New Release: Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers - Unida Cantina

Release Date: April 19, 2011
Label: EmmaJava Records

By now, all of my friends should know I like Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers.  Sonoran Hope And Madness is one of my favorite albums... It perfectly exemplifies the union of cowboy, suburban, and Mexican culture found in Arizona.  There has never been an album to better capture modern Arizona, but I digress...

After the last two albums, No More Beautiful World, and Turbo Ocho, I wasn't exactly holding out hope for greatness with RCPM's new album.  NMBW is forgettable, and Turbo is solid, but lacks the feel that made the band so great back in the day.  I have heard some of the new tracks in a live setting over the past week, and some of them were promising.

The album opens about like I expected, after the past two albums: with a watered down pop rock song, "All Over The Radio."  Unfortunately, the next song, "Heaven On A Paper Plate," is even worse.  "Dinero" is no improvement.  "Love Is A Road" starts out cool, but quickly reverts to the form established in the first three tracks.

"Go With The Flow" is the first track I enjoyed.  It's a little faster, but it would still be an average track on Turbo Ocho.  "Marie" is the first song on this album I consider to be truly excellent, and we're already on track six.

The back side is a little better; the first track, "Empty Highway," is still a little trite, but has a great tune.  This is a good song.  "Small World" is a nice, slow acoustic piece, and possibly the most country on the album.  After a short acoustic instrumental, we get "Just Got High," which brings us back into lame territory.  "Today Belongs To The Light" is a reggae-infused song, which is normally not RCPM's forte, but sounds good here.  "Paper Airplanes" belongs on a Gin Blossoms record.  The closer, "Play On," is a nice, medium-tempo song with a relatively catchy tune.

It's hard to pinpoint what exactly went wrong here.  The lyrics are trite...where are the stories?  It's been awhile since we've had a "Jack Vs. Jose," "Lupe Montosa," or "Switchblade."  Has the lifestyle described in "Captain Suburbia" finally gotten the best of Roger?  It's really hard to identify with, or care about, anything that is said here.  Is it the slick production, bereft of any dynamics?  Thom Jurek said it best in his all-music review: the songs are "simply generic, indistinguishable from a morass of American music that has rightfully faded from memory."

This band is still one of the best live acts to see in the Phoenix area.  They still put on a heck of a show.  Their studio output, however, seems to be in a state of near-constant decline.

Tracklist:

1	All Over the Radio	3:13
2	Heaven on a Paper Plate	3:43
3	Dinero	3:43
4	Love Is the Road	4:13
5	Go with the Flow	3:36
6	Marie	3:57
7	Empty Highway	3:52
8	Small World	3:55
9	Unida Cantina	1:18
10	Just Got High	3:37
11	Today Belongs to the Light	4:36
12	Paper Airplanes	3:41
13	Play On	3:22

★☆☆☆

New Release: Eisley - The Valley

Release Date: March 1, 2011
Label: Equal Vision Records

Not sure why I decided to listen to this one... Possibly because it's brand new, and I found it streaming on the internet.  Anyhow, this is an indie-pop band made up of a family (four siblings and their cousin) from Tyler, TX.  Having heard absolutely nothing of this band, I had no clue what to expect (well, the band name is derived from Mos Eisley, so I expected it to be good).

The album title, The Valley, refers to the recent hardships endured by the members of the band.  One of the DuPree sisters had a failed marriage.  The band faced an uncertain future after leaving their record label.  With this in mind, I was expecting an album filled with desperation and melancholy.

The lyrics, as expected, are melancholy.  They sing of heartbreak, disappointment, and pain.  This is all well and good, but this music has a decidedly happy sound.  The tunes are poppy and infectious, and the production is polished and crisp.  The result is an album where there is a mismatch between the music's tone and that of the lyrics–and unfortunately, it's not done in a way that leads you to believe they're just being ironic.  The Valley is ultimately a failure; while every song is listenable, I can't help but think this is maybe just a notch above your typical white suburban female pop punk (think Paramore).  Nothing here grabs me and says, "Hey, you gotta listen to this again."

The first clue something is wrong is that the longest track is only a minute longer than the shortest.  Tolerable, but uninteresting.

Tracklist:

1	The Valley	3:20
2	Smarter	3:18
3	Watch It Die	3:09
4	Sad	3:19
5	Oxygen Mask	3:25
6	Better Love	3:20
7	I Wish	3:54
8	Kind	3:07
9	Mr. Moon	3:53
10	Please	3:33
11	Ambulance	4:04

★☆☆☆

New Release: Brandon Flowers - Flamingo

Release Date: September 14, 2010
Label: Island Def Jam Music Group 
  

For some reason, I decided to start this blog with the album I just listened to today, Brandon Flowers' new album, Flamingo.  It may not be the best choice, owing to the fact that I have never been a fan of The Killers—actually, I hate The Killers.  The whole throwback 80s U2 bombast thing never really appealed to me.  Every song sounded the same to me.  However, I decided to give it a chance, thinking that perhaps Brandon Flowers branching out on his own would free him.  Maybe it was The Rest of The Killers who were responsible for a style which I did not particularly care for.  With that in mind, I may not be the most objective reviewer for Flowers' new album, but I think I can honestly say that I gave it a fair chance.  I wanted to like it.

Here is the track list:

1	Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas	4:49
2	Only the Young	4:19
3	Hard Enough	4:06
4	Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts	4:43
5	Playing with Fire	5:49
6	Was It Something I Said?	3:21
7	Magdalena	3:19
8	Crossfire	4:18
9	On the Floor	3:25
10	Swallow It	2:56

I do have to say, standing alone, each track is probably OK.  No track stood out as being particularly terrible.  Crossfire, the first single, sounds pretty much just like a Killers song.  Playing with Fire was a pretty enjoyable track, and Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts was, dare I say, good.  The problem lies in the fact that the album has texture, but no dynamics or rhythm.  After six or seven songs that sound more or less the same, I went from wanting to hear something I haven't heard before—a new contribution, if you will—to just wanting this thing to end.  I gave up half way through on anything groundbreaking happening.

If an album is not groundbreaking, it might still be decent.  It can be a three star record.  But if it's not groundbreaking, and it is also boring and repetitive, it's a recipe for failure.  You can only take so much pomp before you say, "I just want some peace and quiet!"

My recommendation is that you listen to each track individually, and pick and choose the ones you might not mind stumbling across when you press "Shuffle."  The three bolded tracks above are my recommendations.  Because it is not a total loss, it still earns one star.

★☆☆☆