THE ROLLING STONES
Sticky Fingers
(Universal.)
The Stones didn't need to erect their
big pop-art dick to be the most dangerous
band of 1971. The 1960s had seen their
fans flooding auditoriums with piss,
storming stages, fighting police, and, at
the decade's end, getting savagely beaten
(in one case to death) by bikers paid in
beer to secure Altamont Speedway, the
failed "Woodstock West." Ladies and gentlemen . . . The Anti-Beatles! "The Beatles
got the white hat, you know," chuckles
Keith Richards in the 50th anniversary
Crossfire Hurricane film. "What's left? The
black hat." Sticky Fingers (reissued in 10
editions, two that zip) winds through
poor America, sampling the mythological
melting pot. It appropriates accent as it
pleases, pairing fevered sexual pangs
("Brown Sugar," "Can't You Hear Me
Knocking," "Bitch") with hard-drug basement drawl ("You Gotta Move," "Sister
Morphine," "Dead Flowers"). It's a dark
and ugly tourism, the kind political correctness cautions against, but an essential
trip, too, anticipating hard rock's dirty pilgrimage. Deluxe editions feature Eric
Clapton's guitar on an alternate "Brown
Sugar," along with varied live tracks and
gimmicks (that zipper, postcards, a book).
The standard remastered album says it
best: "How come you taste so good?" Mick
Jagger wants to know.
Appearing: 6/23 at Summerfest,
Milwaukee.
– Mike Meyer
7
THE COOL WHIPS
Goodies
(Self)
These four Portlandians replicate halcyon-era bubblegum-power pop almost
too perfectly. In other words, while they
offer up generous helpings of the genre's
requisite irresistible hooks, playful lyrics,
and nonsense syllables (title of Track 12:
"Boom Shang-A-Lang"), they don't add
anything new. So, when historians of the
future stumble upon this little gem, they'll
probably lump it in with The Archies and
Bay City Rollers instead of The
Raspberries or Cheap Trick. Then, having
done so, they'll probably also note that
although Ron Dante and Les McKeown
were better singers than Eric Ramon,
Ramon wrote better songs on the whole
than those given Dante and McKeown by
their major-label song scouts—and that
Ramon, Susan Kearns, David Ricardo,
and Kurt Steinke always played their own
instruments.
–Arsenio Orteza
6
BUILT TO SPILL
Untethered Moon
(Warners Bros.)
A Great Lake's worth of ink has
already been spilled by scribes (and rightly so) in deference to the guitar playing of
Doug Martsch. What gets criminally
ignored in its wake is the Built To Spill
front man's ability to craft unconventional
pop masterpieces."Untethered Moon," the
band's eighth studio record, seems determined to swing the telescope back in the
direction of composition. Songs like
"Living Zoo," "All Our Songs," and the
first single "Never Be The Same" feel
greatly served by the recently refurbished
rhythm section of Steve Gere (drums) and
Jason Albertini (bass), bringing a heretofore density that hasn't been heard on previous releases. This new canvas has
allowed Martsch to further explore
melodies that haven't been this supple
since the late 90's high-water marks that
were the albums Perfect From Now On
(1997) and Keep It Like A Secret (1999). Left
concerned that there are no searing guitar
solos and feedback freak outs?! Fret not
dear listener. The eight minute plus rager
"When I'm Blind" has no intention of apologizing for going all Crazy Horse on your
ass.
– Curt Baran
7
SCOTT WEILAND & THE
WILDABOUTS
Blaster
(Softdrive)
What a wild ride it's been for ultrarocker Scott Weiland – bouncing in and
BLUR
The Magic Whip
(Universal)
When news leaked out that Blur were ready
to release new music, fans swooned and critics
drooled. The Magic Whip will certainly appeal to
longtime Blur fans, but their first album in 13
years feels forced, like the band was consciously
trying to be the public perception of Blur.
Interviews with guitarist Graham Coxon confirm The Magic Whip is his album (along with
uber producer Stephen Street), as he salvaged
unfinished tracks from Blur's aborted 2013 Hong
32 illinoisentertainer.com june 2015
of bands (Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet
Revolver, solo career, STP reunion, and
now The Wildabouts) as much as he's
bounced in and out of rehab. Always making headlines, Weiland really wants to be
about making music, which he has proven
time and time again that he absolutely can.
His latest incarnation is with The
Wildabouts, and their debut release Blaster
shows Weiland borrowing from the best of
each of his previous efforts. "Modzilla" and
"White Lightning" come out with the driving rock and in-your-face-riffs of early STP
and Velvet Revolver. Tracks like "Way She
Moves" and "Hotel Rio" explore the more
fun summer rock sounds of "Big Bang
Baby" and "Trippin on a Hole in a Paper
Heart." "Amethyst" launches with a Wholike soaring riff before settling into another
easily singable chorus. The downside is
that Weiland's lyric-writing stays about six
inches deep and isn't afraid to use constant
rock clichés, and some could accuse of him
of just re-hashing old sounds. But his ability to keep melding his grungy rock voice
with powerful riffs remains intact, and just
might be enough to keep carrying his
career.
– Carter Moss
7
MY MORNING JACKET
The Waterfall
(ATO)
Jim James has a way of always making
heartache sound beautiful. No doubt, there
is a darkness that runs through the songs
on The Waterfall. Anyone giving a pedestrian listen to the Louisville, Kentucky quintet's sixth studio record can't be faulted for
missing the morose. The music envelopes
James' otherworldly falsetto, distracting
from the pain beneath. The band has never
painted with a canvas this panoramic.
Ballads (“Like A River," "Only Memories
Remain") are so intimate it's as though
they're pointed at an individuals brow and,
in the next breath, the perpetually indie
rock band take dead aim at the cheap seats
in the local Enormodome ("Big Decisions").
It's these seeming contradictions that continue to make the band so compelling. The
bastard child of parents Pink Floyd and
The Band has no business