Album Reviews

BEN ARTHUR
Edible Darling
(Bardic)
I think music, but I'd like to think I know quality when I hear it, and I think Ben Arthur's got it all over Jason Mraz, Josh Kelley and their ilk. Sometimes the production gimmicks overwhelm the songs (as on "Mary Ann"), but when he drops the studio bullshit and just plays, the hooks in "Broken-Hearted Smile," "Keep Me Around" and "Tonight" make Edible Darling hard to resist. Michael Toland [buy it]

JASON BYRD
Busy Day
(Paisley Pop)
Jason Byrd is a solid songwriter, singer and guitarist, and with Spongetones leader Jamie Hoover he's made a solid power pop/classic rock album. Outside of the Beach Boys-like "Don't Mind" and the startling jazz digression "Fly," however, I find that "solid" just isn't enough to make me want to listen to this more than once. Michael Toland [buy it]

CAMERA OBSCURA
Underachievers Please Try Harder
(Merge)
If you ever wanted to hear a Belle & Sebastian disk on which most of the vocals are done by a woman and is a concept album about teenage hopes, fears and heartaches, Underachievers Please Try Harder is that album. I can't decide if it's brilliantly charming or annoying solipsistic. Kudos to the faithful 60s-style folk/pop either way. Michael Toland [buy it]

"DEMONS"
Demonology
(Gearhead)
Amazing; after only two albums and an EP, Sweden's "Demons" already have enough ephemera—outtakes, singles, tribute tracks—for a non-album compilation. There are a lot of covers here, as the quartet thrashes cuts from the New York Dolls, Radio Birdman, the Pagans, the Misfits, Alice Cooper and the Stooges, but originals like "Lost Dog," "Riding On the Hearse" (slide guitar!) and the cheerfully pissy "Assholee" are the real reason to crank the volume. Michael Toland [buy it]

JIMMIE DALE GILMORE
Don't Look For a Heartache
(HighTone)
A compilation drawn from his albums for HighTone in the 80s, Don't Look For a Heartache presents roots music alchemist Jimmie Dale Gilmore working a honky-tonk C&W vibe. That doesn't make tunes like "Dallas," the previously-unreleased "Ramblin' Man" or "Just a Wave, Not the Water" any less wonderful than anything he's ever done, but casual fans mainly familiar with his eclectic 90s work may be a bit surprised by the strict country framework. Michael Toland [buy it]

GREY DOES MATTER
How to Make Millions in Real Estat
(Grey Squadron/JankOMatic)
There are as many power pop bands as there are pimples on a teenager, so only you can decide how much shelf space needs to go in that direction. But nearly every power pop act has at least a couple of great singles in them, and Grey Does Matter is no exception: "Sinking" and "No One to Blame" bookend this album in classic, tuneful fashion. Michael Toland [buy it]

HALFWAY TO GONE
Halfway to Gone
(Small Stone)
Uncharacteristically in a genre where high volume is everything, Halfway to Gone has quietly become one of the greatest modern hard rock bands. The Jersey trio always had the rumble and crunch down, but its songwriting grows like mold on cheese every album. Bludgeoners like "Couldn't Even Find a Fight," "Out On the Road" and Hammer's Fallin'" ooze melody and soul without sparing the wattage, and the straight blues "Mr. Nasty Time" is a nice touch. Halfway to Gone is the band's best record yet—no question about it. Michael Toland [buy it]

HAMFATTER
Fireworks
(Pink Hedgehog)
Hamfatter is quirky, but in a reasonable way. That is, the Cambridge quartet writes songs with words that make more sense than they seem at first scan, and melodies that don't go where you might expect but still end up hooking your ear. It's the appealing quirk of XTC or Robyn Hitchcock, instead of the obsequious, annoying quirk of Barenaked Ladies and latter-day Violent Femmes, and the band makes it (mostly) work. Kudos especially the amusing singalong "John Peel (On My Phone)." Michael Toland

HEDEROS & HELLBERG
M. Hederos M. Hellberg
(Hidden Agenda)
In which Martin Hederos, keyboardist for The Soundtrack of Our Lives, and Matthias Hellberg, formerly of the Hellacopters and Diamond Dogs, gather 'round the piano to sing some of their favorite songs. Hellberg's cracked voice will never get him in the Crooner's Hall of Fame, but it's filled with emotion, and Hederos strips the arrangements down to saloon accompaniment. Besides, with a songbook that moves from Lou Reed, Gram Parsons and Bob Dylan to Arthur Lee, Randy Newman and Willy DeVille, how can you go wrong? If only all cocktail music was this interesting. Michael Toland [buy it]

KHOLD
Mørke Gravers Kammer
(Candlelight)
The problem with most black metal bands is that they have no concept of groove. That's no problem for Norway' Khold, however, which varies its rhythmic attack enough to let the songs amble and swing, instead of just blast ahead. That it does so without skimping on the ugly vocals (sung in Norwegian), distorted mania and threatening melodies is a tribute to its skill and vision. This is the best black metal record I've heard in a long while. Michael Toland [buy it]

BEN KWELLER
On My Way
(ATO/RCA)
For the followup to his successful major label debut Sha Sha, Ben Kweller and producer Ethan Johns opted to record live in the studio, using Kweller's touring band as backup. Which didn't change his sound much at all, except that the arrangements tighten up and his singing improves. Otherwise he's got the same remarkable facility with rockers ("Ann Disaster"), ballads ("Living Life,") and his specialty, the epic pop song ("I Need You Back," "Believer"). This isn't quite the great leap forward I was hoping for, but it's still a mighty fine record. Michael Toland [buy it]

THE LIFT
Road to Hana
(Little Red)
The Docter brothers made their names in the unjustly obscure Midwestern quirk-pop outfit the Suede Chain. The sibs' new outfit the Lift plays it far straighter, letting hints of psychedelia creep into its melodic guitar pop. But as with all good bands, the songs are the nuts and bolts of the thing, and tunes like the hooky "Spaceman," the dreamy "Ride" and the witty/angry "War Parade" ensure that Road to Hana won't be easily forgotten. Michael Toland

HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTES
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
(Philadelphia International/Epic/Legacy)
The Blue Notes have never been as celebrated as their 70s soul contemporaries, and that's a shame. With the great Teddy Pendergrass on lead vocals and songs from the famed Gamble & Huff team, the harmony quintet is one of the shining stars of the era, as evident on this reissue of its debut album. "If You Don't Know Me By Now" is the acknowledged classic (anyone who doesn't like this song is a person with no soul whatsoever), but "Yesterday I Had the Blues" and "Be For Real" are noteworthy as well. Michael Toland [buy it]

THE METHOD AND RESULT
The Things You Miss
(Losing Blueprint/KiraKira Disc)
Megan and Mason Wendell sound like they're still working out what their vision will be on the EP The Things You Miss. The married duo puts guitars, piano and acoustic bass through an electronic filter, with Megan's croon floating over the top. The vocal melodies often sound at odds with the carefully crafted music, and it's unclear if that's on purpose or not. Some promising moments, though. Michael Toland

MITHRAS
Worlds Beyond the Veils
(Candlelight)
Great Britain's Mithras puts the "extreme" back in extreme metal with its second album Worlds Beyond the Veil. The duo yanks the listener from haunting, orchestrated mystery to ping-ponging, lobe-shearing metal chaos with pretty much nada in between. It's impressively massive, but without at least a tiny bit of melody, it's so much white noise. Michael Toland