05.
Cains & Abels
“Money”
[Whistler Records]
Another song that we had the pleasure of premiering on the site this week, “Money” is one of the stand-out tracks from Cains & Abels album My Life Is Easy, which was released this week. “Money” finds the Chicago three-piece rocking away, loudly but cleanly, focused more on delivering a good, punchy riff than being show offs about it. “Money” also comes packed with a good, catchy vocal line, which is probably one of the main reasons why it was chosen as a showcase for My Life Is Easy.
– Rob Hakimian
04.
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
“Man On Fire”
[Rough Trade]
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ debut album, Up From Below, was beloved by many for its tales of love and its general friendliness. “Man On Fire,” an early taste of what’s to be a busy year for the band as they plan to release two albums, follows much the same formula. Alex Ebert sings about how everybody wants love and happiness – except him. The song starts off rather somber, but by the end the addition of a little piano and other bright sounds transforms it into a bright pop song, and maybe Ebert wants love and happiness after all.
– Rob Hakimian
03.
Sigur Rós
“Ekki Múkk”
[Parlophone]
Of course the return of Sigur Rós was going to bring in a lot of clicks; almost more than any other band in the world, they seem to appeal to fans of every genre who can’t help but wonder at their beautiful behemoths of songs. “Ekki Múkk,” our first taste of upcoming album Valtari, is “floaty” just like the band promised in early interviews, going back more towards the less-structured songs that they had on their early albums. The song is 7-minutes long, but somehow its shapelessness makes you feel as though you’re not getting the whole picture. That will come when we get to hear Valtari in its entirety at the end of May.
Rob Hakimian
02.
Japandroids
“The House That Heaven Built”
[Polyvinyl]
Sometimes less is everything. Our second taste of Celebration Rock (following last year’s “Younger Us”), due out June 5th and more eagerly anticipated than perhaps any other release in the genre this year, “The House That Heaven Built” has been called anthemic and punk-poetic, but actually it is significantly better than that. By navigating the easy pitfalls of such descriptors with a mesmerizing cocktail of economy and power, Japandroids have composed a track that at once ushers us into their world of “celebration,” a beautifully simple meditation on relationship and future, and conjures a sort of ecstatic catharsis that is frequently imitated but rarely nailed. Japandroids nail it. There exists a razor’s edge in rock on which “The House That Heaven Built” dances with the “fuck all” we as humans feel too often but can’t articulate. On either side of that narrow passage is banality, cliché, lameness… but by sticking (in their own way) to their dukes, Japandroids have delivered a track that feels important not only to the canon but to me, personally, and likely also to you.
– FM Stringer
01.
Tenacious D
“Rize of the Fenix”
[Columbia]
Whether it’s because Jack Black is a world famous movie star, or whether it’s because people still have a lot of good will left over from their very amusing 2001 debut, Tenacious D are still as popular as ever. The first single and title track from their upcoming album, “Rize of the Fenix,” finds Tenacious D in self-referential mode with Black pondering how they can win back the hearts of the fans they lost with their poor second album, The Pick of Destiny. The song starts small but ends big with Black spinning off on a tangent about how fans will have to have their Tenacious D tattoos removed if they mess up again. Humorous as ever, but is it good enough?
– Rob Hakimian
