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vovatSo, yesterday, I bought my first two new albums of 2006.
I found them both at the same store, and they were actually playing the second one, which was cool. I've now listened to each one at least twice, and I was considering doing song-by-song reviews of both, but that so often results in a lot of "yeah, this song is pretty cool, too," I'm only going to comment on the ones I found particularly interesting.
The Minus 5 album is rife with gun metaphors and songs about booze. More than that, however, it seems to be a midlife crisis album, as made explicit in "Aw Shit Man." A lot of the songs appear to be about breakups, failed relationships, heavy drinking, world-weariness, and even suicide (the song in question for the latter being the sad-sounding "Bought A Rope"). That's not to say that Scott McCaughey hasn't been covering these topics for years, just that there's somewhat of a concentration of them on this album. I can't say the whole thing is a downer, though. There's a good amount of humor, and the songs are as catchy as I'm sure McCaughey fans have come to expect. Favorites of mine include "This Rifle Called Goodbye," the aforementioned "Aw Shit Man" (the fastest and most rocking song in the bunch), "Out There On The Maroon" (source of the title quote, and quite a few other great lyrics), and "Cigarettes Coffee And Booze." I find the version of "Hotel Senator" on the album to be better than the one from the At the Organ EP. I like the repeated "we're going to be there soon" backing vocal on "Twilight Distillery," and the rubbery-sounding keyboard on "Leftover Life To Kill." And I'm sure my fellow Decemberists fans will be interested to know that Colin Meloy sings lead on "Cemetery Row."
Incidentally, the trend of amusing stickers on Minus 5 CD wrappings continues with: "Demise, resurrection, and rigor mortis chronicled by colliding electrobirds from the nests of Young Fresh Fellows, R.E.M., Wilco, Decemberists, etc. Merde!"
As for the new Belle and Sebastian album, The Life Pursuit, I have to say that it sounds different from most of what they've done before, but I still like it. When I think of B&S, I usually think of a fairly mellow sound, but this one is often more of a rock album. The arrangements tend to be louder and edgier than you might expect. "Sukie In The Graveyard" has some cool rock guitar; and one of my personal favorites is "White Collar Boy," another one in the rock mold. That said, there are still a fair number of slower and mellower songs. I think one reason why "Funny Little Frog" was chosen as the first single was that it sounds more like what you'd expect from B&S. It's good, but I don't think it's one of the better tracks. Overall, I'm inclined to say that the album is a bit top-loaded, with most of the better ones at the beginning. I do like "The Price Of A Cup Of Tea" quite a bit, though, and that's near the end. Also, I feel I should mention that the beginning of the first song, "Act Of The Apostle," sounds quite reminiscent of the Zombies' "Time Of The Season."
The album comes with a booklet that includes a Q&A session with the band, and pictures of girls in kilts. Since I got the limited edition, there's also a live DVD, but I haven't had the chance to watch that yet. I might well have some comments on it in a future post, so stay tuned, I guess.
I found them both at the same store, and they were actually playing the second one, which was cool. I've now listened to each one at least twice, and I was considering doing song-by-song reviews of both, but that so often results in a lot of "yeah, this song is pretty cool, too," I'm only going to comment on the ones I found particularly interesting.
The Minus 5 album is rife with gun metaphors and songs about booze. More than that, however, it seems to be a midlife crisis album, as made explicit in "Aw Shit Man." A lot of the songs appear to be about breakups, failed relationships, heavy drinking, world-weariness, and even suicide (the song in question for the latter being the sad-sounding "Bought A Rope"). That's not to say that Scott McCaughey hasn't been covering these topics for years, just that there's somewhat of a concentration of them on this album. I can't say the whole thing is a downer, though. There's a good amount of humor, and the songs are as catchy as I'm sure McCaughey fans have come to expect. Favorites of mine include "This Rifle Called Goodbye," the aforementioned "Aw Shit Man" (the fastest and most rocking song in the bunch), "Out There On The Maroon" (source of the title quote, and quite a few other great lyrics), and "Cigarettes Coffee And Booze." I find the version of "Hotel Senator" on the album to be better than the one from the At the Organ EP. I like the repeated "we're going to be there soon" backing vocal on "Twilight Distillery," and the rubbery-sounding keyboard on "Leftover Life To Kill." And I'm sure my fellow Decemberists fans will be interested to know that Colin Meloy sings lead on "Cemetery Row."
Incidentally, the trend of amusing stickers on Minus 5 CD wrappings continues with: "Demise, resurrection, and rigor mortis chronicled by colliding electrobirds from the nests of Young Fresh Fellows, R.E.M., Wilco, Decemberists, etc. Merde!"
As for the new Belle and Sebastian album, The Life Pursuit, I have to say that it sounds different from most of what they've done before, but I still like it. When I think of B&S, I usually think of a fairly mellow sound, but this one is often more of a rock album. The arrangements tend to be louder and edgier than you might expect. "Sukie In The Graveyard" has some cool rock guitar; and one of my personal favorites is "White Collar Boy," another one in the rock mold. That said, there are still a fair number of slower and mellower songs. I think one reason why "Funny Little Frog" was chosen as the first single was that it sounds more like what you'd expect from B&S. It's good, but I don't think it's one of the better tracks. Overall, I'm inclined to say that the album is a bit top-loaded, with most of the better ones at the beginning. I do like "The Price Of A Cup Of Tea" quite a bit, though, and that's near the end. Also, I feel I should mention that the beginning of the first song, "Act Of The Apostle," sounds quite reminiscent of the Zombies' "Time Of The Season."
The album comes with a booklet that includes a Q&A session with the band, and pictures of girls in kilts. Since I got the limited edition, there's also a live DVD, but I haven't had the chance to watch that yet. I might well have some comments on it in a future post, so stay tuned, I guess.
