OK, so I’ve been slacking on reviews, but listening to a few albums both in my car and on my way to work. I am giving myself the next 53 minutes of lunch to bust this shit out. GO!
The Lonely Island
The Wack Album
Republic Records
9/10
Started to listen to it at work, 2.6 seconds in and I realized I could probably be fired for any number of HR offenses. Fuck, I want to get drunk with these dudes. The trio of awkward crackers/rappers stick to the formula that’s worked so well for them: Well-produced hip-pop beats, often sexual, always self-effacing lyrics, and a shit ton of celebrity friends that they’ve probably blackmailed into appearing on the tracks. I guess if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If this sells like their other albums, it will take a LOT of booze, blow and hookers for these dudes to go broke.
City and Colour
The Hurry and the Harm
Dine Alone Records
8/10
Dallas Green’s mellow-as-a-sloth-on-morphine alter-ego is another record that sticks with his previous formula, in this case, acoustic guitars, falsetto and being depressing as fuck. You know what, it is truly some great song-writing, with beautiful melodies and ethereal harmonies, but I’m in a point in my life where I am generally too happy to listen to this with my headphones on, or too busy to be bummed out. I mean, it’s a gorgeous record, but I REALLY hope that Dallas (who, from my experience, is a VERY rad dude) is happier than C&C would lead one to believe. Also, don’t talk shit on California, don’t be jealous that the only song written about Canada was sung by cartoons.
Surfer Blood
Pythons
Kanine/Warner Bros Records
7/10
Well, I don’t really know what to tell you about this. iTunes says I’ve listened to this record 5 times. Couldn’t tell you one track that really got me to bother looking at what it was called. I did, however, get really productive while it playing, so the upbeat jams of Surfer Blood aren’t shitty by any means. I’ll keep it in the library for some head bobs and foot taps while I get shit done.
Night Birds
Maimed for the Masses
Fat Wreck Chords
5/10
I feel like Murtaugh, “I’m getting too old for this shit.” It’s a weird jumble of surf-punk-psychobilly-party rock that just makes me feel like I’m going to be the kind of old guy that is going to regularly fuck up “hip” speak. “You Only YOLO once!” and “I’m LOLing out loud!” I just don’t get it, man.
Their/They’re/There
S/T
Polyvinyl Records
8/10
These catchy motherfuckers hit a marketing nail on the head with their name, having tons of people looking them up while they’re trying to make sure they don’t fuck up an email to their boss. I don’t think they’ll be anyone’s favorite band, but they have a definite future about midway up the Coachella line-up. My only bitch is that it’s only an EP when I wanted more.
Tripwires
Spacehopper Master
French Kiss Records
6/10
A bit more shoe-gazer than I expected, so it comes off as a bit early-2000s alt-rock to me. Loads of cymbal, reverb and loooooooong, drawn out noise make this great for all the people who like listening to Thom Yorke sneeze into a vocalizer while playing the sounds of beetles fucking on aluminum foil. It might be labor-intensive, and it MIGHT be interesting, but it’s not the kind of shit I want to listen to. The cover is pretty cool looking, though, and if you get the vinyl edition, it looks even cooler.
Juno Reactor
The Golden Sun of the Great East
Metropolis Records
7/10
When I heard the opening track, Invisible, I thought I was listening to the soundtrack of a Bollywood porn flick, with the dance scene being replaced by a fetish club filled with ornate decorations and people in fucked up Ganesha masks. Obviously I had to listen to the whole thing. It sticks with the Eastern vocals and instrumentation layered on top of techno beats, like a weird, Indian Kraftwerk on speed and ecstasy. About 2/3rds of the way in, I think I started hallucinating that the cover was Saint Boba Fett. Juno Reactor’s been putting out trippy shit for decades, and The Golden Sun of the Great East shows why people still give them record contracts.
Rise Against
RPM 10
Fat Wreck Chords
9/10
It’s been 10 years since RPM came out, and well, shit’s still just as fucked up, so it’s still exceptionally relevant. Our government still likes to fuck over the people they are supposed to serve, we’re still wrecking the planet in our short-sighted desire for finite resources and we’re still bombing Middle Eastern people for no good God-damned reason. Whereas Night Birds made me feel old, this made me feel young again, with the familiar screeching guitars made me feel safe and sound in a world of things I just don’t “get.” Plus, Tim told me one of my favorite jokes to date: “What do Dale Earnhardt and Pink Floyd have in common? …Their greatest hit was The Wall.”
-Jonathan Yost