Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Mar 24 Vol. II

THE LOUDER STUFF

THE BLACK CROWES – Happiness Bastards
The Black Crowes return in full “Exile On Main St.” cosplay, and it rules. (8)

EXHORDER – Defectum Omnium
Underrated NOLA thrashers who are at least partially responsible for Pantera becoming Pantera, widen their scope – “Year Of The Goat” starts as old-school Norwegian black metal, “Stolen Hope” and “Your Six” sound like early Soundgarden, and so on. The “Pantera groove” is still there though. (7)

JUDAS PRIEST – Invincible Shield
A follow-up to 2018’s excellent “Firepower”, “Invincible Shield” is another fantastic Priest album with Halford in top form, killer guitars, and songwriting that quite honestly is up there with all their classics. (8)

VLTIMAS – Epic
It’s the combination of David Vincent’s totally over-the-top vocals and Blasphemer’s trademark dissonant riffs that makes this black/death metal supergroup so much fun, you just can’t help pretending to be evil when you hear something like “Mephisto Manifesto”. (8)


THE OTHER STUFF

THE HANGING STARS – On A Golden Shore
Is it still “Americana” when played by Englishmen? Anyhow I like these Londoners, they have the whole Gram Parsons/Byrds/Burritos thing down pat already so now they’re expanding their palette to include more contemporary, poppier influences (think Sheryl Crow?). (7)

JULIA HOLTER – Something In The Room She Moves
Every time Holter releases a new album I stream it immediately, and every time I fail to get it: She sits somewhere between avant-garde, jazz, and pop, and if she would only allow her pop melodies to shine instead of hiding them under all the distracting stuff she’d be much closer to my tastes. (6)

JOHN LURIE – Painting With John
Music from the weird, funny and wonderful TV series which is certainly not about painting. My only complaint: It does not include the hilarious “Flea’s Walk” from the episode where the RHCP bassist visits his friend John. (8)

LOREENA McKENNITT – The Road Back Home
Live album focusing on McKennitt’s roots in the Celtic folk music tradition. Some of the songs you know from her studio albums, some are recorded by her for the first time. Beautiful. (8)

THE MESSTHETICS & JAMES BRANDON LEWIS – The Messthetics Αnd James Brandon Lewis
An excellent album occupying a strange place between jazz-fusion and post-rock, this one features a guitar shredder, a tenor saxophonist, and the rhythm section from Fugazi. Wrap your head around that. (8)

KACEY MUSGRAVES – Deeper Well
Expectations are always high from people who have previously topped the List and Musgraves does not disappoint, moving with ease between Fleetwood Mac soft rock, delicate country folk, and Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter poetry. (8)

ROSALI – Bite Down
A very strong country-rock record with a Neil Young/Crazy Horse flavor. Not to be confused with Rosalia. (8)  

MARRY WATERSON & ADRIAN CROWLEY – Cuckoo Storm
A very strange but delightful little album that defies labeling and categorization. You can call it folk I guess (Waterson comes from a family considered folk royalty in England) but it’s much more than that, venturing into jazz and even Scott Walker weirdo territory at times. (8)

WAXAHATCHEE – Tigers Blood
One for the Year-End lists, this is probably Katie Crutchfield’s strongest album – more indie rock than Americana. (8)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Mar 24

THE LOUDER STUFF

BRUCE DICKINSON – The Mandrake Project
If I would describe this album with one word Ι’d call it “safe”, despite Dickinson usually being the risk-taker in the Iron Maiden universe. (7)

BEN FROST – Scope Neglect
Avant-garde electronica musician goes metal, sort of – this is an attempt to deconstruct/reconstruct metal by building cinematic soundscapes around djenty guitars. If you think you could get through 40 minutes of Autechre remixing Meshuggah riffs without getting a headache, then go ahead. (6)

MANNEQUIN PUSSY – I Got Heaven
First half of the record is slightly grungy 90’s-flavored indie rock, sometimes reminiscent of Hole. Second half of the record they go hardcore. The whole thing, despite it being a break-up record, is pure joy. (8)

MEGA COLOSSUS – Showdown
Heavy metal the way it’s meant to be, old-school like back in 1981 when everyone from Iron Maiden/Riot/Exciter to Y&T/Styx/Boston was labeled “metal”, no subgenre bullshit. These guys are obviously having a blast and so will you. (8)

MINISTRY – Hopiumforthemasses
If they had broken up in 1997 you wouldn’t have missed anything important and that’s the case with this album as well – the kind of competent but formulaic industrial metal record we’ve come to expect from Al Jourgensen, full of samples and raging against the machine. The main thrills are provided by guest vocalists like Jello Biafra and Eugene Hutz. (7)

NORTH SEA ECHOES – Really Good Terrible Things
Matheos & Alder go ambient. It’s supposed to be something entirely different from Fates Warning but really, if you speed the songs up just a bit and add a metal rhythm section and a distortion pedal, these are Fates Warning songs. That’s a good thing, of course. (8)

PISSED JEANS – Half Divorced
This sounds just like something released on Amphetamine Reptile Records ca. 1990 by Jesus Lizard, Surgery, Cows or some shit, excellent. (8)

SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM – Of The Last Human Being
Wow, never thought I’d hear from these guys again but this album sounds like they never went away, an uber-weird prog metal cabaret amalgam of King Crimson, Mr. Bungle, Primus, and Kurt Weill. (8)


THE OTHER STUFF

THE BEVIS FROND – Focus On Nature
Nick Saloman has described his band better than any music critic ever will: “A Hendrix/Wipers/Byrds sound but with a distinctly British feel”. This is probably the best album from a 70-year-old guitar hero you’ll get this year. (8)

AZIZA BRAHIM – Mawja
West Saharan singer and activist’s fifth album is a triumph that will make the WOMAD crowd delirious with joy. (8)

FIRE! – Testament
This is jazz for people who prefer rock to jazz, and they’ve got Steve Albini on the console to prove it. (8)

HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF – The Past Is Still Alive
This is a HUGE step forward for Alynda Segarra, where they finally nail it with a killer collection of songs that will most likely sit on top of the heap of 2024’s best Americana albums. (9)

CORB LUND – El Viejo
Canadian country guy makes good use of his formal jazz training by incorporating the occasional Django-like gypsy jazz/swing element into his humorous tales of cowboys, outlaws, and gamblers. Good fun! (8)

NADINE SHAH – Filthy Underneath
Everyone knows the “tortured artist” cliché, but in Shah’s case losing her mother, getting a divorce, attempting suicide, and entering rehab since her previous album has actually led to the creation of a masterpiece, a brave album that will appeal to fans of PJ Harvey and Depeche Mode alike. (9)

SHEER MAG – Playing Favorites
Can something be indie rock and arena rock at the same time? Sheer Mag seem to pull it off by finding the right balance between Thin Lizzy riffs, Big Star jangle, and Minor Threat ethos. (8)  

SHEHERAZAAD – Qasr EP
Stunning debut for this young artist, with influences ranging from Indian-classical to flamenco and jazz. “Produced by Arooj Aftab” should’ve been a dead giveaway. (8)

YARD ACT – Where’s My Utopia
On the first album they were compared to The Fall, second time around they go beyond the “post-punk” label and sound like a hook-filled combination of Arctic Monkeys and Gang of Four. (8)