Record Review: The B52's - Funplex (C)

Funplex

Astralwerks
03/25/2008

Funplex is that giant box that catches your eye in the waning hours of Christmas Eve. It's that gift that's slightly obscured by the limbs of the tree that just by its size has to be the greatest gift ever given. You approach, cautiously, and the sparkling paper dazzles the senses. You take the card into your clammy hand, open the fold, and see that your grandmother has signed the bottom. Your heart sinks, because despite the exquisite trappings and the promise of grandeur, you know that it's just a huge box of underwear.

2008 has revealed a sad truth, the idea of a new B-52's album is far more exciting than the actual result. While "Hot Corner" is undoubtedly one of the great dance songs of the year, it is surrounded by a supporting cast weak enough to make Johnny Bravo into a star, even in his current-day physique. Fred Schneider is impossibly both under and over used… figure that one out. When his barking, flamboyant vocals are needed they seem auspiciously absent, and when totally inappropriate you can expect to hear a heartbreaking soliloquy while waiting anxiously for your cue to scream "ROCK LOBSTER!"

The true tragedy of this record is how close it came to actually being great. I can't overstress how fantastic "Hot Corner" and "Ultraviolet" are, being the kind of song that only the B-52's are capable of creating. They transcend genre and time, managing to be the kind of masterpiece that "Love Shack" echoed for both subsequent and prior generations. However, a single (or two) surrounded by an album's worth of filler doesn't impress, it only disappoints. While Athens' Finest released a career defining album only a week earlier, the B-52's have created a promotional single for a reunion tour.

Record Review: The Trews - No Time For Later (A)

No Time For Later

Bumstead Productions Ltd.
02/19/2008

The Trews first album since 2005, No Time For Later is good ol' fashioned rock at its best. The Trews have used the interim well, delivering thirteen excellent songs, with no filler whatsoever. The clean production qualities allow each musician to shine, while at the same time every lyric is clear. Colin MacDonald's voice delivers crisp, pleasant vocals with intelligent meaningful lyrics. The Trews excel at the ability to create interesting lyrical hooks, i.e. the chorus of "Can't Stop Laughing." Every song is catchy and memorable and fun to listen to. That's probably the reason why The Trews have gained a reputation as being one of the best live acts in Canada. Only the lack of a great deal of variety in style and tempo keep this album from getting an A+.

Most Anticipated: Ike Reilly - Poison, The Hit Parade

Ike Reilly releases a new record April 8th, only 8 days from now. After Sparkle in the Finish was so incredibly good, fans were a little disappointed in the direction that Ike and company took on the next couple studio albums. This album is all solo recordings, no Assassination to speak of, and if the track on Ike's web site's splash screen is any indication, this record could be as good as Sparkle. Look for the review right here.

Record Review: Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward (C-)

Get Awkward

XL/Ecstatic Peace
3/18/2008

As expected, Get Awkward roars out of the gate with the same intensity as their self-titled debut… unfortunately, that's where the comparisons seem to end. Gone is the raw, uncouth grittiness of just two years ago, replaced by over-produced, unoriginal teen-scowl rock. While Jemima Abegg still shrieks like a woman on fire, the subject matter becomes stale after a few tracks. The incessant whining and often cringe-worthy rants about losing a boyfriend, disliking a rival girl or all-night parties could be cute or even an interesting twist on an old idea, if Abegg wasn't so damn convincing. Instead of a slightly ironic twist on teen angst, the album comes off as legitimate teen angst, with lyrics pulled directly from a high-school girl's poetry notebook.

Not everything about the album is wrong, while it may rely a little too heavily on influences (if you're aching to get thrown in jail, take a shot every time that you hear Black Flag or Black Sabbath), Get Awkward manages to feel relatively original. Be Your Own Pet have written the soundtrack to a terrific mid-80's B-movie, unfortunately it's 2008. The songs are catchy, relatively enjoyable and most likely better when performed live, and therein lies the problem with the album. Seeing the band live is an amazing experience, hearing them through headphones leaves listeners largely unfulfilled. While it may not be as good as their debut, Get Awkward has its strong points and shouldn't be completely dismissed. Perhaps the band, and Abeeg in particular, should be viewed as Hannah Montana's evil twin.

