Tomorrow Come Today
BOYSETSFIRE
Wind-Up
When socially conscious Delaware hardcore outfit Boysetsfire left cred-heavy Victory Records for Creed-heavy major label Wind-Up, their longtime fans cringed and waited. For quite awhile, it turned out, because Wind-Up re-released their last LP, After the Eulogy — which had been out less than a year, anyway — and worked that one all over again.
Three new tracks on last fall's Live for Today EP hinted that their intelligent, brutal assault remained partially intact. But another new song performed live on the record, "Handful of Redemption," seemed frighteningly formulaic — so the question of whether BSF's original sound had weathered the transition remained up in the air.
Unfortunately, it comes crashing to earth during the most cursory listen to Tomorrow Come Today. Now, there's nothing wrong with catchy tunes, and BSF have always evinced an element of melody, but the hooks were always idiosyncratic and offset by some seriously inventive pummel. "Tis not so here; the lion's share of Tomorrow Come Today comes off as an obvious attempt to connect with a larger, less discerning heavy-music audience.
"Last Year's Nest," "Full Color Guilt," "Handful of Redemption," "Foundations to Burn," "Management vs. Labor" and several others are interchangeable and cloying in their efforts to inspire rush hour sing-a-longs. They offer little of BSF's previously creative, dynamic arrangements. Hell, "On in Five" could be an Adult Alternative smash, lengthy lead-in notwithstanding.
By the same token, songs that do recall the band's early energy and weight, like "Dying on Principle" and "Release the Dogs," lack the singular riff-savvy of other records. Tomorrow Come Today's predictable tuneage will almost certainly endear Boysetsfire to the same Ozzfest crowd that embraced (gasp!) Hatebreed and considered itself progressive for doing so. At least some of them won't have to pay full price for the disc because there'll be plenty in CD-store used bins courtesy of disappointed longtime fans. 
—Scott Harrell
But Beautiful: Standards Volume 1
BOZ SCAGGS
Gray Cat
Pop stars (and former pop stars) delving into old standards is nothing new. Linda Ronstadt, Natalie Cole, Toni Tenille, Robert Palmer — these singers and others have dusted off the Great American Songbook with varying degrees of commercial and artistic success. Enter Boz Scaggs, whose disco/R&B crossover records in the latter '70s and early '80s yielded some of the better pop music of the era. His But Beautiful eschews lush string arrangements in favor of a lean jazz quartet from his San Francisco stomping grounds. Scaggs is a more than able jazz singer, sticking close to the melodies of such songs as "What's New," "Sophisticated Lady," "How Long Has This Been Going on," "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" and the title tune. Long-time fans will recognize the bluesy inflections, the relaxed swagger and the effortless flights into falsetto. This is not a guy who's let his vocal chops slip in the least. He also proves to be a formidable lyrical interpreter, a natural storyteller. Pianist Paul Nagel and his trio provide sympathetic support, while saxophonist Eric Crystal sprays around lovely fills and solos. But Beautiful is ballad heavy, never surpassing medium tempo; it could've used a couple of energetic swing tunes. In the end, the disc is a perfectly pleasant listening experience, but lacks a certain artistic adventurousness. Reinterpreting some of Scaggs' old hits, like "It's Over," "Lido Shuffle" or "JoJo," into an acoustic jazz setting might've added more excitement. He should consider it for Volume 2. www.bozscaggs.com —Eric Snider
Diamonds on the Inside
BEN HARPER
Virgin
Ben Harper is the Lenny Kravitz of hippiedom. On Diamonds on the Inside, he plies his jack-of-all-trades artistry, making sure to cover the bases: blues, reggae, funk, folk, rock, psychedelia, gospel. These elements are not blended in interesting ways; rather they're applied in a sort of planned eclecticism. Funny, because Harper came onto the scene in the mid '90s with a spectral, acoustic neo-blues sound that made him one of the more unique new artists of the time. Now he's reduced to "Bring the Funk," a machine-driven throwaway that should've been titled "Fake the Funk." Almost as bad is "So High So Low," a crunching rocker that's decidedly Kravitz-esque. The disc's best tracks are the bluesiest, "When It's Good," "Everything" and "She's Only Happy in the Sun," proving that Harper was on the right track to start with. —Eric Snider
Adult Situations
DRUNK HORSE
Tee Pee
Drunk Horse fuses the spliffed-out riffs of Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple to Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's semi-intellectual freak-outs, ZZ Top's accented libido, and tons of punk-rock attitude. Sound familiar? Of course it does. Post-punk's grimier corners have harbored exactly this sort of antisocial, better-than-stoner rock since before the glory days of The Jesus Lizard. And Drunk Horse does it better than most on Adult Situations, largely thanks to a high enthusiasm level and energetic, creative drummer Cripe Jergensen, but only occasionally do they offer something brilliantly different. "Legions" is a standout, with an intriguing split personality that caroms between simple AC/DC-esque stomp and scattershot blasts. So is album highlight "The Bitch is Bach," a meandering, almost proggy track whose lyrics weirdly and sincerely lionize the composer of its title. The rest of Adult Situations, however, relies too often and too heavily on spastic blues lines and histrionic vocalizing to qualify as anything other than another decent, stomping blues-punk release. www.teepeerecords.com —Scott Harrell
Kiss My Grass: A Hillbilly Tribute to Kiss
HAYSEED DIXIE
Dualtone
The enigma-shrouded, cock-rock-loving bluegrass juggernaut known as Hayseed Dixie returns, this time with a moonshine-soaked set of 10 KISS covers. The concept is hilarious. The playing is top-notch. The music itself … wears thin after about the third listen. Hearing energetic, immaculately executed versions of KISS tunes on acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin and tub bass — and sung in gloriously hillbillied harmony — is a blast, true. But it's not the kind of thing you're going to pop into the player every day, unless your short-term memory is completely fried. Highlights include "Detroit Rock City," with its back-porch instrumentation turning the harmony guitar lead into something unbelievably elegant, and a somehow nobly subdued "Cold Gin." Everything else kicks ass too, naturally — it just kind of sucks that you can't hear it for the first time more than once. www.dualtone.com 1/2—Scott Harrell
This article appears in May 14-20, 2003.