Album Reviews

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE/ESCAPADE
A Thousand Shades of Grey
(Fünfundvierzig)
Infamous Japanese psychedelic monstrosity Acid Mothers Temple shares this three-song disk with American space rock troop Escapade, the better to melt minds and massage frontal lobes, I guess. The Mothers, no strangers to trancing out, play in Escapade's sandbox with "European Sun," a blissed-out mantra that's mostly ambient electronics and repetitive sitar loops, with some flute and vocals mixed. Not bad, but did it really need to be a half-hour long? Escapade's two pieces have a bit more percussion percolating under the surface, but also drift more than drive (though "Transformation 2" threatens to build up a head of steam). Fans looking for the Mothers' infamous acid freakouts should probably turn elsewhere. Michael Toland

AUF DER MAUR
Auf Der Maur
(Capitol)
Melissa Auf Der Maur formerly thumped the four-string for two of the defining alternative rock bands of the last decade, Smashing Pumpkins and Hole, so it's no wonder she's got a major label forum for her solo spew. Working with Masters of Reality leader Chris Goss, Auf Der Maur creates a great-sounding rock record here, melodic, textured and sharp—sort of a high gloss cross between stoner rock and alternative radio rock. Her songs are a bit more problematic; though there's nothing here that could be called wretched, there's no stroke of raving genius either. Overall it's very pleasant, which, as an adjective, is probably not remotely what Auf Der Maur was going for. Michael Toland [buy it]

AYREON
The Human Equation
(InsideOut/SPV)
Holland's Arjen Lucassen explored space, sci-fi and fantasy worlds with his Ayreon rock operas in the past, but now he turns inward to discover The Human Equation. Joined, as usual, by a bevy of guest vocalists from the metal and progressive rock universe (including Dream Theater frontman James LaBrie, once again singing with far more soul and emotion on a side project than he does with his main band), Lucassen conjures two disks' worth of Kansas-like melodic, hard-edged prog, with lyrics that recycle the usual clichés of self-empowerment and self-worth. It's a journey only diehard prog fans may find worth taking, and even then it's exhausting. Nice intermittent use of Celtic melodies, though. Michael Toland [buy it]

CRASH KELLY
Penny Pills
(Bhurr/Liquor & Poker)
Part androgynous pop idol, part Harley-riding ass-kicker, Canada's Sean Kelly rides straight into the heart of the Big Hook on Penny Pills his debut under the nom de rocque Crash Kelly. A hungover Marc Bolan after wiping away the glitter, Kelly's teen idol looks don't distract from his deft ability to combine sweet pop melodies with salty rock & roll bluster—this is a guy who will swagger up to you just to kiss your cheek. Kelly gets his dander up in "You Don't Know," his eyes opened in "Love Me Electric" (a trip through the Messiah complex of a certain 70s rocker) and his heart broken in "11 Cigarettes," but never loses his rock star panache or balls-to-the-wall guitar riffs. He's saavy enough to revive the Canadian tradition of comparing a wayward America to a woman ("She Gets Away") and smart enough to make "Something Hollywood," his tribute to 80s glampires, an instrumental. He even somehow manages to make Russ Ballard's "Since You've Been Gone" a song worth hearing again. Catchy, hipshaking and upbeat, Penny Pills is the most fun you can have wearing only a Les Paul. [The Liquor and Poker reissue adds a faithful cover of Cheap Trick's "ELO Kiddies" and a video for "She Gets Away."] Michael Toland [buy it]

LISA DEWEY AND THE LOTUS LIFE
Busk
(Kitchen Whore/Bella Union)
I've always hated the Sundays; just couldn't stand the singer's voice or her band's happy hippy folk pop. This in turn prejudiced me against any band with songs that were basically folk pop dressed in alternative rock drag. Well, either I'm less cranky now or I've just been listening to the wrong shit all these years. Lisa Dewey and her band the Lotus Life follow the same formula on Busk, with songs that sound as if they started out as singer/songwriter meditations then transformed into ethereal electric pop. But her no-nonsense singing, darker outlook and delectable melodies make "Dream Wild," "Hollow" and "Mellow Day" attractive and compelling. Michael Toland [buy it]

