New Music Reviews
Reviews Archive |
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| The Jayhawks Music from the North Country: The Jayhawks Anthology  |
Son Volt American Central Dust   |
Rachel Taylor Brown Susan Storm’s Ugly Sister and Other Saints and Superheroes |
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| 311 Uplifter |
The Lonely H Concrete Glass |
Michael Carpenter Redemption #39 |
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| Crosby, Stills & Nash Demos |
Flipper Love |
Kate Voegele A Fine Mess |
The Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies)
Cage the Elephant: Cage the Elephant
Elvis Costello: Secret, Profane & Sugarcane
Dave Matthews Band: Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
Heaven and Hell: The Devil You Know
Kasabian: West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
The Meat Puppets: Sewn Together
Prince/Bria Valente: Lotusflow3r/MPLSound/Elixer
The Sounds: Crossing the Rubicon
Street Sweeper Social Club: Street Sweeper Social Club
Tinted Windows: Tinted Windows
Bullz-Eye Recommends
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| Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix |
Hell Teufelswerk |
Green Day 21st Century Breakdown |
From the Archives
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| The Jayhawks Rainy Day Music |
Son Volt The Search |
Rachel Taylor Brown Half Hours with the Lower Creatures |
CD Quick Takes
More QuickTakes / QuickTakes ArchiveMichael Johns: Hold Back My Heart
Nobody ever said you had to win American Idol to have a successful music career. In fact, each year more former contestants are finding a niche for themselves in some corner of the music business. Enter the latest of those, Season 7 alum Michael Johns, who used Idol as a springboard not just for popularity, but as a means to finally make the kind of music he wants-blue-eyed soul. Johns had been down the rock road before, his Australian roots bringing comparison to the late Michael Hutchence, among others. But it was when a phone call from his mom prompted Johns to follow his true passion, which was to sing the music he grew up on, and his path had suddenly been set out before him. Several years later, Johns has delivered a solid Downtown Music debut, Hold Back My Heart, with many of the songs being Johns’ co-writes with Dave Cobb. Falling somewhere between the music of his idols Otis Redding and Sam Cook and the sappy soul of guys like James Morrison, Johns has discovered a middle ground that could absolutely launch his career to lofty heights-though nothing is guaranteed in today’s music business. Coincidentally, the opening (and best) track was a song Morrison had a hand in, “Heart on My Sleeve.” Other standouts are the aching ballads “Fools Gold” and Heart is Weak” (the latter written by Diane Warren) as well as the bluesy boogie of “Little Bear.” As impressive as it is, though, Hold Back My Heart falls short of being a home run, but leaves plenty of room for growth. (LABEL: Downtown)
Michael Johns MySpace Page
Mike Farley
7/3/2009
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Big D & the Kids Table: Fluent in Stroll
Boston-based Big D & the Kids Table are still chugging along, with a tenth album in 12 years. Unfortunately that is all they seem to be doing, playing the same, tepid ska-punk that rolled out with the Third Wave in the mid-’90s, and hasn’t changed much at all in the intervening time. Third Wave Ska was much less political and much more pop, thriving on a dynamic hard rock attitude that made big names like the Mighty Might Bosstones and No Doubt thrive, and that dynamism is completely missing on Fluent in Stroll.. The call and response between lead singer David McWayne and the gaggle of rudegirls is entertaining at times, but McWayne’s vocals are bland as white bread and their reputable live energy is too diluted in the studio to capture much attention. Lyrically there is nothing more challenging than fare for teens and drunk college students at a summer fair. Perhaps that is the appeal of Big D; they are predictable but comfortable, undemanding but fun like sipping a watery American beer at your favorite local pub. Perhaps they are too similar to their contemporaries from the left coast, Reel Big Fish, who also continue to churn out the same old ska punk… both had well received albums in 2007 that tried to put a lie to “ska is dead,” but both 2009 follow-ups fall flat. Side One Dummy
Neil Carver
7/3/2009
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Passion Pit: Manners
