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The Mars Volta —
Noctourniquet
Best track: The Malkin Jewel Worst track: Dyslexicon Rating *** Spiritualized —
Sweet Heart Sweet Light
Best track: Hey Jane Worst track: Life Is a Problem Rating ** Dr John —
Locked Down
Best track: Eleggua Worst track: Revolution Rating ***
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IN a lot of ways,
Noctourniquet is a companion album to Octahedron. Both records are a
lot more subdued and straightforward than The Mars Volta’s previous
work, and several songs from both the albums resemble. Signature
convoluted tracks are mostly abandoned for more straightforward
compositions, with 13 fairly self-contained songs. Opener The Whip
Hand is a dense assemblage of reverb and synths, stuttered drums
and plaintive howls, which blends in well with the overall sonic. One
stylistic emphasis that makes Noctourniquet unique among the band’s
oeuvre is a heavier inclusion of electronics. Electro sounds are
embraced wholeheartedly, with heavy video game soundtrack influences
to add additional texture to the album’s already dense structures.
The longest track here is In Absentia, and at seven and a half
minutes, it doesn’t outstay its welcome. The Malkin Jewel mixes Pink
Floyd and reggae in its runtime. It is both one of the album’s
standout cuts as well as the most challenging. The ballads here are
just as striking as they’ve been on past records, especially the
dreamy Empty Vessels Make the Loudest Sound. Overall, the album
is the most balanced, enjoyable and accessible recording by the Mars
Volta yet.
Hey Jane opens
Spiritualized’s seventh full-length album and the first since 2008’s
Songs in A&E, with Jason Pierce asking, "Hey Jane, where
you going today? `85Run so fast you get no place." On their
1997 masterwork Ladies and Gentlemen, bandleader Pierce captured the
restless imagination of the youth. Here he captures the elusive
process of growing into middle age gracefully on an album suffused
with suffering, angst, and amazement. The album has all that can be
expected of it. There are gospel choirs, guitars fuzz, and feedback
spikes from every corner. Little Girl rides a convincing chorus
into a sphere of orchestral pop that strays toward the grandiose but
never goes over the top. So Long You Pretty Thing is at full
throttle from the get go, with Pierce’s vocals almost drowned by
fierce strings as used on Amazing Grace. Elsewhere, Headin’
for the Top Now courageously blends tormented guitar noise with
children’s chanting choir, while I Am What I Am sounds like a
cross between Spiritualized’s regular style and Leon Russell’s
gospel-rock. On the lovelorn ballad Too Late, Pierce sighs out
the kind of insightfulness perhaps only age can offer: "This
is dedicated baby, what more can I say?/ I won’t love you more than
I love you today/ And I won’t love you less, but I’ve made my
mistakes/ Stay away from love dear if that’s what it takes."
Produced by Dan Auerbach,
singer and guitarist for the Black Keys, Locked Down reunites the man,
who was inspired by James Booker, Professor Longhair and Fats Domino
with the mystical Dr John. The fury that fuelled his Hurricane Katrina
album, Sippiana Hericane, is still present, as is the sense of
nuisance behind his best recordings. The opening ambient swamp sound
effects give way to a superb throbbing double bass hook. The title
track features many of the hallmarks, silvery backing vocals pouring
out of the headphones, Auerbach’s rip-roaring guitar solos, and even
a vibraphone solo near the end. Throughout the album, the backing
vocals of the McCrary Sisters add sultry emphasis, while Auerbach’s
virtuoso session band chip-in with their own handclaps and
affirmations. The album rocks consistently, whipping up some backwater
racket on songs like Getaway, Kingdom Of Izzness, and You
Lie. He embraces the New Orleans accent, at times, as on the
heavily rhythmic, funk-fuelled Eleggua. On the reflective album
closer, God’s Sure Good, John’s keys become a rippling
organ. The smoky backup singers are replaced by a full-fledged gospel
choir. There’s a thread of Afrobeat weaved through Ice Age, a
slow jazz funk, which suddenly rises into an anthemic chorus on the
brilliant My Children, My Angels. Terrific stuff.
What sets Alabama
Shakes apart most clearly stems from the powerful passion that
drives lead vocalist Brittany Howard’s distinctive vocals, all
at once an amalgamation of Tina Turner’s prowess, Janis Joplin’s
characteristic inflection and the intensity of Anita Baker. The
group’s proper debut after a self-released album, Boys &
Girls starts off on the right notes, with the single Hold On
offering a Creedence Clearwater Revival-worthy guitar riff that
builds to an explosive chorus. While the grooves are still thick
and effortless, tracks like Heartbreaker and closer You Ain’t
Alone feel mostly like launching pads for Howard’s husky
flights of fancy. While the album sticks mostly to flourishes
and small tweaks, Rise to the Sun stands as a gem of
free-flowing innovation. Although Alabama Shakes do
heart-rending soul with considerable class, the placing of I
Found You, Goin’ To The Party and the title track Girls &
Boys breaks the momentum garnered early on with the rockier
numbers. Hang Loose kicks off with a hypnotic guitar line and
the clinking keys of a piano. The song really gets moving when
Steve Johnson’s drums and Zac Cockrell’s bass join in.
Throughout the album, the boys do their best to stay out of the
spotlight, which gives Howard the full attention she deserves,
while expressing themselves in concealed yet equally significant
manners.