Villagers - Becoming A Jackal

Not a lot going on this week. I almost made my review this week of new releases by Christina Aguilera or maybe even Hanson. But opted instead for an artist I'd never heard of before. Based only on the description of "alternative singer/songwriter" and "Irish".


Good thing. Because these are some well-written songs. Songwriter Conor O'Brien is certainly alphabetically close to Conor Oberst. But you would have resembled the two anyway. The latter being among indie-folk's most prolific entities this past decade. But beyond their love of wordplay, Villagers employ some of the dramatic build-ups of orchestration that I've recently heard from other British-isle exports like Frightened Rabbit and the Rumble Strips.

Having complimented that though, my favorite song is the mellowest, quietest one. "The Meaning of the Ritual" is a confession of our inherent selfish nature in the realm of love. A close second is the exploding "Pieces" - which starts out stark, with a minimalist clinking of a 1950's style doo-wop piano, but the dynamically shifts to a orchestration wall-of-sound overload; complete with Conor actually howling to a moon. It might as well have been followed by an excerpt of Paul McCartney singing about brushing his teeth or something.
(4 of 5 stars)

Gemma Ray - It's a Shame About Gemma Ray

A complete covers album by this neo-soul singer from England. The track listing is pretty eclectic, showing only 3 song titles (of 16) that I even recognize. Most tracks last under 3:00 and the production is altogether sparse. Apparently different than Gemma's previous soul works.

To that end, the "soul" end, I could hardly see how this Gemma would qualify. Her voice here is lilting and wispy. I could not imagine it carrying some soul backed effort, where some outward emotion is necessary. But Gemma sounds completely appropriate with her accompaniment here. Mostly a single guitar and the vocal echo chamber. It's clearly a distinctive eerie atmosphere, almost film music. To this point, check out the Mudhoney/Nirvana cover, "Touch Me, I'm Sick".

But if I'm not completely sold on these tracks, I'm sure I can revisit their original songwriters. "I'd Rather Be Your Enemy" has some drums thrown on it here, and sounds not unlike ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. But more than that, it was well written and I went back to country singer's Lee Hazlewood's 1971 version and found a gem.

On the other hand, Buddy Holly's "Everyday" becomes morbid and therefore, lyrically ironic. It's a shitty and obvious way to cover a song, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the impetus for this whole project. Because it is a successful effort, generally. But to take a ultimately happy song like this and turn it inside out just for the sake of doing so is weak. It's like when pop-punk bands cover '80s songs just to be douchey.

But that's a rarity on this record. It is mostly straight ahead mood music. Maybe you'll sit on your porch with rum runners and watch it rain. Or maybe you'll play while you make love to that guy who not-so-secretly hates you. Your tragedy becomes you. (3 of 5 stars)

Stone Temple Pilots

For their reunion album, their first in nearly a decade, the band get back together for probably the only reason that makes sense: They can't make anything else work. Sure, Velvet Revolver was successful, but Scott has clearly burned that bridge. For that reason, I'm going to assume that this album is going to sound hastily completed, with clichéd song structures that will exist more to feel familiar to the elder listeners than it will serve any progressive "let's be a band" purpose. They even told famed old-friend producer Brendan O'Brien to stay at home. And fuck, they couldn't even manage to muster up a title. But let's listen before we judge...

And from the first track / first single, I start to prove my point. Probably chosen because it hearkens back to days of greater risks. I have to admit, the line "You were my favorite drug even when we used to do drugs" is a good line worthy of the radio play it will surely receive. But other than that, it's fairly pedestrian and simple.

Not so of track two, which Weiland pushes well beyond his everyday range to great success. "Take A Load Off" also has an odd 6/8 time signature, so it falls around in certain places in a way that the listener has to catch up to. A much more satisfying boundary-pushing experience.

As we keep going, it's clear that STP are not above taking any chances, even if they don't stick the landing as hard as "Load". And sure, both may sound like Extreme song titles, but "Huckleberry Crumble" is some psychedelic storytelling and "Hickory Dichotomy" sounds like Aerosmith were back on the injectibles.

The absolutely awful "Cinnamon", which is destined for single release not on modern rock radio, but rather the Top 40 Owl City-friendly variety. A chorus which is nothing more than "Yeah- come on- come on now". This is matched with the "First Kiss On Mars" which sounds like the poppiest dreamiest Matthew Sweet track ever.

So, I admit that it's not as superficial as I would have originally expected. But on the other hand, I'm not going to give this a lot of listens either. Maybe I was hoping for more No. 4 and got more Tiny Music. That's all personal taste. Maybe you'll love it. (2 of 5 stars)

The Black Keys - Brothers

It's been two years since the Keys' last proper effort, but it's been a full two years. A couple of side projects (both of which I saw live) and the Blackroc collaboration (which I have yet to hear). And unlike that last effort, the Keys reign in all the psychedelic experimentation by adding themselves as producers.

And while there is only so much a blues-rock duo is going to perform, I can still say that the guys do not completely revert back to a simple guitar-drums combo all of the time. They still include some overdubs and some simple song texturing, but certainly nothing as distracting as Attack & Release.

