Nick Cave's side project Grinderman is back with their second release "Grinderman 2" and after taking a peak at their first release a couple years back, "Grinderman 2" is pretty much the same vein. Gritty, dirty, blues rock revival with Cave taking on the familiar task of being the preacher at the revival. The content is definitely not suitable for kids (there is a song called "Worm Tamer" if you get the picture) and each song drips with hedonistic, grimy, and sexual overtones "Heathen Child" and "When My Baby Comes" are the two that come to mind first. "Kitchenette" has Cave cooing his love interest away from her husband "What's this husband of yours ever given to you/Oprey Winfrey on a silver screen". It's a lot of pulp fiction wrapped up into forty plus minutes. For instance, the first song "Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man" tells a tale of murder and debauchery and a chase from "the 29th floor" that could be used as a basis for a Tarantino flick. A couple songs feel unfinished like "Evil" and "What I Know" but the Cave I like is the one who is more graceful and thoughtful ("The Ship Song" from his work with the Bad Seeds comes to mind) and really only "Palaces Of Montezuma" takes a place as a standout as it gracefully flows along with Cave offering comfort from the storm instead of being the storm. "Grinderman 2" is the dirtiest listen I've had this year as far as texture of sound and lyrical content goes and would be a good soundtrack for a night in the brothels in Europe. But for an everyday listen, I think you'll have to be in the correct mood for this one to sink in.
Grade: B
JHO Picks:
Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man
Heathen Child
Palaces Of Montezuma
Grinderman - Palaces Of Montezuma by The Big Beat
My relationship with Kings Of Leon kinda goes like this. They're like the guy you met several years ago who was working as a garbage truck driver. He seemed like an honest hard working guy who is likable despite his circumstances. After losing track of him, it turns out you find he went back to school to become an orthodontist. He's the same guy, but there is something different. Maybe I dislike him because he became so successful or maybe I dislike him because he now seems a bit full of himself. Now, I can't say that Kings Of Leon are the orthodontists of rock (although I'm digging the term) but I can say that if "Sex On Fire" and "Use Somebody" tickled your fancy last year, you're gonna probably dig their latest release "Come Around Sundown". Personally, I miss "Molly's Chamber" and "The Bucket". The Followsill band of brothers do the undaunted task on their latest by playing to the rafters of the arena while somehow seeming a bit uncomfortable and resigned in their efforts. The first song is called "The End"...with self deprecating lyrics "I ain't got a home/I'm out here all alone." On "Pyro" the lyrics keep the resigned feel "Look at the sadness seeping from the bone/Everything I cherish is slowly dying or it's gone." Not exactly a celebratory feel for their latest achievements. Even "Back Down South", which includes fiddles, surfaces like a back to roots type song but in the end feels as forced as the good time hand claps at the end of the song. Are they just going through the biggest rock band of the moment motions? They do have a couple noteworthy tracks. "Radioactive" comes off the press as a smooth AOR rocker and "Mary" glides by like a pumped up doo wop shit kicker. While "Come Around Sundown" is far from being terrible, it just doesn't catch fire enough for repeated listens. And that's disappointing, because I was willing to give the orthodontists another go after forgiving them for "Use Somebody" which I heard one two many times last year. Kings of Leon even said they were sick of hearing themselves, and here they don't give many reasons to change that stance.
Grade: C+
JHO Picks:
Radioactive
Mary
Pick-Up Truck
Kings of Leon-Mary by doctormooney
"These kids will kill you just because they can/Their teeth are bleached and their tits are tan. L.A." The crowning lyrics from "Sleepless In Silverlake" a song that rumbles along without a clear chorus is probably the most engaging moment on Les Savy Fav's fifth studio album. The guitars intertwine perfectly with the danceable bass/drum beat, it's pretty much the blueprint for the album. And while it comes off as a sloppy sound, it has a clear aftertaste of being a bit clinical which makes the formula work well, even if the band isnt' as "Unhinged" as they used to be. The first five songs on the album do this, Silverlake being the cream of the crop. Les Savy Fav doesn't stray much from this formula the rest of the way: "Let's Get Out Of Here" has lead singer Tim Harrington screaming the chorus like throwing words against a wall in the chorus and it somehow comes off as the most radio friendly song of the bunch. "High and Unhinged" follows along as well "we get high and unhinged/and the outcasts are in/pressing skin into skin" marked by that incredible interplay. "Poltergeist" is the only time they get out of the comfort zone and at first it may seem like the least engaging song but after repeated listens has become a late seventies Wire-like treat. Lyrically it's always fun to hear a bunch of banter from people looking from the outside into a world that is easy to make fun of. And that's pretty much what Les Savy Fav advertises here...they are rooting for ruin. I'll recommended this, although, I'm not sure if it has a complete staying power ending to it. In the meantime, I want to hear more about the kids from Silverlake.
Grade: B+
JHO Picks:
Appetites
Sleepless In Silverlake
Poltergeist
High and Unhinged
Les Savy Fav - Sleepless In Silverlake by Scottish Friction
I went into checking out the Black Angels because of their excellent collaboration with U.N.K.L.E. on their latest release, a song called "Natural Selection". There is something haunting and driving at the same time about that song and is lining up for my EOY list. So this Austin ,Texas outfit's third proper album "Phosphene Dream" has been in the I POD for about a month now, and each time I listen it garners a new reaction. The first time I though it was pretty good, kind of an early Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett feel if not on complete par. The next time I found a lot of Zombies and 13th Floor Elevators comparisons I could make. By the fourth and fifth time I had already grown tired of it and the high points such as the goofy "Shindig!" type keyboard on "Yellow Elevator #2" and the "Astronomy Domine" clone "The Sniper" just didn't have me feeling they were borrowing from late sixties garage rock. It began to sound more like a bad soundtrack for a bad made for TV movie about the late sixties. "River Of Blood" strives to put you in a state of disillusion but just drones on and "True Belivers" with its tribal woo calls leave a bad feeling, not one of hallucinatory tripping, but of just plain bad droning. My two favorites: the short concise feel good "Telephone" which may have been a hit in 1968...we just don't know about it and the driving "The Entrance Song" which has the band driving down different highways with a fantastic guitar riff. But that's about it. It's not that I don't like or hate "Phosphene Dream", I've come to the conclusion that I just don't care about it. And it's a rarity I find an album that progressively distances itself from the listener with repeated listens, and that just means I ain't digging it that much. But this could be your thing. For seances or sixties-themed Halloween parties. Just don't invite me.
Grade: C
JHO Picks:
Yellow Elevator #2
The Entrance Song
Telephone
The Black Angels - Telephone by rslblog.com
Source: http://www.jhostation.com/2010/11/new-music-reviews-grinderman-kings-of.html
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