This Week: Cheap Trick's betrayal, the return of Southern rock and the return of no wave
Cheap Trick
Special One (Big3 Records)
Touted as Cheap Trick's "return to the rock," Special One is sadly more of a return to the top 40 pablum the band cranked out in the '80s such as the regrettable song, "The Flame." And this is a damn shame indeed.
Cheap Trick is almost universally respected among aging rockers and hipsters alike. So all the band would've had to have done would have been to inject even a little spark into their music—or, better yet, simply stick to rehashing their '70s repertoire in the live setting and not releasing any records at all.
Of course, one couldn't expect a barnburner like the band's first three 1970s studio releases. Age and well-adjustedness never adds up to the sexuality, piss and vinegar dished out by artists who are young and hungry.
That said, one would think adept pop/rock craftsmen like 'Trick could at least avoid the hackneyed cliches on this album. Really, this stuff ranks up there with REO Speedwagon or latter-day ("What About Love") material by Heart.
I'll always have a special place in my heart for Cheap Trick, who rank among my favorite bands of all time. But it'll be a hard sell to get me to purchase any new material from them again.
Special One is proof positive the band's time has come and gone. Being betrayed by the ones you love always hurts the most.
—John Sewell
Kings Of Leon
Youth & Young Manhood (RCA)
A new era of Southern rock has officially begun with the release of Kings Of Leon's debut full-length, Youth & Young Manhood. Let the British hype machine say all they want about these "Southern Strokes," the bottom line is this: these kids from Tennessee ROCK!
As happens all too often, the Brits have caught on to a band from our own backyard seemingly light years before we have. That will change when American ears hear Kings of Leon's infectious brand of countrified garage rock influenced by gospel and soul.
The band is comprised of three brothers and a cousin (the Followills) who were brought up outside Memphis by a father who was a Pentecostal preacher. This overall experience certainly informs Kings Of Leon's style, not only musically, but also lyrically.
Kings Of Leon are beyond their early-20s years in the lyric department. There are the expected songs about fast times and young love ("Happy Alone" and "Molly's Chambers"), but these guys aren't too young to handle lofty subjects like alcoholism ("Wicker Chair") and sexually deviant preachers ("Holy Roller Novocaine"). Sons of a preacher man indeed! The songs are carried by singer Caleb's drawled yowl that occasionally turns into a primal yelp for effect.
Those of you who have checked out the Kings' rather slick sounding Holy Roller Novocaine EP should be pleasantly surprised by Youth. Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Jayhawks) is still at the production helm, but has chosen to make the album much more raw and dirty than the EP. Kings Of Leon are stupendous...long live the new Southern rock!
—Josh Staunton
Erase Errata
At Crystal Palace (Troubleman Limited)
It seems that every critic in the world has recently become attached to the term "no wave," which was originally the title of an obscure and groundbreaking 1978 compilation album produced by Brian Eno that chronicled some of the more extreme and challenging acts of NYC's downtown, jazz/punk/funk/noise scene. And with every band in Brooklyn latching onto a particular niche of late '70s and early '80s post-punk and Xeroxing it by rote, this makes sense, sort of.
San Francisco's Erase Errata might end up becoming a victim of this labeling. You can hardly find a mention of the band anywhere without the NW label being affixed within the first sentence or two. (By saying this, I am also guilty of this crime.)
Sure, it's great to be on the cusp of a breaking new trend. But Erase Errata is so much more than a rehash of old styles.
Yes, the band bears sonic resemblance to the No Wave Crew, even more so to the funkier bands of the early '80s Rough Trade roster like The Pop Group, The Slits and Essential Logic. Erase Errata combines funky rhythms with atonal shards of guitar noise to create an arresting sound that is simultaneously grating and alluring.
Their latest release, At Crystal Palace, finds the band in peak form. With 13 songs clocking in at less than 28 minutes, the group manages to cram two double albums worth of ideas into a recording that's just about EP length. In this concentrated form, the band says it all, keeping things exciting and not overstaying its welcome.
Nope, Erase Errata didn't hire the Matrix to write any of their songs and they won't be found on any chart, excepting the CMJ chart perhaps. At Crystal Palace is a challenging work, in the best kind of way. If the band can keep up this kind of quality in the future, they'll surely wind up in the indie rock pantheon alongside such greats as Fugazi, Sleater-Kinney and Sonic Youth. Let's hope they can keep 'em coming.
—John Sewell
August 28, 2003 * Vol. 13, No. 35
© 2003 Metro Pulse
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