This album is not country, although if you dig a woman singing about a need for whisky so she can relax, then look no further.  This is the kind of album that straddles a couple of lines: not quite pop, not quite country, with a little rhythm and blues.  In essence this album is what marked Rock and Roll in those early days by covering all three of the needed ingredients.  Before there was anything called rock music, folks listened to country, pop, or R&B — then when someone thought to mix them all together and kids started to “rock and roll on the dance floor”, a revolution was born.

There are some great pop hooks scattered throughout these tracks; at times she sings those blues so well, while the rhythm is the one thing that can save her, and there is an underlying current of country here and there.  I picked those three women early on as comparison to try and give you an idea of what you’d be in for, and I think you can handle it, folks.  Trust me that if you dig those ladies, this album will fit in just fine with your collection.

If you need further proof check out: “Simple Feeling”, “Got to Have Rock and Roll”, “Late in the Night”, “Only for You” and  “Skin and Bone”.  I seem to be having some luck with these blind pickups and I’m glad to share them with you, folks.  This deserves some spins and a careful listen.

First things first: What in the world are you doing reading an article that is over a year old about one man’s opinion of a genre that he admittedly knows little about? And why, after reading said article, would you get so upset as to spew profanities and call names? Are you really so insecure about your taste in music that you need to defend it, combatively, from any small-time writer who may happen to type out a 400-word opinion piece on it?

I suppose I wouldn’t be asking these questions if your accusations weren’t so unfortunately wrong. Hardcore is actually a subset of punk music, just like punk music is a subset of rock and roll. I could go on about how rock and roll is a diversion from other genres of music such as blues and folk, but I won’t bore you with any of that. The point is that the whole genre debate is meaningless. There are so many countless names for countless genres that no one can keep track of what’s correct, and what’s considered correct is irrelevant anyways. A rose by any other name, etc.

Congrats on making it past the 27 Club, by the way; that’s a solid accomplishment and you should feel proud. Age has nothing to do with this, by the way. You can take offense to the “kids nowadays” line all you like, even though it was a tongue-in-cheek reference to my “hardcore” co-workers, who were all mid-twenties at the time. Or you could simply quit getting upset over something so trivial.

I think you’d do well to try some reading every now and then. It may help with your comprehension of basic facts, like the differences (and similarities) between genres of music. I would like to suggest cited resources like Wikipedia and reliable publications such as SPIN and Rolling Stone. They tend to be up on modern happenings, and usually have a decent track record of the truth.

But then again, I’m just an ignoramus, so I may be wrong.

The stage presence and focus of the band is backward, where Keenan stays in the back and the rest of the band is put in the foreground.  The focus is on the band as a whole along with the insane laser lights, smoke and videos playing on the monitors.  The band incorporates as much visual stimulus as possible so when Adam Jones’  videos are on screen they freak you out more than usual.  Nine Inch Nails used a lot of visuals but there is something about a Tool show that will scar your unborn children.

This was a tight set of songs — as Keenan said”we haven’t played some of these in a long time”, and you could tell the audience was elated to hear some favorite album cuts come to life.  Even though they have nothing new to showcase, they have an idea of what their fans want and they bring it to them.  This was by no means a”greatest hits” type of tour, and I would never expect that; this was a way for the band to stretch their legs a bit.  Keenan has also been busy, as last summer he toured with A Perfect Circle and this spring he hits the road with Puscifer.  He’s a busy fellow and you have to admire his work ethic.

There were no punches pulled at this show, the band had an agenda and served it to us.  I was more than happy to hear familiar favorites and some tracks I never thought would see the light of day.  Not addressing the audience very much, each song segued into the next, and there was almost no way to guess what would be coming at you.  After almost 10 minutes of feedback looping and some weird video, Keenan addressed the crowd by saying “well, it has come down to this” and he began the recognizable breathing that led the band to night closer “AEnema”.  Waving to the crowd and exiting the stage, many of us couldn’t believe almost two hours had passed.  Check the set, it was impressive.

Opener YOB brought their brand of doom metal that was interesting at first, but droned on for too long.  I would have preferred another Mike Patton project instead.

Dave Grohl

Breaking right into “Bridge Burning” and “Rope”, the tone was set for the evening to be filled with speed, shout-along choruses and a lot of extra jamming.  Not a little bit of jamming but a whole lot.  To be honest with you, as this was my third time seeing them in six years, there might have been half a dozen or so songs that didn’t have some kind of crazy long breakdown in the middle that pulled from the momentum of the song.  Even the guitar duel for “Stacked Actors” went on a while longer than I felt it needed to.  Taylor Hawkins proved his skill at the skins and lead vocals on “A Cold Day in the Sub”, while Chris Shiflett held his own on guitar, Nate Mendel kept a perfect groove on bass  and Pat Smear seemed to have the most fun bouncing all over the stage with his guitar.

