Opinz

Spoon – Got Nuffin

A “surprise” EP set for official release tomorrow, Got Nuffin is a surprisingly big letdown: the title track is so typically Spoon-ish (driving drums, tapped piano and slapped tambourines, yawn) that it will barely stay in your mind for more than a minute or two, before being replaced by a completely pointless and basically amateurish instrumental stab at grainy dubstep or something (accompanied by a “remix” that’s the same track with someone attempting a “rap” that’s either a sadly terrible idea or a midly offensive joke) and a slight ray of hope, “Stroke Their Brains”, which could maybe pass for a second rate Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga track; that album might’ve been their best, but if this is the kind of thing you’re putting out now Spoon, then please, get your shit together.

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Neil Young – Fork In The Road

It’s nice to see artists evolve and not put out the same music over and over again, but the “same old same old” rules don’t apply to Neil Young for two reasons – 1) we’re lucky that Neil Young is even able to sound like Neil Young, unlike some of his contemporaries, and 2) pre-grunge Neil Young and Crazy Horse, which is exactly what Fork In The Road sounds like, is some of the most charming roots rock ever made…the entire album is loosely based around his ’59 Lincvolt project and though one might wonder how to keep such a record from becoming dull it really is an inconsequential note, and it’s nice to see him continue the same themes and styles from the late Crazy Horse era because it works.
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Franz Ferdinand – Blood

As far as dance/dub/remix albums go, Blood is a fine record which consists of dubs and remixes from their latest full release Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, but like most remix albums one questions the point of releasing something that isn’t really suited for Joe Commuter driving home during rush hour and is more suited for bumping and grinding on a Saturday night…as far as the music, well, it’s exactly what you would expect a remixed Franz Ferdinand album to sound like – take that as you will.
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Gossip – Music For Men

Music For Men showcases a bit of musical maturity for Gossip since their last album Standing In The Way Of Control, not at all unlike Yeah Yeah Yeahs demonstrated on It’s Blitz – the formula is pretty much the same but the sound is more focused; indie-ish, catchy pop rock but filtered through Rick Rubin – Music For Men is a classic example of Rick Rubin making a band sound better with no one really able to pinpoint exactly how he did it.
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Rancid – Let The Dominoes Fall

It’s probably too early to tell if Let the Dominoes Fall can be regarded as a punk classic like those by their oft-compared counterparts The Clash, but that’s OK because it is a modern rock/punk/ska masterpiece that runs rough and ragged all over the musical map and avoids being cliche or predictable but all fits together wonderfully; standout tracks include “Last One to Die”, “I Ain’t Worried”, & “Skull City” but almost every track is strong on its own merit and bustles with energy…but the real gem lies in the acoustic disc contained in the deluxe edition of the album which shows how much of a solid, well-rounded act Rancid is an not just a snotty-nosed punk band.
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Elvis Costello – Secret, Profane & Sugarcane

Elvis Costello transitions through musical genres as well as David Bowie or Prince, and Secret, Profane & Sugarcane continues this trend, sounding little like his previous album Momofuku – T Bone Burnett’s production shines throughout the stripped down and countrified disc, and while it never gets tedious it can get tiring…there are a lot of fun and catchy tracks like “Down Among the Wines and Spirits”, “Complicated Shadows”, and “Hidden Shame” (originally written for Johnny Cash), but clunkers like “I Felt the Chill Before the Winter Came”, “She Handed Me A Mirror” bog things down needlessly – Secret could have proven to people who don’t usually listen to bluegrass/country that it’s not all bad, but unfortunately it falls into some of the trappings that make people that otherwise love Costello’s other more eccentric work loathe country music.
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