This month, we review CDs from Division of Laura Lee, Papa Roach, Guttermouth, OK Go, Uberzone and Mount Sims.
Artist:Division of Laura Lee
Title:Black City
Label:Burning Heart/Epitaph
Rating:4
Rock is back. No, I'm not talking about the kind of rock peddled by Papa Roach and Korn, I'm talking about rock, that blistering, adrenaline-fueled, three-chord psych-out sound that comes crashing out of garages and practice spaces, played by skinny kids more interested in baring their souls than posing, gangsta-style. Blame it on The Strokes. Since their fame, record labels have been flipping over rocks the world over, trying to find the next big thing. Sweden has unearthed a treasure trove of great bands, including The Hives, Sahara Hotnights, and this one, Division of Laura Lee. Equal parts Buzzcocks, Fugazi, Joy Division, and Jesus Lizard, DOLL rip through 12 tracks of wire-thin pogo music on Black City, their breakthrough album. "Need To Get Some" is garage rock at its finest, all catchy melodies and amphetamine rhythms, while "Trapped In" is the best song Ian Curtis never wrote. DOLL isn't afraid to stretch out either; witness "I Guess I'm Healed," an organ-soaked bit of psychedelia that is easily one of the album's highlights. Forget ABBA -- in this century it's all about DOLL. --Douglas Adams
Artist: Papa Roach
Title: lovehatetragedy
Label: Dream Works
Rating: 2 1/2
Papa Roach's newest CD, lovehatetragedy, inspires a lot of the first two in the phrase; that is, the album is all love and hate, hit and miss. Some songs stand out: one you already know due to the repetitive habits of our radio stations. "Love Me Not" is a good song and it is contagious but after a while it might make you sick. The other song is called "Decompression Period." I liked it much more before I read the lyrics. If you're the kind of listener who follows lyrics and looks for the meaning of the song, don't concentrate too hard on this tune. You'll find that while the effort is there the Roaches are not saying anything new or remarkably enlightening. If you just need heavy guitars and beats, then there's something in this album for you. Otherwise, try something else. Check out www.paparoach.com for tour dates. --Jessica Bertulis
Artist: Guttermouth
Title: Gusto
Label: Epitaph
Rating: 3
"Sports bars are the best places to meet people you hate." It's hard to dislike any album that contains a line like this. This pithy refrain is from "Lemon Water," the closing track on Guttermouth's Gusto, a surprising album of not-always-adolescent punk from Orange County's answer to the Dead Milkmen. Guttermouth play party punk, as they're calling it these days, and Gusto is full of the kind of songs you imagine 14-year-old boys would love -- basically songs that combine potty humor and tales of crushes. There's "Foot-Long" (I think you know what that's about), "Campfire Girl #62" (about a hippie chick that you can't help but like), and personal favorite, "Pee In the Shower," which manages to pull off the lyric, "Sometimes I go pee in the shower/Does not mean that I don't love you." Just when you think you've got them pegged, though, Guttermouth pull out a whole heap of left turns: the hoe-down jug in "Gusto," the B52s-sounding "My Town," or the Irish jig of "Looking Out for #1." It's obvious that Guttermouth are just out to have a good time. And how can you hate anybody for that? --Douglas Adams
Artist: OK Go
Title: OK Go
Label: Capitol Records
Rating: 4 1/2
OK Go's major label debut is a funky, high-energy album that reminds one of various older groups (think Cheap Trick and The Cars) with a little Weezer thrown in. Forget Prozac; this is a better therapeutic for what depresses ya. The songs are all upbeat and positive but when you listen closely you realize that this isn't just feel-good music, it's possessed of an honesty and cleverness that is rare in pop. I was fortunate enough to see these guys on The Tonight Show. They played "Get Over It" and the level of energy that they brought to the crowd was unbelievable. Everyone, including Leno, was bobbing their heads to the beat. Few bands today have the potential of OK Go, to combine great musical hooks and intelligent lyrics to make songs with mass appeal that won't lose favor among music tastemakers. Visit www.okgo.net and buy the CD. --Jessica Bertulis
Artist: Uberzone
Title: The Digital Mix
Label: Moonshine Music
Rating: 4 1/2
Uberzone is a true original and pioneer in electronic music. Though his music is often aimed at the dance floor, his unique style and excellent production always elevate it above the status of mere "floor filler." Featuring both original material and contributions from outside artists, The Digital Mix is Uberzone's take on the mix CD. Instead of just playing the tracks on turntables, Uberzone has thrown the tracks into his computer and mangled them up into one very cool, very funky mix. Killer tracks from such heavyweights as Koma & Bones, Elite Force, and Ils round out the disc, but it's the original material that makes this album so essential. For the faithful, there are new versions of the classics "Moondust" and "The Freaks," updated into nuskool breaks monsters. New cuts "Snizl" and "Trapezoid" are just as strong, and show Uberzone progressing even further into nuskool territory. It's "Couscous" (composed with Rennie Pilgrem) that marks a high point. With its bouncing bass line, hypnotic sounds, and tribal beat, it just can't be stopped. The Digital Mix is a brilliant take on the mix CD and marks a new high water point, not only for Uberzone but for dance music in general. --Douglas Adams
Artist: Mount Sims
Title: Ultra Sex
Label: Emperor Norton
Rating: 2 1/2
The electro-clash genre was doomed from the start. Any music scene that bases itself on irony first and musical talent second won't last long. Mount Sims, the latest in a disturbingly long line of 80s-retro bands to release CDs, is so irony-driven it ceases to be funny. Ultra Sex, his debut (and hopefully only) album, is packed full of the kind of new new wave that hipsters in too much denim and leather wrist bands chuckle at while they down apple martinis. Chuckle-worthy because it's oh-so-bad and naughty: "No need to impress you, just want to undress you." Scandalous, right? Prince already did this but, unlike Mount Sims (who has a tendency to slip out of key), Prince was actually good. A few tracks, such as the Joy Division-ish "Blue Day" and the up-tempo "Hollywood Bride," are kinda good, but for the most part this is a tediously boring and amateurish album. I don't care if it is ironically amateurish, we still have to listen to it. --Douglas Adams