Slipped Discs
Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd
Was (Not Was) - Boo!
Was (Not Was)Boo!
Label: Warner/Rykodisc
After twenty-years rest the party starts up again as, “Boo!” serves up sly soul, wacked-out cyber-irony and fishy tail-shaking funk. Respectfully subversive and sweetly deceitful, the original line-up still stays one step ahead of the competition, jiving and conniving with a goulash of grooves and gallows humor, political smarminess and hip, wicked wit.
• Was (Not Was) Website • Was (Not Was) WikiKills - Midnight Boom
KillsMidnight Boom
Label: Domino Records
Inspired by a documentary on playground clapping-songs, The Kills’ dirty up childhood rhymes for some catchy, cocky rock and roll. Maniacal, industrial-strength bump and grinds rock nocturnal yearnings into a sexy, slaughter-house burlesque driving, “Boom,” with an explosive mix of throbbing hooks, salivating metaphors and steamy teases. The Kills headline Madison’s Annex May 10th.
• The Kills Website • The Kills WikiLos Campesinos! - Hold on Now, Youngster
Los Campesinos!Hold on Now, Youngster
Label: Arts & Crafts
Youthful exuberance propels a head rush of sneaky cacophony, revved-up ridicule and snappy, hip-swinging bravado as Canada’s Los Campesinos produce tub-thumping beats and ambulance-chasing playfulness. Syncopated shout-outs and tongue-twisting lyrics produce frenzied fits of pep rally rock as, “Youngsters,” bleat and shriek for an energetic free-for-all. LC plays two nights at Chicago’s Empty Bottle starting May 26th.
• Los Campesinos! Website • Los Campesinos! WikiClinic - Do It!
ClinicDo It!
Label: Domino Records
Snaggle-tooth serenades whine around an eerie, swirling psycho-circus, pounding and pirouetting as acid-tinged punks mumble bittersweet mantras over woozy, shard-spitting solos. Hell-bound lounge music dissected, reassembled, roughed-up and fuzzed-out, “Do It,” does it without alienating or disappointing. Intriguingly seedy and giddily ramshackle, Clinic takes you down dark paths - letting loose, but never letting go.
• Clinic Website • Clinic WikiBabylon Circus - Dances Of Resistance
Babylon CircusDances Of Resistance
Label: Mr. Bongo
French Rastafarians concocting klezmer cabarets, high-stepping ska and hard-hitting horns, BC’s happy madness conjures politics and polygraphs around a roadrunner’s bar mitzvah. A frothy, funky frenzy of zany syncopation and mellow patois, “Dances,” is a high-octane carnival of concern juggling jungle fevers and spiraling calliopes, gypsy sunshine, festive traditions and revolutionary spunk.
• Babylon Circus Website • Babylon Circus WikiSouth - You Are Here
SouthYou Are Here
Label: Bluhammock
Bristling British brass, foreboding atmosphere, decisive drums and shimmering harmonies, “You,” boldly positions itself between love, life and logic, quietly announcing no clear winner. In South’s articulate and nuanced chamber pop, graceful melodies and boyish bravado simmer in jangle-y electricity, leaving smart first impressions and lingering after-thoughts as dreamy illuminations sail among military shadows.
• South Website • South WikiLili Haydn - Place Between Places
Lili HaydnPlace Between Places
Label: Nettwerk records
Drawing from her Philharmonic upbringing to a blossomed activism, P-Funk sessions, Page and Plant reunions and Herbie Hancock face-offs, Haydn’s violin and voice soar over ghostly poked solos and feather bed productions. Patience, playful and predatory, “Place,” adds gypsy mystery, oriental weaves and industrial steam to cosmopolitan lullabies, evocative fantasies and slicked-back jive.
• Lili Haydn Website • Lili Haydn WikiSkybombers - Take Me to Town
SkybombersTake Me to Town
Label: Albert Production
Swinging from tasty bluster kicking apart adolescent frustration to thunderous raspberries, this precocious Aussie quartet shows Outback belligerence via sometime in L.A. - howling through rockabilly garage toss-offs and knocking out pitch-perfect, stomping mad scowls. Walloping pop-rock, “Town,” produces scuffling, amped-up six-string skiffle, jammed inside El Kabong riffs and brief, greasy hooks.
Charlatans - You Cross My Path
CharlatansYou Cross My Path
Label: Self Released
Loaded with juiced dance grooves, hyperbolic bass and crashing grandeur, “Cross,” elevates earthly relationships to Valkyrie dimensions forging legendary status in classic rock fashion. Courtly rock that takes no prisoners, the Charlatan’s unsubmissive mission snarls with glam, gung-ho struts and game, come-hither glories, triumphantly butting heads against soul-drenched working-class and kick-ass new wave.
• The Charlatans Website • The Charlatans WikiHayden - In Field and Town
HaydenIn Field and Town
Label: Fat Possum/Hardwood Records
Ambling piano, far-away guitars, trusty harmonicas and Flaming Lips synths - “Field,” testifies, witnessing fresh injections into home-grown alt-folk idioms. Whether playing casual toe-tapping social observer or humble, hum-able broken-hearted tumbleweed, Hayden stamps his grizzly delivery over badlands ballads, newspaper narratives and space-age emo. Simple yet sumptuous, “Field,” offers sadly hopeful relief.
• Hayden Website • Hayden WikiNik Freitas - Sundown
Nik FreitasSundown
Label: Team Love
Friendly, ambling anthems bubbling with simple but sage advice, Freitas’ cavalier tunefulness brings a light on its feet feel to the infectiously sensible, “Sundown.” Bouncing through life’s brambles, Freitas’ plainly spoken prose and strolling observations buoys the disc’s rambling slice of life approach to battling tar baby heartaches through good-natured level-headedness and easy-going charm.
• Nik Freitas WebsiteFutureheads - This Is Not The World
FutureheadsThis Is Not The World
Label: Null Records
Hammering home a fun-loving fondness for neo-future pop, Britain’s Futureheads parlay punch-drunk thunder into rigorous riffs, breakneck back-up and jacked-up jitters. “World,” flashes, pounds and twists, lifting New Wave formulas into dance- floor pandemonium – an uncaged roller-coaster of quips, flips and cut to the chase efficiency delivering the goods every time.
• The Futureheads Website • The Futureheads WikiView More
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