Ten Most Anticipated Albums Of ‘10

While I’m busy preparing a careful summation of 2009’s musical landscape, I thought I’d offer up one more list for you guys. Rather than looking to the past this time, here’s 10 highly anticipated albums slated for release in 2010:

10. Massive Attack- Heliogoland (02.08.10): It’s been nearly 7 years since Massive Attack’s 100th Window and what a long wait it’s been for Heliogoland. While the trip-hop innovators have quietly worked on soundtracks and even dropped a teaser E.P. (2009’s Splitting The Atom E.P.), anticipation for a new LP is at an all time high. Yet rather than retreat into the glitchy keyboards that slowed down 100th Window, the almost tribal “Prayer For Rain” and string laced “Splitting The Atom” hint at a darker sound this time around. Guest vocals from TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and Blur’s Damon Albarn add another level of interest beyond the band’s mysterious appeal.

9. Alkaline Trio- This Addiction (02.23.10): After 2008’s overly slick Agony & Irony, Alkaline Trio are reportedly going back to their old punk roots with This Addiction. Signing to Epitaph, recording with Goddamnit! producer Matt Allison, and making Social Distortion comparisons are all great signs, but big-talk is cheap. Still, road-testing cuts like “Dine, Dine My Darling” and “This Addiction” on their most recent tour has excited fans and interested skeptics. The Trio sound lean, caustic, and morose, all the ingredients that made us fall in love with them in the first place.

8. Tally Hall- TBA (Second Quarter 2010): Not much is known about the Tally Hall’s follow up to 2005’s incredible indie debut Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum, but fans of the band are glued to YouTube while they wait. The Michigan 5 piece played a hand full of new songs on their last tour such as The Beatles tinged “Misery Fell” and the folk flavored “Sacred Beast,” before entering the studio this past October. As they work with producer Tony Hoffer (Beck, The Fratellis, The Kooks), it’s safe to expect more whimsical weirdness and genre bending from these color tie clad minstrels.

7. Vampire Weekend- Contra (01.11.10): How does a band follow up a debut album that critics adored and pop culture went nuts over? If you’re Vampire Weekend you write new songs as if the first record never happened. Due out in January, Contra finds the indier-than-thou 4 piece creating some of the most exciting material of their short career. “Cousins” zooms by with a flurry of notes and spastic drumming while “Horchata” is a sweet love song underneath a veneer of thick beats and playful xylophone. Be sure to check out Contra before it becomes “uncool” to like Vampire Weekend.

6. Jack’s Mannequin- TBA (Third Quarter 2010): It’s been a busy few years for Jack’s Mannequin’s front man, Andrew McMahon. Since The Glass Passenger dropped in 2008, McMahons’s been on the road touring as well as promoting his DVD/EP combo, Dear Jack, a gripping documentary about his fight with leukemia. Now that the tours and the recovery are behind him, McMahon has his sights set firmly on the future of piano led tunes. He’s reconvened in Southern California to write his follow-up to The Glass Passenger, hinting that the local has hit him with a strong sense of Something Corporate nostalgia. Be it SoCo memories or Jack’s dreams, you can bet his heart will be on his sleeve in these new musical explorations.

5. Bad Religion- TBA (Fourth Quarter 2010): Bassist Jay Bentley was the one to initially spill the beans, sharing with fans that Bad Religion would be entering the studio this coming April. To take it one step further, guitarist Brett Gurewitz tweeted that fans could expect a new Bad Religion album next fall. However, barring those small snippets, there has been no word as to what the material will sound like. Taking into consideration how tight and well-composed 2007’s New Maps Of Hell was, these 40-year-old punks will have a tall order to fill.

4. The Black Keys- TBA (April 2010): Singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach got his solo record out. Along those same lines, drummer Patrick Carney contributed his talents to his side project The Drummer. Then, both members of The Black Keys invited a host of MCs like Mos Def and Pharaoe Monch to spit rhymes over their thick garage rock on Blackroc. As if that wasn’t enough, both Aurebach and Carney are promising fans a new Black Keys album in April. With their signature grit and frantic work ethic, it’d be surprising to see anything less than spectacular from this duo.

