Album Reviews

THE NADS
Backasswards
(Dollar Record)
Amps cranked to eleven and tongues lodged in cheeks, San Francisco's Nads rip through eleven songs in less that 30 minutes on Backasswards. The band's aggressive blend of punk and hard rock is nothing new, of course, and its songwriting acumen could use some sharper hooks. But rude tunes like "Saigon Hooker," "New Set of Nuts" and "Swingin' in the Devil's Hands" poke successfully at the pleasure centers of the beer 'n' tattoos crowd. The Nads may not truly be the "Sons of the Sonic Solution," but they'll do on a hot night at a cool club. Michael Toland [buy it]

JUDITH OWEN
Lost and Found
(Judith Owen)
Lost and Found is the fifth album from jazz singer Judith Owen. Smoky and simple, Owen's vocals are a blast from the past, when singers sang and producers produced. The lyrics, mostly written by Owen, are honest and reflective. Owen is joined by some cool folks as well: Keb' Mo' and his magical steel guitar make an understated appearance on "Train out of Hollywood" and Cassandra Wilson lends her pipes to "Enough." But I just couldn't get past that sultry voice. This could have been an entire record dedicated to the nutritional benefits of cotton candy and it wouldn't matter. The voice, especially on "Famous Friends," is splendid. I must have listened to this disc ten times and each time I picked another favorite song. Lance Looper [buy it]

QUEEN ESTHER
Talkin' Fishbowl Blues
(EL)
Queen Esther has built up quite a resumé for herself over the years, starting with Austin's Ro-Tel and the Hot Tomatoes and going through collaborations with avant-garde guitarists James Blood Ulmer and Elliott Sharp (in the acoustic blues duo Hoosegow). It's all been leading up to Talkin' Fishbowl Blues, an album of blues, soul and rock that maintains a stripped-down, earthy vibe while still exuding a smooth warmth. A gifted vocalist, assured songwriter and solid bandleader, Esther gets down and dirty ("Leave Me Alone"), sly and soulful ("So Real"), fresh and funky ("Get It Right This Time") and hits all point in between. Talkin' Fishbowl Blues shows many facets, but it's all one shiny diamond. Michael Toland [buy it]

REVERB
Swirl
(Elephant Stone)
Ant Walker and Dave Battersby, the principals behind the now-defunct Reverb, are supposedly better known for their current outfit The Land of Nod than for this one. We'll just take the critics' word on that one. Anyway, Swirl collects all of Reverb's 90s work: an album, an EP and several singles. I've no idea what TLoN sounds like, but Reverb clearly falls into the psychedelic rock/pop realm, like a more ragged Echo & the Bunnymen or a more polished Spacemen 3. Admittedly, there are dozens of bands past and present doing this, but Reverb's enthusiasm and expert songwriting ability puts it right up there with the masters. If you're an proponent of modern British psych, you definitely want to hear Swirl. Michael Toland [buy it]

SCREAMFEEDER
Take You Apart
(Rhythm Ace)
This is actually an old record, at least three years old according to the band's Web site. But, hey, it's new to me, right? Take you Apart is the band's last album of original songs, recorded in 2003—the band released a compilation the following year. It didn't take any time at all for me to really start digging the band's pop/soul hybrid. The arrangements are deliberately simple and the result is a nice retro sound, especially on "Same Mistakes Again." The pace of the disc is pretty brisk, but not full throttle, so there is time to catch a breath and appreciate what is happening with the candy-tasty tunes. Lance Looper [buy it]

THE SHEPERDS BUSH ENJOYMENT
Bullingdon's Last Second Rumpus
(STUDIOFF)
This Swedish duo's latest album picks up where its last, Stereoactivity, left off. The band still leans heavily on 70s progressive rock, blues rock and psychedelia, but integrates its favorite styles even more seamlessly than before. The pair's instrumental chops have gotten sharper, as has its ability to fashion memorable melodies out of old parts—see the 20-minute epic "Gamblers Award," in which interest never flags. Pretty damned impressive. Michael Toland

