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Pop Rock Nation

Category: Releases

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  • The 200-Word Review: Dave Matthews Band’s “Big Whiskey”

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    Much has been made about the spectre of loss lingering over Dave Matthews Band’s new LP “Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King”. After all, it’s the first album the band’s released since the unexpected death of sax player LeRoi Moore. Truthfully, though, DMB’s no more fixated on loss on this album than they’ve been at any other point during their career, and “Big Whiskey” is by no means a mournful set. The quartet powers through a song cycle that’s more of a celebration of life and love (and sex) than it is about death, with the only obvious nods to Moore’s passing being the sax noodling that opens and closes the album.

    With veteran rock producer Rob Cavallo taking the reins on this album, it retains a shiny gloss while sounding far dirtier than 2005’s overproduced “Stand Up”. Highlights include the wickedly upbeat “Shake Me Like a Monkey”, the uber-jammy “Alligator Pie” (with it’s wildly shifting tempos and semi-nonsense lyrics), the ominous “Time Bomb” (on which Matthews howls Eddie Vedder-style), and the sexy “Seven”, on which Matthews unleashes a playful falsetto. The album flows together nicely, and although a major part of their operation may have departed, “Big Whiskey” finds the DMB in as good a form as they’ve ever been.

  • New Release of the Week 6/2/09: Dave Matthews Band

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    “Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King” is a bit of an unwieldy title, eh? It’s the DMB’s first album of new material in four years and also their first album since the death of saxophonist LeRoi Moore last summer. As one would expect from Dave and co., the album is rumored to be as celebratory as it is melancholy. A lot of folks were a little put off by the extra-glossy production of ’05’s “Stand Up”, and the addition of producer Rob Cavallo (Goo Goo Dolls, Green Day) should muddy the sound back up (of course, this is all relative). All of this to say, I’m super stoked, probably more than I’ve been about any release so far this year. So while I’ll be standing in line for this album, there are several others that you may be looking for in addition to or instead of “Big Whiskey”. Here are a couple of highlights.

    311 Uplifter: These guys came in on the big Sublime ska/punk wave of the mid-Nineties, and nine albums later, they’re still going strong. “Uplifter” is their first album in four years (I guess that’s a theme this week). They’ve already got a hit at modern rock radio with “Hey You”. While the title is indicative of the band’s peace and love vibe, the album was produced by Bob Rock, most famous for producing Metallica, so “Uplifter” should have a pretty interesting sound.

    Taking Back Sunday New Again: Are these guys the biggest emo band in the country? Assuming that Fall Out Boy is now a traditional rock band more than they are an emo outfit, I guess they are. This is the Long Island band’s fourth album overall, and their first since 2006 (OK, so four years is not a running theme). Quotes from various band members have pegged this album as being somewhat experimental, it’ll be interesting to see if their fans stay aboard.

    Elvis Costello Secret, Profane & Sugarcane: On his umpteenth label, Mr. MacManus returns barely a year after his last album, “Momofuku” (where does he come up with these album titles?). The album was produced by Grammy-winner T-Bone Burnett and has a bit of a rootsier sound than we’re used to from Costello, dipping a toe in genres ranging from country to blues.

    Chickenfoot Chickenfoot: I’ll admit, I included this album just because I love the band name. Who is Chickenfoot, you are probably asking? Well, it’s a supergroup, featuring guitar god Joe Satriani, drummer Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, bassist Michael Anthony of Van Halen, and the inimitable Sammy Hagar on vocals. These guys formed after playing together at a Hagar concert, and reunites former Van Halen members Hagar and Anthony for the first time in the better part of a decade. No word on whether one of the album’s tracks is called “Suck It, Eddie”.

    Get your full list of this week’s new releases right here.

  • The 200-Word Review: Charlie Wilson’s “Uncle Charlie”

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    Former Gap Band lead singer Charlie Wilson scored big with his 2005 comeback album Charlie, Last Name Wilson, and after four years (and a bout with prostate cancer), he returns with a more club-oriented, contemporary sound on Uncle Charlie. Fans of the last album may be a little disappointed with the club beats and contemporary flourishes from a classic R&B artist, but Wilson’s signature voice is good enough to overcome the occasional sonic misstep.

    Among the uptempo jams, the almost Euro-dance Let it Out sticks out, with its’ galloping bassline lifted from Charlie’s 1982 Gap Band hit “Burn Rubber”, but the album really picks up steam with songs like the swaying ballad “There Goes My Baby”, the summery midtempo track “What You Do to Me” and the dramatic “Homeless”. The guest artists (Snoop, as well as an Auto-Tuned Jamie Foxx and T-Pain) are unobtrusive but also unnecessary.

    Uncle Charlie is proof positive that mediocre production and songwriting can be saved by superior vocals. While I would have liked content that was a little more mature, organic and age-appropriate, this album stands out as solid enough (in a ridiculously craptastic year for R&B so far) that I’m willing to give Wilson a pass.