quickcrit - music reviews

I have a soft spot for the Killers. Too many late nights included "Mr. Brightside" or "Somebody Told Me" on the soundtrack. But ultimately they are a singles band, which is to say they are perfect for the the iPod era, which is also to say their albums are only as good as the singles. Their best songs are standout tracks on mixes until they are overplayed – the songs that get even the most reluctant leftfeets onto the dance floor.

Overall, the album is good-ish, a return to the sound of their first album, but none of the tracks are awesome and it's not worth discussing any songs not in contention for dance floor singles. They do seem to be trying for another party anthem. There's plenty of bombastic lyrics and music, but the songs don't stick. "Spaceman" and "Human" seem like the two most likely to get you moving.

Oh, hello.

Don't You Evah - Spoon
This song is alright, not my favorite evah Spoon song, and I'm a fairly solid fan. The opening chords sound sorta Yo La Tengo mellow-jammy to me, in a good way. Reminds me of the 18-hour train ride I took during college, from Williamsburg, Virginia, home to Birmingham, Alabama. I ate some cinnamon Teddy Grahams, took 2 Tylenol PMs, and listened blearily to "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out" on repeat, on my Sony Discman.

Play Your Part - Girl Talk
I'm sorta bummed I missed this show last month, but it was a verrry late show, packed with verrry drunk kids, and I'm too old for that shit. Also, when I get drunk and dance I fall over! I don't love each and every Girl Talk mash-up but in general they're fun and cool and make me happy nostalgic. When I figure out where a sample's from I feel like I got a POINT. This track has some lovely moments, like when the music opens up and slows down under "west side walk it out, east side walk it out, north side walk it out..." and later when a "Nothing Compares" sample pretties up the dirtydirty lyrics.

The Pioneers - Bloc Party
Not my favorite Bloc Party song - the high register of his voice stresses me out - but the refrain, like a lot of Bloc Party refrains, makes my heart ache in that awesome way. "We promised the world, we'd tame it, what were we hoping for?" ooooooh, right?

Hey Ma - Cam'ron
In case you're too new school to know this song, here's the chorus:

Hey ma, WHAT'S UP, lets slide, ALL RIGHT, all right
And we gon' get it on tonight
You smoke, I SMOKE, I drink, ME TOO, well good
Cause we gon' get it high tonight
Got drops, GOT COUPS, got Trucks, GOT JEEPS, all right
Cause we gon' take a ride tonight
So ma, WHAT'S UP, let's slide, ALL RIGHT, all right
And we gon' get it on tonight

Pretty much word-for-word my conversation with War Machine the night we met.

And finally...

Mr. Brightside - The Killers
I can't listen to a whole Killers album in one sitting, too repetitive, but this song always gets me movin.

Afterthoughts: Without War Machine's awes. ome. gift of a fully loaded (cute! red!) iPod Nano last Christmas, I wouldn't know what any of you were talking about, ever.