Still trying to get back on the ball with updating this thing on a regular basis, so part of that will include catching up on the past month or so worth of new releases and some brief thoughts on them. Here's a batch, this time with P-Fork style numerical ratings for those that like that sort of thing.
Morrissey - Ringleader of the Tormentors (Attack)
You Are The Quarry was the big "comeback" album, so how does this one fare? Pretty well as it turns out, though not quite as successful as the last one. As you've probably read elsewhere, Morrissey seems to have found love in his life and for once he's not really holding back on letting us know. RotT actually includes one of his most direct love songs in "To Me You Are A Work of Art", but with the expected cynical Moz twist. The album, full of epic climaxes and string sections, aches to be larger than life and grandiose but ends up a little too overbearing at times. And not one but three songs with the ever-popular kiddie chorus seems a little much for one album. But still, tracks like "Dear God Please Help Me" and "You Have Killed Me" are full-on Moz classics sure to please any fan. (8.1/10.0)
Recommended Tracks: "Dear God Please Help Me", "You Have Killed Me", "In the Future When Alls Well"
Secret Machines - Ten Silver Drops (Reprise)
This disc was bound to be a slight disappointment no matter how good it ended up being, thanks to my hefty expectations after falling hard for the debut and killer live show. I expected something that pushed the bombast of the first album further into outer space, but instead the band seems to have tightened things up a bit and toned down the heaviness. The opener and closer are both wonderful tracks that showcase the band's talents perfectly, unfortunately the stuff they bookend doesn't hold up quite as well. It's difficult for me to pin down exactly why this album doesn't work as well as the last one, but it has something to do with the way many of the tracks slide right on past without leaving much of an impression. Ten Silver Drops just doesn't seem to have the same ear-grabbing intensity as Now Here is Nowhere, and it nearly kills the flow of this one. I have a feeling some of the tunes may grow on me over time, but for now I'll just hold on to the hope that their Lollapalooza appearance renews my faith. (7.3/10.0)
Recommended Tracks: "Alone, Jealous, and Stoned", "Daddy's in the Doldrums", "1,000 Seconds"
Taking Back Sunday - Louder Now (Warner Bros.)
Spare me the grief - I am, and always have been, a sucker for well-crafted songs on the poppier side of the punk/emo continuum and TBS is one of those bands that can usually be counted on for quality songs of that vein. Nothing groundbreaking, but they've always seemed to have a way with hooks that elevates them above the millions of soundalike clones. For the jump to a full-fledged major label, the band ditches some of the more emo tendencies that showed up on the two earlier albums and instead focuses on a more straight-ahead rock feel. It's easy to see why people might have dismissed this band in the past (songs titles like "Cute Without The 'E'" certainly didn't help), but I think its fair to say the band has moved beyond some of the nu-emo stereotypes that may have given pause. This is a band that deserves the same kind of mainstream attention My Chemical Romance got last year and this should be the album to break them wide open (releasing "Twenty-Twenty Surgery" as a single should help). (8.0/10.0)
Recommended Tracks: "Makedamnsure", "Twenty-Twenty Surgery", "Miami"
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