Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

Release date: May 15, 2009

With 21st Century Breakdown, Green Day prove that they’ve come a long way since Dookie.  The band practically invented the pop-punk genre in the 1990s, inspiring countless followers with their breakthrough album’s mix of ultra-catchy pop melodies, rough-hewn punk instrumentation, and irreverent attitude.  But now, well into their second decade as a band, Green Day seem to be distancing themselves from their roots as much as possible, creating music that attempts to be much more diverse, ambitious, and serious than their past output.  Whatever you want to call it - reinvention, rebranding, or simply “growing up” - it’s been a gradual process, hinted at on 2000’s Warning and reaching full tilt with 2004‘s American Idiot.  But on their newest album, Green Day seems to have finally shed most of what was left of their pop-punk past.  This begs the question: if they’re no longer a pop-punk band, just what are they?

If 21st Century Breakdown has an answer to that question, it’s not easy to find.  The band seems just as confused about their own identity as their fans have become, and it shows on the material here.  A portion of the album’s tracks are energetic rock tunes that do seem to reach back to the band’s old days, if only in terms of volume level and instrumentation rather than mentality.  The relentlessly driving single “Know Your Enemy” is a good example of this, along with “Horseshoes And Handgrenades” and “Christian’s Inferno.”  It’s in these songs that the band seems most comfortable, as if for a moment they’re only concerned about rocking out instead of trying to make a sophisticated musical statement.  The rest of the album consists of deliberately grandiose, multi-faceted, piano-led anthems in the vein of American Idiot.  It’s painfully obvious that the band was trying to recapture the epic feel of their last record, particularly on songs such as “¡Viva La Gloria!” and “21 Guns.”  The new material sounds woefully forced, however, and devoid of almost any originality.  A few of these songs, including the title track, do have their moments, but even they seem derived, not only from classic rock bands like Queen, but from Green Day’s own material.

Perhaps an even bigger crime than the album’s musical missteps is that the carefree attitude of early Green Day is nowhere to be found.  Though Billie Joe Armstrong still knows how to write a hook - and rest assured, the album is full of them - his lyrics have taken on a heavy-handed, melodramatic quality befitting the album’s rock opera aspirations.  It’s hard to tell just what this rock opera’s storyline is, though, since nothing makes quite enough sense to fit into place inside a larger concept.  As far as telling a story through lyrics goes, American Idiot did a much better job.  There are some satisfying moments on 21st Century Breakdown, but the overall feeling of the album is that of a band trying too hard to create something deep and meaningful when their strengths lie in the exact opposite direction.  It’s a moderately enjoyable listen, but Green Day have done much better.

2.5/5

Standout Tracks:

• “Christian’s Inferno”
• “Know Your Enemy”
• “Horseshoes And Handgrenades”

Silversun Pickups - Swoon

Silversun Pickups - Swoon

Release date:  April 14, 2009

If there’s any band today that would be poised to lead a full-fledged Nineties-alternative revival, it would be the Silversun Pickups.  Few albums in recent memory have captured that unique vibe as well as 2009’s Swoon.  The California band has certainly chosen to channel an interesting time for music.  Back in the early Nineties, more so than ever before, the lines between mainstream and underground, between ubiquitous and obscure, were beginning to blur.  This change in the status quo of popular music was often reflected in the music itself.  The dichotomy of catchy hooks and lo-fi noise, of anguished lyrics and toe-tapping grooves, became a common one - just listen to any early Smashing Pumpkins album and you’ll hear it.  It’s this combination of total accessibility and blown-speaker aesthetics that the Pickups have very effectively tapped into - and, in some ways, improved upon - on their latest album.

An indispensable part of the equation is, of course, the overall sound of the album.  Swoon is a meticulously textured album, although that may not be immediately obvious - the production is usually subtle enough that it’s barely noticeable.  Nothing blatantly jumps out at you; everything just sounds, in a word, right.  Fuzzed-out guitars surface and recede again among driving drum beats, sinuous bass lines, and just the right amount of layered, effect-laden sound to fill in whatever gaps there may be and set the mood of the song perfectly.  From the opening swells of first track “There’s No Secrets This Year,” giving way to one of the album’s most relentless guitar riffs, to the much more subdued, slow-building atmosphere of “Growing Old Is Getting Old,” the album hits the sonic mark again and again.  Perhaps most remarkably, Swoon achieves this without sounding overly Pro-Tooled, retaining a very human touch - no small feat in today’s overly-engineered musical landscape.

