New Music Reviews: The Dodos-No Color, R.E.M.-Collapse Into Now

San Francisco duo The Dodos fourth release "No Color" starts with the crisp acoustic strums and persistent percussion on the wonderful "Black Night" and follows the same path through the rest of the album never messing with its consistent formula. Lead singer Meric Long has a voice that sort of reminds me of solo Robyn Hitchcock projects and the blueprint is reminiscent of the recent effort of Local Natives' "Gorilla Manor". Where Local Natives songs feel fuller because of their excellent harmonies, the Dodos' songs on "No Color" thrive on the brisk flow of acoustic guitars and walloping percussion of Logan Kroeber instead of bigger than life harmonies. It's a perfect album for a spring day when the air is still cool to roll down the windows in the car but the compositions can fool you into thinking the sun is warmer than it actually is.

After "Black Night", the album rolls right into the start stop rhythm of "Going Under" with Long persistently reminding you "this ship is going under". It's the first spot on "No Color" that guest vocalist Neko Case (The New Pornographers) brings her fantastic vocals...a melancholy sweetness that acts as the perfect antagonist to Long's stately vocal approach. Other songs such as her shouts of "Stop" on "Good" and the fantastic campfire gallop of "Don't Try and Hide It" benefit greatly from having her extra vocals around for the affair. "Don't Try And Hide It" with its good time feeling of a chorus and it's positive mission of just opening up and being yourself is by far the most joyous song of self optimism I've heard in a few years.

"No Color" may have a fault in a lack of variation as some points throughout the release feel like they're stretching things thin to a point where deciphering song to song can be a bit difficult. The sonics are spot on and pleasing, but the similarity in that scope makes you feel like you wish there was a bit of variation in arrangement. But it's a small fault. If memorable songs are replaced with sheer enthusiasm like on the Crosby, Stills and Nash guitar strumming of "Sleep" or the earthy and gentle poignancy of the peaceful "When Will You Go" or the joyous percussion romp of "Hunting Season", you can skip over major criticism from these quarters.

"No Color" may not be the most memorable effort of the year so far, but it is one of the more enjoyable releases that's been committed so far. It's an album that camouflages itself in a jungle of acoustic jangle pop without feeling forced and that is impressive.

Grade: B+

JHO Picks:
Black Night
Good
Don't Try And Hide It
When Will You Go






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On the first song "Discoverer" on R.E.M.'s fifteenth proper release "Collapse Into Now", Michael Stipe sings like a man who, after much time being directionally handicapped, has rediscovered what made his band so great in the first place, "But it was what it was/Let's all get on with it now..." is Stipe's official apology to years of mediocre or worse affairs and it's accepted. Because for the most part, "Collapse Into Now" is the best thing that R.E.M. has released since 1996.

If you left R.E.M. out to pasture in 2004 after they released the underwhelming "Around The Sun", and you came back around for 2008's 'Accelerate" which showed a band finally shaking the cobwebs off then you're going to like "Collapse Into Now". It's an album indebted to its past without really aping it completely. When a band has been around as long as R.E.M., you tend to make comparisons to past efforts for comparisons the old spot the influence. The fun thing about "Collapse" is you can't just nosedive into one comparison. They borrow a bit here and there. Peter Buck dusts off the mandolin on "Uberlin" for a song that would fit comfortably on "Out Of Time", "It Happened Today" is reminiscent of the darker and murkier landscapes of "New Adventures In Hi-Fi" and the accordion on "Oh My Heart" and the lullaby loveliness of "Every Day Is Yours To Win" wouldn't be out of place on "Automatic For The People". The not quite digestible, but interesting, "Blue" that closes the album scores a trifecta with strong references to "Belong", "Country Feedback" and "E-Bow The Letter" right down to the Patti Smith guest vocals....all in 5 minutes time (And these are just 90's comparisons, with repeated listens you'll find 80's roots even deeper.)

I like the simple rock songs here. "Alligator..." and "That Someone Is You" are just pure nuggets of energetic fun with the former reaping guest vocals benefits of Peaches. I like the poignancy and Stipe's vocal delivery on "Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I". I like the smart "ready to be released as a single" power pop of Mike Mills perfect familiar backing vocals on "Mine Smells Like Honey" or "All The Best." There are lots of great moments. All together, it feels like a classic R.E.M. approach but may be just a few rungs down the ladder from those heights (A gripe: no big memorable lyrics to brand the songs...a lot of oohhs and aahhs instead). An argument can be made that a band playing out their best moments years later is a band that is short on ideas. The Rolling Stones were about on "Steel Wheels" at this point of their career. It was a solid album that found the band revisiting what made them strong. Twenty three years later it's not considered the Stones' best, right? Can we call "Collapse into Now" R.E.M. 's "Steel Wheels"? And is that an insult or a fair comparison? I'm struggling with that.

One thing that is for sure, "Collapse Into Now" is better than "Accelerate" with repeated listens. On "Accelerate", Stipe, Buck and Mills sounded like a band rocking hard to prove not to the public but to themselves they still were relevant. It was clunky at times, but it worked. Here, they are just comfortable in their own skin again playing as a unit that remembers its own strengths. And I like how they tacked on the brief reprise of "Discoverer" at the end of the album...almost a reminder to every one that they have truly figured out their path again. And it's nice to have them back doing what they do best. As Stipe sings "I'm laughing..Ha!" you feel like patting him on the back and saying "it's nice to have you back around sir."

Grade: B+

JHO Picks:
Discoverer
Oh My Heart
Mine Smells Like Honey
Walk It Back

Source: http://www.jhostation.com/2011/04/new-music-reviews-dodos-no-color-rem.html

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