It takes about 5 seconds into one of the year's most anticipated indie releases to find a shocking revelation: this album rocks. Their brilliant 2006 record, Yellow Houses, was great for a lot of reasons - its atmospheric textures, its cascading woodwinds, its creepy meandering song structures - but it certainly didn't rock. "Southern Point" starts off with driving acoustic rhythms that could be from a Grateful Dead album, and when the drums come in you can feel the rhythm. The song moves through more drum transitions and a guitar freak out. Did any of these things happen on Yellow Houses? Not really. But it's definitely the work of the same brilliant band.
"Two Weeks" is a harmonic pop song based on a simple piano line and "Fine For Now" is a soulful mid-tempo rocker with a jazz rhythm for the verses. Four tracks in, there is more to remember and more to hum along with than anything they've ever released. It doesn't stop there: "About Face" is a gorgeous ballad that is as catchy as it is understated. "While You Wait For The Others" is bluesy rock that would fit on modern rock radio (that is, if they ever made room for a band that is trying and isn't named Green Day). There are some great atmospheric tracks here for the experimental-minded: "I Live With You" builds slowly to brilliant harmonies and crashing guitars before shifting back to being a symphonic ballad. If Van Dyke Parks collaborated with Jack White, this is what they would come up with.
This album feels like an already brilliant and accomplished band turning yet another corner. The idea of mixing Americana, electronics, and unconventional song structures hasn't been done this effectively since Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and this is every bit as good. Here's a contender for album of the year: get this album now.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Eminem
Eminem's first three albums were masterpieces of modern hip-hop but also landmarks of pop culture in general. After releasing a sub-par fourth record and several well-documented personal problems became apparent, he took a five year break. He picked the week before Memorial Day to sell his new record to holiday impulse buyers. Smart guy.
I really don't have much to say about this one, because if you know his past records there is really nothing new to talk about here. His music has gotten darker, more violent, more angry and ultimately less fun. His murder and rape fantasies went from comical to disturbing once we all realized this is actually his life he's singing about.
The album hits a nice stretch at the end with "Deja Vu", "Beautiful", "Crack A Bottle", and "Underground". However, you have to get through embarrassments like "We Made You" and "Insane" to get there. "Bagpipes From Baghdad" , the worst track he ever recorded, bases a beat around a you guessed it... bagpipe! "3 AM" would work if it weren't for his new faux-Jamacian accent in his rhyming (why?).
Anyway, if you are looking for a new pop record, go with Green Day. Skip this one and have a great Memorial Day.
I really don't have much to say about this one, because if you know his past records there is really nothing new to talk about here. His music has gotten darker, more violent, more angry and ultimately less fun. His murder and rape fantasies went from comical to disturbing once we all realized this is actually his life he's singing about.
The album hits a nice stretch at the end with "Deja Vu", "Beautiful", "Crack A Bottle", and "Underground". However, you have to get through embarrassments like "We Made You" and "Insane" to get there. "Bagpipes From Baghdad" , the worst track he ever recorded, bases a beat around a you guessed it... bagpipe! "3 AM" would work if it weren't for his new faux-Jamacian accent in his rhyming (why?).
Anyway, if you are looking for a new pop record, go with Green Day. Skip this one and have a great Memorial Day.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown (Part 2)
I have one complaint about this album: did you have to wait until you had 18 songs to record a new album? Does this make sense when you haven't released anything for 5 years? Release half of this back in 2007 and you would have made twice the money by now. Anyway...
10. "Last Of The American Girls" - Continuing the outstanding middle section of catchy pop tunes, this one destroys the Killers at their own game. A synth from the 80s and a bubblegum pop chorus. Again, put this on the radio and it will be catchier than the swine flu (sorry, too soon?).
11. "Murder City" - Green Day by the numbers. Keep them coming.
12. "Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)" - Does this sound like a rip-off of My Chemical Romance's "Mama"? Did Green Day just rip off the band who ripped off Green Day? Not bad, but Billie is failing badly at being "creepy".
