Print Edition: November 30, 2011
Jens Lekman
An Argument With Myself
Albums offer up the chance for musicians to make a cohesive statement, while EPs seem more of a quick update or a promise of what’s to come. Swedish indie legend Jens Lekman’s new EP An Argument With Myself comes almost four years after the release of his critically acclaimed 2007 album Night Falls Over Kortedala, and contains five songs that, according to Lekman, didn’t fit the mood of the songs he had been compiling for his next full length release. Lekman seems unashamed to simply release a group of savvy ballads that tell engaging stories, the stand out being his throwback to earlier work “Waiting for Kirsten.” Recounting his close encounter with American actress Kirsten Dunst after he heard she was hanging out at various festivals in his hometown of Gothenburg, Lekman waited in vain and “drank beer after beer ‘til the sun came up”. Overall, he succeeds in combining bombastic chamber pop with Nick Drake-esque folk on a very short EP with sweetness and skill.
Fonda
Better Days
It’s been eight years since we last heard from Fonda. Formed in Los Angeles in 1994, the band rode the first wave of post-My Bloody Valentine acts to blend dreamlike guitar layering and incessant pop-mindedness. After three albums, Fonda split; principal members [and married couple] Emily Cook and Dave Klotz then moved on to gigs in the film industry. Better Days, their new, six-song EP, is set up as a comeback, but it fails to lend the band any newfound relevance. It’s clear that they have settled for the middle of the road, taking great lengths only to dress up a failing impulse to string something compelling together. Mediocre at best, Better Days’ perfectly passable wash of Technicolor noise pop can’t hide the lack of substance; the saccharine gloss that coats the entire project reveals a lack of depth or vigour. It’s all formula and no imagination. After so long on the sidelines, Fonda succumbs to the impulse to get lost in shoegaze atmospherics, creating an EP that is devoid of purpose, passion and dynamics.
Calexico
Selections From Road Atlas 1998-2011
Calexico, a band out of Tuscon, Arizona has evolved over the years as many bands do, and have been described as indie rock, alternative country and post-rock. As an additional item released with a 12 vinyl LP box set, Calexico put out an album, Selections From Road Atlas 1998-2011, containing popular tracks from their 13-year musical career together. If you haven’t heard Calexico before this album may seem very disjointed and confusing because the band has changed quite a lot over the years so there is a variety of sounds on the album. The band is named after a town on the border of the United States and Mexico therefore their music blends music with a Latin influence with an acoustic country music style. The album changes in pace a lot from slow acoustic melodies to upbeat Latin rock songs. If you are a diehard Calexico fan this is a must-have album so that you can have all your greatest Calexico hits from over a decade on one CD.
Angels & Airwaves
Love Part II
Formed from the ashes of Blink 182, Angels & Airwaves is an alternative band fronted by singer Tom DeLonge. Love: Part II is the band’s fourth studio album. It was set to coincide with the release of the band’s space-age feature film also entitled Love. The tunes are fast paced, and meant to evoke emotion. They sound a little too similar to the their earlier work, and the listener occasionally find themselves getting tired of the monotony and one-tracked mind of the songwriter. However, it is a good album; it’s just a little plain. These are the same rhythms and styles we heard from Angels & Airwaves back in the days of their album I-Empire. A tour for Love II will take place in the Spring of 2012.
