Everybody Loves Sausages – Melvins – To quote the Joker, wait till they get a load of me. With guest stars a plenty on hand mostly for vocal purposes (Howdy Jello Biafra!) long term sludge rockers cover their fave tracks but only fly when they leave their natural breeding ground for Queen, Roxy Music, and one of the great covers of the year, a damaged and deformed but still the same sensed version of the already pretty out there Bowie masterwork “Station To Station ” – ALBUM OF THE WEEK – A-
Elvis Club – The Del Lords – The rumbling sound of old time rockabilly via LES, troubles its way from the smartest of opening tracks (an original) to the smartest of closing numbers (a cover),. the sound isn’t dated but it isn’t current: it has the sting of a timeless daydream of rock and roll with a terrific string of vocalists and a rhythm section who force their presence. Time hasn’t dulled their attack, even if their song writing can seem a little proforma in the bluesier moments. Did I mention the Neil Young cover? Seriously awesome version which saves it from a weirdo album – B+
Wheel – Laura Stevenson – With the Cans still playing back-up band, Laura’s sense of melody is as strong as on her breakthrough Sit Resist, though sometimes the darkness infects the songs where Laura is at her best where she shines through with that searing voice getting every note and the beauty leading out of the pain. And sometimes she’s at her best – B+
Ready To Die – Iggy Pop And The Stooges – The fast ones are a good time party on iffy songs which needn’t bother you because, cmon, were you really expecting “I Wanna Be Your Dog”? The slow ones are terrible, croaking horrors – B-
If You Leave -Daughter – There debut album but it sounds like their third , all atmospheric singer-songwriterly gloom and pertness – B-
Thr!!!er – !!! (Chk Chk Chk) – As irritating but also as tauntingly funny as their band name, !!! (Chk Chk Chk) perform psychedelic punk dance jams all night long like some weird Grandchild of Disco Biscuits – B
Life On A Rock – Kenny Chesney -I quite liked this guy when he was having sex with his tractor (or something like that) but for some reason he thinks he is a Jimmy Buffet country hybrid. Quite possibly the worst album of the year, “Spread The Love” is worse than Snoop Lion – F
Authentic – LL Cool J – Remember when Run DMC and Aerosmith mashed it up with “Walk This Way”. well, LL and Eddie Van Halen don’t remember either on the abysmal “We’re The Greatest”, adding Fitz AndThe Tantrum on a different track doesn’t help at all. “Waddup” is pretty good (but it owes its existence to PE), the rest of this is just the worse – D+
The Hands That Thieve – Streetlight Manifesto – The band are a decade old Ska punkers who don’t punk anymore. The songs are pretty good from time to time, the rhythms are superb and the horns are gorgeous. Both lead singers sound great. A good album by smart careerists – B
Such Hot Blood – The Airborne Toxic Experience – Man, I hate these guys. They aren’t as bad as I think they are (they can’t be), U2 wannabes with literary aspirations. “Timeless” is the third worse song of the week… of course the competition has been pretty heady – D+