13. "Restless Heart Syndrome" - How did this one not make it onto the last Guns N' Roses album? It has everything it needs to be on there: weepy piano intro, over emotive singing with octave jumps (yikes Billie), power ballad drumming, and lyrics about drugs. Axel Rose must be proud. I am ashamed to admit that I love this song. The last minute and a half has some epic thrashing. Good finish for the second act.
14. "Horseshoes And Handgrenades" - How long has this album been going now, three hours? They get their second wind of energy by combining their early roots with guitar riffs stolen from the Hives' "Main Offender". Billie goes into screaming and cursing mode here to deliver the wake-up call this album needed after almost an hour.
15. "The Static Age" - Another straightforward pop-punk song with a great chorus harmony. He is singing about videos, radios... who cares. It's Green Day. If you want profound lyric writing, Bob Dylan and U2 have new records out.
16. "21 Guns" - Another power ballad? Do you guys ever quit? Is this the fifth one? Do we need another protest song? The Bush era is over! I think this is an American Idiot holdover. Not good, not bad. This album just might be too much of a good thing.
17. "American Eulogy" - They try to replicate the multi-song epic success they had on "Jesus Of Suburbia" here. Fortunately, they pack it into less than five minutes this time and pack in anthems galore. I have a good time yelling along with "mass hysteria!" and "I don't want to live in a modern world!'.
18. "See The Light" - The repeated piano intro from the second track (that seems like days ago) implies that they are finally wrapping this one up. They saved one of the best tracks for last. This sounds like the kind of song fans will chant as they head out into the streets to start a riot. Knowing Green Day, that was probably the intention.
Bottom line: I absolutely love this record. If you don't like it, you probably think too much. It's good dumb fun. The lyrics aren't profound and this album doesn't break any new ground: who cares? I dare you to listen to it and not have at least a song or two rattling around in your head for a few days. Get used to it - this album is going to be everywhere for the next few years.
10. "Last Of The American Girls" - Continuing the outstanding middle section of catchy pop tunes, this one destroys the Killers at their own game. A synth from the 80s and a bubblegum pop chorus. Again, put this on the radio and it will be catchier than the swine flu (sorry, too soon?).
11. "Murder City" - Green Day by the numbers. Keep them coming.
12. "Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)" - Does this sound like a rip-off of My Chemical Romance's "Mama"? Did Green Day just rip off the band who ripped off Green Day? Not bad, but Billie is failing badly at being "creepy".
13. "Restless Heart Syndrome" - How did this one not make it onto the last Guns N' Roses album? It has everything it needs to be on there: weepy piano intro, over emotive singing with octave jumps (yikes Billie), power ballad drumming, and lyrics about drugs. Axel Rose must be proud. I am ashamed to admit that I love this song. The last minute and a half has some epic thrashing. Good finish for the second act.
14. "Horseshoes And Handgrenades" - How long has this album been going now, three hours? They get their second wind of energy by combining their early roots with guitar riffs stolen from the Hives' "Main Offender". Billie goes into screaming and cursing mode here to deliver the wake-up call this album needed after almost an hour.
15. "The Static Age" - Another straightforward pop-punk song with a great chorus harmony. He is singing about videos, radios... who cares. It's Green Day. If you want profound lyric writing, Bob Dylan and U2 have new records out.
16. "21 Guns" - Another power ballad? Do you guys ever quit? Is this the fifth one? Do we need another protest song? The Bush era is over! I think this is an American Idiot holdover. Not good, not bad. This album just might be too much of a good thing.
17. "American Eulogy" - They try to replicate the multi-song epic success they had on "Jesus Of Suburbia" here. Fortunately, they pack it into less than five minutes this time and pack in anthems galore. I have a good time yelling along with "mass hysteria!" and "I don't want to live in a modern world!'.
18. "See The Light" - The repeated piano intro from the second track (that seems like days ago) implies that they are finally wrapping this one up. They saved one of the best tracks for last. This sounds like the kind of song fans will chant as they head out into the streets to start a riot. Knowing Green Day, that was probably the intention.
