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Encore |
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| Music reviews for Oct. 8 |
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| By the Associated Press |
Friday, October 09, 2009 |
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AP PHOTO
In this CD cover image released by Jive Records, "This Is Us" by the Backstreet Boys, is shown.
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Backstreet Boys, ‘This Is Us’
The newest CD from the Backstreet Boys features a number of uptempo, club-sounding songs — but the weak effort from this quartet won’t have you running to the dance floor.
“This Is Us,” the group’s seventh studio album, is full of boring, uneventful tracks — though hitmaking producers like RedOne, T-Pain, Jim Jonsin and Ryan Tedder help out.
What may be most disappointing is that Swedish producer Max Martin — who helmed classic grooves for the boy band like “I Want it That Way” and “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” — fails to present anything as addictive on “This Is Us.”
“Straight Through My Heart,” the lead single, is too average as is “She’s a Dream,” a poorly written love tale. The worst is “PDA,” where the boys claim they will be “kissing, touching with my hands all over your booty” at Starbucks, the club, restaurant, grocery store, movies and beach. Stop. Please. Thank you.
At times, the production of the songs proves to be too powerful — pushing the boys to the background, especially on the Britney Spears-sounding “Masquerade.”
The group should have recorded more songs with Claude Kelly, Soulshock and Karlin. Those producers work on “Bye Bye Love” and “If I Knew Then,” the only standouts on the dragging “This Is Us.”
Check out this track: “Bye Bye Love” is the most refreshing song this CD offers.
— Meskin Fekadu, Associated Press
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Built to Spill, ‘There Is No Enemy’
It may be that “There Is No Enemy,” but Built to Spill’s latest album has such a melancholy vibe, there may as well be.
Decidedly darker than 2006’s “You In Reverse,” the Boise quintet tones down its trademark guitar-driven rock on its seventh CD. “Enemy” is still a rock record, but the tempos are taken down a touch to carry frontman Doug Martsch’s musings on mortality and the meaning of life.
He opens “Done” with “Loneliness is getting hard to perceive/Seems it never comes or it never leaves,” and closes with a refrain of “It’s already done, it’s already done.”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re good or smart,” he sings on “Things Fall Apart,” a languid tune punctuated by a lone happy horn.
But all is not hopeless. Guitarists Brett Netson and Jim Roth, bassist Brett Nelson and drummer Scott Plouf get upbeat on “Good of Boredom” as Martsch sings, “Most of my dreams have come true.” On “Nowhere Lullaby,” a slow track rich with reverb, he concludes “everyone gets through the night and everyone wakes up all right.” He takes the sentiment further on the album’s cheeriest track, “Planting Seeds”: “We can make it if we try/If we don’t it’s still all right/Because your mind is still alive.”
“There Is No Enemy,” but according to Built to Spill, there’s still plenty to think about.
Check out this track: Martsch’s high-pitched voice is downright haunting on “Oh Yeah,” a track marked by dramatic drums that melts into a psychedelic guitar-driven interlude reminiscent of vintage Pink Floyd.
— Sandy Cohen, Associated Press
Gossip, ‘Music for Men’
For any rebellious gal who’s slashed her hair and skirts short and not cared, Gossip’s “Dimestore Diamond” is nothing short of an anthem.
It’s the best song on “Music for Men,” the trio’s newest album, which diverges from the band’s usual bluesy garage rock to beat-centric dance tunes sleekly produced by Grammy winner Rick Rubin.
“Everybody knows/ But no one can tell/ Homemade haircut/ But she wears it well/ She’s a dimestore diamond,” trills singer Beth Ditto, her Southern twang echoed over a killer bass line.
Longtime Gossip fans may miss the group’s older sound — fabulously messy and DIY between Ditto’s growl and guitarist Brace Paine’s stompy punk-blues lines — but those open to the band’s new direction will be rewarded.
While some songs coast a little too much on synth bleeps and club beats, tunes such as “Heavy Cross,” “Men in Love” and “Vertical Rhythm” are pure catchiness, infused with personal-political sentiment and staccato riffs.
Ditto, known as much for her plus-size fashion savvy as her booming voice, has the kind of presence that can cross boundaries. On “Music for Men,” she channels Gloria Gaynor and Chaka Khan just as much as punk muses.
Check out this track: A self-described feminist lesbian, Ditto sings and whoops about choices over groovy Gang of Four guitar on “Heavy Cross”: “We can play it safe or play it cool/ Follow the leader or make up all the rules/ Whatever you want/ The choice is yours, so choose.”
— Solvej Schou, Associated Press
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