Album Reviews

DANNY BARNES
Get Myself Together
(Terminus)
Get Yourself Together is a typically eclectic, yet totally organic, tour-de-force of Danny Barnes music. Bluegrass and folk music remain at the core of the singer/songwriter/banjoist/guitarist's work, but those are hardly the stopping points. Barnes folds blues (a country version of Blind Willie Johnson's "Let Your Light Shine On Me"), jazz (a country blues take on Bill Frisell's "Big Shoe") and rock & roll (a brilliant bluegrassified run through the Stones' "Sympathy For the Devil") into his acoustic music, and it flows as naturally as the Mississippi River. Of course, originals like "Big Girl Blues," "Get It On Down the Line" and "Rat's Ass" are reminders that Barnes is as much songwriter as technician and interpreter, and that's what really drives Get Myself Together. Michael Toland [buy it]

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES
Deuce
(Spitfire)
Like Rob Lowe turning into a good actor after his years as an 80s teen idol, hair metal musicians from the same decade seem to be redeeming themselves in the new millennium. Beautiful Creatures singer Joe LeSte used to front flash metal also-rans Bang Tango, though from the assertive growl he boasts on Deuce, you'd never guess it. His band's tight, rocking metal owes as much to grunge gods like Soundgarden and contemporary hard rockers like the Wildhearts as it does to Guns 'N Roses. Nothing here is particularly life-changing, but songs like "Thanks," "The Unknown" and "Freedom" bristle with energy and hard-hitting hooks. Deuce beats the shit out of Velvet Revolver. Lance Looper [buy it]

THE BLACK WATCH
The Innercity Garden EP
(Pink Hedgehog)
The Black Watch is one of those bands that's never gained the cult audience it's always deserved, despite a consistently strong career of literate guitar pop stretching back to the 80s. The Innercity Garden EP is merely a taster for the band's forthcoming album The Hypnotizing Sea, but what a tantalizer it is. "Innercity Garden" rocks harder than anything the band has done in the past, while still retaining a graceful sense of melody and lyrical poetry. It's the hit single the Watch has always had in it. The wry "Dylan, Dylan, Dylan" and the lovely "Moonlight Thru Ivy" emphasize the folkier aspects of the band's personality to excellent effect, while "The Teacup Song Take Two" jangles nicely in the style of mid-80s indie pop. Boasting some of the veteran band's best material ever, this EP bodes extremely well for the next full-length. Michael Toland [buy it]

THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE
We Are the Radio
(Tee Pee)
We Are the Radio is the first new music put out by the Brian Jonestown Massacre since the wide release of the documentary DiG! Bandleader Anton Newcombe responds to his newfound notoriety by recording one of the band's most inaccessible disks. There's a strange, indistinct flavor to the five songs here, as if Newcombe channeled his dreams directly onto tape. "Time is Honey (So Cut the Shit)" and "Never Become Emotionally Attached to Man, Woman, Beast or Child" bury their appealing melodies under a swampy haze, while the acid folk waltz "God is My Girlfriend" sounds like a nightmare version of Fairport Convention. "Teleflow vs. Amplification" is little more than amplifier hum. None of this is to say that these tracks are bad; far from it, in fact. But they are challenging, and newcomers lured by the music from the film might want to try another BJM record first before delving into the depths of We Are the Radio. Michael Toland [buy it]

THE BRIMSTONE SOLAR RADIATION BAND
The Brimstone Solar Radiation Band
(Big Dipper)
The Soundtrack of Our Lives has obviously had a big impact on its Nordic brethren, if the debut album from Norway's Brimstone Solar Radiation Band is any indication. That's not to say that the BSRB is a clone of Sweden's finest, but the two bands definitely draw from the same psychedelic rock well. Indeed, the Brimstones spike that water with a little more acid, adding prominent sitars and mandolins, song titles like "Apple Pies & Orange Sky" and "Flying Saucers" and a cloudier, more mysterious atmosphere. But the band's melodies are analogous to TSOOL's, and singer R. Edwards sounds like Soundtrack's Ebbot Lundberg after a hard night of partying. Still, the BSRB knows its way around acid rock/pop tuneage, and "Wake Up," "New Solution" and "Let the Sun In (It's Not Gonna Last)" are pretty much irresistible. The Brimstone Solar Radiation Band may be derivative, but it's good stuff. Michael Toland [buy it]