Bottom line: I absolutely love this record. If you don't like it, you probably think too much. It's good dumb fun. The lyrics aren't profound and this album doesn't break any new ground: who cares? I dare you to listen to it and not have at least a song or two rattling around in your head for a few days. Get used to it - this album is going to be everywhere for the next few years.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown (Part 1)
Before I dive into the year's most anticipated rock album, let's review: 15 years ago, they struck gold with Dookie, a pop-punk record of songs about masturbation and pot smoking. As the decade went on, they actually grew as a band, even having an acoustic hit ("Time Of Our Lives") and releasing a brilliant pop record that nobody cared about (Warning). Their fan base dwindled, they were ready to retire to county festivals and "Where are they now?" shows, and then something miraculous happened: in 2004, they released a political rock opera. Not only did it sell 12 million copies and inspire a Broadway musical; it's actually song-for-song one of the best albums of the last ten years.
Could anybody have guessed 15 years ago where they would go? Wouldn't Pearl Jam, the Stone Temple Pilots, or the Smashing Pumpkins have been more likely candidates for biggest band in the world right now? How did Green Day pull it off?
Their new album, 21st Century Breakdown, answers these questions while showing that no part of their storied career was a fluke. They've continued to grow as musicians and songwriters in a way once thought impossible for suburban pop-punk artists. The new record has 18 tracks, so I don't think I'm going to get through them in one sitting:
1. "Song Of The Century" - Nice intro - they are trying even harder to play up the Tommy comparisons this time.
2. "21st Century Breakdown" - A piano intro leads to arena-filling guitars and a fun vocal harmony on the chorus. Pretty standard Green Day until the glorious Brian May-esque guitar solo toward the end.
3. "Know Your Enemy" - Here's the extremely catchy tune from the commercial. How many rock records this decade have had commercials? That's an accomplishment in itself. Great song, although using is as a first single masks the fact that they do try new sounds on this album. Oh well, just sing along with the youthful government hating. You can't resist.
4. "Viva La Gloria!" - Billie Joe on piano! What next, Jay-Z on banjo? Anything is possible at this point. Anyway, this song starts like a bad Neil Diamond ballad before the band comes crashing in. After that, typical Green Day fare (never a bad thing).
5. "Before The Lobotomy" - Now for Billie's next trick - high octave singing! He's on fire at this point. After another slow intro, the band alternates between ska riffs and punk chords with more lyrics about loosing your mind. The last part is a slower drag out sing-along - there's basically four songs put together here. Like "Jesus Of Suburbia", it holds together well.
6. "Christians Inferno" - The muffled electronic drum effects are the only surprise here. Otherwise, another great Green Day thrasher. Apparently, he doesn't like religion either. OK fine, they aren't winning any awards for lyrics.
7. "Last Night On Earth" - I'm waiting for Billie to drop a weepy piano ballad. Yes, here we are! This one is going to be huge. Every high school prom for the next ten years will play this track. "I'm sending all my love to you" - he just swung for the fences and hit it. This concludes the first of three "acts". The first seven tracks could have been an album, but we have 11 to go.
8. "East Jesus Nowhere" - Think Marilyn Manson's "Beautiful People" with less disturbing lyrics and better singing. Any time you rhyme "crucified" and "suicide", the kids are going to love it. The bass rhythm is actually danceable, courtesy of the always underrated Mike Dirnt. Another track that will probably be a hit.
9. "Peacemaker" - Combine Green Day with Latin music and pirate sea shantys and you have this flash of brilliance. I can't hear this one enough times. No other band alive can pull this off. The dramatic pause before the guitar solo and the background "hey hey" are the icing on the cake.
With this track in mind, I should mention this - there are a few things in music that are always reliably brilliant. Some examples are the Edge's guitar playing and Tom Waits' singing. I have to add one to their ranks: Tre Cool's drumming. I can't say enough about it. This band can't fail with that guy behind them.
Here's a good place to stop. I'll finish in a few days.
Could anybody have guessed 15 years ago where they would go? Wouldn't Pearl Jam, the Stone Temple Pilots, or the Smashing Pumpkins have been more likely candidates for biggest band in the world right now? How did Green Day pull it off?
