March 24, 2005
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Kaiser Chiefs – Employment”
is a pretty good debut album by this new band. It’s a mixture of
punk, pop, and rock, which is enough for them to be a popular BritPop
band. They catch some catchy hooks in their songs and very much
in the infectious sing-a-long variety. But since this is afterall
a debut album, it isn’t particularly perfect. The first half of
the album is really well made and is enough to convince people to
purchase this, but once you get to the second half you start noticing
them veering off into B-sides territories. This is definitely worth a
listen to at least, but it might not be for everybody.2 – I Predict A Riot
3 – Modern Way
4 – Na Na Na Na Naa
6 – Oh My God
7 – Born To Be A Dancer—————————-
Pepper – “Kona Town”
is very much a feel good cool album, perfect to drive around town with
the top down in a nice breezy but sunny afternoon. It just evokes
that feeling. Their sound is mostly a mixture of reggae music laced
with some rap, ska, and rock. At first listen, the first thing
that would come to mind is that they sound like Sublime or 311,
which isn’t entirely untrue but doesn’t give recognition to Pepper’s
own style. The lead singer stands out the most with a very nice
pleasant voice, and the guitar riffs, bass lines, and drum beats are
quite stellar themselves. As an album it doesn’t really stand out
enough in a crowd (except that it’s practically the successor to
Sublime), but it’s definitely a good listen. Check it out.3 – Dry Spell
4 – Face Plant
8 – B.O.O.T.
9 – Give It Up
10 – Sitting On The Curb———————–
Hot Hot Heat – “Make Up The Breakdown”
is a great record that sounds like the post-punk pop acts that spawned
New Wave in the ’80s. In fact, there has been a recent boom of
this sound lately, with Franz Ferdinand or the Killers,
but in part it was helped because of Hot Hot Heat’s appearance a couple
years ago. This album is very upbeat and should be able to get people
up and about. The vocals can be a little over the top a bit but it
works with the energetic sound of the band. The album is a little on
the short side though (31mins) and goes by pretty darn quick.
Definitely gives me a nostalgic throwback to the ’80s, and that in
itself gives me reason to praise Hot Hot Heat.2 – No, Not Now
3 – Get In Or Get Out
4 – Bandages
5 – Oh, Godamnit
8 – Talk To Me, Dance With Me
