John Legend: Love In The Future ALBUM REVIEW

John Legend likes to sing about love. He has been doing it since his debut album Get Lifted, and continues to do it on this LP. But that's what makes this album, to me at least, so endearing; it not only is an album full of love songs, but it is also a passionate and sometimes downright inspirational album about love. Which is refreshing in a world where pop music needs to paint love in a way that makes everything a struggle, or something that ends terribly. Granted, that is a very real aspect of love, but it's refreshing to hear someone sing about the positives of love in a way that makes it seem like the only perfect thing in the world. 

In a way, John Legend reminds me of soul singers from the late 50's and early 60's in this way; his unfaltering devotion to the subject of love may come off as corny sometimes, ( some of the lyrics on this LP do come off that way) he sings so well and with so much sincerity that it's hard to really hate anything about his performance on this LP. 

The album starts of with three fantastic tracks, the last being one of my favorite songs of 2013, the immaculately produced and performed "Made To Love", a track that takes one of the most familiar R&B tropes and somehow shines a new light on it, with John singing "I was sent here for you/ We were made to love/ You were sent for me too", so passionately that I can't help but hang on to his every word. 

Other great tracks include: "Tomorrow", "Wanna Be Loved" and the closer "Caught Up".

And these tracks carry the same gracefulness that  is on display on "Made To Love" and that's no mean feat. 

Aside from all of the praise I have for this LP, I do have to point out the fact that, like I said before, the lyrics aren't always great. Tracks like "Dreams" and "Asylum" are actually kind of cringe-worthy at some points and the two features on this LP are pretty underwhelming ( though the fact that one of them is Rick Ross may have something to do with that).However, that didn't stop me from enjoying Love In The Future a whole lot more than I was expecting to.

8.0/10

CHVRCHES: The Bones of What You Believe ALBUM REVIEW

CHVRCHES are an electronic band from Glasgow, Scotland, and for the past year or so they've been steadily building a fanbase with their last EP and the singles, "The Mother We Share" and "Recovery". To me, they sound like a mix of M83 and the vocal sensibilities of a band like Camera Obscura; which on paper sounds like a pretty great combination, and sometimes, especially on the aforementioned singles, is.

In fact, the album opens up with the track "The Mother We Share", a track I absolutely adore, and its followed up by the track "We Sink" which isn't half bad. But, it doesn't take long for this LP to dip in quality, with the tracks "Gun", "Tether" and "Under the Tide" all featuring forgettable melodies and "Under the Tide" has male vocals that have none of the passion or finesse of the female vocals. 

Then the track "Recover" starts, and for a moment, I am reminded why I was excited to listen to this album in the first place. This track has a great melody and an explosive chorus that I won't forget, come lists time in a couple of months. "Night Sky", like "We Sink" is an okay follow up to the previous track, but it's hard to shake the feeling that the album is going downhill again at this point.

And that's kind of how the album carries on, granted, I thought the track "Science/Visions" wasn't bad, but nothing on The Bones of What You Believe ever reaches the same heights that the singles do. 

6.0/10

Best Coast: Fade Away ALBUM REVIEW

Best Coast are the kind of band that you take at face value. That's not to say they aren't a band worth listening to, but their approach to sunny, 60's influenced rock music is pretty shallow when you get past the pleasantness of the sound. 

I'll start with the things I like about their latest "mini" album, Fade Way, because this is certainly my favorite Best Coast project thus far. For instance, the tracks "Fade Away" and "Fear of My Identity" are great breezy little rock songs that, while lyrically aren't that impressive are just so fun and melodic that I can easily ignore the fact that what is being said in the song is pretty bland and ofttimes cliche. 

Sadly, aside from maybe the closer, I really can't see any reason to revisit this LP, due to the aforementioned lyrical blandness and some samey-samey melodies and chord progressions. But hey, maybe I'm not in the right mindset to truly enjoy an LP like this. Which to my understanding involves a fair bit of weed and Pabst Blue Ribbon.

That last part was a joke.... Hehe.

5/10

Toche Amore: Is Survived By ALBUM REVIEW

Toche Amore play a genre of music that I don't usually find myself covering. That is mostly because a lot of the newer music in the genre "Post-Hardcore", have some of the most cringe-worthy, whiny lyrics and forgettable, redundant instrumentation you'll find this side of radio rock.

But every so often, I stumble onto a band that does the genre justice, and Toche Amore, (at least on this new LP) are just that. They just play with so much energy and melody it's hard to deny tracks like "Just Exist" and "Anyone/Anything", for the mere fact that they not only rock hard, but lyrically these tracks are poetic and detailed.

The entirety of Is Survived By, seems to be about self-acceptance and realizing that in order to live a decent life, you have to give it your all. Which is a refreshingly sincere attitude in a generation of apathetic, irony-obsessed teens and young adults who are too busy drinking Starbucks and writing their novel on transcendental black metal, to really express a legitimate emotion.

