The Winery Dogs

 

If you are one of the ten people out there who have been waiting for a Mr. Big Vol. 2 reunion, then this is as good as it gets.  Ah, that's not fair, really, because this is more a "supergroup" now and Richie Kotzen was only with Mr. Big after Paul Gilbert bowed out.  Bassist extraordinaire Billy Sheehan is still one of the best out there in rock land and he and RK are joined here by drummer Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater fame.  Correct are you to guess this is a stereotypical classic rock ripper.  Kotzen sings like Chris Cornell at times (and there are plenty of comparisons of this album to Soundgarden all over the blogosphere) and then comes off like David Coverdale on others.  BKP opined that it sounded like a matured Van Halen (makes sense as Sheehan played with DL Roth) but it struck me more as a Van Hagar brand.  I remembered seeing the lead video months ago and liked it...



...but from this point on, I labeled it "too serious," whatever that means.  Probably because I had noted Chickenfoot as a contemporary, a band that always seem to be having fun.  I only found one more track to keep after the requisite three spins, so I searched for it to add here and found this Chicago radio station's segment containing an acoustic version (cool!) with a short interview at the outset...



The album landed high on all the various Rock charts and inside the Top 30 of the overall big boy.  Saw several live videos from their tour in Brazil.  That proves these guys are veterans as that market is sure to love what they do.  The record is five months old (I know, I'm soooooooooooo behind), but if you've got an old metalhead on your Christmas gift list, this would be perfect.

Editors "The Weight Of Your Love"

 

I bought this about six weeks after its release in July and then waited nearly three months to pop it into rotation.  I so adored their last record in 2010 so why the hesitation?  I believe it was rooted in a call to WPRK around Labor Day when I heard the distinctive vocals of Tom Smith emanating from the auto's radio.  I asked the female DJ if the track was from the new Editors album and my phone suddenly turned very cold as she replied, "No, it's from their first album.  They've gone downhill since."  BRRRRR!!!!  Well, she was partially correct as this album falls very short of my personal standard for the band.

First listen, track one.....ummm, maybe that will grow on me.  Track two.....five-star song...



And that, my friends, was the single highlight of the entire record.  There were a couple of marginal tracks (I'll actually keep just one more), some interesting lyrics and Smith's cool voice.  However, I'm going to say this album suffers from Simple Minds Syndrome.  You know what that is, right?  The disease that affects front man vocalists which alters their view of reality, causing them to believe they can carry a band by themselves.  Happened to Icehouse, too.  There are a couple of songs on here that wouldn't have made the cut on a Comsat Angels album and one that would have ended up on the editing room floor of a Fields Of The Nephilim session.  Thank goodness for the acoustic versions of two said marginal tracks included at the end of my purchase, both far superior to the originals, which were bathed in bad New Wave.  Here is one from a German morning show...



My notes all had a theme in common, "What's happened to them?"  Now I know.  The guitarist left the band and there are two new members in his stead...hardly ever a good sign.  And why on earth would you take this band to Nashville to record?  Bad, bad, bad idea...  They've never had much success here in America with only one of their records cracking the Top 200...and it ain't this one.  Signs of disenchantment from their British base, too, as this one peaked at #6 when the previous two were #1.  They've had their best chart runs in Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands. 

Dude, just go solo if you want to do another album like this...

The Paper Kites "States"

Not exactly sure if I discovered this through one of my forays onto the Australian charts but I'm glad I did.  This band has developed by the proverbial grassroots approach and apparently wins over an audience when they play.  Even our local indie-weekly music critic said, "It comes in gentle but deceptively large waves.  And it may steal over slowly and quietly, but it ultimately winds up around you in total envelopment and embrace.  By the time you realize it, you're already swimming in its richly crafted beauty."  And this guy strikes me as a metalhead!   I wish I'd known they were playing.  Hate that I missed my shot.  Anyway, this is full-length uno after a couple of EPs and it's a keeper...



I think it's filling the void for the many Aussie fans of Angus & Julia Stone now that they've gone solo routes.  This fan-produced video is for one song off the album that's a dead ringer for the Stone siblings...



