This week we review the latest albums from Sheryl Crow, Klaxons, Robert Scott, Knives At Noon, and The Black Crowes.
3 stars (out of 5)
Heartland hitmaker Sheryl Crow breaks out the brass as she reimagines the sounds she grew up with in Kennett, Missouri, the titular 100 miles from Memphis, but her switch from mainstream country-tinged pop-rock to bluesy southern soul is only partially successful.
While Crow has no problem finding a tight groove that's right in keeping with the Stax and Hi traditions - thanks to main sidemen Doyle Bramhall II, Justin Stanley and Jeff Babko (and Keith Richards on one track) - she lets too many tunes blow out beyond the four-minute mark, which allows for the obligatory closing jams but ultimately saps a middling album of any real punch.
Single download: Sideways
For those who like: Susan Tedeschi, Jewel
- Paul Mooney
4 stars (out of 5)
Three years on from their Mercury award-winning debut, Myths of the Near Future, London's artful dodgers have recruited renowned producer Ross Robinson (whose credits range from Sepultura and Slipknot to The Cure) and released an intense, bombastic 10-song collection.
Pulsing synths and distorted strings are matched with wigged-out electric guitar, stacked vocal harmonies and a dance-party vibe that offers many fresh twists to indie rock.
From the hazy angles of the title track to the fuzzed-out Future Memories, the apocalypse has seldom sounded so good.
Single download: Echoes
For those who like: Pere Ubu, Blur, Franz Ferdinand
- Shane Gilchrist
5 stars (out of 5)
Robert Scott has now been making music for 33 years, mostly notably with The Clean and perennial ensemble The Bats.
On Ends Run Together, Scott's latest solo album, that experience shines through in all the best ways, from delicately phrased vocals and carefully constructed melodies to the astute choice of instrumentation.
Sparse, reflective pieces mix with heart-warming acoustic pop songs and expansive electric jams, each track polished to a pleasing sheen by the addition of Alan Starrett's strings, David Kilgour's supplementary guitar, or Haunted Love pairing Geva and Rainy's honey-dipped backing vocals.
Single download: On The Lake
For those who like: Yo La Tengo, The Bats, Magick Heads
- Jeff Harford
4 stars (out of 5)
Dunedin quartet Knives At Noon's sophomore EP might offer only the briefest of glimmers into their musical world, but it is a tantalising snapshot of a band in exciting form.
Alternating clean funk guitar with stabs of electro-pop synth, Violins and Violence offers a taut lyrical refrain that gives way to a drunken, shuddering close; on Human Heart From Modern Art, a staccato guitar line does battle with extraterrestrial strings; while the anthemic Thunderveins would befit any new stadium.
Single download: Violins and Violence
For those who like: The Killers, The Naked and Famous
- Shane Gilchrist
5 stars (out of 5)
When the fractious Crowes strode out of Atlanta in 1990, all bell-bottoms and wailing Stones-isms, they were a little out of step with their Seattle contemporaries, and so it has been ever since.
Staying true to the rootsy rawk'n'rawl that has served them well, the Crowes have decided to call it a day by rewarding their fans with Croweology, cobbled from 20 road-weary favourites.
Evoking the jam-band feel of their legendary live show, the six-piece has such a cocky swagger that Croweology couldn't be a more fitting way to draw a line under 20 tumultuous years of electric groove.
Single download: Share the Ride
For those who like: The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers, The Band, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan
- Mark Orton
