The Busy Signals, 'The Busy Signals' (Dirtnap)
Record geeks and punk-diva ringer bring power-pop fury.
By Jason Buhrmester 01.18.08 4:17 AM
Halfway through "Plastic Girl," the opening track on the Busy Signals' debut, a Buzzcocks riff gives way to a hot and sweaty X-style harmony between throaty singer Ana McGorty and bassist Jeremy Thompson.
SHARE THIS:
Spank Rock and Benny Blanco, 'Bangers & Cash' (Downtown)
As nasty as they wanna be -- with a postmodern rimshot.
By Marc Hogan 01.18.08 4:17 AM
Old Time Relijun, 'Catharsis in Crisis' (K)
Holy hell-raisers find heaven - and keep on going.
By Aaron Burgess 01.18.08 4:17 AM
Old Time Relijun's seventh album has its precedents: producer Calvin Johnson's trademark no-fi pop, the Cramps' sexed-up shockabilly, Captain Beefheart's gnarled jazz and R&B (OTR's name even references a Beefheart tune).
SHARE THIS:
Meshell Ndegeocello, 'The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams' (Emarcy)
She is totally forgiven for that John Mellencamp situation.
By Ely Delman 01.18.08 4:17 AM
Sounding less like the jazz-funk chanteuse of old, Ndegeocello incorporates melodic post-punk à la TV on the Radio and channels Funkadelic's acidic guitar on her seventh album.
SHARE THIS:
Ryan Bingham, 'Mescalito' (Lost Highway)
Bull rider turned troubadour tries to avoid bullcrap.
By Bret Gladstone 01.18.08 4:17 AM
Here's how it'll go: First, you'll see this young Texas singer/songwriter on the cover of his debut album -- sitting in the middle of a desolate highway, jeans torn, cowboy hat. Then you'll flip on the first track and hear pleasantly road-worn fingerpicking, plaintive harmonica, and a cigarette scorched moan.
SHARE THIS:
Om, 'Pilgrimage' (Southern Lord)
High priests of stoner doom lull, then slowly bludgeon you.
By Jon Caramanica 01.18.08 4:17 AM
Since their days in Sleep, Al Cisneros and Chris Haikus have been making monastery metal, a druggy, often quiet combo of Black Sabbath and Low. Pilgrimage throbs and grinds with hypnotic, almost dubby bass.
SHARE THIS:
