My Amazon Reviews: Death Cab For Cutie "Kintsugi"

Make Up For The Breakup
4 Out Of 5 Stars

"Was I in your way when the cameras turned to face you?" So asks Ben Gibbard, on what feels like a break-up album. He went through a tabloid-y divorce from actress-singer Zooey Deschanel and lost Death Cab Co-founder Chris Walla as the album was being recorded. That's a pretty big pair of voids to fill. Death Cab For Cutie's rise to that challenge is "Kintsugi," maybe their sparsest album yet. The title itself refers to the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, the repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise. The literal definition of making up for the breaking up.

These potent messages abound on "Kitsugi," be it the new wave-ish "The Ghosts Of Beverly Drive" to the bare bones "You've Haunted Me All My Life." But for the most part, Gibbard sings above spare guitars and lightly brushed drums. Then he gulps down a line like “You’ll never have to hear the word ‘no’/If you keep all your friends on the payroll” and you can't help but wonder if the electro-pop of "Good Help (Is So Hard To Find)" is directed towards his actress ex. There's more ex-angst here than on a Taylor Swift album, and the album revels in it.

"Kintsugi" is a varied album stylistically, if not emotionally. It harkens back to "Transatlanticism" more than the chipper "Codes and Keys," Even with the despair and emotional disrepair, the album ends on one line of hope from "Binary Sea." "There's something brilliant about to happen here," Ben croons. It's a crack in his heart that he finds a way to repair, and signs "Kistsugi" off with a glimmer of goodness yet to come. It's smooth sailing, one hopes, and Death Cab finds a way to negotiate the twists and turns like masters. All breakups should be fodder for art this good.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Arcade Fire "Reflektor"

Arcade Fire Loosen Up
3 Out Of 5 Stars

Arcade Fire find themselves stirring up emotions and dance floor beats on their double CD, "Reflektor." As the most famous band of their beloved Indie scene, they have to contend with being the little band that could, as in could win a Grammy for Album of The Year ("The Suburbs"). Their answer? To invoke Orpheus and the failed love to Eurydice (she's the image of the cover art), bring in Haitian musicians to lay down some serious grooves, let David Bowie sing back up (the title track) and make what feels like their least densely produced album of their career. If anything, it frequently reminds me of how Talking Heads sounded when they used "Speaking In Tongues" to open up their overall sound.

"If there is no music in Heaven, then what's it for?" bemoans Win Butler on "Here Comes the Night Time" (the first part, the second opens disc two as a dirge), and he's here to celebrate. That means giving "Reflektor" over to James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem to make the grooves pop. Granted, this isn't Saturday Night Fever, but the percussion and bass drive better than half the album. Eurydice and Orpheus tangle again on twin songs "Awful Sound" and "It's Not Over" to again invoke their tragic love before moving onto other topics. Like "Porno." Not as bad as the title implies, it's a slower tune that contemplates the simplistic ways that men misinterpret love, like "little boys with their porno." Yes, Arcade Fire may be loosening up, but that doesn't mean their lyrics have gone soft.

Which is what makes "Reflektor" a pretty good album. Arcade Fire are still finding ways to get their sound to new places without losing their identity. If I have any gripes, it's that the expansive grooves seem to often come at the expense of over-lenghty songs (some judicious editing - like the 5 minutes of drivel at the end of "Supersymmetry" - could have made this a single disc), and the album packaging comes with lyric sheets that tore as soon as they got caught on the CD's. But that's hardly a fault to Arcade Fire. I'd gladly take a two CD set of music this ambitious than a single disc of poorly thought through laptop pop. So go ahead, dance to a song about dying (the New Order-ish "Afterlife") till "we work it out."

     

My Amazon Reviews: Vampire Weekend "Modern Vampires of the City"

New Fangs
4 Out Of 5 Stars

"Modern Vampires of The City" is what happens when creatures that can never die begin to contemplate the future. Vampire Weekend's third album is a mostly muted affair, whispering maturity from the first gospel-ish harmonies and finger poked piano of "Obvious Bicycle." Lead singer Ezra Koenig has put aside most of his quirkiness to concentrate on meaningful lyrical statements. "Girl, you and I will die nonbelievers...is this the fate that half of the world has planned for me?" Granted, he's singing to a girl who is an outsider along with him, but instead of making it a joke (ala "Cousins" on "Contra"), he's more concerned about mortality.

This newfound sense of seriousness will probably put off some of the indie-heads who can't stomach when their favorite band "sells out" ("Modern Vampires" debuted at number one on Billboard) or takes a significant step away from their early sound. While there are a few things I miss, like some louder guitar for one, I don't miss the preciousness of the first album. This is a band that no longer squeals "college band" at every turn of phrase or overtly and obvious attention grabbing musical stunt. The Vampire Weekend of the debut would probably not be telling you "There's a headstone right in front of you" ("Don't Lie"), for example.

