VITAL REVERB: JULY 8, 2009 Sounding Off On The Sounds You Need
Major Lazer
Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do
Downtown
ESM Rating: 7/10
Ahh, there’s nothing like a dancehall record from a
Jamaican commando who lost his arms in the Zombie Wars of 1984 and was
outfitted with prosthetic laser limbs by the U.S. military… oh wait, I’m not
supposed to believe everything publicists tell me? Super-producers Diplo and
Switch, who were responsible for the massive 2008 M.I.A. hit “Paper Planes,”
have shifted gears in ’09 to shine a light on the vibrant dancehall scene
throbbing away on the island nation of Jamaica, unbeknownst to the rest of us
here in the U.S.A., where we’re all still obsessed with throwback noise pop and
tinny synthesizers.
In fact, the only high-profile American artists to
make an appearance on Major Lazer’s
debut are Santigold and Amanda Blank — the rest of Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do is full of Jamaican vocalists
like Mr. Lex, who spits irie chants over a reverberating bass line, horse
whinnies, and cell phone rings on “Hold The Line.” “Can’t Stop Now” features
Mr. Vegas and Jovi Rockwell swaying over a groovy, roots-laden ballad, while
“Anything Goes” with Turbulence is a confrontational look into the violent life
of Jamaica’s real shantytowns (not the shanty dorms, for all you Ras Trent
fans). “Cash Flow” boasts an easygoing vibe thanks to the breathy Jah Dan, but
that goodwill is squandered on the schmaltzy, almost circus-like parody “Mary
Jane.”
The back half of Guns
Don’t Kill People... Lazers Do stumbles, with “Keep It Goin’ Louder”
sounding like a club-designed Backstreet Boys outtake — which means it
would probably make a bangin’ summer radio hit. But I’ll take the heady,
scratch-heavy, and marching drum-laden “Pon The Floor” for my dancehall jam any
day over amateur shit like “Keep It Goin’ Louder.” Who knows what Diplo and
Switch were thinking when they created their Major Lazer moniker — no other in-demand Western producers
are digging through Jamaican crates to create a product so singularly enjoyable
and culturally diverse. By Nick McGregor
The
Phenomenal Handclap Band
The Phenomenal Handclap Band
Friendly Fire
ESM Rating: 7/10
The
Phenomenal Handclap Band’s self-titled
debut kicks off with the meandering guitar strains of Santana-like opening
track “The Journey To Serra da Estrela,” but this indie-rock supergroup,
comprised of members from TV On The Radio, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, The
Dap-Kings, and Mooney Suzuki, knows a thing or two about covering uncharted
musical territory while still inciting dance-floor crowds to get their move on.
Originally created by underground New York DJs Daniel Collas and Sean Marquand,
TPHB tosses together Latin flair,
blaxploitation funk, late ‘70s disco rock, and bluesy psychedelia into a tasty,
summer-playlist-ready cornucopia of auditory pleasure.
“Testimony” slithers along thanks to T. Rex-like
bombast, while organ-driven tracks “Give It A Rest” and “The Circle Is Broken”
could have emerged from any number of cross-pollinating late-‘60s jam-band
albums. The glammed-out “You’ll Disappear” recalls the heyday of Blondie’s
nonchalant allure, while album standout “15 To 20” employs a catchy vocal tic
courtesy of Lady Tigre to coolly chisel itself into your brain. And “The
Martyr” and “I Been Born Again” both sound like The Doors rarities, just with
more hip-shaking vigor than Morrison/Manzarek/Densmore/Krieger could have ever
managed. In short, you’ll find so many musical styles on The Phenomenal Handclap Band that if, on first listen, something
doesn’t strike your fancy, the very next track just might. And with TPHB endearing themselves to
middle-aged critics at NPR, The New York
Post, and Rolling Stone, expect
hipsters to tread carefully into this rock and funk-heavy pit. But hey, that
means The Phenomenal Handclap Band is
just one more musical discovery you can claim as your own. By Nick McGregor
Rock Plaza
Central
...At The Moment Of Our Most Needing…
Paper Bag
ESM Rating: 8/10
…At The
Moment Of Our Most Needing…, the
fourth release from Canada’s beloved child Rock
Plaza Central, cannot go gently into that good night. This quintet has produced
a folk-rock gem, full of plunking banjos, shimmying horns, and the occasional
electrifying guitar riff. Vocal twang from lead singer/ acclaimed novelist Chris Eaton? Yes, but with a crushing
blow of distinction.These guys
did a cover of Justin Timberlake’s “Sexy Back” in 2007, and it made me cry. I
cried tears, man, tears. Their third album, Are
We Not Horses, purportedly about robot horses, made a delayed release in the U.S. before smashing Top Ten lists
across the board. And now these Toronto ruffians have returned with another
album, this time inspired by William Faulkner’s celebrated novel Light In August.
