4Play

July 27, 2008

Beck - Modern Guilt - Interscope
Featuring 10 new typically-Beckian tracks produced by Danger Mouse, Mr. Hansen’s latest runs the lyrical gamut from his usual flippantly clever wordplay to more pensive and political topics. Those cool Beck elements are all here - electronic beats, strange orchestrations, electric and acoustic guitars - and the track placement is terrific, carrying the listener from song to song effortlessly. First single “Chemtrails” blends heavily-reverbed drums n’ bass with psychedelic pop; “Orphans” borrows a melody line from Carly Simon; the influence of the White Stripes steps in for “Gamma Ray”; “Youthless” heads directly for the dance floor;
and both “Soul of a Man” and “Volcano” showcase the balance between the hipster Beck and the thoughtful, accomplished musician.

Cold War Kids - Robbers and Cowards - V2
Cold War Kids spent a good chunk of the summer of ’07 touring in order to support their newly-acquired rep as a buzz band. Now that the fervor has cooled a little bit (no pun intended), they’ve re-released a Japanese version of their hitmaking album that reestablishes their Strokes/Franz/Mercury Rev blend of underground-ish quirk-rock. Catchy should be CWK’s middle name, with their decent command of hooks so far, from the opener “We Used to Vacation,” to the disc’s snappy and aggressive radio single “Hang Me Out to Dry”; some of the album’s other tracks, such as “Passing the Hat” and “St. John,” take a few spins to completely catch on, but once they do, you’ll be humming their edgy melody lines at the laundromat right along with all the rest of ‘em.

Albert Hammond Jr. - Como Te Llama? - Red Ink
Since The Strokes have been on... hiatus? Vacation? No one’s quite sure... Albert Hammond Jr. has stepped out from behind his Strokes rhythm guitar and gotten on with other projects. Hammond has a flair for song structure, best evidenced in often unexpected chord changes and accessible indie-rock melodies. There are some echoes of The Strokes, which is to be expected (most obviously on “Victory at Monterrey” and “G Up”), but it’s minimal compared to what else he has up his sleeve; “Borrowed Time” recollects Nick Lowe, while “Bargain of the Century” changes up the tempo at pivotal moments just to make sure you’re properly listening. “Spooky Couch” - an experimental instrumental - runs too long, but we’ll forgive Hammond for that one since the rest of this is so intriguing.

The Music - Strength in Numbers - Universal Internat’l
Striking a compromise between the forthright “let’s rawk” sound of their debut and the hit-and-miss efforts of their second album, The Music may have finally blended both approaches on their third set, which leans more heavily towards the “hit” side and adds more electronic elements. Tracked with producers Flood (U2/The Killers) and Orbital’s Paul Hartnoll, the band’s often tumultuous experiences over the past several years surface in their songs’ subject matter, which adds a welcome layer to their earlier sometimes-banal songwriting; the more “life-experience”-based songs are standouts, especially “No Weapon Sharper Than Will,” “Fire,” and “Vision,” with its eerie background. Stick around for the hidden track, “No Danger,” too - you’ll be glad you did.