie", which will clearly be any inebriated audience's favorite shanty sing-along, is little more than mere silly fun.

The Two Gallants bloom more than they blight, but even their scars seem somewhat prettier in the light. (4 of 5 stars)

Dan Deacon - America

While not altogether the biggest fan of electronic music, I decided to give this album a spin for a number of reasons. Dan's reputation as a dynamic live performer, his description of this album as being more "rock like" and the fact that the first song on the album is  called "Guilford Avenue Bridge" which I imagine is taking place down the street from my home.

And that first track does have some rock elements in it. i.e. Guitars and a driving backbeat. This is true of that first track especially, and on "Lots" which, if the vocals had not been distorted and muddled, has the pop melody chorus to make a radio staple.

The songs throughout have a dynamic construct that I don't feel like I hear with the other EDM I've ever heard. As if it were meant more to be performed than simply danced to. It's not as repetitive with the simple bass and obvious crescendos.

The last half of the album (or Side Two- if you like) is dedicated to a "USA" grouping; which is apparently a specific political message. And again, there is no descernable lyrics here. Just a soundtrack to images that you may conjure. This part lost me a little, because I'm a little ashamed to say, it was all a little too electronic for me. Those pop elements from Side One were gone in this passage.

So if Deacon is on the whole, too experimental for my tastes- it's clear to see that his intention is performance-driven and that he has the goods to express himself and get you on your feet. (3 of 5 stars)

Yeasayer - Fragrant World

Yeasayer is a good enough power-alt-psych-electro-pop group from Brooklyn whose last album Odd Blood got a pretty decent review from me. The may even get a shot on Nik's next album.

This album is a little different. Electronic machines still drone out odd rhythmic beats while synthesized sounds lay the be for a song that may have been Duran Duran or Material Issue if they'd had more at their disposal in 1984. But there is still modern dynamicism. "Blue Paper" for example, has a real interesting frayed guitar solo that could be Robert Fripp on ProTools.

The lyrics hold some promise with "Folk Hero Schtick", or "Longevity": "All the rain promises is to give life to the seeds / Live in the moment. Never count on longevity."

Praise aside, there is a major difference between this album and the last. Fragrant World has an odor about it. Odd Blood seemed more earthy, authentic- the vocals seemed more organic. This new one seems synthetic and processed from the airy distorted vocal to the plethora of blips and burps. The mess of "Devil and the Deed" is the worst example.

In the end, Yeasayer simply spend 48 minutes making more sounds than songs. And in Denmark, that doesn't smell right. (2 of 5 stars)

Steve Vai - The Story Of Light

While instrumental guitar virtuoso prog rock is not for everyone, it has its place. And the Zappa/Lee-Roth alumn is pretty much eschewing the straighter-jazz of his the former collegue and the pop-rock sensibility of the latter. This is heavy gospel.
 
Even in the musical passages, Steve is exploring the spiritual side of existence. Not his first time. Steve has had many references to the "Heatless Light" that he calls God. This gets much more explicit about it here. A cover of the gospel standard "John The Revelator" is a great crunch with a soulful vocal addition from The Voice's Beverly McClellan. The coda to that track may not work as well. "Book of the Seven Seals" goes for Southern Baptist spiritual feel, albeit a hard-rock one. And that's fine, but the gospel choruses are added in with a harsh clash.
 
When he rocks (to me) Steve is at his best. I've enjoyed Steve's ballads in the past. And if it was just his playing, I'm sure I would feel better about the slow tracks here. But "Creamsicle Sunset", for example, has an arrangement which gets way too New Agey to take seriously. But of those rockers, "Velorum" and "Gravity Storm" have riffs that could be parlayed into some awesome straight FM-radio jams. "Weepng China Doll" could be described as Epic Grunge, like a vocalless "Slaves & Bulldozers".