There are still a few plays for the radio. "Diane Young" clips along at a kinetic pace and even throws in some auto-tune to mock anyone who wants to call "Modern Vampires" 'serious music,' all the while playing pun games with "Diane Young" and 'dying young.' It also contains one of the weirder lyrical choices I've heard on a record this year, Koenig tells Diane she's got "the luck of a Kennedy." Yes, they want to be taken seriously with "Modern Vampires Of The City" taking on life, death, religion and the big bad specter of growing up, but Vampire Weekend has that cake and their quirky, too.

     

My Amazon Reviews: The Hives "Lex Hives"

Back to the Hive
4 Out Of 5 Stars

The Hives made a long shot album when they issued "The Black and White Album," expanding their sonic palette and forcing some funk, all while still sounding like no-one else but The Hives. Well, forget all that. "Lex Hives" ditches the experimentation and cranks the amps on 30 minutes of basic garage/punk crunch. Howlin' Pete and the boys deliver their fifth full length like they didn't miss a day from "Veni Vidi Vicious." If you were suspect in any way, the sonic dirtbomb of "Come On," which is basically a Ramones-slinging "Come on everybody, come on" repeated for about 90 seconds, drives that message home.

"Lex Hives" brings back the noise. The lessons of TB&WA that remain are the fact that polish wasn't completely lost on the band; this may be the cleanest loud album you've heard since "Rocket to Russia" and the best swipe on the Electric Light Orchestra (when "Go Right Ahead" takes its hood from "Don't Bring Me Down") since Randy Newman's "Story of a Rock and Roll Band." Also, like so many garage pros, The Hives are modern blues at supersonic speeds. "Without The Money" drops the speed (but not the volume) for some hardcore wailing. Is your life missing some big dance racket? "Lex Hives" is the law, the cure and the disco all rolled up in one shiny CD.

     

My Amazon Reviews: The Shins "Point of Morrow"

Mercer, Becker, Fagen,
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Once upon a time, Steely Dan was a band. Built around an axis of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen that duo eventually decided the sounds they were thinking of could only be achieved by a rotating crew of musicians, but continued on under the Steely Dan moniker. Not so long ago, there was another band, called The Shins. Recently, their leader, one James Mercer, decided roughly the same thing. The records he wanted to make would only be created if he jettisoned the previously assembled band and rotated assorted musicians into the line-up per the songs' requirements. Thus is born "Port of Morrow," and he still calls it an album by The Shins.

This is not a bad thing. Steely Dan became a major force in modern music, and The Shins may just find their way onto the same pantheon. Mercer's ongoing fascination with perfection via dreamy and lush pop-tunes still makes for an affecting listen. I'm guessing the Broken Bells project got his experimental urges out of his system, because these songs are rich with choruses and memorable melodies. "Simple Song" pokes fun at the whole system, while there's even a song called "Bait and Switch" to tease the Broken Bells crowd with its airy intro, before breaking into a melody worthy of prime REM.

"Point Of Morrow" walks a tightwire between alt/indie pop ("No Way Down") and sweet love songs ("40 Mark Strauss"). The precision and perfection of the album (especially in the production) may have fans whimpering sell-out, but this sounds like James Mercer growing up and into his own music. I am already feeling this may be one of 2012's best albums.

   

My Amazon Reviews: The Pernice Brothers "Hello Killer"

Hello, Killer
3 Out Of 5 Stars

The Pernice Brothers take a sharp left turn into power pop on "Goodbye Killer," which will likely surprise that crowd of fans expecting the dour lyrical themes or the country-fied rock of their previous efforts. "Goodbye Killer" rivals the likes of Matthew Sweet's or Teenage Fanclub's best zinger-pop tunes. Especially the first two songs, "Bechamel" and "Jacqueline Susann," recalling both glam rock and Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend" before the alt-country goof of "We Love The Stage" enters in. "We even love the smart-a--'d kids who yell for 'Freebird'" Joe Pernice croons.

The punch of the songs and the often lyrically directness of the slower songs makes "Goodbye Killer" solid. In fact, the sense of directness holds the disc to a mere 32 minutes, making every song count. Pernice is like a master-craftsman, lifting Beatlesque guitars (the lovely solo on "The Loving Kind"), Dylan worthy lyrical lifts ("Something For You") and achingly heartfelt balladry, like the closing beauty "The End of Faith." The only thing holding The Pernice Brothers back is that they don't transcend the workmanship of the recordings. As an example, Fountains of Wayne deal with this kind of self-conscious power-pop and make it sound easy, "Goodbye Killer" is pretty good but sounds overly labored. Download the mentioned songs and you'll get the highlights.