Tour News: Set Possibilities for Springsteen

With Bruce Springsteen playing in Indy tomorrow night and Cincy Saturday night, it's time to look at possible set lists. The set for Milwaukee on Monday night is below, with the subs for Sunday night in St. Paul in brackets.

Main Set: No Surrender [Night], Radio Nowhere, Lonesome Day, Streets Of Fire [Darkness on the Edge of Town], Gypsy Biker, Magic, Reason To Believe, It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City (Milwaukee Only), Prove It All Night, She’s The One, Livin’ In The Future, The Promised Land, Cadillac Ranch [Waitin' On a Sunny Day], My Hometown [Backstreets], Devil’s Arcade, The Rising, Last To Die, Long Walk Home, Badlands

Encore Set: Loose Ends [Girls in Their Summer Clothes], Meeting Across The River (Milwaukee only), Jungleland, Born To Run, Ramrod [Dancing in the Dark], American Land

As you can see, for some reason the Boss threw in a couple bonus numbers for the Milwaukee crowd, and switched out six other songs. To anyone going to one of the upcoming shows, a show review would be very welcome.

Ad: Bruce Springsteen Poster - Magic

Record Review: The Presidents of the USA - These Are the Good Times People (B)

These Are The Good Times People

Fugitive Recordings / EMI
03/11/2008

These Are the Good Times People is chock full of the whimsy you might have come to expect from The Presidents of the United States of America. There’s hardly a substandard track amongst the fourteen on the album. That presents a problem for POTUSA though, as all the songs are equally whimsical. There are no real standouts like “Lump” or “Peaches” to push this one to the sales of their debut effort. The closest thing to a single is “Mixed Up S.O.B.,” which seems shifted out of its natural place to the front of the album, perhaps with single in mind. Even that might be difficult with some radio stations preferring not to play songs with that particular word, at least not as part of the titular chorus. It’s not that this album is bad. It’s just that with its somewhat formulaic whimsy rock it falls squarely between Cake and They Might Be Giants. Not that those guys don’t have fans, just that the popularity experienced by this band after their self-titled album came out has probably eclipsed anything they will ever do again. Occasionally they do get their head above water long enough to do something a little more interesting. The swing number “Flame is Love” manages to mix it up musically, and “Mixed Up S.O.B.” not only rocks but also connects with a lot of spiritually wounded men. All in all, this is a recommended record because it’s fun and a clear alternative to anything like emo. Just don’t expect to be wowed or have a life changing epiphany from it.. Sorry guys, you still can’t be naked and famous just yet.

Record Review: R.E.M. - Accelerate (A+)

Accelerate

Warner Brothers
4/1/2008

There's an excitement building through the first track of the album, one that seems to impossibly reach a climax mid-way through the second… by the time the opening notes of I'm Gonna DJ kick in, you may feel that your head is going to explode. Folks, R.E.M. isn't just back, they may have done something not seen since Bruce Springsteen released The Rising, they have made a career defining album nearly 30 years in.

The explosive nature of the album's opening tracks settles in a bit for the head-bobbing, almost Sonic Youth-esque "Mr. Richards," which blends beautifully into "Sing for the Submarine," a track that could have been a stand-out on the nearly flawless Automatic for the People. But, it's not just a track here and there; Accelerate is almost like a time capsule, a reminder of exactly what made R.E.M. great. Whether it's "Hollow Man" echoing Document or "Living Well is the Best Revenge" sweeping you back in time to Monster, this album is everything that an R.E.M. album should be: pitch-perfect college rock from a band that surely has to have finished that master's thesis by now.