A duet with Aimee Mann rounds out mear the end of the album. A pretty acoustic number, "No More Amsterdam" isn't a pandering ballad at all. The vocals follow the acoustic minor key melody and there's a darkness to it. Vai certainly runs the gamut of emotions on this record and his playing is impeccable. I think though he would benefit from a writing/producing collaborator. (3 of 5 stars)

Buffalo Killers - Dig. Sow. Love. Grow.

Cincinnati's Buffalo Killers are being a little disingenuous throughout their career. Start with their name first of all. How many buffalo are you actually slaughtering on the streets of Cincinnati, really? They also paint themselves up as a psychedelic rock band. Hippy-dippy body paint and all. But they are really early '70s throwbacks. The time when psychedelic prints were traded for all-denim and the Rolling Stones sang "honky tonk".

The Black Crowes are an apt-ish comparison. We get a brothers outfit from both outfits. But BK are far less refined than that. But take the Crowes at their mellowist and simplist. But that doesn't have to be a dig. This kind of music could benefit from a garagier atmosphere.

But keeping in the Crowes analogy, you have to bring up the vocals. And while Chris Robinson is a fairly fantastic singer of the soul tradition- the Gabbard's come from a different tradition. Joe Walsh is the most obvious vocal neighbor. But the band also sights Neil Young as an influence. Both of these would be fine in their vocal limitation if you were carrying the funky riffage of Joe or the storytelling prowess of Young. But no such luck here.

No matter how many songs you title "Moon Daisy" or "Graffiti Eggplant" you're still doing very little more than telling girls how pretty they are. You need to dig a little deeper. (2 of 5 stars)

Testament - Dark Roots Of Earth

After having seen Testament open for Anthrax this past year, I was more than impressed with their performance. Particularly, Alex Skolnick, who has always been revered as a top metal guitarist, but this was my first real exposure to him.

Having never really caring for thrash in my youth, I definitely have a more appreciative ear now. And by all accounts, not just my own, Testament's new one is a quality true-to-form thrash metal beast. It doesn't quite get to the quality that the last Anthrax record soared to, but each song seems to top the other in form.

Production is fantastic, as brought by Andy Sneap, who has made a living for 15 years producing your more hardcore of acts. He brings out the best of the instrumentation and the drums are relentless. Skolnick, again, provides the best of the recordings. Fluidly soloing over the light-speed riffs.

The themes don't stray from conventional though. Not at all. Lyrics are generally either about standing up to your oppressors or being the leader on the throne shedding the blood of those who resist your awesome authority. Singer Chuck Billy was never the vocalist as much as the screamer, but he's still as good here as he ever was. Unfortunately, this kept me from embracing the album as much as I wanted. Even bringing in co-writer Del James on several songs did not do well enough to branch out the songs to be more lyrically dynamic.

Still worth a listen Also, give yourself the opportunity to look up the bonus tracks. Fantastic covers of Queen, Scorpions and Iron Maiden. (3 of 5 stars)

Slug Guts - Playin' in Time with the Deadbeat

I picked to listed to Australia's Slug Guts today based almost on awesome name only. That, and I was so bored with Gaslight Anthem's last record that I didn't care about hearing their new one. And based on the opening track, "Scum", I am totally okay with my decision.

The opener is basically a simple riff plugged over a drummer who loves the trash can-sounding china cymbal. And a singer who is equal parts Alice Cooper and Al Jourgenson. Other songs up the musicality of the rest of the band to varying degrees. The garage band licks and distorted vocal over double whatever echo you're normally use to hearing in noise rock bands.

 

Altogether, there probably isn't enough dynamics in Slug Guts' sound to garner any attention. Here and there. There is a "Rump Shaker"-like sax solo in "Moving Heat". And while "garage" is a good sound, it can be limiting. And the title track feels a little too close to the garage classic, "Li'l Red Riding Hood".

