My Review Dump for April

Music Club
April 2007

Fratelli’s- Costello Music
Costello music my ass. This is an annoying roaring 20's whoop-de-doo that really isn't as fun as their song titles might suggest. No heart in it. Sounds like they tried to make it interesting instead of letting the “interesting” come out naturally. Yuck.. (1.5).

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists- Living with the Living
This disc is going to make me have to go and re-listen to Ted’s past releases. On first listen I had the same feeling as in the past. Good guitarist who writes favorable songs but generally didn’t warrant me another go around. Being force fed Living this month made me listen to it multiple times and each time I had something new grab me. His songs are not predictable and feel natural and energetic. Could do without any prattling sound effects, but they were few. Good disc, glad to have my eyes re-opened to Ted. (3)

Archers of Loaf- All the Nations Airports
Leave it to Mongillo to give me something to sink my teeth into. Thank god it wasn’t Isis redux. I place Archers in the same vein as Pavement, with nods to Sonic Youth and a sly wink to Dinosaur Jr. An interesting listen that I could see could turn off some real fast. Lucky for me I like the oddball, quirky stuff usually- but not as quirky as Mr. Bungle- and as I delved deeper and deeper I got into the wavering vocals, odd guitar nuances (“Assassinations..”) and the songs that would seem out of place but weren’t (“Chumming the Ocean”). This disc has pop appeal for pretentious music fans (“All Nations Airports”, Scenic Pastures”), but it may take too many listens for the weak at heart to find. Again, lucky for me I’m weak at heart. (4)

Material Issue- GHITS
Enjoyed this little pop disc of Matthew Sweet’s cohorts more than I expected. Succinct songs that when they were on, left you wanting more. Tended to get a bit sappy in the middle third but then it came back to basics at the end. Good mix.


Who Killed the Rock Star?
Sure I could blame Bush or Carl Rove. Possibly the icons for selling songs for moolah. I could even point a finger at radio since it has made mediocre classic rock acts actually considered
“classic”. But I feel I have to pin the blame on the rock stars themselves. They cannibalized their image. They felt they had to act a certain way to be a rock star instead of just being a rock star. They forgot about what it meant to just let the music move them into action. Smashing your guitar means nothing when it is written into the show. Impromptu has given away to script. Trashing a room, boinking groupies and drugs are not the whole definition of a rock star (just a few of the perks). Until style is less than substance the rock star will remain in hibernation.

Why is it no matter what the band you can always hear the tambourine?For me I don’t hallucinate the tambourine. Instead it's the cowbell.