“I Ain’t Never Coming Back”: Weezer and New Music

Posted on July 25, 2010 by bgibs122

Last week Weezer unceremoniously announced that they have a new album coming out on September 13, less than a year after pop rock-fest “Raditude” was released. I hold a certain degree of optimism for this new album, as I have with “The Red Album” and “Raditude”, but I haven’t looked into what the fans and critics are saying.

But I can take a good guess.

Go look up any review of “the Green Album”. ‘kay, now “Maladroit”. Alright, then “Make Believe”. And finally “Red” and “Raditude”. You might have noticed that the words “Blue Album” and “Pinkerton” were in there somewhere. See, here’s the deal. Back in ’94, Weezer put out their debut, “The Blue Album”, which was a nearly flawless power pop/alt rock masterpiece with more hooks than “The Fame Monster”. Then two years later, the Weeze dropped “Pinkerton”, an album that critically tanked at first but went on to be the cornerstone for modern emo (interpret this as you wish). After a hiatus came “the Green Album”, which was total easy power pop, then the heavy rawker “Maladroit”. “Make Believe” came next to everyone’s distaste, but a few years later out came the poppy but experimental “Red Album” which was followed swiftly by the pop rock frenzy of “Raditude”. For the last three or four years, Weezer has been a bunch of upbeat, happy guys churning out fun music that they like to play.

Which for whatever reason pisses people off. It’s especially easy to see in reviews; each one includes something along the lines of “Wtf, MAKING PINKERTON 2!!!”, which is funny because originally people were pissed off because Pinkerton wasn’t Blue pt 2. I’m sorry, but they just aren’t going to make anything like Pinkerton again; that’s not who they are anymore. Not to say that the band’s post-Pinkerton output didn’t have flaws, but there’s actually a lot of great material out there.

But most critics (particularly indie-snobs like Pitchfork and Sputnik) aren’t going to look at that. They’re going to look for El Scorcho II, not see it, and declare the album a dud. Damn shame, too, because “Keep Fishin'” off Maladroit and “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” off Rad are crazy catchy singalong singles. And there’s songs like Red’s closing “The Angel and the One” that are simply gorgeous. And you’ve gotta respect a band that pushes its own boundaries the way Weezer did on Red and Rad. Switching instruments, everyone writing a song, collaborating with Lil Wayne, jumping styles in the same song…it’s kind of refreshing to hear that in a land populated with Paramores and Nickelbacks, who rewrite themselves all the damn time.

So on September 13th, you’re not going to hear something that sounds like Pinkerton. And you shouldn’t be expecting to be.

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Radio Rant: Katy Perry – California Gurls

Posted on July 23, 2010 by bgibs122

Welcome to installment number three in my so far weekly Radio Rant series. I’ll be honest, this time around I didn’t come in with an idea of what I wanted to look at, but since I’ve had this song stuck in my head all damn day, well…might as well.

So, Katy Perry. She’s an interesting study in how far someone can get on personality and by playing the pop star game while not quite being that talented as a musician/singer. She’s sort of like a less extreme, more charming version of Kesha; she’s not great but she’s not talentless (I’ve seen her live to attest to this…Warped Tour ’08. Yes, Katy Perry went on Warped Tour. Take that, Alternative Press), her voice can be obnoxious without being atrocious, and she can sing about stupid crap and get away with it.

Which brings us to “California Gurls”, her brand new single. You remember how I mentioned that Kesha’s “Your Love Is My Drug” was an attempt at a summer hit? I think Perry might have actually nailed the summer hit here. There’s virtually no way to think of this song and to not think of sunshine and pink. It’s catchy as hell (again, the “stuck in my head all day” thing), fairly easy to sing along to, and upbeat, basically making it all the things “Your Love Is My Drug” tried and wanted to be.

A lot of Perry’s music takes a pop rock influence, but “California Gurls” steps much more into the electropop realm than anything she’s done before. The shift is especially noticeable because everything sounds so Pro-Tools and overproduced. It’s total bubblegum pop, and in some strange fluke, the overproduction compliments the song more than if it was normally done. It does nothing different from other songs on the radio, but it doesn’t have to. Last week I looked at “Airplanes” by B.o.B, “California Gurls” might be that song’s polar opposite: A light, silly, glossy, pop song by a pop singer with a throwaway rapper feature. And it works.

I do have a few problems with it though. I can’t think of a better example of “sing along if you want, but Lord help you if you listen to the lyrics” in modern pop, because the lyrics are a celebration of those jackasses you see on Hollister posters. It’s a celebration of being that stupid, vapid, overly cheery, skin-baring chick that gets scorned everywhere else. My other gripe is with Snoop, who sounded so awesome on the new Gorillaz album earlier this year, but so bored on this track. His adlibs sound like they were left from his own studio time and just shoehorned onto “California Gurls”, and his verse sounds like someone gave him five minutes to throw something together.

Oh yeah, and the song plays really well with Tik Tok.

Peace!

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Album Review: Paramore – brand new eyes

Posted on July 19, 2010 by bgibs122

It seems there are recurring archetypes in popular music, but none of these are as niche’d as the Teenage Girl Band; the one with lyrics that invade math notebooks, posters in lockers, and pictures on walls or MySpace. Previous alumni include No Doubt, Evanescence, and Avril Lavigne. Back in 2007, the uproaring single “Misery Business” and accompanying album Riot! simultaneously announced and solidified Tennessee’s own sons and daughter Paramore as the next to uphold the mantle.

