NaNoWriMo

Just like last year, I plan to participate in National Novel Writer's Month. Because of that, I won't really have time to blog. Wish me luck, and I'll be back in December!

Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light

Jimmy Eat World, the little band that could since the mid-90s, have trekked to areas their emo and punk rock contemporaries wouldn’t go. They’ve dared to evolve and grow when the rest of the emo world was reveling in their pain and suffering. Emo is, after all, the domain of the adolescent, and that description doesn’t fit Jimmy Eat World anymore. It hasn’t for a while. Unlike Dashboard Confessional and My Chemical Romance, they’re not trying to pretend they’re still sad, tortured and tormented.

JEW’s last album, Futures, was a near-perfect mix of intensity, softness, danger, and cosmic beauty. It was kind of an accident, sure, but I think anything that marvelously wonderful has to have a certain amount of “we weren’t aiming there, but okay” to it. Chase This Light seems to have gone back to the frenetic energy that made Bleed American so wildly successful. While the beauty of Futures was splendid, it’s probably good that it was left behind. An album as spectacular as Futures really can’t be duplicated. Something as simple as the straight-ahead approach of Bleed American can, though, and the band does a pretty good job with Chase This Light.

The album starts off with a bang with “Big Casino.” Though this is really the best song on here, it doesn’t feel as though JEW has spent their wad early. “Big Casino” features great and thoughtful lyrics, and an exciting beat that borders on nervous. Like I said, the measured and subtle tone of Futures is generally gone, though one can see it has been learned from. “Let It Happen” sounds a lot like the previous track, but not as hooky. In general, this album is more simple-minded and focused than previous efforts. “Carry You” and “Dizzy” slow the pace down just slightly, trading acoustic guitars for bombast, though they retain that insistent beat that permeates almost the whole record. The only slow and moody song on the record is “Gotta Be Somebody’s Blues,” which has an echoing undercurrent that lends it a sense of danger on the edge of your senses. This is a very nice break to an otherwise one-note record, and were it not there, that would get very old.

“Feeling Lucky” and “Electable (Give It Up)” are slight throwbacks to JEW’s early days, only a lot less sloppy. Many people have lamented that Jimmy Eat World has gotten more polished and professional, leaving behind the youthful exuberance of their past. The way I see it, with that youthful exuberance came sloppiness and mess. Yes, they played with fervor, but they played like total amateurs. I like this tighter, cleaner approach much better. Not only do they sound better, but the fervor isn’t gone at all. “Electable” proves that they can play with a glossy sheen and still kick out the jams like they used to. Producer Butch Vig (he produced two grunge classics, Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream and Nirvana’s Nevermind) definitely likes the glossy sheen, and uses it liberally.

“Here It Goes” seems a little too youthful, and comes off as immature. And “Firefight” is a good song, but demonstrates that JEW is a little afraid of branching out. Futures was treated with as much scorn as praise by critics (I honestly can’t imagine why…), so they’re obviously retreating a little. While that’s fine for now, I sincerely hope they go back to the melancholy exploration of Futures. As it stands, they seem to have taken a step back. Chase This Light is a bit of a let down after that excellent album, but I don’t think it would have been if it followed Bleed American; it’s a logical extension of it. Luckily, they were stepping from something great to something good, and it wasn’t a very big step down. Also luckily, Smashing Pumpkins have taught me that my favorite bands very often don’t live up to my expectations, and that’s okay.

Prime Cuts:
Big Casino
Gotta Be Somebody’s Blues
Feeling Lucky
Always Be

22 Rating: 13

They Might Be Giants - The Else

One of the biggest cults in current activity is that of They Might Be Giants. They have a fan club, a vibrant internet life including a wiki, and throngs of geeky college students, as well as seasoned music veterans, who absolutely adore them. Ever since I heard them, I’ve been hooked. Part of the secret to their success is their very close connection to their fans, and they’ve never let them down.

The Else is their first full-length adult album (they had two children’s albums before now, No! and Here Come the ABCs) in 3 years, and they’re clearly adapting to the times quite well. The Else enjoyed an iTunes-only release long before its CD release, letting a few people in on it, mostly avid fans who pay close attention. Indeed, this is not new to the band; their album Long Tall Weekend is only available online. More than just a novelty this time, the product is quality, too; The Else is one of their best.

At the start, it seems as though TMBG has acclimated to the norm enough that they can sound just like it. “I’m Impressed” is a driving, slightly techno rock song, which would fit in with songs you would hear on pop radio. “Take Out the Trash” is a straight-ahead rocker with a danceable beat, but no TMBG frills other than the vocals. So after the first two tracks, it leaves you wondering if They Might Be Giants have left silliness and quirkiness behind them. But then we have “Upside Down Frown,” which restores the listener’s faith in TMBG’s left-field aesthetic. This song, while nothing special in the scope of the band’s entire body of work, is a beautiful archetype of what makes TMBG them (I also very much appreciate the obscure Cream reference).

Even so, The Else is more straightforward and simplistic than their previous work. That’s not a bad thing, however. The Giants wear simplicity very well. Like John Henry and Factory Showroom, this is pretty muscular and hard-edged. It also deviates from the TMBG norm by having a standard amount of tracks (just 13). Many fans felt at first like they were being cheated out of something by not having lots of songs, but I actually like the Giants’ “quality over quantity” approach. Factory Showroom is a close cousin to The Else (both are 13 tracks, and both rock pretty hard), and that album had a very definite sense of album identity that other albums lacked. Most other TMBG albums were little more than collections of good songs. The Else has more cohesion, and gives a more complete feeling when it’s over. This is at the cost of track numbers, but I think it’s a more than fair trade.