As a word-guy, the vocals get my goat on this record more than anything. He's got the Jon Spencer hoots and hollers down. But they are so very muddled underneath everything else and an additional layer of echo distortion. I could make out "This is what you want/This is what you get" being repeated over and over in "Order Of Death"- but that was the only thing intelligible throughout.

I like their sound in general, but they're not ready for albums yet. They need to start playin' in time with a producer. (2 of 5 stars)

Frank Ocean - Channel Orange

Frank Ocean has been a songwriter for the biggest names in pop. R. Kelly not being one of them, but I bring him up because I hear a lot of R's conversational style in Frank's songs. Certainly not the gangsta-smoove attitude, but the flow of the words and the lack of the traditional verse-chorus-verse structure. Frank Ocean is not your typical rhythm and bluesman.

Indie R&B ?

While a transplant in Los Angeles from his native New Orleans, the themes here are all California Dreamin'. Not that I want to paint a hippie-dippie picture of the songs here at all. Frank pretty much regrets everything that's ever happened to him. But he laments uniquely.

"Sweet Life" has him describing the life of an upscale protagonist who apparently can't see the forest for the trees. "You’ve had a landscaper and a housekeeper since you were born / So why see the world when you got the beach" He can be interestingly descriptive in a unfamiliar way when the main point is still the pop truisms of: I love you, I miss you, I dream for something better.

And frankly (pun not intended) some of this kept me from connecting fully with the songs. "Crack Rock" is a fantastic mellow jazz party, but what do I know of smoking crack and killing cops. Songs about parties at mansions in the Hills and stage diving Dalai Lamas. It's certainly clever and performed well, but there's a reason I dubbed it "indie" before.

I did get to be wow'ed before the album ended with a couple of tracks. "Bad Religion" which gets to mourn unrequited love in the back of a cab. And "Pink Matter" which I may have dismissed for its philosophical musings with Sensei. That is until Andre 3000 comes out of nowhere to rhyme a perfect interlude.

Frank is going to get great accolades... and not just for his open letters. He's a unique voice in R&B. I would certainly like to see him mix his lyrical ambition with something more stylized on the musical side than the spare production that he gave here. But he'll have a big future... or he'll go the way of Cody ChesnuTT. (3 of 5 stars)

Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan

Dirty Projectors are a Brooklyn hipster band with a plethora of recorded history behind them as well as a city population of previous members. My sights on them have always been diverted from my prejudice against the hype (and their silly name). Gotta say... I'm kicking myself for letting this pass me by but am also excited to know that the discovery period doesn't have to end very soon. This, y'all, is a great record.

I'll kick it off with my first exposure, a song called "Gun Has No Trigger". And as odd as it is, is still one of the most commercial of all of the songs. With its vocal background, it's almost completely a capella. But as the bridge moves into the chorus, it stays simple and small but is still somehow huge and swooping.




The most-oft singer, Dave Longstreth, follows a path of many indie rock bands. Some go overtly cutesy, the others go his way. He probably has no real control over his own voice and compensates by maneuvering to absurd melodies that serve to contrast the music underneath. This would be an insult if the music underneath was trying to be astute, straight ahead, rock or pop. But it's not.

The music underneath is just as adventurous. Mostly on the rhythm front. While listening for 15 seconds, you might hear just *mess*. But in reality, the songs have verses that move to bridges that move to choruses. And when you get to each section, you know you're there. It's just that you're not getting that 4/4 backbeat to make you Soul Train as easy to rock down the runway. "See What She Seeing" is a perfect example of this. While over one of this crazy beats, the first verse gets to run over a bent & flattened guitar riff. Same riff in the second verse, but this time is performed by a delicate string ensemble.