3. My Chemical Romance- TBA (Second Quarter 2010): After the Queen level theatricality of 2006’s The Black Parade, My Chemical Romance have promised a stripped down and gritty rock record this time around. Tapping Brendan O’Brien for the production duties, MCR showcased three new songs at a series of secret shows at the Roxy in Los Angeles, songs that sound about as far removed from the bombastic material on Parade. Instead, the choppy punk swagger of “Hail To The King” and the bluesy punch of “The Drugs” finds My Chemical Romance flirting with 70s bravado and attitude instead of make up and uniforms.

2. The Beastie Boys- The Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1 (First Quarter 2010): First off, the decision to push back the release of The Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1 due to MCA’s battle with cancer was a tough decision to make. However, the fact that MCA beat the disease, that the album is finished, and that a Part 2 is on the way, are more than enough reasons to get excited. And if the leaked tracks are any indication of what’s in store for fans, than Hot Sauce is going to blow some serious gaskets. “Lee Majors Come Again” is a fuzzy punk number with aggressive turntables and MCA and Mike D’s signature whine. Elsewhere, “Pop Your Balloon” features big beats and exotic strings as these 40-year-old MCs show the iGeneration what old school hip-hop is all about. Hopefully, Mike D will shower us not only in mp3s, but some ill rhymes.

1. Radiohead- TBA (Rumored 2010): Other than guitarist Ed O’Brien letting it slip that Radiohead were indeed working on music in the studio, nobody knows anything about the group’s eighth LP. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Still, doesn’t it feel better to know that the most innovative and focused band in the digital age is working on SOMETHING?

25 Most Important Albums Of The 00s

With the end of 2009 in firm sight, everyone who’s anyone is coming out with a list of albums that’s supposed to mean something to everyone. As such, here’s my first list for you guys, a list that culls together the most important albums of this decade. While many of my favorites are on here, many are not. I looked for albums that left big marks on the musical and pop culture landscapes, not just solid releases or ones I took to heart. In the end, I settled on 25 albums that I believe people will look back on as defining for the 00’s.

So without further adieu…

25. Thursday- War All The Time (2003)
24. Fall Out Boy- From Under The Cork Tree (2005)
23. TV On The Radio- Dear Science, (2008)
22. A.F.I.- Sing The Sorrow (2003)
21. Beck- Sea Change (2002)
20. Bloc Party -Silent Alarm (2005)
19. Animal Collective- Strawberry Jam (2007)
18. Coldplay- A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002)
17. Interpol- Turn On The Bright Lights (2002)
16. Nine Inch Nails- Year Zero (2007)
15. Norah Jones- Come Away With Me (2002)
14. Kanye West- The College Dropout (2004)
13. Taking Back Sunday- Tell All Your Friends (2002)
12. Modest Mouse- The Moon & Antarctica (2000)
11. M.I.A.- Kala (2007)

10. Radiohead- In Rainbows (2007): No one will forget how the “pay-what-you-want” mechanism was for Radiohead’s seventh album. The bigger surprise, however, was that the band crafted an album so tight and focused, that the warm and lush songs never got lost in the media hullabaloo. Moreover, In Rainbows showed that high art could go hand-in-hand with innovative e-commerce.

9. Brand New- Deja Entendu (2003): While the Long Island sound had been perfected by other bands, Deja Entendu was held up as a gold standard for the melodic hardcore scene. Yet what made Brand New standout was the effortlessness of their witty song craft, and the sonic sophistication they held when compared to their contemporaries. While other bands mined Lifetime or The Promise Ring, Brand New mined The Smiths, Radiohead, and U2 to create a haunting dreamscape and a watershed album.

8. Sigur Ros- ( ) (2002): While Sigur Ros crept into mainstream consciousness with their previous album, ( ) was the album that made them a household name. Additionally, ( )’s cold and slow moving textures exposed the world to post-rock music in a way that no other artist has been able to do since. It’s safe to say that without ( ), the world would have to look for huge hazy movements and twinkling melodies in a much more structured form.

7. The White Stripes- Elephant (2003): If the public wasn’t sold on the garage rock revival when The White Stripes, The Strokes, The Hives, and The Vines all came on the scene, they were after Elephant. Jack White became a serious artist after Elephant, the world taken with his abusive blues guitar and his penchant for hooks. Continuing the band’s modest trend of reinvigorating American blues and folk, The White Stripes reminded the world that rock music could have unbridled passion after an era of boy band pop. That’s exactly what they did with Elephant.

