Album Reviews

Following the well-received debut this “super group” got the last time around, it’s not that surprising that Glenn Hughes, Joe Bonamassa, Jason Bonham and Derek Sherinian would get back together for another kick at the rock and roll can.

Zomby does a great job in taking care of the music department, as Dedication kicks off with definite club music vibe slowed down to mid-tempo grooves. The music should rightfully be several times faster than it actually is, and it takes some settling into; it’s an odd feeling. But like they say (‘they’ being non-existent entities I just made up for the sake of convenience): Odd is always interesting, if nothing else.

ALate Late Party: 1965–1967 is a compilation featuring R&B saxophonist Charles “Packy” Axton, a Memphis musician who prior to the time of these recordings was a member of the Mar-Keys. By itself, his fiery playing on the opening track, “Holiday Cheer,” can have the same salutary effect on you as it did on me—but it doesn’t hurt that the rhythm section smokes, which tells you something important about Late Late Party.

 If the opener “My Mistakes” – which sounds like an early Rosanne Cash fronting The New Pornographers – doesn’t have you moving in your chair, seek help.

The latest offering – and with Robert Pollard I mean what he’s released basically since last night – from the Guided By Voices singer is a rollicking side project called Boston Spaceships (well now main side project) that has a huge ‘60s Brit rock feeling on the lead off “Blind 20-20” that morphs into a sweeter, spacey Beatles-esque romp. Alongside former GBV member Chris Slusarenko and The Decemberists’ John Moen, Pollard is in fine form on the all too short “Juggernaut Vs. Monolith.

The three remaining members of the original R.E.M. lineup have been more than just dutifully loyal to their legacy since the departure of drummer Bill Berry in 1997 following New Adventures in Hi-Fi. Their respectful attitude–as much as an implicit acknowledgment of their chemistry –compels recognition of their history in the 25th Anniversary packages such as this one devoted to Life’s Rich Pageant.

Since the demise of The Fratellis a few years ago, people have waited for a punchy, catchy and sinfully infectious band to come along to carry the torch. And with Locksley, well they look to be that group. After being The Kinks’ Ray Davies backing band on a U.S. trek, the quartet has gotten much mileage from the huge sing-along nugget “The Whip.”

The current crop of neo-R&B artists: Raphael Sadiq, Fitz and the Tantrums, Joss Stone, could do well to listen well to Willie and Mink DeVille.  As what they are recreating, he created.

Natural Child come from Nashville and call themselves “the greatest rock n’ roll band in the world”. Known as much for this bold sense of humor and hard partying ways as much as their rocking live show, the band recently released a 1971 on Infinity Cat Recordings. The sound is raw, loose, and limber, vacillating between the Stones-y demarcation points of bluesy R&B and rollicking acoustic numbers. This ramshackle construction seems to be part of the band’s allure. At any moment self-destruction sounds possible.

Thievery Corporation has a sixth album out called Culture of Fear. Surprising no one, it’s good. Sadly, though, it doesn’t really push the boundaries.