BRONCO BUSTERS
Pulse Racing
(Big Dipper)
Nearly 30 years on, the legacy of the Ramones crosses every border imaginable: international, sexual, cultural. Norway's Bronco Busters confidently carry that baton into modern times on Pulse Racing, which is equal parts ripping rock, heavenly harmonies and torrid tuneage. Like the Bruddas, the ladies of BB have a healthy respect for 60s pop (the breathless "One More Reason to Go," "Hey, Luv"), but know how to rev up the engines to nuclear overdrive ("Give It Up," "Mama Don't Lie," which bests the Donnas at their own game). The bright "Pagan Baby Blues" and crunching "Drama Situation" are the obvious future classics, but there's not a cut here less than stellar. Pulse Racing may be the best pop/punk record since the heyday of the Ramones themselves. Michael Toland [buy it]

BRIAN CAPPS
Walk Through Walls
(HighTone/Nova)
Brian Capps' first solo album is a hillbilly-flavored homage to artists like Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley (the Sun Records Elvis). The songs on this album, most of them written by Capps, are fundamental rockabilly and his voice and attitude are just what you would expect. Capps began his career with the Domino Kings and Walk Through Walls is similar to the sound the band produced during their run in the late 90s. Capps' voice ranges between light and dark, just like the songs. "I Wouldn't Say That's Living" is a pretty cool song, with rangy vocals and a honky-tonk arrangement that seems retro. Capps also covers a couple of songs by Merle Travis and does a pretty good version of Cash's "Dark as a Dungeon." Lance Looper [buy it]

ALICE COOPER
Dirty Diamonds
(New West)
Chapter two in Alice Cooper's personal rock & roll revival starts here. The Coop's return to straightforward guitar rock on The Eyes of Alice Cooper certainly got his blood pumping; cuts like "Perfect," Run Down the Devil" and the title track sound like prime Alice, as if the pop-metal and industrial rock versions never existed. He also offers a shockingly good cover of the Left Banke's "Pretty Ballerina" and returns to narrative storytelling with the cross-dressing Western "The Saga of Jesse Jane." If sometimes the songwriting sounds strained—"Sunset Babies (All Got Rabies)" works way too hard for such a small payoff—Cooper himself always sounds strong; his voice hasn't lost an inch since 1975. Dirty Diamonds isn't on par with his classics, but, like its predecessor, it's a solid rock & roll record that proves the old devil still revels in his wicked, wicked ways. Michael Toland [buy it]

JEFF DAHL
Cursed, Poisoned, Condemned…
(Steel Cage)
Thank god for Jeff Dahl. While there's no shortage these days of the kind of guitar-centric punk & roll in which the Arizona-based songwriter specializes, he can always be depended upon to deliver the goods, even when his peers fall down on the job. Cursed, Poisoned, Condemned… is the man's umpteenth album and it's as solid a collection of glam-inflected punk/pop gems as he's ever done. The cranky "SXSW Whore," sneering "Cock O' the Walk" and grinding "Hating You" slash with catchy hooks, and his cover of Badfinger's "No Matter What" caffeinates the original melody without burying it. Dahl is also a master of more sensitive moods; the midtempo lament "Glitter & Tears" and the acoustic ballad "Sweet Silence" show that this junkyard dog has a big, beating heart. Unfortunately, the low budget production is pretty thin, making some of the more powerful tracks more anemic than they should be. Even so, Jeff Dahl is still one of the most dependable flyers of the rock & roll flag. Michael Toland [buy it]

DEADBIRD
The Head and the Heart
(Codebreaker/Earache)
Deadbird attempts to sculpt beauty out of agony on The Head and the Heart. The Arkansas quartet pounds drums, slashes guitars and roars in pain on "1332," "Illuminate the Decay" and "See You in the Hot Country," throwing up great clouds of dust and debris. It's not as chaotic or unpleasant as it sounds, however; the shredded vox are mixed into the music as texture; occasional acoustic guitars peek out of the gloom and honest-to-Prometheus melody lurks beneath the distortion and cymbal crashes. "Eclipse of the Eye" is the defining track, a magnificent beast of mournful, rocking sludge that will have Isis and Eyehategod fans alike imitating Pavlov's dog. The Head and the Heart hurts so good. Michael Toland [buy it]