And even if the rhythm and melodies are odd and fight the average listener, the songs are still classically written. The themes are still love, loss, disappointment, desire. There's a lot going here. It's almost overwhelming. But it works. (4 of 5 stars)

"I ran across cyanide plains

Mind like a prison cell
But feet untethered and sane

I wandered out hopeless and sad
No thought of where I'd go
Or how I'd ever get back

There is an answer
I haven't found it
But I will keep dancing till I do"

Stevie Jackson - (I Can't Get No) Stevie Jackson

Stevie is a member of Belle & Sebastian, a Scottish indie-pop group that I know by reputation without ever having listened to them. This is his first solo album. It runs the gamut of indie pop clichés. Very wordy, crisp-clean production, lots of references to other beloved musical memories and a strong influence of one of two classics. In Stevie's case, he is channeling the Beach Boys more often than not.

In comparison, a similarly indie pop release from a few years ago by Canadian band Sloan chose the Beatles as their fave muse. If you're not reminiscing either of those two bands, then either you're not indie pop or, congratulations, you're not so cliché. I loved Sloan's record, even if it did feel like Abbey Road II,  and was not as big a fan of this.

Most of it is Stevie's voice, which sounds like Glenn Tilbrook was trying to be especially overtly cutesy. Like he's doing an impression of a kid. That's a personal taste thing, but for this tight of a production where your vocals are so ahead of the mix, I would rather you have balls. "Try Me"  is a great example of this. What could have been a raucous send up of Elvis Costello instead sounds too precious. Like the Wiggles were really letting loose.

Lyrically, Stevie is also entirely too cutesy. He includes two different songs about the teenage pitter-pat of the heart when deciding to express your feelings to a girl. One via telephone. The other via E-mail. And like I said, he throws out more references than Okkervil River or The Hold Steady on their best days. Shouting out the Beatles a couple of times, Love Unlimited, Gamble And Huff. Even the album title is a Rolling Stones quip.

The Beach-Boys-instrumentation efforts are actually the most valuable part of the record. Jackson can clearly construct a song. I just wish he'd have collaborated with a different singer-songwriter than doing his own album. (2 of 5 stars)

Chain & the Gang - In Cool Blood

DC lo-fi garage rockers Chain & the Gang have disrupted Secretly Canadian's mellow roster for some crunchy guitar grooves. Chain is also trading in their overtly political stance of past records for some playfulness. "Certain Kinds of Trash" you just don't see anymore - for example. ("...ashtrays, porno mags, nylon stockings...")

Production is simplified to a heavy bass mix playing simple rhythms while guitar scratches some broken melody while Katie and Ian trade lead vocals. These kind of garage recordings often lose a lot of vocal nuance and the listener is left not understanding anything. Not a problem here. Whatever the Gang want to say, you will hear.

What they have to say runs the gamut from the fun to the simple. The aforementioned trash song and pornish song called "Heavy Breathing" would be examples of fun. And extended jam for "I'm Not Interested (In Being Interested)" seems unnecessary. This would be a fun band to see live and share some beers with; but you won't your blood won't boil for them. It'll stay cool. (2.5 of 5 stars)

Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...

Fiona Apple took another 6+ years to get out a full length record. A follow up to what I considered her masterpiece, Extraordinary Machine. (Although admittedly, I was a bigger fan of the unreleased online version). A good year of this delay was record-company based. (Time to get off the majors, Fiona).

Fiona turns away from longtime collaborator Jon Brion on this one and worked mostly with her drummer. And maybe that's the key difference in this album's direction. The lush orchestration of EM (especially the online version) has been traded for pared-down piano-vocal with rhythm accompaniment. Sometimes with jazzy results. Very little else included. Not a bad thing, just a difference.

Of course, I'm a words man and Fiona has never been a stranger to spinning a yarn. She seems to have a bottomless notebook of different ways to express disappointment and anger. Another difference with "Idler..." is that quite often, we see Fiona turning the sword on herself. Her lyrics describe a tone of insecurity and self-sabotage in a way that she hasn't explored a lot before.

"While you were watching someone else, I stared at you and cut myself"

"How can I ask anyone to love me when all I do is beg to be left alone?"

Don't worry though, she still tears into the occasional John. "Regret" is easily the most biting with its chorus: "I ran out of white doves' feathers to soak up the hot piss that comes from your mouth".