But then there was some personal drama; the boys were feeling under-presented (fun fact: No Doubt had the exact same problem in their heyday), personalities were chafing around each other, blahblahblah the band nearly broke up. So here comes brand new eyes, which was probably named such to reflect their new maturity and all that.

And it falls into every “The Second Album” cliche I’ve ever seen. It’s “darker and edgier”, “more mature”, “expands their sound”, more “honest”, and yet it “stays true to the band’s roots”. Alright, yeah, the albums rawks out quite a bit, the distortion got turned up, they threw in a pair of acoustic numbers, and the lyrics are more than the generic “boys suck” schtick that was on Riot!. And too often it sounds the same.

Which is a shame, because first single “Ignorance” is actually really exciting. It’s probably the band’s most aggressive number, the lyrics are passable if transparent, and the song is actually memorable. On the album, “Ignorance” is preceded by opening song “Careful”, which doesn’t rock out as hard, but never lets up. Hayley Williams is on fire on these two tracks, and the Paramen aren’t slouches either; Josh Farro and Taylor York churn out some solid riffage here, and the rhythm section’s pretty tight. Two songs in, it’s easy to be excited about  brand new eyes.

Too bad song 3 “Playing God” kills any momentum built up by “Careful” and “Ignorance”. From here on out, the formula becomes very clear; riff out an intro, soft verse, calculated big chorus, soft verse, same chorus, bridge, optional solo, done. Not that this is a new formula, but nothing stands out enough to distract you from it. Another flaw is how forced a few of the choruses come off. Take “Brick by Boring Brick” for example, whose chorus is “Go get your shovel/And we’ll dig a deep hole/to bury the castle/to bury the castle”. There’s just no way to gracefully make that singalongable, but damn if they don’t try. The other thing that bugs me is how everyone leaves the volume on “loud” too often. Drummer Zac Farro goes from “wow, he’s good” to “more overbearing and fill-happy than Travis Barker” rather quickly (and frequently), while the guitarists never really change their tone from that same distortion/clean sound. Hayley suffers from this too; having a “soft” voice and a “loud” one and no in between.

Album closer “All I Wanted” is a mixed bag. It’s not hard to imagine the band going for an “epic” closer with the slow, serious pace and confessional lyrics, as well as a simple chorus of “All I wanted was you”.  Adding to that sense of being epic, the song builds from a simple beginning with clean electric guitar to a loud, distorted, ringing finish. Hayley brings it all together with a powerhouse vocal, especially around the 2:40 mark. And as good as “All I Wanted” is, it still shows Paramore’s ambitions can get the better of them; after the climax, the song just stops instead of properly ending.

All in all, brand new eyes failed to do much for me. Out of 11 songs, I’d only call three or four great (opening pair, “Brick by Boring Brick”, and “All I Wanted”) and the rest just sort of went by without being too good or too bad to warrant any notice. Evolve or die, Paramore. Two and a half stars.

tl;dr: Paramore grow up and expand their sound. It’s less interesting than it sounds.

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Radio Rant: B.o.B ft. Hayley Williams and Eminem – Airplanes Pt. 1 and 2

Posted on July 13, 2010 by bgibs122

It’s that time again! I stick my head out of the musical sand and review something that’s on the radio, and just maybe I’ll like it. Radio Rant is the name, and dethroning snobbery is the game. So what are we looking at this week? Something good?

Oh, “Airplanes” by B.o. B. The one with Hayley Williams (the Paramore chick) on the chorus. Yeah, that one!

There’s no way to beat around the bush about it; I actually really like this song. It’s well-produced without having the tell-tale glossy sound of over production, and the beat hits the sweet spot of being energetic and engaging without being too busy or irritating. Musically, somber piano, clean guitar chords, and a sprinkling of bass contribute to a beautifully moody and urgent backdrop for B.o. B, Williams, and Eminem.

It’s technically B.o.B’s track, so I’ll speak about him first. Both parts show him coping with his new fame and where he’s been and where he can go. It’s one of rap’s oldest subjects that’s almost a bonafide cliche, but B.o.B handles it with a flow, energy, and lyrical deft that makes it refreshing. However, it’s confusing to hear B.o.B bemoaning fame on his debut album. Usually this sort of “things aren’t the same” lament is reserved for second or third album blues, not something we hear right out of the gate. It’ll be interesting to see where his career goes beyond “The Adventures of Bobby Ray”.

It might be B.o.B’s song, but it’s Hayley that has the most quoted part, the chorus. “Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars/I could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now”. Hell, I don’t actually know why I wrote that just now; you can probably go on Facebook and odds are at least one friend will have it as their status right the hell now. Hayley sings the part just fine, but there’s been something about it lyrically that just seems off. The problem might be that it sounds like a teenager trying to write something deep, but not quite succeeding. It’s still not a bad chorus, just one that gets old pretty fast.

And rounding out the song is Eminem, Mashall Mathers, Slim Shady. His exclusive to pt. 2 cameo is just the latest in a series of “Holy shit” features that Slim has done in the past year (other triumphs include his furious verse on Lil Wayne’s “Drop the World” and the closing verse on Drake’s “Forever”, in which Em curbstombs Weezy [again], Kanye, and Drake) where he proves that despite shifty quality in his solo material, the man used to be the hottest rapper alive for a reason. Here, he paints a dark portrait of what life would be like in Detroit if he had never tried, or never made it. And it’s one of the best parts of the song.

So yeah, overall, “Airplanes” is a great song with solid performances by two spitfire rappers and one pop rock voice. Definitely glad to hear this on the FM.

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