6. Eminem- The Marshall Mathers LP (2000): At the turn of the century, there was no other rapper more controversial or as angry as Eminem. While the Slim Shady LP showed how American society had created monsters, The Marshall Mathers LP displayed Eminem as a satirical Exhibit A. Over gritty beats and dark themes, The Marshall Mathers LP exposed everything ugly about Middle America as Eminem turned the conservative right’s hatred inwards. While he’s long past the point of relevancy, every rap album afterwards that has maintained an image of street credibility takes its cues from this record.

5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Fever To Tell (2003): Before Karen O was joyfully contemplating where the wild things were; she was busy screaming on this jagged art-punk masterpiece. While Fever To Tell will forever be remembered for the gentle atmospheres of “Maps” the majority of the disc revels in crashing riffs, stutter-stop drums, and O’s signature wail. Her feminist howl reminds listeners that in an age of pre-packaged beauty queens, one could still be empowered with just the right amount of hipster-laden moxie.

4. Death Cab For Cutie- Transatlanticism (2003): While indie pop was breaking through to the mainstream in the early 2000s, Transatlanticism became its flagship record upon release and the album to measure to there on after. It’s easily to see why; Ben Gibbard’s bittersweet poetry and Chris Walla’s clean but immersive guitar work drew listeners in by the thousands. While the group would go on to release bigger albums, Transatlanticism remains the rock that the church of indie pop was built on, paving the way for broken hearted lovers and anyone willing to tune into The OC.

3. Jay-Z- The Blueprint (2001): The Jigga Man might have been hip-hop’s Nostradamus, showing the future of the genre with his aptly titled opus, The Blueprint. The record’s old jazz/soul feel showcased the production talents of Kanye West, a man who single handedly slanted hip-hop’s production style for the decade, and featured Jay-Z’s ruthless rhymes as hip-hop’s top MC. From start to finish, The Blueprint’s back-to-basics approach and modern execution has, pun intended, served as the blueprint for every successful hip-hop record that preceded it in the 00s.

2. Green Day- American Idiot (2004): At a time where the nation’s social climate couldn’t be any more demoralized, Green Day released a punk-rock opera that kicked ass and took names. Critical and radio recognition was overwhelming, and the Bay Area trio had struck a chord in the American psyche, revitalized their career, and expanded their sound with one colossal release. While detractors and naysayers will moan about the eyeliner and merchandising, the songs do the talking, showing the importance of rebelling against the alienation and complacency of the digital age.

1. Radiohead- Kid A (2000): In many ways, Radiohead’s grand electronic experiment is the perfect summation of the 00s, and therefore, the most important record of the decade. It was the first record to truly leak onto the Internet (via Napster), the first record to really expose the mainstream public to dense electronic soundscapes, and the first record to be meticulously crafted with computers. Simply put, Kid A reflected the iGeneration’s zeitgeist in sonic form. Before Kid A rock albums were firmly rock albums with little room experimentation, no leniency granted for evolution or artistic exploration. After Kid A, however, artists could indulge any studio impulse they desired, creating synthesized arrangements to feel as intricate or haphazard as they wished. It’s the epitome of the 00s: The idea of human potential no longer inhibited by technology, but by one’s own ingenuity. All in all, Radiohead’s Kid A is the perfect album to represent the 00s.

Norah Jones- The Fall (****)

It’s always been kind of easy to knock Norah Jones.

While 36 million records worldwide would seem to contradict that, Jones has always seemed to inspire hatred among music purists in spite of her populist appeal. She’s too young. She has many songs written for her. She’s not a true “jazz artist.” The list goes on and on for her detractors, but on her new record The Fall, don’t be surprised if certain purist start bagging on Norah because there’s “not enough Norah Jones sounding piano” on it.

Instead, The Fall finds Jones asserting more control over her songwriting (Writing or co-writing each track here), while gently shifting her pop jazz influences closer to American roots music. While Jones is no stranger to experimentation (The folk influences on Feels Like Home, and the southern jazz touches of Not Too Late come to mind), this is the first time since her debut that Jones seems comfortable with the direction. As a result, The Fall showcases Jones in a variety of moods and emotions, while coming across as a rich and lush dream.

