Album Reviews

AKERCOCKE
Choronzon
(Earache)
The latest album from London's stylish black metal posse hits just the right balance between painstaking craft and unadulterated fury. Akercocke has little use for the leather, spikes and corpsepaint of their peers, and even less for extreme metal conformity, but the band's sharp suits, melodic invention and rock star decadence don't get in the way of its alleged commitment to Satan. As with most of these bands, it's unclear how deep the infernal strain really runs, but, regardless of spiritual affiliation, it's rare to find a metal band that blends beauty and brutality with so little effort. Michael Toland [buy it]

ANDROID LUST
The Dividing
(Projekt)
ANDROID LUST The Dividing (Projekt) http://www.projekt.com Nine Inch Nails has been striving for the balance between melodic accessibility, harsh metallics and pill-popping angst for years, but songwriter Shikhee's electronic alter ego Android Lust gets it just right. Indeed, fans of Trent Reznor's ego trip will probably love The Dividing, especially since the songs are catchier, the vocals prettier and the emotions more authentically desperate. Cyberotic angst rarely sounds so silvery. Michael Toland [buy it]

DANNY BARNES
Dirt On the Angel
(Terminus)
As with his last record, the excellent Things I Done Wrong, on Dirt On the Angel songwriter/banjo master Danny Barnes concentrates on the folk/bluegrass side of his persona, backed by a coterie of non-'grass notables like keyboardist Chuck Leavell, violinist Darol Anger and guitar visionary Bill Frisell. With his experimental impulses reigned in, the focus is squarely on the songs, which range from cheeky ("Life in the Country") to contemplative ("Kitchen Floor Waltz"), roots-rocking ("Water Wagon") to downright beautiful (the title track). Extra points awarded for the lovely cover of Ronnie Lane's "Ooh La La." Michael Toland [buy it]

THE BLACK WATCH
Very Mary Beth
(Stonegarden)
Despite label problems, bandmate defections and obscurity to everyone but a handful of critics, the Black Watch soldiers on with its literary indie rock. Songwriter John Andrew Frederick may be the only original member left, but it's his vision that drives the band. Melodic, heartfelt tunes like "There Must Be Something" and "Floating" exploit the classic contrast between sweet guitar pop and sour vocals in a way that would have made the band underground stars in the mid-80s. Go-Betweens fans, take note. Michael Toland [buy it]

THE BROKEN HEARTS
Want One?
(Paisley Pop)
A few years before founding underground power pop heroes the Rooks, songwriter Michael Mazzarella led the Broken Hearts, a clean-cut combo that personified the sparkling water jangle that permeated the underground in the 80s. This reissue adds a pile of outtakes, live cuts and demos to the group's lone album. Like most power poppers, the Broken Hearts had a couple of super tunes ("While You Were Having Fun," "Tuesday Evening Girl") which would have made a great 45 hidden amongst a flock of pleasant but undistinguished trifles. Power pop fanatics will love it, though. Michael Toland [buy it]

CENTRO-MATIC
Love You Just the Same
(Misra)
Texas' brightest indie rock star centro-matic is a model of consistency. There's been no noticeable drop-off in quality despite frontman Will Johnson's mind-boggling prolificacy (ten albums in 7 years—Jaysus!). Love You Just the Same (which features fellow traveler Anders Parker of Varnaline as a featured player) is one of the band's best—it's got strong melodies, heartfelt performances and the clearest production the notoriously low-fi combo has ever entertained. Johnson still hasn't written that truly killer song that will make centro-matic a household name, but "Flashes and Cables" and "All the Lightning Rods" are damn close. Michael Toland [buy it]

DAYLIGHT DIES
No Reply
(Relapse)
To label Raleigh's Daylight Dies an Opeth rip-off would be unfair, but I can't deny the obvious influence of the Swedish metal gods on No Reply's melodic, relationship-obsessed death metal. DD's tunes are less complex and more gothic than Opeth's, and frontman Guthrie Iddings (since decamped) sticks to the typical death metal roar, with fewer dips into clean singing. (The overtly Goth "In the Silence" is a notable exception.) While that's enough variation to keep the band from being an outright clone of its better-known contemporary, it's still an easy sell: if you like Opeth, you'll like Daylight Dies. Michael Toland [buy it]

FAITH & DISEASE
Passport to Kunming
(Projekt)
The genre Seattle's long-running Faith & Disease is likely to be yoked with would be ethereal Goth, but that's slightly unfair. While there's no shortage of beautiful, shimmering melodies and soaring female vocals, F&D is more earthy, with tuneage derived from folk music and a more tactile sensibility than most ghost poppers, particularly in the guitars. Solid in more ways than one. Michael Toland [buy it]

