Quantcast

Call for Music Critics and Music Bloggers

Music
cover art

The Drugstore Cowboys

Chapter 3006

(Lujo; US: 10 Oct 2006; UK: Available as import)

The duo that is the Drugstore Cowboys might have been to a couple of drugstores in their time, but they aren’t western at all. The programming of this album brings to mind the Beta Band at their craziest, or Air if they began wearing more vampire capes during performances. Audibly unnerving at times, Philippe Grenade and Jeff Scott try to capture the electroclash fad with “Horror Flick, Scene 1: Introduction to Chaos” and the somewhat more refined “These Clouds Will Never Catch Us”. But after a minute or so of this, you start looking at your watch or wondering how long this is going to continue. And using 9/11 audio snippets discussing “jumpers” won’t create too many admirers either. For a few songs, there is a vibe that sounds like Trent Reznor on his moodier, less industrial days, as is the case with “Penguin Tuxes at the Disco Bar”, with the almost obligatory “screamo” lines added in. The same can be said for “Mind of a Sales Man”, but “Eulogy to a Friendly Foe” is a far better effort, resembling a darker Depeche Mode. Generally, though, this is an album best left on the shelf or, perhaps more appropriately, left in Mr. Grenade’s mind. Need more proof? Check out “Only Fire Drives Away the Rats!”.

Rating:

Originally from Cape Breton, MacNeil is currently writing for the Toronto Sun as well as other publications, including All Music Guide, Billboard.com, NME.com, Country Standard Time, Skope Magazine, Chart Magazine, Glide, Ft. Myers Magazine and Celtic Heritage. A graduate of the University of King's College, MacNeil currently resides in Toronto. He has interviewed hundreds of acts ranging from Metallica and AC/DC to Daniel Lanois and Smokey Robinson. MacNeil (modestly referred to as King J to friends), a diehard Philadelphia Flyers fan, has seen the Rolling Stones in a club setting, thereby knowing he will rest in peace at some point down the road. Oh, and he writes for PopMatters.com.


Comments
Now on PopMatters
Call for Music Critics and Music Bloggers (Announcements) [Tue, 3:00 pm]
Bone and Bell Release Second EP (Mixed Media) [Tue, 10:00 am]
Cannes 2012: Day 9 - 'Student' + 'In the Fog' (Notes from the Road) [Tue, 9:00 am]
The 10 Greatest Aspects of the 'Star Wars' Franchise (Short Ends and Leader) [Tue, 8:00 am]
Devil May Cry: HD Collection (Reviews) [Tue, 6:45 am]
The Walkmen: Heaven (Reviews) [Tue, 2:00 am]
  1. The Top 10 Overplayed Songs You Hate by Artists You Love (Sound Affects)
  2. Tea with 'Sherlock': Investigating the Investigators (Features)
  3. Sunk? This 'Battleship' Stunk! (Short Ends and Leader)
  4. Tenacious D: Rize of the Fenix (Reviews)
  5. Top Ten Lost Midwest Punk Singles (Sound Affects)
  6. Like 'Doom', In Heels (Moving Pixels)
  7. 10 Pieces of Cinematic Art That Require Revisiting (Short Ends and Leader)
  8. Punk Rock's Pet Sounds: An Interview with Bomb the Music Industry! (Features)
  9. She's a Rainbow: A Tribute to Donna Summer (Features)
  10. Counterbalance No. 82: U2's 'Achtung Baby' (Sound Affects)
  11. 'Albatross': A Not-So-Weighty Coming-of-Age Meets Mid-Life-Crisis Film (Reviews)
  12. Counterbalance No. 83: The Stooges' 'Fun House' (Sound Affects)
  13. We Will Avenge Them Or… Be Avenged?: The Individual in the US Experience (Features)
  14. The Queen and Her Crayons: An Interview With Donna Summer (Features)
  15. The Best Canadian Records of the Year? The Fun Agony of Voting for the Polaris Prize Long List (Sound Affects)
  16. Killer Mike: R.A.P. Music (Reviews)
  17. The 10 Greatest Aspects of the 'Star Wars' Franchise (Short Ends and Leader)
  18. Early Summer 2012 New Music Playlist (Mixed Media)
  19. Flash Points: Mommy's Breast, Marriage Equality and Why Chipotle Is King (Features)
  20. Sherlock Holmes, Dirk Gently and the Case of the Eccentric Detective (Columns)
  21. Sergio Leone: Something to Do with Death (Columns)
  22. In Support of Supports (Moving Pixels)
  23. Flash Points: Chicks, Sluts and Facebook (Features)
  24. In Defense Of... Rock Radio: A Force in Popular Culture (Columns)
  25. The Cult: Choice of Weapon (Reviews)
  26. Garbage: Not Your Kind of People (Reviews)
  27. Saint Etienne: Words and Music (Reviews)
  28. Willie Nelson: Heroes (Reviews)
  29. 'People's Pornography': The Mundanities of Pornography and Surveillance Culture (Reviews)
  30. Feeling '80s Spirit: Post-Hardcore Punk for the Plastic Generation (Columns)
PM Picks
Music Archive
Announcements

© 1999-2012 PopMatters.com. All rights reserved.
PopMatters.com™ and PopMatters™ are trademarks
of PopMatters Media, Inc.

PopMatters is wholly independently owned and operated.
PopMatters is a member of BUZZMEDIA Music, MOG and Guardian Select.