Matt Pond PA "Several Arrows Later" (Altitude) Sounds like: Bouncy indie-pop with shades of sadness, yet without the depression. A-
There are two primary things working against Matt Pond PA. Firstly, the band, fronted by Matt Pond himself, has had its music featured on the indie hype wasteland that is "The O.C." Secondly, iTunes describes their new album "Several Arrows Later" as "easy listening." Yet, Matt Pond PA somehow overcomes these obstacles to deliver a satisfying fifth full-length release.
"Several Arrows Later" opens with "Halloween," a track that wouldn't be out of place on a certain primetime teenage drama. Nonetheless, Pond, slyly biting the hand that feeds, decries the emptiness of popular culture, pleading, "Can we leave before it gets bad?"
Luckily for the listener, it doesn't really get that bad. In fact, it gets downright danceable during the album's title track. Such similarity to The Killers is intermittent; "Several Arrows Later" melds catchy indie-pop with subdued emotion. The atmospheric hum of cello, violin and keyboard results in lush harmonies throughout the album.
It's the skillful use of these instruments that differentiates Matt Pond PA from myriad similarly sounding bands, all of which are trying to jump on the hipster bandwagon. Even with the aforementioned skill, however, Matt Pond PA wears its heart on its sleeve and still avoids falling prey to both clich?s and repetitiveness.
In "The Moviegoer," one of the album's catchiest tracks, Matt Pond PA invokes the serene sensibilities of Travis, mixed with the straightforward melodies of The Strokes. Pond worries, in his vaguely trembling voice, "I don't know if this is right." Don't worry, Mr. Pond. "Several Arrows Later" pretty much hits the mark.
-MIA STEINLE
T. Raumschmiere "Blitzkrieg Pop" (Novamute) Sounds Like: Generally uninteresting German electronica auf Englisch. C+
It may not be love at first listen, but T. Raumschmiere's fourth album, "Blitzkrieg Pop," is an "interresant" find. Through his electronica style, T. Raumschmiere uses a synthesizer to create musical choices that work half the time and flop the rest. The songs on this album are about equally divided between catchy and engaging and boring and tedious.
On the first listen, the album's flow is choppy. It begins with the quicker beat and wailing of "Sick Like Me," then eases into "All Systems Go," a four-minute track without vocals and lacking a complex or significant pattern. "All Systems Go" is a bit disappointing, not to mention sleep inducing. The next song, "Untitled," offers more tedium with a minute and eight seconds of noises so simplistic that it seems as though T. Raumschmiere was trying to reach a quota of time on the album rather than express any kind of artistic merit.
"Rumpelkammer" is similar, a fast paced pulse with robotic sounds in the background - nothing too inspiring. Almost every other song in the album is as uninteresting. While produced by a German composer, the album is entirely in English and only embodies some of the dark and scary themes traditionally characteristic of German music.
This album was nicht gut, aber nicht schlecht (not good, but not bad). Despite the few snooze-fest tracks, other songs featured on "Blitzkrieg Pop" are definitely worth the listen based on their catchy beats and melodies and their unique lyrics. However, this experience is not worth splurging your textbook fund. Download the songs on Napster. Consider "Sick like me," "A Mess," "A Very Loud Lullaby" and "Blitzkrieg Pop."
-AMANDA GLENSKY
The Coral "The Invisible Invasion" (Sony International) Sounds like: The Doors, but on a little less LSD, unfortunately. C
At the start of the new millennium, several bands became very popular with simple, catchy songs that were obviously good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll. There was also a steady influx from around the world of groups with names starting with "the."
While some of these bands had staying power and others did not, the invasion didn't last too long. And by the time some European groups were picked as ripe for the States, it seemed as if they were invisible after being received here.
Thus we have a new album from British group the Coral, entitled "The Invisible Invasion." They sound very much like the Doors. Not only does vocalist James Skeely sound undeniably like the Lizard King, Jim Morrison, but the band also features the distinctive B3 Hammond organ, used throughout the '60s and famous for that amazing middle section of "Light My Fire." When the band is sounding like pop from four decades ago (which is most of the album), the album is pretty good stuff.
However, there are too many bland solos and repetitive verses where the band actually sounds bored with what they are playing. On the other hand, the song "So Long" works well, harkening back to "If You're Feeling Sinister"-era Belle & Sebastian. Also enjoyable was the single "In the Morning," which is bright and poppy enough to do well on British radio.
They aren't completely bland (how could they be with lyrics like, "Can you dance with the lepers in the madman's house?"). But when repeated enough, even dancing lepers can lose some of their flare,.
-JOSH KRAMER
The Pussycat Dolls "The Pussycat Dolls" (A&M Records) Sounds like: A late-'90s TV reality showgirl group. B+
In a society where women crave the feel-good images of the faces of airbrushed models, music has come to conquer. Enter The Pussycat Dolls.
With the idea of female empowerment in mind, the songs on The Pussycat Dolls' debut self-titled album, released Sept. 13, are meant to leave an impact on attitudes and on the music industry.
The group's first hit, "Don't Cha," opens the album with its motivational lyrics and upbeat tune.
"The line - 'don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me' - is meant to be empowering," lead singer Nicole Scherzinger said. "The Pussycat Dolls are not about just being hot, but also saying something with feeling."
Only slowing down for three tracks, The Pussycat Dolls maintain their intensity with get-up-and-dance songs like "Beep," and the remakes of "Hot Stuff (I Want You Back)" and "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go."
