The Denver Post
Capsule reviews of recent CD Releases
- The National, 'High Violet,' (4AD)
The decidedly dour, restrained "High Violet" - this Brooklyn band's fifth and most polished full-length - has been virtually inescapable in music circles the past couple of months, and now the mainstream is starting to catch on, with the disc debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.
That's a big step forward for an indie rock band usually associated with sad, dark lyrics and a sound that inspires ridiculous critical appraisals like "Leonard Cohen-meets-Guided by Voices" (yep, my own words).
Singer-lyricist Matt Berninger's paranoid, self-obsessed urban hymns aren't for everyone, but if you can tap into the pensive wavelength of "Conversation 16" or the slow-burning "Anyone's Ghost," you'll be rewarded with some of the smartest, most poetic music being made today.
- John Wenzel
Widespread Panic, 'Dirty Side Down,' (ATO)
Widespread Panic is more than just a jam band. At least that's what the group is trying to get across with its latest full-length, "Dirty Side Down," in stores today.
It seems to be a popular trend - jam bands releasing ambitiously sprawling records with media interviews insisting they're "more than just a jam band." And we get it, we really do. Jam bands, while incredibly popular in the live arena - Panic plays three nights at Red Rocks on June 25-27 - still struggle selling CDs.
To their credit, Panic give blues-rock fans some tight jams here, sometimes adding a potent psych-rock riff (the CD-opening "Saint Ex") and other times eschewing expectations with a quick-and-jittery instrumental ditty ("St. Louis," which clocks in at less than 3 minutes).
Singer John Bell's love of the blues is obvious, and at times he sounds like Coloradan Todd Park Mohr (Big Head Todd & the Monsters) with his throaty call. Fans of Mohr's music will likely find kinship in these songs, even if the two bands' live shows couldn't be more different.
- Ricardo Baca
David Cross, 'Bigger and Blackerer,'
(Sub Pop)
Best known as a character actor and sketch comedian on critically acclaimed shows such as "Mr. Show," "Arrested Development" and "The Colbert Report," David Cross is also an infrequent stand-up whose unapologetic rants and wickedly sharp observations have netted him a rabid, Bill Hicks-style following.
On his third album (and second DVD) for Seattle indie label Sub Pop, Cross expands his arsenal of agreeably cranky critiques covering everything from mindless TV and drug addicts to religion, homophobia and political jingoism.
It's a wide net to cast, and Cross is less concerned with perfectly smooth execution than the integrity of those ideas - something at which he's always excelled.
But it also puts him at a loss when compared with the laser-honed performance styles of comedians like Patton Oswalt or Paul F. Tompkins (though Cross would probably be the first to admit this).
Is it just more of the same from this fearless, Grammy-nominated stand-up? Yes - and that's a beautiful thing.
- John Wenzel