Aside from being an incredibly like-able album conceptually, Is Survived By is also an incredibly loud and often aggressive LP, with every line screamed, but not to the point where you can't understand what's being said. In fact, this is one of the most readable and coherent vocalists I've ever heard in this genre. And that's a good thing, because he's also one of the better writers I've heard in a while, though he can delve into sappy territory on a few tracks here.

This seems to happen every year; I find an album in a genre that usually makes me cringe, that I actually find to be not only a great album, but perhaps one of the finest I've heard all year. Check it out.

8.5/10

Violent Femmes: Self-Titled CLASSIC REVIEW

The year was 1983, music was changing at an incredibly rapid pace, with the mainstream focusing on synths and cocaine, a trio called Violent Femmes put out their first LP; a stripped-down acoustic punk gem. 

Now, a lot of people may be familiar with this band via the song "Blister In The Sun," which was a big hit during the early nineties, but that also means a lot of people haven't taken the time to appreciate this album, and the Violent Femmes in a more meaningful capacity. Because Violent Femmes really signaled a new wave of punk music in the early eighties, or at least a wave that would finally reach shore a decade or two later.

 

Aside from the popular ( but still excellent) "Blister In The Sun" this album features some truly gripping punk tunes like the grooving and angst filled "Add It Up" or the snotty "Kiss Off." But the album also has more tender moments with tracks like "Please Do Not Go" and  the closer "Good Feeling."

The album also carries on punk tradition with its length at under 40 minutes, the album flies by, but not before digging its claws into your brain with catchy hooks and pure punk energy. You may also recall the group Gnarls Barkley doing a cover of the psyched-out "Gone Daddy Gone," which is one of my favorite tracks on this LP.

So, yeah, there's not much left to say about this LP, just go listen to it! It's so simple, but not an LP you'll be able to forget anytime soon.

9.0/10

Pusha T: My Name Is My Name ALBUM REVIEW

Pusha T first came to fame as one half of the rap duo Clipse, a duo that garnered a lot of praise with their first two albums; especially Hell Hath No Fury. However, ever since that group split, Pusha has failed to find a foothold in terms of a solo career, at least on that was as rewarding as his contributions to Clipse. 

But, in the last couple of years Pusha T has seen it fit to change that. He signed on to G.O.O.D Music, put out a new mixtape that was well received, and appeared on numerous tracks on last years Cruel Summer. While that album was overall a disappointment to me, I loved Pusha's features on tracks like "New God Flow" and "Don't Like." 

And now we have Pusha's latest full length album, My Name Is My Name; a title that seems hokey at first, but ounce you've listened to the LP, you realize that this album is in fact Pusha T's attempt at finding his own sound, at least relative to his past works. 

The album opens strong with the track "King Push" which features a sample that was also used on Yeezy's last LP. Which isn't surprising, considering the fact that Kanye produced the majority of the tracks on this album. The follow track "Numbers On The Boards" may be my favorite hip-hop song of the year, with it's unorthodox beat and Pusha's dense rhymes that build on each other in clever, thought provoking ways.

Other good tracks are "Suicide" "40 Acres" and the Kendrick Lamar featured "Nosetalgia" which is the closest the album comes to topping "Numbers On The Boards." Sadly, the album has a few duds on it. Namely the track "Let Me Love You" with Kelly Rolland delivering a cheesy and cheap R&B hook, and Pusha replicating Ma$e for the entire length of the track; it is a glaringly bad track in an otherwise consistent LP. I'd also have preferred that the Future kissed "Pain" and Kanye warbling auto tune on the track "Hold On" were left off the album.

While its not perfect, My Name Is My Name is a surprisingly worthwhile LP with some great tracks on it and a lot of solid, often quote-worthy rhymes.

7.8/10

Of Montreal: Lousy with Sylvianbriar ALBUM REVIEW

Kevin Barnes is a weird guy. That alone is all I would need to say to introduce this review of the latest Of Montreal review. But, I'm not that kind of guy; I quite enjoy context; Which leads me to say, there's a lot of context with Of Montreal. 

The band first formed back in the early 90's as a Beatle influenced lo-fi band, with the ever popular Elephant 6 collective. A group that spawned some of the most interesting and worthwhile lo-fi acts of the 90's, Of Montreal included. But since those days in E6, Of Montreal have been transforming at an alarming rate, with albums like Sunlantic Twins, which was one of the bands first forays into electronic music, to Hissing Fauna: Are You The Destroyer? An album that took the band in a more glammed out direction. This phase of the band's evolution came to a messy, uneven head with the album False Priest, which was an LP I wholeheartedly disliked. But all was not lost, at least to me and a small group of critics, with 2011's Paralytic Stalks, which saw Barnes bringing the band's sound back to earth for over 40 minutes. Yes, that album was a bit long, but I would be lying if I said the first half of that LP still gets regular listens in my Ipod.

