CD reviews: Shout out Yeah Yeah Yeah!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
It’s Blitz!
Interscope
4.5/5 stars
If you were as seduced by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ newest single “Zero” as I was, you might be in for a shock when you pick up its accompanying album. It’s Blitz! is not the non-stop ultra-rave dance party it was hyped up to be, nor is it necessarily the big dramatic departure you’ve heard about. It’s deeper than that.
What makes It’s Blitz! sound different from before is, of course, the addition of electronic synthesizers and icy keyboards, but they act as an additional (and dramatic) layer that adds unforeseen dimensions to the band’s established sound. It’s misleading when Nick Zinner says he put down the guitar for this album; it’s still there, just not as obvious.
Ultimately, what emerges from this trip to the dance floor is a logical conclusion to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ musical journey. They’ve always made “dance” music, but on It’s Blitz! the three coolest people in rock finally shake hands with the club DJ, instead of their middle fingers..
— Sean-Paul Boynton
To hear a sample track click here
Attack In Black
Years (By One Thousand Fingertips)
Arts & Crafts Productions
3/5 stars
Attack In Black delivers its first full-length album with Years (By One Thousand Fingertips). This is not your typical recording. It is as if the band opted not to go with the current standard of technology to record and go with more primitive equipment. This ultimately yields a 1970s sound with a 2009 release date — ala The White Stripes. Sonically it is reminiscent of The Monkees meets The Stereophonics. With a very basic and organic approach to their chord progressions, Attack in Black do a real good job at intentionally sounding less musically mature and almost more pure than they actually are. Catchy and dream-like tunes such as “Birmingham” and “I Could Turn” allow for easy listening and a good alternative to the sappy and pretentious recordings that others have attempted using this technique. My only sharp criticism, or possible compliment depending on how you take it, is the album is directed by frontman Daniel Travis Romano. For a guy who cannot sing, he does a professional job at pretending that he can.
— Jordan Nakaska
To hear a sample track click here
Saving Abel
Saving Abel
Virgin Records
Saving Abel’s self-titled debut album is a strong effort and will likely keep them on commercial radio for the promotion of the record. Their first single “Addicted” enjoyed a well-received response and was a staple on both television and radio over the last several months. Their follow up single “18 Days” shows off the dynamic capabilities of the group and allows them to open the door for softer, more ballad- driven songs down the road.
Currently preparing for their summer tour supporting Canadian heavy hitters Nickleback, Mississippi’s Saving Abel are sure to leave an impression. This first of hopefully many albums by the band is your middle-of-the- road, meat and potatoes rock and roll. Laced with strong harmonies and connotative lyrics, the voice of Jared Weeks is an interesting one. Just as you are about to lump his vocal delivery in the generic pile, Weeks will do something to impress and inspire, similar yet distinct to that of Staind’s Aaron Lewis. It is likely that Saving Abel will continue the route they have been enjoying over the last year and are destined to remain alongside some of the acts they have been supporting.
— Jordan Nakaska
Living Thing
Witcha/Almost Gold
2.5/5 stars
These days there is a better chance of hearing a good new pop song in a television commercial than on a commercial radio station. I’ve only ever heard one Peter Bjorn and John song on commercial radio, “Young Folks” from their second last album Writer’s 2006 Block, and it has quite possibly the most infectious whistling melody in the history of recorded music. Unfortunately there are no whistling tracks on Living Thing. There is a very slim chance that any of the songs will be played on X92.9 or even make the iTunes top 10 singles chart, but I can picture every song on the album playing in the background of a car commercial as a new compact Mazda model full of smiling twenty-somethings roll down a trendy shopping strip.
The band’s best bet is to sell all of their songs to marketing companies and then live off of the fat royalty cheques pouring in from television advertisements. The track “Lay it Down” might not make the cut though, because the verse that is repeated dozens of times within the three and a half minutes of the song is “Hey shut the fuck up boy, you are starting to piss me off. Take your hands of that girl, you have already had enough.” On the bright side, the song would be perfect for a Judd Apatow sequel trailer like Superbadder or The 40-Year-Old Virgin II: Sloppy Seconds. At least they can sleep soundly knowing that everyone in the world will forever have that whistling melody stuck in their heads.
— Robert Strachan
To hear a sample click here
Nat King Cole ft.Various Artists
Re: Generations
Capitol/EMI
5/5 stars
Who would have thought that giving a bunch of producers free reign to remix Nat King Cole’s catalogue of songs would be a good idea? Apparently executive producer Michaelanelgo L’Acqua thought it was, and although I agree that it is a good idea, I think it is going to be difficult to find a profitable market for it. Maybe an eclectic DJ will come across it and choose to spin a track at a scenester dance bar, but it isn’t likely that droves of kids are going to storm their local HMV looking for copies. Most record stores will probably only keep one copy on hand and hide it in the jazz section where traditional jazz fans will scoff at it. L’Aqua can be rest assured that the album won’t be largely traded on the online MP3 black market because most fans of Nat King Cole have no idea how to use Google let alone change the battery in their hearing aids. For lack of a better term, this CD is supa-fresh. As a symbolic gesture to the genre of the jazz-remix album, I am giving the album five stars with a hope that the future will hold a jazz revolution. But, in reality, if I asked someone in my twenty-something age bracket it they wanted to get down to some Nat King Cole, then they would most likely avert eye contact and start talking to the homie wearing the baggie pants and the sideways G-Unit hat.
— Robert Strachan
To hear a sample track click here
Want to write a CD review? E-mail what genre of music you like to Sean-Paul atartseditor@thereflector.ca
