Over the years there have been countless imitators of classic 70's punk with increasingly diminishing returns. The big surprise here is that someone would even attempt it in 2006. Was it not played out enough? But Towers of London did it. Apparently even made something of a name for themselves in England. And the truth is, they're not the worst band ever. They're a rip-off of their influences, but they're semi-talented at what they do. But they're just so artificial and manufactured. Blood, Sweat and Towers is pure plastic. There's nothing dangerous about them, it's all an act. Towers of London are an image, a bunch of pretty boys in "punk" clothing whose music may honestly be less important to them than their appearance. This is a hair metal album disguising itself as punk. It might be enjoyable if it wasn't so goddamn offensive as a fan of real music played by real musicians. (D)
Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan (1962)
A rather quaint album by later Dylan standards, his debut is purely roots folk. It follows a path set by many before him, featuring almost nothing original and many rearrangements of classic songs. It gives insight to where he would go as this set of songs are clear influences on his own subsequent writing, but it's a poor look into the man's own genius. It reflects the genius of others and the only real indication of Dylan's own mind is in the arrangements. Those are nice and the album features a wonderful precursor version of "House of the Rising Sun" which the Animals would clearly be influenced by just a few years later for their classic version, but don't expect to be blown away by anything on here except maybe the raw, youthful intensity of Dylan's singing. Bob Dylan's debut is a great album, just not a great Bob Dylan album. (B)
Daytrader - Last Days of Rome (2011)
"What the fuck happened to these guys?," I thought as I first listened to this EP. Daytrader started off just a few months ago with a demo tape of three songs that sounded like a clear throwback to 90's emo bands like At the Drive-In and Jawbreaker. It was a treat to listen to, being such a huge fan of that music. But in only a few short months, something has clearly happened and they've taken a dramatic shift in their style. Instead of playing 90's emo, they're playing cleaned up, well-produced, poppy 00's emo, reminiscent of bands like Brand New and Taking Back Sunday. It's a bizarre turn. If they're looking for mainstream success, they won't find it aping a style that was popular ten years ago. If they want to do a throwback sort of thing, well, why not stick with their original sound? Still, there's some good to be found on here. Their new style is just as nostalgic and beloved as their old one and it will be well received by an entirely different sub-group of emo fans. But fans of the old Daytrader, try before you buy, your mileage may vary as to how much you like the new Daytrader as they sound like completely different bands. (C+)
Cake - Showroom of Compassion (2011)
Cake wanted to make a deep, mature, triumphant return with Showroom of Compassion. But how you want things to turn out and how they do turn out are often two very different things. Cake is a band that hasn't been quite relevant in a very long time. Their hits are still popular, but I'm guessing it was the 90's the last time anybody played a whole album of theirs. As comebacks go, it usually takes more than a decade before a band can make the shift from hip, new band to well-respected, veteran band that for whatever reason people have started listening to again. It hasn't quite been long enough, so where Cake is is right in the middle of that. They're well-respected veterans whose influence can be heard in many new bands, but nobody is ready to start listening to them again and apparently they have yet to find their middle-age niche musically either. Showroom of Compassion desperately wants to see Cake get serious instead of fun like they used to be, but it's a sub-par attempt. Apparently Cake's plan to go through puberty is to ape the Beatles as much as fucking possible. But no matter how hard they try, they aren't John Lennon. It's sad to hear really. As someone who went in just wanting to hear a new "Never There" or "The Distance," I found myself exceedingly disappointed. Not because I'm not willing to give a band a chance to try new things, but because in an effort to specifically not do songs like those anymore, Cake has stripped away any of their appeal. They're just boring old men now. (D)
The Decemberists - The King is Dead (2011)
