R.E.M. "Accelerate" Warner Bros. Records Inc. Sounds like: An alt/indie roller coaster with clever lyrics. Grade: B
"Accelerate," R.E.M.'s newest record, may be the most aptly titled collection of songs so far this year. Its 11 tracks, clocking in at a puny 39 minutes, make up the band's 14th studio album and their first in four years.
Brisk opener "Living Well is the Best Revenge," sets the stage for the rest of this quick-paced and high-energy record. In fact, it isn't until the seventh track, "Until the Day is Done," that "Accelerate" begins to decelerate at all - and even that is short-lived.
Whether or not you care for the patented indie/alternative rock sound of R.E.M., there's a good chance you'll find something worthwhile. "Mr. Richards" and "Sing for the Submarine" have enough life to hold up the rest of the record on their own. Now add a dash of the sentimental and emotional "Hollow Man" and an infectious title track and R.E.M.'s got itself a pretty darn good piece of work.
Unfortunately "Accelerate," as a whole, recalls the sound of an earlier, 1980s R.E.M. a bit too much for its own good. Tracks eventually start to lack necessary freshness.
To R.E.M.'s credit, 14 records in and they've only now begun showing signs of repeating themselves. As a return to their indie roots, R.E.M.'s "Accelerate" is an incredibly solid album.
-ROB NATALE
The Kooks "Konk" Astralwerks Sounds like: Bubblegum hipster pop Grade: D
The Kooks' second album "Konk" falls short of expectations, victim of the notorious sophomore slump. And this from a band known for some of the best in music in 2007 with hits like "Na've." Their latest effort, however, relies too heavily on past success and lacks the ingredients that made their debut a hit: poignant lyrics with a catchy beat that's intermixed with jam sessions.
"Konk" is bubble-gum hipster pop ad nauseam. Though it deals with love and loss, the Kooks deliver the album without conviction or emotion - it's more an obligation to their contracts than a connection between fans and music.
"Gap" is the only redeeming track and the closest the Kooks come to a second hit, pairing Luke Pritchard's undeniably awesome accent with an equally fantastic jam session.
But, alas, the album never picks up, with "Love it All" and "Shine on" sounding as pop-y as their titles suggest. The tambourine makes it all sound far too much like Woodstock to continue.
If you're looking for a new album to rock out to, even moments of toe tapping, pass on the Kooks. Maybe they'll find their way back before the third album.
-MAUREEN MCCARTY
Micah Dalton "Pawn Shop" Rebuilt Records Sounds like: Soul and folk's secret love child Grade: B+
In Micah Dalton's third studio release "Pawn Shop," the Atlanta native creates an album that constructs a musically diverse sound teamed with lyrics drawn from a collection of short vignettes about a wanderer named Pawnshop.
The album features an array of instruments, which Dalton uses to keep the listener's ear interested. The opening track, "We Could Take the Backroads" displays an easy, acoustic feel and smoothly transitions into the more bluegrass-flavored "The Autobiography of Milton Burroughs."
Dalton's vocals get a workout in the album as he confidently explores his falsetto accompanied by a cello in "We Came Alive Tonight" and shows his raspy, bluesy side in "Rev. Ramshack Run." The majority of the songs could survive on the simplicity and honesty in his voice alone, but thankfully Dalton's songwriting matches his high-quality pipes.
The R&B influenced, funk-infused "Down, Down, Put It Down," shows off Dalton's considerable groove. Melodic guitar riffs and sweeping strings fill the closing track, "What Would I Do Were They Free."
"Pawn Shop" is an album full of mature sounds, grandiose themes and a taste of southern life. Dalton unleashes a variety of sounds but plays each style intimately, resulting in an album that, though perhaps not the greatest concept album ever recorded, is satisfying and heartfelt.
-TRACI BROOKS
Jakob Dylan "Seeing Things" Columbia/Starbucks Entertainment Sounds like: The same acoustic track on repeat Grade: C
Jakob Dylan, lead singer of The Wallflowers, takes a stab at a solo career in his new release, "Seeing Things." The ten-track album consists of Dylan's sleepy voice with an acoustic guitar and minor background vocals on select tracks.
Full of lullabies and retrospect, the album is simple to a fault. Few tracks stand out from one another, and Rick Rubin's producing lacks any sort of spice that would help this album separate itself the sea of acoustic albums.
Repetitive melodies and the obligatory minor chord seem to be the recipe for virtually every track on this album. Though Jakob Dylan's voice remains the comforting warble reminiscent of his father's, the younger Dylan fails to explore any new musical territories in his first solo work.
One would hope for the opening track, "Evil is Alive and Well," to have a bit more punch with such an acerbic title, but the song refuses to budge in its plodding, stale tempo. "On Up the Mountain" is a smooth, easy folk song that would be worth listening to if the tracks both preceding and following didn't sound almost exactly like it.
"Seeing Things," a study in ten tracks that are nothing more than variations on each other, is entirely uninspired. If anyone can pull an album like this off it will be Jakob Dylan, but any success will be founded in his legacy as the singer of The Wallflowers, not from of any solo merit.
-T.B.
Neva Dinova "You May Already Be Dreaming" Label: Saddle Creek Sounds like: The classic rock station in twenty years Grade: B-
On the band's third full-length release, Neva Dinova returns with a mellow, acoustic classic rock vibe. However, just as the album's sound starts sliding into a labored, uninspired funk, an unexpected riff or added instrumentation convinces the listener to let the CD play a little longer.
Lead singer and songwriter Jake Bellows created a dreamy, harmony-intensive album that occasionally nods towards The Beatles and Jeff Buckley in some of the more inventive tracks. His melancholy, yet not entirely bland voice is versatile, and effective, whether in the moderately up-tempo "Squirrels" or in "Love From Below," the album's easy, opening track.
The biggest mistake Neva Dinova made was in the arrangement of the track listing. Almost exactly halfway through the CD, the music takes a much more interesting, specific tone and remains that way for the next four or five tracks. Had the band simply interspersed the more mellow tracks with their more upbeat songs, the CD would have created a much more dynamic package that would cultivate new, inspired fans.
-T.B.
Colour Revolt "Plunder, Beg, and Curse" Fat Possum Records Sounds like: A graduating senior's post-college plans. Grade: C+
The men of Colour Revolt are either dizzy with confidence or lousy with insecurity. From the first second of "Plunder, Beg, and Curse," riffing guitars, crashing cymbals and sinister, semi-religious lyrics insist upon the listener's attention.
By the time the third track, "Elegant View," breaks the constant intensity that's riddled the album with its hushed, tenuous harmonies, the audience voraciously welcomes the change. Its quiet acuteness is soon broken, however, by the clamor of previous songs.
The first truly effective slowdown comes with the flawless "Moses of the South." The melodic, evocative song stands out, effervescing over the monotonous din that to that point had dominated. When the lyrics speak of "crucifying the inane," one cannot help but hope that this song is that crucifixion, putting to death the disc's marked convolution.
Though much of the rest of the album fits the mold of the record's first half, it somehow seems fresher, as if it has a renewed sense of energy and sincerity. "Innocent and All" reverberates through the airwaves, echoing with the ambience of longing, and the brooding "What Will Come of Us?" closes the album with pulsating vitality. "Plunder, Beg, and Curse" reflects its dark title with surprising accuracy, taking the crooked path that eventually arrives where the album should've begun - in the honest humanity and striking range of Colour Revolt's potential.
-MADALYN WASILCZUK