The single best love song I’ve heard in the last
sixth months, “Holy Rider,” blesses Rock
Plaza Central’s latest release, and adequately captures the sexual
evolutionary triumphs of man with immediate vocal explosion and lyrical
inventiveness. I cried again, my manhood finally concluded (or lost), when I
listened to this album. There are only two downfalls with Rock Plaza Central: 1) the band is so goddamn cool they make me
feel slightly worthless by comparison, and 2) all of them can grow better
facial hair than me, except for the female members, leaving me feeling a
sprightly bit homosexual. Of course, my personal issues shouldn’t affect the
majesty of …At The Moment Of Our Most
Needing… one bit.By Will Tunstall
Birds Of
Avalon
Uncanny Valley
Volcom
ESM Rating: 8/10
I never quite understood the psychedelic stoner-rock
tag Birds Of Avalon routinely
received from the press, but this Raleigh, NC, Volcom Records band has busted
out of their early-career Zeppelin-cribbing slump to produce a spectacular
record of epic proportions on sophomore release Uncanny Valley. Although the album begins with 22 seconds of tape
noise, the urgent two-minute speed run of “Side Two” is crammed full of
swirling shards of guitar, manic drum fills from Scott Nurkin, and cosmic sound
effects that pull the song into unknown stratospheres.
“I Never Knew’s” ominous guitars threaten to explode
in a fury of pummeling Sabbath power, but the song quickly downshifts to a
shambling pace, with bassist David Mueller contributing reverb-drenched,
high-pitched vocals. “Your Downtime Is Up” combines alternative and garage
tendencies into a luxuriant rock ‘n’ roll affair, before the lunging “Eyesore”
and the pounding Krautrock of “Student Teaching” defibrillate that complacency.
And then there’s the metal-influenced “Spirit Lawyer,” the funky
“Peregrinations,” the proggy “Micro-Infinity”… shit, the more you listen to Uncanny Valley, the more you’ll realize
just how far Birds Of Avalon have
come. We ain’t in straight-ahead Volcom punk territory anymore, Toto. By
Nick McGregor
CookBook
I Love The ‘80s
Self-Released
ESM Rating: 6/10
1980s revivalism is all the rage this year, in musical
genres like synth-pop, indie-rock, and electro-rap, not to mention mainstream
outlets like fashion, shoes, and sunglasses. But nobody is as unabashed about
his ‘80s worship as Los Angeles producer/MC CookBook, best known as a member of hip-hop collective L.A.
Symphony. Unlike Mobb Deep founding member Prodigy’s recent thug-oriented Product Of The ‘80s, CookBook’s retro offering is packed
full of recognizable movie samples, fun-loving keyboard blasts, and an
abundance of cross-referencing song titles like “Reaganomics,” “Molly
Ringwald,” “Vision Street Wear,” “The Huxtables,” and “Neverending Story.”
So leave your braggadocio at the door and let the
unbridled joy of a hip-hop/pop-culture ‘80s mash-up sweep over you. The best
part about CookBook’s I Love The ‘80s? The artist otherwise
known as Jason Soto offered the whole shebang up as a free download at
www.sphereofhiphop.com, meaning you can spin this thing at your next
irony-filled late-night dance-off — just make sure you’ve got enough
tall-boys of appropriately ironic cheap beer on hand (I hear Schlitz is making
a comeback this year). By Nick McGregor
