SOUND BITES

The obnoxiously long title of Smashing Pumpkins' eighth album (or the first volume of it, I guess?), and its status as the first with most of the original lineup since 2000, might imply that it's a much bigger deal than it is. At eight songs and just under 32 minutes, it's a very slight return. It's also mostly free of the pretension that has bogged down much of their previous work; there are no epic-scale song suites, no wild tangents to go off on, just a batch of songs that get right to the heart of the matter and make way for the next one. In this respect, it's really a rather impressive display of restraint; given the attention this record was going to garner, it would have been easy to stretch things out to a bloated mess. That "Vol. 1" descriptor may prove me wrong on that last point eventually, but Shiny and Oh So Bright in its current incarnation is a concise and compact serving that may not blow old-school fans away or convince any of Billy ...

With their fourth album, Mumford and Sons have decided to take another step away from their folk-rock beginnings, this time playing around with electronics and infusing some modern sensibilities into their once charmingly old fashioned sound. While it's commendable for a band of their stature to take some chances at this stage of their journey (and only three years removed from taking a big chance with their last album), at a certain point a band starts to lose their identity; their status as unwilling poster boys for what became a veritable hipster phenomenon notwithstanding, by dulling and standardizing their approach on Wilder Mind Mumford and Sons chose to blend into the sonic landscape rather than lead it in a new direction. On Delta , an album-length exercise in homogenization, Mumford and Sons showcase the maturity and melodic strengths that they're well known for, and the results are pleasant enough in moderation. However, much like Wilder Mind , there are a handf...

This post concludes my rapid fire run of half-assed reviews, and pretty much brings us up to date. ARKELLS Rally Cry October 19, 2018 • Universal Highlights  Hand Me Downs •  Relentless •  Company Man The fifth album from Hamilton rockers Arkells seeks to build on the momentum from smash stopgap single Knocking At the Door by piling on big hooks, slick production and blatant mainstream aspirations. They've been going in this direction for some time while maintaining the essence of their sound; it's sort of made them the scrappy underdogs who you can't help but root for. Now that they've made it, it's just a little disappointing to learn just how eager they are to scrub away virtually all trace of what they used to be in an effort to grasp that brass ring. DISTURBED Evolution October 19, 2018 • Reprise Highlights  Are You Ready •  A Reason to Fight •  Already Gone Somehow, someway, Disturbed have survived the nu-metal backlash and carved out ...

Muse have never been shy about their shtick; whereas most bands are content to go about their business and evolve their sound from album to album, Muse often goes for the hard turns. Since rising to prominence worldwide with their third album Absolution fifteen years ago, they've constantly tinkered with their sound, infusing their subsequent albums with Europop ( Black Holes and Revelations ), symphonic suites ( The Resistance ), dubstep ( The 2nd Law ) and full-fledged wartime paranoia ( Drones ). Throughout all of it, as ridiculous as the whole thing was getting, Muse presented each of these projects with a seriousness that begged uncertainty about their creative decision making. Was Matt Bellamy really so concerned about drones? Is this the time or place for a 12-minute symphony? Does the world need so much wub-wub accompanying this thinkpiece on thermodynamics? With their eighth album, it appears as though Muse finally admits just how campy they've become and decide...

Designed to play out like a mixtape, Laura Jane Grace's debut album with backing band The Devouring Mothers is sonically restless to say the least; its fourteen songs rarely sound alike, with this familiar group of musicians (The Devouring Mothers are drummer Atom Willard, also of Against Me!, and recent AM! producer Marc Jacob Hudson) gleefully crate digging for inspiration and coming up with a host of influences. Naturally, a primary touchstone is Against Me!, with which Grace has been ringleader for twenty years or so now. That said, there is less of the tension and anguish present here, and Laura sounds liberated without the association to AM! and the expectations that come with every new record by the well established band. Bought to Rot , without any real precedent set, is loose, free flowing, often funny and always fun. Nowhere is this more apparent than on mid-album highlight I Hate Chicago , during which pretty much every Chicagoan institution is railed against as s...

Dan Mangan's fifth album draws influence from a wide variety of sources, but perhaps none more so than family life. The father of two strips some of his arrangements back on More or Less , leaving many songs to stand on a bare frame; at times, the results feel a little slight (as in the very hushed but otherwise fine Lay Low ), but more often than not this approach allows for direct, honest and starkly charming songs. "Simple and effective" isn't the entire name of the game (although sparsely arranged tracks like Just Fear and Which Is It are very, very effective); by times, more sound creeps into the proceedings, calling to mind Radiohead at their turn-of-the-century electro-renegade best ( Peaks & Valleys , Can't Not and Never Quiet wear this particular influence most plainly). Perhaps the album's most thrilling section, however, is its midpoint; Cold in the Summer rides an easy groove and a bright melody down Father John Misty Avenue, while Tr...

To talk about Greta Van Fleet, hailed by many as modern saviours of rock n' roll, is to talk about the fine line between homage and parody. It's often difficult for a band to fall into the "sounds just like" trap, because once it happens, you're pretty much stuck. Joshua Kiszka sounds a lot like Robert Plant, and his band sounds a lot like Led Zeppelin, ergo Greta Van Fleet "sounds just like" Led Zeppelin, and now they're stuck. The problem with this thinking is, there's nowhere safe for Greta Van Fleet to go on their debut album; stray from what drew people to you and you risk losing their attention, play up the classic comparison and you risk being drowned out by your detractors, most of whom are offended fans of the band you've been permanently linked with. On Anthem of the Peaceful Army , Greta Van Fleet sound just like Led Zeppelin. Which opens up that whole can of worms, the one in which Zeppelin aficionados feel insulted that a ...