November

Zappa – I respect Zappa a lot more than I enjoy him, and think he is at his best when he works his satirical lyrics within the structure of the 3-4 minute pop song, like “Joe’s Garage”. He is a wicked guitar player, and his band has an amazing ability to stop on a dime and change keys, tempos etc. That said, I much prefer the stuff like “Road Ladies” and “Would You Go All the Way” to the 9-10 minute jams / freak outs. 3 stars

Depeche Mode – Proves every point I’ve ever made about techno music. There’s a reason “Personal Jesus” is the track this band will be remembered for: the killer guitar riff that blows all of their synthy hoodoo out of the water. Can hear a major Bowie influence on this, especially “Sweetest Perfection” which feels like a “Heroes” outtake. While certainly “good in its genre”, most of it leaves me cold, which may be the point. 2.5 stars

Sleeping in the Aviary – There’s some good stuff here, my favorite being “Love Song”. Lyrics are clever when decipherable, which is not often enough. The stripped down approach works, and 25 minutes of this is the right length. Would be better if the Lennon influence so evident on the untitled track and “Love Song” was more pronounced. 3 stars

Dirty Sweet – This one starts out really strong and slowly descends into generic classic rock. The first two tracks had me reaching for comparisons to the Stones and Faces, and by the last third of the disc we were in Black Crowes territory. Big guitars mixed way up front, good vocals (particularly the harmonies), decent lyrics. I’d be willing to listen to them again. 2.5 stars