The first single “Chasing Pirates” is a great indication of Jones’ newfound autonomy. Held together with ebbing Wurlitzer, snappy drumming, and Jones’ molasses thick voice, the track balances hooks with a bubbling effervescence. The overall affect is as buoyant as Jones is coy, but provides a certain amount of depth that’s mostly lost in pop music.

However, if there’s one thing The Fall excels in, it’s in drifting atmospheres that envelop the listener. On The Fall, guitars chime, fading in an out with rich reverb and soft distortion. Bass lines like the slinky crawl found on “I Wouldn’t Need You” pull listeners in as Jones weaves tales about love lost. Elsewhere, the smoky barroom stomp of “It’s Gonna Be” is peppered with rough blues guitar and pulsing drums, conjuring images of Bourbon Street dives and long nights.

While Jones surrounds herself with some fine musicians, her choice to hire producer Jacquire King was a gamble that paid off in spades. Known for his work with Tom Waits and Modest Mouse, King’s knob twisting makes The Fall dense without feeling cluttered. His soft, but never murky production suits Jones’ rich voice as she balances her frailty with longing, creating sounds as surreal as her prose.

The Fall might come across as sonically smooth, but it’s Jones’ stories that bear her sharp teeth. More so than ever before, Jones wears her heart on her sleeve in singing about her flaws, her insecurities, and her struggle with relationships. On “Light As A Feather,” Jones croons “While the seasons will undo your soul/Time forgives us and takes control/We separate our things to put us back together…” This sense of decay runs rampant throughout The Fall, and rather than simplifying heartache into an “Us vs Them” war of words, Jones is careful to grant weight to shared intimacy.

Ultimately, Jones’ more mature look on loss keeps her stories fresh without being preachy. The climbing blues of “Stuck” creates an awkward late night rendezvous between two people don't know how to really co-exist with each other. Lines like “I’m sitting here stuck/Plastered to me seat/I think up a reason to leave/When you finally stop speaking…” show Jones is interesting in exploring human frailties as opposed to surface level bursts of frustration. The result makes her storytelling on The Fall as captivating as the music it accompanies, perhaps the rarest feat of all in pop music.

While it’s a bit unusual to have a Norah Jones album that is so light in ivory, it’s refreshing to find Jones daring to experiment with a myriad of sounds as well as her lyrics. Yet what makes The Fall truly shine, seems to be the balance with which Jones pulls these parts together. There is not one thing, one musical slant, one lyrical idea, that overpowers the rest. Instead, The Fall comes across as a fully realized work, one where modest means and honest parables come together seamlessly, and without pretension.

On the jumpy piano of “Man Of The Hour,” Jones softly whispers about the only kind of man that could truly capture her heart: Her dog. She confesses, “You never lie/And you don’t cheat/And you don’t have any baggage/Tied to your four feet...” showing that it’s not perfection or the ideal that she’s searching for, but authenticity. Through her charming honesty, Jones hits on what we’re all searching for: The chance to live with who we truly are, without the push to be labeled as something we’re not.

But don’t worry; plenty of people will hate her for singing honestly as well.

Key Cuts: Chasing Pirates, Light As A Feather, I Wouldn't Need You

Sounds Like: Field Manuel (Chris Walla), The Remainder (Feist), Girls & Boys (Ingrid Michaelson)

Click on the artwork to sample The Fall for yourself!

John Mayer- Battle Studies (**)

Pay close attention to the cover art on John Mayer’s latest album, Battle Studies.

Notice his gray-scaled physique, his purposefully tussled hair, and his wistful stare, the target of which is decidedly out of frame. Soak it in, let John Mayer’s singer-songwriter plight consume you through the sheer force of his gaze.

Perfectly constructed sadness never looked so real.

The problem is that Battle Studies is all style, with only flashes of substance, from a musician that really started to get serious with his last album. 2006’s Continuum was a breath of fresh air for Mayer, who’d been making good but not great music for a few years prior, and put him in the realm of serious music makers. His decision to focus on his arrangements and stretch his sonic palate made for an engaging listen, and won him heaps of praise for people that thought he was just a pop dandy.

Yet instead of continuing that trend, Mayer seems more concerned with appearing sophisticated rather than actually engaging his listeners. On Battle Studies, Mayer takes his jazz/blues soft rock to Prozac-laden proportions, focusing on half-baked atmosphere and ambience rather than storytelling and song craft.

