Mini-reviews vol. 1: Broadway Calls, Kid Cudi, and Taking Back Sunday
This is a compromise. I have a lot of opinions, and have a hard time trying to decide what to write about. And when I do write something, it's horribly long winded and you just want to scream FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP WRITING I GET IT ALREADY at me (which you can do at aeryn@raincityambience.com or you can send me nice things. Or questions. Or just... whatever). So in the interest of getting something done and not boring you to death... I bring you mini-reviews. Sometimes they'll be sorta vague (sorry), and sometimes I'll still tell you too much (...sorry?) . But, I'm already rambling again, so without further ado...
Broadway Calls- Good Views, Bad News
Broadway Calls is the way pop-punk SHOULD sound (All Time Low... I'm looking at you). Fast, tight, and with wonderful gang vocals at every turn. You can tell that these guys care about the music they're making much more than how cool they look or if they're going to get laid, which has disturbingly become the norm for the genre. You can feel the same kind of energy as you did listening to early Movielife, New Found Glory, and The Starting Line albums, and I have no problem putting this album in such good company. This was by far the best pop-punk album of the year, and I can only hope that these guys can catch on and breathe some life into a genre that feels like it's been on life support for far too long.
8/10
Kid Cudi- Man On The Moon: The End of the Day
Kanye West's protege might just have what it takes to someday step out of the considerable shadow of his mentor. The production is really top notch (not that you would expect anything else from someone working this closely with Kanye) and often feels very similar to Kanye West's early 2009 release 808s and Heartbreaks (but, you don't have to listen to Kanye bitch and moan over auto-tune!! yayy!!) which gives the album a very atmospheric out-of-this-world kind of vibe. That being said, the disc still feels very diverse-- Day N Nite and Pursuit of Happiness are stylistically similar, but otherwise are about as different as can be—and as you make your way towards the end of the disc you actually see a pretty dramatic shift in style towards beats that feel significantly more organic than those earlier in the disc. Perhaps this means that the man on the moon is homeward bound? That isn't to say that the disc isn't without problems, however. If you haven't noticed, I've already mentioned Kanye's name a bunch of times, and it's not a coincidence. First of all, the lyrical content isn't quite as lofty as ambition as the production—a problem congruent with most of Kanye's efforts. Perhaps more importantly, though, I don't really feel any connection with Kid Cudi. The disc does get surprisingly personal at points, his battles with night terrors are chronicles on this disc, but it still seems to me that he doesn't have much of a personality. To me, he more or less seems like the stoner version of Kanye West. Kid Cudi is very interesting to me, but I worry that his close association with Kanye might stifle him as an artist, and continue to muddle what could otherwise be a very interesting persona in the very stale mainstream hip-hop scene. The potential, however, is all there and I'm excited to see what tricks Cudi has up his sleeve for the future.
7/10
Taking Back Sunday- New Again
There's nothing new, original, or fun about this album. Matthew Fazzi is a fine guitar player, but TBS fans have come to expect so much more out of their guitarist. The dueling vocals that had become the bands trademark are nonexistent, and even the biggest fan of Louder Now will be hard pressed to find a lot to like here. It's clear that Adam Lazzara isn't the strongest songwriter, and it really shows on this album just how much he leaned on John Nolan and Fred Mascherino. The band tried to forge itself a new identity, and instead we get a disappointing mess. Anybody else think that maybe it's time for Adam to be kicked out of the band? Or maybe Mr. Lazzara will drive enough musicians to leave and work on their own music that the “We Hate Adam Lazzara tour” will finally come to fruition (Brand New, The Color Fred, and Straylight Run would be the line up as of now... not bad, eh?).
3/10
Broadway Calls- Good Views, Bad News
Broadway Calls is the way pop-punk SHOULD sound (All Time Low... I'm looking at you). Fast, tight, and with wonderful gang vocals at every turn. You can tell that these guys care about the music they're making much more than how cool they look or if they're going to get laid, which has disturbingly become the norm for the genre. You can feel the same kind of energy as you did listening to early Movielife, New Found Glory, and The Starting Line albums, and I have no problem putting this album in such good company. This was by far the best pop-punk album of the year, and I can only hope that these guys can catch on and breathe some life into a genre that feels like it's been on life support for far too long.
8/10
Kid Cudi- Man On The Moon: The End of the Day
Kanye West's protege might just have what it takes to someday step out of the considerable shadow of his mentor. The production is really top notch (not that you would expect anything else from someone working this closely with Kanye) and often feels very similar to Kanye West's early 2009 release 808s and Heartbreaks (but, you don't have to listen to Kanye bitch and moan over auto-tune!! yayy!!) which gives the album a very atmospheric out-of-this-world kind of vibe. That being said, the disc still feels very diverse-- Day N Nite and Pursuit of Happiness are stylistically similar, but otherwise are about as different as can be—and as you make your way towards the end of the disc you actually see a pretty dramatic shift in style towards beats that feel significantly more organic than those earlier in the disc. Perhaps this means that the man on the moon is homeward bound? That isn't to say that the disc isn't without problems, however. If you haven't noticed, I've already mentioned Kanye's name a bunch of times, and it's not a coincidence. First of all, the lyrical content isn't quite as lofty as ambition as the production—a problem congruent with most of Kanye's efforts. Perhaps more importantly, though, I don't really feel any connection with Kid Cudi. The disc does get surprisingly personal at points, his battles with night terrors are chronicles on this disc, but it still seems to me that he doesn't have much of a personality. To me, he more or less seems like the stoner version of Kanye West. Kid Cudi is very interesting to me, but I worry that his close association with Kanye might stifle him as an artist, and continue to muddle what could otherwise be a very interesting persona in the very stale mainstream hip-hop scene. The potential, however, is all there and I'm excited to see what tricks Cudi has up his sleeve for the future.
7/10
Taking Back Sunday- New Again
There's nothing new, original, or fun about this album. Matthew Fazzi is a fine guitar player, but TBS fans have come to expect so much more out of their guitarist. The dueling vocals that had become the bands trademark are nonexistent, and even the biggest fan of Louder Now will be hard pressed to find a lot to like here. It's clear that Adam Lazzara isn't the strongest songwriter, and it really shows on this album just how much he leaned on John Nolan and Fred Mascherino. The band tried to forge itself a new identity, and instead we get a disappointing mess. Anybody else think that maybe it's time for Adam to be kicked out of the band? Or maybe Mr. Lazzara will drive enough musicians to leave and work on their own music that the “We Hate Adam Lazzara tour” will finally come to fruition (Brand New, The Color Fred, and Straylight Run would be the line up as of now... not bad, eh?).
3/10
Posted by: Aeryn Coss
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