Kelis Finds New Sound On New Album

Kelis has always been experimental. From the Neptunes produced rock/R&B/dance/hip hop hybrid of her first three albums to the hip hop inspired fourth record, Kelis Was Here,  Kelis always was outside the box. Then in 2010 Kelis released Flesh Tone which was a dance album that while it was good, was a step back for the singer.
On her sixth album Food, out last month, Kelis has a more throwback soul sound that mixes in rock and electronic elements. Gone is the aggression of her debut single and first hit "Caught Out There." Gone is the sexuality of her biggest hit "Milkshake" and the attitude of "Bossy."
The album starts with three of the album's best songs. "Breakfast" is a joyous love song that starts the album off right.
"So much of who we are/ Is who first taught us how to love," Kelis sings.
First single "Jerk Ribs" is a great track that is soulful with great percussion and a killer saxophone melody. Next is the album's best track "Forever Be." The song is also the poppiest on the record. It's catchy and Kelis' label would be foolish if this wasn't the next single off of her album.
The next song is a boring ballad "Floyd." This song has good vocals from Kelis and a good chorus but the song isn't as great as the previous three tracks. Kelis keeps things midtempo on "Runnin.'" The song is better and has very honest.
"How can I forget you/ You're never late/ You're always right there to my rescue," Kelis sings.
"Hooch" picks things up with a faster tempo and more danceable melody. This song is a highlight of the album. "Cobbler" is very similar keeping the up-tempo part going.
Next is another highlight. "Bless the Telephone" is an acoustic cover of a song by Labi Siffre. It's a duet with Sal Masekela who is the album's only featured artist. The song is soft and vulnerable, something Kelis rarely is.
"Friday Fish Fry" is up next. This up-tempo track has Kelis' most soulful vocals on the album. The song has a Western vibe to the instrumentation. "Change" is another low point of the album. The song is decent but doesn't stick out compared to the other songs.
Second single "Rumble" is another highlight. The song discusses her divorce from rapper Nas. The album hits another snag with "Biscuits n' Gravy." This song is a piano based ballad that is boring and starts out too slow and never really picks up. The album closes on a high point with "Dreamer." This song is a very graceful ballad. It's one of the best songs on the record and it is a great idea to close the album with this.
Kelis keeps changing her sound up and Food is no exception. Hopefully on her next album she keeps up the experimentation.

Neon Trees Keep Getting Better

Neon Trees released their third album Pop Psychology last month and it comes as a new era for the band. Singer Tyler Glenn came out of the closet and has been writing more honestly than he ever has.
This record has no bad songs and is proof that Neon Trees are a force to be reckoned with. They continue along the path of their sound which features new wave, pop rock and indie rock.
The album's best songs are "Love in the 21st Century," second single "I Love You (But I Hate Your Friends)" and third single "Voices in the Halls." The latter being a touching ballad that deals with a breakup.
"Text Me in the Morning" and "Teenager in Love" deal with love and youth and are both energetic and catchy. "Unavoidable" is a duet with drummer and vocalist Elaine Bradley in the vein of "Mad Love" off their last record. These songs are more fun and have cheeky lyrics. That is what Neon Trees are best at. Sassy lyrics that also pack emotion.
"I drew my name in lipstick on a mirror at your sister's house/ She told me I was strange, I told her, 'Thanks,' and kissed her on the mouth/ But you don’t go that way/ I thought you had a thing for fancy boys/ Looks can be deceiving," Glenn sings in the first verse.
"Sleeping with a Friend" and "Living in Another World." both deal with Glenn's homosexuality. "Sleeping with a Friend" which serves as the album's first single is a fun new wave song that Glenn says he wrote about having sex with a straight male friend. "Living in Another World" is a fun rock inspired song about living a double life.
"I guess I've always been this way/ It's been hard for me to say/ Close my eyes take me away," Glenn sings in the second verse.
The album closes on a high note with the autobiographical "First Things Fist." This song serves as the fourth single and is a song that has influences of synthpop and gospel. The song deals with Glenn's trip to LA with guitarist Christopher Allen.
The only song that isn't as good as the others is "Foolish Behavior." This song is very boring and doesn't stick out like the rest do. Even with this minor hiccup this album is one of Neon Trees best albums and shows that they are great musicians.

