Album of the Week

Mindless Self Indulgence: If

As hard as it may be to believe considering what usually gets covered here, I'm actually a pretty big MSI fan. Call it my guilty pleasure; my favourite band might be Pearl Jam and I may gravitate toward more organic rock and metal, but sometimes it's necessary to step outside the comfort zone, so to speak.

Back in 1999, while working in radio, I discovered MSI via "Bitches", which was an absurd attempt by Warner Music to earn the crass, far from mainstream band radio play. Nevertheless, I listened to the track and wasn't all that impressed... until a few days later, when I couldn't get that song out of my head with a crowbar. After picking up the 30 track rapid-fire masterpiece "Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy", I found myself oddly enamored with the spastic techno-metal stylings and utter lunacy of Little Jimmy Urine's lyrics and vocal delivery. At the time, I didn't even understand what the hell I was listening to; I just liked it, and that was that.

Their long-awaited follow up, 2005's "You'll Rebel to Anything", found them changing it up a bit; the songs were longer, it was sonically more diverse, and had their inexplicably entertaining cover of Rush's "Tom Sawyer". Altogether, though, its ten songs brought the proceedings to a close way too soon (at just over 26 minutes). It hardly seemed worth waiting six years for.

Now, back on a major label (Sony this time), MSI delivers "If", which turns out to be a fair split between the first two records. No one can help but to grow up at least a little over nine years, so "If" doesn't really have anything as amazingly immature and crass as some of "Frankenstein"'s choicest moments (though "On It" and "Issues" come close). Thankfully, MSI recognize that most fans aren't looking for world events, and nothing on "If" is dreary. Big, bad beats are everywhere on this album, from the Timbaland trumping club thumper "Bomb This Track" to the trip-hop freak-out anthem "Revenge". It's more adventurous musically than most DJs ever dream of. The fact that there's a band there to flesh out the sound is gravy.

All this said, it's worth noting that the most notable improvement on "If" is songwriting. The gift for hooks that first got me in 1999 is still ever-present on "If", especially on "Animal"; the track plays like 2-1/2 minutes of nothing but hooks. "Money" is probably the closest thing to a conventional song in the band's catalogue. Then, there's "Mark David Chapman", a song whose conception was remarkable (written with fans using weekly questions on the band's Myspace page). The only thing more remarkable is how it turned out; its scattershot progression recalls Mr. Bungle, except with more samples and synth.

If you're looking for solos and soaring epics, you're shit out of luck. If you're looking for social commentaries and causes to believe in, look somewhere else. "If" is pretty much impossible to categorize with confidence; it's like the audio equivalent of "Tim & Eric Awesome Show", except with more midi sounds. It's like a watching a mash up of "Tron", a Gwen Stefani video, and "Dawn of the Dead". Simply put, it's an awesome example of what happens when a band's focus is placed on having fun instead of having hits.

"If" is in stores Tuesday. This is their website.

Album of the Week

Cancer Bats: Hail Destroyer

Being in cahoots with the Alexisonfire camp has the tendency of making me not give a shit about your band. No offense to AOF or the kids who love them, screamo just isn't my bag. Which is why I was surprised by the Cancer Bats' debut, "Birthing the Giant". I avoided it for months, expecting it to be a clone of Alexisonfire's uninteresting At the Drive-In worship or, worse, a clone of Dallas Green's wretch-inducing sentimentalism. Finally, "French Immersion" made its way to my ears, a roaring hardcore throwback worthy of whiplash by headbanging. I was almost as astonished by that track's ferocity as I was by the fact that the rest of the album was just as good.

Of course, there's bound to be changes on album two. Thankfully, they're not so drastic as to completely alter your opinions on the band. Sure, there's a little more metallic screaming (see the title track), and a few more actual hooks (see "Deathsmarch"). And, in a case where change is definitely good, there's the staggering "Bastard's Waltz", a track that gets across a bevy of menace despite its slower tempo, thanks in large part to its "coughing up blood" refrain. It's only trumped by its cousin "Lucifer's Rocking Chair", complete with slide guitar riffage and sinister groove. They take it the other direction, too, especially on the absolutely crushing diatribe "Sorceress". It's like the song Hatebreed's been trying to write for ten years. And the 90 second scorcher "Pray for Darkness" hits you in the skull with such speed and fury that the half-time breakdown is necessary to catch your breath.

All in all, though, this is the same band with the same love for monstrous riffs and chaotic gang vocals. But they incorporate enough new elements to their sound to dissuade any naysayers who would accuse them of being a one trick pony. "Hail Destroyer" may not be as consistent as "Birthing the Giant", but it is most certainly more rewarding.

"Hail Destroyer" is in stores Tuesday. Check 'em out online here.

Rapid Fire Reviews!



THE RACONTEURS: Consolers of the Lonely
****
"Consolers of the Lonely" is pretty much an extension of last year's White Stripes triumph "Icky Thump"; also recorded in Nashville, all very loose sounding and fun. It's also notice served that what was kind of cool in the White Stripes' intimate setting absolutely shreds with the backing of a full band. Lyrically, there may not be any tracks as poetic as, say, 'You Don't Know What Love Is'. But, when the monster riffs of 'Five on the Five' and 'Attention' smack you in the skull, there simply isn't much need for fancy wordplay. There's also much more stretching out to be heard, as a veritable smorgasbord of instruments get their due (including fiddles, banjos, horns, etc.).

