Shakes Open & Pour, Built to Spill Convinces & More
Alabama Shakes: Sound & Color (ATO) You may have noticed the short shelf-life trend in pop music, which popped its head up thanks to the adoption of the internet and the ever-present set-‘em-up-and-knock-‘em–down principle. As it applies to bands, it means that the Alabama Shakes, who emerged from nowhere around 2011 or so and garnered a batch of Grammy noms in 2013, must be primed and ready for a magnificent failure with album #2, Sound & Color. But this is not so. It is a fine album, starting off with its ethereal title track—which pairs powerful vocalist Brittany Howard with some subtle instrumental throbs—and somewhere between tracks 4-6, which would be “Future People,” “Gimme All Your Love,” and “This Feeling” sounding astoundingly good, thanks mostly to singer Howard, who literally screams in tune, in a manner not unlike the Janis Joplin she has been compared to, but it could not sound more genuine or original throughout. They are a very good band for many reasons, not least because they walk that fine line between showing respect for the southern soul/r&b/blues that emerged from Memphis, Alabama & Nashville and taking those roots and creating something unique and exciting and modern. Which this really is. Very good second album.
[Related: Facing the second album challenge with Alabama Shakes]
Built To Spill: Untethered Moon (Warner Bros.) Reading about it and holding the physical product in your hands is one thing, but hearing the latest album from Built To Spill in the necessary step: It is strong, it is good, and it illustrates that a band that is renowned for pursuing their own unique muse with power and dignity—and that would be due to guitarist/front man Doug Martsch—can evolve satisfactorily and without repeating themselves. I like excessive guitar solos dripping with power and noise, which is why I was sold by album closer ”When I’m Blind,” but there’s enough new stuff here on Album Eight, and a new rhythm section, to satisfy a whole boatload of divergent tastes. They remain unique and oddly underestimated by many.
Frank Sinatra: Ultimate Sinatra (100 Songs Celebrating 100 Years) (Capitol) If the past few weeks’ sudden reappearance of Billie Holiday didn’t drop the hint, be prepared for this: Some of the most iconic figures in pop music history—including Holiday, including Sinatra, and soon, almost everyone you’ve ever heard of—are celebrating significant anniversaries lately, and whether it’s a 100-year birthday celebration for Holiday and Frank Sinatra, or a 50-year career nod to the Beach Boys or Donovan, the flood’s only starting. Luckily, given today’s unavoidable emphasis on expert curation, artists like Sinatra actually can be sliced, diced and aesthetically summarized via a well-put together box set. The big win: His Columbia, Capitol and Reprise recordings—from 1939 to 1993—are represented here, which finally allows the compilers to paint the Big Sinatra Picture. Most every Sinatra song the general public knows is here. Which makes this, like the man himself, a winner, yes?
[Related: ‘Sinatra: All or Nothing at All’ Is All-Frank]
Miami Horror: All Possible Futures (Dine Alone) I absolutely love how albums you approach with minimal expectations—I’m from Miami, I like horror movies, kinky album cover—jump right out of your speakers and grab you by the neck. Apparently the second album by this Australian quartet, who’ve spent some time in LA and thus sold their souls, as is the rule, this is so perfect right now: flowing melodies, soothing vocals, inescapable beats, sounds-better-when-louder, good, substantial, and just slightly off in the best sense. Somewhere in this mess I read something about the notion of “alternative electronica and dance music,” and band producer Ben Plant precisely nailed what makes this album special: Weirdness and Sunshine. Really good, worth your while.
Mavis Staples: Your Good Fortune (ANTI-) The focus of more attention than usual thanks to the new documentary film Mavis!–which spotlights the much-loved Staples Singer vocalist—Mavis Staples could not be in more sympathetic hands this late in her career. This brief four-track EP puts the singer in the studio with younger ANTI- multi-talent Son Little, and between the originals and the classics, Staples swoops high and low and, as has always been her way, soulfully convincing. It’s a great showing for the lady, and an adventurous context for R&B. Recommended.
Passion Pit: Kindred (Columbia) While I have taken physical/journalistic cues from Passion Pit—watched them arise from the ground floor, make a name for themselves, feature a lead vocalist with a really high voice sometimes—I have rarely felt any sort of emotion while listening to them. Maybe that’s changed now with Kindred, their new album, because with the pounding rhythms, the background vocals oozing “1985 was a good year”—and damn it, it was!—and the deliberate electronic intrusion of static, noise, pops, ticks, and anything else that takes the raw music and somehow elevates it…this sounds really good. Somewhere around third track “Where The Sky Hangs” I hear harmonies, bells, and something that reminds me of the Human League’s “Human,” which of course was a hit in 1986, one year after the really good year Passion Pit were singing about only moments earlier. And of course the album cover really seals the deal.
[Related: Slayer, Replacements, Passion Pit Headlining Converse Boston Fest]
Say Lou Lou: Lucid Dreaming (Cosmos Music) I would hate to imply one could make one’s mind up about music before actually hearing it, but let’s do the math: Two young women, very attractive, of Swedish/Australian extraction, sisters, in fact, which means harmonies that are otherworldly, an instant suggestion of the long-gone cult Brit femme act Strawberry Switchblade, who were fantastic, and then, as if it were science fiction, to learn that they are the twin sister offspring of the Church’s Steve Kilbey and Karin Jansson: What on earth could derail this? As you may have guessed, nothing at all. This is a great pop album, Elektra and Miranda Kilbey have likely made their parents very proud, and I cannot wait to hear more.
[Related: Watch Say Lou Lou’s video “Nothing But A Heartbeat”]
Wire: Wire (Pinkflag) It’s odd how very Wire-like Wire are–meaning that the long-lived Brit combo who retooled Brit-punk into Brit Prog and then went out for dinner can really still hit it after all these years, which considering Pink Flag’s emergence in 1977, are many. With guitarist Matthew Simms replacing the departed Bruce Gilbert—and fitting in very well–the original quartet are largely intact, endearingly cold and droning, and perhaps the only band that might pen these lyrics: “Blogging like Jesus/ Tweet like a Pope / Site traffic heavy / I’m YouTubing hope.” This is good solid record and this is a good solid band, and Wire remains Wire.