"Everlasting Light" for example, is as brilliant an opening track as I've heard in years. Not even a riff. Just a 2/4 break beat to keep the hand claps going doubled with chugga-chug guitar that lays the bed while Dan sings with falsetto what amounts to a sexy gospel prayer. It's got a jesus feel, but chances are you'll be fucking to it. Trust me.

But Danger Mouse is still in the house, and there are a couple of songs that feel like hold-overs from the DM-produced record. A poppy-mellotron slow jam that does not work me at all called "The Only One"... But then on the other hand there's one I like a lot, "Too Afraid To Love You", which employs some harpsichord-voiced instrument. Which may not even be necessary, but I still love Dan's vocal delivery anyway.

So there are several great songs on here with an excellent old-school garage vibe. But there are 15 tracks over one hour. I say this a lot: trim down your fucking record. Songs start to bleed under a full listen. You'll remember that there's an instrumental and an Isaac Hayes cover but the listener will confuse them with other tracks. It's a small request, especially with how good this record is, but people will be more willing to buy their records if the percentage of greatness is larger. (3.5 of 5 stars)

The Dead Weather - Sea Of Cowards

Less than a year after their debut, Jack White's 2nd side project gets another full release of basement blues jams. Or in this case, the band probably riffed these out on a mobile studio in soundchecks and bus trips. It's all on youtube via a posted concert on the band's official site. Go look that up.

While reviewing Horehound, I mentioned my aversion to chick singers and apologized for that in any less-than-positivity in my review. It's not that Alison was ruining anything, I just assumed that I was experiencing some unrelatability due to her decidedly feminine poise.

This time... fuck that, she's totally ruining something here. She certainly get some kind of Jagger swagger and a genuine sexuality. Her vocals are gruff and fit the fuzz tones of the dirty bass riffs. But her songwriting is lazy. She's "mad", she's the tired old woman that wants to be left alone... Great, but the thoughts aren't remotely formulated enough to even call it a song.

The jams require something to sing along with- and it should inspire something more than "I can't hear you... but I'm gonna take you to my house so I can hear you." The best track, "Gasoline" isn't poetry, but at least it conveys the sexiness in the lyric with the sexy vocal she's delivering with.



For his part, Jack White doesn't play anything as incendiary as "Hang You from the Heavens", but he keeps the blues on a heavy footed pace. Although when he gets out the synthesizer and the sampler and the scratch effects, it gets a little self indulgent. Which is fine... because its a side project. (2.5 of 5 stars)

The Hold Steady - Heaven Is Whenever

The Hold Steady return with their next album about the sentimental love between music lovers. They also inch a little closer to crossover territory from a success perspective, which changes the production a little but not too dramatically. At their heart, THS are still a bar band like the Replacements on E Street.
The album kicks off with an almost-Black Crowes vibe on "The Sweet Part of the City". An excellent tune to kick off where we introduce the guys as regular kids who partied with other lovable people before they "got bored and started a band."

The best track avoids Craig Finn's sentimental stories of youth altogether. "The Weekenders" focuses on some adults making some questionable decisions in their secretive relationship. "In the end, only girls know the real truth" Here is also where you'll hear some of that crossover effort I was talking about. Nothing as dramatic as the Kings Of Leon shift, but it's still features more background harmony vocals that previous albums.



And there are a couple of straight up poppier tracks that take us out of the bar and into the summertime car radio. The most obvious example here is where the album title comes from in "We Can Get Together". A near-ballad pace where "heaven is the whole of the heart" and the riff is actually a repeated angelic lady-vocal choir. This is also the track where Criag's legendary shout-outs reach it's most fevered apex. In one song, he references Pavement, Hüsker Dü, Meat Loaf and others.

But don't let me scare you; the album is not far enough away from classic bar rock that the Steady deliver with excellent song writing. The closer, "A Slight Discomfort" toys with the 7-minute epic format, but comes across as sounding downright "Afghan Whig-y" which is pretty awesome. (4 of 5 stars)

Gogol Bordello - Trans-Continental Hustle

"Gypsy punk" is what they call this. And it seems like a tremendous amount of fun. Eastern European/Russian folk traditional base, with polka rhythms, lots of violin and accordion. Mix this with some punk swagger, blast it through a PA and get it produced by the guy who did Danzig and all of a sudden the Americans sit up and take notice.

You'll draw comparisons to another European-folk based act, DeVotchKa. I may side of Team DeVotchKa because of their darker mood, but I also feel like their music is more direct influence stylistic choice than Gogol, who often feels more kitschy, like a fun gimmick. Like The Darkness instead of Sword. I'm aware of my inherent contradiction, as DeVotchKa is made up of Americans and Gogol is made up of straight-up Russian implants. But still, listening to a whole Gogol album and I keep waiting to find out that Eugene Hutz is actually being played by Sacha Baron Cohen.

Eugene is the party leader here. And while you don't need the video to make this distinction, it's easy to see that his presence is a heartwarming and fun as Borat's native cultural dance on the streets of American ghettos. Even when singing about revolution and loss of country in his broken English, the triumphant will of the human spirit comes forth and you'll find yourself dancing arm in arm with your neighbor. It will make for a great live setting, even if it doesn't lend itself to multiple listens in your headphones. (3 of 5 stars)