In Rainbows
RADIOHEAD
(inrainbows.com)
It's tempting to get caught up in all the subplots of Radiohead's seventh full-length studio album, In Rainbows. I could go on and on about the slight 10-day lead time between announcing the record's existence and releasing it to the public viaInternet download, the decision to not even bother with a record label, the amazing policy of letting you determine an appropriate price. But after all the ink is spilled about whether or not Radiohead's business move will become a model for other bands and what the reaction of the major labels should be, we're still left with an album — or, more precisely, 10 MP3 files — to evaluate. Is Rainbows worth all the fuss? Nutshell answer: yeah.
"Bodysnatchers" is an angry blend of scratchy feedback and propulsive rhythms, coming as close to the garage as any Radiohead track in recent memory, while "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" rides two minimalist, finger-picked guitar figures to a lush, panoramic finish. On "Faust Arp," the band settles down for a brief and relaxed acoustic guitar and string interlude. "15 Step" is another chapter in the band's love affair with twitchy programmed beats. On both "All I Need" and "House of Cards," the group improbably comes across as sultry, sexy even.
Overall, Rainbows sits as a comfortable sequel to 2003's Hail to the Thief. Like that album, this one is a consolidation of the strengths of prior discs: the sweeping Technicolor vision of OK Computer, the glitch-friendly electro-ambience of Kid A, the stylistic restlessness of Amnesiac. Rainbows is a handy catalog of all the reasons we love this band.
That can be a double-edged sword, though. Little here really surprises. Lead track "15 Step" doesn't come close to matching the jolt found on past opening songs, from the clattering drum experiments on "Airbag" to the icy despair of "Everything in Its Right Place" and the return-to-rock catharsis that was "2 + 2 = 5."
But maybe evaluating Rainbows in the way I'm accustomed to is simply beside the point. Come early December, the band is shipping out deluxe $81 "discbox" versions with a second CD full of music and all kinds of other goodies. Is that the official In Rainbows? Or is it the current digital download? Or maybe it's the hinted-at CD version?
In the middle of shoveling more dirt on the coffin of the record industry, Radiohead makes you wonder if the very notion of album-as-finished-product is being buried as well. I can't say I'm outright enthusiastic about that, but as long as the funeral's soundtrack sounds as good as Rainbows, count me in. 4 stars —Cooper Levey-Baker
Bluefinger
BLACK FRANCIS
(Cooking Vinyl)
Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, on-and-off frontman for The Pixies, has two distinct musical alter egos that allow him considerable artistic latitude: Frank Black, who fuses an array of roots music into a singular style, and Black Francis, post-Pixies punk-rocker. Bluefinger is built on pell-mell rock beats, rugged hooks, sinewy guitars and Black Francis' rough-hewn but tuneful singing (countered by the occasional caterwaul or Lou Reed-style ramble). He sings about dissolution, drugs, sinister sex and shady women. "My baby's so bad I nearly killed her/ She bit me so hard when I just filled her," goes a line in "Black Rubber," Francis hollering more than singing. Bluefinger also provides evidence that Frank Black has influenced Black Francis — the melodies, while by no means polished, hang together better than some of the random, dissonant fragments that characterized The Pixies. Bluefinger is a visceral outing that dredges up the intensity and attitude of early American punk — without copying it. 4 stars —Eric Snider
Revival
JOHN FOGERTY
(Fantasy)
John Fogerty crafted one of the most recognizable and distinct rock sounds in the late '60s with his band Creedence Clearwater Revival. And on his new album, he apes his former self like never before. As if titling it Revival weren't clue enough, there's a track titled "Creedence Song," which pays tribute to, yep, CCR. Fogerty never wowed literary types with his words, but for the most part he steered clear of clunkers. Not so here. A hippie dream like the lead-off track "Don't You Wish It Was True" is cringe-worthy. To Fogerty's credit, he does sound energized on most cuts and genuinely angry when carping about the war on "I Can Take It No More." His guitar solos are raw and nasty throughout. But in the end, I'm left wanting to go back to Green River or Bayou Country and pretend this record never happened. 2 stars —Wade Tatangelo
This article appears in Oct 17-23, 2007.