Maybe we should have done David Gilmour instead...

Dave Alvin – In constant rotation this month.  There’s a lot of death and loss going on throughout the disc, but Alvin’s guitar work tramples all over the darkness of the lyrics.  The Lou Reed style vocals take some getting used to, but even on the slower numbers, his voice is incredibly smooth. Highlight is the mini-Blasters reunion on “What’s Up With Your Brother”.   Potential year-end list entry. 4 stars 

Kills – Sounded a lot like the Jack White thing (I’m too lazy to look it up) from last year that I wasn’t wild about. The better tracks, like the opener, were reminiscent of the Ravonettes.  The lesser tracks were in Missing Persons territory.  I really liked the ballad and wish they did a few more like that.  2.5 stars

Presto Ballet –  Hard to review this one due to my inherent dislike of this genre.  The instrumental passages, while too synth/organ heavy for me are ok, but the vocals are brutal.  The production and mix are excellent.  Not my thing, but the musicians have talent and people who like this style would probably enjoy it.  2 stars

Amused To Death – I find Roger Waters fascinating. To me, the only remotely interesting Pink Floyd comes post-Barrett, when Waters becomes the alpha dog. He’s the living embodiment of the twisted, tortured artist, which is intriguing. Yet, tortured artist or not, there needs to be more than 40 minutes of actual music on an 80 minute concept disc. He covered the themes of “war sucks” and “religion is a sham” in a far more entertaining manner on “The Final Cut”. Bonus ½ star for the Marv Albert cameo. 1.5 stars

Pros and Cons – I’m all for concept albums, but this one is weak in concept and execution. My understanding is that the protagonist (Waters?) is giving us a running narrative of his dream about banging a chick he picks up hitch-hiking.  Not a whole lot of “concept” there.  I like the title track, and the guitar playing (Clapton, no?) is pretty good throughout.  Waters over-emotes constantly, which wears thin, and he steals from his own material, as there were more than a few melodies lifted off “The Wall”. 2 stars

Joe Pernice – This one batted about .500.  I liked the more flushed out numbers like “Snow” which sound like a mash-up of the Byrds and the Old 97s.  The slower, acoustic numbers tended to drag the disc down, and no amount of hipster doofus irony can change the fact that “Chevy Van” is quite possibly the worst song ever recorded regardless of who is covering it.

Discussion Question

#1) Chris Collingwood of Fountains of Wayne.  I want to possess the genius that rhymes “Cracker Barrel” with “Will Ferrell”.

#2) Is this a trick question?  How can anyone’s answer NOT be Keith Richards??