Pearl Jam: Dark Matter
Republic Records 0602465026221 (auditioned on LP). 2024. Andrew Watt, prod.; Marco Sonzini, Paul LaMalfa, Serban Ghenea, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics ***** Eddie Vedder's solo albums were produced by Andrew Watt, who was born a few months before Pearl Jam's Ten was recorded. The young Watt has become a force in modern music, helping to advance the sounds of artists including Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber and bringing a fresh face to long-established acts like the Rolling Stones and Iggy Pop. He has also done it for Pearl Jam, guiding their 12th studio album, Dark Matter, to new sonic heights. It's among their very best work.
With this new record, Pearl Jam hit the Pause button on politics and directed their attention to the personal, positioned in a pop-friendly framework. Often, Vedder's voice is measured and sits comfortably within melodic tracks like "Wreckage," where the story is better told through his restraint.
That's not to say the record doesn't rock. The title track is all big drums and bold guitars, presented with the intensity of a fireworks finale. Guitarist Mike McCready delivers delicious riffs, and solos have an energy that belies the band's age. The old guys even manage to pull off punk, on "React, Respond." Pay particular attention to the U2-infused "Won't Tell"; it presents an ideal balance between where the band has been and where it might be headed. All of the musical elements that made this band's music important are on display, but now they're presented with more atmosphere and majesty. Kind of like U2.
The moments to mine on Dark Matter are the ones informed by the intimacy of Vedder's solo material. Songs like the album closer, "Setting Sun," a reflection on peers he's lost, is as good as anything the band has recorded: sophisticated, touching, and mature, words that didn't often describe the 1990s Pearl Jam but that do reflect how their art has evolved.—Ray Chelstowski
English Teacher: This Could Be Texas
Island Records 5876414 (auditioned on LP). 2024. Marta Salogni, prod.; Grace Banks, Heba Kadry, engs.
Performance ****
Sonics **** English Teacher is a four-piece band from the UK city of Leeds. This Could Be Texas is their debut album. Leeds has quite a musical pedigree, and English Teacher sounds as if its members have studied some of the work of their forebears: The jerky guitar of Lewis Whiting and the heavy bass of Nicholas Eden are reminiscent of the Gang of Four and Delta 5. But theirs is a rounder, more now sound than the post-punk of 40 years ago. Their range is also far broader, which is especially impressive considering they only formed in 2020. Included in the mix are synths and wonderful, distinctive piano lines from Douglas Frost (who is also the drummer). A good example is the title track. Lily Fontaine, though, is at the heart of English Teacher. She is blessed with range that can incorporate the folkesque-indie vocal of the opener, "Albatross" (à la Radiohead), as well as the spoken-word style so popular at the moment in the UK (Dry Cleaning; Black Country, New Road), on tracks such as "Broken Biscuits" and "R&B." Both these numbers display the band's biting humor. On the former, Fontaine ponders the state of Britain in the 2020s: "Can a river stop its banks from bursting? Blame the council, not the rain." On "R&B," the focus is appearances and stereotypes: "Despite appearances, I haven't got the voice for R&B"—although in actual fact, she does possess a soulful, reflective range, which is beautifully shown on "The Best Tears of Your Life" and "You Blister My Paint."
The mix on This Could Be Texas seems intended to give her voice room to shine. Indeed, the sonic clarity allows each instrument to be independent and well-defined while combining to create fresh, confident, exuberant music. This Could Be Texas is an assured and impressive debut, one that suggests a variety of directions the band could go in. It will be interesting to see which one(s) they pursue.—Phil Brett
Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore with The Guilty Ones: TexiCali
Yep-3077 (auditioned on LP). 2024. Dave Alvin, prod.; Stuart Sullivan, Craig Parker Adams, Michael Fanos, engs.
Performance ****
Sonics ***½ On Downey to Lubbock, their 2018 debut together, this unlikely pair surprised fans of both with a light-hearted collaboration mixing Alvin's loud guitar heroics with Gilmore's Austin hippie come on. The live act became an instant hoot, full of the pair mixing musical flavors with lots of comedic interjection.
Clearly, these two experienced players, Alvin from the Blasters and X and Gilmore from The Flatlanders, felt the pairing added new dimensions that were worth further exploration. Unlike the first album, which felt hastily put together, this double LP (with cover art by Jon Langford of The Mekons, who's fashioned a respected and lucrative second career with his artwork) has the sound and look of a carefully planned project. The track list is solidly in both men's wheelhouse. Gilmore wrote a pair of tunes, including the opener, "Borderlands," where the native Texan sings in his signature nasal drawl: "So good to be home in the Borderland/Where things are not what they seem/So good to be home in the Borderland/Between the dawn and the dream."
Alvin, too, contributes two, including "Blind Owl," a tribute to former Canned Heat harmonica player Al Wilson. In "Death of the Last Stripper," an Alvin collab with Terry Allen and Jo Harvey Allen, Alvin and Gilmore trade verses reminiscent of one of Alvin's great originals, "Halley's Comet." The love the pair have for the blues is saluted in a trio of songs by Josh White, Blind Willie McTell, and Brownie McGhee.
