August 2004

A Bag of New Albums

The Walkmen Bows and Arrows
After the Franz Ferdinand show in Philly, the DJ played "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division, "Say Hello to the Angels" by Interpol, and "The Rat" by the Walkmen. Do you want to know why? It's because they rock, dammit! Well, they don't 'rock' throughout the album. They have moments of superb slow-motion, and some laid channeling of Tom Waits. This is one of the most solidly balanced albums I've ever heard.

Camera Obscura Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi
This is my favorite band (see Concert Review) not named Franz Ferdinand. Swinging pop hooks combined with ironic and love-lorn lyrics (stronger than on their first album, which I also loved.) Were these guys to give their tracks to Erland Oye for a couple weekends, they could achieve a level of folk-ambience most only dream of.

The Vines Winning Days
Although writing this may mean all of Godzilla's hard work has been for nothing, I think I kinda like this album. Nothing on it will change the world of music. However, the somewhat psychedelic lyrics crossed with the rough 'garage' sound make for a better than decent young rock sound.

Keane Hopes and Fears
Another review to forever destroy my indy cred. I like these guys. They've made an album full of anthems - good, UK festival-style anthems. Had Keane been founded in the US, they would have been lamed-up to compete with the dorks in Train. Being from the UK (and not writing inane lyrics), they are Coldplay-light instead, which is not a bad place to start.

Polyphonic Spree Together We're Heavy
Sun Ra probably saw these guys in a dream one night in 1960 - a band of robed Texans singing songs praising the sun, and about how cool it is being alive. I dare you to hate them. It's impossible.

I pre-ordered this because the package included two DVD's, postcards, an autographed picture of the band (23 people!) and a large men's robe! The package had me drooling long before I listened to the CD. Oh man, it's one heck of an album. The first release from the Spree had the same mix of feel-good worship lyrics and over-the-top pop-orchestration, but felt incomplete. This new one, however, is complete.

Sons and Daughters Love the Cup
This band is better than the Vines. They are very cool.

I saw these four open for Franz Ferdinand on their American tour. I missed the first couple of songs, but the rest of their set was hella tight. The album, at only seven tracks, is more EP than LP. "Blood" and "Awkward Duet" are super excellent. I'm telling you, Scotland rocks in, like, a ton of different ways.

Manic Street Preachers Forever Delayed
I heard some of their songs on Radio1 over the past few months, and I thought I liked their sound, but I don't think I like them much at all. The lead singer sounds like the guy from Starship ("We Built this City"), and that does not come through over the internet radio. "A Design for Life" is a great song, but it's one of the few terrific songs in the collection. A "Greatest Hits" album should not make me feel like a jerk for buying it.

The saving grace of the record is the bonus CD with remixes of their songs by the likes of Stereolab, the Avalanches, and the Chemical Brothers. The bonus CD is cool.

New Order In Session(BBC)
First of all, I want to remind you all that the USA suffers without a BBC of it's own. A century of private radio stations have not left us with vaults of studio recordings by our best musicians. No, all we have is MTV's 'unplugged', which is a pittance.

Not being a big New Order fan from back in the day, this CD represented a sonic adventure to my ears. New Order is an outstanding outfit. The recordings of their own music is good, but their 'covers' of Joy Division songs leave me hollow. "Atmosphere" and "Transmission", while technically correct, are not nearly as scary as they should be, but I enjoy them nonetheless. "Your Silent Face" is my favorite of all ten.

Also, John Peel is amazing.