New Music Reviews - 9/13/2011 - The Kooks, Robbers on High Street, Primus, Neon Indian, and Ladytron

The Kooks  Junk of the Heart - The indie rockers/Britpoppers from Brighton, England release their studio third album.  Drummer Paul Garred is back with the band after a two year absence when he left due to a nerve injury in his arm.  Another band I definitely recommend checking out live if you have the opportunity.  Not only do they put on a great show, but you might see something really cool like one of the band members kicking The Arctic Monkey's lead singer Alex Turner in the face during the middle of the band's performance!  (This supposedly happened in 2008 when Turner was trying to disrupt The Kooks set at a festival in the UK.)  Now let's find out if their new album kicks some ass or falls flat on its face. 

"Junk of the Heart (Happy)" leads off the album and the first thing you notice is the unique crooning style of lead singer Luke Pritchard that, along with their soaring harmonies, is a staple of the band over a simple indie melody with a decent hook that borders between being extremely catchy and being annoyingly catchy such that it'll get stuck in your head for a week.  "Time Above the Earth" is an interesting ditty with a purely violin driven melody that succeeds in creating something completely different from what the band has made in the past although it's not a song you'll be playing over and over.  "Runaway" The album ends with the fantastic "Mr. Nice Guy" which has the edge to music that they first exhibited in their first album but has been mostly absent since then.

Junk of the Heart is about at the same level of quality as Konk which means there are lots of good songs but the total impact of the album pales in comparison to their first disc, Inside In, Inside Out.  Overall, the album is on the mellower side in comparison to their more raucous past releases but the style, especially the vocals from frontman Pritchard, are still instantly recognizable.  At least on this album they experiment with their sound and produce a few tracks unlike anything they had produced before.  While the results of these more experimental songs end up being a mixed bag, they also give us a number of songs in the laid-back indie style we anticipate they will produce.  It's nice to hear the band come out of their shell but their best songs still echo their past hits. 

Score: 8/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Junk of the Heart (Happy)" [sample it below] and "Mr. Nice Guy"

Robbers on High Street Hey There Golden Hair - Robbers is a five person indie rock band from New York.  This is the band's third studio album which became available in MP3 album format this week although I couldn't find a street date for the actual CD release.  But if you love this band as much as I do, you can find the whole album on iTunes, Amazon, and other online MP3 music retailers.  One of the band's strengths that is on full display on this release is their ability to weave a fun story and integrate it well with the accompanying melodies and Beatles-esque harmonies.  "Electric Eye" really showcases the former attribute while "Second Chance" shines with the latter.  Hey There Golden Hair is another fantastic album from Robbers on High Street with soaring harmonies and cleverly written lyrics.  Longtime fans must pick this album up and new fans will probably find at least a couple songs to their liking.

Score: 9/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Electric Eye", "Second Chance" and "Monkey"

Primus Green Naugahyde - The hard rocking Bay Area trio fronted by bass god Les Claypool release their sixth studio album and first in over a decade.  It's not like they were on vacay that entire time; the boys were either working on solo projects or performing with other bands.  And speaking of the boys, longtime drummer Jon Lane makes his glorious return on this release .  Green shows a return to form of to the bass-heavy rock ditties with a skewing towards the more twisted, carnival-esque melodies.  The entire album is solid from beginning to end which is sure to please fans of the band and be a good introduction for the young'uns.  Only one thing prevents the album from scoring higher: a lack of a true breakout hit along the lines of "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver" or "My Name Is Mud".  Other than that, it's great to see the band hasn't lost a step since the 90's.  If only I could say that about more bands...

Score: 8.5/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Hennepin Crawler", "Tragedy's a'Comin'" and "Lee Van Cleef" [sample it below]

Neon Indian Era Extrana - After a somewhat disappointing LP release last year, chillwave/synthpop electronica act Neon Indian releases a full-length studio album.  Unfortunately, it's more of the same from the band.  The potential of the band, once again, is present but what they give us is substandard with hooks that fail to capture your attention, melodies that start off promising but end up deteriorating quickly, and lyrics that don't make an impact emotionally nor in terms of cohesiveness.  There are some interesting OMD-lite refrains and melodies on the album that prevent it from being a total let down but for all the potential the band has shown over the past few years, they still haven't figured out how to put it all together. 

Score: 5.5/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Polish Girl" [sample it below]

Ladytron Gravity the Seducer - The synthpop band from Liverpool release their fifth studio album.  Their first single, "White Elephant," was released all the way back in May and it leads off the album while another song, "Ace of Hz," was previously included in the band's compilation album, Best of 00-10.  The good news if you're a fan of the band is that they haven't changed their formula over the years and are still able to concoct smooth and doleful chillwave melodies that aptly fit a Fall album release.  However, the level of seduction on Seducer doesn't completely draw you in instead leaving you with an overall sense of melancholy.  It's an album that will tide fans over until their next release but there won't be many songs from this disc on their next Best of album.

Score: 6.5/10
Song(s) to Sample: "White Gold" [sample it below] and "Ambulances"