Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Apr 24 Vol. III

THE LOUDER STUFF

BIG|BRAVE – A Chaos Of Flowers
Bjork goes post-metal. (7)

DOOL – The Shape Of Fluidity
A dark, gothy prog with some modern post-metal elements that would not disqualify the band from sharing a bill with mid-period Anathema or latter-day Katatonia. Good, but not as good as 2020’s “Summerland”. (8)

HARVESTMAN – Triptych Part One
Neurosis mainman Steve Von Till goes full-on ambient dub with contributions from Yob and Sleep members. Fire up that bong. (8)

HIGH ON FIRE – Cometh The Storm
It’s fuckin’ High On fuckin’ Fire, what do you think this sounds like? Prepare to have your eardrums melted by awesome riff after awesome riff at an unbearably loud volume, like Mastodon trying to be heard over Motorhead playing right next to them, and please welcome the incredible Coady Willis (Big Business, Melvins) on drums. (8)

MELVINS – Tarantula Heart
I’ve been following these guys for decades, listened to 30+ of their albums and EPs, and I’ve read about a “return to form” for at least a dozen of those where the reviewer usually means their slightly more accessible “Houdini”/“Stoner Witch” era. That’s what reviewers are saying about this one too but reviewers are full of shit because this one’s weird as fuck, but in a good way – thrown some Butthole Surfers into their sludge, perhaps? (8)

MY DYING BRIDE – A Mortal Binding
Is it just me or is the violin slightly off-key/out of tune? I like the riffs, more brutal than their last few albums, and nobody plays doom/death metal like MDB, but I find that violin a bit distracting. (7)

PEARL JAM – Dark Matter
Who would’ve guessed that Pearl Jam not only would outlive Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice In Chains but, 33 years after their debut, still be capable of releasing one of the year’s best pure rock albums? (8)


THE OTHER STUFF

T-BONE BURNETT – The Other Side
A quiet, beautiful, introspective record by Burnett who’s better known as a Grammy-winning producer but is also the King of Americana. (8)

IRON & WINE – Light Verse
A return to form for Americana stalwart, and his duet with Fiona Apple on “All In Good Time” is a serious candidate for song of the year. (8)

ST. VINCENT – All Born Screaming
Probably the best St. Vincent album to date, Annie Clark has never sounded realer and, well, more fun, moving with ease between funky rock, NIN-inspired industrial, and dream pop. (8)

TAYLOR SWIFT – The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology
It’s fine. (8)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – The Power Of The Heart: A Tribute To Lou Reed
A really good tribute album, most of the artists put their own spin on the songs, very few play it straight. Featuring Keith Richards, Rufus Wainwright, Joan Jett, Rickie Lee Jones, The Afghan Whigs, Mary Gauthier, Lucinda Williams, Rosanne Cash and others. (8)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Apr 24 Vol. II

THE LOUDER STUFF

EARLY MOODS – A Sinner's Past
Sounds like a cross between Saint Vitus and Count Raven. BTW “Early Moods” can be anagrammed as “Doom Slayer”, which is probably a more appropriate name for these guys. (7)

GUN – Hombres
Nobody plays anthemic, melodic hard rock like this anymore. A very strong album, right up there with “Taking On The World” and “Gallus”, with Dante Gizzi’s transition from bassist to lead vocalist/frontman a great success story. (8)

HEAVY TEMPLE – Garden Of Heathens
This fucking rocks (or, rather, RAWKS) in a High On Fire/Yob sort of way, plus I’d listen to a band with a frontwoman named High Priestess Nighthawk any day. (8)

WHOM GODS DESTROY – Insanium
This is basically a new version of Sons of Apollo and the fantastic Croatian guy replacing Soto on vocals is the only real surprise here, other than that it’s the Dreamy Theatery stuff you’d expect. But my question is, how come every single fucking band that copies Dream Theater has a better singer than Dream Theater? (7)


THE OTHER STUFF

CINDY LEE – Diamond Jubilee
This one has been getting 9+ reviews from virtually every music critic in the solar system but I assume that’s because they were teenagers in 2000 and they got all nostalgic when Cindy Lee, in a genius zero-budget marketing move, decided to only make the album available on GeoCities. But really, 128 minutes of low-fi late 90’s indie pop influenced by 60’s girl groups? My attention span is too short for that. (7)

