Album Reviews

David Vandervelde, 'Waiting for the Sunrise' (Secretly Canadian)

onlineintern — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:39:57 -0400

A teen metalcore guitarist turned studio engineer turned glammy multi-instrumentalist (2007's promising The Moonstation House Band), David Vandervelde has already had a whirlwind career by his late 20s. Rather than play every instrument himself on his second album, Vandervelde leads a full band, the Lickedy Splitz, even cowriting a song with buddy and ex-Wilco member Jay Bennett (the overly lax countryish rocker "California Breezes"). But sliding away from his Marc Bolan fixation, Vandervelde sounds more like a subpar Lindsey Buckingham (there's even a cocaine lyric on "Someone Like You"), offering shlocky '70s AM pop rock on drifting, overlong tunes like "Need for Now."

The Stills, 'Oceans Will Rise' (Arts&Crafts)

onlineintern — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:35:33 -0400

Three albums in, the Stills still sound ambitiously confused. A brooding Interpol wannabe in 2003, the Canadian band ditched that sound (along with their singer) for 2006's more rootsy Without Feathers. The new Oceans splits the difference, then adds trad modern-rock polish: "Snakecharming the Masses" sits near Coldplay and Muse, while "Snow in California" is all wishy-washy, yacht-friendly Lite FM. Strangely, it's the most radio-baiting song -- the soaring, in-your-face rocker "Being Here" -- that sounds the most inspired. If they ever made an album full of comparable hooks, somebody might actually recognize the Stills in a crowd one day.

Sonny J, 'Disastro' (Astralwerks)

onlineintern — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:32:26 -0400

Remember when samples from junk-store LPs set to big beats ruled dance floors? England's Sonnington James III certainly does: His debut album combines the beer-fueled camaraderie of early Fatboy Slim with the sugar-rushin' kiddie euphoria of the Go! Team. This seaside cowboy also ropes in country weepers, spooky psych rock, Jackson 5–cloned bubblegum soul, and more. Spoken bits that initially provoke chuckles may grow tiresome, but the goofy hooks of carefree single "Can't Stop Moving" keep the glee flowing.

Shwayze, 'Shwayze' (Suretone/Geffen)

onlineintern — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:28:04 -0400

"I'm brown like a blunt," Shwayze reports on opening track "Roamin'," and it's a stellar summary. The 23-year-old Malibu rapper's debut is as shallow as a spray-on tan; it's stocked with bro'd-out, giggly rhymes about 420-filled nights and T&A aplenty over lazy, midtempo beats from producer/reality-show rocker Cisco Adler. The tunnel vision and less-than-Sublime singing bores halfway -- but even if Shwayze does cash out early, his chill vibe is perfectly reflective of 2 a.m. bonfires and joyrides down the PCH.

sBach, 'sBACH' (Suicide Squeeze)

onlineintern — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:23:56 -0400

Here's some déjà vu for fans of Hella guitarist Spencer Seim's Nintendo-spazz side project the Advantage and his solo half of Hella's 2005 double album Church Gone Wild/Chirpin' Hard (he was responsible for the latter disc). Basically, Seim attempts the same video-music-gone-rock theme via lo-fi electronics, though it's more mannered and less playful here -- imagine Sonic the Hedgehog simply jogging. But since his guitar runs so resemble the lovably cheesy synth pop of vintage games, his numbered-not-named songs retain a familiar charm, from the dreamy sweetness of "06" to the screaming speed metal of "03" to the industrial pop of "05."

Ra Ra Riot, 'The Rhumb Line' (Barsuk)

onlineintern — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:17:19 -0400

Drummer John Pike cowrote the lyrics for much of the debut album by these Syracuse, New Yorkers before he mysteriously drowned last summer, so the images of cemetery flowers in "Each Year" and the cheerfully delivered e.e. cummings quotes on "Dying Is Fine" aren't the post-traumatic writings of a grieving band. In Ra Ra Riot's short existence, the cello-rocking sextet has consistently inserted bubblegum earnestness into Arcade Fire melodrama. Anchored by four tracks from a previous EP that were re-recorded with the hooks highlighted, this nimble full-length wrings catharsis from pop with no lapses into pretension.

Kristoffer Ragnstam, 'Wrong Side of the Room' (Bluhammock)

onlineintern — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:14:48 -0400

Kristoffer Ragnstam comes from notoriously well-groomed Sweden, and that extreme fastidiousness creeps into the bouncy singer-songwriter's second album. When things get overly crisp, his new-wavey pop sounds like it's emerging from a vacuum-sealed can: "Sorry for Being the Man of 1,000 Questions" too closely recalls a slick Prince homage by Flight of the Conchords. But when Ragnstam rubs on some production dirt, things get playful and almost soulful: The chipper, piano-led "2008" rivals Phoenix, and "Swing That Tambourine" could be a juiced-up, Nordic John Vanderslice. Shine it just enough, Kris, but not too much.

Lee "Scratch" Perry, 'Repentance' (Narnack)

onlineintern — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:11:44 -0400

Now in his 70s, the notoriously idiosyncratic Perry is widely considered the most important reggae producer ever, sporting a résumé that includes history- making sessions for Bob Marley, the Congos, and the Clash. Coproduced by party animal Andrew W.K. (and featuring appearances by Moby, Lightning Bolt drummer Brian Chippendale, and porn actress Sasha Grey), his 54th studio album enhances Perry's oddball mystique, though not his legacy. Percolating tracks such as "Pum Pum" and "Chooga Cane" are more like undercooked, meandering jams than songs, mixing loose grooves and breezy synths as the profane Perry portrays a muttering old codger. Play the creepy "Baby Sucker" if you wanna scare off unwanted guests.

The Music Tapes, 'Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes' (Merge)

onlineintern — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:59:18 -0400

Relying on the singing saw, which generates a piercingly high sound guaranteed to give your dog a migraine, and employing vintage recording equipment dating back to the 1930s, Julian Koster of the Elephant 6 collective comes on like a full-fledged crackpot. But he's a talented and engaging one. If his first Music Tapes album in nine years suggests an unhealthy obsession with Brian Wilson's SMiLE, the wobbly-voiced outsider makes his own quaint magic, be it the gorgeously spooky "Majesty" or the sleigh-bells-plus-cheapo-organ lounge vibe of "In an Ice Palace".

Lindstrøm, 'Where You Go I Go Too' (Smalltown Supersound)

onlineintern — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:54:33 -0400

After a string of heady singles and collaborations with fellow Norwegian Prins Thomas, Hans-Peter Lindstrøm is already a leading light of 21st-century (see '80s-worshipping) disco. But on his debut album, he shoots for the stratosphere and lavishly scores. A three-piece suite that conjures not just St. Tropez sunsets but speed- boat chases and Cerrone's "Supernature," the perpetually elevating half-hour title track masterfully uses synths to intoxicating effect, both jet-stream-swift and Jacuzzi-smooth. With their keytar'd arpeggios, "Grand Ideas" and "The Long Way Home" are similarly epic and anxious. Crockett, Tubbs, and Jan Hammer would be proud.