DIAMOND DOGS VS. JEFF DAHL
Atlantic Crossover
(Feedback Boogie/Deaf & Dumb)
Sweden's Diamond Dogs have a long history of reliving the glory days of the Faces and early 70s Stones with more soul than the Black Crowes could ever muster. Arizona's Jeff Dahl has been an underground punk & roll avatar for damn near 30 years now. I wouldn't have guessed at a mutual admiration society for these two acts, but I guess when you're maniacally dedicated to guitar-based rock & roll, no likeminded bedfellow is strange. On their half of Atlantic Crossover, the Dogs roll along their merry way as the world's greatest bar band, knocking out nuggets like "Let Me Include You," "Crooked Crutch" and a rollicking cover of Dahl's "I'm in Love With the GTOs" as easily as Rod Stewart pulls birds 35 years younger. Only the ridiculous reggae pisstake "I Wanna Slip Into" falls flat. Dahl somehow achieves the remarkable feat of being even looser than the Dogs on no-nonsense rockers like "Head," "I Ain't No Rattlesnake" and a slide guitar-driven take on Rose Tattoo's "Nice Boys." Dahl also waxes sensitive on the ballad "Black Train" and pays tribute to his album partners with a raucous cover of the Dogs' "Bite Off." Nothing exactly deathless here, but creating a monument to the rawk ages isn't the point. Fun is, and Atlantic Crossover delivers that in spades. Michael Toland [buy it]

EASY ACTION
Friends of Rock & Roll
(Reptilian)
Easy Action is former Laughing Hyenas frontbeat John Brannon's latest endeavor. For those familiar with the blues-informed chaos that was the Hyenas, you already have everything you need to know. On Friends of Rock & Roll, Brannon still oozes hostility from every pore—his howls, growls and feral roars still attack every song with rusty knives. Easy Action leans more towards garage punk ("I'm Waiting," "Get It," the appropriately savage "Get the Fuck Out of My Way") than the distortoblues that was the Hyenas' forte, though there is some indulgence ("Dead of Night," "Kool Aide") in that area. Brannon is as uncompromising here as he's always been—you either appreciate his aural brutality or you don't. I do, personally, so I'm happy to be one of the Friends of Rock & Roll. Michael Toland [buy it]

FIELDWORK
Simulated Progress
(Pi)
Fieldwork's followup to its amazing debut album Your Life Flashes finds the jazz trio settling into its distinctive sound. Pianist Vijay Iyer, saxist Steve Lehman and drummer Elliot Humberto Kavee sound a bit calmer on Simulated Progress, less frenetic and eager to show off. But more carefully considered performances doesn't mean a lack of dynamic energy; tightly wound pieces like "Peril," "Trangression" and "Telematic" simply have a more direct, precise impact than the energy-spewing tracks on the first record. Less an explosion of ideas and more of a consolidation of strengths, Simulated Progress moves Fieldwork forward while maintaining its high standards. Michael Toland [buy it]

THE FLESHTONES
Beachhead
(Yep Roc)
Beachhead is a well-produced garage rock album, with grinding instruments and ragged vocals colliding with the requisite amount of energy and indifference. Voices a little worn? Who cares, we're a garage band. A beat too fast here and there? So what, it's rock & roll. The band has been playing together since the 70s and Beachhead captures the energy of a live act, which is where the group has carved its niche. The album starts off rather pedestrian by Fleshtones standards, but by the time "I Am What I Am" comes on, the record has quietly worked itself into a rock & roll frenzy that is inescapable. But then again, why would you want to? Lance Looper [buy it]

ELIZA GILKYSON
Paradise Hotel
(Red House)
Paradise Hotel is Gilkyson's follow-up to last year's Grammy-nominated Land of Milk and Honey. She is a pure vocalist and her voice is lilting and thoughtful, like Emmylou Harris'. The best example of her awesome range is the song "Requiem." As a songwriter she is both personal and poetic. The fusion of folk and country is nothing new, but Paradise Hotel stands high above most of the efforts of Gilkyson's contemporaries. "Borderline" and "Paradise Hotel," the first two tracks of the record, constitute a heavy one-two punch and leaves you anxious for the next tune to start. Of course, a record isn't a record these days without a rant about the current state of affairs in this horrible, tyrannical country we call home. Gilkyson's contribution to this cause is "Man of God", with which she assails the Bush administration. Ain't freedom a bitch? She is joined on this tune by heavies like Shawn Colvin, Marcia Ball and Ray Wylie Hubbard. Paradise Hotel, despite this one instance of being self-indulgent, is a darn good album. Lance Looper [buy it]