Hold on, don’t think for a second that I didn’t enjoy myself at a packed house shouting along all the words to these songs as Dave led the way.  Oh no, I had fun, avid reader but I would trade in the jamming for at least three other tunes I’ve been dying to hear.  This shows that the band is comfortable in their own skin playing these massive venues.  I guess if you sell out Wembley Stadium to 85,000 people, then someplace like the Garden is pretty tame and you are allowed to do whatever you want.

There was no shortage of hits and fan favorites all night, with a heaping spoonful of tunes off Wasting Light.  Even a six-song encore was great as Dave took an acoustic on a raised stage to serenade the folks, myself included, sitting in the nosebleed section.  You can check the set here and if you couldn’t make it, well shame on you.  Clocking in at two hours and 48 minutes, no matter how long these shows get, I’ll still go see them play because one day I’ll hear the elusive “Hey, Johnny Park!” and live to tell about it.

Night openers The Joy Formidable were the perfect amount of fuzz and feedback to vamp the crowd while punk rock icons Social Distortion proved they are still a working man’s band and one of Dave’s favorites.

Somber and sober could be the best words to describe this record.  Many folks have written off Wilco since 2002’s classic Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and will claim the band hasn’t “gotten back to its roots”.  That assumption can go out the window, as we find this new album to be filled with heartache and happiness, if by some quirky avenues.  When Tweedy dives into his head for a story of missing a loved one or singing about addiction, he’s coming from the heart of experience and his honesty catches you off guard.  The best explanations for this cohesion of sound and style could be the fact the current lineup has worked together for their third consecutive album.  This might not sound like much of a feat to many, but there is a revolving door policy within Wilco that changed the lineup of the band for every album.

That being said, last year Wilco left their major record label and formed their own label, dBpm Records, as many other bands have done within recent years.  This newfound freedom contributed to this album as we can hear some common stories and themes, but nothing sounds forced upon the listener.  Many of the tracks are slow to build, while a few do pick up from the start, and that can be the reward of hearing something in one sitting or multiple sittings.

Check out: “Art of Almost”, “Born Alone”, “Dawned on Me”, “Capital City”, “Standing O” or the epic acoustic closer “One Sunday Morning”.  There is a lot to take in on this album, and if you’re a good listener, which you have to be if you come here every week, avid reader, then you’ll enjoy each track whether you’re a long time fan or new to the show.

Wikipedia,

This band may have pieces of some heavy hitters from back in the day; however, on this album it all comes together in a democratic vein.  The songs are fun, uplifting and catchy as hell.  These ladies still know how to rock and it may cause you to go and revisit their earlier material if you need to do some background research.  I am also a sucker for female vocal harmonizing and there is plenty on this record, as well as spot on riffs and dry wit.

The guitar attack of Brownstein and Timony is great as they play off each other, Cole’s piano and organ instead of bass is quite refreshing and Weiss’s drumming is spot on and stomping everywhere.  This is the sound of four professionals getting together, having fun and setting it to tape.  You can tell they had a good time making this album and you should have some fun while you listen.

For further evidence I suggest: “Endless Talk”, “Short Version”, “Glass Tambourine”, “Racehorse” or the rollicking “Romance”, you should also check the video.  Do yourself a favor and just pick this up.  I know I have given a lot of high ratings for albums this year but this one deserves it the most.

Mylo Xyloto

Martin described Mylo Xyloto as a concept album. It’s about two protagonists, Mylo and Xyloto, who live in a dystopian urban environment, meet each other through a gang, and fall in love. Martin describes the album as  “based on a love story with a happy ending.” It is inspired by “old school American graffiti” and the anti-Nazi pacifist ”White Rose Movement.” This could be interesting, right?

The first single from the album, “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall,” was released in June. It quickly told listeners that we (thankfully) will be hearing the same old Coldplay that we’ve always heard, even if Martin was trying hard to make this one different. This one definitely didn’t resonate with listeners as much as “Viva la Vida,” but hey, one band can only be expected to have so many songs that become  “Song of the Year.” “Viva la Vida” was Coldplay’s first number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

The second single of the album was released early in September. “Paradise” gets off to quite a slow start. You’ll listen and think, where is this going? Similar thoughts were sparked by many of the tracks on Coldplay’s 2008 album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. Two minutes later, you hear the artfully simple Coldplay-esque chorus and wonder, was it worth it? Well, do you like Coldplay? It’s as simple as that. This album isn’t throwing listeners any curveballs. Well, that is, unless you count the fact that Rihanna is featured on the track, “Princess of China.” I was left a little confused about that, myself. We could go through this album track by track, but it wouldn’t be very illuminating.

