A First, I'm Last

Hot Hot Heat – Wanted to like it, tried to like it, didn’t like it. Lacked the great hooks and charm of “Elevator”. The squelched fuzz and hyperactive vocals that permeate the disc become monotonous, as one song blends into the next without any differentiation. Disappointing. 2 stars

The National – A mixed bag here. “Bloodbuzz Ohio” is one of my favorite songs of 2010. “Terrible Love” and “Vanderlyle” are also standouts. The rest of it is kind of meandering low-fi stuff that sounds like Brian Ferry and just doesn’t connect with me. Not bad, but it could use some more punch. 3 stars

Willie Nile – See Ken’s Jesse Malin review from last month. Decent listen, some pretty good songs and instantly forgettable. I think what keeps me from loving this disc is his voice, which too often comes off like a Dylan parody. 15 demerits to Jay for submitting a 2009 disc this late in the year. 3 stars

Grease Band – I played this a bunch, thinking I’d finally click with it, but I never really did. In the end, it came across as pretty good classic rock. The best parts sounded a lot like The Band, particularly the Dylan cover. A lot of it was mediocre. 2.5 stars

Matthew Sweet – Blatant “Mongillo-ing” here. Its probably been 10 years since I heard this disc, but it still resonates. I love the way Sweet refused to deliver “Girlfriend 2” and made a rather dark, emotional record that goes its own way while still delivering some of the delicious melodies found on “Girlfriend”. 4.5 stars

Bloodhound Gang – I love inappropriate potty humor as much as the next guy, I guess assuming the next guy isn’t Ken. Double entendres and dirty words aren’t funny by themselves. Some clever lines scattered throughout this disc, and “Three Point One Four” killed me. Outside of that, ehh... Did anyone really laugh at “Lift Your Head Up High (and Blow Your Brains Out”)? Musically, except for “One Way” its mostly 2nd (or 3rd) rate Beastie Boys.

Discussion Topics


5) There is virtually nothing on this disc I would change.
4) A consistently solid disc that will be on my year-end best-of list.
3) Has some keeper tracks and some filler.
2) A track or two amused me, but it mostly sucks.
1) Its better than what I could do in the studio, but not by much.
0) Mike Patton was involved in the recording.

I sort most of my discs by year now, and keep all “new” selections, regardless of how bad they are. As far as the old discs go, I don’t keep anything under a 3. Generally, I keep the discs filed in cases by genre. Ghits are treated the same, and I cherry-pick those for the MP3 player.

2) Don’t have a good answer. To me it’s the variety that does it. The fact that Van Halen, Miles Davis, Elton John, The Hold Steady and Willie Nelson all co-exist comfortably in my collection is what makes me feel cool. What also makes me feel cool is when my kids tell me about some new band they’re into and I can say, “Yeah, I’ve got a couple of their discs”. They HATE that.