Things get off to a rocky start, the Edge inspired guitar and lush backdrop of “Heartbreak Warfare” offering listeners a massive sonic experience, but a fairly shallow song. Mayer caps it off with a strained solo, one that’s as frustrated as we’re lead to believe he is, but his lyrics that feel painfully trite. Against a symphony of anguish, Mayer amateurishly tackles the universal with no brainer hooks such as, “Once you want it to begin/No one really ever wins/In heartbreak warfare…”

And it’s only track one.

Make no mistake, Battle Studies is an immaculate sounding record. It's bass is warm and thick, it's drums are deep. The rich syrupy solo on “All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye” and the delicate acoustic melodies on “Do You Know Me” prove that Mayer enlisted some studio muscle, but there’s a tradeoff. There aren’t very many moments where the music feels organic. The digital funk of “Crossroads” flirts with a decent groove, Mayer’s southern rock delivery holding it all together, but it all feels calculated, pieced together to sell John Mayer rather than music John Mayer made.

What the record lacks, and what ultimately made Continuum so captivating, was Mayer’s ability to create intimate portraits while keeping his arrangements lively and evolving. On Battle Studies, Mayer opts to phone in his melodies, allowing songs to meander while their crispness carries them. Considering what an accomplished guitarist he is, it’s a real shame to see that potential go to waste, especially when his solos remind you that you’re on a different song.

Predictably enough, Battle Studies is best when Mayer forgets about how glossy he can make his music. The simple acoustic pluck of “Who Says” is a standout gem, a song that feels more inline with his feelings than the grandiose balladeering he’s become fixated with. Against softly brushed percussion, Mayer’s nimble melodies give way to lines like “It's been a long night in New York City/It's been a long time since 22 /I don't remember you looking any better/But then again I don't remember you…” It’s not that Mayer sounds more convincing, it’s that the words have more weight in subject matter, tackling the ambiguity that comes from fractured relationships rather than the heartbroken absolutism that peppers the rest of the album.

Battle Studies finds Mayer preoccupied with either showing how macho he is, or how torn up the ladies have made him. “Assassins” is a heavy-handed parable about encountering his heartbreaking female alter ego, while “Half Of My Heart” would make even Charlie Brown wince awkwardly. In short, John Mayer lashes out because he has a persona he wants to maintain, and it’s this persona that gets him in trouble.

Still, the record has its bright spots. “Crossroads” proves that the ghost of Al Green looms behind Mayer’s fretting fingers while the spinning melodies of “Edge Of Desire” help listeners drift into a delicate dream world. It’s clear that Mayer can write a melody, and write them well, but on Battle Studies he seems to have forgotten how to make them consistently memorable.

But fear not, because John Mayer has provided listeners with something that he feels trumps a solid record any day, his sensitive side. Battle Studies won’t change any notions or leave a lasting impact, but listeners are left with a sad breathy croon and purposefully constructed hair. Ultimately, it's the sound of plastic emotion, and of a gifted player putting his potential on the shelf.

Key Cuts: Who Says, Crossroads, Edge Of Desire

Sounds Like: The worst parts of KOIT radio.

Click on the artwork to sample Battle Studies for yourself!

Say Anything- Say Anything (****)

By a band’s fourth record, certain things are more or less figured out.

The sound has been solidified, eventually earmarking what future listeners will remember them for, and the line-up is usually cemented as the "classic" line-up if it hasn't been already. Think about this: The Beastie Boys released Ill Communication, Korn released Issues, and blink 182 broke into the mainstream with Enema Of The State. Clearly, fourth records are standard bearers and legacy makers, making them extremely important to musical artists.

By the fourth record, fans have an understanding of what a particular band is about, so it’s important for that band to put forth a tremendous effort, or risk fading into obscurity.

Whether or not Max Bemis of Say Anything was conscious of this trend is anyone’s guess. What is clear is that he set out to make a defining record for himself this time around. On Say Anything, Bemis leads his band like a pop-punk general, burning social inequities and salting the Earth with big hooks and big rhythms. Fragile neurosis in step, Bemis and his crew march through 13 larger than life tracks that focus on everything from relationships, to society, to the great big afterlife.

