Red Hot Chili Peppers – I'm With You
After nearly five years of silence, Red Hot Chili Peppers are back with their tenth release, I'm With You. Minus a member but never short on funk, Kiedis and friends create another solid effort for diehards to handle. Never straying too far from their bass-driven melodies and abstract yet strangely infectious hooks, the quartet stretch their limits a bit further than 2006's double disk Stadium Arcadium. Critics doubted anything worthy could come from a John Frusciante-less album, but new lead guitarist Josh Klinghoffer makes his absence barely noticeable. However, it is obvious from the album's opener, “Monarchy of Roses” that Flea, the group's incredible bassist, is the star quarterback on this new team.
Kiedis' writing hasn't gotten any more concrete, inventing adjectives like "Mozambique-y," crooning cooky pick up lines like “Be my wife, I think you're right that we should mate,” and off-colored flirtations like “Tick tock, I want to rock you like an Eighties cock.” Fans won't have to look far for the Chili's old sound, recognizing the traditional funk pop rock and white-boy rap of Kiedis in pieces like “Factory of Faith”, “Look Around” and “Goodbye Hooray.” In an attempt to not stick strictly to mold, the band offers nontraditional sounds like the soaring Nirvana-esque “Brendan's Death Song”, the piano-driven, ragtime ditty “Happiness Loves Company” and the Latin-fused “Dance Dance Dance” and “Did I Let You Know,” where Klinghoffer shines as a fine contender for the affection of those doubting Frusciante fans and music critics. Sure, I'm With You is by no means a groundbreaking turn for these funky dudes, but this release makes one thing for sure: Red Hot Chili Peppers will be with us for a long time.
Switchfoot – Vice Verses
With a loud riff crack, Switchfoot burns on Vice Verses. The album opens with “Afterlife,” a hard rocking sound reminiscent of former hit “Meant to Live,” not to suggest front man Jon Foreman and camp do nothing but recycle their old style. There are definite conventions Switchfoot sticks with, still walking that heavy-trodden road of contemplative and introspective alternative rock while Foreman's trademark philosophical lyrics are all over, scattering Socratic questions like “Why would I wait till I die to come alive?” throughout the entire lineup.
A more experimental effort than previous records, Foreman dips into a soulful hip-hop foundation in “The War Inside”, and tries his hands at spoken word in “Selling the News”, rapping lyrics leading to a hook sounding like something Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine would pen. “Rise Above It” also features this interesting hybrid of rapped lyrics coupled with a poppy chorus, not unlike oft-compared U2's “Vertigo” from their 2004 release. Not all is rocked and rolled, however, as the album grows softer with tracks like “Restless” and the titled track “Vice Verses.” Foreman's distinctive voice soars over “Blinding Light,” even rising to a light falsetto in later track “Souvenirs.” Since the wide-eyed freshman effort The Legend of Chin, these sage-like surfers have been asking the hard questions about life, death, sin and redemption, giving little attempt at an answer. Vice Verses has no claims to omniscience and implies no dogma. It may not save the day, but is serves as a soundtrack for a searching world. Being able to rock socks off in the process is just an awesome bonus.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Hysterical
With an ambient and drum-driven dawning, Brooklyn indie boys Clap Your Hands Say Yeah deliver their third studio album Hysterical. Departing from the dramatic folk rock of previous release Some Loud Thunder (2007), CLYHSY embrace an electronic pop-rock sound reminiscent of Phoenix. Lead singer Alec Ounsworth brushes every track delicately with a voice that can mumble like Radiohead front man Thom Yorke, but can also soar to an otherworldly cry sounding something like aforementioned Phoenix's Thomas Mars.
The album's opener “Same Mistake” lands with light synthesized strings that continue into “Hysterical,” a rocking number complete with riffs and nearly incomprehensible lyrics. This combination of electronic conventions and overt drumming lace most of the tracks, while some softer tracks reclaim the previous record's mood. “Misspent Youth” abandons synths for ethereal piano melodies, leading to a marching band chorus, while “In a Motel” lacks nearly any instrumentation besides Ounsworth's spacy voice. “Yesterday, Never,” littered with video games effects, sounds like a cue from The Strokes and perhaps the strongest song on the album, “Maniac,” features a brass section, background shouts and guitar licks that sound nothing like any of this bands previous efforts. The departure from folk to a synthetic rock sound seems to be the right direction for these guys, having in Hysterical a solid contender for one of the best releases of this year.
