STACK NZ July 2016 Issue 75

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MUSIC
Good Charlotte
Youth Authority
Everybody put up your hands, it’s
Madden season – and thankfully
we aren’t talking about the game,
either. Youth Authority is Good
Charlotte's sixth studio album,
and though it’s the first in as many
years, it’s truly the GC of old. 40
Oz. Dream is an awakening to the
modern world we live in, where
your mum's "taking selfies” and
“rappers are singing”. Also worth
a spin is Makeshift Love just to
hear the phrase “triage in my living
room” uttered in song, and they’ve
even got Sleeping WIth Sirens'
frontman Kellin Quinn to feature
on the stand-out Keep Swingin’.
A four-year hiatus hasn’t damaged
their ability to ignite the angst-
fuelled teen in the best of us.
Alesha Kolbe
Descendents
Hypercaffium Spazzinate
There’s been no shortage of
Descendents impersonators since
the original released their much-
adored Cool To Be You album 12
years ago, but my gosh it’s nice to
have them back to prove why the
original is still the best. With their
special brand of adolescent pop
now firmly cemented in the annals
of punk rock pop culture, there’s
a warmth to these new tracks like
old friends returned to reminisce
about old times. Heartfelt one
moment and offensively bratty the
next, Hypercaffium Spazzinate runs
the gamut of moody, manic punk
rock. And with drummer, founding
member and technical mastermind
Bill Stevenson at the helm, you can
bet it’s perfectly produced.
Emily Kelly
Badbadnotgood
IV
Instrumental, electronic post-
jazz outfit Badbadnotgood have
experimented with vocalists before
– they released an entire album’s
worth of tracks with Wu-Tang
Clan’s Ghostface Killah last year,
the critically acclaimed Sour Soul
– but this time they’re spreading
their curious, Canadian tentacles
out further than ever before. Their
brand new record IV features
some gobsmacking singers and
rappers: Mick Jenkins, Samuel
Herring from Future Islands,
beloved producer Kaytranada, and
fellowToronto native Charlotte
Day Wilson. Always curious and
exploratory, these tracks are
absolute caramel in a bun.
Zoë Radas
Ace Frehley
Origins Vol. 1
Ace Frehley, the original space
man and illustrious KISS guitarist,
returns with an album of cover
tunes that pay respect to his
influences. Joining Frehley is a
formidable cast of characters that
will interest many. Slash features
on the Thin Lizzy classic Emerald,
while Lita Ford lends her talents
to Wild Thing . Rob Zombie’s six-
stringer John 5 and Pearl Jam’s
Mike McCready play on the KISS
songs Parasite and Cold Gin
respectively, giving Origins Vol. 1 a
familiarity that fans will enjoy. The
most notable collaboration is with
KISS frontman Paul Stanley on
the Free hit Fire And Water; the
two haven’t appeared on an album
since 1998 and it makes for a
nostalgic highlight.
Simon Lukic
Jeff Beck
Loud Hailer
Acclaimed guitarist Jeff Beck
steps out of his comfort zone
with the release of his first new
album in six years. Frustrated at
not being able to verbalise his
opinions on the world issues he
felt strongly about, Beck recruited
singer Rosie Bones (who lends
her voice to nine of the 11 songs)
and guitarist Carmen Vandenburg
of the London band Bones to
write these tracks and their
lyrics with him. Titles such as
the intense The Revolution Will
Be Televised, and the reflective
ballad Scared For The Children,
needed to be sung. The album
is rounded out by two signature
Beck instrumentals.
Billy Pinnell
Bat For Lashes
The Bride
Don’t get too blissed-out by the
autoharp trills and churchy swells
of I Do. Natasha Khan's bride is
destined for horror in this spooky
song cycle exploring the bond of
love beyond death. Thunder cracks
over the eerie premonition of Joe's
Dream. Electro cadences grow
ominous and visions macabre in
In God's House. The car crash of
Honeymoon Alone rips open the
twilight zone between waking
nightmare (Never Forgive The
Angels) and dreams of eternal
romance (Close Encounters).
Turns out time's a great healer,
but Khan's trademark choral
creepiness and darker turns of
tune are so compelling that the
chirpy piano ending is a bit of a let
down.
Michael Dwyer
Peter Garrett
A Version Of Now
It’s a hell of a story: Lead singer of one of
Australia's biggest bands Midnight Oil quits to
pursue a political career. He gets embroiled in one
of the nastiest leadership battles in history and
his opponents constantly throw old lyrics at him,
accusing him of hypocrisy and selling out, all as
he claims to not miss his musical life. That’s the only lie Peter Garrett told,
because there’s no hiding the joy in his voice on this comeback record,
his first solo album. “I’m back,” he declares in opening track, Tall Trees.
“I’m coming ’round for a second look.” With no regrets: “I saw the best of
men and I saw the worst,” he reports in I’d Do It Again. “I got my hands
dirty, I had a go.” You’d forgive Garrett if he were battered and bruised and
bitter. But there are no recriminations. He remains a beautiful dreamer in a
minefield. “The sound of the times is the sigh of indifference,” he laments.
“Dreams are broken, mended and they scatter.” Older, wiser, but still a
believer – and still capable of delivering anthems with ripper, real words
ringing in your ears. “It still matters to me,” Garrett sings. “I hope it matters
to you.” Jeff Jenkins
30 JULY 2016