CD Releases: Pharrell, New York Dolls, Stone Sour And More!
Tuesday August 01, 2006 @ 12:30 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

MATT COSTA Songs We Sing (Brushfire/Universal)
An injury might've closed the door on Matt Costa's skateboarding career, but another one opened when he decided to pick up a guitar. No Doubt guitarist Tom Dumont noticed the young songwriter's abilities and offered to produce and record a five-song EP, which later turned into Songs We Sing. Jack Johnson also recognized the kid's talent, signing him to his Brushfire label and taking him on two separate tours. Although Johnson and Costa have gentle voices, acoustic guitars and the California sun in common, Costa ventures down his own musical path with versatile songwriting that sets him apart. "Sunshine" and "Sweet Rose" have a country twang, while "These Arms" is a pure romantic ballad. The album closes with the Beatles-esque "Oh Dear" and the dreamy yet melancholy tone of "Wash Away." The 23 year old still has to grow, but he's delivered a likeable first effort. Jen White

DAVID & THE CITIZENS S/T (Friendly Fire)
You're right, David & The Citizens, mope-rock definitely needs more tambourine. With ample jangling and some shiny-happy trumpet blaring, frontman David Fridlund sings his sorrows. "You watch the sun make another lap then fall into this gap of nothingness/It feels just like you feed on broken glass," he chirps on "Graycoated Morning." These are songs about regret and loss and wasted life. But there's no trace of dirge tempo or moody instrumentals on this self-titled EP (their first North American release), just '60s-styled pop as infectious as the likes of Belle And Sebastian or fellow Swedes, The Concretes. Guest vocalist Sara Cullen adds some subtle, wistful texture to "Let's Not Fall Apart," despite the mod-party handclaps. But other than that, you'll never feel more positive about disparity. Leah Collins

EUX AUTRES Hell Is Eux Autres (Grenadine)
Eux Autres are a duo featuring Heather Larimer on drums and her brother Nicholas on guitar. All similarities to the White Stripes, however, stop there. For one thing, the Portland, Oregon-based musicians actually are siblings and, for another, they play breezy, melodic pop tunes while sharing vocals in both English and French. It's a sound that works well for them for two-thirds of their debut full-length, particularly on "Other Girls," a handclap-driven track that has serious summer anthem potential. But the final portion of the record peters out as the twosome slide into generic pop-rock. The band show tons of promise, though, and there's every reason to believe that a sophomore album will build on this solid foundation. Matt Semansky

GYM CLASS HEROES As Cruel As School Children (Decaydance/Warner)
When I first picked up this album, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect based solely on the Decaydance label: unthreatening pop-punk in the vein of Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco. Needless to say, I was surprised when I pressed play and discovered that Gym Class Heroes are a rap group with live instrumentation. This surprise subsided, though, as lyrics about meeting girls on MySpace and being drunk at school spilled out of the speakers. With a slight emphasis on funk (a lot of the music sounds like it would be at home on a porno soundtrack), and elementary lyrics about cheerleaders and "lyric-biters," As Cruel As School Children is nothing more than hip-hop for the mallrat crowd. Paul Budel

HOT ONE S/T (Modern Imperial/Dead Daisy)
Hot One's debut album is packed full of Darkness-influenced guitar riffs, falsetto harmonies and swearing. There are cowbells, punk lyrics and a strong stick-it-to-the-man attitude, but somehow it all seems a little familiar, which can be dangerous. The straightforward rock oozes confidence, sex and protest from members, who include singer Nathan Larson (husband to Cardigan Nina Persson and former Shudder To Think guitarist) and Canuck pop/rock veteran Emm Gryner, but lacks originality. "Get Your Priest On!" is a galloping rock anthem for social rejects, while "Do The Coup D'Etat" just wants listeners to pump fists and party. The stadium-size drums and old-school guitar solos remind listeners not to take the album too seriously, which is for the best. Phil Villeneuve

THE KNIFE Silent Shout (Mute/EMI)
Swedish siblings Olof Dreijer and Karin Dreijer Andersson, a.k.a. The Knife, bring a sharp pop sensibility to a genre of music sorely in need of good old-fashioned emotion. Their biggest hit, the romantic dancefloor ballad "Heartbeats," has lived on through Jose Gonzales' equally good stripped-down acoustic cover. But from the first few low pulsing beats on the title track, Silent Shout instantly sounds more menacing than 2004's Deep Cuts, and that impression carries all the way through to the LP. This is easily their darkest and most cohesive-sounding album, but with a few more of those unexpected twists that have endeared The Knife so firmly among electro nerds in the MP3 blogosphere. Although there's less of those sunny steel drum synths than on Deep Cuts, more filters and distortions are put on Andersson's distinctive vocals, which would probably sound campy coming from a lesser songwriter. After a gloomy, three-minute long introduction, the vocals on "The Captain" kick in with Andersson crooning like a wistful Canto-pop star. On "Na Na Na," the knob is cranked to full-on eunuch and then turned all the way in the opposite direction to over-juiced female bodybuilder on "One Hit." No other band today can get away with such playful studio knob-twisting and still sound so mature. Kevin Ritchie