And then, after eight songs of ire, she gets downright sexy for the album's two closers. "Anything We Want" seduces with "I kept touching my neck to guide your eye to where I wanted you to kiss me when we find some time alone". And then on "Hot Knife", Fiona channels Gene Simmons while presenting a rhythmic lyric in the round that repeats to the climax.

I feel like I should complete this review with a Fiona-album-title-size poem. But that would take me six years. (5 of 5 stars)

The Future Of The Left - The Plot Against Common Sense

One of my favorite bands of the nineties was called Cop Shoot Cop. They were part of a small New York scene called "No Wave". This was post-Nine Inch Nails so the electronics and agressive angst was also employed in No Wave. But instead of the more direct NIN British influenced, No Wave took more of NY punk's feel.

This album by UK's Future Of The Left has a similar feel to that much of the time. It's agressive, it's politically preachy, but it's also got tongue-in-cheek oblique lyrics which express some cynical faithlessness in humanity. "Where were you when Russell Brand discovered fire?" is an example.

On the first single from the record, they succeed brilliantly. "Failed Olympic Bid" Other songs try to be too cheeky without completing a rational thought. "Camp Cappucino", for example, may have some anti-commercialism intent- but it comes off too goofy. They have the Clever Song Title thing down. (re: "Sheena was a T-Shirt Salesman",  "Robocop 4- Fuck Off Robocop") But only a good half is worth listening to. And about half of those are worth listening to again. That's not altogether a horrible thing, it just means that FotL is not necessarily good for 18 songs. Edit.

Even if it doesn't always land, The Plot... is fun and unique, and even in light of my NY-band comparison, this band is 100% British. The hone in and harness their writing capability. It's there. The Future have one. (3.5 of 5 stars)

Japandroids - Celebration Rock

If a more perfect opening track ever met an as-perfect album title, it "The Nights Of Wine & Roses" from Celebration Rock. "We scream like hell to the heavens".

A pair of garage rockers fond of big choruses don't just stop there. This whole album is a collection anthems that beg to be shouted by a club or even an arena full of summer-sweated kids just beginning to find out what it means to be alive. (And maybe also to old fogeys who can find their youth somewhere through the haze.)

There are a ton of "Oh yeahs!" and "All rights!" in this collection. But instead of it sounding sloppy, lazy or naive, it sounds like the righteousness of of the ages amoung all of those who have earned these expressions. As pure and true as when Chuck Berry called it out. But there are also plenty of thoughtful and unique ways of spreading this joy.

"We all cut loose our gold

'Cause we need fire and only kindling can it buy"

 

"Remember that night you were already in bed
Said fuck it, got up to drink with me instead"

In eight short songs, Japandroids take the best of what The Hold Steady, The Gaslight Anthem and The Thermals have done pretty well, amped it up and created an even bigger fire. A highlight of the year. (5 of 5 stars)

The Walkmen - Heaven

Alright... a lofty title for the band's seventh album. But you know me, I give benefit to the doubt. And of it. Or something.

The opening track is way different than anything I've heard from the Men before. Most telling is how up front the vocals are. Hamilton Leithauser's voice has always been a raspy-Dylan style and he has, probably out of aesthetic necessity, had it undermixed. That vocal push is matched with the lushness of the production. It is a distinctive pop-oriented change as opposed to the distortion crunch of "The Rat".

The pop tones continue throughout, but I'm not trying to make sound overtly sell-out-y. The songwriting is a bit simpler than the Men have employed in the past, but still shows a uniqueness. "The Witch", for example with its straight ahead brushy backbeat is a contender for sex jam of the year. And even though it's as trite as the day is long, when the title track pleads, "Don't leave me/you're my best friend"; this writer may be sold every time.