Let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room, shall we? Manners, the debut album from Cambridge quintet Passion Pit, sounds a hell of a lot like MGMT. This is not to say that Passion Pit are thieves, mind you; with three keyboard players, a bass player and a drummer, there are only so many ways your band can sound, especially when your singer has a helium-soaked voice like Passion Pit’s singer and songwriter Michael Angelakos. So yes, the band sounds like a streamlined version of MGMT (a.k.a. they don’t dabble in psychedelia), but let’s not throw the book at them just yet. Indeed, Manners is a rather impressive melding of ’80s synth-pop with modern-day technique. Lead single “The Reeling” is stunning, a pop makeover of the Chemical Brothers’ “Star Guitar” with a monster cut & paste drum track. “Folds in Your Hands” has its roots in early ’90s house music, and “Sleepyhead,” with its fairy princess backing vocal line, is insidiously catchy. Whether or not it falls in another band’s shadow, Manners is a good first step; it will be interesting to see where they go from here. (Frenchkiss 2009)
David Medsker
6/26/2009
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Elizabeth & the Catapult: Taller Children
What do you get when you cross a classically trained but independently minded pianist with two folk/rock instrumentalists? You get a Joni Mitchell/Aimee Mann/Jenny Lewis hybrid, which is probably accurate when describing the music of New York City based trio Elizabeth & the Catapult. This jazzy alt-pop trio, fronted by singer Elizabeth Ziman, released an EP on their own in 2006 and then created enough of a buzz through touring that they were courted by major labels. But they ultimately signed with indie Verve Forecast, and the guess here is so that the group could maintain creative control, which is a good thing for all of us. Their full length debut, Taller Children, has two of the group’s best tracks from the EP, the bouncy and snarky “Momma’s Boy” and the dreamy, Jill Cunniff-ish “Right Next to You.” But there’s much more, with the rest of the LP continuing to jump between bouncy and dreamy, but Ziman and her cohorts deliver it all with precision and pizazz. Other standouts are the uber catchy title track, melancholy “Rainiest Day of Summer” and quirky “Everybody Knows.” (Verve Forecast 2009)
Elizabeth & the Catapult MySpace Page
Mike Farley
6/26/2009
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Amazing Baby: Rewild
When UK bands were crashing on American shores during the Britpop boom of the mid ’90s, it made sense that Pulp would have a more difficult time making the transfer than some of their contemporaries. Singer Jarvis Cocker’s lyrics were steeped in class warfare and bedroom politics, meaning that most American teenagers wouldn’t quite understand what it meant to live like common people. Flash-forward a dozen years or so, and Brooklyn band Amazing Baby, born from the ashes of several other Brooklyn bands, lets their Pulp flag fly on Rewild, and the results are intoxicating. Ringing guitar lines, breathy but deathly serious vocals and pogo-friendly drum beats abound, but Amazing Baby are no knockoff band; Pulp, for example, would never have written “The Narwhal,” though Supergrass might have. After enduring band after band of self-absorbed ninnies, to see a group like Amazing Baby actually enjoying themselves is a sight for sore eyes. More, please. (Shangri-La 2009)
David Medsker
6/19/2009
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Freeland: Cope
DJ Adam Freeland, recording under his last name alone, has finally released his second full-length album, CopeTM. Teaming up with Kurt Baumann for vocals and guitar work, Freeland stays well within his breakbeat roots while taking a romp through the many permutations of electronica and pop. With a full coterie of guest musicians, he creates an intriguing collection of songs that are more rock than dance, more driving than grooving. Influences abound: “Under Control” sounds like a perfect LCD Soundsystem track, “Rock On” is oh so Beck-ish, and “Silent Speaking” could be off of any number of Delerium discs… but all of this is a good thing. Freeland and Baumann tie it all together with distorted guitar synths and a constant energy that demands a fast car with a booming stereo and windows down, especially on “Only a Fool (Can Die),” which teams them up with Jerry Casale of Devo fame. At over six minutes, it is the longest and flat-out best song on the album. If there is any real weakness on CopeTM, it is the opening track, “Do You?” The listener has to get through this rather repetitive, non-melodic, simplistic opener to get to the good stuff, and this is unfortunate. It would be a shame to dismiss this very solid collection because one never got past the first song. Marine Parade 2009
Neil Carver
6/19/2009
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