Feist – Metals
From the girl who sang “One, two, three, four / Tell me that you love me more,” the line notorious for hunting all listeners in their sleep, comes another bluesy pop effort, Metals. Having taken four years off since The Reminder, much was respected from this Canadian songstress. She does deliver, sticking with conventions while throwing in wrenches to throw everything off till it all meshes in a way that only Feist can manage.
With a waltz-like rhythm, the album opens with “The Bad in Each Other,” complete with a subtle jazz piano touch. The mood carries over into “Graveyard,” a bluesy piece showcasing Feist's amazing vocal range, an underrated frontrunner eclipsed among peers like Florence + The Machine and Adele. Her voice carries the minimalist style in songs like “Caught in a Long Wind”, “Bittersweet Memories” and “Comfort Me”. While many like “Graveyard” and “Anti-Pioneer” could be appropriate in any darkened, smoke-filled club across the country, some bend towards a more folk sound (“Cicadas and Gulls” and “Pine Moon”), while a few like “A Commotion” and “The Circle Married the Line” hit a bit harder with more instrumentation and driving rhythms. As quite an eclectic collection, Metals proves to be worthy of the wait and absence of the immensely talented Feist.
Soul Punk – Patrick Stump
On his first solo project, ex-Fall Out Boy Patrick Stump demonstrates that sometimes losing weight equates to losing talent. With Soul Punk, Stump about faces the smart punk he and FOB bassist Patrick Wentz composed, embracing an insufferable, drunken combination of Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson...and Prince? Yes, Prince and virtually any soul or R&B artist from the 70s and 80s. Complete with synths, horn sections, and falsetto sighs, Soul Funk falls terribly flat.
Stump's major stumble is, for a guy who once sang “Bandwagon's full, please, catch another,” his overwhelmingly transparent attempt to be contemporary. Every song screams of something already top 40ish, save for a few hiccups that actually sound good, like the funky sing-a-long “Greed” and the bass-driven, FOB-esque “People Never Done A Good Thing.” Even the soaring closer, “Mad At Nothing” isn't awful. However, the gems are littered with shameful fillers. The opener “Explode” has indeed exploded into an awful synth-strangled mess while the initial singing in “Everybody Wants Somebody” sounds like it's been Rick-rolled. “Allie” is pretty good though Stump fashions himself after Timberlake a bit too much. “This City,” Stump's released single, could have literally been sung by any other faceless male singer popular today (a la Jason Derulo, Taio Cruz, etc.) and “Spotlights” sounds like a club banger that secretly (but not so secretly) ripped off the opening measure of Cyndi Lauper's “Time After Time.” Ripping off Lauper can and will never end well. Patrick Stump could have done many things, but he opted to try and bring sexy back. He stumbled miserably.
Dracula – Nurses
Reviewing bands and albums are initially about categories and comparisons. Every now and then, a band comes along that doesn't lend itself to any previously set category. Some artists simply do not sound like any other work out there. Nurses is one such band. Made up of three producers, none of which provide any type of organic instrumentation, Nurses doctor a flawless product in their sophomore release Dracula.
The album opens with the nearly indecipherable “Fever Dreams,” a busy masterpiece beautifully polluted with sleigh bells, hand claps and rolling toms. “You Lookin' Twice” has an R&B-influenced bass line but again, Nurses just can not allow themselves to be put into a category. The bass line is the only thing R&B about the song. “Extra Fast” employs some African rhythms but drifts into the unknown quickly. The most accessible song may be “Trying to Reach You,” one of the best singles released this year. Prepare to have it on repeat till eternity. The album continues in its incomparable style with “Wouldn't Tell,” a groovy ditty, and the slightly reggae-tinged “Dancing Grass.” Nurses wraps Dracula up with the rhythmic pop gem, “Eternal Thrills.” Though sometimes short on words and completely devoid of any type of instrumentation, these producers stick to craft, manufacturing this unmatched magnum opus.