Breathe Carolina Keep It Tame On New Album

Breathe Carolina released their fourth record Savages last month and it's pretty tame compared to past albums. The songs on their last album Hell Is What You Make It had a passion to them that made that their best record. That album yielded their one hit single "Blackout."
After losing founding member and unclean vocalist Kyle Even lesser bands would have called it quits. However the band didn't replace Even and this album is almost devoid of their previous post-hardcore influences on their first three albums.
The album starts out with the four best songs on the record. "Bury Me" is a dance pop song that is packed with attitude and meant to be sung with a middle finger in the air.
"Fuck repercussions/ They don't mean shit to me," singer David Schmitt sings during the pre chorus.
"Bang it Out" features Karmin and is a fun dance number that is sure to be a hit. "Sellouts" which features Asking Alexandria singer Danny Warsnop is the lone post-hardcore inspired song. It deals with success and how some fans have been hating and calling them sellouts. The band applaud their fans who have stuck by them.
"You're fascinated with the old me/ and how you hate it when we don't scream/ You're stuck in the past and I'm not looking back/ I didn't do it just to make you happy/ I do it for the ones still clapping/ You're stuck on the fence and I'm over it," Schmitt sings during the first verse.
"Shots Fired" is a straight up pop song that sounds like it could be off their previous album. It deals with the betrayal the band felt when Even left.
After that the rest of the record is hit or miss. The acoustic laced "Please Don't Say" to the excellent title track to the chill "Chasing Hearts" which features Tyler Carter of Issues are all great songs. However when mixed in with songs like "Shadows," "Collide" or "I Don't Know What I'm Doing" that aren't that great it makes the listener not stray past the beginning of the album. While these songs aren't bad, they just aren't as memorable. If they came on shuffle on an iPod you might listen to them but you wouldn't really go out in search of them to listen to.
Savages has it's great moments and it shows that Breathe Carolina aren't going anywhere and they can survive adversity and still make good music.

Betty Who Reaches for Greatness on New EP

Betty Who is pop's new it girl. The singer's first EP The Movement provided Betty Who with her best song "Somebody Loves You." This is her best song and of the best songs of the past year. The singer achieved success and got mainstream attention. Her music has been used in commercials and television shows and she's gotten a ton of press. Her music is 80's worshiping dance pop that brings to mind Katy Perry and especially Robyn.
Betty Who released her second EP last month, Slow Dancing.  The EP opens with the magical first single "Heartbreak Dream. The breakup ballad is a touching and fun song that is sure too have people dancing. This song is the best song on the EP and one of Who's best songs.
"In a moment/ You were everything to me/ In this moment/ We're living in a heartbreak dream," Who sings gorgeously during the chorus.
The EP's next song is "Alone Again." This song is a midtempo song that in which Who tells her lover that he'll never be alone again. The song's guitar solo is a nice touch that makes the song stand out form her other music.
"Giving Me Away." is the next track and it picks up the pace a little. The song is an honest look at a love affair and is packed with emotion. Who is good at having a dance inspired song, but making you feel something. This EP showcases her vulnerability and that's what so endearing about her .
"Lovin' Start" is a soulful song that is a nice change of pace from the other songs on the EP. It's good to see that Who can experiment with different genres and styles. While this isn't the strongest song on the EP, it's still enjoyable.
"Silas" the final song on the album is a delicate song that is just beautiful. The acoustic song is a gorgeous ballad that tells a story of love. The song is about taking a chance on love and waiting for a lover..
"I'm hopelessly romantic/ Hopefully he can stand it," Who sings.
The song is one of the best songs Who has written thus far. Hopefully she'll have more acoustic moments on her future releases.
This EP is better than her first and goes to show that Who is a force to be watched in the pop world.