GITHEAD
Profile
(Swim)
Githead combines the talents of Wire's Colin Newman, Minimal Compact's Malka Spigel and Max Franken and Scanner's Robin Rimbaud. Like Newman's home outfit, Githead is both sparse and lush, using the barest essentials for some odd but enticing kicks. Profile is sweeter and more easygoing than just about anything in its principals' catalogs, as it finds the perfect balance between Spigel and Franken's rubberband rhythms and Newman and Rimbaud's crystalline web of guitars. Newman and Spigel (who are spouses as well as bandmates) intone enigmatic lyrics over the slippery melodies, and while the gravitas of the delivery indicates the pair has something to say, I was too busy grooving to the music to pay the close attention to what it might be. Check out the pulsing "Wallpaper," the shimmering "They Are" and the droning "My LCA (Little Box of Magic)" for proof that psychedelia doesn't have to sound like the 60s. Michael Toland [buy it]

BLIND ARVELLA GRAY
The Singing Drifter
(Conjuroo)
Originally released in 1972, The Singing Drifter is the sole release by Texas-to-Chicago songster Blind Arvella Gray. Gray was one of Chicago's most popular street singers throughout the 70s, boasting a personable voice, a metal-bodied slide guitar and a repertoire that included blues ("Those Old Fashioned Alley Blues"), folk ("Motherless Children Have a Hard Time"), work songs (the aptly-titled "Arvella's Work Song") and lots of gospel. Though his seven-minute interpretation of "John Henry" is the most mesmerizing and memorable cut, it's really on the gospel tunes ("Take Your Burden to the Lord," "What Will Your Record Be") that Gray shines brightest. His reworking of "When the Saints Go Marching In" refreshes that tired old standard with soul and feeling. While this record isn't a landmark along the lines of Son House's rediscovery in the 60s, it's still a worthy addition to any tasteful country blues fan's library. Michael Toland [buy it]

PETER GREEN
In the Skies
(Sanctuary)
Peter Green was the original guitarist and guiding light in Fleetwood Mac, the man whose cracker blues stylings made the Mac into one of the foremost British blues rock bands in the 60s. Latter-day Mac fans have no idea who he is, however; it's left to the cultists to appreciate this reissue of In the Skies, Green's 1979 release and his first album after nearly a decade in the mental wilderness. I've not heard Green's later work, but this record sounds like a transitional album to me. The songs are solid, the playing (provided by UK notables Snowy White and the late Pete Bardens as well as Green) is fine, and it's all quite listenable, especially Green's Eric-Clapton-with-actual-soul singing. But it's pretty mellow, as if everyone involved was afraid to push the immensely talented but fragile Green into uncharted territory. This remastered CD release is a boon for Green fans, but newcomers might be better off finding 60s Fleetwood Mac records for a first taste. Michael Toland [buy it]

GROUNDTRUTHER
Longitude
(Thirsty Ear)
Longitude is the second collaboration between guitarist Charlie Hunter and drummer/electronicist Bobby Previte as Groundtruther, this time with turntablist DJ Logic replacing saxist Greg Osby as the third wheel. This album is both stranger and more accessible than the first record Latitude. The melodies of tunes like "Transit of Venus" and "Dead Reckoning" are easier to hum, but the heavily treated production gives them an otherworldly flavor. Hunter distorts his eight-string ax for most of his parts, while Previte and Logic keep the rhythms roiling like a turbulent sea. Longitude is psychedelic jazz in the tradition of, but not copying, Miles Davis' early 70s work. And there's never enough of that eccentric improvisational spirit in the world. Michael Toland [buy it]

ØYVIND HOLM
The Vanishing Act
(Camera Obscura)
Øyvind Holm leads Norway's psychedelic pop treasures the Dipsomaniacs. On The Vanishing Act Holm tones down the trippy experimentalism and highlights his genius for instantly memorable melodies. Topping off his performances with a John Lennonesque voice, Holm casually tosses off gem after gem. "Cut Me Loose," "Neighbourhood Watch Patrol" and "(A Good Taste of) Everything" sound like lost cuts from the Beatles' Rubber Soul—they're that good. "Seven Years" shows the current crop of garage rockers a thing or two, while the lilting "The Skeleton Key pt.2" is the kind of pop ballad most native English speakers would kill to write. Showcasing Holm's excellent taste in outside collaborators, "Salt-Mutated Summer Breeze" and the title track are co-penned by Bent Sæther, master of Norway's other psych godhead Motorpsycho. The Vanishing Act is an unqualified triumph. Michael Toland