An album without one single throwaway track isn't just a rarity these days, it's almost unheard of. Some of the greatest albums of the last decade, while no less impressive, have their share of mediocre tracks. Somehow, amazingly, Accelerate has absolutely none of them. The album is a consistent, cohesive piece of work without one single moment of disappointment. While band after band has attempted to follow in the footsteps of Athens' finest, aping sounds and guitar licks as if they were common property, we're finally given a reminder of exactly why it never really worked. There is only one R.E.M., and even though they seem to have been on hiatus since 1996 (face it, the last three albums didn't exactly set the world on fire), they are inexplicably back and better than they've been in decades.

To put it bluntly, Accelerate is a masterpiece… the jury may have reached a verdict for album of the year even before the snow has melted.

[editor's note - track order may vary]

Record Review: Flogging Molly - Float (B+)

Float

Side One Dummy
3/4/2008

“I’m a ripe old age, just doin’ the best I can,” sings Dave King in the title track of Flogging Molly’s new album. Closer to fifty than forty, King still knows how to write, play, and sing rock songs. Flogging Molly’s sound is crisp as ever, the lyrics are still poignant, and the Irishness just as Irish as ever. Filled with traditional rhythms and instruments, swirled together with electric guitar and hard rock drum lines, each song is invigorating in the way that only punk songs can be. The sound does appear to be a bit cleaner than in previous albums, the four years of working together since the last album definitely shows. They key transitions and rhythm transitions come off perfectly.

Highlights of Float include “Paddy’s Lament,” an unexpected rocker seemingly celebrating the end of hostilities in Northern Ireland, and “Lightning Storm,” a poetic sentiment about our own freedoms at home that comes with a warning. “On the Back of a Broken Dream” is the highlight of the album. It does the best job of expressing the overall theme of the record, that is to leave dead things in the past and move on to better things. Let bygones be bygones.

The last song, “The Story So Far,” is a bit weak. Much slower and than the rest of the album, it just doesn’t seem to be a fitting way to end it. Other than that, the only problem with the album is its very consistency. Each song, with the exception of the last one, is patently Flogging Molly. Flogging Molly seems to be concentrating on getting better at doing what they do rather than try to do something completely new.

Record Review: Alive in Wild Paint - Ceilings (C)

Ceilings

Equal Visions Records
3/18/2008

It's not to say that the recent output from members of Goodbye Tomorrow and Terminal is a bad record, as it certainly isn't… it's just not something to get terribly excited about. Ceilings is mini-van rock, perfect for the suburban soccer parent that hasn't yet let go of their youth, but isn't quite ready to settle into a nice James Taylor collection.

Musically there is nothing wrong with the album, much as there really isn't anything terribly right with it. Alive In Wild Paint have constructed a very palatable, if not completely unremarkable record that begs the attention of every fan of Train and The Fray. Notable producer Mark Trombino certainly isn't aspiring for greatness here, but rather seems interested in creating a collection of tracks destined to be featured in the background of teen-friendly movie trailers and the occasional episode of The OC. Don't believe me? Just tune into "Forecasting" at about the three minute mark and imagine it layered underneath a Mischa Barton's latest painful breakup.

While it isn't a bad album, it's certainly not a good one. Fluff after fluff, with the occasional pseudo-Jonny Buckland guitar riff tossed in for good measure, Ceilings is a masterpiece of uninspiring, white bread rock music. The track, "Everywhere, An Ocean," conjures up thoughts of what must have been every single throwaway track for Travis' The Man Who, while "Sleep With Your Soul In" could fit easily onto any Dashboard Confessional album.

Some suggest that Ceilings grows on you with each listen, to those individuals I doff my hat. Maintaining consciousness for one listen was difficult enough, but multiple spins must require expert training the likes of which I've never seen. Essentially, if Coldplay or Death Cab For Cutie seem to be just a little too edgy for your tastes, Alive In Wild Paint may be just the band you've been waiting for.