Punk Goes 90's Volume 2 is Hit or Miss

Punk Goes 90's Vol. 2 is the second Punk Goes 90's album and the fifteenth album in the Punk Goes... album series. While most of the covers lately have been metalcore and post-hardcore in lieu of punk bands.
While there are some good songs on this album, a lot of them aren't good. Let's start with the good. Get Scared's take on Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy" is one of the best songs on the record and is a great cover that is true to the original and Asking Alexandra's cover of Nine Inch Nail's "Closer" is very loyal to the original version. Both of these songs are great and their covers are almost as amazing. Another song that works well is the strangely good cover of Smash Mouth's "All Star" by Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!. A hardcore cover of this song shouldn't be as great as it is, but it is. Foo Fighters' amazing song "Everlong" is given new life by The Color Morale.
The album's best cover is Ice Nine Kills' cover of "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by Green Day. The band keep up the acoustic sound but incorporate a more upbeat pop-punk approach. Another album highlight is Hands Like Houses soulful cover of Natalie Imbruglia's cover of "Torn" by Ednaswap.
Now onto the bad songs. Stone Temple Pilots' "Interstate Love Song" is given a boring cover by Memphis May Fire. The Ghost Inside's cover of "Southtown" by P.O.D. is just bad and a very big miss. Yellowcard perform a boring cover of "Today" by The Smashing Pumpkins and Motionless in White fuck up "Du hast" by Rammstein. Mayday Parade do nothing special to Bush's "Comedown."
Howeever by far the worst cover is Falling in Reverse covering Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise." This cover is so bad. There are no words to express how bad. The breakdowns are the most pointless part. They could easily have gotten rid of that and just kept it hip hop.
This compilation may have been the nail in the coffin of the Punk Goes... compilations. Each album gets worse and has more cheesy songs.

 

Lacuna Coil Lose Their Steam On New Album

Italian gothic metal band Lacuna Coil's seventh album Broken Crown Halo was released last month and it starts out strong, but eventually the album ends on a rough patch.
The first 6 songs are the strongest on the disc. From the opening two tracks first single "Nothing Stands in Our Way" and "Zombie" this gothic metal band start off on the right foot. These songs are heavy and catchy and fun. They feature something that isn't usually found on Lacuna Coil songs as of late, harsh vocals. Male vocalist Andrea Ferro screams while female vocalist Cristina Scabbia sings gorgeously.
The album's next two songs "Hostage to the Light" and "Victims" keep the rocking vibe going and are solid Lacuna Coil songs. They are aggressive and catchy and melodic. They go greatly into the next two songs, second and third singles "Die & Rise" and "I Forgive (But I Won't Forget Your Name)."
The latter is by far the best song on this record and lyrically deal with moving on from betrayal. "I forgive the ones who hurt me/ But I'll not forget your name," Scabbia sings with attitude during the chorus.
The next song "Cybersleep" is very boring and could be taken off the record. "Infection" steers the album back to being good. However next is "I Burn in You." This song is decent but it's forgettable. The only redeeming quality is the harsh vocals halfway through from Ferro. The next song is "In the End I Feel Alive." This song is a fun and aggressive song that is a good song, but not better than anything the band have done.
By the final song, the listener is bored by the album's second boring half. Even the good songs here aren't as good as the first 6. "One Cold Day" is a slow burning song that is a tribute to loved ones who have passed on. The song is touching but it's boring and cliché.
While this record is decent, it's not as good as the band's last and best record Dark Adrenaline. It would be much better for the band to have released an EP with the first 6 songs and not a whole record. It shows that Lacuna Coil can still write good songs though and that's a quality a band never wants to lose.

The Used Release Worst Album

Last month emo kings The Used released their worst album, Imaginary Enemy. While it's a good album, the rest of the previous records were great and this album is a let down.
The record shows little experimentation and growth. On the lead single "Cry" the band stick to their childish lyrics.
"I'm gonna make you bleed just a little bit/ I'm gonna make you pay just for making me cry," singer Bert McCracken sings on the chorus of this rocker. While it's a good song, it's not as good as the band's older music.
One thing that is a turn off is the band's political lyrics. On songs like "Revolution" and "El-Oh-Vee-Ee" the band successfully have a political undertone to their lyrics. Other songs like "Generation Throwaway" and the title track come off as too preachy. The last thing people want from the used is political music.
The most cheesy song on the record is also the most political, "Kenna Song." It's a cliché slow jam that is an attempted rallying cry for change.
When looked at compared to the band's best album Lies for the Liars this record looks worse than it is. But compared to Artwork or Vulnerable it isn't as bad. The Used would do better to stay away from political songs and just keep it the way they usually do.