CD Reviews

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
The Mint Chicks
> 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. Photo: Getty Images
Ben Harper. Photo: Getty Images
> 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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