Fans turned off by the shear breadth of the band’s 2006 double album In Defense Of The Genre will find that Bemis has narrowed down his sights this time around. The hooks grab more immediately, and his mixing of sounds continues to uniquely color Say Anything’s music within a stale genre.

The record hits its stride early with the playfully nihilistic “Hate Everyone,” featuring snappy acoustic melodies, chunky guitar lines, and cartoony keyboards. Elsewhere, “Crush’d” flips the Say Anything sound to it’s electronic indulgences, featuring fluttering beats and crisp synthesizers while “She Won’t Follow You” sinks its teeth into melodic walls of distortion. Additionally, Neal Avron’s clean, but not compressed, production keeps a consistent feel throughout the album, even when the songs are stylistically different.

While there are a few bombastic missteps (The carnival interlude on “Mara & Me” comes to mind) Bemis seems to have settled down his musical ADD when it comes to genre splattering. It’s not that Bemis has necessarily turned a blind eye to the musical experimentation of In Defense Of The Genre, it’s that he approaches his songwriting with greater discipline and restraint this time. And after two full discs of pushing the band’s sound to its limits, Bemis has identified and refined what works for the band on Say Anything. While the record doesn’t do anything to win over new fans, Bemis’ singular vision and “evolution without self-consciousness” attitude give the album life and energy.

The album’s standout “Do Better” exemplifies this, taking a pulsing dance beat and covering it with smooth, quirky strings and a twangy guitar solo. Juxtaposed with clever word play like “Life is not a spark in space/An episode of Will & Grace/Controversial yet mundane/Debra’s messing with your brain…” it’s clear that Bemis’ sense of melody allows him some interesting sonic luxuries that accentuate his thoughts.

Bemis' thoughts, however, take this album from simply being a great sounding record into something with a bit more substance. While Bemis has matured from his is first musical outings (Finding a wife and keeping his bi-polar disorder in check) it’s clear that he approaches life with a new sense of perspective this time around.

The second half gem “Cemetery” shows Bemis at his most confessional with lines like “There's a cemetery deep below the sea/There is spaces reserved for fools like me…” Against sparkling acoustic guitars and a grinding, distorted build up, Bemis seems to be taking responsibility for the anguish in his life rather than shifting the blame onto something else as per the genre staple. In the end, he comes to the realization of “Should He asks what got me through?/If He asks me, it was you…” which illustrates Bemis’ new found faith in making human connections.

It is no longer binge and purge writing from Bemis. Instead, cuts like the military drum themed album closer “Ahhh…Men” revels in his new found self-awareness, his comfort in letting that which he doesn’t control, run its course. Bemis sings, “So can I lie in your grave at the edge of the end of the world?/Where I will sit with my love in this fluorescent swirl/Eat us up, break it down to the tiniest cell/In a room with a view and a window to hell…” finding comfort in that all things end, and all things decay, but it’s not to be seen as a failure on his part.

This ultimately creates a record that extends itself organically, while allowing Bemis’ personal growth paint vivid portraits about universal truths.

There are some missteps, “Eloise” goes on for far too long and the chorus on “Death For My Birthday” becomes a bit redundant, but those are small prices to pay for such a consistent record. While listeners will cry out that Bemis has swindled them once again in not rehashing …Is A Real Boy, Say Anything succeeds because Bemis has been able to transfer his matured voice into a greater sonic palate. The result is a record that can stand next to the best of Say Anything’s canon, and in the future, define it.

Key Cuts: Do Better, Cemetery, Ahhh…Men

Sounds Like: Catalyst (A New Found Glory), Interventions & Lullabies (The Format), Pasadena (Ozma)

Click on the artwork to sample Say Anything for yourself!

Weezer- Raditude (***)

Since 2001, one thing has remained constant about Weezer: They’ve pissed off all the critics and fans that fell in love with them in the 90s, and they’ve seemed to take pleasure in doing it.

While bands evolved and lose followers over time, none of them inspire as much hatred and betrayal that Weezer’s ex-fans seem to exhibit. Old followers and rock snobs have collectively disowned Rivers Cuomo, the supposed geek rock equivalent of Anakin Skywalker, accusing him of shifting to the pop music Dark Side with his penchant for hooks and loud guitar. By their standards, The Green Album was too slick, Maladroit was too dull, Make Believe was too poorly written, and The Red Album, for lack of a better way to say it, was just too goofy.