Of course, all this sonic construction would be for naught if the songs themselves didn’t stand up to scrutiny.  Luckily, the Pickups have enough songwriting chops to match their mood-setting skill.  First single “Panic Switch” displays their prowess as effectively as any other track, as frontman Brian Aubert’s distinctive delicate-to-caustic vocals outline insistent melodies that are guaranteed to stick with you long after the song ends.  “The Royal We” and “Catch & Release” are just as catchy and enduring, and together with most of the rest of the album’s tracks, prove that this band is far more than a Gen-X nostalgia act.  Instead of reliving a point in musical history without offering anything new, the Silversun Pickups are crafting mature, relevant, and totally enjoyable music that should appeal to a wide range of musical tastes and ages.  Go pick up Swoon - you won’t be disappointed.

4/5

Standout Tracks:

• “There’s No Secrets This Year”
• “Growing Old Is Getting Old”
• “The Royal We”
• “Catch & Release”

Mastodon - Crack The Skye

Mastodon - Crack The Skye

Release date: March 24, 2009

There are a few important things you should know about Crack The Skye, the latest release from Mastodon.  The first is a warning:  This album is not for the faint of heart.  Like the band’s previous albums, their most recent recording is a heady mix of frantic drums, chugging yet intricate guitar lines, and bombastic vocals.  It can be boiled down to one word: intense.  However, it’s a slightly different intensity this time around.  Mastodon have refined and slightly altered their approach in favor of the epic aspect of the band’s sound, shifting the focus somewhat away from their brutal side.  Because of this, those expecting another Blood Mountain are in for a surprise.

Another thing to keep in mind about Crack The Skye is that it takes a while to sink in.   Most of Crack The Skye is slow-building and expansive, taking its time to reach its high points.  Take album opener “Oblivion,” with its ominous layers of guitar relentlessly escalating to the beginning of the first verse - and taking nearly a whole minute to do so.  It sounds great, but it doesn’t exactly grab you by the neck in the same way the opening track on Blood Mountain did.  The most similar song to the band’s earlier material is first single “Divinations,” which is brimming with the kind of spastic guitar work Mastodon is known for.  The album’s other six tracks are less predictable, though.  Most of the songs here feature relatively long, involved intros and meander in and out of several distinct sections.  This approach is particularly effective in the album’s twin extended suites, “The Czar” and closer “The Last Baron,” both clocking in at well over ten minutes in length and containing a remarkable number of distinct riffs and vocal motifs.  However, at times, all the material here has a problematic tendency to run together - all that guitar playing does start to sound the same after a while, and the album is somewhat light on memorable vocal hooks.  The overall mood the album sets - one of ominous energy building to the brink of disaster but just barely containing itself - might be more memorable at first than the music itself.

The end result of the band’s increased focus on compositional intricacy is that Crack The Skye may take several listens to reveal its worth.  After another spin or two, things start coming together, and musical highlights start standing out, such as the monumentally-epic-in-every-way conclusion of the aforementioned “The Last Baron.”  Crack The Skye may demand a bit of effort from its listeners, but there truly are some amazing and powerful moments on the record.  Though they might be elusive at first, if you’re patient, and if you let yourself get drawn in, the effort is worth it.

3.5/5

Standout Tracks:

• “Oblivion”
• “The Last Baron”
• “The Czar”
• “Ghost Of Karelia”

Lamb Of God - Wrath

Lamb Of God - Wrath

Release date: February 23, 2009

Lamb Of God are nothing if not consistent.  The Virginia-based quintet has been churning out solid chunks of explosive metal for much of the past decade, and their tightly-focused, hard-hitting approach has earned them near-legendary status in modern metal circles, inspiring a following of like-minded groups and leaving an indelible impression on the American heavy music scene.  Lamb Of God have been continually refining their approach with each release, while remaining faithful to their original sound so as not to alienate their fan base.  It’s to be expected, then, that Wrath, their sixth full-length record, delivers the goods - and it does not disappoint.

