Author: Jeff Giles (Page 32 of 41)

Hotel Lights: Firecracker People

September 19, 2008 /

The sticker on the jewel case says it “may be the perfect road trip record,” but that’s utter nonsense – unless you’ve got a Jolt Big Gulp and a few boxes of No-Doz, Firecracker People should under no circumstances enter your car’s CD player during a long drive. This isn’t really a knock against the second effort from Darren Jessee’s Hotel Lights, but anyone expecting music as pleasantly poppy as the stuff he helped create with the Ben Folds Five is going to be disappointed (or asleep by the sixth track). Like Hotel Lights’ 2006 self-titled debut, the new record is a long, pretty drift through one gentle, mid-to-non-tempo ballad after another; when the pace picks up a bit toward the end, with the ever-so-slightly swinging “Nobody Let You Down,” it’s like someone set off a cherry bomb in a library. Still, these songs have a definite lighter-than-air charm, and for Folds fans who have tired of his incessant tongue-in-cheek humor, Jessee’s gentle sincerity will provide a sweetly melodic counterpoint. It may make for crappy road trip music, but it’s an awfully nice soundtrack for a rainy day. (Bar/None 2008)

Hotel Lights MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop

Noah and the Whale: Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down

September 12, 2008 /

He claims to have been inspired by Bob Dylan and Bonnie “Prince” Billy, but Charlie Fink, leader of Noah and the Whale, actually falls somewhere between Jack Johnson and Mary Poppins on the musical spectrum. Sound ridiculous? Well, wait until you hear Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down, a dozen tracks of ukulele-and-glockenspiel-infused folk-pop that redefines “twee” for the 21st century. It’s the type of album you listen to and instantly suspect the band recorded while wearing ascots and twirling parasols – and judging from Noah and the Whale’s publicity stills, that isn’t far from the truth. The songs aren’t terrible – “5 Years Time,” already a Top 10 hit in England, is among the best of the bunch – but neither are they particularly memorable. It’s nice to hear a little violin on a pop record, not to mention the aforementioned ukulele and glockenspiel, but it would be even nicer if these offbeat touches were being employed in the service of stronger songs. They’ve got their style nailed down, but next time out – if there is a next time – they’d do well to scrape together some substance. (Interscope/Cherry Tree 2008)

Noah and the Whale MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Folk, Pop

The Frontier Brothers: Space Punk Starlet

September 12, 2008 /

No, seriously, they really mean space punk: according to their official bio, the Frontier Brothers were “born in space and raised in Texas,” and the band members – who dress in red Spandex bodysuits on stage, by the way – are led by a singer named Marshall Galactic, whose voice could occasionally be described as otherworldly. (It could just as often be described as sounding like a bag of cats in a dryer, but nobody’s perfect.) Anyway, if you’ve ever wanted to know what space punk sounds like, this is your chance – and you should think twice about passing up that chance, really, especially if you have a fondness for ragged, impassioned, tongue-in-cheek rock & roll. For the duration of Space Punk Starlet, the Frontier Brothers sound like a band on the verge of falling apart, but they also sound like they’re having a blast, and their enthusiasm is infectious – in fact, the record is so much fun that you can’t help but wish they hadn’t bothered with the dopey gimmicks, and just trusted the music to do the talking. That’s just quibbling, though; by the time the band goes roaring into the madcap closer, “T.E.S.S. You Are a Wonderful Robot, Stay With Me All the Time,” you’ll be too far gone to care. Space Punk Starlet is a sweaty mess, in the absolute best sense of the word. (self-released)

Frontier Brothers MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Rock

One Block Radius: One Block Radius

September 12, 2008 /

This California trio boasts solid alt-rap credentials – Marty James and MDA were a Grand Royal act when they went by Scapegoat Wax, and the first One Block Radius sides were dropped courtesy of Oakland’s Hieroglyphics – but you wouldn’t necessarily know it from listening to their self-titled sophomore release; though One Block Radius boasts flashes of unexpected humor and solidly lyrical flow, wide chunks of the record are wasted on tracks devoted to the same old shit. Tracks such as “Dead Man” and “Stand Up” rely, for the most part, on the standard-issue gangsta clichés that were dried up in the mid ‘90s, and nothing here reflects the originality that made 2005’s Long Story Short such an enjoyable listen. It isn’t a total loss, though; while too much of the album is too self-consciously mainstream to make much of an impact, they do occasionally manage to focus their strengths. Songs such as “Shoplifta,” “Screwin’ It Up,” and the wonderfully juvenile “Choc-O-Lot” (sample lyric: “Underneath that sundress / She got cheeks, oh yes”) offer a few moments of smartly crafted hip-hop in between the all the formula. Begging to be cherrypicked, One Block Radius is an iTunes album if ever there was one. (Mercury 2008)

One Block Radius MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Hip Hop

Solange Knowles: Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams

September 5, 2008 /

Released during the same year as her big sister’s smash solo bow, Solange Knowles’ debut album, 2003’s Solo Star, had the misfortune of arriving during the full flush of Beyoncé mania – and also, it pretty much sucked. Since that album tanked, Solange has acquired a reputation as the more willfully independent Knowles sister – she’s a divorced single mother whose own Wikipedia entry describes her as “a total bitch” – while doing little to move herself musically out of Beyoncé’s shadow. Call her the Jan Brady of the Knowles family – and call it surprising, then, that her terribly named sophomore release is actually very much worth listening to. Solange’s voice is thin, but in a charming Diana Ross-type way, which works to her extreme advantage here, as she’s blanketed these songs with a heavy Motown vibe. Don’t call it a throwback, per se – there’s still plenty of the hard-edged modern production you’d fear from any young R&B artist – but there’s also plenty of live instrumentation (yes, even drums!) and an overall earthiness that’s as appealing as it is unexpected. The majority of the record-buying public will probably sleep on Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams, but they shouldn’t – this record’s better than its title. (Geffen 2008)

Solange Knowles MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, R&B

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