Oct 23, 2007

Black Francis - Bluefinger (Cooking Vinyl, 2007)

When I drink coffee, I become jittery and anxious. It is not a very pleasant experience; so, unlike a large portion of the population, I do not have the benefit of coffee to wake me up in the morning. Luckily, I find that rock'n'roll can give me just the jolt I need, and I'll be damned if Black Francis (aka Frank Black of the Pixies) hasn't delivered a super-venti sized jolt of rock'n'roll in the form of Bluefinger.
I have never been a huge fan of the Pixies. Of course, I have always known that they're a seminal band and I have a high regard for their recorded output, however, there are so many seminal bands out there, that it is impossible to keep track of all of them. Plus, I was a bit freaked out by the artwork on the Doolittle album - my young, fragile mind found that monkey to be quite disturbing. The point I am trying to make, is that I am not coming at this album from the perspective of a hardcore Pixies fan.
Bluefinger is one of the rocking-est albums of 2007, and, as if he still has anything to prove, Black Francis has put together an album full of great, catchy songs with all sorts of wild hooks. The track, Threshold Apprehension, has quite literally had me in a spin for a number of weeks now. Francis attacks the song with all the vigour of a man half his age, and puts to shame the many young rock posers who seem to be flooding the airwaves with their ever-so-slick garage-rock knock-offs these days.
If Threshold Apprehension was the only song on the album, it would be a winner; the fact that tracks such as the intentionally-sloppy Test Pilot Blues, the wonderfully titled You Can't Break A Heart And Have It, and the mellow Discotheque 36 - amongst many others - shine so brightly, make this album nothing if not vital.

Check Out: www.blackfrancis.net/

Sounds A Bit Like: Driving really fast with the windows down, screaming your favorite song at the top of your lungs.

Oct 15, 2007

Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War (Arts & Crafts, 2007)

When it comes to overly-earnest pop of the best kind, Stars have the market cornered. With their excellent 2005 album - Set Yourself On Fire - the band wore their hearts clearly on their sleeves with tracks such as Your Ex-Lover Is Dead and the sublimely beautiful Calendar Girl. Now, with In Our Bedroom After The War, they have upped the emotional ante further still.
In Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan, Stars has two singers, neither of whom is afraid to bring an emotional intensity to songs that may otherwise pass as simple exercises in pop-by-numbers. Millan's voice spills from the stereo like a warm wind blowing on a cool autumn day; it is a voice that carries care and compassion, while hinting that we live in a world in which those two commodities are becoming all the more rare. Campbell's voice seems more assured than ever on this album, and tracks such as Barricade and the rousing In Our Bedroom After The War share a similar feel to some of the finer moments in Morrissey's oeuvre.
Stars are at their best when Campbell and Millan share singing duties on songs such as the slow-burning, The Night Starts Here and the clamorous Take Me To The Riot. While the quasi white-boy soul of The Ghost Of Genova Heights is something of a misfire, the album recovers immediately with the somewhat disconcerting Personal, a back-and-forth exchange between two lonely souls seeking companionship in the personal pages.
Passionate, fragile, exuberant, disarming: In Our Bedroom After The War is all these things and more; yet another superb release from the excellent Arts & Crafts label.

Check Out: http://www.myspace.com/stars

Sounds A Bit Like: Morrissey and Cat Power fronting a Canadian pop band.