Last month, I compiled a list of 26 albums I planned to listen to over the summer. Having since listened to five of the twenty six, I figured it was time for a batch of reviews. So here we go!
A.C. Newman - Get Guilty
This one's a bit of a cheat - out of the twenty-six albums, I'd listened to maybe three or four in the past, but not enough that I remembered every song. So I wanted to give them a second chance. And Get Guilty - much like the last album from The New Pornographers, the band for whom Newman is the principal writer - grew on me after a second listening. Newman's penchant for pop hooks is obvious, and welcome, but he switches it up a bit with a few lower-energy songs as well. Throw in lyrics that are slightly better than those of the New Pornographers, and I'm really digging this album.
Grade: A-
Recommended Tracks: The Palace At 4 AM; The Collected Works; Young Atlantis
Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs
While still classified as indie, Hey Rosetta! is decidedly more of the acoustic-guitar-and-a-piano variety. Kind of like the Goo Goo Dolls crossed with John Mayer. In a way. Not my first choice of music, and most of the ballads on this album are decent enough for what they are, but don't do anything for me. But there are a few songs that slip more into 90s alternative than anything (mainly the ones listed below), and those are going to stick on my iPod.
Grade: B-
Recommended Tracks: A Thousand Suns; There's An Arc; New Goodbye
Dog Day - Night Group
Dog Day are a little different. A garage band with a string section, which gives their songs a darker feel than typical indie. The best comparison I can draw upon would be that Dog Day are Billy Talent with less intensity and more poppiness. But I mean that in a good way. Still having that problem where it's difficult to remember any specific song, I just get one or another stuck in my head and think "that's Dog Day", but maybe that will change over time.
Grade: B
Recommended Tracks: Lydia; Career Suicide; Great Pains
Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
Sunset Rubdown features the lead singer of Wolf Parade, and...well, that's really all I knew about them going into this. That and that I should presumably like them. Unfortunately, I spent the first half of the album thinking maybe it was Swan Lake and the second half thinking maybe it was the Handsome Furs, completely forgetting I even had Sunset Rubdown, so I was comparing apples to oranges. Either way, the album was a disappointment compared to my expectations. Extremely eccentric, yes (as if you couldn't tell by the titles below), and maybe one song that you'd ever hear on any radio station anywhere...but all in all, not to my taste. I'm told Shut Up I Am Dreaming is their more accessible album, I'm going to give that a listen at some point.
Grade: B-
Recommended Tracks: Up On Your Leopard, Upon the End of Your Feral Days; The Courtesan Has Sung; Trumpet, Trumpet, Toot! Toot!
Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
I didn't do this on purpose, I swear, but we close with hands-down my favourite album of the moment. Better than any New Pornographers, any R.E.M., any Oasis. As I was listening to it the first time, it took me only until the third song to figure out that I was going to remember a lot of these choruses for a long time to come. And that's exactly what happened. It drags a bit at the end (Backseats and the "tell that to _____ when she _____" song I can't remember the name of offhand are two of three songs I'm not hugely into, the third being Miles Davis & The Cool), but it starts off strong, and it's seriously catchy. Plus the lyrics actually work in the "revolving around a theme/story" sense. Only gripe, and it's extremely minor but this is why they didn't get an A+, is that while the verses are great and the choruses are great, the getting from one to the other sometimes leaves something to be desired musically. Like I said, extremely minor, and I'd recommend this album to anyone who likes music.
Grade: A
Recommended Tracks: Film Noir; Casanova, Baby!; Meet Me By The River's Edge
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Garfield got weird again. Also, hats and Mexican food are funny.
--Ryan
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