Their new album, 21st Century Breakdown, answers these questions while showing that no part of their storied career was a fluke. They've continued to grow as musicians and songwriters in a way once thought impossible for suburban pop-punk artists. The new record has 18 tracks, so I don't think I'm going to get through them in one sitting:
1. "Song Of The Century" - Nice intro - they are trying even harder to play up the Tommy comparisons this time.
2. "21st Century Breakdown" - A piano intro leads to arena-filling guitars and a fun vocal harmony on the chorus. Pretty standard Green Day until the glorious Brian May-esque guitar solo toward the end.
3. "Know Your Enemy" - Here's the extremely catchy tune from the commercial. How many rock records this decade have had commercials? That's an accomplishment in itself. Great song, although using is as a first single masks the fact that they do try new sounds on this album. Oh well, just sing along with the youthful government hating. You can't resist.
4. "Viva La Gloria!" - Billie Joe on piano! What next, Jay-Z on banjo? Anything is possible at this point. Anyway, this song starts like a bad Neil Diamond ballad before the band comes crashing in. After that, typical Green Day fare (never a bad thing).
5. "Before The Lobotomy" - Now for Billie's next trick - high octave singing! He's on fire at this point. After another slow intro, the band alternates between ska riffs and punk chords with more lyrics about loosing your mind. The last part is a slower drag out sing-along - there's basically four songs put together here. Like "Jesus Of Suburbia", it holds together well.
6. "Christians Inferno" - The muffled electronic drum effects are the only surprise here. Otherwise, another great Green Day thrasher. Apparently, he doesn't like religion either. OK fine, they aren't winning any awards for lyrics.
7. "Last Night On Earth" - I'm waiting for Billie to drop a weepy piano ballad. Yes, here we are! This one is going to be huge. Every high school prom for the next ten years will play this track. "I'm sending all my love to you" - he just swung for the fences and hit it. This concludes the first of three "acts". The first seven tracks could have been an album, but we have 11 to go.
8. "East Jesus Nowhere" - Think Marilyn Manson's "Beautiful People" with less disturbing lyrics and better singing. Any time you rhyme "crucified" and "suicide", the kids are going to love it. The bass rhythm is actually danceable, courtesy of the always underrated Mike Dirnt. Another track that will probably be a hit.
9. "Peacemaker" - Combine Green Day with Latin music and pirate sea shantys and you have this flash of brilliance. I can't hear this one enough times. No other band alive can pull this off. The dramatic pause before the guitar solo and the background "hey hey" are the icing on the cake.
With this track in mind, I should mention this - there are a few things in music that are always reliably brilliant. Some examples are the Edge's guitar playing and Tom Waits' singing. I have to add one to their ranks: Tre Cool's drumming. I can't say enough about it. This band can't fail with that guy behind them.
Here's a good place to stop. I'll finish in a few days.
Monday, May 11, 2009
St. Vincent
First of all, I completely missed her 2007 debut record Marry Me, so the weirdness of this girl is hitting me like a brick. Her new album, Actor, is the kind of album that you can't digest in one listen. You play a track, you are completely bewildered and confused, you make it through the album, you play it again. I've repeated this cycle about 5 times in only three days.
How many brilliant musical ideas can one cram in to 39 minutes of playing time? The first track starts with a pulsing beat and what sounds like fairies from a Disney film chanting "paint the black hole blacker". Toward the end of the track, a distorted guitar rips apart the song, like Sonic Youth wandered into the studio and started playing Daydream Nation. Things only get weirder...
"Actor Out Of Work" reminds me of Arcade Fire's "Neighborhood #3": guitars buzz, the vocals soar, and angelic choirs rise in the background. This is followed by the dark swelling strings of "Black Rainbow", which would have fit nicely onto Scott Walker 4 if her voice wasn't so sweet. "Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood" is folk-pop with unnerving lyrics, and "Marrow" emulates Trent Reznor's sharp dance synths and robotic chanted choruses. After "The Party", a tear jerking ballad with upbeat piano work, the album closes with two dreamy orchestral ballads. Only Joanna Newsome can do this so effectively: sound like you are singing a fairy tale and still be downright terrifying.
