Foo Fighters: ‘Greatest Hits,' B+
I haven’t bought a Foo Fighters’ album since the self-titled debut in 1995, which former Nirvana drummer and Foo-founder Dave Grohl recorded almost entirely by himself. And now I can toss that as well.
Few bands are as well suited for a greatest-hits package as the Foo Fighters. I always liked Grohl and his rotating cast of backup players. If one of their singles came on the radio, I’d give the volume a crank, but I never found the band interesting enough to listen to an entire album.
That said, in the last 15 years, I can’t think of any other group that’s done big, perfect-score-for-the-AV-club-to-use-on-your-high-school-football-team’s-highlight-tape anthems as well as the Foo Fighters. The band kept the meat-and-potatoes rock flame burning into the ’00s even as dozens of Nickelbacks and Creeds tried to smoother it.
And if you haven’t listened to “Big Me,” “Everlong,” “My Hero” and “All My Life” lately, they are as good as you remember.
Julian Casablancas: ‘Phrazes,’ C+
According to various stories in the press, the Strokes frontman has sobered up and settled down, but he sounds lost on this album.
There are some nice moments — the first four songs are solid — but the second half contains some serious misfires: I’m looking at you “Ludlow St.”
As a whole, “Phrazes for the Young” manages to sound overstuffed despite containing only eight songs. Casablanca’s dispassionate croon still sounds great, but the songs don’t carry any hints of the game-changing vigor of “Is This It.”
The XX: ‘XX,’ A-
It took me a long time to decide to what degree I liked this album. I’ve settled on “quite a lot.”
For an iTunes bonus track, this band of 20-year-old Londoners covered Aaliyah’s “Hot Like Fire,” and that gives some indication of the XX’s sound. Imagine ’80s and ’90s R&B; with its heat set to a low simmer, and that’s a pretty decent approximation of the CD’s sound space.
The song’s are immaculate and tightly controlled, composed of polished grooves and barely-controlled emotion with most of its animating force supplied by the chemistry between Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft, who share vocal duties on nearly every song.
Without the nearly omnipresent subtext of lust, the songs might sound too cool, but the crystalline melodies, Croft’s voice and nearly-perfect production turn these tunes into earworms with repeat listens. I recommend immediately downloading: “Basic Space,” “Crystalised” and “Islands.”
Pixies: ‘Dolittle,’ A+
As Sub Pop re-releases Nirvana’s debut album “Bleach” on it’s 20-year anniversary, it’s important to note that the catchy, soft-loud-soft dynamic Nirvana eventually wielded so well owes a big debt to the Pixies — a fact Cobain freely admitted.
It’s also been 20 years since the Pixies released “Dolittle.” Unlike “Bleach,” which is good, the Boston band’s masterpiece remains perfect. You’ve not truly lived if you haven’t heard “Here Comes Your Man” or “Debaser,” or the entire album, for that matter.
Song of the week — Yeasayer: ‘Ambling Alp’
The latest single from this experimental Brooklyn rock band sounds much, much bigger than it perhaps is.
Beginning with ambient noise that morphs into a trippy, swirling keyboard gurgle and a dominating electronic drumbeat, the song is both expansive and brash with relatively few identifiable pieces.
This could all be the work of a couple keyboards, although I believe there are some horns during a breakdown in the middle.
Even so, it’s a careening, soaring, exciting trip, with a good piece of advice delivered in a rousing chorus: “You must stick up for yourself, son. Never mind what anybody else done.” The band’s forthcoming sophomore album, “Odd Blood,” is due in February next year.
“Ambling Alp” is available as a free download at www.amblingalp.com.
Address correspondence to Jeremiah Tucker, c/o The Joplin Globe, P.O. Box 7, Joplin, MO 64802.