And now, they have Raditude to hate as well.

With 10 tracks, and a fleet of songwriting partners, Weezer’s Raditude effectively ends the hope that Cuomo will ever revisit the mindset that made Pinkerton such a cherished record. Packed to the brim with sugary hooks, punchy rhythms, and squealing guitar, Raditude revels in everything a 13-year-old boy could love about rock music, and everything a 40-year-old man needs to feel young. The result is a record that indulges in ALL of Weezer’s cheesy tendencies, but with half the fun and absence of wit.

On the surface, however, the record is certainly crisp sounding. “I’m Your Daddy” features chugging guitars and thick moog synthesizers, reminding fans that Cars-inspired power-pop never quite goes out of style. Elsewhere, the squealing pseudo metal of “Let It All Hang Out” and the acoustic backed “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” inject the disc with plenty of big sing along moments while proving that Weezer is the Bruce Lee of crunchy rhythms.

However, there are some musical detours that bog the disc down, the saccharine quality of such leaving a poor taste in some listeners’ mouths. The Sugar Ray original, but Cuomo penned, “Love Is The Answer” mines a Bollywood aesthetic that feels out of place and inauthentic to really be construed as actual experimentation. Additionally, Cuomo and producer Jermaine Dupri transform the quiet/acoustic Cuomo demo “Can’t Stop Partying” into a bombastic electronic number, with bristling club beats and dance-ready synthesizers.

Oh yeah, and Lil Wayne spits on a verse.

Weezer have always toyed with arrangements, subject matter, and song styles that weren’t native to pop-punk, but this is the first time they fail to be ironic. Raditude’s glaring weakness is its transparency; the disc’s shallowness precludes it from being an astute observation about feel-good culture while relegating it to overwrought, and juvenile, clichés. It’s not that Lil Wayne is on a Weezer record, it’s that listeners can’t take Cuomo’s party anthem about feeling lonely in the club seriously because the music has been constructed too closely to the ideas he rails against.

Additionally, Weezer’s obsession with adolescence is neither clever nor nostalgic. In fact, it comes across as lazy. “Trippin’ Down The Freeway” features an explosive chorus and strong sense of melody, but the lyrics of “I told you that you had put on some weight/You went out with somebody named Kevin Green/You preferred to go to a volleyball game/I told you that you couldn't be more lame…” offer no insight from lost youth love. Much like the Pat Wilson penned clunker, “In The Mall,” it seems like the band is stuck in their Happy Days inspired music video, and cannot move past that when it comes to their subject matter.

Ultimately, Raditude provides a fun listen if an empty one. While it’s all well and good to parade a set of songs that sound like a band enjoying themselves, there is also an issue of really looking at the quality of said songs. Again, the group banishes their best track from this era (The thick, stompy power-pop number “The Prettiest Girl In The Whole Wide World”) to the deluxe edition b-sides, and they fail to exercise any restraint when it comes to their song craft.

In short, the band needs to go back to producer Ric Osseck.

While it’s far from the end of the world, it’s frustrating to see a band just coast on their talents. Raditude is fun in the way 80s hair metal is fun, but never feels as intimate as Weezer’s past catalog. It tragically fails at making listeners think whilst they’re having fun, a hallmark of Weezer’s brightest material. This is partly because of the collaborative song writing process, and the lack of a unified voice, but also because the band seems to be through with painting intimate portraits of their lives.

Gone is the Weezer that toured as metal cover band Goat Punishment, fronted by the Havard student that painted his room all black. Instead, listeners have to accept that this is a Weezer that likes feel-good tunes while hocking Weezer brand Snuggies. While it’s always true that bands evolve and change overtime, it’s fairly uncommon to see a bad relive their teens more than two decades into their career.

Then again, maybe only a band with this much raditude is gutsy enough to try.

Key Cuts: I’m Your Daddy, Let It All Hang Out, The Prettiest Girl In The Whole Wide World (Deluxe Edition only)

Sounds Like: The Cars (The Cars), Hysteria (Def Leppard), Pasadena (Ozma)

Click on the artwork to sample Raditude for yourself!