SHURMAN
Jubilee
(Vanguard)
Shurman's blend of pop and country is as catchy as anything being played today. The band's flavor falls a little closer to the country end of the spectrum, kind of a surprise given the Los Angeles roots the band has planted. Aaron Beavers' vocals are solid, giving way to episodes of unabashed screaming on tracks such as "2 a.m." Beavers also wrote the tunes on this disc, a mix of heartbreak and drinking songs which no country record would be complete without. I love it when a band throws something I'm not expecting, and that's just what Shurman has done with Jubilee. Lance Looper [buy it]

STATUESQUE
Choir Above Fire Below
(125)
Statuesque is British songwriter Stephen Manning, a man who clearly loves his home country's popular music traditions. Even without Manning's Morrisseyesque vocals, there's no mistaking from whence this jangly stuff came. He's got that infamous Brit wit working for him ("Rock and, Therefore, Roll," the funky "The Audition"), as well as sharp melodic instincts ("Serpentine," "Are You Sure?"), but too often he lets the songs go on too long. "Weaponised" uses dance music to make it even more tedious, while "Boys are Lazy, Girls are Crazy" has so many lyrics that it comes off as the product of someone who doesn't know when to shut up once he makes his point. Choir Above Fire Below definitely contains its share of delights, but it could use some trimming. Michael Toland [buy it]

MERLE TRAVIS & JOE MAPHIS
Country Music's Two Guitar Greats
(Sundazed)
Put the inventor of Travis picking and the master of the chicken-pickin' double-neck in the same room and you'd expect fireworks. There's some of that ("Blast Off," "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down") on this reissue of these two old friends' 1964 album, but there are a lot of relaxed cuts ("West Coast Blues," "Bayou Baby") as well. More than anything this record sounds like two buddies hanging out and swapping tunes, each trying to complement the other instead of outplaying him. The sense of brotherly good will is as impressive as the picking on Country Music's Two Guitar Greats. Michael Toland [buy it]

TRIESTEARCANA
Triestearcana IV
(Osiris)
Triestearcana IV is the fourth album from the progressive rock band led by Tony Colaizzi. Mostly this record is a rock and roll album, with influences from Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin pretty clear. These jams are pretty one dimensional, as far as sound goes. While most of the songs are pretty genuine, in terms of lyrics and tone, they kind of start to sound alike after a while. The best part of Triestearcana IV is the smoking guitar solos. Lance Looper [buy it]

VINYL
LP
(btb ehf)
So Iceland does host other kinds of music than the angry psychedelia of Singapore Sling and the bizarre dance music of Bjork. On LP Vinyl (not to be confused with the up-and-coming jam band) seems to be trying to find the middle ground between Billy Idol's bombastic rock bravado, the Cure's pop sensibility and Nick Cave's brooding sensuality. Unfortunately the mixture leans toward Idol's side of the family, and the result sounds like a mainstream rock record in underground drag. Which isn't inherently a bad thing, necessarily, but this particular example is fairly tepid. Michael Toland

BUDDY ZAPATA
Turo
(NuthinButLove)
Buddy Zapata is a roots musician, but he's no stuffed shirt. He has respect for and draws inspiration from the past, particularly any era with fingerpicking blues and folk singers, but he keeps an eye on the future. Odd filters, cheap synth sounds, flugelhorn solos and distorted washes of electric guitar pass through his National Resonator guitarscapes and junkshop blues tunes. Gimmicks and effects, however, never get in the way of songs like the heartfelt tribute "Henri's Blues," the sardonic satire "Keepin' Up With the Jones's," the traditionalist instro blues of "Father Son" or the gorgeous cover of Peter Case's "Two Angels." Zapata occasionally lapses into a J.J. Cale-style laidbackness that comes a bit too close to tedium, but Turo is mostly sharp, soulful retrofuturist blues. Michael Toland [buy it]