Album Review: Incubus – If Not Now, When?

Posted on July 17, 2011 by bgibs122

Incubus got popular at kind of a weird time. Between their hip-hop influence (re: having a DJ) and a tendency towards effects-heavy riffing, Incubus didn’t have trouble finding a spot on record shelves that housed Korn or Linkin Park. But at the same time, Incubus’ ability to genre hop made them more than the thinking man’s nu-metal, and they drifted into alt. rock territory as the 00’s pressed on. But with a 5 year break between now and Light Grenades, Incubus’ (and indeed most good rock) place in the mainstream has evaporated.

That in mind, If Not Now, When? is in new territory. The opening title track begins with some guitar noise before morphing into bass and drum heavy mid-tempo tune with soaring vocals and scattered guitars. Or, in other words, U2-lite. The song is well constructed, but gets the album to a sleepy start, and feels fairly repetitive. It could also use a shot in the arm for energy.

But that had to terrify diehard fans less than the pop rock-y “Promises, Promises”. “Promises, Promises” is catchy enough to make a single, but a somewhat uncomfortable listen at the same time; there’s very little guitar on the song, and it feels too safe. Remove Boyd’s voice, and this doesn’t have to be an Incubus track. The guitars make a false appearance at the start of “Thieves” before disappearing into the background of the song, which is (again) dominated by drums and bass. Thankfully, though, bassist Ben Kenney comes up with tasteful basslines, and it’s tempting to sing along with vocalist Brandon Boyd.

Which makes it a damn shame that there aren’t more interesting ideas on If Not Now, When? Between the stomping drums and dynamic changes, “Isadore” should be more compelling than it is, but it fails to connect. I never paid a lot of attention to Incubus before, but even I can tell that “Isadore” would take off if it hit hard, or even hit at all. There’s a guitar solo towards the end of the song, but it’s not enough. Likewise, “The Original” manages to have gusty last minute and a half instrumentally, but is otherwise devoid of interest.

Depending on your take on it, “In The Company of Wolves” is either the best or worst song on the album. Beginning with the same sound as the rest of the album, the song takes a dark turn about halfway in with distorted guitars and a focus on the actual instrumentation, and it’s almost definitely a high point (hint, hint). But at the same time, it’s very easy to tune out before the song’s second half, and then the song goes on too long. “Switchblade” is the album’s “We know we’re changing our sound, but here’s the token throwback” song that doesn’t entirely work because of how out of place it is.

First single and penultimate track (interesting tracklist, boys) “Adolescents” manages to blend Incubus’ usual elements together with the new ones in a satisfying way. It might not be as heavy as older songs, but there’s actual tension and movement to the music, two things that the album’s front half is lacking. The technical and effects-laden guitar solo doesn’t hurt at all, either, nor does Boyd’s stellar chorus.

“Tomorrow’s Food” officially makes If Not Now, When? a back-loaded album, because again, the new elements (strings, balladry) actually work for the band instead of against it. Boyd’s dark mortality lyrics against pretty music like this (guitarist Michael Einzinger’s fingerpicking here is wonderful) only strengthen both, and the extended outro is beautiful.

If Not Now, When? is a transitional record, and like many transitional records, makes for a frustrating listen. As demonstrated by a few stellar songs and promising moments throughout, Incubus hasn’t chosen a bad direction to go, but for their new sound to truly work, there needs to be more energy brought to the table. The album has spots of promise, but doesn’t capitalize on them until the end. Some fans will embrace the change, some will reject it, but neither side is entirely right or wrong: Three stars out of five.

tl;dr: Incubus don’t always sound like themselves on their New Sound album, 3/5.

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Radio Rant: OneRepublic – Good Life

Posted on July 13, 2011 by bgibs122

Hello, and welcome to Radio Rants, where we take on the good, the bad, and the Perry. Who’s up this week?

OneRepublic, everybody. I’ve always felt kind of…well, nothing, really. Yeah, I heard “Apologize” some 10,000 times in 2007 and 2008 like everyone else, and their follow-up singles, but none of them have ever left an impact on me. OneRepublic isn’t a terrible band, but I just don’t have a reason to listen to them. They get schooled all over in the pretty pop rock category; Snow Patrol hits harder with prettier tunes, Coldplay’s songs are better crafted, and Keane has more charm. Alright, OneRepublic, what’s this version of Apologize sound like?

“Good Life” kicks off with a clattering drumbeat and some spacey synths. You know, like every other one of their singles. Shit, at 15 seconds in, I’m already bored. Compared to their other songs like “All The Right Places” and “Secrets”, “Good Life”‘s instrumentation is pretty parred down: aside from the aforementioned synth and drums, all we get is an acoustic guitar and a whistle. OneRep’s more produced songs might be a bit too stuffy, but that’s almost better than boring. Ryan Tedder, save me with some lyrics.

“Woke up in London yesterday/Found myself in the city near Piccadilly/Don’t really know how I got here/I got some pictures on my phone”.