The young lady's voice reminds me at times of the lovely Julianne Regan and her time in All About Eve.  I've read other comparisons most of you will be familiar with, such as Dylan, Bon Iver, Simon & Garfunkel (one track is scary similar), late-era Beatles and Radiohead. 

Out domestically about two months, it has yet to crack a chart.  They recently wrapped up their six-week swing through the US and Canada that I missed and I've yet to see the first negative review.  Every one of you who purchased the last Civil Wars album needs to consider "States."  And while you're at it, try the solos from Angus and Julia Stone, too. 

Thank you... 

Primal Scream "More Light" (Deluxe)

 

I really dug this band's breakthrough album from the early 90's, "Screamadelica," and was really into that whole UK-based alternative/indie/pop/dance scene.  The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, The Farm, Black Grape, etc., etc., etc..  Maybe you remember this song from 1991...



...and maybe not.  Rolling Stones comparisons flew wildly then and there are still echoes of them on this new record.  That song is the final track on the main album which really bodes well if you can sequence that kind of quality LAST!  Just for comparisons, let's visit the opener and its official video...



That sax line made me look to see if was the little cutie from The Zutons playing it.  In between and including these two bookends is one of this year's most solid psychedelic rock albums.  The Deluxe edition I purchased was a Japanese release with two bonus tracks (both worthy) and what's dubbed the Extra Light disc with six more (just two are filler).  One of the extras is a Troggs cover. 

I wish I could tell you what prompted me to give this album a try but I can't.  I'm just glad I did.  May very well end up on my Best Of list for 2013.

The Civil Wars

 

This is a gorgeously dark masterpiece that deserved its #1 debut.  It would be a crying shame if it's the band's final recording.  There is obviously a spiritual/mental/emotional connection between these two people so where is the surprise that physical would follow......allegedly.  Stir in the band's manager is Joy Williams' husband and what a soap opera that European tour must have been.

Here we are a full quarter after the record's release and it's still hanging on the charts somewhere around a buck fifty, quite the testament to the quality of the recording because it's had zero support.  There won't be any more videos or appearances to push sales through the holiday selling season.  Hell, John Paul White has disappeared into the Alabama backwoods and hasn't been heard from in nearly a year.  "Irreconcilable difference of ambition" my ass.  Maybe the boy is pissed that he seemed to take a back seat to Williams on this record, I don't know.  Even Charlie Peacock, Nashville-based Christian music songwriter/producer extraordinaire hasn't been able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

This is a powerful album that is best absorbed.  Envelope yourself in a quiet room sans distractions or slip between a set of nice headphones and prepare to be won over.  If you want sing-alongs, this isn't for you.  Always fond of interpreting other's music, this one is buried deep in the queue...



That's far superior to the Smashed Pimples version.   
                  
I'll relate this to another successful duo's breakup decades ago and predict that Williams becomes the Simon and White ends up the Garfunkel. 

Walter Trout & His Band "Luther's Blues - A Tribute to Luther Allison"

I sat on this a while since I wasn't a major follower of Mr. Allison (I'm just not that deep a blues purist) and tribute records are hit or miss...mostly miss.  I did not know a single one of his compositions covered here.  Walter Trout is probably the most prolific guitarist out there that most of YOU don't know.  He's been releasing an album practically every year since 1990 and I only retained my first one (studio) last year with "Blues For Modern Daze."  So the math of the two together...in tribute format, no less.......eeesshh, did not bode well and therefore the procrastination.

Well, five of the eleven covers were definitely worthy and the cow that tipped the scale was the one Trout composition deposited as the album's closer... http://grooveshark.com/s/When+Luther+Played+The+Blues/5bMmLa?src=5
Here is a video post from his label group announcing the record...



Yes, I know, it's been out for five months...shoot me.  The guy's got a great voice to pair nicely with his blues licks, and he ain't a young buck, either.  His label's stable includes The Rides and Leslie West, both with albums in queue, and previous records by Robert Cray and Steve Lukather. 

So, I now own two Walter Trout studio CDs...

