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New 'Call of Duty' could set entertainment record
Candlebox returns with rocking album; Ace Young's songs aren't worth wait
POSTED: 07:55 a.m. EDT, Aug 04, 2008
Supergrass has been a Top 10 band in Britain ever since it arrived in the heyday of Britpop with its 1995 debut album, I Should Coco. But Britpop's blend of glam and new wave rock with parochially English lyrics didn't gain traction in the United States and has been largely supplanted by later trends in Britain. And Supergrass, now one of the last Britpop holdouts, takes some trans-Atlantic swerves on its sixth album, Diamond Hoo Ha.
Supergrass does something like a White Stripes stomp in Diamond Hoo Ha Man, with a distorted blues-rock riff and a near-hysterical vocal from Gaz Coombes. The Clavinet-pecking funk of Talking Heads' Life During Wartime is revived in Rough Knuckles. ''Don't throw it all away, 'cause you'll never get it back,'' Coombes warns. And the hollow high guitar chords and vocal line in The Return of ...come from the Strokes, with Coombes singing about ''the return of inspiration/the return of serotonin.''
He's right about both. Supergrass' previous album, Road to Rouen in 2005, was a detour into morose and sometimes meandering psychedelia. Now on Diamond Hoo Ha, Supergrass has reclaimed and expanded its pushy riffs and tales of going overboard, whether they're about carousing in a Chinese nightclub in Whiskey & Green Tea or half-apologizing for misbehavior in Bad Blood.
Even when Supergrass returns to British styles — David Bowie in Rebel in You, the Kinks in Ghost of a Friend, the Rolling Stones in 345 — the band revs them up. Diamond Hoo Ha can sometimes sound like an anthology. But there's still a boisterous band under all the borrowings, and loosening up and stretching its identity have just made Supergrass snappier and rowdier.
— Jon Pareles
New York Times
INTO THE SUN Candlebox
Candlebox never found a true place among the pantheon of '90s bands. Unfairly lumped in with the grunge crowd (maybe because they are from Seattle), they eventually vanished after being shunned for their hard blues and classic rock approach.
Ten years after their last release, Candlebox returns with three of its four founding members on Into the Sun. Fans of the band's smash hits like You and Far Behind — which remain in heavy rotation on rock radio — are again likely to be enthralled with Kevin Martin's soaring vocals and Peter Klett's chugging riffs and melodic psychedelia-infused leads.
They show they mean business with aggressive riffs and thunderous drums on Stand and How Does it Feel, offer the funky rock of . . . Brewin and add a touch of trippy blues to Surrendering and the title track.
The organ-driven ballad Breathe Me In offers a dreamy intro and slowly builds to a fist-pumping climax.
Miss You is a melodic rocker with a crisp acoustic touch, A Kiss Before Dying soars high on Martin's wailing and disc closer Consider Us offers some surprising piano balladry.
Fans of '90s rock are sure to dig Into the Sun for the fun stroll down memory lane that it is — unfortunately most everyone else probably won't even notice.
— John KosikAssociated Press
book1 ACE YOUNG Ace Young
You might recall Young as a finalist on Season Five of American Idol, won by dark horse Taylor Hicks in what may have been the show's best year talent-wise. Then again, you might not remember him at all.
Waiting two years to put out your debut album is not exactly striking while the iron is hot. After listening to this overheated, derivative collection, it's hard to figure out what took so long.
The CD is full of Michael Jackson-influenced jams like Addicted, The Letter and Where Will You Go that shoot for funky, but end up clunky. Apparently Young's ambition is to be the next JC Chasez.
The scattered ballads, like You Redeem Me and The Girl That Got Away, are better-written, but they don't do much for Young's voice, which is sweet but bland and resorts too much to a thin falsetto.
The collection has the scorched feel of a soap-opera actor trying to launch a singing career. Maybe that's fitting.
— David Hiltbrand
Philadelphia Inquirer12p book1PARTIE TRAUMATIC Black Kids
The Black Kids are, with their debut album Partie Traumatic, instantly the coolest ''kids'' in music. They've taken everything modern and relevant — from Killers-esque vocals to non-retro synth work — and rolled it into one of the best albums of the year without a sour track in sight.
They ought to sell iPods with this permanently burned into the memory so you'll never lose it. Who knew Jacksonville, Fla., could produce a band this fun?
The vocals on the title track, Partie Traumatic are smart without being smarmy. A jangled, funk-infested guitar supplies the energy while spooky synthesizer sounds dance around the aural foreground. ''This jungle is massive/ So please don't be so passive/ Be impressive, impress us/ And they will get the message,'' goes the opening salvo of this charming track.
Listen To Your Body Tonight is in overdrive from the very beginning. The band digs in heavy from the first note and never lets up on this memorable songs about following your sexual intuition.
Love Me Already is a sweetest track on the disc thanks to Owen Holmes displaying ridiculous funky chops on the bass. He creeps and crawls and solos on the fretboard and outshines the singer, keyboardist and anyone else in the studio. Holmes is the new indie bass gold standard.
Part of the appeal of the Black Kids' approach is that they nail the technical delivery of each song on all fronts. The vocals, for the most part, sound like The Cure's Robert Smith on helium. If the music was understated, it wouldn't work as well, but the songs have a habit of coming to a crescendo nicely and giving lead singer Reggie Youngblood a platform on which to soar.
If they are to be faulted for anything, it's for being a little too hook-heavy. But at least the hooks are good. Most of the songs are about sex and love and sprinkled with randy language throughout, so tender ears beware.
