This week, one band well on their way to a third decade in the rock arena, and two indie acts on the threshold of greatness.
Pennsylvania’s Live won over the world with the stormy, emotional rock of their breakout Throwing Copper album, went even darker on Secret Samadhi and, partly, The Distance to Here — but their subsequent albums seemed stuck between hard rock and a more subdued approach. In 2003, they released Birds of Pray, which seemed earnest but weak; a band on the way to a new musical space but not quite there yet, with the pop single Heaven leading it to only moderate success.
Now, on their new album, Songs from Black Mountain (Sony BMG), Ed Kowalczyk and company have reached a level of maturity that might not be what fans of their louder Nineties hits were hoping for. The single The River is almost boy-bandish in its simplicity (but charming nonetheless). Listen to the whole album and what unfolds is solid, confident pop-rock that flows seamlessly and comfortably.
Kowalczyk’s songwriting skills sparkle (though parenthood has clearly turned him a tad sentimental), and as usual his lyrics contain several spiritual references, be it to Jesus, Buddha or just a nameless god. Mystery is buoyed by a beautiful melody, and tracks such as Show, Sofia and the solid Night of Nights up the pace just enough to keep the album progressing nimbly. Overall, Songs from Black Mountain is still less memorable than some of Live’s previous work, but it’s also one of their most likeable albums to date.
And while Live are doing what they do well, but not breaking new ground, Chicago rockers Fall Out Boy and the United Kingdom’s Hard-Fi are climbing up the charts and making reviewers dream up adjectives to describe how these two bands are affecting the music scene.
Fall Out Boy’s From under the Cork Tree (Universal) has a boyish energy from track one, economically titled Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song so We Wouldn’t Get Sued. Apart from a penchant for long titles — also behold I’ve Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song), or I Slept with Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written about Me — this is a cocksure pop-punk band with brainy lyrics and hardcore punk roots that show on tracks like the hit Dance, Dance. Sugar, We’re Going Down is a tailor-made catchy hit, and I’ve Got a Dark Alley … is acerbic enough to prove Fall Out Boy are not just about jump-up rock.
Hard-Fi, from Surrey, recorded a shorter version of Stars of CCTV (Gallo) and mixed it in cab offices and other strange places before Atlantic Records signed them and had them redo it all as a full-length album — which soared to number one in the UK.
“I want to be the biggest band in the world,” front man Richard Archer told The Guardian, and they’re certainly on track with their highly agreeable rock. The styles here slide from a ska base to heavier rock and back through the anthemic Hard to Beat and Living for the Weekend, ending with the rather bleak title track. The subject matter runs from bankruptcy to joy riders, with plenty of slice-of-life moments to savour.
So, do Fall Out Boy signal a new punk revolution, and will Hard-Fi rule the global roost? Not yet. But both have potential: enjoy some tried-and-tested Live in the meantime, while keeping an eye on the kids.
ALSO ON THE SHELF
Mary J Blige
The Breakthrough (Universal)
Ever since Real Love, her 1992 hit in which she confessed to searching for a man who’ll love her unconditionally, Mary J Blige has, through her music, kept us updated about her personal triumphs and losses. Hailed by critics as the spokesperson of downtrodden ghetto girls the world over, Blige returns to that motivational role on The Breakthrough, even declaring that you can’t keep a good woman down on the similarly named track. However, as a result of over-production, pandering to current R&B trends and perhaps weariness, Blige’s ninth album is not the breakthrough the title implies. Nothing about it suggests her earlier grit. For the most part, that Aretha Franklin gravel embedded in her voice has been filed down. It only returns in the album’s waning moments, such as I Found My Everything, an awesome duet with soul genius Raphael Saadiq. In the end, Breakthrough is little more than a patchy offering from an artist with endless potential. — Kwanele Sosibo
The Dresden Dolls
Yes, Virginia (Roadrunner Records)
The two-piece band is to rock what the iPod is to music. Thanks to the success of the White Stripes, guys and gals across the world are challenging the frontiers of rock in duos. Unfortunately the punk cabaret outfit the Dresden Dolls is not one of them. Lead singer Amanda Palmer, a Tori Amos-styled pianist, has enough cringe moments in all the wrong places to make sure this album will not make it to rotation this year, while drummer Brian Viglione does little more than provide a solid backing for Palmer’s quirky songs of misunderstood souls. Slower track Delilah sees Palmer attacking women — “thought you could change the world by opening your legs” — while on Dirty Business she sings, “She’s the kind of girl who leaves out condoms on the bedroom dresser. Just to make you jealous of the men she fucked before you met her.” With further tracks titled Sex Changes and First Orgasm it is quite clear that the Dresden Dolls are out to shock. However, they serve as a great example of the art being in the songwriting and not in how much noise two people can make. — Lloyd Gedye
Jaheim
Ghetto Classics (Gallo)