Mylo Xyloto is neither exciting, nor disappointing. Even if they were trying to accomplish something different than they normal do, it’s probably for the best that they didn’t. It’s just Coldplay, doing what they always do, and they’re good at it.

Now that guitarist John Frusciante has left the band for good, RHCP brought in session man Josh Klinghoffer to fill the void.  Too bad he doesn’t shine too bright on this album as the massive drums of Chad Smith and Flea’s funky bass hammer on many of the tracks.  When there is a chance for a guitar solo, I’m not rocketed through the stratosphere as I once had been.  You’ll even notice Anthony Keidis using fewer jokes, and he’s trying to sing more than rap, which would be cool if he wasn’t sporting a strange mustache.

Yet this is a band that has seen many ups and downs, along with countless lineup changes over the past 30 years.  If anything, this album feels like a stop gap until everyone can feel comfortable enough to kick out the jams.  That, and I think they need to get rid of Rick Rubin as producer and bring in someone else to mix it up a bit.

As the elder Peppers are all nearing 50 (I know, right?) you can understand they may not want to sing about girls, drugs and doing nasty things with girls and drugs.  This album will tide over folks that loved the last two records and makes allusions to something better if they decide to drop another record in the future.

Check out: “Factory of Faith”, “Look Around”, “Happiness Loves Company”, “Monarchy of Roses”, “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie” and “Brendan’s Death Song”, which is dedicated to the memory of a lost friend and might be the best track on the album.  I’d suggest checking these songs first before running out to grab a copy –  or borrow it from someone if you can.

Starting in the 1960’s with influence from The Beatles, Velvet Underground and Led Zeppelin.  Often citing The White Album as the cornerstone of music, they had been known to cover songs off of White Light/White Heat or II when jamming with friends and many of these covers can be found on bootlegs or on video.

Moving through the 1970’s with the massive sound and ballad work of bands like Black Sabbath, Kiss, Aerosmith and Boston, maybe the complexity of David Bowie or the snarling attitude of The Knack and Cheap Trick pushed them in another direction.  They wanted to write big songs to be played live, yet give them that introspective touch and smart wit to put your tongue into cheek.

However, the largest area of influence would be the 1980’s and fledgling underground movements between punk, new wave, hardcore and college rock the band borrowed most.  From Seattle proper there was Green River later Mudhoney, Beat Happening, the Melvins, Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone, Tad, Screaming Trees and other northwest groups like Wipers.  Moving toward California was Flipper and Black Flag while the Midwest brought The Replacements, Devo and Husker Du.  The south would send R.E.M., Daniel Johnston and The Butthole Surfers while the Northeast provided Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, and The Pixies — later The Breeders.  You can even jump across the pond for The Raincoats, The Vaselines and Gang of Four.  Each of these bands provided angst, frustration and a need to be heard by so many people, but no one knew how to get the word out.

Funny how a little 12-song LP shattered so many preconceived notions and exposed the world to a scene that had been boiling over for almost a solid decade.  You can hear all of those bands throughout the tracks.  If anything, the phrase “alternative rock” became a blanket term to use for that middle ground between punk and metal.  For me, this album started life on a mix tape in 1996 when I was 13; I didn’t know what I was hearing then and I still don’t know what I’m hearing now.  Maybe it was a revolution, maybe it was nothing, whatever, nevermind.

A simple three-piece from the City of Angels fronted by Mark Foster on vocals, guitar and keyboards, Cubbie Fink on bass and Mark Pontius on drums produces these infectious grooves.  If you had the same affinity for Yeasayer last year, chances are you’ll enjoy this album a little bit more.  Foster the People works very hard in crafting massive drum beats and smart synthesized hooks, wrapping it up in songs that make you want to move.  If you grew up on a steady diet of 80’s synthesizer pop, 90’s house music and easygoing lyrics, this album would be the final product.

There are comparisons that can be made to MGMT but I don’t find Foster the People to be as pretentious as MGMT comes off.  Where MGMT seems to take things more seriously than they should, Foster is relaxed in lyrical content and focused on driving beats into your head.

Aside from the summer’s biggest hit, “Pumped Up Kicks”, you should also consider checking out “Helena Beat”, “Houdini”, “Warrant”,”Call It What You Want”and”Waste”.  This album is short and begs to be played on repeat in your car or at a gathering of friends after a long work week.  If you didn’t pick this up over the summer, run out and grab it now to savor the heat before you have to resort to a winter jacket full time.