Today was a good day, and I haven't even seen the lights of the Goodyear Blimp reminding me Ice Cube's a pimp (yet). Usually I have a clear cut favorite album of the week, and this week any of three could lay claim to it. On second thought, maybe there is a clear winner:
Kelly Hogan - I Like to Keep Myself in Pain
Thank God for Metacritic; I might have missed this release otherwise. And holy shit is this a good album. Kelly Hogan has made a living primarily singing backup for a number of bigger acts: she's probably most famous as Neko Case's second-in-command on her solo efforts, and Hogan gets a lot of big names to help her on this album: M. Ward, Vic Chestnutt, Robyn Hitchcock, and Stephen Merritt wrote songs for the album, and somehow she got Booker T Jones to play keyboard and James Gadson to play drums for her. Hogan possesses an incredibly strong, slightly country twang-y voice, and on this album she shows she knows how to control it. Musically, the album plays like a cross between country and soul. I have to admit I was somewhat skeptical after listening to the pretty country-heavy opener, but once the Edie Brickell-ish second track "We Can't Have Nice Things" came on, I was sold and remained enthralled until the end. I strongly recommend this album.
Selections
We Can't Have Nice Things
Haunted
Sleeper Awake
Mystery Jets - Radlands
I'd never heard of this band before today, but this is something like their fifth album. They're an English indie-pop band who decided to move to Austin a couple years ago. Just like how the people of [content redacted due to new Politically Correct Blog Initiative] are naturally good at doing the math required to realize how much money they save by being extremely cheap when they go out to dinner with their basketball teammates, it seems bands from England are just naturally good at writing happy go lucky singalong choruses I can't get enough of, and Mystery Jets are no exception. Double points for the song Greatest Hits, which both includes Sha La Las and name drops about forty bands I enjoy. Oh, and The Hale Bop is, like, disco-y or something.
Selections
Greatest Hits
The Hale Bop
Someone Purer
Japandroids - Celebration Rock
I really expected this to be my favorite album released today, but the fact I'm mentioning it third speaks more to the good surprises I encountered today than any kind of letdown from this band. If you heard their first album, you know what to expect with this one: loud, guitar-driven, anthemic throwbacks to the 90's. What makes Japandroids interesting to me is that they may be one of the most sincere bands operating today: there is absolutely zero ironic detachment presented in their angst. Just about every lyrics is shouted, not sung, and the guitars are just as rocking here as they were on the first album. This album is probably a little better than the first one, although considering the number of bands who have gone the retro 90's route between their last album and this one, maybe the novelty isn't quite there anymore. Anyway, if you like big guitars, this is worth checking out.
Selections
The House That Heaven Built
The Night of Wine and Roses
Adrenaline Nightshift
The Temper Trap - The Temper Trap
This band for some reason reminds me of Remy Zero. That may be a comparison that both bands would find unflattering. This is an ok album, but not a great one. There's nothing on here that grabbed me like their previous song "Sweet Disposition," but a lot of the songs here are in a similar vibe, with kinda spacey, The Edge-y guitars. Their lead singer has a little more versatility that I had previously thought. It's a perfectly pleasant album, but I would be surprised if it stays with me for long.
Selections
Need Your Love
Trembling Hands
The Hives - Lex Hives
The Hives are basically a cartoon at this point, which is ok with me. Everything true about the Hives in 2004 is true about them today. They're still loud and high-energy, and they still have a snotty belief that they are the best band in the world. It's all kind of dumb, but that's also kind of the point.
Selections
Go Right Ahead
Patrolling Around
Single note:
An English band named Alt-J released their debut album in England today. It won't be available until September in America, but if the lead single is any indication, this is a band to watch. I'm not really sure how to describe the sound of the song. Off-kilter rhythms with droning guitars? I'll probably track down the rest of the album's songs on YouTube, but I'm intrigued and suspect you'll be hearing more from this band when all is said and done.
Alt-J - Fitzpleasure
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