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13 October 2005

Binary Dolls, Too Much Thinking Sinks Ships (Perilymph) Rating: 6
Not only do Binary Dolls share sonic similarities with their venerable ancestors Radiohead, they also share some of their pretentiousness. This is weighty and ambitious songwriting, not to mention that the three band members' musical credits include "context", "realism" and "ennui". Despite this hazardous conceit, Too Much Thinking Sinks Ships includes a clever escape plan. The fact is this is a damn fine group of songwriters who back up their ambition with gripping ideas. Their inexperience shines through occasionally as they tend to the strike the same chords over and again. Nevertheless, when Binary Dolls strike it right, it's like lightning. "I Am The Only Master of The Ten Key" consists of an infectious chorus and a calumnious climax typical of the entire album. But even more than Radiohead, the band that immediately comes to mind is Menomena. Now I find it strange to reference a band that has but one album and not much of an audience. But the thing is, both bands' affinity for experimental pop and their common geography (Portland, Oregon) would suggest kinship, if not, thievery. My vote is for the former since there's room for both the intricate songwriting of Menomena and Binary Dolls. After all, a few more albums and Binary Dolls will be on the other side of comparisons. A few more albums and Binary Dolls will be even better than they think they are.
      — Liam Colle

A Wilhelm Scream, Ruiner (Nitro) Rating: 4
You know an album is in trouble when the artwork is more memorable than the music. Not that Boston's A Wilhelm Scream don't doggedly try to pull off something special, as many of the ingredients for a top-notch punk/emo album are all there. Guitarists Trevor Reilly and Chris Levesque deliver strong, nimble riffs that range from staccato crunches to fast melodic licks, while Reilly's lyrics, sung by Nuno Pereira, prove to be especially passionate and perceptive, much better than the hand-wringing, self-help diatribes that most of today's emo acts blather about. What's missing, though, are the songs. The album's 14 tracks, for the most part, blend into one another too much, save for the odd impressive moment, like the raging "The King is Dead", the Teenage Fanclub melodics of "In Vino Veritas II", and the brilliantly titled "Less Bright Eyes, More Deicide" (amen, brothers). But my oh my, what brilliant, stark artwork by comic book artist Rob Dobi, a dark evocation of both bottled teen rage and karmic payback. If the music had been just as memorable, the entire package would have been a knockout, but instead, it's a waste of inspired art direction. [Amazon]
      — Adrien Begrand

Gigantic, Some Suburban Road EP (Popboomerang) Rating: 4
Is it too soon for a '90s revival? If you're asking Gigantic that question, the answer is probably no. When you pop their Some Suburban Road EP into your player, the first thing that hits you is that this is the same polished alterna-pop sound that confounded the charts in the '90s -- the music is well done but safe, well produced but sterile. Thankfully, the Australian trio throws a nice curve ball into the set with the fuzzy, feedback heavy final track. Although "End Transmission" starts out in the same Gin Blossom-y vein as the previous three songs, Mark DiRenzo's distorted vocals playing over Drew Michael's rocking guitar and Paul DiRenzo's crashing drums leave a good final impression with this fun rocker.
      — Adam Besenyodi

Mojo Stu, Real House Blues (Mudbone) Rating: 5
The opening seconds of this album envisions the following thought: Mojo Stu loved Moby's Play, listened to it, thought about it and then picked up his own guitar to make his own music. There are some blips and bleeps in blues-gospel-electro-tinged tracks such as the kickstarter "Leave It Gone" but there's also much warmth despite the quasi-loops and backbeats. "Got a Love" got its own mojo working that hits your hips immediately and gets you boogie-ing that turns into another fun gospel-leaning ditty. Unfortunately it falls off the rails with "My Mama She Don't Love Me" and the marginally better but quite cheesy "Hootchie Mama". Thankfully Mojo Stu gets back to some semblance of basics on the blues-filled "Don't Worry" although even this stalls during the homestretch. "Lightning" isn't in this bottle in particular despite Mojo Stu talking about having thunder in his pocket.
      — Jason MacNeil

.: posted by Editor 7:43 AM