ENGLISH TEACHER – This Could Be Texas
Some people call it post-punk but it’s really just some very cool music that’s a bit all over the place, I haven’t enjoyed an album like this coming out of the UK since, I dunno, Wolf Alice’s “Blue Weekend”? Which is a pretty good point of reference BTW, along with Black Country New Road. (8)

SHABAKA HUTCHINGS – Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace
WTF is wrong with you man, you used to be fun. People could actually dance to your jazz, and now you’re doing this cosmic hippy shit? (5)

WILLIE NILE – Live at Daryl’s House Club
Bruce Springsteen without the budget, Lou Reed without the high art, Bob Dylan gone power pop, I love this guy. (8)

AARON LEE TASJAN – Stellar Evolution
Maybe you know Tasjan as an Americana artist but his versatility is well documented (he even played guitar in the 21st century version of the New York Dolls) and this is a fantastic glam pop album. (8)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – My Black Country: The Songs Of Alice Randall
Tribute album to trailblazing African American female country songwriter, a companion release to her autobiography with the same title. Rhiannon Giddens, Adia Victoria, Sunny War, Valerie June and others pay their respects. (8)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Apr 24

BEYONCE – Cowboy Carter
The previous album was Beyonce’s club music album, this one is supposedly her country album but it’s not: Instead, Beyonce just uses country imagery and signifiers as a springboard to make a statement about black women artists in a white man’s world. None of this would matter without decent songs, but “Cowboy Carter” has some great ones. I really enjoyed this. (8)

SCOTT H. BIRAM – The One & Only Scott H. Biram
A true road warrior honing his craft in sleazy honkytonks all over Texas, Biram mixes southern rock, outlaw country, blues and punk and kicks some serious ass. “Sinner’s Dinner” even sounds like prime Steppenwolf, and I love fuckin’ Steppenwolf. (8)

BLACK KEYS – Ohio Players
Probably their best album since 2011’s “El Camino”, certainly the most fun. (8)

CEDRIC BURNSIDE – Hill Country Love
The “Mississippi Country Hill Blues” subgenre, made popular in juke joints across the South by the likes of Cedric’s grandpa R.L., in all its joyous glory. If you thought blues was sad music, check this out and bring some moonshine and fried chicken to the party. (8)

COFFIN STORM – Arcana Rising
A bunch of Norwegian underground metal lifers including Apollyon and Fenriz play some riff-tastic epic doom, like Candlemass with Hellhammer’s attitude. (8)

SHERYL CROW – Evolution
Her previous album was supposed to be her last one but I’m glad it wasn’t, Crow remains one of the best songwriters out there and this album once again proves that her radio-friendly heartland rock with huge pop hooks is up there in the Pantheon with the likes of Tom Petty. (8)

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO – Echo Dancing
Legendary septuagenarian Texan revisits 14 tracks from his long solo career and bands he played in like Buick McKane and The True Believers. Given his ease in moving between diverse genres from punk to country, it’s not entirely surprising that a lot of these reinterpretations sound nothing like the originals and might even remind one of Suicide in places. (8)

PHOSPHORESCENT – Revelator
Competent country rock by a guy who obviously knows what he’s doing even when he’s singing about not knowing what he’s doing. (8)

THE SECRET SISTERS – Mind, Man, Medicine
Americana duo from Muscle Shoals, Alabama knit their close harmonies once again on a wonderful little album that will appeal to fans of everyone from the Everly Brothers to Phoebe Bridgers. (8)

SARAH SHOOK & THE DISARMERS – Revelations
File under “cowpunk with pop ambitions” next to Lydia Loveless. (7)

VAMPIRE WEEKEND – Only God Was Above Us
I always liked bands coming out of NYC but that ended sometime in 90’s with people like Cibo Matto and Soul Coughing, the 00’s New York scene always seemed a bit too preppy/upper class for my tastes (with the notable exception of hard-drinking working class classic rockers The Hold Steady, of course). Vampire Weekend are among the survivors of that scene and on this album the intelligent pop (slightly) dominates over the preppiness. (8)