Tom Petty
Highway Companion
American Recordings

Tom Petty’s third solo affair, the first since 1994’s Wildflowers, showcases the kind of artist who weathers with age but never fades. He is the undisputed heavyweight champion of cool, anyone who’ll take issue with Petty is either unhappy or awkward to hang out with. Now, I love his last record sans Heartbreakers a lot, a lot. Highway Companion may not have the hits a-plenty as the former did, but it thereby avoids the sore-thumb problem of megahits on full lengths. In snippets and clippings, I always hear Tom Petty talking about what “time does to you.” He’s pretty much the golden boy for Jonathan Richman’s “Dignified and Old” campaign. Unlike fellow grandpa Neil Young, who occasionally dances that rocking chair dance, Petty maintains a steady path along the mellow edge. Most surprising to me was the minimal lineup of musicians. It seems this was a tightly knit closed-session type record with only two others helping. Heartbreaker Mike Campbell produced and played a spot of lead electric, and producer Jeff Lynne swept up with some key piano and guitar, especially on ‘This Old Town,’ where the piano drives after each chorus. There’s a familiarity with any artist as solid gold as Petty, whose songs are scattered through my memory. Marking the start of his shift within Warner Bros, as he joins up with Rick Rubin’s newfound American Recordings, Highway Companion does what Petty does. It has great songs, quick stories and classic melodies.

Sammy Hagar
Livin’ It Up
Rhino Records

Maybe Sammy’s right, and I should spend some time half-baked under the Cabo sun before passing any judgement on his music. Tough call though, give the benefit of the doubt to the soul patch I only remember liking for a hot minute after the ‘Right Now’ video came out? I giggled when the tequila thing happened, if only to see someone make talk show appearances in shorts and flip flops. Not this time I’m afraid. I was physically upset to hear him sing Dylan. When you open the Livin’ It Up packaging, a handful of sand falls out. If you still play the CD, you’re forced to decide which is a better time: staring at a small pile of sand or listening to Sammy Hagar tear a hole in music.

Michael Franti and Spearhead
Yell Fire
Anti (USA)

I caught the last half of Franti being interviewed by Travis Smiley on PBS, discussing his trip to Iraq and the making of the documentary ‘I Know I’m Not Alone.’ He’s a tall man with great posture, eloquent and softspoken in person. I’d heard some of his early, charged music (he called it “angry”), but never learned much about him. Seeming older and more positive about his anger with the current world, politically and socially, he described his impulse to travel to Iraq during this war. Tired of reading and watching the news, he brought his guitar and a film crew along. This record is largely inspired by that trip, the people he met and talked with. He said, “it’s not really a protest album…it’s more about people in the street.” He finds more justice in having real conversations than by taking stabs at a giant monster like war. These songs are mostly good, though the documentary’s title track sounds like Ben Harper doing a Jack Johnson song, which makes me shiver even to think of. There’s some nice reggae update moments in songs like ‘East to the West’ and ‘Hey Now Now.’ It’s a fine record and its motivation is admirable.

When the iPod first came out, it was defined by its mobility. The ads featured jumping and dancing, no more lock-down for music
enjoyment. Whatever it was, it worked. Even though portability had been the last wish of the CD, the diskman never really got over the fumbly disk changing aspect. So the iPod came in strong with several smaller mp3 player cousins. Here we are now, a few years into jumping and dancing whilst enjoying mp3s, and truth be told, we want to kick up our feet once in a while. The market is changing, and an onslaught of different amplification methods for your iPod is at the door.

Give your earlobes a break from white-plastic headphones:

At $299, the new Apple Hi-Fi System appeals to those who want to “fill [their homes] with sound, not stereo components,” according to the Apple website. It has a D battery option for those still anxious to bring their libraries to group settings out of doors, weighing in at about 17 pounds (w/ batteries). From my experience, Apple knows how to make an mp3 sound good. This option will suit most consumers’ needs, but might lack the specs a true audiophile could celebrate.

A more compact option is the Altec Lansing In-Motion System, which asks $79.99. The speakers compare to any small portable speakers, meaning they’ll get the job done. An impressive element is the cross-company compatibility of all iPod types and sizes, including a dock that charges your device while you listen.

I luckily moved into a sublet recently that has offered me a bonus Bose SoundDock for my stay. Bose has a history of simply nailing every aspect of sound quality in tightly designed, compact systems. The SoundDock is no exception, and in the $300 range, there’s no match. Although it requires AC power, limiting its opportunities for outdoor travel, this system is designed for home or office use. I can easily transfer the speaker/dock from room to room, and these speakers (like all Bose) can really crank. Compatible and adaptable for nearly every iPod available (adaptor is required for iPod photo, etc), the Bose SoundDock is the tops.

