New Music Guide

Reviews of Hot Leg, Mazes, Neko Case, Yeah Yeah Yeahs + More

Posted by: Adam O'Connor + Laura Witkowski on March 17, 2009 at 10:37 am

nmg1

Hot Leg , Red Light Fever (Barbecue Fever, 2009)

MP3: I’ve Met Jesus

The Darkness obviously always had a shtick. It was a shame, although nobody seemed to notice or even fucking care, when they broke up in 2007, when frontman Justin Hawkins checked into rehab for cocaine and alcohol abuse. While the remaining members scraped themselves together under the moniker Stone Gods, Hawkins set off to start his own project (with Pete Rinaldi of Anchorhead and Samuel SJ Stokes of the Thieves). Thus, we have Hot Leg. Thank god, nothing seems to have changed from the sound and feel of The Darkness. The faux-Freddie Mercury sound is still there, and the familiar ridiculousness of songs like “Gay in the 80s” and “I’ve Met Jesus” are still obviously alive and kicking on Red Light Fever. If you can stomach the shenanigans, or were ever a fan of the Darkness, this album is pure gold. — AO

separator.jpg

Mazes, Mazes (Parasol, 2009)

MP3: I Have Laid In The Darkness of Doubt

For those who love bands that love the Kinks and New Zealand pop, Mazes would like to meet you. Their self titled debut makes hard nods to the aforementioned along with Belle & Sebastian and Felt — but it’s not all derivative. Primarily a trio, made up of Caroline Donovan and songwriter Edward Anderson, two members of Chicago’s 1900’s (not to be confused with Glasgow’s 1990s) plus Charles D’Autremont (consistently referred to as the “peculiar friend”) Mazes invited a whole slew of additional musicians into the mix to bring their songs to life. This cooperative, pals-lending-a-hand method comes through loud and clear – the 11 songs on Mazes are a solid soundtrack for kicking back with friends on a breezy spring or summer day. — LW

separator.jpg

Neko Case, Middle Cyclone (Anti-, 2009)

MP3: Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth

Listening to a Neko Case album has always been like getting yelled at by a rodeo clown. No matter how dark her lyrics are, her voice is too beautiful for it to be truly that much of a bummer. There seems to be an overabundance of cute redhead female vocalists in recent years, but Case blends the proper ingredients. Middle Cyclone continues from where Fox Confessor Brings the Flood left off in 2006. Each song is a sad tale from god-knows-where, but whether she’s wailing on tracks like “This Tornado Loves You” or sweetly applying her vocals to backing instrumentals reminiscent of the New Pornographers (”Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth”), she seems to get it right on every track. If you’re looking for a genuine alt-country album, Middle Cyclone was partially recorded in a barn located on Case’s newly-purchased farm in Vermont…and that’s about as bumpkin as it gets. — AO

separator.jpg

Anni Rossi, Rockwell (4AD, 2009)

MP3: Ecology

Anni Rossi is a woman with a serious knack for that quirky, warm, string-led, indie folk sound that teeters on the edge of being too precious. But Rossi isn’t a whimsical, head in the clouds, let’s-wear-Renaissance-garb-and-talk-about-dragons type chick. Like a more acoustic, less Icelandic Bjork meets early 90’s alt rockin’ Australians Frente, Rossi lilts though Rockwell’s 10 short and well structured songs with viola and voice as her main vehicles. Steve Albini shows us his softer side with his production work on the multi-instrumentalist’s debut. For added value, snuck in among her own material is a well placed Ace of Base cover. Sweet. — LW

separator.jpg

Swan Lake, Enemy Mine (Jagjaguwar, 2009)

MP3: Spanish Gold, 2044

On their first foray into indie rock super-groupness, Dan Bejar (Destroyer), Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade) and Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes) brought us 2006’s Beast Moans. While that debut certainly contained elements of all their strong suits and styles, it frequently felt like each was playing a different awesome song at once. Enemy Mine finds the three in true collaborative form, each song displaying their ability to play off of each other and use their shared power for good over cacophony. Though fans of Mr. Bejar and Mr. Krug will be all over this, some of Swan Lake’s strongest tracks this time around have Mr. Mercer’s signature all over them. The opener “Spanish Gold, 2044” is a fine, fine example. — LW

separator.jpg

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz (DGC/Interscope, 2009)

MP3: Dull Life

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are already so fucking cool, they could release live recordings of alpacas feeding set to Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, and it would still sound kosher. With each album, the YYYs continue to mature and expand their sound. It’s Blitz! continues down the epic path of previous releases Show Your Bones (2006) and Fever to Tell (2003). While overall, this album offers more synthy-dance-beat-pop-robot-boner sounds (”Zero” and “Heads Will Roll”), there is no shortage of the band’s patented indie rock angle (”Dull Life” rivals any rock track on any release so far this year). Their most listener-friendly album to date, expect It’s Blitz! to be even more well-received and critically-accepted than their previous releases. — AO

Tags: , , , , ,

Comments

2 Responses to “Reviews of Hot Leg, Mazes, Neko Case, Yeah Yeah Yeahs + More”

  1. Elle Sawa on March 17th, 2009 1:24 pm

    All Ace of Base covers are well placed, Laura. ;-)

  2. Dannielle! on April 5th, 2009 10:37 am

    Hey you guys have forgot to mention Darby Todd! The drummer of Hotleg.

    Their album is great and I’m glad Justin is back! He is really nice to talk too, funny, talks randomly random sence and has a great sence of humour esp. He is honest. Allthe guys are really nice : ). I never met Pete unfortunately: (. But he is gr8 too. Samuel just needs to talk a lilmore lol, likeme I need to aswell.. aint so quiet I bet!
    Their all just so sweet esp him lol.

    but yea guys get their album.. It’s awesome!!!

SHWFLYR

The Gories

  • Recent Posts

  • Tags

  • Archives