For The King is Dead, the Decemberists decided to strip down their sound, quit making grand, epic concept albums, and just make a good old indie americana album. They almost did that. They did strip down a lot and they did avoid making any sort of epic, but they made a detour from a good old indie americana album. It is that, but it's something more. It's the direct sequel to R.E.M.'s classic Automatic for the People. Frontman Colin Meloy has said it was never his intention to sound so much like R.E.M. on this record, it just happened. Well, it must have been somewhat intentional as R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck sits in on three songs, including the lead single and country version of "The One I Love," "Down By the Water." Regardless of whether it was intentional or not, it fulfills a promise never fully explored by R.E.M. themselves. Back in the Automatic for the People days, there was much turmoil in that band and shortly after they took an ill-advised rock turn away from the americana direction they had been pursuing, releasing the poorly received Monster instead. We never got to hear how further pursuing their sound of the time would have turned out, but Meloy must have been able to somehow hear where it would go and decided to make it himself. This is no discredit to him or his band of course. It's not my intention to make this review entirely about the album's major influence, it just happened. There's no shame in what this album does. The King is Dead is actually a wonderful effort on the part of the band, but it's hard not to hear that other band in the Decemberists constantly throughout the record, right down to Meloy's somewhat Michael Stipe-influenced vocal stylings. Regardless of where it all comes from, it fulfills its promise and its purpose dramatically and while it might stand as an oddity in their own discography, it's still a fantastic album of Decemberists country rock. (A)
Various Artists - 21 Songs (2011)
A good compilation showcasing a lot of unknown bands in the screamo scene of 2011. That being said, because it does focus on a single genre where there are many similarities between bands, it's hard to distinguish one band from another here. These bands are mostly unknown for a reason, that being that they're new and have yet to develop a unique sound or a twist on the genre big enough to make them stand out from one another. Their names are ridiculous, meaningless, and forgettable and their music is so entirely generic for the genre that, while being entertaining for fans of this kind of thing, you'll find yourself hard-pressed to remember who did what or memorize any of the songs. If any of these bands find a way to break the mould, that will make 21 Songs an important touchstone for their humble beginnings. But until that happens, you're left with a lot of decent songs (which are mostly Funeral Diner and Saetia rip-offs but still enjoyable despite their heavy-handed influence biting) by decent bands that have yet to become something special. As these things go, there's usually one bigger band anchoring the compilation and that would be Lizards Have Personalities, who have been around for a minute and have made some great music. Even their song isn't one of their best though. It's simply typical of them. I would be interested to hear albums by these bands now and 21 Songs fulfills its purpose in that respect. What seems generic here may stand out well by itself. But in the context of the compilation, it's almost the same song done twenty one times. There's also the matter of the varying recording quality, which can be quite jarring. From band to band, you get better or worse production. It makes the ones with less of a budget (or less experience in self-producing) look that much worse, which is disappointing because they may actually be better bands than the ones with good production but they sink under the weight of their tin-can sound. If you're looking for a great compilation with all the best bands, this isn't it, but if you're a fan of any of these bands already, it's worth checking out for an extra song by a band you already like. You won't discover much new to love here though. (D)
Cold War Kids - Mine is Yours (2011)
These guys started so promisingly with Robbers & Cowards, but in retrospect, how promising was it really? It was melodramatic as hell and only about half the album was really any good. That half was great though and had they pursued that half further maybe they would have gone somewhere. Instead, they abandoned all the artistic integrity and deep themes presented in the good half of that album. They didn't even follow through with the promise of the mediocre parts of that album. Instead, they just abandoned their lyrical content, trading instead in pop radio cliches, and transformed their music into some amazingly boring mix of indie rock circa 2005 and schmaltzy piano balladry right of adult contemporary stations around the world. It's weak shit for a band that had so much potential in the beginning. The few experimental parts of the album, like "Sensitive Kid" and "Cold Toes on the Cold Floor," end up being just plain forced and ridiculous. The rest is the sort of garbage fed to the masses that even the most casual of music listeners doesn't even like. Mine is Yours reminds me of the songs I hear in cars with other people that they skip while looking for something decent on terrestrial radio. (D)
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