Taking a page from the books of many classic metal albums before it, Wrath begins with a deceptively subdued passage of acoustic guitar.  But don’t be fooled.  The mayhem begins soon, and once Lamb Of God’s well-oiled metal machine kicks into full gear, it simply does not stop.  As the instrumental intro “The Passing” gives way to the album’s first proper song, “In Your Words,” the listener is bombarded by riff after hammering riff.  The band’s guitar duo of Willie Adler and Mark Morton have become masters of delivering intense, memorable guitar riffs, and their performances on Wrath are as tight as ever.  And Chris Adler is at the top of his game as one of the most impressive metal drummers active today, following and embellishing upon every chugging note played by the guitars with dexterity and muscle.  As a whole, the band seems to have really cut loose in the writing and recording process this time around, pulling out all the stops and letting no good idea go to waste.  This is perhaps best evidenced by “Contractor,” which starts at a breakneck pace before transitioning into a fist-pumping chorus and in turn giving way to one of the album’s most intense blasts of molten groove-metal in the song’s bridge.  “Fake Messiah,” “Set To Fail,” “Choke Sermon,” and any number of other tracks display the band’s prowess in similar fashion.

Wrath isn’t quite perfect, though.  Vocalist Randy Blythe has the unenviable job of making his lyrics heard over the unending maelstrom of noise created by his bandmates, and although he performs admirably, his Phil Anselmo-meets-Rob Zombie bark can get grating at times.  A bit more melody, especially in the choruses, would go a long way toward making the material here even more memorable.  But as a whole, the album provides such a satisfying listening experience that this shortcoming can be forgiven.  If no-frills, high-octane, pulverizing modern metal is what you’re looking for, Wrath offers more than enough headbang for your buck.

4/5

Standout Tracks:

• “Contractor”
• “In Your Words”
• “Fake Messiah”
• “Reclamation”

Umphrey's McGee - Mantis

Umphrey’s McGee - Mantis

Release date: January 20th, 2009

Umphrey’s McGee have always been a hard band to classify.  They’ve been making a name for themselves in the jam-band circuit for quite a while now, and their live shows display a knack for improvisation and spontaneity befitting the genre.  But there’s always been a slightly heavier, more technical aspect of their sound to set them apart from the likes of Phish and their other contemporaries.  Though this has largely taken a backseat in the band’s earlier material, they’ve brought it out into the spotlight with their 2009 release, Mantis - and it cements the band as a force to be reckoned with.

The guys in Umphrey’s must have spent a lot of time studying their classic prog-rock albums during the making of Mantis, because what seems to be happening here is that each track is paying tribute to one key influencer of the band’s sound or another, while still managing to sound fresh and immediate.  Take “Made To Measure,” the relatively straightforward, tuneful opening track, whose catchy melodies and jaunty chorded piano evoke latter-day Beatles.  Then check out album closer “1348,” whose stomping, syncopated grooves are pure King Crimson.  In between these two tracks lie a wide range of material for the band to flex their considerable compositional muscle in.  The epic title track showcases some of the album’s most dextrous playing, featuring some impressive guitar solos; first single “Spires” goes from an all-out rocking introduction to a mellow, harmonized a capella coda; “Turn & Run” just begs to be played in the car with the windows down on a bright summer day as its acoustic intro gives way to what might be the album’s most anthemic chorus.  There’s even some electronica on here, found in “Cemetery Walk II,” a sequel of sorts to the previous track, titled - you guessed it - “Cemetery Walk.”

And so on.  The rest of the album is crammed full of standout moments like the ones described above, and mentioning them all would take way too much time.  It’s hard to pick highlights from an album that’s as consistently great as this one.  Every moment of Mantis is enjoyable on some level, and almost everyone should be able to find something to love about it.  And at 54 minutes, it’s just short enough to leave you desperately wanting more the second it’s over.  Umphrey’s McGee have created a monster in Mantis, blazing onto the scene with an early contender for one of the best albums of the year.  Enthusiastically recommended.

