Spoon • Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

A
Who out there is making better multi-layered rock music than Spoon? In my estimation, nobody. Following in the substantially large footsteps of 2005’s Gimme Fiction, Ga Ga is 10 tracks of syrupy sweet, Motown-loving goodness. Its almost as if Phil Spector took a break from his trial (almost) and brought his jew-fro over to the recording studio to help Britt Daniels throw these tracks down. The keyboards, horns, and some of the light guitar work smack of doowop, and it does the heart good, you just wish there was more than the 36 minute running time.

The album hits hard from the start with the rocker Don’t Make Me A Target, but flows easily into The Ghost of You Lingers. You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb really shows off the doowop, and The Underdog is currently riding the top of my playlist. Finer Feelings closes up the album softly. I still don’t think Ga Ga reaches the heights of Gimme Fiction, but you aren’t gonna find a better disc around this year.

Wilco • Sky Blue Sky

B+

Okay, now answer truthfully, what’s the last Wilco studio album that you could call a fun album? Still searching, yeah, you have to go pretty far back cuz old Jeff Tweedy ain’t spit out anything consistently upbeat since Summerteeth (kinda) until now.

Maybe still under the influence of their kickass live disc Kickin’ Television, Sky Blue Sky is a 70s-rock style jammer. Skipping their normal spaced-out noise interludes, this disc is a tight amalgam of country-ish ballads and rockers with Tweedy’s always interesting lyrics.

Standout tracks include “Either Way,” “Hate It Here(Without You),” “Impossible Germany,” and “What Light,” but the album is very tight and flows together evenly. This for Wilco is easy listening, but is still heads and tails above most of the other tripe out there.

Panda Bear • Person Pitch

A+

"Try to remember always, just to have a good time." The center refrain of the opener of Panda Bear's 2007 opus perfectly encapsulates what the album is all about. Have a good time.

Person Pitch comes off as some sort of bastard child of Brian Wilson, Aphex Twin, and Beck, and consists primarily of samples and the multi-layered vocals of Noah Lennox, save for some percussion and jangly guitar strums here and there.

It's electronic psychedelia at its finest, not a bad moment among the album's short 45 minute run, and bursting at the edges with creativity. Thusly, I can't award this gem anything short of a perfect score.

Modest Mouse • We Were Dead Before The Ship Sank

A

The Mouse-keteers had never been confused with a happy-go-lucky type of band, just see the album title listed above or lead singer Isaac Brock’s usual on stage antics such as cutting himself with beer bottle glass. However, on their previous album Good News, songs like “We All Float On” gave a glimmer of, if not hopefulness, at least a “we’re all in this together so lets make the best of this fucked-up place approach”. This attitude is brought to the party on We Were Dead and with always-strong songwriting, this might be their tightest album yet!

"Dashboard," no matter how many times you listen, and "Light It Up" are two of the Mouse’s most catchy singles to date, and there are a couple numbers nipping at their heels the more I listen. On many songs the Mouse sounds much more poppy, maybe the influence of their latest addition, former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. Thankfully anytime anybody wants to convict them for selling out, they open up with a screamer like "Steam Engenius" or "Spitting Venom." Catch that nautical theme throughout, great production quality and attention to detail- just pass me my mouse ears, or an oar!

John Mellencamp • Freedom's Road

B+

After taking his music on an experimental detour throughout most the 90s, John Mellencamp returns to his Americana roots with Freedom's Road—his most cohesive and thematically textured album since Human Wheels.

"Someday," "Ghost Towns Along The Highway," and "Freedom's Road" pine for hope and optimism, while the superb "Rural Route" and "Jim Crowe"—a duet with Joan Baez—explore the harsh realities that still haunt the American landscape. And "Rodeo Clown," a hidden track that closes the album, paints a not-so-rosey picture of George Bush and company.

