Bobby Bare Jr.'s Young Criminal Starvation League - From the End of Your Leash (Bloodshot Records)

Bobby Bare Jr.'s Young Criminal Starvation League - From the End of Your Leash
3 out of 5 stars

Why does every even mildly country-tinged artist pine away for Nashville? I know it's the epicenter of all things twangy, but can we be a bit more democratic? How about Boulder, Colorado? Kenosha? Newark?

Bobby Bare Jr. pens his ode to Nashville with a decidedly satirical edge. On "Visit Me in Music City," Bare sings, "Guitar picks come out of gumball machines/Record deals fly in and out like happy bumblebees." While obviously enamored with country music, Bare doesn't hesitate to parody.

Despite the splashes of wry humor, the rest of the record has its moments of whiskey-soaked regret and restlessness. At the album's close Bare sings, "I don't want to be that motherfucker," knowing the whole time he always will be.

While many alt-country bands seem to be diverging to one side of the hyphen or the other, Bobby Bare Jr. seems happy to ride the fence.

Solid, if sometimes predictable.

- Mark Sussman

The Cure - The Cure (Geffen Records)

The Cure - The Cure
4 out of 5 stars

Sounds Like: Robert Smith needs to vent

See Also: The Smiths, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division

The Cure isn't out of the game just yet. With its new self-titled album, the band proves to everyone that it still has something to say.

The album starts with Robert Smith crooning, "I can't find myself, I can't find myself, I can't find myself." And honest to God, you start to believe him.

The first two songs are dark and sad, but then the album takes a classic Cure love song turn with "Before Three." The trend continues through "The End of the World" and "Anniversary." The song that pays tribute most to the band's old ways is "Taking Off." Any true Cure fan will be taken back to the days of "Friday I'm in Love" and "Just Like Heaven."

Although the record meets expectations, it leaves a little to be desired. Cure fans should buy this album. Anyone interested in becoming a Cure fan should buy either of their two singles collections, Staring at the Sea and Galore.

- Celeste Meiffren