Inside Music Album Guide - 9/11/08

Inside Music Album Guide
De la Rocha returns triumphantly, DiFranco sounds tired
By Stephen Mason

Ani DiFranco – Red Letter Year (Righteous Babe) 2 out of 5
DiFranco’s appeal has always been more associated with her words more than the actual music; in the 90’s she was a young woman braving the world of men while lending her unapologetic political insights. But now the world has changed and so has DiFranco, and the changes ripple through Red Letter Year, not in the best ways. Her political shtick is downsized and uninspired; her love songs are empty and insincere. The problem is that DiFranco can never say a lot with a little. Instead, her lyrics are long and extended, and while they may get the point across, they’ve absolutely no fervor. She sings, “You’d think at my age I’d have thought of/Something better to do.” Agreed, Ani. Agreed.

Ra Ra Riot – The Rhumb Line (Barsuk) 4 out of 5
Comparisons to Vampire Weekend are unfair, and it’s certainly a lazy reference, as Ra Ra Riot has their own brand of indie rock. They have colorful string arrangements and driving beats, headlined by frontman Wes Miles’s soft tenor voice. It starts off with a bang on “Ghost Under Rocks,” and the blast of energy is never lost, not even on the practically classical piece “Winter ’05.” To top it off, they may be the only band in recent history to turn an E.E. Cummings poem into coherent lyrics. The Rhumb Line may sound to some like Neon Bible’s lesser cousin, and to some extent it is, but Ra Ra Riot have already cemented themselves as one of the most exciting debuts of 2008.

One Day As a Lion – One Day As a Lion EP (Anti) 4 out of 5
Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine paired with ex-Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore may be one of the best pairings in recent music history, maybe more so than Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse (who together make up Gnarls Barkley). The concept is simple and stupendous; a stripped-down, drum-and-keyboard alternative hip-hop approach filled to the brim with spiteful political rhetoric. Theodore’s drumming is outstanding, not only developing an effective and unique beat for each track, but for taking a central stance in filling in a lot of sound. Likewise, de la Rocha’s keyboards blast like sirens, and his message hasn’t changed. One Day As a Lion is an explosive, start-and-stop album, and de la Rocha has shown in his lyrics that he has matured over time – but still has all the fire he did back in 1994.

Apollo Sunshine – Shall Noise Upon (Headless Heroes) 4 out of 5
Shall Noise Upon doesn’t try to act like something new; from the beginning the band and the listener acknowledge that the idea is to emulate late 60’s psychedelic rock. From the Beatles to Cream, from Hendrix to the Byrds, there isn’t any style that they’ve missed. It’s not exactly copying; none of the music sounds like its been directly lifted from anything else, but songs like “Singing to the Earth” are easily identified as George Harrison-esque pop tunes while “The Funky Chamberlain” is a fantastic blend of Pink Floyd prog and Galactic funk. This isn’t a statement of anything new, it’s only for entertainment, and since there’s no one who is unaware of this, Shall Noise Upon works wonderfully.