Short Attention Span Record Reviews, June 23 Vol. II

BENEFITS – Nails
A noise-punk/trip-hop hybrid that ends up sounding like Sleaford Mods on steroids. (7)

CREEP SHOW – Yawning Abyss
Electro-pop supergroup of sorts, mainly known as side-project for John Grant and Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder, sounds like the more annoying aspects of Yello. (6)

DJANGO DJANGO – Off Planet
This double album, or rather quadruple EP, doesn’t sound much like the art rock Django Django we know, I can only describe it as prog disco and it’s probably 6-7 songs too long.  (7)

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS – The Complete Dirty South
The band’s fifth studio album from 2004 was meant to be a double one but was trimmed down back then. So here is the Director’s Cut, with three extra tracks and slightly different sequencing. Patterson Hood usually writes most of the material but on this one songwriting credits are more or less evenly distributed between Hood, Cooley, and Isbell, the latter providing a glimpse into his future greatness. A southern rock masterpiece just got even better. (9)

CORY HANSON – Western Cum
2021’s “Pale Horse Rider” was like Radiohead doing a Gram Parsons tribute and it was so good it made the Geek’s List, the regrettably titled “Western Cum” is a very different deal with Hanson rocking out in almost-metal fashion, but it’s just as great! (8)

BETTYE LAVETTE – LaVette!
Legendary septuagenarian gravelly-voiced soul singer backed by a killer band dedicates a whole album to songs by Randall Bramblett, a guy better known as a session musician but apparently a great songwriter too. None of these funky jams have been hits before, and I can’t understand why. (8)

DONNY McCASLIN – I Want More
You know this tenor saxophonist as Bowie’s right-hand man on the latter’s swansong “Blackstar”, and on this solo album he’s pushing the boundaries of jazz towards electronica with a band that’s tighter than Kim Kardashian’s yoga pants. (8)

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – In Times New Roman…
Josh Homme had a tougher time than most of us these past few years, and this is reflected in the darkest and heaviest QOTSA album since 2007’s “Era Vulgaris”. (8)

ROYAL THUNDER – Rebuilding The Mountain
Back from the dead with a strong grungy hard rock album. Mlny Parsonz often gets compared to Janis Joplin, but really, she sounds more like Gerard Way’s sister. (8)

AMANDA SHIRES & BOBBIE NELSON – Loving You
Bobbie was not just Willie Nelson’s sister, but a great pianist in her own right. On this posthumous release, recorded when she was already 90, she collaborates with Shires who provides her fragile, sensitive vocals and the occasional fiddle to interpretations of a bunch of classics (“Always On My Mind”, “Summertime”, “Dream A Little Dream”, that sort of thing). A delightful little record and a proper send-off. (8)

SIGUR ROS – Atta
Drummerless this time but with a full orchestra on board, they successfully bridge the gap between post rock and classical music. (8)

SWANS – The Beggar
Can something be simultaneously spacey and claustrophobic? Apparently so, this Swans album does that, taking their choking experimental drones and expanding, expanding, expanding them to infinity and beyond. (8)

VINTAGE TROUBLE – Heavy Hymnal
Catchy soul/blues/rock from this LA-based band. Go see them live this summer if you can, they’re a blast. (8)