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The Clock is Ticking
This morning, I woke up in a cold sweat, a terrifying thought echoing endlessly in my head:
“You have only 326 days to get started on that Best of 2007 Music List!”
With the new year only a little over a month old, it is far too early to tell whether 2007 will be as stupendously metal-rific as last year. Nevertheless, January has seen the release of several tasty albums in a number of genres. Hopefully, some of these will be enough occupy us as the entire civilized world twiddles its thumbs in breathless anticipation of the next Opeth release. (Please, dear god, let it be sooner rather than later.)
New shit in heavy rotation:
Boris with Michio Kurihara – Rainbow
Boris may be the most prolific metal band on the planet. Barely a year has passed since their last release, the mindbendingly awesome Pink. This time, they’re slowing tempos somewhat and introducing a more psychedelic sound, in contrast to Pink’s Stooges-inspired fury.
Dälek – Abandoned Language
Here’s another band of sonic terrorists turning down the intensity a bit. Dälek pushed their “Hip Hop As Industrial Noise” theme as far as it would go on 2005’s brilliant Absence, and have wisely avoided repeating themselves on this release. Luckily, the lighter touch works. Who knew hip hop and shoegaze could be so seamlessly combined?
The Shins – Wincing the Night Away
As per previous Shins releases, the critics are slobbering all over this, but I have to say that it hasn’t connected with me the way their first two albums did. The songs just aren’t as catchy or memorable, and for a pop band, that’s a bad sign. It’s not a bad album, however, and maybe it’ll turn into one of those ones that grow on me.
Fu Manchu – We Must Obey
The band that (along with Kyuss and Monster Magnet) helped kickstart the stoner/doom metal genre in the mid-90’s is still around. In a genre this retro-obsessed, the fact that they’ve essentially been re-releasing the same album for 12 years doesn’t penalize them at all. When a band unabashedly worships at the altar of Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, and Grand Funk Railroad, you wouldn’t want them to incorporate new elements. The fact that this album sounds like it was recorded in 1974 is entirely the point. Fire up the bong, it’s time to RAWK.
Menomena – Friend and Foe
Just got this one last night, and as of this writing, I have listened to it all of once. First impression: it sounds much more direct, with shorter, punchier songs than their debut, I Am the Fun Blame Monster. I actually enjoyed all the noodling on Monster, however, because it allowed them to throw in a lot of weird, left-field elements that only became clear with repeated listenings. I like what I’ve heard of Friend and Foe, but I’m curious to see whether it will hold my attention the way its predecessor has.