4.5/5

Standout Tracks:

• “Mantis”
• “Spires”
• “Turn & Run”
• “Cemetery Walk”/“Cemetery Walk II”

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Lonely Road

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Lonely Road

Release date: February 3, 2009

What does a band do to follow up on a debut album that unexpectedly yields two chart-topping hits and sells hundreds of thousands of copies?  Usually one of two things: they either stick religiously to the formula that brought them success and create a carbon-copy of their debut, or they take advantage of the expanded resources their success affords them and throw as many new ideas into the mix as possible.  These two approaches both have their risks, and every band is slightly better suited to one than the other.

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus’s sophomore album, Lonely Road, is an excellent illustration of this principle, and serves as a great example of what not to do with your follow-up record.  The pop-screamo act saw a great deal of success with their energetic, youthful, and really quite good debut, 2006‘s Don’t You Fake It.  They’ve clearly opted for the second approach to making a follow-up album on Lonely Road; unfortunately, RJA would have been much wiser to stick with the first.  Whenever the band strays from their signature sound, a sprightly mix of down-tuned, metallic guitars and pop-punk melodies, they sound awkward and unsure of themselves.  The band experiments with slower groove-rock riffs on “Pull Me Back” and opener “You Better Pray,” lightens their approach in a clear attempt to score another crossover hit on songs like “Believe” and “Step Right Up,” and further complicates matters by throwing in an orchestra on the pandering military ballad “Godspeed” and even a gospel choir on the Southern-rock-flavored title track.  None of these explorations seem remotely natural to the band, and it’s clear that they were reaching pretty hard to come up with as may new ideas as possible, rather than making sure the experiments actually worked.

It’s when the band sticks to its strengths that the material improves.  When RJA focuses on the same style that clicked on their debut album, they sound much more self-assured, as on a pair of songs toward the album’s beginning, “No Spell” and “Pen & Paper.”  Their songwriting is much more solid when they do what they do best instead of focusing on expanding their sonic palette.  RJA is a young band, with most of their members barely out of high school, and odds are they have a long career ahead of them.  They do deserve some credit for being willing to try new things and change their sound up from song to song.  But unless their sonic experimentation yields good results, it can’t be considered anything but a failure.

2/5

Standout Tracks:

• “Pen & Paper”
• “No Spell”
• “Pleads And Postcards”

Thursday - Common Existence

Thursday - Common Existence

Release date: February 17, 2009

Early in their career, Thursday were champions of their genre.  In the early 2000s, the up-and-coming post-hardcore scene found one of their first mascots in the New Jersey-based band (a quintet at its inception, now expanded to six members with the addition of a keyboardist), and Thursday played no small part in bringing the genre to fame - and, yes, infamy.  Now, the better part of a decade after their big break, 2001’s Full Collapse, Thursday may have passed their genre-leading torch on to other bands, but they continue to put out music in the tradition of their heyday.

Unfortunately, it seems their age might be starting to show.  2009’s Common Existence sounds, in a word, tired.  The new material lacks the urgency that characterized their earlier output.  Not that they’ve softened, necessarily; many tracks here are just as heavy and furious in intent as anything they’ve done in the past.  But nothing really sticks with you.  Geoff Rickly’s trademark wailing voice sounds thinner than ever, which doesn’t help matters, but more important than his tone quality are his melodic hooks, and those are few and far between.  The band is also hindered by unusually low-fidelity production, which leaves them sounding muddy and poorly defined.  This sonic aesthetic works for some groups, but Thursday’s brand of melodic post-hardcore could benefit from much more clarity and precision.  As it is, the blaring mass of drums, guitar, and bass, with Rickly’s piercing vocals on top of everything (yes, that keyboardist is still there, though he’s practically inaudible for most of the album), thunders by in under 45 minutes, leaving you with a vague impression of having listened to something but providing little memorable substance.  Instead of exhilarating, it’s simply exhausting.

There are a few tracks that seem to click, though.  When the band is truly firing on all cylinders, the material stands out, as on the over-far-too-quickly “Unintended Long Term Effects.”  That song in particular suggests that there may still be some of the old Thursday left, and that if they can harness that immediacy again, they might release another great album.  But Common Existence, whether the band was reaching too hard for new songwriting ideas or whether they simply ran out of them, fails to live up to its creator’s own legacy.

2.5/5

Standout Tracks:

• “Unintended Long Term Effects”
  
• “Last Call”
  
• “Friends In The Armed Forces”