TOM JONES: 24 HOURS (S CURVE) **½ There were two ways to louse up this album. One was to go with the studiedly retro approach, the other to go strictly modern, compressing and processing everything to death so you couldn't tell whether it's Tom Jones or Justin Timberlake. ...more

December 4, 2008

TOM GABEL: HEART BURNS (SIRE) **½ The sounds are different but the anger remains the same on Against Me! front man Tom Gabel's seven-song solo EP. ...more

November 27, 2008

The budget likely is a fraction of that for Cheap Trick's "Sgt. Pepper's" spectacle, but four local bands are taking on an equally ambitious task Saturday. ...more

November 20, 2008

GOJIRA: THE WAY OF ALL FLESH (PROSTHETIC) **½ There was something uplifting about "From Mars to Sirius," the 2006 U.S. breakthrough album from French metal outfit Gojira. Heavy as it was, the group avoided metal's oppressiveness with soaring riffs and lyrics that revealed its commitment to environmentalism (and a love of sea mammals: "When we play we try to sound like a whale," singer Joe Duplantier told the Tribune in 2006). ...more

November 20, 2008

KENNY CHESNEY: LUCKY OLD SUN (BNA) Kenny Chesney's rise to the top of country music and four straight ACM Entertainer of the Year awards was fueled by hard work and energy. The latter is noticeably absent on his latest, "Lucky Old Sun." ...more

November 13, 2008

MARGOT & THE NUCLEAR SO AND SO'S: NOT ANIMAL (EPIC) *** Margot & the Nuclear So and So's completed about two dozen songs for this, its second album. The band's label, Epic, chose one version, "Not Animal," while the band's, "Animal!" is available on vinyl. ...more

November 6, 2008

BLITZEN TRAPPER: FURR (SUB POP) ***½ Somewhere along the way, bands having a sound became bands playing in monochrome - wedging themselves into their own pigeonhole such that even a slight variance sends Spin or Rolling Stone swooning about "eclecticism." ...more

October 24, 2008

FUJIYA & MIYAGI: LIGHTBULBS (DEAF DUMB & BLIND) *** Fujiya & Miyagi (an English trio, rather than an Asian duo - take that, expectations!) are either heavily ironic or heavily absurd: Vanilla strawberry/Knickerbocker glory/I saw the ghost of Lena Zavaroni, anyone? But "Lightbulbs" is so full of creamy pop goodness the lyrics can be taken as the afterthought they very well may be. ...more

October 17, 2008

THE VERVE: FORTH (ON YOUR OWN) **½ The Verve returns 11 years after scoring a hit with "Urban Hymns" and subsequently disbanding. "Forth" has one foot in the solid song structures of its 1997 album and one toe dipping tentatively into the more free-flowing waters of early albums. ...more

October 10, 2008

RA RA RIOT: THE RHUMB LINE (BARSUK) ***½ Sadly, the first some of us heard of Ra Ra Riot was when drummer John Pike died following a performance last year, around the time the band's eponymous EP was released. As it is, though, "The Rhumb Line," serves both as a fitting tribute to Pike and as a proper introduction to the band. ...more

September 19, 2008