This week we review the latest albums from The Sproutts, Mark
Olsen and Gary Louris, The Mint Chicks, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs,
and Ben Harper and Relentless 7.
> The Sproutts.
Woman, Man, And Machine! Self-release.
4 star (out of 5)
This exploration of robot love and other odd couplings from
Wellington indie band The Sproutts is a real hoot.
Their engaging, offbeat, unmistakably Kiwi candour is to the
fore in a 14-track album laced with winning pop songs
performed with unaffected earnestness.
Organ, violin, accordion, mandolin and multi-tracked vocals
flesh out neatly crafted lo-fi guitar tunes that evoke the
naivety surrounding our fascination with all things sci-fi
and techno.
Nowhere is this more charming than on Woman, Man, And
Machine - a duet with a difference.
Single download: Woman, Man, And Machine
For those who like: Lawrence Arabia, The Phoenix
Foundation
- Jeff Harford
> Mark Olson
and Gary Louris. Ready For The Flood. New West
Records.
2 star (out of 5)
The reunion of Minneapolis rock band the Jayhawks' founding
members Mark Olson and Gary Louris is little to get excited
about if Ready For The Flood is a measure of what
currently sparks their partnership.
The album is a wishy-washy affair, moderate and unerringly
middle-of-the-road.
Acoustic folk ballads that evoke Simon & Garfunkel's
shtick mix with a handful of jauntier electric country-rock
numbers, the best of which are Chamberlain, SD and
Bloody Hands.
But despite the appeal of the pair's reedy-voiced
harmonising, it's a struggle to stay aboard.
Single download: Bicycle
For those who like: Two-part harmonies, front-porch
acoustic folk
- Jeff Harford
> The Mint
Chicks. Screens. Flying Nun.
4 star (out of 5)
Since winning a swag of Tui Awards for Crazy? Yes! Dumb?
No!, The Mint Chicks have lost a bassist and adopted a
synth-driven approach for third album Screens.
As a result, their Technicolor art-rock assault has been
hijacked by a more melodic pop sensibility, with tracks such
as Don't Sell Your Brain Out, Baby rumbling along at a
brisk, summery pace, while standout I Can't Stop Being
Foolish - a whirl of keyboard arpeggios and processed
vocals - ensures that Screens amounts to a hypnotic
collision of twee pop hooks and psychedelic swirls.
Single download: I Can't Stop Being
Foolish
For those who like: The kookiness of The Clean
- John Hayden
> Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
It's Blitz! Modular.
5 star (out of 5)
Hailed as arbiters of indie cool upon the release of Fever
to Tell (2003), New York trio Yeah Yeah Yeahs soared
above the hype for 2006's Show Your Bones, on which
feisty art rock and instrumental virtuosity collided with a
melodic knack.
The evolution of Karen O, Brian Chase, and Nick Zinner
continues on Its Blitz!, which sees their clamour
liberally dusted with disco.
The swagger remains ("Dance 'til you're dead" intones O on
Heads Will Roll), and, rather inexplicably, nestles
alongside the synthetic gurgles that imbue the likes of
Hysteric with a hypnotic tenderness as gorgeous as O
herself.
Single download: Heads Will Roll
For those who like: Blondie, The Pretenders . . . and
hearing the album of the year in May
- John Hayden
> Ben Harper
and Relentless 7. White Lies For Dark Times.
Virgin.
4 star (out of 5)
The first full studio album profiling Ben Harper's new band,
a multi-talented assortment of Californian indy-rock types,
finds the lap-steel player and songwriter in strong form.
The paint-by-numbers distortion of opener Number With No
Name notwithstanding, the album contains some nice
impromptu moments, the twin guitar approach dovetailing then
spiralling off into weird and wonderful outbursts.
Underpinning such dexterity is an outstanding and inventive
rhythm section that provides groove without the clichés.
Single download: Up To You Now
For those who like: Joe Henry, mid-'70s era Rolling
Stones, the Neville Brothers (in an angry mood)
- Shane Gilchrist
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