Arizona Daily Wildcat
Thursday April 3, 2003
The White Stripes
Elephant
The incestuous multi-talented red-and-white duo from the Motor City is back like never before, literally. Mainly under the radar prior to the release of 2001's "White Blood Cells," the pair have since seen loads of drooling music press, new rabid fans, numerous television appearances, the inside of the Rialto, critical acclaim and gigantic festival performances around the world ÷ not to mention an upcoming four-day residency on The Conan O'Brien Show (April 22-25). The Stripes have never had this much attention or anticipation surrounding a new record before.
The divorced "brother-and-sister" (the way they market themselves, not their actual relationship) decided to put their money where their blues are and deliver a quality CD as big as its title. Even more surprising, "Elephant" was recorded in just 10 days. Attention Axl Rose: 10 DAYS!
This album is every bit as compelling as anything the Whites have ever released. More consistent than commercial success "Cells," "Elephant" steps on a higher plain.
For one, their sound is clearly evolving. Jack is tearing chords up like few 2003 20-somethings, very few. Meg's drumming is usually the target of criticism, but here it is perfectly complimentary. Note to all Meg nay-sayers: Try drumming in a two-piece with a guy who can play blues circles and patterns around 95 percent of today's young guitarists.
It's still a safe bet that if you didn't like this band before, this record will probably not change anything. If you did, however, it will be a very good April.
÷ Kevin Smith
Switchfoot
The Beautiful Letdown
Variety is the spice of life. However clichˇ that statement has become, it is still true. It becomes especially true when a band can show enough variety to keep each song fresh. Such is the case with Switchfoot.
There are various sub-genres of rock music that artists inhabit. Switchfoot dabbles in nearly every category with the release of The Beautiful Letdown. Not only do they dabble; they succeed.
Looking for a little arena-style alternative, ala Foo Fighters? Go no further than the first track on the album, "Meant to Live."
How about some soulful, adult contemporary rock? "More than Fine" will more than suit your needs. But if you need more of a fix, say if John Mayer is your favorite singer, Switchfoot is more than happy to oblige. "Dare You to Move," "The Beautiful Letdown," and the Dave Matthews-esque "Twenty-Four," are all songs that can be played in nearly any situation, except maybe at a biker bar.
Weaknesses? Very few can be seen in the album. The harder rock songs could perhaps be a little bit harder. The songs in general could move a little quicker. But these are just petty arguments. The album is good just the way it is.
"The Beautiful Letdown" is an album to put on your list of must-haves. It is the type of album that can and will make a nice addition to anyone's collection.
÷ Paul Iiams
The Party of Helicopters
Please Believe It
It's not a bad thing if you only know a couple of chords. Just look at the Ramones. They made a career of only using three.
The key to a successful use of limited chords is twofold.
One, you have to change it up a little. Instead of just playing the same three over and over, The Ramones would play only one in one song, maybe two in another and some combination of the three in the next.
Two, you have to have a singer that, through the inflections of his or her voice, overcomes the limited musical skills of the band. By no means did Joey Ramone have a good voice. But, he was unique and boosted everything that the Ramones did.
The skills that it takes to pull off a successful sound without excessive music skills are missing from Please Believe It. The first seven songs on the album are exactly the same. And by exactly the same, I mean I had to look at the CD player and see if it was still on track one.
Boring lyrics and uninteresting music make for a very boring album. When those two things are combined, it will inevitably equal people not listening to your music. That is the equivalent of death in the music world.
But all is not lost for The Party of Helicopters. The first seven songs are very weak, but the last three songs show the listener that the Helicopters have the talent to make it. They need to look at these songs as a blueprint for future success.
÷ Paul Iiams
Sole
Selling Live Water
When you can't beat 'em·
White emcees have both benefited from and been hindered by Shady's success.
For one, the mere sight of a white rapper on a hip-hop stage now does not instantly mean another Vanilla Ice parody. Conversely, it looks like there is only room for one successful Caucasian rapper in popular American culture.
So what do other vanilla hip-hop artists do? Since strength is in numbers, the California-based Anticon collective have developed their own hip-hop factory of white emcees. There is only one catch for traditional hip-hop heads: Anticon's lyrical content has about as much in common with Slim Shady as Saddam Hussein has with the Pope.
For starters, the lyrics are not easily digestible. Nor are they supposed to be. This is underground hip-hop on no one's terms except Anticon's. Fellow label mate Sage Francis is probably the best-known Anticon member, and even he is struggling for name recognition despite his obvious ability.
Sole's Selling is in the same vein as Francis, except Sole has an extremely rapid-fire flow that makes the listener have to adjust his/her skills to really recognize what is being undertaken. Think Aesop Rock, but with self-depreciating lyrics.
The problem with this type of delivery is overloading. There are times where too much crammed lyrical content/topic switching at such a fast pace can begin to induce headaches for an untrained listener. This may be the point.
For heads equipped with able ears, however, Selling is another notch in the expansion of hip-hop.
÷ Kevin Smith