Artists such as Will.I.Am, Busta Rhymes and Timbaland can be heard on the album, relieving listeners' ears of rather high voices and words of girl power.
Perfect to listen to before that long night at the club, The Pussycat Dolls are sure to motivate and give all women the feel-good image they desire.
-ASHLEY WILHELM
Cage "Hell's Winter" (Definitive Jux) Sounds Like: hip-hop in the vain of Aesop Rock and Atmosphere. B
Devoid of overproduced beats, annoying samples, lame catch phrases and superficial "bling-bling" characterizing mainstream rap/hip-hop, Cage's new album, "Hell's Winter," is a breath of fresh air. Featuring guest appearances by members of Yo La Tengo, former Dead Kennedy and punk rock activist Jello Biafra (as "Dubya" on the track "Grand Ol' Party Crash"), Aesop Rock and Daryl Palombo from Glassjaw, "Hell's Winter" aims straight for the jugular with darkly emotional lyrics, a hard-hitting delivery, deep grooves and original samples. Clearly angry, Cage (a.k.a. Chris Palko) directs much of his fury toward his abusive, drug addict father as well as the current presidential administration. His anger and dark past provide for some very inspired lyrics that don't rely on clich?s or illiterate expressions to hook the listener into experiencing the kind of hip-hop that should be popular. If only the mainstream signed talent and not flash.
-ANDREW YONKI
The Hackensaw Boys "Love What You Do" (Nettwerk America) Sounds Like: A whiskey-soaked front porch hootenanny among friends. B+
Charlottesville, Va.'s The Hackensaw Boys is an eight-piece bluegrass/country band that met, fittingly, at an Old Crow Medicine Show gig. Like that band, the Hackensaw Boys play a gritty, rough brand of old-time mountain music for a new generation of country folk.
Parallels between fellow so-called neo-traditionalist bluegrass pickers the Old Crow Medicine Show (though both bands would understandably take issue with the label) ring true even after repeated listens in terms of tone and delivery (a sincere compliment).
And although OCMS has more impressive melodies and harmonies, the Hackensaw Boys have consistently better lyrics. They subscribe to the simple-is-better school of lyric writing, somehow cramming much meaning and - when coupled with the right delivery - much feeling into small lines. For example, "I knew in my heart/someday we would start/but now, it's work of the waiting," from the album opener "Sun's Work Undone."
"Love What You Do," the band's third release, hits every major stop on the bluegrass railway: the energetic and raucous fiddle/banjo driven stompers ("We Are Many" and "Mecklenburg County"), the slow and touching ballads ("Sun's Work Undone" and "All Good Dogs"), the working man blues ("Parking Lot Song"), and the sentimental songs about love and loss and a hometown ("Alabama Shamrock").Though thematically nothing new, the Hackensaw Boys succeed in making honest and genuine songs, which is, after all, the most important part.
Before they hit it big, opening for such bands as Modest Mouse and the Flaming Lips (and, incidentally, De La Soul), they were working stiffs like anyone else. From graveyard shifts at parking lots to busing tables at greasy spoons, the Boys did it, and translated all the accompanying feelings into their songs and playing.
-CHRIS DeWITT
Kanye West "Late Registration" (Rocafella) Sounds like: Leonardo finishing the Mona Lisa and then having some douchebag smear feces all over it. C+
The media conditions the public to believe Kanye West is the best hip-hop has to offer, a beacon of intelligence in a genre filled with gats and gin. His new album, "Late Registration," seems to pick up where the acclaimed "College Dropout" left off; another flimsily supported concept executed through crap skits, another barrage of awkward rhyming couplets and another Bernie Mac-aided introduction. But it's clear the main problem that makes "Late Registration" a disappointment is Kanye the emcee hasn't caught up to Kanye the producer.
There are highlights though. The opener, "Heard 'Em Say," which features the singer from Maroon 5, Adam Levine, is a melancholy way to begin such an exuberant album. "Gold Digger" layers classic Ray Charles (as played by Jamie Foxx). And Jon Brion, composer of such soundtracks as "I Heart Hucakbees" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," adds greatly to the mix with his lush arrangements.
Even discounting the bombs ("Celebration"; "Bring Me Down," with Brandy at her worst since season 5 of "Moesha"), what brings down "Late Registration" is mostly West's self-important rhymes.
Compare your album to the Bible, fine. But throw around lines that suggest you are on the same level of Jay-Z, and it's impossible to hold back a retort on your blasphemy. When Hova interrupts West's history lesson on "Diamonds From Sierra Leone," it feels like your parents finally coming home and rescuing you from the bratty teenage babysitter. Including his usual assortment of quotables ("I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man") and bravado, Jay-Z gives West a lesson in effortless wit and endearing cockiness.
In fact, most of the guests on "Late Registration" could teach a lesson to the emcee West. Grill-sporting Paul Wall's spot, in particular, tutors young Kanye on the skill of riding slow on the fittingly titled "Drive Slow." But it's Cam'ron who steals the show and the album on "Gone," which is easily the highlight. Cam's verse, supported by a jarring staccato cello and light pianos, is the picture of a rapper not taking himself too seriously (he begins his verse with a knock-knock joke, for goodness sake).
With "Late Registration," West has made a damn good instrumental album, with some fine guest appearances, at worst.
-DREW ROSENSWIEG