The veteran backing band here—which Alvin in the liner notes calls "a live and kicking folk/blues/r+b/honky-tonk/rock and roll orchestra"—consists of drummer Lisa Pankratz, guitarist Chris Miller, and bassist Brad Fordham. More heartfelt Americana from a beloved pair of original talents.—Robert Baird
Guided By Voices: Strut of Kings
Guided by Voices, Inc. Rockathon (auditioned on LP). 2024. Travis Harrison, prod.; Ray Ketchem, eng.
Performance **½
Sonics **** Guided by Voices has had many starts and finishes since forming in Dayton, Ohio, way back in 1983. But one thing has remained constant over their 40+ years: the ever-expanding vision of lead singer Robert Pollard. Through many configurations and changing musical tastes, the band has maintained a commitment to exploring the limits of progressive rock with songs most notable for their complex arrangements. A typical GBV song moves from psychedelic melodies through thrashing guitars to thunderous drums in a snap. That can make the songs thrilling but also difficult to follow. That's especially true of the band's latest record, Strut of Kings.
On Strut of Kings, GBV's characteristic disjointedness is amplified by the short duration of the album and its tunes, 11 tracks in just 36 minutes. Because they're so close together, the shifts seem sudden, often occurring before you've settled in after the last sharp turn the band took. That is particularly evident on the opener, "Show Me the Castle." In just four minutes, the band seems to bring half a dozen songs into one.
What happens when they move away from that approach? An example of this is "Leaving Umbrella." When this happens, things languish. The song doesn't go anywhere and feels incomplete.
It isn't all bad. The most successful songs are the singles, "Serene King" and "Caveman Running Naked." They begin with a solid rock bottom and that anchors the music, even when it wants to wander a bit.
Since reforming once again in 2017, Guided by Voices has been on a prolific streak, releasing 14 full-length records in less than eight years. The quantity of output is impressive, but the quality is been mixed. They haven't run out of fresh ideas, but for the moment at least, they seem to have run out of good ones.—Ray Chelstowski
Republic Records 0602465026221 (auditioned on LP). 2024. Andrew Watt, prod.; Marco Sonzini, Paul LaMalfa, Serban Ghenea, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics ***** Eddie Vedder's solo albums were produced by Andrew Watt, who was born a few months before Pearl Jam's Ten was recorded. The young Watt has become a force in modern music, helping to advance the sounds of artists including Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber and bringing a fresh face to long-established acts like the Rolling Stones and Iggy Pop. He has also done it for Pearl Jam, guiding their 12th studio album, Dark Matter, to new sonic heights. It's among their very best work.
English Teacher: This Could Be TexasIsland Records 5876414 (auditioned on LP). 2024. Marta Salogni, prod.; Grace Banks, Heba Kadry, engs.
Performance ****
Sonics **** English Teacher is a four-piece band from the UK city of Leeds. This Could Be Texas is their debut album. Leeds has quite a musical pedigree, and English Teacher sounds as if its members have studied some of the work of their forebears: The jerky guitar of Lewis Whiting and the heavy bass of Nicholas Eden are reminiscent of the Gang of Four and Delta 5. But theirs is a rounder, more now sound than the post-punk of 40 years ago. Their range is also far broader, which is especially impressive considering they only formed in 2020. Included in the mix are synths and wonderful, distinctive piano lines from Douglas Frost (who is also the drummer). A good example is the title track. Lily Fontaine, though, is at the heart of English Teacher. She is blessed with range that can incorporate the folkesque-indie vocal of the opener, "Albatross" (à la Radiohead), as well as the spoken-word style so popular at the moment in the UK (Dry Cleaning; Black Country, New Road), on tracks such as "Broken Biscuits" and "R&B." Both these numbers display the band's biting humor. On the former, Fontaine ponders the state of Britain in the 2020s: "Can a river stop its banks from bursting? Blame the council, not the rain." On "R&B," the focus is appearances and stereotypes: "Despite appearances, I haven't got the voice for R&B"—although in actual fact, she does possess a soulful, reflective range, which is beautifully shown on "The Best Tears of Your Life" and "You Blister My Paint."
Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore with The Guilty Ones: TexiCaliYep-3077 (auditioned on LP). 2024. Dave Alvin, prod.; Stuart Sullivan, Craig Parker Adams, Michael Fanos, engs.
Performance ****
Sonics ***½ On Downey to Lubbock, their 2018 debut together, this unlikely pair surprised fans of both with a light-hearted collaboration mixing Alvin's loud guitar heroics with Gilmore's Austin hippie come on. The live act became an instant hoot, full of the pair mixing musical flavors with lots of comedic interjection.
Guided By Voices: Strut of KingsGuided by Voices, Inc. Rockathon (auditioned on LP). 2024. Travis Harrison, prod.; Ray Ketchem, eng.
Performance **½
Sonics **** Guided by Voices has had many starts and finishes since forming in Dayton, Ohio, way back in 1983. But one thing has remained constant over their 40+ years: the ever-expanding vision of lead singer Robert Pollard. Through many configurations and changing musical tastes, the band has maintained a commitment to exploring the limits of progressive rock with songs most notable for their complex arrangements. A typical GBV song moves from psychedelic melodies through thrashing guitars to thunderous drums in a snap. That can make the songs thrilling but also difficult to follow. That's especially true of the band's latest record, Strut of Kings.