THE FIRE THEFT
The Fire Theft
(Rykodisc)
Essentially the original lineup of Sunny Day Real Estate minus guitarist Dan Hoerner, the Fire Theft unsurprisingly picks up where SDRE left off on its final album The Rising Tide. Guitars move even further back in the mix, the prog elements really come to the fore (though in a Radiohead/Porcupine Tree fashion, not a Yes/ELP/Genesis rip) and the arrangements become even more elastic. Frontman Jeremy Enigk's unique voice and snaky melodies remain as strong as ever, though some cuts wander. If, like me, you think SDRE reached its peak with Tide, then you'll find The Fire Theft satisfying. Michael Toland [buy it]

THE HIGH DIALS
A New Devotion
(Rainbow Quartz)
The first reaction to the High Dials' debut album A New Devotion might very well be, "Get out of the 60s, dude!" After all, the ghosts of the Zombies, the Kinks, Buffalo Springfield and, of course, the Beatles haunt this disk quite fervently. But the Canadian quartet knows how to write songs in the retro psych/pop idiom; cuts like "Fields in Glass" and "The Dead Hand" will make any pop geek grin like idiots. They even jam out a bit on "Save the Machine!" No innovation here, just simple pleasures. Michael Toland [buy it]

JET
Get Born
(Elektra)
Like their fellow Australians the Vines, the boys in Jet alternate between stomping rock and dreamy ballads. Unlike its better-known rival, however, Jet is bereft of posturing and armed with a sense of rock history that reaches back before Nirvana. Snappy tunes like "Cold Hard Bitch," "Rollover D.J." and "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" move with the same spirit as the best work of the Rolling Stones, and slow dance ditties like "Come Around Again" and the McCartneyesque "Look What You've Done" not only resound sweetly, but possess actual soul. Jet isn't yet equal to its inspirational forebears, but the best stuff on Get Born indicates it won't be long. Michael Toland [buy it]

JUNKYARD
Tried and True
(Heat Slick/Smart)
Not sure why Junkyard, one of the best of the 10,000 Guns N' Roses wannabes in the late 80s, has decided to haul itself out of its grave, but on the evidence of this EP, it's still got something to say. Toning down the metal and upping the roots quotient, the quintet kicks hard on "Fight" and "Waste of Time," convincingly twangs on "Old #4" and revisits its sort-of hit "Simple Man" acoustically. Leaning more towards the Four Horsemen than G n' R, Junkyard reinvents itself without having to actually change—a neat trick, that. Michael Toland [buy it]

RAY MASON BAND
Idiot Wisdom
(Captivating)
New England's Ray Mason has been steadily releasing albums of quality power pop/roots rock for well over a decade now, scoring respect from his peers more than anything even approaching a mass audience. Which is probably fine with him, as he has the luxury of making exactly the kind of music he prefers without worrying about a bean-counter's opinion. He occupies the middle ground between John Hiatt and Nick Lowe, a place I'd normally visit often. Yet, for some reason, I don't find this record as captivating as I think I should. That's just me, though; if you like intelligent, adult pop songs, I unreservedly recommend Idiot Wisdom. Michael Toland [buy it]

DANNY MCDONALD
Summer City
(Zip)
Power pop auteurs are like SUVs—they're everywhere, and for the most part don't live up to their inflated reputations. That's why someone like Danny McDonald is such a breath of fresh air. The Australian songwriter's Summer City is simply everything a good power pop album should be: bright, catchy, rocking, intelligent and emotional, with equal highlights in the rockers ("At the Seaside") and the ballads ("Let's Get Drunk to You and Me"), plus detours into folk and surf music. To top it all off, it's short and to the point, an attribute I wish more bands of any stripe would acquire. Michael Toland [buy it]

MOTOCHRIST
Greetings from the Bonneville Salt Flats
(Heat Slick)
The members of Motochrist have done time in everything from obscurities the New York Loose and the Throbs to rock icons the Dwarves and Faster Pussycat—anyone with big beats, loud guitars and obnoxious hooks. Greetings from the Bonneville Salt Flats has all three of those, plus a dollop of C&W, but it doesn't quite reach that perfect state of no-guilt rock its contemporaries like the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs or the Backyard Babies achieve so effortlessly. Cool cover of Lucinda Williams' "I Lost It," though. Michael Toland [buy it]