Aug 072014
Well, well — Tom Petty has his first album ever to debut at #1 on the Billboard album chart. It’s a pretty low bar these days, and there are all kinds of tricks (like giving away album downloads when you buy a concert ticket) but, hell yes! #1 baby! Clapton comes in at #2 with his JJ Cale tribute. What is this? 1977?
Petty’s “Hypnotic Eye” sounds OK by me — I have not listened to it 50 times yet — but I’m liking it. Also this week, Spoon put out a new one that seems promising for the long haul. Jenny Lewis has a nice new album that I probably will listen to 50 times at some point this year.
So — I’m pretty optimistic about R-O-C-K-ers (yeah, of a certain age) right now.
P.S. Stream Sinead’s new one at NPR’s First Listen, too!
I thought the summer began and ended with Bob Mould’s Beauty & Ruin. I might crumble and pick up that Jenny Lewis release.
I like Bob’s new one too. I wonder if Tweedy’s solo record with his kid will be any good? I always hold out hope for Ryan Adams too.
I saw this clip at NPR and was intrigued for the new Ryan Adams. Nothing groundbreaking but if you like the stuff he does with the Cardinals it should be good.
http://www.npr.org/event/music/332030079/ryan-adams-live-in-concert-newport-folk-festival-2014
I’m happy with what Rock has to offer every year, but I don’t listen to much radio so I never know what’s popular and what’s not. That Jenny Lewis song seemed okay, but I’ll have to look more into her. Is that her band or is that models for the video?
The Tom Petty track has the exact lack of energy I’ve come to expect from Tom since Hard Promises came out. He made three really good albums (one an absolute heavyweight monster), but I think he’s the poster boy for “Dad Rock.” That song has a big chord at the beginning, could Tom possibly play it any more politely?
I enjoyed the Jenny Lewis song but think her voice sounds too processed. And her “band” contains Anne Hathaway (short dark hair) and Kristen Stewart (long reddish hair). I don’t recognize the blonde.
I have to admit to 3 listens (since Friday) of J. Roddy Walston and the Business’s 2010 self-titled album. It’s pretty rockin’ for me to be listening to (but reminds me of my growin’ up days with Southern Rock).
But I’m looking forward to listening to that new Spoon album. The most rockin’ recent album I bought was the new Camper Van Beethoven (an homage to Southern California), which is pretty good. I think that their guitarist, Greg Lisher, is very underrated.
The Spoon album is good. They seem to alternate between making poppy albums and dark albums, this one is a fun listen. Plus, at 37 minutes, it’s just the right length.
I love Tom, but I pretty much only buy downloads nowadays, and Amazon is currently charging $10.49 for the mp3 version of the album. $8.99 used to be common for new releases, even $7.99, and that seems to be creeping up to $9.49. But $10.49? It’s ironic, since Tom famously fought his label over a price increase back in the day. My theory is that only old people like me pay for music these days, so the labels are going to try to squeeze more money out of their dwindling number of paying customers. I hope this is not a trend. The new Richard Thompson acoustic album is actually more for a download ($11.49) thank for a CD ($10.99). I think I’ll just wait and see if they sale prices on these come down after their initial promotional run.
I’m digging the new Spoon tracks. Petty’s latest does nothing for me.
Just heard a new Jenny Lewis track on our local “adult alternative” station that must be the most insipid, vapid song I’ve ever heard. “She’s Not Me”… the lyrics are laughable…
I went to an actual Record Store and purchased Hypnotic Eye. Found it on a shelf, walked it up to the front, paid a human money (green paper) and walked out trying to open the plastic with my teeth. Reminds me of my youth 😉
Not sure that “rock” is back as much as that two classic Dad Rock artists (Petty and Clapton) have better than average releases,strong reviews and plenty of marketing firepower. Their CDs are actually in the stores as well (a larger accomplishment than it used to be).
If a “rock” CD is actually IN Target/Walmart/Best Buy it’s a minor miracle in itself. Dads of the suburbs only get into the Record Store areas a few times a month at best (30 miles for me in Atlanta) We have a few CD Warehouse places left that are 90% used and a few new released scattered in, usually at list price.
Bruce, U2, Petty, Clapton, ZZ Top, Neil Young,Van Halen, Aerosmith may get a release in a big box but the rest are all but shut out. Barnes and Noble had the last Wilco but I called 1st to be sure. The “new” Van Halen was not at my local Target or WalMart and I ended up downloading it rather than put 60 miles on my car to pick up a CD.
That said, basically every old CD is available at the used shops, goodwill, garage sales. LPs even more so. I have purchased more Vinyl this year than any other year of my life (and I started buying LPs in 1980) just NONE have been new.
The Spoon album is great! Jenny Lewis, not so much.
I really can’t stand the production on the Jenny Lewis track. What is that snare sound? It also sounds like whatever “genius” producer they brought in was too insistent on a click track and the tempo he chose was too slow…over thought.
I’d much more enjoy hearing a three or four-piece band play an edited version that song a little more up-tempo than this. It really loses steam in so many places.
And the chorus’s ripoff of Petula Clark’s “it’s a sign of the times” is a minor offense made all the more difficult to take given the rest of its problems.
I agree with the general consensus regarding Tom’s lack of energy / politeness…is it possible to do less with the Honkey Tonk Women riff? There’s laid back and cool, and then there’s this song: tired. Somebody get me a song doctor!
How does the hive mind of RTH feel about Ty Segall?
Spoon leaves me cold, which is, I think, exactly how they want to leave me.
I like Ty Segall and the new album is on my list. He seems like he’s the type that a lot of people around here would like, but I could be wrong.
I like Melted. I could do without the ubiquity of the distorted / overly effected vocals, but it’s a nice album because the songwriting is strong, he’s a good singer, and the production and sequencing are oddball enough to give one the idea that anything could happen (not unlike a sloppier version of the studio stuff by Sean Lennon’s latest gig…Ghost of a Something Something Something).
Yeah, that’s just about my view WRT the vocal effects.
I keep trying with Spoon cuz the cool kids tell me they’re great, but they’re just okay. The new Reigning Sound is pretty great. Kinda slow, but Greg can do the slow stuff really well. Besides, he already did Time Bomb High School, so I think this is a nice record.
I’ve got the Ty Segall album with the dog on the cover. It should push all my buttons but I hardly ever play it.
Tim Kuhl, the drummer for one of my absolute favorite bands in the whole wide world, The Izzys, is touring with Sean Lennon’s Ghosty band.