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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 11, 2008

Updated: 12/11/2008 06:56 pm

BRAD PAISLEY:
PLAY
(ARISTA) ***

On most Paisley albums, a musical Gettysburg usually takes place between the fleet-fingered guitarist and the aw-shucks vocalist.

On "Play," the battle is over before it begins. Paisley the Picker takes the lead on this mostly instrumental collection.

The dazzling instrumentals find Paisley straying through Southern rock ("Huckleberry Jam") bluegrass ("Playing With Fire"), gospel ("What A Friend We Have in Jesus") and Les Paul-flavored jazz ("Les Is More"). Duets with B.B. King, Keith Urban, Buck Owens, Steve Wariner and, yes, Andy Griffith are enjoyable, but leave the impression of a record company meetings about "How are we going to get airplay with this?"

Download this: "Cluster Pluck"

Jeff Houck

THE BRONX:
THE BRONX III
(WHITE DRUGS)***

Like At the Drive-In's "Relationship of Command," "The Bronx III" is the sound of a punk band's diverse influences coalescing into something hard, accessible and all theirs.

But where "Relationship" presaged the sprawling prog-rock of offshoot The Mars Volta, "The Bronx III" is trim, taut and wound so tight it threatens to explode.

There are hints of everything from early Guns n' Roses to The Lazy Cowgirls and Minor Threat here, but The Bronx is part of the legacy, not an imitation. Singer Matt Caughthran has one of the best howls in rock. "The Bronx III" joins Against Me!'s "New Wave" heading the "punk as energizing life force" pack.

Download this: "Past Lives"

Curtis Ross

LOS CAMPESINOS!:
WE ARE BEAUTIFUL, WE ARE DOOMED
(ARTS & CRAFTS) ***

Oh, sure, that's what we need: musically talented, literate, DIY-minded youngsters from Britain so brilliant they've released their second disc in 2008, this one a collection originally intended for release as B-sides that also includes a DVD of the band on the road. No, I don't want to hear the sound of the punk ethic filtered through the musical ideas of a seven-piece band that includes a violinist and, sometimes, a xylophonist. That's not interesting! Who cares if it sounds like the Violent Femmes and Camper Van Beethoven recorded together, added a girl who could sing and asked Morrissey and Stuart Murdoch to write the lyrics? I don't enjoy clever lines like "I restored your mother's faith in men whilst boring you to death." Nope. More of the same old pap for me, please.

Download this: It's Never That Easy, Though, Is It?

Kevin Walker

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