Album Reviews

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Published: Apr 28, 2010

The Runaway Bunny

If: England belongs to twee then Scotland belongs to emo. At least that's how I felt about Frightened Rabbit's earlier work — all grumpy, grandiloquent you-broke-us-up songs. (Their show at the Church on Friday is sold out, by the way.) Charming, power-poppy, infectious but way too whiny. Perhaps: That's what makes The Winter of Mixed Drinks so refreshing. Here the prevailing angst seems to be existential. "Dip the toe in the ocean/ Oh how it hardens and it numbs/ The rest of me is a version of man, built to collapse into crumbs." Topics include: death, despair, materialism. I mean: Frontman Scott Hutchison's still way up his own arse, but he's really found some interesting things up there.

—Patrick Rapa

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

You know Carey Mercer: as the least famous guy in Swan Lake (behind Destroyer/New Pornographer Dan Bejar and Wolf Parader/Sunset Rubdowner/former Frog Eye Spencer Krug). The company: he keeps is telling. Paul's Tomb: A Triumph combines the unstructured histrionics of Krug's best work (see "Rebel Horns") with the sidelong sensibilities and yen for wandering cryptic storytelling that's the essence of Bejar's catalog (record opener "A Flower in a Glove" runs 9:08). The only song: that qualifies as catchy is the excellent "Lear in Love," which means you either buy into Frog Eyes' occasionally marble-mouthed panic epics or you don't.

—Brian Howard

Same Old Smut

Ask Yourself: Are The New Pornographers toying with you? Sure, you marvel: at how the careers of Carl Newman and Neko Case and Dan Bejar have skyrocketed this way and that, and yet they all continue to honor some blood-oath to convene every two or so years to record a new collection of 12 insta-catchy hum-alongs. And, OK: Be it the grinding Newmanic opening riff of "Moves," the classic Case swells of the oh-so-timely"Crash Years" or the conspicuous Bejar idiosyncrasies of "Silver Jenny Dollar," Together delivers. Though: At some point you will ask, "Is this starting to feel samey?" then you'll be distracted by a sick chord progression into a soaring string crescendo and you'll answer, talking to yourself: "Yes, but when did we start looking gift horses in the mouth?"

—Brian Howard

Wieners and Losers

I Know: With a title like that, we shouldn't hope for something clever or edgy. And Posehn opens the album with "Take off your thinkin' caps. I'm bout to make it fuckin' stupid in here." Still: I expected something a little more polished from the 6-foot-6 orange behemoth. His appearances in Comedians of Comedy and The Sarah Silverman Show mighta hinted at deeper depths than spam and Wikipedia and "my iTunes thinks I'm gay." But: That's just me with my thinkin' cap on. For a dumb old comedy CD — one on a metal label, no less — this is pretty funny. The bonus tracks: Just in case name-checking Slayer and Dio in his act didn't prove his Relapse cred, Posehn ends the album with a heavy version of "The Gambler" and a once-will-do original, "More Metal Than You."

—Patrick Rapa

The Happening
Jónsi
Sleigh Bells
Anne Feeney
Future Islands
Vijay Iyer's Tirtha
Ceili Group