The Subways
All or Nothing
Available Now
2/5
New Musical Express announced The Subways' All or Nothing release is UK's best rock album of
the year.
These must be dull and uninspiring times if this is the yardstick by which we measure good rock.
It has plenty of energy, and the producer, Butch Vig, kept things tight and measured - good sound levels and all that. Having produced Nirvana's Nevermind, though, I wonder if this project was a let-down for him. The lyricist never graduated past the angst-poetry phase of his life, and the sound patterns and textures are predictable.
Maybe if the songwriter did some fun writing exercises and quit being so whiny, the band could move on to the next level where it starts to infuse its quarter-time formats with a musical je ne sais quoi. That should naturally come to those who keep on keepin' on with their musical metamorphosis as they learn and grow and realize one doesn't have to make annoying music. One can experiment with being
good, too.
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The Subways pose as bad-ass rockers, but their half-assed drive shines through the album like sunrays through a forest canopy of Blink 182 trees.
The song "Shake! Shake!" isn't bad. The switching between screams and soft singing was a good idea. All or Nothing works OK as background music for a birthday party when no one shows up and you're stuck there with bottles of drink that you will drink until you vomit and wake the next day and think, "Well, last night was a waste."
If you like this music, you might enjoy:
The Verve - Forth
The Fratellis - Here We Stand
MGMT - Oracular Spectaculary
The Safes
Sight of All Light
Available Now
3/5
This EP has five songs, and they're short. Which is good, 'cause they're in the same vein as our good friends The Subways from earlier.
But there's something more charming about this Chicago-based band. Like if the Beatles had to play punk rockers in an '80s film, then this album might have been the soundtrack. On "The Sky is Falling," the lead guitar sounds like a buzzing pack of bloodthirsty mosquitoes, something a beekeeper might listen to while collecting honey in his suit and the neighbor stares at him through a hole in the fence and thinks, "What a weird dude, him with his bees. He listens to catchy music though. Man, I love drone rock."
If you try writing your own song, and you find it's not as good as The Safes' power pop, then you'll really begin to appreciate history's prized musicians for their talents. 'Cause it was probably hard to write a hit single just now. If they want to sound more authentic, this relatively new band might want to learn some old tricks.
If you like this music, you might enjoy:
The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
The Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK
The Swans - Great Annihilator
Kardinal Offishall
Not 4 Sale
Available Now
5/5
This Canadian superman has got flair, style and a nimble way with words, and he knows how to have fun. He's confident enough in his talents to be weird, funny or serious. All at once.
Kardinal Offishall's fourth album, Not 4 Sale, is full of personality. The opening song "Burnt" begins with the laughter of a half-crazed ringleader. Each track lives in its own world. This album is like a galaxy, and each song a planet, in that they all have the right amount of pull to keep the system in place so as not to shoot off into the nether regions of outer space.
Offishall takes music notes and dips them in Jamaican jerk sauce. He chews them and spits them back out in lyrical strings of hip-hop madness.
On the song "Go Home with You," he seamlessly blends a rhythmic chorus (like those Christmastime vocal renditions of "Carol of the Bells" or Seal's "Kiss from a Rose") into ambulance-type vocals, and then they are replaced by synth keys.
On the last track, "Lighter!," his lyrics and gospel back-up singers are set to spastic Philip Glass-type melodies on the keys.
Not 4 Sale is epic. It's like watching a kingdom rise over the horizon as you walk from out of the middle of nowhere and into the Promised Land. And that may be over the top, but it's a miracle after listening to The Safes and The Subways.
If you like this music, you might enjoy:
Nas - Untitled
Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