Portugal. The Man "Evil Friends"

 

I was genuinely surprised when I received this in a care package from BKP.  Didn't think it was quite his cup o' tea but knew I was a fan.  Turned out he'd heard a couple of tracks on satellite radio and found it worthy.  If that's not proof this is the band's best record to date, nothing is. 

Can't really add much to the two previous posts on earlier albums, "American Ghetto" and "In the Mountain in the Cloud," except that this one is in collaboration with Danger Mouse, nominated for five Grammys for Producer of the Year with one win.  I'm not a fan of the bands he's in or worked with, but it doesn't take a genius to hear the change/improvement from previous Port.Man albums.  My point is this:  Here it is five months after the album released with four featured tracks so far and the tunes I note as favorites are not among those four.  That's some serious, quality shit...



That's one of my choices for a hit (Thom Yorke's, too), f-ing lyric notwithstanding.  There are a couple other album tracks featured in this Bonnaroo backstage session, if you are interested.  Good stuff.  Found one of the featured four in a KROQ  session...



If the drummer is out of his teens, I'm shocked.  Cute young background singer with Mork's Mindy-look.  Normally, I'm not a fan of an upper-register-Barry-Gibb-like male vocal but I can live with this because the music surrounding it is phenomenal.  I've had this in the player for over a month.  Love it.

Not sure I'd want to see them live, though...

Ours "Ballet the Boxer 1"

In my mind, one of the most underrated bands of the 21st century.  Not that they've been prolific, mind you.  This is album #4, five years removed from album #3 (referenced in this blog's initial post), which came six years after the first two albums went bang-bang in '01 and '02.  This was their very first radio "hit"...



...and their last.  This isn't anywhere close to being one of their better "radio ready" songs.  And did I mention that the first three albums were all major label releases?  With all that major label budget money?  Hell, the last one had Rick Rubin spinning knobs!  That year alone Rubin also produced albums by Weezer, Metallica, Linkin Park, Slipknot and Neil Diamond (!).  The Ours album barely sniffed the Heatseekers chart while three of the others mentioned went #1.  I'd be frustrated, too, if I was band leader Jimmy Gnecco.  He put out a solo record three years ago that sounded like a beaten man to me even though I eventually kept it. There is a hint in that post (if you are one of the few who actually clicked the link and read it, sorry for the repetition) that will serve well for this new album......multiple plays.

When you possess the vocal instrument that Gnecco has, you have a valid reason to mix it prominently, unlike Donna Buffalo.  There are all the past comparisons, both vocally and guitar-wise, to U2 and the current ones to Muse singer Matthew Bellamy.  Both guys are wiry fellows whose vocal power must originate somewhere around their ankles.  Yet, on this Boxing Ballet album, I was slightly unsettled at the production value during the initial spin.  It was slightly thin, the drums were more commanding and the voice was less overt.  Replays, however, quashed my concerns and this album will join the other two Ours records in the "Feature 500" in my office. 

It was only after spin #3 that I begin to search for info.  I found a brilliant Canadian interview that answered all my questions.  This was a PledgeMusic-funded record with a really small goal, so no major label cash...and no major label oversight.  It's the album they wanted to make, the way they wanted to make it.  Gnecco played drums on 90% of it (a-ha!) instead of guitar.  He stated that he always felt stuck behind his guitar in a live setting and he wanted to be free of that feeling for this album.  His final statement brings it home..."Well, we’re going to do everything our way from here on out. I think that’s the only way that you can accomplish anything great. For too long we’ve been forced to pull our punches and hedge our bets. I don’t think that helps at all. So this is just the beginning of us being bold and not apologizing about it. If I sound like a firecracker right now, sorry, but I’m not [laughs]. I’m sorry that I’m not sorry. I’m tired of having to hear what everybody else thinks or wants. Go start your own band and make your own records then." 

I love this guy...

Not the way I normally do this, but I'm going to close with one of my favorite tracks from the album.  This is live (and you really have to put yourself in front of this band at some point in your life...you will definitely "get it" then) and it varies slightly from the studio, which opens with a hint of old Climax Blues Band harmonies and develops into what could eventually pass for a track from the next U2 record...