“The Cap’m” features a fantastic groove, and demonstrates the uniqueness of TMBG’s lyrics. “With the Dark” is very cool with its genre-shifting, but there isn’t a lot in the song you can grab a hold of. It’s also the strangest choice for a debut single in… well, ever. Then there is “The Shadow Government,” another full-steam-ahead rocker. When I say this album rocks pretty hard, understand my meaning. It’s not particularly intense, but what intensity is there seems to go a long way. The Else is peppered generously with horns, and that only increases the classic rock and roll feel to the entire album. “Withered Hope” is another danceable tune, and probably the hardest-rocking on here, using the horns to the best degree.

Up until this point, The Else is satisfying only one aspect of the TMBG experience, and that’s musical excellence. The oddity aspect has been approached, but ultimately neglected. Well, the last 3 tracks have silliness in spades, and move the album to a nice middle-ground between classic rock and cartoon rock. By the ending track, “The Mesopotamians,” you are marveling at the long journey you didn’t know you were on between “I’m Impressed” and this. “The Mesopotamians” sounds like a theme song for a Josie and the Pussycats kind of show, only on a whole lot of cough medicine. Also, you can’t get the frickin’ song out of your head.

The Else is a strong effort from a strong band, one who has remained strong for 21 years. And like it should be, none of TMBG’s fans are surprised that they put out a great album; it’s par for the course. That seems like a very high standard to live up to, but They Might Be Giants do it without even seeming to try. Let’s hope they do for a long time after this.

Prime Cuts:
The Cap’m
Withered Hope
Take Out the Trash
The Mesopotamians

22 Rating: 15

James Blunt - All the Lost Souls

The first time I heard James Blunt, I heard him on the faceless medium that is radio, and I didn’t know his name was James. I swear to God, I thought he was a woman. And I thought he was one of those weepy, pathetic women at that. When I saw the video for “You’re Beautiful,” my jaw hit the floor. “You gotta be f***ing kidding me!” He wasn’t a weepy and pathetic woman at all… He was a weepy and pathetic MAN! The correct word for the experience is “cognitive dissonance.”

Needless to say, I don’t really respect James Blunt. Not allowing Weird Al to parody one of his songs (even though he did it anyway) really soured me on him. In my opinion, if Weird Al chooses you to aim his darts at, you should consider it an honor. At the very least, it means your record garnered the attention of a very musically savvy person. I sorta grew to like “You’re Beautiful,” if I imagine Ben Gibbard singing it instead. The idea of appreciating beauty just for the sake of it, without thinking what that beauty means as it applies to you, is very appealing to me. But as far as I’m concerned, James Blunt’s reason for existing ends there. Everything after that is unnecessary, and is in fact detrimental.

“Everything after” consists of his brand spankin’ new album called All the Lost Souls. The cover image of a photomosaic of James’s face seemed like an egotistical move, till I read that James actually requested that a photo of him NOT be used for the cover, and his art people played a little practical joke on him. “1973” is the first track and first single from All the Lost Souls, and it sounds like the rebirth of disco. As such, it’s one of those incredibly ugly babies, the ones their parents think is adorable. I can just see James Blunt getting his disco freak on to this song, complete with polyester pants and multi-colored lasers. Is this an image that makes anyone else want to vomit?

“One of the Brightest Stars” has a bit of a Paul McCartney chord progression going on, but I never really liked Paul all that much; I’m a John man myself. “I’ll Take Everything” is the closest James comes to his voice actually working in a song. The soft piano mixed with the insistent beat is kinda nice, and I appreciate the Holy Spirit reference in the lyrics. “Same Mistake” starts off with the “weepy and pathetic” thing in full force, but after a minute or so turns into a decent melody.

“Give Me Some Love” and “Annie” qualify for the Stuff I Wish the World Hadn’t Been Exposed To list. “Give Me Some Love” is a lame attempt at intensity, fraught with clumsy drug references. In “Annie,” he’s as crass as to ask “will you go down on me?” It’s an attempt at irony, but he doesn’t even try to sell it as such, so it just comes across as sleazy. “I Really Want You” is fairly catchy, but has an achingly stupid title and lyrical hook. “No matter what I say or do / the message isn’t getting though.” Oh, I think it is, James, and it’s time for it to stop.

A problem that the entire album has is that it’s boring. At the heart of it, it’s a lot of catchy hooks bloated into full songs until they’re hardly recognizable as what they were. There wasn’t much to work with at the beginning, so James just repeated himself and repeated himself, revealing his lack of originality. He’s completely a one-trick pony. Mind you, he’s not like Anberlin or Garbage, exploring a genre and mining it for all it’s worth. Rather than mining pop, as James Blunt has the opportunity to do here, he swings his mattock two or three times and says, “that’s good enough.” Well, it’s not good enough for me, and I hope the album sales say it’s not good enough for a lot of other people. I didn’t really expect ol’ Jimmy to deliver the goods, though. I’m surprised that castrated choir boy voice of his has carried him this far. Can we get to some good music, please?

Prime Cuts:
I’ll Take Everything

22 Rating: -12