While GBV was indeed a legendary band, the coverage and mystery surrounding the event seemed highly unlikely for a band that reached its peak with audiences in 1994. However, the aftermath had critics and the faithful alike scratching their heads and wondering, “What direction will Pollard take with his solo career?” The answer is very simply, “More of the same.”
Cheery, melancholic, bluesy, and rocking are all levels that The Kooks reach on their debut album. The songs move from introspective to out right party tunes and done with an abundance of youthful optimism.
Every once in a while, a new band arrives and breathes fresh air into a monotonous genre. Such is the case with Oneside, a talented pop-rock quartet from Boston. While incorporating banjo into pop-rock is hardly revolutionary – Béla Fleck, for instance, has been doing that for a while – Oneside combines bluegrass, rock and roll, and a catchy pop mentality into a sound that is distinctively their own.
Although it took yeard for this collaboration to finally happen, The Road to Escondido has paved the beginning of a solid musical partnership between Cale and Clapton, as they reach their "golden" years.
Joan Osborne’s debut album for Vanguard Records, Pretty Little Stranger brings this highly respected singer-songwriter back to her Kentucky roots with six originals and six cover songs that are subtle country-bluegrass blends.
The Rapture always seemed ahead of the second New Wave, and this album, with two tracks produced by Danger Mouse (somebody has to teach them to be cool), shows them moving away from snagging riffs away from the Talking Heads and graduating to the funk and hip-hop of the Tom Tom Club.
With bold song-writing talents and multiple creative endeavors, Will Oldham, aka “Bonnie Prince Billy” could have very well had his coming out party years ago, but instead like his subtle voice, he prefers to linger in the background. His lush symphonic daydream The Letting Go, travels in old time Leonard Cohen territory, that doesn’t stray far from Damien’s Rice’s emotive folk.
Ben Kweller writes pop songs. They're cheerful and they fly by in a way that belies the forty-minute clock of his new self titled album. Sure, there are the overly sweet and sentimental lines (“Until I Die”) and the guitar riffs that hearken to his teenage days in the post grunge trio Radish (as on album closer “This Is War”). But they're all pop songs at heart and the nice thing about Kweller is that he makes no apologies for this.
Three years after the Irish singer-songwriter had us weep with 2003’s Shortlist Prize winning O, Rice has returned with another round of seductive ballads. Vocal companion Lisa Hannigan has returned to provide the essence, as Shane Fitzsimmons (bass) Vyvinne Long (cello) Tom Osander (drums) and Joel Shearer ( guitars) nail the “sparse climatic" on 9.
If you were around when the moody yet danceable sounds of The Cure and New Order were popular, then Chin Up Chin Up’s This Harness Can't Ride will trigger a blast from the past.
