MUSIC ZONE
Saurabh & Gaurav

Almost Alice — Various Artists
(Disney)

Almost Alice is a collection of songs inspired by Disney’s latest film Alice in Wonderland directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. Opening the album is Alice by Avril Lavigne. The drums shine out in the track and the trademark edginess from Avril during her Under My Skin days returns with aplomb. The Poison, done by The All-American Rejects, deviates from the energetic sound that the band usually flaunts. This time around, they go for something easy and gentle. Mark Hoppus and Pete Wentz, of Blink182 and Fall Out Boy respectively, contribute a surprisingly understated number, In Transit, which benefits from the sensible restraint of protest and pomposity. Owl City’s The Technicolor Phase may continue his signature rip-off sound, but at last it sounds distinctly different. The only song on Almost Alice that breaks from the pack to exhibit any kind of fun comes courtesy of Estonian pop star Kerli. Her Tea Party is spirited, danceable, and delectably vapid. The Cure’s Robert Smith provides another highlight, creating a mood of playful madness on the deceptively bright Very Good Advice (the only song from Disney’s original 1951 animated Alice) with some refreshing keyboard effects. The collection ends with a serviceable cover of Jefferson Airplane’s hypnotic White Rabbit, perhaps the best tune to ever hit on plot points from Lewis Carroll’s classic tale, by Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. The soundtrack sounds great as a whole and gives off an enjoyable listening experience.

Best track: Tea Party

Worst track: Her Name Is Alice

Rating **

The Strange Boys — Be Brave
(In The Red)

The Strange Boys debuted last year with The Strange Boys... and Girls Club, earning them a hefty swag bag of favourable response for their carefree attitude. Ryan Sambol and company have obviously taken heed of this with Be Brave, an album that attempts to pack all punches of last year’s release into a streamlined collection of 12 tracks. With an expanded line-up featuring Seth Densham and Jenna Thornhill of Mika Miko and Darker My Love’s Tim Presley, Strange Boys look to further build upon the roots-garage template they’ve constructed over the course of several hits from their previous album. Be Brave, the Austin-based band’s second LP, boasts enough examples to set them apart from the garage revivalist flock. Slow-motion soul (Between Us) and bluesy pop (I See, with xylophone complementing the harmonica) are used to add tremendous depth that they only hinted in the past. Da Da is perhaps the finest track on the album, channelling just a touch of their punk energy and dragging it through lean southern rock mud. Night Might and Friday In Paris are quintessential examples of the band’s rowdy-yet-whimsical sound, but it’s the three-minute slice of greatness, Be Brave, a prime distillation of everything good about the band. At the end of the album’s final track, You Can’t Only Love When You Want, Sambol says it in his characteristic wail, "That’s how I lost her / I’m sure of it now / That’s how I’ll lose you." With Be Brave, The Strange Boys have made an album that expands their sound and opens up new roads for them to follow in the future.

Best track: Da Da

Worst track: A Walk On The Beach

Rating: ***

Josiah Wolf — Jet Lag
(Anticon)

Jet Lag is an exceptional album — Josiah Wolf plays every instrument: guitar, vibes, Hammond organ, bells, bass, kalimba and drums. Whatever it took to give it that all the important elements that emerge out of a turbulent period in Wolf’s life. Though the album’s instrumentation is often vibrant, Wolf’s fixation of the same sad-sack sentiments engenders a listless musical milieu. The album starts out promisingly enough, with opener The Trailer and the Truck employing bells and vibes, layered and lush. Wolf’s voice is deep, but delicate. There is more sense of impetus with these early tracks, perhaps intentionally, as they seem to concern Wolf’s cross-country move. The album does contain its share of worthwhile moments. There’s the unexpected melodic twist in In the Seam, where Wolf, with a sudden spark of newfound realism, intones, "Julie, Julie/ You move right through me" in a moment that’s quietly exhilarating. Skull In The Ice is an exception; perhaps the most tender of all the tracks, it begins with a stripped-down strum and evolves in the chorus with luscious, rich surroundings. Jet Lag is unmistakably a break-up record, through and through, with plenty of emotionally blunt appraisals of that situation (with lyrics like, "I love you’s build up in my throat/And my apartment smells like divorce") that cut to the core.

Best track: In The Seam

Worst track: The Apart Meant

Rating ***