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Passion Pit’s first LP is much more evidently the product of a complete band than their EP from last year, sporting more of an emphasis on texture and diversity over pure, thumping, sugar-rush dance-pop, but this move towards greater maturity does nothing to take away from the smile inducing quality of this collection of falsetto-gilded pop gems.
Tags: manners, passion pit
If reinventing yourself and going from a brat-rock hit machine pumping out radio-friendly pseudo-punk hits to a modern-day Who pumping out convoluted mini rock operas works, you going with it – which is exactly what Green Day has done with their follow up to American Idiot except that the story is a little clearer and the songs are more varied, ranging from the epic title track, which is already one of the best songs they’ve ever made, to “Christian’s Inferno” (one of the most punk songs they’ve ever made) to the ballad-y “Last Night on Earth” – the songs are powerful and punchy and have a weird sort of maturity not found on American Idiot.
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Few bands can pull off the electonica/modern rock sound, but Super Furry Animals certainly do on Dark Days/Light Years – while the title indicates darker moments, it manages to stay catchy and fun throughout; it is very upbeat, bouncy, and loud and includes glam rock elements (“Inconvenience”) psychedelia, and hard-edged modern rock (“Crazy Naked Girls”), with the sound moving effortlessly through John Lennon-esque moments (“Mt.”) into David Bowie-esque moments (“Moped Eyes”).
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We’d like to say that the debut album by “super” group Tinted Windows (Taylor Hanson, from Hanson; James Iha, from Smashing Pumpkins; Adam Schlesinger, from Fountains of Wayne; Bun E. Carlos, from Cheap Trick) is nothing but meaningless, throwaway power pop – and maybe it is – but it’s also fun and catchy and easily the guiltiest pleasure of the year…it’s kind of cool to hear aspects of each member’s former groups in each song but the interesting thing is that everything meshes very well; hipsters will hate it (if not only for having a member of Hanson in its ranks) but anyone who can accept that not all music has to be OK Computer will enjoy it.
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Son Volt is popularly labeled as “alt country,” but their latest album American Central Dust is a whole lot of country and not a lot of alt; it’s extremely melancholy and is a bit of a chore to get through in one listen – the songs are tense and emotion-filled but the music is sparse and the record as a whole comes off as droning and, quite frankly, boring.
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Morrissey’s latest album is a frantic whirlwind of passion – the music is tight and the vocals are intense and soaring, and it just sounds like people were killed and maimed to make this record; it is bitter and fervid from beginning to end…check out the pseudo-old-West feel of “When I Last Spoke to Carol” and the tongue-in-cheek rage of “Something Is Squeezing My Skull.”
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