Not everything works. "The Americans," an ironic assessment of America's self-assumed identity, plays like cheesy patriotism, and "Our Country," though redeemed within the context of this album, still reeks of Chevrolet's corporate stamp. Nevertheless, Freedom's Road is an accomplished record that can stand proudly next to his celebrated classics.

Def Leppard • Yeah!

B+

Ever since they began courting and ultimately regurgitating the commercial ballad, Def Leppard has struggled to regain the same kind of energy (and respect) that marked their early efforts. Simply put, Def Leppard lost its edge. This time out, the lads opt to recapture their rock roots by covering the music that most inspired them (1970s rock and glam). The end result is Yeah!, Def Leppard's most energetic and fun album since Hysteria. Queen, David Bowie, T. Rex, Badfinger, and Thin Lizzy are all covered here ("20th Century Boy," "Rock On" & "Don't Believe A Word" are excellent renditions). Admittedly, a few songs fall short of the mark and the album is perhaps too long for it's own good, but fans of 70s rock will have little to complain about. Old-school Def Leppard fans, those who felt betrayed by the band's mainstream success and shift toward pop, will still complain and lament the loss of Steve Clark, but for those who preferred Hysteria to High & Dry, Yeah! will find a welcomed home.

Primal Scream • Riot City Blues

B

Riot City Blues, released by anyone other than Primal Scream, would be an album meet with greater acceptance, but as is, Primal Scream's work is once again subject to critical scorn. Either misunderstood or simply unappreciated, Primal Scream's roots-rock efforts are typically lambasted (Riot City Blues being the latest).

While hardly innovative, Riot City Blues is nevertheless catchy and fun. "Country Girl," sounding like a cross between Steve Earle and The Black Crowes, kicks off things with a light-hearted stomp. Things turn a bit nasty with the rollicking "Suicide Sally And Johnny Guitar" (juxtaposing salvation and sex in pure Rolling Stone fashion).

Darker undertones haunt "When The Bomb Drops," and the fantastic, moody psychedelia of "Little Death" is an album highlight. Riot City Blues closes with "Sometimes I Feel So Lonely," a song on par with recent work by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC's Howl being a similar, but much more realized effort). Riot City Blues is neither original nor revolutionary, but for all of its faults, having a bad song isn't one of them.

Johnny Cash • American V: A Hundred Highways

93

Superman Returned in 2006 and so he did! Johnny Cash's grave couldn't contain him, thank you Rick Rubin. With the release of Walk The Line last year, Johnny Cash couldn't be hotter. We seem to be mining even more our "legends" as they fade, so American V: A Hundred Highways would seem to be the ultimate goldmine. I mean, the dude's story has just won some movie awards, he is singings other people's songs to acclaim, why not jump on it?

The only caveats here are that you have a producer here who was in the process all along and an artist who was dedicated throughout, not a poacher! He was not some fly by night floozy , he was the Bad Ass Man in Black with the Voice from the Ring of Fire! Johnny obviously senses his mortality on American V, but he had been giving us hints of that for sometime. Johnny's playing and Rubin's production pull together while not something cheery, certainly an album that will have you tapping your toes to Johnny's gravelly baritone. Take for instance Cash's version of Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind". In virtually anyone else's hands, even Lightfoot's, this song is an example of extreme cheese, and Rubin's production does ride the fine line of overdoing it. But ol' JR still had enough left in the tank to shine through and the rest of the music does not overwhelm him. Therefore, the song stands out once you get over the fact that it is indeed If You Could Read My Mind.

Johnny's one true original song on the album "Like the 309" is a haunting preview of what was to come, as the 309 comes for John's pinebox to take him down the line, but if anyone can chant about a train engine chugging down the tracks he can. Another standout is Cash's version of Bruce Springsteen's "Further On Up The Road" as well as a couple romantic numbers to June. Critics decrying the fact that this posthumous release has been released two years after Cash's passing miss the key point, the fans get more fantastic music from an artist who loved to work and produce, particularly in his later years. And ha ha, he's still got one more of these albums coming, so deal with it, souiee!