Go and ask the milkman

Look! Real content fair readers, who'd a thunk it? There's a lot of new music for your ears this Spring so here's my take on a few of the offerings out recently.


Midnight Boom - The Kills

More accessible than 2005's No Wow, the third album from native Floridian Alison "VV" Mosshart and London-born Jamie "Hotel" Hince feels like a return to their early garage sound, with a slight detour through Ecclectic Pop Land that steers them away from comparisons of The White Stripes, who they're often pegged as akin to, and more towards early Garbage instead. [Your run on sentences are longer than mine.Impressive. What I have discovered about this chick--fueled by my interest as a fellow native Floridian--is that Discount, Mosshart's previous band, had an EP put out by a pre-Pete Wentz influenced Fueled By Ramen. ~Mimi] [Thank God she got outta that one then. - JD] Tracks like "Cheap and Cheerful" and "Black Balloon" are wildly reminiscent of young Shirley Manson and her band of melancholy men and as far as I'm concerned, that's not a bad thing. Pop eats itself for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day and it's nice to hear a better than usual blue plate special. [You and your Garbage thing lately. ~Mimi]

Attack and Release - The Black Keys

The one thing anyone calling themselves a Black Keys fan has often pondered is what they would sound like with a full musical compliment. Well, here's your album-shaped answer, with hit and miss results. Produced by Danger Mouse and haunted by the ghost of Ike Turner who was slated as co-collaborator before dying in December 07, Attack and Release has more sound, certainly, but I'm not sure it adds anything to the feel that Dan and Patrick have always been so easily able to convey in their less-is-more way. "I Got Mine" and "Psychotic Girl" are the best examples of this experiment, but tracks like "Remember When Side A" get lost in the samples that sound more like something off Demon Days. I appreciate this album as a fan, but for first-timers, I'd recommend starting with The Big Come Up and working your way through the catalog to this one.

Consolers of the Lonely - The Raconteurs

Welcome to the evolution of Album Rock, folks. Remember listening to Supertramp's Breakfast in America for the first time? [Um, no. ??? Don't make me weep. ~Mimi] Probably not, but Consolers of the Lonely is the evolution of that sound, picking up a little bit of everything that's happened in rock since then along the way. Say what you will about Jack White et al and their day jobs, this is a fun record. [Sorry, still hate him. ~Mimi] Redefining the term concept album, the sound moves from the rocking single "Salute Your Solution" to more dynamic tracks like "You Don't Understand Me" in loving homage to 70s Prog Rock without ever feeling retread-ish. The ballads "The Switch and the Spur" and "Carolina Drama" are two of the most lyrically entertaining songs I've heard in years. Freddie Mercury and Ronnie Van Zant would both be proud. [This is getting a lot of play in Nashville, much to my great annoyance. ~Mimi] [Denial, Egypt, etc... - JD]