MY DAD VS YOURS After Winter Must Come Spring (Independent)
Straight out of the basements of northern Ontario and southern Quebec come My Dad Vs Yours, who are here to let you in on their homespun version of transcendental meditation they've been practising for the last few years. "No big deal," you can almost see them saying, "We just invented the sort of masterful meditation practised in the east by accident with our electric guitars." The band need no words to get their point across, just soaring, searing guitars, energetic but well-spaced drums, interesting jangly riffs and perfectly paced songs. Though they certainly don't adhere to any one genre, My Dad can generally be described as atmospheric, instrumental and exploratory — which always kind of got my mom in a tiff. Gabe Kastner

NEW YORK DOLLS One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This (Roadrunner/Universal)
I saw the Dolls twice on last year's reunion tour and didn't pay a lot of attention to their new songs since it was their vintage material that was the prime attraction. But now, after spending time with the band's first studio album in 32 years, I realize that singer David Johansen wasn't blowing smoke when he said that the new Dolls are better than ever. There's a bit of Iggy Pop's "Lust For Life" in lead single "Dance Like A Monkey," and Iggy guests on the bluesy stomper, "Gimme Love And Turn On The Light." Johansen plays some mean harmonica on "We're All In Love" and "I Ain't Got Nothing." "Plenty Of Music" is somewhat reminiscent of '70s Springsteen, and "Maimed Happiness" could be a doo wop song. The Dolls still play R&B-based rock 'n' roll as well as anyone. Steve McLean

PARENTHETICAL GIRLS Safe As Houses (Slender Means Society)
When Safe As Houses' opener, "Love Connection, Pt II," fades in with its Christmas carol-ish bells, it seems likely that a cheerful album is about to unfold. Parenthetical Girls turn that notion around quickly by singing "This blood between my legs..." Blood and death are images that live in every one of the record's sombre tracks. This is an electronic album that's sparsely populated with guitar strums and has a sound reminiscent of classic Radiohead, but lacking Thom Yorke's dramatic flare. Safe As Houses suffers because it never really makes an attempt to grab the listener's attention. Tracks repeatedly build towards what could be an exciting crescendo, but then die out in a fuzz of electronics. Though a very intelligent effort lyrically, the Parenthetical Girls' formula of creating downtrodden atmospheres and droning sadness becomes tiring very quickly. Scott Bryson

PHARRELL In My Mind (Star Trak/Interscope/Universal)
Just as career criminals intentionally get caught so they can take credit for their past anonymous work, Pharrell — half of lauded production team The Neptunes — has dropped a bloody glove in the form of a high-profile sleazy, cheesy solo debut. Despite the rapper's pedestrian flow and tired materialistic mating calls, the album's hip-hop half is decent. But playing Diddy and playing Prince are two different things. Following the formula of 2003's inexplicably infectious falsetto-fied "Frontin'," Skateboard P fills the second side with tasteless Ron Burgundy come-ons and repulsively retro schmaltzy synth-phonies. The worst are "Take It Off (Dim The Lights)" — a breathy throwback to Silk's "Freak Me" — and the Kenny G-Funk atrocity "I Really Like You." The Neptunes' NASA minimalism might have ushered hip-hop into the new millennium, but Pharrell's still in a dentist's office, circa 1994. James Simons

STONE SOUR Come What(ever) May (Roadrunner/Universal)
Side projects are apples that rarely fall far from the tree, and Corey Taylor's Stone Sour originally came off as Slipknot-lite. Come What(ever) May is still earmarked by the masked metal outfit, but it allows the band to stand as a sovereign entity. The album offers much more space than their debut, both melodically and instrumentally, instead of focusing on chunky riffs and screams. "Silly World" evokes Alice In Chains at their most harmonic, and the stunning closer, "Zzyzx Road," is reminiscent of Use Your Illusion-era Guns N' Roses. Taylor still growls like he always has, but there's more introspection than raw aggression. Come What(ever) May proves Stone Sour are no longer a side project, but a force to be reckoned with. Shehzaad Jiwani

TOWERS OF LONDON Blood, Sweat, & Towers (TVT/Universal)
The British new wave of hairspray gutter-punk is currently being led by these five young troublemakers, with beers and V signs held as high as their rock star coifs. But Towers aren't afraid to get their hands dirty, be it in fights with crowd hecklers or in their frenzied guitar-and-profanity-heavy tunes. Their street-gang rebel mentality shines through best in "I'm A Rat" and "Kill The Pop Scene," and, though it probably won't get the RIAA's seal of approval, "Fuck It Up" is one loud howl of snotty attitude. That track also gets retooled as a hilariously catchy country song — skinny punk hoedown. Although Towers come off looking for more of a party than a bar fight, it'd be a debauched rock 'n' roll send-up that you'd definitely want to be a part of. Just make sure you have plenty of tattoos and Aquanet, and maybe a pair of brass knuckles, just in case. Caitlin Hotchkiss

TRIPLE BURNER S/T (Madrona)
Although this self-titled release is a debut, its architects are by no means fresh-faced greenhorns. Triple Burner are comprised of veteran Montreal producer Harris Newman and Bruce Cawdron, percussionist for the notorious Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Given this project's musical pedigree, it comes as no surprise that it's a dense, complex work. Its amalgam of avant-garde folk, classical north Indian influences and rust-ridden, instrumental country blues is hardly the most accessible union. But patience will be rewarded as, gradually, push-pull dynamics, shifts in tension and intricate melodic build-ups are enticingly uncovered. At times, as on the 14-minute "The Pulse Of The Parc Ex," it can all get a little cumbersome, perhaps even tedious. While it may not be the easiest listen, this is a record that will challenge and stimulate those in cerebral, adventurous moods. Pras Rajagopalan

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