Celebrate World Goth Day by drinking absinthe, listening to Bauhaus, and cutting yourself so that you finally feel something...anything! Or just dress all in black leather and lace and go to a club and dance real slow. Whichever.
Road Tunes
New music releases for the week of 05-22-2012
Web2Carz Senior Writer
Published: May 22nd, 2012
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oday is World Goth Day, so it’s fitting that there’s been so much death in the air lately. This past week saw the passing of not only disco queen Donna Summer, but of disco queen Robin Gibb as well, who actually made some really great psychedelic pop records before “Stayin’ Alive,” a song with a message he obviously didn’t take literally enough.
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The Cult / Choice of Weapon (Cooking Vinyl) THEY SAY: First album in five years from 80s hard rock goths. WE SAY: They started out as Southern Death Cult, then became Death Cult, and then simply The Cult. Their music transformed along with their name changes, going from gothy post-punk to AC/DC-inspired hard rock. Their new album is produced by Bob Rock, who first worked with the band on Sonic Temple, and Choice of Weapon is more of the same Zeppelin-inspired rock you’ve either come to love or ignore. |
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Garbage / Not Your Kind of People (Stunvolume) THEY SAY: First album in seven years from grunge/pop pioneers. WE SAY: Garbage seem to have rediscovered what they do best during their long hiatus. Not Your Kind of People is a return to the sound of the band’s first two (read: only good) albums. |
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Gossip / A Joyful Noise (Columbia) THEY SAY: Latest long-player from indie rock trio from Searcy, Arkansas by way of Olympia, Washington. WE SAY: It’s always tricky when a band associated with punk rock, or riot grrrl tries to go “pop.” It’s especially tricky when they can’t really write pop songs. Beth Ditto claims to have listened to nothing but Abba for a year, but you’d never guess from this record, which lacks the melodic inventiveness and the cleverness of those loveable Swedes. |
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Paul & Linda McCartney / Ram (Special Edition) (Hear Music) THEY SAY: Double-CD reissue of McCartney’s third post-Beatles album, featuring a disc of bonus material. WE SAY: Although widely panned by critics at the time, Ram has proven to be one of McCartney’s most enduring and influential solo albums. On Ram, Sir Paul combined the one-man-band approach of his first solo album (“Too Many People,” “Long Haired Lady”) with a more Beatle-esque approach (“Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” which sounds like a Yellow Submarine outtake). Throw in a nod toward the harder rock sounds he’d explore on Band On The Run (“Smile Away,” “Monkberry Moon Delight”), and you have what is in many ways the perfect Beatles solo album. |
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Mount Eerie / Clear Moon (P.W. Elverum) THEY SAY: Latest album from former Microphone Phil Elverum WE SAY: Less black-metal infused than previous Mount Eerie releases, Clear Day is nonetheless still black, with slow, dirgy, folk-infused songs that keep the spirit, if not the sound, of black metal alive. This is the first part of a two-part series of albums. The second album, Ocean Roar, is scheduled to be released in September. |