St. Vincent's Actor is one of this year's must-have albums. It's one of those albums that initially sounds like chaos, but eventually you realize every second is planned and every moment is bursting with great ideas. If Fiona Apple recorded more than twice a decade, she could probably be making something like this by now. Brilliant.
How many brilliant musical ideas can one cram in to 39 minutes of playing time? The first track starts with a pulsing beat and what sounds like fairies from a Disney film chanting "paint the black hole blacker". Toward the end of the track, a distorted guitar rips apart the song, like Sonic Youth wandered into the studio and started playing Daydream Nation. Things only get weirder...
"Actor Out Of Work" reminds me of Arcade Fire's "Neighborhood #3": guitars buzz, the vocals soar, and angelic choirs rise in the background. This is followed by the dark swelling strings of "Black Rainbow", which would have fit nicely onto Scott Walker 4 if her voice wasn't so sweet. "Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood" is folk-pop with unnerving lyrics, and "Marrow" emulates Trent Reznor's sharp dance synths and robotic chanted choruses. After "The Party", a tear jerking ballad with upbeat piano work, the album closes with two dreamy orchestral ballads. Only Joanna Newsome can do this so effectively: sound like you are singing a fairy tale and still be downright terrifying.
St. Vincent's Actor is one of this year's must-have albums. It's one of those albums that initially sounds like chaos, but eventually you realize every second is planned and every moment is bursting with great ideas. If Fiona Apple recorded more than twice a decade, she could probably be making something like this by now. Brilliant.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
The Felice Brothers
I've found a Bob Dylan rip-off record that has all the fun Bob Dylan's new record was missing! In the same way Titus Andronicus put out a better album than Springsteen by ripping him off and injecting youth into his sound, the Felice Brothers Yonder Is The Clock is booze-fueled ramshackle alt-country at its finest. The lead singer sounds like a drunk combination of 60's Dylan and Tom Waits, and the band throws in touches of violin, accordion, and piano like they're writing this all on the fly. Check out the track "Penn Station" where the singer croaks and squeals about dying in Penn Station while his band comes stumbling and crashing in for every chorus. If you love alt-country and hate structured songwriting, you might want to hunt this one down.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Bob Dylan's Together Through Life
I've spent four days listening to it because I just wasn't sure how to review this. Is is possible for Dylan to put out an average album? I know it was possible in the 80's and 90's, when he went through his "please stop paying attention to me" phase and let his record label control his sound. But this decade has been too good to him. He has only released three records in 15 years, but they were all masterpieces, and Love & Theft actually stands alongside Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde, and Blood On The Tracks as his best work.
This career redemption can't last forever. Every song on Together Through Life reminds me of a better song he's done on his past few records. "Life Is Hard" is a dragging, unclimatic version of "Bye And Bye". "My Wife's Home Town" is "Someday Baby" with less hooks and wit. "Jolene" is about half as catchy as "Lonesome Day Blues". I could go on...
The accordion work and the light guitar riffs by Mike Campbell (of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers fame) make the album a pleasant listen, but the songs themselves are unmemorable. It's a worthwhile listen it you already have worn out the rest of his catalog, but don't get too excited about this one.
May is an interesting month, as Eminem attempts a comeback and Green Day attempt to rescue mainstream rock music (again). Have a good weekend.
This career redemption can't last forever. Every song on Together Through Life reminds me of a better song he's done on his past few records. "Life Is Hard" is a dragging, unclimatic version of "Bye And Bye". "My Wife's Home Town" is "Someday Baby" with less hooks and wit. "Jolene" is about half as catchy as "Lonesome Day Blues". I could go on...
The accordion work and the light guitar riffs by Mike Campbell (of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers fame) make the album a pleasant listen, but the songs themselves are unmemorable. It's a worthwhile listen it you already have worn out the rest of his catalog, but don't get too excited about this one.
May is an interesting month, as Eminem attempts a comeback and Green Day attempt to rescue mainstream rock music (again). Have a good weekend.
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