Everclear
Welcome to the Drama Club
Available Today
Everclear has some issues.
If lead singer Art Alexakis isn't singing about a crappy childhood, being poor or drug abuse, he's singing about his ex-wife.
With two new members in the band, it seems Everclear wants to make a fresh start. However, it continues using the tired-but-true method of using angst-filled periods of life and turning them into downer songs.
The first single, "Hater," - the self-proclaimed break-up song of 2006 - truly sets the tone for the whole album. If you're looking for something a little more upbeat and not so love-tormented, keep walking past the aisle that shelves Welcome to the Drama Club. The album title could not possibly be more germane if it tried. It is almost childish how Everclear can get so stuck on one theme: I hate my ex-wife. The album as a whole seems too childish. It is a shame that Alexakis, who has had many life experiences from which to draw, chose to make 80 percent of the album about one specific topic.
Welcome to the Drama Club is tired, repetitive and anything but fresh. Unless you're going through a divorce, chances are you won't like this album.
If you like this music, you might also enjoy:
Stadium Arcadium - Red Hot Chili Peppers
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Continuum - John Mayer
Sam's Town - Killers
Jonny Lives
Get Steady
Available Now
If you're looking for a high-energy, indie-rock group that is smart and fun to listen to, I introduce you to Jonny Lives, a New York-based band, and its album Get Steady.
The band experiments and alternates between heavy rock 'n' roll guitar and drum riffs with a softer acoustic sound. The end result is tracks to put on a repeat playlist.
The music is upbeat, but not so much that it is tiring because of the interspersed slower tracks. There is a nice flow and planned-out rhythm that all listeners can appreciate.
Not only does Jonny Lives play its instruments brilliantly, the lead vocalist, Jonny Dubowsky, can really sing. On the track "Lost My Mind," he almost has a doo-wop sound that is nicely complemented by rock 'n' roll overtones. The lyrics deal mostly with ex-girlfriends and relationships, as can be expected by any indie-characterized band, but they really get stuck in your head, which in this case is not a bad thing.
Get Steady, costing an insanely cheap $1.25 for the full album on Amazon.com, is definitely worth trying out.
You can also see the band live at El Rey Theater on Sept. 24.
If you like this music, you might also enjoy:
Broken Boy Soldiers -
Raconteurs
Highway Companion -
Tom Petty
Nightcrawler -
Pete Yorn
Grates
Gravity Won't Get You High
Available Now
The land Down Under has provided many great additions to popular culture. However, the latest Aussie musical export, the Grates, does not live up to such expectations.
Having the same appeal as those almost homicide-provoking "Head On: Apply Directly to the Forehead" commercials, the Grates are able to get annoying pretty fast.
On the first track, there is nothing but a whining, overly high-pitched voice saying over and over the chorus of "I Won't Survive." There is hardly any substance to the lyrics. What exists is only an incessant repetition of the same phrases and choruses for two or three minutes. The beats are catchy, but not so much that they are able to compensate for the apparent lack of substance that overshadows the whole album.
Eventually, you'll have to start listening to more than the initial sound, and when that happens, Gravity Won't Get You High falls to the ground fast and hard. The only real appeal to the album is the unique album art - instead of conventional track listings, the band designed artistic icons that represent each song.
In the end, the Grates only grate on sore ears.
If you like this music, you might also enjoy:
From the Cliffs - Guillemots
Show Your Bones - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Eraser - Thom Yorke