— Ron HarrisAssociated Press
Supergrass has been a Top 10 band in Britain ever since it arrived in the heyday of Britpop with its 1995 debut album, I Should Coco. But Britpop's blend of glam and new wave rock with parochially English lyrics didn't gain traction in the United States and has been largely supplanted by later trends in Britain. And Supergrass, now one of the last Britpop holdouts, takes some trans-Atlantic swerves on its sixth album, Diamond Hoo Ha.
Supergrass does something like a White Stripes stomp in Diamond Hoo Ha Man, with a distorted blues-rock riff and a near-hysterical vocal from Gaz Coombes. The Clavinet-pecking funk of Talking Heads' Life During Wartime is revived in Rough Knuckles. ''Don't throw it all away, 'cause you'll never get it back,'' Coombes warns. And the hollow high guitar chords and vocal line in The Return of ...come from the Strokes, with Coombes singing about ''the return of inspiration/the return of serotonin.''
He's right about both. Supergrass' previous album, Road to Rouen in 2005, was a detour into morose and sometimes meandering psychedelia. Now on Diamond Hoo Ha, Supergrass has reclaimed and expanded its pushy riffs and tales of going overboard, whether they're about carousing in a Chinese nightclub in Whiskey & Green Tea or half-apologizing for misbehavior in Bad Blood.
Even when Supergrass returns to British styles — David Bowie in Rebel in You, the Kinks in Ghost of a Friend, the Rolling Stones in 345 — the band revs them up. Diamond Hoo Ha can sometimes sound like an anthology. But there's still a boisterous band under all the borrowings, and loosening up and stretching its identity have just made Supergrass snappier and rowdier.
— Jon Pareles
New York Times
INTO THE SUN Candlebox
Candlebox never found a true place among the pantheon of '90s bands. Unfairly lumped in with the grunge crowd (maybe because they are from Seattle), they eventually vanished after being shunned for their hard blues and classic rock approach.
Ten years after their last release, Candlebox returns with three of its four founding members on Into the Sun. Fans of the band's smash hits like You and Far Behind — which remain in heavy rotation on rock radio — are again likely to be enthralled with Kevin Martin's soaring vocals and Peter Klett's chugging riffs and melodic psychedelia-infused leads.
They show they mean business with aggressive riffs and thunderous drums on Stand and How Does it Feel, offer the funky rock of . . . Brewin and add a touch of trippy blues to Surrendering and the title track.
The organ-driven ballad Breathe Me In offers a dreamy intro and slowly builds to a fist-pumping climax.
Miss You is a melodic rocker with a crisp acoustic touch, A Kiss Before Dying soars high on Martin's wailing and disc closer Consider Us offers some surprising piano balladry.
Fans of '90s rock are sure to dig Into the Sun for the fun stroll down memory lane that it is — unfortunately most everyone else probably won't even notice.
— John KosikAssociated Press
book1 ACE YOUNG Ace Young
You might recall Young as a finalist on Season Five of American Idol, won by dark horse Taylor Hicks in what may have been the show's best year talent-wise. Then again, you might not remember him at all.
Waiting two years to put out your debut album is not exactly striking while the iron is hot. After listening to this overheated, derivative collection, it's hard to figure out what took so long.
The CD is full of Michael Jackson-influenced jams like Addicted, The Letter and Where Will You Go that shoot for funky, but end up clunky. Apparently Young's ambition is to be the next JC Chasez.
The scattered ballads, like You Redeem Me and The Girl That Got Away, are better-written, but they don't do much for Young's voice, which is sweet but bland and resorts too much to a thin falsetto.
The collection has the scorched feel of a soap-opera actor trying to launch a singing career. Maybe that's fitting.
— David Hiltbrand
Philadelphia Inquirer12p book1PARTIE TRAUMATIC Black Kids
The Black Kids are, with their debut album Partie Traumatic, instantly the coolest ''kids'' in music. They've taken everything modern and relevant — from Killers-esque vocals to non-retro synth work — and rolled it into one of the best albums of the year without a sour track in sight.
They ought to sell iPods with this permanently burned into the memory so you'll never lose it. Who knew Jacksonville, Fla., could produce a band this fun?
The vocals on the title track, Partie Traumatic are smart without being smarmy. A jangled, funk-infested guitar supplies the energy while spooky synthesizer sounds dance around the aural foreground. ''This jungle is massive/ So please don't be so passive/ Be impressive, impress us/ And they will get the message,'' goes the opening salvo of this charming track.
Listen To Your Body Tonight is in overdrive from the very beginning. The band digs in heavy from the first note and never lets up on this memorable songs about following your sexual intuition.
Love Me Already is a sweetest track on the disc thanks to Owen Holmes displaying ridiculous funky chops on the bass. He creeps and crawls and solos on the fretboard and outshines the singer, keyboardist and anyone else in the studio. Holmes is the new indie bass gold standard.
Part of the appeal of the Black Kids' approach is that they nail the technical delivery of each song on all fronts. The vocals, for the most part, sound like The Cure's Robert Smith on helium. If the music was understated, it wouldn't work as well, but the songs have a habit of coming to a crescendo nicely and giving lead singer Reggie Youngblood a platform on which to soar.
If they are to be faulted for anything, it's for being a little too hook-heavy. But at least the hooks are good. Most of the songs are about sex and love and sprinkled with randy language throughout, so tender ears beware.
— Ron HarrisAssociated Press
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