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Drive-By Truckers
American Band
Whether or not Donald Trump
makes it to the White House,
his rise – and the divisions in
US society he is fostering – is
working wonders in reawakening
the political consciousness of
a host of US bands. And the
fiery new album from these
Southern rockers is one of
the best examples of this yet.
Although there has always been
a political element to their work,
with American Band the Drive-By
Truckers have delivered a furious
state-of-the-nation broadside
against the injustice they see
around them, from racial tensions
(the accordian-flavoured What It
Means) to corrupt evangelists (the
joyful bar-room boogie of Kinky
Hypocrites). It might just be their
best album yet. John Ferguson
Pixies
Head Carrier
God, this album starts well. So
well, you’d be excused for thinking
the title-track opener was a
forgotten cut that may have fallen
off Doolittle or Surfer Rosa with
that trademark fuzz, indie-beat and
off-kilter vocal delivery with anger
and aggression that infects the
mind and causes a nostalgic smile.
Baal’s Back certainly has a great
bunch of shouting from Mr Francis
and sharp guitar harmonics too, yet
the rest of the album lacks that,
well, dangerous spark. Having no
Kim, perhaps, can account for that.
More like a Frank Black solo with
music that sounds like the Pixies,
rather than that jolt of electric fear
and wonder you know so well, and
should demand. Still, it’s better
than a swift kick to the nuts.
Chris Murray
The Beat
Bounce
Technically, this is the first
album from the Ranking Roger-
led The Beat in more than 30
years, although his estranged
co-founder Dave Wakeling would
probably disagree (an album from
his English Beat is also in the
pipeline). Leading aside the messy
divorce – and we haven’t even
mentioned original members Andy
Cox and Dave Steele, who went
on to form Fine Young Cannibals
– Bounce offers a jolly skip down
memory lane, a most agreeable
blend of clipped ska rhythms and
jangly pop. The lyrics don’t bear
close scrutiny, but Roger is in
fine voice throughout and his son
Ranking Junior adds a grittier new
urban dimension to their sound.
Over to you now, Dave…
John Ferguson
Beth Hart
Fire On The Floor
Among the great singers of her
generation, Beth Hart's new
album – the most musically varied
of her two-decade career – was
recorded in three days with an all-
star band that included guitarists
Waddy Wachtel, Michael Landau
and Dean Parks, drummer Rick
Marotta and keyboardist Ivan
Neville. Gritty, soulful and totally
believable, Hart runs the gamut
of genre, jazz on Coca Cola , a nod
to Billie Holiday, salsa (the horn-
driven Let's Get Together) blues
on Love Is A Lie and the revealing
title track: "Love is a fever and it's
burning me alive..."
Billy Pinnell
Darkthrone
Arctic Thunder
After a three-year absence,
Norway’s most contentious heavy
metal band return with another
studio album. Starting as a thrash
metal act in the late '80s and then
navigating their sound through
the annals of death metal and
black metal styles, the last decade
has seen Fenriz and Nocturnal
Culto settle on a traditional heavy
metal format. This time around,
Arctic Thunder takes Darkthrone’s
sound back to the origins of
extreme metal, recalling the style
of Hellhammer and Celtic Frost.
Arctic Thunder finds the duo
mining the past to great affect, so
kick back and enjoy the ride.
Simon Lukic
Tove Lo
Lady Wood
This is one of those rare cases
in music when the album title
actually gives you insight into
the content on the disc – it’s
evocative (Cool Girl), suggestive
(Influence), and insane(ly good).
Lady Wood most notably features
the aforementioned single Cool
Girl, which doesn’t get any less
haunting following consecutive
listens – especially once you find
out that the track was inspired
by events in the similarly mind-
bending Gone Girl. With the
Swedish singer also featuring on
a collab with Aussie DJ Flume
on Say It earlier this year, you
can expect to hear some of ol'
Harley's influence in Tove Lo's
latest. Old Habits die hard – it’s a
great new release.
Alesha Kolbe
Bon Iver
22, A Million
Before the fame, the headlining world tours,
Grammy wins and parties with Kanye and Jay-Z,
there was Justin Vernon, playing obscure bars in his
hometown of Wisconsin with wide-eyed questions
of the world and dreams of stardom. What happens
when you reach the peaks of fame, have all your
questions answered, and find they aren’t the answers you’re looking for?
That is where the 35-year-old multi-instrumentalist finds himself on 22, A
Million, his third and most decisive album as Bon Iver. Questioning losses
of love, faith and morality, it's a record set up on binaries: suffering and
redemption, pain and love, sacrosanctity and ambiguity. With it, Vernon
delivers his most diverse and experimental record to date. “Are you going
to look for confirmation?” Vernon howls in the dramatic opener 22 (OVER
S∞∞N), setting the tone of the record’s struggle with the singer’s self-
confidence – something he has always fought with. Not since Radiohead’s
Kid A or Kanye West’s Yeezus have we heard an album that disregards
your expectations while pulling you closer to the artist’s intimate, grand
purpose. Holy yet sacrilegious, grandiose while humble, relentlessly
vulnerable. Tim Lambert
40 OCTOBER 2016