Carolinian

Issue date: 11/17/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment

The Backstreet Boys - This Is Us

"Straight through my heart, I can't stop the bleeding," says the opening track on The Backstreet Boys new album, "This Is Us." You may experience a similar sensation in your ears while listening to the groups' pathetically desperate attempt to rekindle their decade gone popularity. The good news for their fans is, I suppose, that their sound hasn't changed much. If you dug the boys in the late 90's, you'll at least have a bit of nostalgia, however vanilla it may be; but the lack of change or growth also signals the banality of their sound. These guys still sing songs with lyrics like "I think I want to stay single, baby we're better apart." If you aren't thirteen or yet to get your first kiss, these putrid notions of innocent love will be nauseating. Haven't these boys at least graduated to The Backstreet Men by now?

What Matters Most by Vince Melamed

The album What Matter Most by Vince Melamed is indicative of typical keyboard rock, recalling lesser Bon Jovi through its banal lyrics about naughty love after a night of a few too many drinks: "It leads to a foot rub, then a hot tub, then a French kiss on the bare rug." This is a case where the actions of the tracks are meant to mirror that of the listeners. In other words, Melamed is the guy who's playing in the bar as merely background noise to more important goings-on. In the right context, his music is certainly pleasant, if utterly inconsequential. Once you've left the bar and are onto other things, you'll recall the typicality of his sound, but none of its specificity. That's because there really is none. Once one gets past the steady sounds and rhythm, there is nothing left, which makes Melamed all the more forgettable.


Michael Ford Jr. & The Apache Relay - 1988

1988 is a genre-mixing album from Michael Ford Jr. & The Apache Relay, whose eclectic sound can best be described as folk pop. They share much in common with the superior Sufjan Stevens, who remains superior because of his lyrical brilliance, as well as his musical exuberance. There is a definite enthusiasm to the proceedings of 1988, and in a track like "Let's Start Over," that enthusiasm is honed enough to produce a significant song, that plays to the best of their combined sounds. In fact, the album gains strength as it goes, reserving the best tracks for last. "Tongue Tied" may be the album's best track, since it serves as a pop delight and contains a lyrical formidability that surpasses the previous tracks: "You wanted me to speak, I'm tongue tied, so don't call my name, when you're out there on your own." It may sound simplistic, but in the context of their folk sound, it expresses a sense of permanent loss.

Old Growth by dead Meadow

The 2008 album Old Growth by rock group Dead Meadow is a surprisingly stellar entry into a genre without much room for ingenuity; not that Dead Meadow necessarily has much, but on tracks like "Down Here" and "Seven Seers" they accomplish a difficult feat by integrating their hypnotic hooks with sparse lyrics, a combination that doesn't ultimately yield as much profundity as one may hope, but that remains intriguing. "The Great Deceiver" adopts a more traditional grunge sound, and at its best moments, lead singer Jason Simon is capable of recalling the raspy voice of Kurt Cobain. Then, the faster pace of "'Till Kingdom Come" demonstrates how easily the band can transition from one rock tune to another. The album ends with "Either Way," a more sentimental track about indecisiveness. It exemplifies the best genre work; nothing new, but solid enough of a recapitulation to warrant interest.

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