Not just pop, but a light folk takes up a good half of the record. And the whole thing is blanketed in an air of hopeful optimism. No shoegaze cynicism here. Enough to where I would like to question if Hamilton has undergone any religious conversion. Or maybe he just had a kid. That's always good to turn a rocker into a big ol' softy.

But while I'm surprised and its mellowness, and it's youthful positivity- I did frequently enjoy the songs coming out. I'm very excited about seeing them present this in an outdoor park. It will work so much better than a dark club. (4 of 5 stars)

Riverboat Gamblers - The Wolf You Feed

This was initially sold to me as "garage revival"; and maybe the band was at some point. While new to me, they are a decade old. And have had as many members through the proverbial band door. This is not garage rock by any stretch. It's - for the most part - punk rock. And decent, too.

Not pop punk per se, but it's also not the rawest thing you've ever heard. The production is clean, the melodies are distinct.

A couple of highlights include "Comedians"- where the Gamblers polish it up just enough to bring a bounce to their step. The opening chords sound like Kings of Leon, but then the song flows between a modern Thermals and some classic Walkmen. Also "Gallows Bird" with its monotonous beat and lyrical repetition is still awesomely sloppy, like they were playing in the bowels of a slave boat during a storm with a drunk piano player.

On the other hand, they polish up way to much on "Heart Conditions". This sounds too much like a Von Bondies cover, whom I like; but the addition with the rest of the collection here is a forced manuever. Conceptually the same argument can be had for "Loser Neck". Except that it sound like Mike Ness is fronting Better Than Ezra. But, two boners aside, this is still a decent collection. (3 of 5 stars)

Beach House - Bloom

I knew I would regret this as soon as I saw the glowing review on Pitchfork. That hipster shit has never reflected my tastes. But, I've heard some other things that their previous releases, while growingly successful, seemed lazy to other people. And that this one is more fully realized collection with wider-scoping production.

I still call bullshit.

The same ethereal-voice Casio-tone synthesizer is in play from beginning to the bitter fucking end. And Victoria's wispy vocal is so boring, it makes Carly Simon sound like Lemmy. I don't know how much more I can say about how little this album has to offer.

If this were just a dull delivery with some diamonds-in-the-rough songwriting, then I'd be more forgiving and at least two-star it. But no. Take for example, "The Hours". They dream up some lyric, "Can I wait the hours until you find me?" like some Castlevania princess. And then just build lines around other words that rhyme with "hours". "Climb up to the tower" / "Violence in the flowers". Don't get me wrong- lots of pop music does get trite with their rhymes. Good pop does it well. Beach House just don't try.

And a hidden bonus track? Really? Is this 1995? Fuck you. (1 of 5 stars)

Silversun Pickups - Neck Of The Woods

While I skipped their last release, The SPs debut was a relatively pleasant throwback to the Smashing Pumpkins. "Lazy Eye" and "Melatonin" are good jams and I've seen the band put on a good show. But I'd be surprised if the dynamics of this band grow to make them a favorite though.

A couple of the songs on this new record, though, are expanding for the straight Alt.-Rock format and delving into programmed percussive elements. I assume that Radiohead is an influence, but that level of the game is clearly never accomplished. Actually, one of these, while one of the most boring tracks on the album is one of my favorites. "Here We Are (Chancer)" is stable, monotonous and recalls a VHIII track to me. But the bass line slinks around enough to sexy up a groove in a song where nothing else is moving.



On the other hand, another of these electro-tracks seems to be ripping off Depeche Mode. And not in an inspired-by-cool way. But rather a straight lifting of a melody and stylistic production. See if you don't agree.
The closing track, "Out Of Breath" is indicative of the entire record. It's got riffage, it's got promise. But the production is completely neutered, the lyrics too oblique and wasted. And if Brian Aubert's vocal range is a little limited, that doesn't excuse the lack of dynamics. One of the great parts of "Lazy Eye" was that as soon as you get complacent with the general groove, it explodes. There are no explosions - or even fireworks - in this neck of the woods. (2 of 5 stars)