So all of that brings us to this new LP Lousy with Sylvianbriar; and I must say, the more focused and straightforward approach that started to show on PS is furthered and refined on LwS. In fact, this album is so focused and straightforward, that I've already seen comments that read like "old Of Montreal is back!" Which isn't far from true, though Barnes still writes lyrics from the standpoint of a bitter, defeated man who seems to have a wordy retort to just about any situation. 

The album kicks off with the fantastic "Fugitive Airs" which is by far the peppiest song Barnes has written in years. This track is followed by the stellar "Obsidian Currents" and showcases LwS' greatest quality; it's beauty. Almost half the tracks on LwS are slow paced and beautifully composed pieces of glam rock, that really reminds me of T-Rex or Bowie. Of course, neither of those artists are as downright nasty as Barnes can be, with lines like "The last ten weeks have been a motherf***er" opening the track "Triumph of Disintegration." 

It's clear that Of Montreal did some major thinking when it came to what direction they would take the band, or rather, the fact that Barnes isn't the main brain behind things anymore, made him rethink the way he writes songs. Either way, it has resulted in an album that is not only enjoyable for Of Montreal fans or fans of absurd music, but is legitimately great and is easily in my top 5 Of Montreal albums. 

9/10

Smith Westerns: Soft Will ALBUM REVIEW

If you told me circa 2011 that I would one day enjoy a project by Smith Westerns, I would have rolled my eyes. That's because in 2011, Smith Westerns had just put out their sophomore LP Dye it Blonde, an album I wasn't ( and still aren't) too keen on. Why? Well, to me the songs had catchy melodies and some pretty playful guitar leads, but the album as a whole was seriously lacking in clarity. From the vocals that were ofttimes pushed so far back in the mix as to make them unintelligible, or the rhythm section suffering from being mixed too close together, making them sound muddy. So, you can understand why I was a little hesitant to listen to SW's latest LP Soft Will. That being said, I actually found myself loving almost every track on the album. 

It helps that the album starts out with three top notch tracks, the Beatles esq "3am Spiritual" which has a killer chorus, "Idol" with it's infectious melody, and "Glossed" which, as the title implies, is a smooth and dreamy little tune. 

The album does hit it's first bump with the track "XXIII." An instrumental track, that while not terrible, just doesn't do very well on repeat listens. But, the LP picks right back up after that, with tracks like "Fool Proof" and "Best Friend." The album also closes with the wonderful "Varsity," which is the perfect summation of what SW were shooting for on Soft Will, delivering an album that sounds clearer, and is more cohesive in terms of lyrical themes. 

I'd say that SW have done a 180 in my mind. I've gone from cringing at most of their songs, to bobbing my head and even singing along to most of the tracks on this LP; I love it when a band does that.

8.5/10

Kings of Leon: Mechanical Bull ALBUM REVIEW

I first listened to Kings of Leon back in 2008 when they released their 4th studio album, Only By the Night, and my 14 year old self found a new favorite band. Granted, that album is not considered to be KoL's best, but that didn't and still doesn't, stop me from enjoying it immensely. Songs like "Manhattan" and "I Want You" still get regular rotation in my CD player. 

After backtracking through the band's previous material and finding even more great songs like "Molly's Chambers","Ragoo" and "Tapper Jean Girl" I was in love. Sadly, the band's 2010 release Come Around Sundown was a pretty huge letdown, the same kind of letdown that OBtN was for so many other KoL fans. 

Well, it's been nearly 3 years since that album and KoL are "returning to form" on their latest album Mechanical Bull. But, the question is, what form are KoL returning to? The southern tinged hard-rock of their first album? The jangly rock of their sophomore release? Or the early phase of their arena sized rock sound? To me, it's simple, KoL are combining all of their past elements into one release, and for better or worse they have put together an album that sounds like what you'd expect, more KoL.

Personally, as a fan of most of their output, I find myself clinging to songs like "Supersoaker","Rock City" and "Beautiful War" simply because these tracks contain all the things I love about this band; great melodies, catchy choruses  and a real knack for driving guitar leads and rhythm sections. 

But Mechanical Bull exhibits a key flaw with KoL's recent output; they are just too set in their ways to create anything truly unique to both themselves and rock music at large. Whereas albums like Aha Shake Heartbreak showed a band blossoming into something truly special, MB shows KoL as being a band more concerned with just putting music out there, regardless of whether or not it sounds like a dozen other bands or not. This fact is most evident in the way the album flows, with a lot of the songs in the mid section sounding a little samey-samey with  only a couple of standout moments like the track "Comeback Story."

Anyway, I feel like I'm ranting a bit now. In short, I did enjoy listening to MB, and in fact, I pulled some pretty great singles out of this LP. But I just can't say this LP is as good as KoL's earlier stuff, for the simple fact that a lot of it sounds like modified versions of those early songs. 

7.0/10