…or…don’t. Ok, so Tedder’s idea of the good life is The Hangover. I guess? Or maybe it’s touring, since other verses namecheck New York, LA, China, Paris, and Colorado (something had to rhyme with “so”). Let’s see, what else do we have in the verses?

“Sometimes there’s airplanes I can’t jump out/Sometimes there’s bullshit that don’t work out”

What’s this “airplanes” line about? Is skydiving one of Ryan Tedder’s hobbies, and he just doesn’t have the guts somedays? Also, while I’m at it, the beat and vocals in these verses are really reminding me of the minor Train hit “If It’s Love”, and no, that’s not a compliment.

The chorus for “Good Life”, like every other chorus OneRepublic has written, is an exercise in How Many Times Can We Say the Song’s Title? But “Good Life” is particularly egregious, with “Oh, this has gotta be the good life/This has gotta be the good life/This could really be the good life, good life/I say, ‘Oh, got this feeling that you can’t fight’/Like this city is on fire tonight/This could really be the good life, good, good life”.

But, to quote Aristotle, what is the good life?

That’s kind of where “Good Life” falls apart lyrically: it’s not a particularly compelling image, nor one I can really relate to. The lines I haven’t mentioned follow the same feel-good groovyness of most songs out there; “be hopeful”, “This is awesome”, but without any details, this is an incredibly bland premise.

There are much better ways to handle this idea. Yeezy, what’s the good life?

“The good life, it feel like Houston/It feel like Philly, it feel like D.C./It feel like VA or the Bay or Ye/Ayy, this is the good life” Well, he already beats OneRepublic at Pop Song Geography. What else we got? “Now I, I go for mine/Cuz I got to shine”, “And if they hate, then let’em hate/And watch the money pile up, the good life”. Kanye’s idea of the good life might be how awesome it is to be Kanye, but at least it’s a clear and distinct idea.

And Weezer, what’s the good life?

“And I don’t wanna be an old man anymore/Been a year or two since I was out on the floor/Shakin’ booty, makin’ sweet love every night/It’s time I got back to the good life” Again, easy to see, and in this case, something you can relate to. And Weezer and West sound convicted in their search for the good life, Tedder sounds half awake.

Musically, vocally, melodically, thematically, and lyrically, “Good Life” is almost painfully indistinct, and on top of that, it’s not really good. The only hook is that whistle, and that’s the only part of the song that you’ll really remember. To give you an idea of how bland this song is, while looking up the other songs in this review, all of them held my interest better than “Good Life”, and I don’t even like all the artists I’ve mentioned. “Good Life”, not even a good song.

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Album Review: Selena Gomez & The Scene – When The Sun Goes Down

Posted on July 10, 2011 by bgibs122

When I started Ranting About Music (and then the blog a few years later), I had it in my head that I was only going to do rock/alt. rock albums. But every now and then, the review pool got a little deeper; other genre artists (T.Swift, Kanye) started making appearances, and I even reviewed the new Britney back when it came out.

But I never, ever expected to review a Selena Gomez record.

Out of our current round of teen pop singers, Selena Gomez was the one I knew least about, and that suited me damn fine. I still don’t know much; all I know is that she’s one of those Disney gals trying to have a life outside her show, and that she’s dating Justin Bieber.

I am so ready to hate this album.

Unfortunately, “Love You Like a Love Song” makes that an incredibly tough task. The song’s production is super tight, and the song is simply a fantastically straight forward pop song with a solid chorus. On top of that, Gomez steps ahead of her rival Disney cash-ins by having actual stage presence and poise. The more synth-tastic “Bang Bang Bang” takes the old pop cliche of “Screw my old flame, I got this new hotness” and…actually doesn’t do anything new with it. The 80’s throwback feel of the song is tolerable, but the lead synth is pushed way too far up in the mix.

Thankfully, When the Sun Goes Down gets easier to riff on for the next two songs. “Who Says” is a toothless, bland self-empowerment ballad in the style of “Fuckin’ Perfect Born Just The Way You Are (Firework)”. Gomez goes at the track with enthusiasm, but the production, with acoustic guitars, drum machines, and strings would have sounded dated five years ago. Things don’t improve with the other meandering ballad of the album, “We Own the Night”, which could have been so much better with a stronger band presence.

Outside of those two songs, When the Sun Goes Down is a pretty straight up dance-pop album. But, interestingly, outside the under-18 club jam “Hit the Lights”, none of these songs really sound associated with 2011. And they’re much, much better for it. These songs don’t chase the radio, and therefore don’t fall into the usual radio traps of being annoying or overlong or obnoxiously produced. The good production is half of the album’s success, the other half is Gomez. She wholeheartedly dives into every song here, and her energy is easy to feed off of.

Take “Whiplash” for example. The electronic, stomping production threatens to swallow her whole, but she manages to stay on top, and as a result it’s one of the best songs on the album. “Whiplash”, or possibly “Hit The Lights” before it marks When The Sun Goes Down as a super bottom heavy re–

Hey, wait, am I actually enjoying this?

