Blown Speakers & Unit Movers - Page 2

Author: Bill Sherman — Published: Dec 22, 2003 at 9:59 am 1 comment

  • Grandaddy, Sumday (V2): Caught by the hippie tunefulness of this songs-over-studio group, I went back to their earlier releases. Found a lot of stretchy stuff and more lyrics depicting Neil Youngish singer Jason Lytle's love/hate relationship with technology - but nuthin' as well-delivered as "The Group Who Couldn't Say." So this is the disc to begin with. . .

  • The Libertines, Up the Bracket (Rough Trade): What a mess, baby, what a mess. Fly-apart rock 'n' roll can be a deal breaker for some folks (earlier exemplars of the form: Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers, the Slits and Trout Mask Replica), and I can understand that response. But when I wanted to hear the sound of breaking glass, this is the release I went to this year. Greatest moment: "I Get Along," which was also sent out into the world as a get-acquainted EP/single.

  • New Pornographers, Electric Version (Matador): Like most fans captivated by debut release Mass Romantic, I wish this had more of alt-country chanteuse Neko Case. But, that aside, Version holds up the art-pop promise of this studio group's debut (no sophomore slump here). Main vocalist Carl Newman may be the most opaque lyricist since Van Dyke Parks, but he and the other Pornographers produce addictive old/new rock jangle (cool cheesy keyboards, too). The laws may've changed, but great pop sounds remain eternal. . .

  • Liz Phair (Capitol): Love the pure/impure pop songs (Phair's the poet laureate of the zipless fuck) and the smaller honest tracks, too. Who'd have known the promise of Exile in Guyville would've been fulfilled in the hands of studio hacks like the Matrix? Just one of the great mysteries of the Pop Universe.

  • The Shins, Chutes Too Narrow (Sub Pop): Another band whose first release flew under my sporadically functional radar. Lead Shin James Mercer's primary voice is as the tunefully messed-up young romantic. You need at least one of these in any good pop list (last year's was Rhett Miller), and it's a treat to hear one just as comfortable referencing Scott MacKenzie as he is Nick Drake. Helps that Mercer's a wicked tunesmith, of course.

  • Warren Zevon, The Wind (Artemis): A sentimental pick - and why the hell not? Unlike Johnny Cash (whose Elder Folkman records I respect without completely enjoying), Zevon kept his unflinching hardnosed lyricism wedded to the sound that brought him into the recording world. Track for track this may not hold up against the truly great Zevon albums (Excitable Boy, Sentimental Hygiene), but I sure as heck played it a lot this year. And know that it'll go into rotation with the other A-grade Zevons whenever I'm in need of his elegantly sardonic humanism. And, because I couldn't not mention it, A Beyond The Realm of Top Ten Lists Addendum:
    • The Cramps, Fiends of Dope Island (Vengeance): Sounds like every other album these psychobilly garage-istes have ever released: exploitation pic lyrics and low-life fantasies, Lux Interior's barely on-key ranting and Poison Ivy's divinely trashy guitarwork. Only thing missing is an inspired cover like "Goo Goo Muck" or "Hardworkin' Man," though the Count Five and Link Wray swipes are still there for rock archeologists, of course. Me, I'm just glad to see this crew holding onto its single-mindedly sleazy sound. As long as the Cramps get allowed to release another batch of ee-vil psychotronic riffery every few years, the world of rock 'n' roll will remain safe for armchair degenerates like yours truly. . .
    There you have it: one of the few Top Ten Pop-Rock Lists this year that doesn't include Elephant.

    Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2 — Page 3

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    Article Author: Bill Sherman

    Bill Sherman is the Comics & Graphic Novels review editor for Blogcritics. With his lovely wife Rebecca Fox, he has recently co-authored a sudsy size acceptance novel entitled Measure By Measure.

    Visit Bill Sherman's author page — Bill Sherman's Blog

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    • Doll Revolution Doll Revolution
      Release date: 2003-09-23
      Publisher: Koch Records

      They used to be seen as sex kittens. Now, on Doll Revolution, they look like the cast of Sex and the City. Yet 15 years after the Bangles' last album, Everything, the California power-poppers breeze ...

    • Welcome to the Monkey House Welcome to the Monkey House
      Release date: 2003-08-19
      Publisher: Capitol
    • Dressy Bessy (Bonus DVD) Dressy Bessy (Bonus DVD)
      Release date: 2003-08-26
      Publisher: Kindercore Records
    • Welcome Interstate Managers Welcome Interstate Managers
      Release date: 2003-06-10
      Publisher: Virgin Records Us
    • Sumday Sumday
      Release date: 2003-06-10
      Publisher: V2 North America
    • Up the Bracket Up the Bracket
      Release date: 2003-03-18
      Publisher: Rough Trade
    • Electric Version Electric Version
      Release date: 2003-05-06
      Publisher: Matador Records
    • Liz Phair Liz Phair
      Release date: 2003-06-24
      Publisher: Capitol
    • Chutes Too Narrow Chutes Too Narrow
      Release date: 2003-10-21
      Publisher: Sub Pop
    • The Wind The Wind
      Release date: 2003-08-26
      Publisher: Artemis Records

    Article comments

    • 1 - jackwhites-lova

      Feb 29, 2004 at 12:20 pm

      who love jack white here? email me if so

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