It’s invention by necessity when it comes down to the summer’s heat, and CoolIT Systems has come up with this year’s gizmo for the ages. It’s the type of product that future generations and/or aliens will look back/down at us and grin. A human race that knows what it’s after, cold beverages while surfing the internet. If you thought you were doomed to spend the rest of your computer’s life with puddles of iced coffee condensation, think again. Just plug in the USB Beverage Chiller, and puddles be no more. It looks a bit like a hot-plate to me, the learning curve can’t be too tough. Line up your interests in gadgetry, and I’m sure you’ll find beverage-cooling makes it up front.

Guster
Ganging Up On the Sun
Reprise

Having known Guster mostly through friends’ obsessions, I’ve understood their fanbase to be rabid and unwavering. Surely this new album will reach some new ears beyond the diehard loyals, songs like ‘C’mon’ and ‘The Captain’ have a unique sense of nostalgia but moving forward. Beatles guitar riffs are updated, and by the time we get to ‘The Beginning of the End,’ electric guitars are full-blown and monstrous in this one-time acoustic crew. The single ‘One Man Wrecking Machine’ is some of the most honest, downtrodden looking back I’ve heard this year, “I wanna relive all my adolescent dreams. Inspired by true events on movie screens, I am a one man wrecking machine.” This album on par with bands like Nada Surf for it’s silver-lining but still gray cloud elements.

Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
J Records

Although it came out in May, I didn’t really hear much about this album. I saw a copy at my friend’s place, and the avocado looked so delicious, I couldn’t leave without it. This is a really good record to my ears. I noticed immediately that Pearl Jam has started to sound a bit like the junior bands that were sounding like them. Eddie Vedder’s voice became the common denominator between stuff I hate and some stuff I like, pretty much since seventh grade. Ten (Epic, 1991) freaked everyone out, and then grunge happened, and then it was like Pearl Jam was on the mega-uber level, selling out every arena there was. They kept it going somehow, even though subsequent dealings seemed to tail off in intensity for some. This new album is full of solid guitar riff-rocking and Vedder sounds more familiar this time round. The video for single ‘Life Wasted‘ is some of the scariest imagery I’ve seen from this band, including the red paint classroom scene from ‘Jeremy.’ Songs like ‘Marker in the Sand’ and ‘Comatose’ walk the line of orchestrated punk rock, with sections of guitar composition and stadium melodies, get my head nodding every time. Stone Gossard still rips a tight guitar solo, perhaps better than ever here on the eighth studio release. ‘Severed Hand’ is a treat in guitar rock, a daily special on Pearl Jam’s menu.

Thom Yorke
The Eraser
xL

This might as well be a Radiohead album, but it’s not. Released today, it’s not the breakthrough we might’ve expected from Radiohead’s mouth, gone solo. But that’s not necessarily the point here, I suppose, because Yorke has broken through plenty with that band. He might need to stay put in the atmosphere of his own design before changing it again (I hope). ‘Black Swan’ is a post-techno beat under a calm voice singing “this is f***ed up” while plenty of cool sounds swirl about. Title track ‘The Eraser’ can be seen in a particularly good solo performance on Henry Rollins IFC show here. Other songs come up short. ‘Harrowdown Hill’ lies flat throughout and ends with Yorke repeating “it was a slippery, slippery, slippery slope,” which sounds a bit tame coming from the man who’s built up an attitude and angle out of vague anger.

Red Hot Chili Peppers
Stadium Arcadium
Warner Brothers

Having just heard the Chili Peppers debut self-titled 1984 release, I’m even more convinced now that their newest offering is in line with a specific sound they came upon years ago and have been perfecting or adapting to all the years since. They sell so many records, that’s for sure, millions and millions. I hear stories about them living in hotels for months while they construct these recordings of California radio music before sending them across the globe. One thing about Stadium Arcadium is certain, it does NOT need to be a double-disk magnum opus. It doesn’t travel like Californication did for them, so it ends up an indulgent mess at times. The single ‘Dani California’ is one of their tightest productions since that 1999 release, when they seemed to achieve a specific song structure and all growns-up style. The verse chords were lifted from Petty’s ‘Last Dance with Mary Jane,’ and the chorus swells like killer moments on Green Day’s American Idiot (Reprise, 2004). ‘Hump de Bump’ is a classic Flea groove that goes back to his early days, and the hook is catchy enough to hear in clubs. The Chili Peppers longevity is based in their ability to stay themselves, and this new one is plenty of that.

