Don't let the unwieldy album title or the pictographic clown-butterfly composition fool you. Danish trio
Mew is certainly impressive, but still a few concept albums shy of bat-shit crazy. In fact,
No More Stories is fairly tame in comparison to 2005's sinuous and gloomy song suite,
And the Glass Handed Kites. Where
Kites stockpiled instrumentation,
No More Stories cuts the fat and makes do with the group's new orientation (bassist Johan Wohlert left the band to concentrate on fatherhood).
Jonas Bjerre, Bo Madsen, and Silas Utke Graae Jergensen have forged onward in some remarkable ways.
No More Stories starts with the tick of a clock on opener "New Terrain," but quickly reverts to
Kites' twisted haze as a din of vocals, cymbal crashes, and guitars come together and strive for our attention. Admission single "Introducing Palace Players," starts largely as an outstanding instrumental breakdown - drums and guitars sway and stutter in unison as murmurs of keyboard fill in the gaps. Singer Bjerre's falsetto is firmly attached to the expectations here. The sensuous space rockers "Beach" and "Hawaii" and the repeated piano on "A Dream," are as simple and straightforward as the trio will likely get. They're all very welcome after
Kites' infamous rigidity.
The ambitious "Sometimes Life Isn't Easy" may be the only interruption of ideas here. Compressing an elderly vocalist, a steady handclap bridge, and a choir into a five minute track may be too much for some, but I have to admit, it's a bit catchy. Despite this small shift, No More Stories' closest cousin is Mew's other primary daydream-inducing album, breakthrough Frengers. So when a mesmerizing, fragile song like "Cartoons and Macrame Wounds" references the intricate art of knot decorating, it's also a suitable metaphor for the music Mew creates. No More Stories is the most intricate batch of songs they've produced, but practical enough for daily listening.
On his debut, A Strange Arrangement, 29-year-old multi-instrumentalist Mayer Hawthorne channels Smokey Robinson and Isaac Hayes. This makes Hawthorne a candidate for the original Motown label rather than Peanut Butter Wolf's Stone's Throw imprint. But, Hawthorne's incorporation of the odd breakbeat upgrades his brand of soul into the present time - without turning it into neo-soul. Hawthorne's mostly falsetto/occasional baritone finds its stride on "Let Me Know." The Supremes would do well with the up-tempo horn honks and handclaps on "Your Easy Lovin' Aint Pleasin' Nothin'." And "Maybe So, Maybe No" finds Hawthorne crooning sassily, puncturing honeyed tones with Stevie Wonder borrowed "la-la-las"
Herve Salters, the man behind General Elektriks, is known for his keyboard prowess. This is apparent on General Elektriks' 2005 debut, Cliquety Kliqk, and even more so on Good City For Dreamers, where it sounds like Salters has split himself into a five-piece electro-indie pop outfit. Dreamers plinks along pleasantly, Salters' voice soothing and unobtrusive, paying homage to various influences (Sly Stone, Eurythmics). "Cottons of Inertia" is deliciously comforting with its temperate rhythms, and just when you start drifting off, "You Don't Listen" brings you back with squalling guitars. For the most part, Dreamers is a quirky take on The Beatles' white album.
From the moment primary vocalist Alison Mosshart (The Kills) begins to sing "Hang You from the Heavens" from The Dead Weather's debut single, anyone familiar with the last decade of Jack White's musical output will recognize his influence. Horehound, the first full-length release from this supergroup, which includes guitarist Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age) and bassist Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs, The Greenhornes), rumbles with the dark power that has characterized much of The White Stripes' recent work. Mosshart often seems to be delivering a Jack White impersonation and, shockingly, it's a pretty damn good one. By stepping out from her relationship with her main collaborator, James Hince, Mosshart is no longer the smoldering indie rock seductress, and instead gives us new character, closer in spirit to RTX-era Jennifer Herrema.
Interestingly, this album is at its weakest when Jack White is taking the obvious lead. One example is the funk-infused "I Cut Like Buffalo," with lines such as "You know I look like a woman/But I cut like the buffalo." The otherwise awesome "Treat Me Like Your Mother" is soiled by the "time to manipulate" breakdown where both singers spell out the word manipulate.
Don't let the unwieldy album title or the pictographic clown-butterfly composition fool you. Danish trio Mew is certainly impressive, but still a few concept albums shy of bat-shit crazy. In fact, No More Stories is fairly tame in comparison to 2005's sinuous and gloomy song suite, And the Glass Handed Kites. Where Kites stockpiled instrumentation, No More Stories cuts the fat and makes do with the group's new orientation (bassist Johan Wohlert left the band to concentrate on fatherhood).
Jonas Bjerre, Bo Madsen, and Silas Utke Graae Jergensen have forged onward in some remarkable ways. No More Stories starts with the tick of a clock on opener "New Terrain," but quickly reverts to Kites' twisted haze as a din of vocals, cymbal crashes, and guitars come together and strive for our attention. Admission single "Introducing Palace Players," starts largely as an outstanding instrumental breakdown - drums and guitars sway and stutter in unison as murmurs of keyboard fill in the gaps. Singer Bjerre's falsetto is firmly attached to the expectations here. The sensuous space rockers "Beach" and "Hawaii" and the repeated piano on "A Dream," are as simple and straightforward as the trio will likely get. They're all very welcome after Kites' infamous rigidity.
