_CD Reviews 2013 (Page 9)

The Black Angels – “Indigo Meadow”Blue Horizon Ventures-out today3 / 5 The Austin, TX foursome is on their fourth album of hard, psychedelic rock. Our biggest question about this album is how the group makes a rocking-out album that, with each playing, feels a bit stagnant. They hit all the checkboxes, lyrics, vocals, guitar licks, but the end result is an album that doesn’t invigorate psychedelic rock. They feel as if they are standing in place, which is never a good thing for a band. Their single is great: “Don’t Play With Guns.” It’s the most singable of the tracks, written as a rock anthemRead More →

Brown Bird – “Fits of Reason”Supply and Demand-out April 23 / 5 This is the Providence duo’s third album; the one following our favorite Salt for Salt in 2011. Brown Bird has finally come back, thank God or that horned creature that keeps showing up on their album covers, and while we’re glad they’re back for another go at their Eastern-European influenced folk, Fits of Reason deflates our excitement. There are a few changes between Fits and Salt; here, there’s the addition of electric guitar, and their sound goes more to European fiddling than the distinguished Americana of their previous album. First, our verdict onRead More →

Wire – “Change Becomes Us”Pink Flag-out March 261.5 / 5 Thirteen is an unlucky number for London punk rock quartet Wire, for in the thirty-six years of their musical career, they come off really flat. Their songs have stopped exploring, some of them mid-way, and the band has deposited some almost song-snippets here as a challenge of whether to their listeners as to whether they still need to keep innovating. On Change Becomes Us, they do, and they haven’t. Their latest studio album is tired, dragging its feet to uninspired beats, each note old and depressed from what must be a carload of recycled drumRead More →