Throw in a good old fashioned murder ballad (album closer 'Carolina Drama'), a swampy country stomper ('Old Enough'), an obscure seventies rock cover ('Rich Kid Blues') and the freakishly electric dance rock inferno of lead single 'Salute Your Solution', and you've got something for everyone. The best part is that it doesn't sound like a half n' half mix of Jack White and Brendan Benson songs (as the previous album, "Broken Boy Soldiers", did); it's the sound of two songwriters in a room cranking out ideas and having a blast. And creating a damn fine record in the process.


REM: Accelerate
***1/2
Let's forget about "Around the Sun", and how awful it was. In fact, let's forget "Reveal" and how awful it was, too. Hell, let's just pretend that "Accelerate" is REM's first record in twelve years. When health concerns prompted the band to move on without original drummer Bill Berry, it's as though he drove his band mates out to the middle of nowhere, dropped them off, and sped off into the night, leaving them lost in a frozen tundra of keyboards and string sections. At first, they were weary but still excited to be in new, unfamiliar territory (the decidedly sombre "Up", my submission for Most Ironically Titled Album Ever Award). After a while, they started to become comfortable out on the tundra, and even tried by times to make it feel like home (the soundtrack submission 'The Great Beyond', "Reveal"'s first single 'Imitation of Life', the unearthed early-career throwaway 'Bad Day'). Problem was, no one was fooled by these mirages of a band that still rocked. They were, after all, still on the tundra and, try as they might, the blandness wasn't going anywhere. So slowly, they trudged onward, looking for escape from this deliriously boring place. The epic journey out of suckdom almost killed them; if "Around the Sun" didn't sound like a band sucking wind on one knee, I lost my ears in a horrible fire.

So here we are, twelve years later, and we answer the knock on the door to find REM, clothes tattered, egos bruised, asking for a place to crash. You'd be forgiven for slamming the door in their faces, but you'd also be a fool. Think about it; REM was stuck on the tundra for TWELVE FUCKING YEARS. It's no surprise that they're pissed off, looking for vengeance and rocking out like their lives depend on it. At a shade under 35 minutes, "Accelerate" is a rapid dose of vintage REM, from the punk overtones of 'Living Well is the Best Revenge' and 'Horse to Water' to the muscular new wave flashback of 'Man Sized Wreath' and 'Supernatural Superserious'. It's not all upbeat, but the slow tunes are much more reminiscent of "Automatic for the People" era tunes than those of the last three albums. In fact, the only real knock on "Accelerate" is that it's such a return to form it sometimes sounds too calculated to be genuine.

At the end of the day, I recommend that REM be forgiven even if "Accelerate" is a contrived effort to buy back the fans who left them in droves over the past twelve years. The way I see it, if I were stuck on the tundra for over a decade, I'd be rocking out too. Because, above all, I'd be really fucking glad to finally be home again. And if "Accelerate" is any indication of what's to come, then I'm really fucking glad to have REM finally come home again.


THE SWORD: Gods of the Earth
***
The Austin metal gods return with a more sloppily produced, less Sabbath-inspired disc. The result is still more thrilling than most modern metal, but I hoped for better. Don't get me wrong; I dig the faster tempos and the riffs are still monstrous. I just expected they'd be leaving all other metal bands bloodied in the killing fields and eating the innards of the genre itself by now.









BLACK TIDE: Light from Above
*1/2
If you've been waiting for the sign that power metal's triumphant return is jumping the shark, here it is. A band of teenagers with an unmoving devotion to both Dragonforce and Motley Crue and about as much songwriting talent as the security guy working either of those bands' concerts, "Light from Above" sounds like that album of early recordings and demos that gets unearthed about five years after a band makes it big. Where most bands grow and mature before getting their debut on shelves, Black Tide has been swept up, packaged ever so neatly and thrown into the spotlight far too soon.

But, that's the way fads go; remember the 90's, when grunge exploded and record labels snapped up every Nirvana prototype they could find? A group of teenagers with little actual talent were signed to a contract in 1995, releasing a trite, immature (but loud) album and becoming famous before evolving as a band, making better music, and losing their entire fan base. Congratulations, Black Tide. You are the new Silverchair.



MESHUGGAH: obZen
****
Meshuggah takes a lot of shit from "true" metalheads because they started out as a thrash band, evolved musically, surpassed most other metal bands in musicianship, and slowed down the tempo. For shame! On "obZen", some of the thrash elements are back without sacrificing the awesome prog-inspired riffage, shredding vocals or Tomas Haake's sheer lunacy on the kit. But, because it's not the first album and they've gained a high profile within the genre, the new album sucks. If that's the "true" metalhead's perspective, I'll be a "poser" and listen to this awesome new Meshuggah album while you stay stuck with your one dimensional metal. But just so you know, I'm a total music whore for life and that includes metal, so chances are I was listening to Slayer and Annihilator (hell, even Cannibal Corpse and Deicide) before you were born. Seniority rules, and so does this album.