Kensington Heights
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Shine a Light
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Dude, Canada is the new Liverpool! Okay,
Glass Tiger not withstanding, Canada has put out some good stuff
in recent years, including The Constantines. It's like Tom
Waits has gone rock 'n roll. Some might argue that Tom Waits
is rock 'n roll, but I'll shout them down in a barrage of cussing
and insults. Most often compared to Bruce Springsteen for some
reason, I don't get it. Isn't Eddie
Vedder Bruce Springsteen anyway? When the hell did
The Boss ever put out anything this heavy and dark? Never! This
is a band that wears its emotion and drudgery on its collective
sleeve. "Nighttime/Anytime (it's alright)" pounds through four
minutes of wrenching, bleeding-heart post-rock brilliance. The
thing grows and shrinks and bludgeons and begs forgiveness all
in the matter of one tune--pretty impressive, if you ask me.
These certainly aren't pop songs, as they lack the chorus verse
chorus thing, but they hold your interest and build and
collapse and build once again, unlike so much of the drek out
there. The album does tend to sound like a giant AA meeting
after a while, but from great pain (and great boozing) comes
great albums. There are a few songs in here that sound like
a filthy, ugly version of Spoon,
and even a couple that remind me of The
Grifters' bluesy, rock swagger. The album peters out a little
towards the end, but the first three quarters make up for any
deficiencies. |
Tournament of Hearts
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