Making a list and checking it twice...

Arcade Fire – I bought this in August and pegged it as my most disappointing album of the year. Revisiting it hasn’t changed my opinion. The sense of abandon and musical urgency on “Neon Bible” isn’t here. It’s a very restrained yet somehow still over-emoted, self-important record. The repeated lyrical themes of “the kids” might have connected if the musical themes were better. At the end of the day, “The Suburbs” is remote and uninteresting, which ironically seems to be Butler’s premise in describing the subject matter. 2 stars

Creepshow – Aside from the ridiculous opening, this is a nifty little disc.  Nice combo of rockabilly and punk with excellent vocal work throughout.  At 25 minutes long, it doesn’t wear out its welcome. The tear-jerker “Sleep Tight” was my favorite of the bunch, managing to sound retro and simultaneously fresh.  3.5 stars

John Eddie – An unremarkable disc.  What I find most interesting is that there’s very little here that suggests John Eddie had the capacity to make the brilliant and tragically ignored “Who the Hell is John Eddie?” just a few years later.  Based on this release, he made a quantum leap talent-wise in a pretty short period of time.  2.5 stars

The High Strung – I’d like to think that if these guys met the Arcade Fire somewhere, they’d kick the crap out of them and steal their meal money just on principal.  In your face, snotty garage rock with attitude to spare.   4 stars

Leon Redbone – Pre-Uncle Tupelo “Americana”.  This mix of jazz, blues, country and cabaret is as American as it gets.  Redbone is a unique artist who makes his signature style work by somehow delivering this material with sincerity, yet with a nod and a wink as well.  Not something I’ll reach for all the time, but there’s nothing else quite like it.  3.5 stars

Hives – Love me some garage rock, and this fits the bill.  Just a relentless barrage of power chords delivered with a punk snarl.  Definitely a keeper.

Discussion Question


More than what was asked, but I hate to just look at the positive side of things. Yin needs its Yang...

The Nice List

2 Cow Garage
Allman Brothers
Bob Dylan
Clash
Drive By Truckers
Elton John
Fountains of Wayne
Gaslight Anthem
Hold Steady
Ian Hunter
Johnny Cash
Kinks
Lucinda Williams
Marah
Nick Lowe
Orbison, Roy
Petty, Tom
Queen
Rolling Stones
Springsteen, Bruce
Townshend, Pete
Uncle Tupelo
Velvet Underground
Wilco
XTC
Young, Neil
Zevon, Warren

The Naughty list

.38 Special
Alabama
Boston
Chicago
Doobie Brothers
Eagles
Foreigner
Grand Funk Railroad
Hagar, Sammy
Iron Maiden
Jimmy Buffet
Kansas
Loverboy
Money, Eddie
Nugent, Ted
Ozzy Osbourne
Pink
Queensryche
REO Speedwagon
Styx
Twisted Sister
Urban, Keith
Vai, Steve
Wilson, Brian
X (Exene vocals)
Yes
Zombies