This weekend forecasts a way fun midsummer’s rock party for all those who like the hot ‘n heavy. Get to Coney Island on Saturday for this year’s Siren Festival, the lineup provides an excellent selection of today’s indie bands on the up and up. The whereabouts are always entertaining as well, a freakshow’s paradise. There’ll be plenty to look at, and sounds to suit every palate.

Man Man
The quick answer I’ve gotten and given on Man Man’s sound is somewhere between Beefheart and Waits. The idea of that brainchild is exciting and scary to me, but it falls short upon further listening. There are similarities to both, sure, but there remain corners all their own. The myspace sampling (will I eventually regret checking out all my new music in that dosage?) is scatter-brained and fun. Skillful presentation seems to be their recording knack, quoting some of the best Beach Boys soundings (eg. glockenspiel) with a psychedelic undertow that i suppose has spawned the Beefheart comparison.

Deadboy & the Elephantmen
Louisiana heavy rocker Dax Riggs (former Acid Bath frontal man) has sidestepped and cooled out a bit with his new outfit. Yes, the blues-based duo thang is going around, and the girl drummer/boy guitarista will call up a White Stripes likening, but there’s a twisted difference with these songs. The We Are Night Sky (Fat Possum, 2005) frontrunner, ‘Stop, I’m Already Dead,’ is a simply-structured track that starts soft and gets loud. Riggs’ voice has an edge I can get behind, and when Tessie Brunet (drums) sings the octave up, she curbs its early ’90s rock-on-the-radio. If they stick with that styling for the next record, I could imagine Deadboy riding the line between The Comas and The Black Keys.

The Cribs
I sat a bit with The Cribs last fall, on the same bill at Bowery Ballroom during CMJ. They’d just flown in from their UK homeground, a bit groggy but gentleman rockers for sure. Couldn’t really understand a word on their end, they wear the accent like ripped jeans, true to form. Three brothers made a good record with some great songs, The New Fellas (Witchita, 2005), and now they tour and drink together, tearing up stages across the globe. You’ll hear some current garage rocking in their sound, but homage is paid to older days’ punk and Brit-pop. Brother Gary said of growing legs in England, “there is no real way of escaping our roots. And why would you want to when we’ve had The Beatles, The Pistols and The Smiths? They are three of the best bands, ever.” (www.drownedinsound.com, 2005) Thankfully, The Ramones crashed England’s shores too. Somewhere in that melting pot stew the brothers Cribs.

Tapes ‘n Tapes
Haven’t caught these guys live yet, but lots of my friends have (and their friends…). Since forever, bands that catch buzz waves have been subjected to sharper-toothed scrutiny than those who prove themselves over time. All’s fair in some ways, but there’s a heightened level of expectation (lets call it the ‘buzz bar’) that a band like tapes ‘n tapes has to climb up and over, especially when playing to NYC ’sters. So yeah, I’ve heard mixed reviews, but I try to filter them out. The Loon (Ibid, 2006) does bring Pavement and The Pixies to the table again, but there’s certainly more to eat. Songs like ‘Insistor’ sound more current to me. I actually hear some Rogue Wave in its melody and Indie/Country slant. Digging deeper, watching a few live clips off their website, they seem to me a crew of reckless and restless romantics. ‘Jakov’s Suite’ opens with an instrumental plea, both ragged and calculated (drunken prog-rock with a blues guitar substitute), before it happens upon a quiet, sad intro to the meat of the song. They switch time to 3/4 for a massive climb the rest of the way. Though sometimes jarring, the variety of feels within many of their songs is the most original element. A young band from Minneapolis, getting ya-yas out by taking chances. I like it.

For a full lineup and schedule, go HERE.
To read Part I of this entry, click HERE.

July 15th brings Coney Island its fifth Siren Festival, brought to us by the Village Voice. Their goal with this free two-stage concert is to reinvigorate this Brooklyn community by showcasing the strongest emerging indie bands (their words, sorta). local and not, the bands this year jump around a lot, in sound, style, vibe. There’s truly something for everyone, and maybe even everything for someone, but that someone would have to like dancey- indie - metal - croony - poppy - antipoppy - chillax music and the opposite as well.

Art Brut
I have yet to witness the