Maybe it’s because I’ve seen jackshit of her before this album, but Selena sounds less like a tv star trying to cash in on her appeal and more like a certified pop star. She’s a capable singer, and unlike her peers, sounds like she’s enjoying herself. The title track is a nice slice of pretty pop, and even though it borders lyrically bankrupt, “My Dilemma” has an energy (and a hook) that still makes it fun.

Speaking of fun, “That’s More Like It” is more manic than a 4 year old hopped up on Pixie Stix and sonically kicks the shit out of anything Owl City put out a few weeks ago. After the decent but otherwise forgettable “Outlaw”, When the Sun Goes Down sets with “Middle of Nowhere” (a fitting shoutout to last week’s review), which boasts one of the strongest melodies on the album. The chorus is instantly singalongable, and more fun than it should be.

And that’s effectively the story of the whole record. There’s no ground being broken, but the album has a consistency not seen elsewhere; only three or so songs misfire. Unlike other pop albums I’ve reviewed, the bad songs were only skippably bland instead of headache inducing, too. Probably the biggest downfall to When the Sun Goes Down is the songwriting; there’s no detail or personality to these lines, and Gomez could develop more personality outside of “I like things!”. But in the grand scheme of things, that doesn’t take the album down too far. Three and a half out of five stars.

tl;dr: Fun, yet well-done pop fluff, 3.5/5.

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Radio Rant: Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera – Moves Like Jagger

Posted on July 6, 2011 by bgibs122

Hello, and welcome to Radio Rants. So, who am I dealing with these week?

…so that happened. An odd choice, but both Maroon 5 and Aguilera  could use a boost right now; outside of a single or two, Maroon 5 have never come close to matching their 2003/2004 success, and Xtina’s had a well publicized rough year. Wait, Christina and Whatsisface McWhiny judges on We’ve Never Heard Of American Idol The Voice, so I’m guessing “Moves Like Jagger” is the inevitable exploitation of a new and devoted fanbase. Well hey, it worked for J.Lo, why not now?

Alright, let’s start with the obvious: “Moves Like Jagger”. Really? Look, I’ve got nothing against the Stones, but in the past year, we’ve had two huge hits name drop the frontiest of all frontmen. Why do we feel the need to keep mentioning Mick Jagger, can’t Freddie Mercury or Robert Plant get in on this?

As it turns out in the chorus, the full line is “I got the moves like Jagger”. And unlike looking like him, that’s actually a valid boast. But, like every other one of Maroon 5’s attempts at being sexy, it falls flat due to frontman Adam Levine. Levine’s a good looking guy–well, if you’re into big foreheads, beady eyes, and too much hair-gel, he is–but any sensuality he might have physically gets utterly demolished as soon as you hear that voice. I don’t have anything against falsetto, but that pinched, nasally voice of his can’t pull off the smooth blue-eyed soul Maroon 5 seems to always hint at.

While we’re on vocals, let’s talk Christina. I’m always kind of disappointed when I hear that Christina’s having a rough way to go, because someone with a big, powerful voice like hers shouldn’t make artistic fumbles as often as she does. Thankfully, the summer-pop of “Moves Like Jagger” doesn’t push her out of her comfort zone, and we get a usual dose of Christina: big, confident vocals with words almost unintelligible between vocal riffs and moans. It’s not especially impressive, but feisty none the less.

Actually, this song could use a little more Aguilera. Besides her verse, all she gets is some background riffing on the final chorus while we listen to Captain Helium. One thing I always like about Christina is that she brings energy to a track, and “Moves Like Jagger” could use some real duet action to keep it going. And considering that 1. Christina and Levine were equals on The Voice, and 2. this sounds little like a Maroon 5 track (more on that in a second), I don’t see a reason for why this couldn’t have been billed as “Adam Levine and Christian Aguilera – Moves Like Jagger”. It stands to reason that if you have enough star power to judge an American Idol knockoff, you should be able to carry a single. Or maybe not (see? Another frontman not getting shout outs).

Like I said, “Moves Like Jagger” barely sounds like Maroon 5. True, it has the requisite singular funk riff that gets repeated into submission, but it’s drum machine beat and multiple synths betray its origins: Levine has a cowriting credit, as do major pop producers Benny Blanco and Shellback (both of whom produced the track). My guess? Instead of confusing fans or starting a fight over Levine doing a “solo” career, the label folks figured why not slap Maroon 5’s name on the song to nab a few more buyers.

I can’t call “Moves Like Jagger” a bad listening experience. Sure, it’s an absolutely mercenary exercise in disposable summer fluff, but the electro-disco production goes down easy, and it’s even fairly catchy. I do think maybe a little more thought could have been put into it, like some fun, or clever lyrics (“I got the moves like Jagger” is the only line you’ll remember), but as it stands, “Moves Like Jagger” will entertain you enough for the next few weeks. At least there’s no “swagger” rhyme.

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