Tegan & Sara- Sainthood (***½)

In 2007, everybody who was anybody was listening to Tegan & Sara’s The Con. The magazines piled on the accolades while stars like Tom DeLonge raved about the duo’s snappy take on new wave. The Quin sisters were the quintessential indie poster girls in 2007 and with the 2009 drop of Sainthood, it doesn’t seem like they’ll be relinquishing the crown just yet.

Tapping Chris Walla (of Death Cab For Cutie fame) to share production duties, as well as A.F.I.’s Hunter Burgan to help co-write 3 songs, Sainthood finds Tegan & Sara exercising lean melodies against the their monotone delivery and spunky rhythms.

Right off the bat, listeners will find that Tegan & Sara have corrected the major problems that bogged down The Con, namely, that the songs were too crowded. Sainthood is incredibly bass driven, its steady and melodic bounce holding down many of the tracks while Walla keeps the ambient electronics in check. The lead single “Hell” is a great indication of such, featuring Tegan’s rich voice, complimented by dry dance floor beats and fluttering keyboards. While the song’s forceful down strokes are enough to keep heads bobbing, it’s the Quins’ ability to wrap their soulful tongues around twisting metaphors that keeps the audience riveted.

Even if Sainthood isn’t any true step forward for the group, they certainly seemed to have learned how to play to their strengths and eliminate the clutter this time around.

“Arrow” bounces back and forth between cascading overdrive and thumping acoustic guitar, while Sara keeps her nasally register in check. Elsewhere, the album’s stand out “On Directing” throbs along with rich bass work, delicate synthesizers that fade into the ether, and dual vocals that add to the air of spaciousness the Quins seem to be striving for. All together, there is a very organic quality to Sainthood, a spontaneity to the songs that makes them fresher than Tegan & Sara’s previous outing. Perhaps another way to look at it is if The Con opened up the girls’ sonic palate, then Sainthood is an exercise in selectivity.

In many ways, it’s a relief to indulge in such a modest album, especially considering Tegan & Sara’s contemporaries are all trying to out-fox each other in the studio. In that respect, Sainthood never tries to be something it isn’t, opting for restraint rather than indulgence. Yet just because it’s a lean record, doesn’t mean it’s bare bones and sterile. “The Cure” sports some weighty heft with a solid, warm groove and shimmering guitar work. Tegan’s breathy croon of, “All I dreamed up/All that seemed like luck/Seems silly to you now/All I said to you/All I did for you/Seems so silly to me now…” suits the mood perfectly, the atmosphere channeling melancholy rather than rage.

This is also another step up for the girls, for while they’re lyrics have always seemed to revolve around relationships and coming of age, Sainthood feels like a broader perspective than past albums. There are inklings of maturity found all over in the album’s crevices as the Quins explore what it means to hold up relationships and adoration to unreasonable proportions. On the twinkling electronics of “Night Watch,” Sara confesses, “I've got grounds for recourse/Your lungs fill with discourse/You separate from my body/You need consistence from somebody…” The track deftly illustrates a feeling of loss all too common within the group’s subject matter, but Sainthood seems to push for a world-weary perspective rather than a bitter one. This, ultimately, makes the duos lyrics their strongest since 2004’s So Jealous, and makes Sainthood a worthy addition to their canon.

Yet while Tegan & Sara have overcome some of their usual pitfalls, they don’t evade them all. The group still cannot close out an album properly, the second half losing a considerable amount of steam and energy as it meanders along. The stutter-stop pep from “The Ocean” is the sole track that keeps it from flat lining, which is odd considering the first half’s dedication to focus. Part of the problem relies in the band’s sound, their robotic vocals tend to blend together after a while, but some more dynamic songs could have really picked up the disc’s close. As a result, the band just misses out on creating a great record, and merely makes a good one.

Make no mistake though; Sainthood is one hell of a record, expertly balancing Tegan & Sara’s wit with intimate charm. The irony, however, will stem from the fact that most critics will hold them up as indie saints because of this record, the very behavior they write against. Then again, maybe that frustrating level of dissonance will provide more fuel for their follow up.

Key Cuts: Hell, On Directing, The Cure

Sounds Like: Digital Ash In A Digital Urn (Bright Eyes), Take Offs & Landings (Rilo Kiley), The Con (Tegan & Sara)

Click on the artwork to sample some of Sainthood for yourself!