What's a Listening Log? Well, the idea is quite simple. It's a weekly segment that consolidates all the mini-reviews Dozens Of Donuts has given on RateYourMusic over the past week, split between the Past and Present. A straightforward grading scale has been put in place, ranging from A+ to F-, with C acting as the baseline average. There is no set amount of reviews per week, just however many I get around to reviewing. And don't expect week-of reviews. I wait one month - with at least three listens under my belt - before I rate and review an album. Enjoy!
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2013 | Indie Rock | Listen
FINDING A TIME CAPSULE AS SHELLS OF YOUR FORMER SELVES
Almost systematically, my appreciation of Strokes albums has been a grade or two above the general consensus. Excluding Is This It of course, a universally-agreed upon classic. But Room On Fire, First Impressions Of Earth, even Angles, all perceived more positively by me than those whose disappointment kept declining in anticipation of a revelation. That trend ends with Comedown Machine, easily The Strokes' worst album. What they change in an effort to reawaken some dormant genre ('Welcome To Japan,' 'Call It Fate, Call It Karma') falters due to middle-aged confusion. What they perpetuate suffers from Strokes inundation ('50/50,' 'Partners In Crime'). To no Strokes fans surprise, the best material can be found at the beginning with the one-two punch of 'Tap Out' and 'All The Time.' The former includes some peachy psychedelics infused with Casablancas' vocals, while the latter is perhaps the band's best attempt at re-capturing Is This It's lighting in a bottle.
Everything else is average or worse. The lyrics to 'Welcome To Japan' are abysmal, the more Punky elements fail to land with any antagonistic passion, and the jarring pacing shifts - worst seen, dead center, on '80's Comedown Machine' - causes Comedown Machine to never maintain coherency or momentum. Is it still enjoyable? To some degree, it is The Strokes after all. But memorability, this album has naught.
D+
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1996 | Alternative Rock | Listen
TOYING WITH HIS PREY, A SERIAL KILLER SMIRKS
An album solely about murders shouldn't be so tedious. Yet this is where we find Murder Ballads, captured in the no man's land of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' career. It's representative of their adoration of sin, almost to the point of parody, to recount fictional tales of lover's quarrels, drug deals gone wrong, and gang shoot-outs. But at least The Bad Seeds don't deviate from the concept, making it interesting and through. The same can't be said for the music, which is some of The Bad Seeds' most bland and withered to date. Even the singles in 'Where The Wild Roses Grow' with Kylie Minogue and 'Henry Lee' with PJ Harvey, are ridden with archaic panache, the same kind has marred any Contemporary genre of the 90's. As per usual, Nick Cave sports a voracious and varied style, switching between uptempo romps like 'Stagger Lee' and 'O'Malley's Bar,' and more ethereal pieces like 'Kindness Of Strangers' and the Twin Peaks-inspired 'Crow Jane.'
Believe it or not, my favorite here has to be the tongue-in-cheek closer 'Death Is Not The End.' A parade of vocalists, some from previous songs, join Cave in a sort of sea shanty over a palpably-dull piano melody. The self-awareness improves the song's quality, but so does the simplicity and repetition, which allows it to easily be Murder Ballads' most memorable track. The rest suffer from complacency, as nothing aspires towards greatness with a assemblage content with garden-variety Bad Seeds. It's probably the band's most consistent effort, but with zero highs to compete with past LP's like Your Funeral...My Trial and Tender Prey, Murder Ballads might struggle to remain relevant in my mind.
C
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