4Play: The Dead Weather, Paul Weller, Smashing Pumpkins, The Futureheads

June 6, 2010

The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards - Warner Bros.
The second set from the Jack White-helmed side project band that also includes Kills singer Alison Mosshart and QOTSA guitarist Dean Fertita, Sea... continues the trio’s grungy, blues-anchored indie-rock sound and infuses it with a few interesting new seasonings, namely the spooky Wurlitzer organ lines on “Gasoline” and the darkened piano on “Old Mary.” Elsewhere, The Dead Weather’s already-signature sound continues on such solid tracks as “Blue Blood Blues,” which also showcases their ability to blend vocal lines into deft harmonies.






Paul Weller - Wake Up the Nation - Yep Roc
The follow up to his third UK number one solo set, 22 Dreams, Weller’s latest expands on his sound again, from the ebb of his last set’s more mellow sounds to the more percussive flow of this album’s Brit rock focus. Complete with contributions from ELO’s Bev Bevan and My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields, the album crashes open with “Moonshine,” on which the feisty, anti-tech Modfather growls, “Get your face out of your Facebook!” and continues on with the big-pop of “Find the Torch” and waltz-break of “Amsterdam.”




Smashing Pumpkins - Teargarden By Kaleidyscope 1: Songs for a Sailor - Rocket Science
Although the songs from SP’s latest are being made available online, one at a time, for free download, dedicated Pumpkinheads will still probably want to acquire the physical album sets as they become available, as well. The first collection of Teargarden’s... progression offers up the acoustic-based, propellant “Stitch in Time,” the towering, psychedelic “Astral Planes,” and the epic, expansive “Song for a Son,” all compositions that bode well for the near future of this Billy Corgan-helmed, anti-record-industry project.



The Futureheads - The Chaos - Dovecote
Futurehead’s fourth set finds them bearers of an energetic album, most likely the carryover from the studio work they embarked upon immediately following their tours with The Foo Fighters and Pixies. A charging-ahead series of short pop songs, the album was tracked with Youth and Field Music’s David Brewis, and features such highlights as the Weezer-ish “Heartbeat Song,” the stacked segments of “Jupiter,” and the Daft Punk-inspired “The Connector”; rare near-ballad “Sun Goes Down” provides a quick break from the busy-ness.