The Meat Puppets have released two albums since Cris Kirkwood got out of jail and rejoined the band, both of which have been refreshing late-period additions to the Puppet’s catalogue. Rather than follow the formula they established in the mid-90s and carried into the early 2000s of raunchy, dropped-tuning rawk, Sewn Together more resembles the high-water point of 1985’s Up On the Sun. It’s an expansive album that hearkens back to the desert imagery of the Puppet’s earliest albums, and provides further proof that Curt Kirkwood should be included in the pantheon of guitar gods.
Therapy? must be admired for their persistence, considering their commercial success peaked at the end of the grunge explosion in the mid-90s. Since then, they have continually worked at avoiding trends and formulas, instead opting to explore new territory on each of their records. Crooked Timber is very much an exercise in driving rhythms and experimental guitar rock (see the 10+ minute “Magic Mountain). Once again, Therapy? proves their longevity is deserved by delivering a solid album that ranks among their best efforts.
Much of ToD’s post Source Tags & Codes output has been unfairly maligned by fans and critics alike. Granted, some of the band’s ideas tended to transcend their abilities to put them down on record, but their albums consistently contained more hits than misses. The record sees the band back to making epic rock and roll, and is certainly their most consistent effort since Codes.
Carolyn Mark is an underappreciated Canadian talent that can make you laugh just as easily as she can break your heart. This collection of songs, which includes contributions from Mark, NQ Arbuckle’s Neville Quinlan, and three covers, focuses a little more on the latter, but still retains the sense of fun that characterizes Mark’s best work. Songs about being road-worn and weary give insight into life as a touring act, and makes an excellent entry in the discographies of both Mark and NQ Arbuckle.
An album written by a mid-20’s comic reading record collector, Art Brut’s record is energetic, funny, and eminently quotable. The record in many ways served as the soundtrack to my 2009, a year characterized largely by DC comics and buying my first Replacements’ albums. Add in a personal hero, Black Francis, as producer, and you have a record that allowed me to re-experience the teenage sensation of “this record was written with me in mind” all the while making me slightly envious that I’m not in the band.
My expectations for this record may have been unrealistic given that 2005’s double album Blinking Lights and Other Revelations is one of my favourite records of all time. Eels frontman and principle member Mark Oliver Everett was wise to wait the four years it took to follow up the emotionally charged Blinking Lights, but his absence raised hopes for Hombre Lobo. Hombre Lobo is in no way a bad album, but lives in the shadow of an imposing set of songs. Thinking better of another four-year wait, another Eels album is set for release in 2010.