THE ELECTRIC
Degenerotic Doses
(Pro-Vel)
Listening to the latest album by the Electric, one might very well ask the question, "Do we need yet another garage punk band in an already overcrowded universe?" It's not like we haven't heard tunes like "Sloe Gin," "Let's Go! (Explode)" and "Make Love & War," all snot and beer-bashed Chuck Berry licks, before. But the Electric does its thang with the requisite high energy level and has a singer that sounds like he dosed himself with Viagra before he stepped up to the mike. Plus the band is smart enough to include "All the Other Girls," an engaging, semi-acoustic country rocker that definitely sets it apart from the Hives-inspired hordes. It's not yet fulfilled, but there's definitely promise here. Michael Toland

FIVE EIGHT
Five Eight
(Five Eight)
Whatever happened to that Athens band Five Eight? Though the trio continued to record throughout the 90s, it dropped off the radar after a brief liaison with former Columbia chief Walter Yetnikoff's Velvel Records. One more indie album later, the band is back with a self-titled, self-released new opus. Leader Mike Mantione's urgent vocals and melodic songwriting remain compelling, even if the manic energy is tempered by hard-won maturity. The powerhouse "Magnetic Fields" and the melancholy "Bad For Us" are highlights, but it's no accident that one of the album's best tracks is called "I'm Still Around." Michael Toland [buy it]

CARY HUDSON
Cool Breeze
(Black Dog)
I have to confess a certain degree of disappointment in former Blue Mountain guitarist Cary Hudson's second solo album. It's a straightahead, no frills set of Southern-fried blues rock, like the Allman Brothers without the pointless soloing. Tunes like "Things Ain't What They Used to Be," "Little Darlin'" and "Ain't No Tellin'" flaunt their accent and simple virtues proudly. It's pretty good as far as it goes, but that's the problem—it doesn't go far enough. Both in Blue Mountain and with his first solo record Hudson had that indefinable spark that allowed him to transcend the limitations of his chosen milieu, but that seems to be missing here. It's still solid and enjoyable, and god knows Hudson sounds like he's having a great time, but Cool Breeze doesn't quite hit the heights he's proven over and over he can ascend. Michael Toland [buy it]

JOHN AND THE SISTERS
John and the Sisters
(NorthernBlues)
John is John Dickie, Canadian blues singer and harmonicat; the Sisters are the Sister Euclid, the Canuck blues band led by guitarist Kevin Breit (Holly Cole, Cassandra Wilson, Norah Jones). I can't speak for Dickie's prior projects, but this is definitely a lot less slick than the stuff for which Breit is best known, which is probably what enticed him in the first place. Some of the tunes—"A Better Way," "Money Changes Everything," "Only One"—have a nice, soulful quality, while others—the overlong "Big Bomb," the showboating "Penguin Walk," the too damn silly "Too Damn Big"—exemplify the excesses of so many blue-eyed R&Bsters. The random, one-minute splashes of jazzy carnival blues neither help nor hurt the album. John and the Sisters isn't a bad cracker blues record, but it's not going to make Jimmie Vaughan lose any sleep. Michael Toland [buy it]

LORD STERLING
Today's Song For Tomorrow
(Small Stone)
It would be easy to call New Jersey's Lord Sterling what Monster Magnet would sound like if it had continued along the cosmic path of its earlier records, or refer to it as the Hawkwind of stoner rock, or the political arm of psychedelia. But, in the end, all of those are too simple to describe such a multi-faceted band. Hard rockin' sludge, dreamy psychedelic trancing and angry, punk-flavored diatribes mix seamlessly together for a socially conscious space rock journey through a world gone strange. Whether it's the resigned melancholy of "Thread Will Be Torn" or the butt-rocking anger of "Tough Times For the Troubadours," Lord Sterling straddles a dozen worlds with strong thighs and firm footing. Plus its reefer-to-rage cover of Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls For the Heart of the Sun" actually makes Roger Waters tolerable. Michael Toland [buy it]