Short Takes v. 3.0
In the past I've done a few "short takes" for this blog, giving readers a chance to read about several key releases in short, easily digestable critiques. This is the third such column I've done. The second, from February 2005, is on this site. The first is available on my computer, and if you're interested in reading it, drop me an email: jonathansanders@justice.com -- and I'll be glad to forward it to you.
Teddy Geiger - "Underage Thinking"
(2006, Columbia)
Teddy Geiger was supposed to be the new Jesse McCartney. McCartney, the star of the WB's teen pop sludgefest "Summerland," found his way onto the pop airwaves in 2005 thanks to songs like "Beautiful Soul." Now Geiger, who was to play a backup role in CBS's highly touted thirtysomethings drama "Love Monkey," hoped he'd find similar success for his solo album Underage Thinking. Unfortunately for him, the critically acclaimed show was dumped by CBS after a handful of episodes when no one watched. But here comes the album anyway, and if Geiger's banking on this making him a big success, he's deluded. This album, while competently produced, is nothing but easy listening pop in the veins of Howie Day, Ryan Cabrera, James Blunt and John Mayer. If you like your cheeseball piano pop regardless of whether the singer has anything to say, Geiger might be up your alley. For the rest of us, avoid this album like the plague.
The Sounds - "Dying To Say This To You"
(2006, New Line Records)
If you're a fan of Sleater-Kinney, or even of the more recent band Tegan and Sara, you'll enjoy what The Sounds have to offer. Indie rock rarely comes with as much hook-filled punch as these 11 tracks, but Dying To Say This To You is made even better by the punk-rock attitude lead singer Maja Ivarsson injects into each song. "Song With A Mission" blends Blondie with The Hives, pulling no punches in its insatiable need to rock you. With that under their belt, the band proceeds to unapologetically take your mind over with songs like "Queen Of Apology" and "Living In America" -- which features the best keyboard-based hook I've heard all year. Don't let this one pass by unheard if you like a little pop in your rock. Everyone deserves a guilty pleasure or two.
Ben Harper - "Both Sides of the Gun"
(2006, Virgin Records America)
Double albums are always risky. But when Ben Harper's making a double album you know no track's going to be the same. And over his previous seven albums, it's been made abundantly clear that he's musically capable of writing the material that could sustain that length. Both Sides of the Gun opens with "Morning Yearning," a piano and strings track that lets Harper's vocals lead us into the material on a somber note, and the standout tracks ("Never Leave Lonely Alone," "Reason To Mourn") keep that mood alive. But the second album's where the best songs come out. "Better Way (War Mix)" is perhaps Harper's most ear-catching piece yet -- as All Music Guide called it, "a musical tribute to Prince's 7. As it turns out, the second album contains all the bluesy funk (you've got to hear the Curtis Mayfield influenced title track!) which makes the album difficult to listen to straight through. It's more like a compilation of tracks, split among moods -- like Ben's personal playlist -- and while the songs I've mentioned are all worth buying by any music fan, the rest of the album is probably for Ben Harper completists only.
Faktion - "Faktion"
(2006, Roadrunner Records)
Talk about a flashback. I heard the opening strains of "Six O'Clock" and recalled the mid-nineties debut of adult rockers Athanaeum, the band which spawned the single "What I Didn't Know" an instant before they disappeared off the face of the earth. That fate is likely to befall this Texas quintet as well, though their angsty alt-rock should find fans among fans of Hoobastank and Nickelback. Whether that's enough to get them radio-play in an already overcrowded market remains to be seen, though it seems unlikely.
In the past I've done a few "short takes" for this blog, giving readers a chance to read about several key releases in short, easily digestable critiques. This is the third such column I've done. The second, from February 2005, is on this site. The first is available on my computer, and if you're interested in reading it, drop me an email: jonathansanders@justice.com -- and I'll be glad to forward it to you.
Teddy Geiger - "Underage Thinking"
(2006, Columbia)
Teddy Geiger was supposed to be the new Jesse McCartney. McCartney, the star of the WB's teen pop sludgefest "Summerland," found his way onto the pop airwaves in 2005 thanks to songs like "Beautiful Soul." Now Geiger, who was to play a backup role in CBS's highly touted thirtysomethings drama "Love Monkey," hoped he'd find similar success for his solo album Underage Thinking. Unfortunately for him, the critically acclaimed show was dumped by CBS after a handful of episodes when no one watched. But here comes the album anyway, and if Geiger's banking on this making him a big success, he's deluded. This album, while competently produced, is nothing but easy listening pop in the veins of Howie Day, Ryan Cabrera, James Blunt and John Mayer. If you like your cheeseball piano pop regardless of whether the singer has anything to say, Geiger might be up your alley. For the rest of us, avoid this album like the plague.
The Sounds - "Dying To Say This To You"
(2006, New Line Records)
If you're a fan of Sleater-Kinney, or even of the more recent band Tegan and Sara, you'll enjoy what The Sounds have to offer. Indie rock rarely comes with as much hook-filled punch as these 11 tracks, but Dying To Say This To You is made even better by the punk-rock attitude lead singer Maja Ivarsson injects into each song. "Song With A Mission" blends Blondie with The Hives, pulling no punches in its insatiable need to rock you. With that under their belt, the band proceeds to unapologetically take your mind over with songs like "Queen Of Apology" and "Living In America" -- which features the best keyboard-based hook I've heard all year. Don't let this one pass by unheard if you like a little pop in your rock. Everyone deserves a guilty pleasure or two.
Ben Harper - "Both Sides of the Gun"
(2006, Virgin Records America)
Double albums are always risky. But when Ben Harper's making a double album you know no track's going to be the same. And over his previous seven albums, it's been made abundantly clear that he's musically capable of writing the material that could sustain that length. Both Sides of the Gun opens with "Morning Yearning," a piano and strings track that lets Harper's vocals lead us into the material on a somber note, and the standout tracks ("Never Leave Lonely Alone," "Reason To Mourn") keep that mood alive. But the second album's where the best songs come out. "Better Way (War Mix)" is perhaps Harper's most ear-catching piece yet -- as All Music Guide called it, "a musical tribute to Prince's 7. As it turns out, the second album contains all the bluesy funk (you've got to hear the Curtis Mayfield influenced title track!) which makes the album difficult to listen to straight through. It's more like a compilation of tracks, split among moods -- like Ben's personal playlist -- and while the songs I've mentioned are all worth buying by any music fan, the rest of the album is probably for Ben Harper completists only.
Faktion - "Faktion"
(2006, Roadrunner Records)
Talk about a flashback. I heard the opening strains of "Six O'Clock" and recalled the mid-nineties debut of adult rockers Athanaeum, the band which spawned the single "What I Didn't Know" an instant before they disappeared off the face of the earth. That fate is likely to befall this Texas quintet as well, though their angsty alt-rock should find fans among fans of Hoobastank and Nickelback. Whether that's enough to get them radio-play in an already overcrowded market remains to be seen, though it seems unlikely.
posted by Jonathan Sanders @ 11:30 PM
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