Propelled by a vocal style that evokes both Luther Vandross and Teddy Pendergrass and a single-mindedly “ghetto” lyrical aesthetic, R&B singer Jaheim’s third album, Ghetto Classics, will most likely sell millions, like its predecessors did. Emerging from erstwhile Naughty by Nature producer KayGee’s Divine Mill stable, Jaheim’s sound mimics classic soul either through copious sampling or via the digital programming served up by the album’s production team. This renders his music vaguely familiar on the one hand and, on the other, safe and non-descript. For all his soul-brother affectations, Jaheim is actually the spawn of hip-hop. He has none of the lyrical sophistication of vintage soul and, instead, peddles weak metaphors throughout the album. Like a DJ (where a certain girl “plays him likes”) and Fiend (where he likens another girl to a drug), are prime examples of this. Hopefully, with time, Jaheim will write songs that do justice to his commanding voice. — KS
Ludacris and DTP
Ludacris Presents Disturbing tha Peace (Universal)
The eccentric, witty and entrepreneurial Ludacris has again released a Disturbing tha Peace compilation, aimed at showcasing his signees’ skills. The problem with this family affair is that the skills are not evenly distributed. Many of the acts were only ever signed because of their personal relationships with this relentless Atlanta hustler. Predictably, the best tracks are the ones featuring Ludacris himself, like the sublime Ray Charles-sampling lead single Georgia and the low-rider anthem Two Miles an Hour (Remix). There are other stand-outs, however, like singer Shareefa’s feisty introduction I’ll Be Around and Smoke’s Come See Me, which suggest that Luda may not have completely squandered his resources by investing in his neighbourhood cronies. — KS
The Notorious BIG
Duets: The Final Chapter (Gallo)
Unlike his one-time friend-turned-arch nemesis, Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, the self-styled “king of New York”, enjoyed a comparatively brief moment in the spotlight. Since Diddy’s proclivity for the “Benjamins” is a matter of public record, this must be the reason for the scant supply of posthumous material. Save for 1999’s inconsistent Born Again, an album that tarnished Biggie’s impeccable discography, Duets: Final Chapter is the second and hopefully the last exploitation of Biggie’s death. The modus operandi for Duets was to dust off obscure and familiar BIG verses and paste them on to contemporary productions co-starring today’s heavy hitters in the hip-hop world. The results are almost consistently disappointing, as Biggie’s voice seems to haunt the tracks rather than inhabit them. On some of the tracks, such as the Eminem, Diddy and Obie Trice-starring It Has Been Said and the Dip Set and Lil’ Wayne collaboration I’m With Whateva, Biggie doesn’t even appear at all. Although he was savvy enough to collaborate with and outshine damn near anybody during his career, here he sounds like a weary, ghostly figure admitting defeat to upstarts. The world would have been better off with a Ready to Die reissue featuring a bonus DVD. — KS
Liz Phair
Somebody’s Miracle (Capitol Records)
Aging gracefully is a concept much discussed in rock circles. There is the Pete Townshend school of thought — “I hope I die before I get old;” the Neil Young ethos of rock — “It’s better to burn out than to fade away;” or there is the Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash route — just when everyone is finally writing you off as a washed-up has-been, you deliver an album so blindingly brilliant, they can’t help but sit up and take notice. Then there is the Liz Phair way, which involves desperate attempts to claw back into the limelight as she becomes increasingly irrelevant. Phair rose to prominence in 1993 with her album Exile in Guyville, a song-by-song response to the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street; a startling record that had critics frothing at the mouth with her refreshing take on sex and gender power play. Fast-forward to 2003 and Phair released a power-pop album produced by the Matrix, the powerhouse production team behind Avril Lavigne. Which brings us back to the present with another Phair album, Somebody’s Miracle. With this new album Phair is slipping gracefully into a world that can’t seem to make up its mind whether it is teeny-bop pop or adult contemporary schmaltz. Someone needs to tell Phair to let go and enter into the world of the mature artist gracefully. — LG
The Roots
Home Grown! The Beginner’s Guide to Understanding the Roots Volume 1 (Universal)
Unlike the rather obscure accompanying second volume, Home Grown! The Beginner’s Guide to Understanding the Roots Volume 1 is a more conventional collection of some of this enduring hip-hop band’s most popular songs. Having said that, however, there are still signs of subverting the whole canonisation process à la Public Enemy’s Greatest Misses. The inclusion of inconsequential remixes such as the openers No Hometro/Proceed 2 and Distortion to Static (Black Thought Mix) is no doubt for the benefit of music geeks, which is in line with the group’s penchant for one-upmanship. Thankfully, Philadelphia’s finest are, for the most part, content to deliver their pre-millennial dance-floor fillers with no remorse. While classics such as What They Do, The Next Movement, Act Too (Love of My Life) and What You Want could inspire sustained mayhem when rendered in quick succession at a party, nothing beats the cohesion and intensity of an original Roots album. — KS
Various
Club Classics 2 (Just Music)
A Ministry of Sound release that’s two CDs full of old (and not so old) funky, vocal dance hits. Sure, these are songs we know all too well by now, but it’s a good selection, well mixed and uplifting. I’m not sure if Kentishman’s spineless Easy Lover will attain the same enduring classic status as Love Inc’s Broken Bones, but for now it’s all good. And it’s nice to hear Cornershop’s Brimful of Asha again. — Riaan Wolmarans