B Duran Duran
Paper Gods
(Warner Bros.)
Since the early-'00s reunion of its core members -- singer Simon LeBon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, bassist John Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor (no relation) -- Duran Duran musicians have tried to find a niche for themselves and the retro-yet-cool New Wave synth-pop sound they helped invent in the 1980s. Their 2007 Timbaland-produced album Red Carpet Massacre did not work. But 2010's All You Need Is Now, with Mark Ronson, highlighted all that was glorious about Duran Duran while maintaining its grooving, melodic base. Ronson returns on Paper Gods with his patented uptown funk and brings producer/guitarist Nile Rodgers along for slick, soulful songs such as "Pressure Off," reminiscent of Rodgers' great band Chic.
There's help on Paper Gods (including Janelle Monae and John Frusciante), but Duran doesn't need it. "Whatever happens, we're still here," croons LeBon in that steely tone of his on the ruminative "Sunset Garage," one of the album's sweetest moments. Duran Duran still focuses on its obsessions (big money, fashion, celebrity), yet during "Danceophobia" and the hypnotic title track, the members also throw it all away: "Bleeding from paper cuts,/Money for head shots/Fools leading,/Who needs it."
Hot tracks: "Pressure Off," "Sunset Garage," "The Universe Alone."
-- A.D. Amorosi,
The Philadelphia Inquirer
B Keith Richards
Crosseyed Heart
(Republic)
Now that the prerelease interview performance is over -- yes, Keith Richards thinks rap music is for "tone-deaf people" and won't mind if his daughters snort his ashes when he dies -- the first solo album in more than 20 years by the guitar-playing and best-selling-memoirist half of the Rolling Stones creative core is upon us. Crosseyed Heart is pretty much what you'd expect: an arsenal of blues and Chuck Berry-derived licks, with scratchy vocals croaked out from the dark corner of a bar on a baker's dozen worth of rugged rockers and whispery, intimate ballads (including one with a Norah Jones guest spot). Bits of dub reggae and country lamentation vary the mix. Its musical heart beats predictably true, from the solo country-blues "Crosseyed Heart" that kicks off the album on a winningly unfinished note before the chugging rocker "Heartstopper," all the way through to the guitar tangle of "Trouble" and ragged-but-right cover of Lead Belly's "Goodnight Irene." Hot tracks: "Crosseyed Heart," "Heartstopper."
-- Dan DeLuca,
The Philadelphia Inquirer
B+ The Bottle Rockets
South Broadway Athletic Club
(Bloodshot)
Twelve albums in and Missouri's Bottle Rockets are showing no signs of rust or tendency to coast. South Broadway Athletic Club is a ringing, rocking statement filled with blue-collar laments, odes to good love and a good dog, and smart-aleck, wise-cracking social commentary.
Kicking off with the Byrds-like jangle of "Monday (Everytime I Turn Around)," Brian Henneman and his fellow Bottle Rockets sound fresh and lean. "I Don't Wanna Know" is a muscular workout about denial; "Big Fat Nuthin'" is an Americana take on Black Flag's "TV Party" and a sort of revisiting of the Bottle Rockets' own "Sunday Sports"; "Dog" is a gorgeous slice of simplicity -- "I love my dog/He's my dog/If you don't love my dog/That's OK/I don't want you to, he's my dog."
We could go on ... and we will. "Building Chryslers" is a gnarly, smirking slice of working-class factory life that the band has had around for a while and finally released (it also showed up in acoustic form on the reissue of The Brooklyn Side). "XOYOU" is a Nick Lowe-like track about finding true love, while "Ship It on the Frisco" is pure Southern soul.
This is all top-notch stuff, and it's good to know the Bottle Rockets are still cranking it out.
Hot tracks: "Monday (Everytime I Turn Around)," "Dog," "Big Lotsa Love."
-- Sean Clancy
B+ Richard Hawley
Hollow Meadows
(Warner Bros.)
After a diversion into heavy, guitar-centric rock with 2012's "Standing at the Sky's Edge," Richard Hawley is back to being the romantic crooner who has become a beloved figure in his native England. Hollow Meadows, the eighth studio album from the former leader of the Brit pop band the Longpigs and brief member of Pulp, is full of moody, brooding, lushly arranged songs that exist outside of time and genre. Hawley's thoughtful, resonant baritone lends every song gravitas, whether he's singing about love, loss or longing. He does melodrama well: hints of Glen Campbell, Neil Diamond and Tony Bennett run through the album. His voice sounds weathered on the somber, string-soaked "I Still Want You" and graceful on "Long Time Down," a gently rolling ballad graced with slide guitar and cooing female backing vocals. From the chiming, edgy "Which Way" to the understated, introspective "What Love Means," Hollow Meadows rings true.
Hot tracks:"Long Time Down," "Which Way."
-- Steve Klinge,
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Style on 09/29/2015