Damn that Mongillo, I Want the Curmudgeon title

Looks like I was too generous this month....

Nine Inch Nails – I made an honest effort to give this one the benefit of the doubt, and in fact after the first two songs thought it might not be too bad. However, the disc quickly falls into the 9 inch formula of Trent’s distorted vocals, fuzzed guitars and synthy beats. “Vessel” sounds like one Lenny Kravitz left on the cutting room floor. Overall, the disc sounds like everything else they’ve ever done, and certainly won’t change anyone’s mind about them, pro or con. 2 stars

Rush – There are so many easy cheap shots here to take, from Geddy’s Mickey Mouse-on-helium vocals to the goofball lyrics , but why bother? These guys have been doing what they’re doing for 30+ years, and they are what they are: great individual musicians playing mostly overblown, self-indulgent, pseudo-intellectual nonsense. The band has a handful of great ones in their catalog, but tragically, there is no “Spirit of the Radio” or “Tom Sawyer” on this one. 2 stars

Rancid – For the life of me, I don’t know why, but I sincerely thought these guys were a death metal band; so obviously, this one was a surprise. Reminded me a little of the Clash, a balls to the wall rock and roll band with the elements of ska, reggae thrown in to keep things fresh. The ska tracks are a little repetitive by the end of the disc, but “Olympia, WA” is a great one. Got me looking a little deeper into the band’s catalog. 3.5 stars

Replacements – The beginning of the end, this is exactly where the wave broke. A marriage of the band’s punkier roots with Westerberg’s evolving songwriting abilities, it has everything great about the Mats in one neat package. There’s the sloppy-drunk punch of “I Don’t Know”, the down and dirty raucousness of “Shooting Dirty Pool”, the pop brilliance of “Alex Chilton”, and the uber-sensitivity of the gentle “Skyway”. A little more experimentation instrumentally than on their other releases, notably the great string and horn riffs on “Can’t Hardly Wait”. A must own. 4.5 stars

The Get Up Kids – This one didn’t do much for me. Nothing bad about it necessarily, but not more than 2-3 tracks that got my attention either. A lot of it reminded me of Ben Folds, which is not a compliment. They definitely have the whole dewey-eyed teenage romantic woe-is-me thing down, and if I was 17, I might have connected with more of it.

Discussion Question

I think we've covered this ground before but....

Old School artists that still matter:

1) Dylan
2) Neil Young
3) Ian Hunter

Go away please:

1) The Stones
2) The Who
3) REM