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Seeking New Gods by Gruff Rhys

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Album

This will be Gruff's seventh solo album. "Seeking New Gods" was recorded following a US tour with...

Wild and Reckless by Blitzen Trapper

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Album Watch

The album Wild & Reckless was born from the stage production that the band spent the better part of...

folk rock

Kodak Black

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YouTube Channel

The official YouTube channel of Atlantic Records artist Kodak Black. 2017 saw Kodak rack up...

A-Boogie Wit Da Hoodie

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YouTube Channel

The official YouTube channel of multi-platinum rapper/singer-songwriter: Artist Dubose, known as A...

Piano Man by Billy Joel

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Album

Billy Joel was born William Martin Joel on May 9, 1949 in The Bronx in New York and is an American...

Steve Fearon (84 KP) rated Is This Thing Cursed? by Alkaline Trio in Music

Sep 11, 2018

Familiar, catchy and darkly themed Pop-punk (0 more)

Not many tracks stand out on initial listen(s) (0 more)

Good to be back, but not great.

Alkaline Trio are one of my favourite bands, combining my love of catchy pop-punk with dark (often horror) themes.

They have been releasing good albums for 20-odd years now, and their wry wit and ear for a catchy tune have made them a special place in my heart.

This new release is the first since Matt Skiba joined up with Blink 182, and is a reassuring return to their sound of recent years, with a focus on dark but polished pop-punk.

I have struggled to pick out many tunes that leap from the album and into a best of playlist, with most tunes being enjoyable without really standing on their own.

This may not be a bad thing necessarily, and it may just necessitate additional listens, but after 2 album long listens, I still maintain this position.

I think this is an album for the fans, one that consolidates their fanbase by giving them a solid, safe and unadventurous collection of songs that reassures them that the Trio are still around, but not wanting to risk being accused of changing their sound because of Skiba's involvements elsewhere.

A good album, a 7/10 at this point, but I may revisit later, as sometimes they can grow on you over time.

Kudos

Holly Johnson recommended Someday at Christmas by Stevie Wonder in Music (curated)

Someday at Christmas by Stevie Wonder

1967 | Rhythm And Blues

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Album Favorite

"This was also in the same house, and the second song that made me cry was on this album. I think it may have been 'Bedtime For Toys': it was a song about how some children didn't get any toys, and made me really sad that actually some children didn't get any toys at Christmas. It seems quite silly now, but it had that effect. Also, his version of 'Ave Maria'. It's an amazing album. It's not a particularly known album though. I had lunch years ago with Nona Hendryx and Vicki Wickham. They're very knowledgeable about Motown, as Vicki had produced Ready Steady Go! and was instrumental in bringing over the Motown sound - and even still calls him 'Little Stevie Wonder' - and they weren't even aware of the album. It just reminds me of a time when I was playing other people's records. My dad was a big country & western fan into Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline. There were also six or seven albums by Yma Sumac, which were very bizarre and had amazing covers, and I would think ""who is this?"". I think he may have got them through Reader's Digest or something. They were quite exotic things. And also there were singles like The Monkees' 'Daydream Believer' and 'Everlasting Love' by The Love Affair and '(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay' by Otis Redding. These were already there in the house, and it wasn't until..."

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Noel Gallagher recommended The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths in Music (curated)

"Some people would say that The Smiths never really recorded one great album and that they were more of a singles band and I kind of see what they mean. I do really like Meat Is Murder, which is a weirdly psychedelic record with really long tracks. They really did the legwork with that album. But I remember before The Queen Is Dead came out it was an event… they were about to release their first album as a big band. I remember hearing the first single, ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’, and they had moved on. And then I got it and… the cover was awful… just a piece of shit. But then I played it and it starts with that sample: 'Oh take me back to dear old Blighty…' And it was, 'Fucking hell…' Just astonishing. One of the best openings to an album ever. And that’s before you get to ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’. They could have had the photograph outside of Salford Lads Club as the front cover but then Morrissey is wearing a really daft jacket. It’s brown with black love hearts on it. Very strange. I remember seeing them on that tour when they came to the G-Mex. They came on stage to 'The Queen Is Dead' and Morrissey was carrying a placard that said, 'Two pale ales please'. He had a white blazer on and shades and, fuck me, he looked like Elvis."

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