_CD Reviews 2013 (Page 8)

Hanni El Khatib – “Head in the Dirt”Innovative Leisure-out April 303.5 / 5 L.A.-based garage-rocker Hanni El Khatib arrives with this second album, a Dan Auerbach-produced affair (headman of the Black Keys, if you were wondering), and it has his influence all over it. Grimy, fuzzy guitar, straight rocking hooks, even vocals that seem Auerbach puts air to. In fact, it’s a little hard to put it apart from Auerbach’s 2009 solo album “Keep it Hid,” except that “Head in the Dirt” eschews wind chimes and all the other extras in favor of guitar and drums. So what do we get, then? Ultimately, it’s aRead More →

Young Galaxy – “Ultramarine”Paper Bag Records-out April 233 / 5 It’s sweet summer electronic pop that we get from Montreal’s Young Galaxy, five musicians on their fourth album. It’s shimmery, mid-tempo driven with clear female vocals, and as much as we want to like it (and we kinda do), we’re finding it a bit plain and unadorned. Sure, it can be a cool dip in the water to summer’s unrefined heat (“Hard to Tell”), but it lacks depth and resilience; it doesn’t feel all that special, doesn’t give us the heebie-jeebies when we spin it up. We’re not sure where this one should go; perhapsRead More →

Victory – “Victory is Music”Reserva Records-out April 233.5 / 5 Pop has gotten deep-funky bass all over the place with L.A.-based multi-instrumentalist Victory, aka Robert Fleming. His debut is appropriate to the late-night scene on the other coast: cheery, surf-rock tunes mixed with cybernetic, street-cruising groove juice. It’s the perfect kind of driving music, at times, mixed with aloha summer sweetness (“Dirty Jeans”), the kind of vibrant, quirky album which is only missing a few things, namely, a lawn chair and a drink with one of those cheap little umbrellas. While the music passes muster here, we were hoping a little more on the fuzzyRead More →