Album Reviews

Explosions in the Sky All of a Sudden, I Miss Everyone Choice cuts: "The Catastrophe and the Cure," "So Long, Lonesome"

The hype monsters will claim this album "sucks" or "is boring." That's not entirely baseless, since Explosions in the Sky played a key role in making instrumental music exciting again - shocking the world with songwriting with albums such as the monolithic "Those Who Tell the Truth" or the absolutely gorgeous "The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place." Tuesday's release of "All of a Sudden, I Miss Everyone" marks the return of these Texas rockers to an arena that's since been flooded with mediocre impersonators and stale, deadbeat clichs.

But Explosions manages to avoid these shortcomings by eschewing its traditional three-guitars-and-a-drum template in favor of experimentation. The band's flirtation with shorter songs and gentle instrumentation makes "All of a Sudden" a more balanced effort. It builds gradually, preferring album-length themes to the raw punch of the group's older songs. The highs and lows flow more effectively within the entire album, guiding the crunch of distorted guitars in "The Birth and Death of the Day" through the mounds of "It's Natural to Be Afraid" and the chaos of "The Catastrophe and the Cure," all the way to the gentle ambiance of "So Long, Lonesome," where the band closes the album with a soft piano and carefully restrained guitars.

"All of a Sudden" leads the listener on an intricate journey, one that offers all the flash of the band's previous efforts while allowing room for a new, more mature experience - one that's fresh, full of surprises and completely gripping.

- Sam Khan

Elvis Perkins Ash Wednesday Choice cuts: "While You Were Sleeping," "Sleep Sandwich," "Ash Wednesday"

Elvis Perkins plays traditional folk music with lyrical flourishes that won't let his heartbreaking ballads be buried in the singer-songwriter stockpile. Premature comparisons to Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen build up lofty expectations for a debut album, but the unfaltering authenticity of "Ash Wednesday" allows Perkins to hold a candle to yesterday's greats.

Perkins' backing band, Dearland, provides expertly restrained additions in the form of sublime strings, delicate background vocals and thick double-bass. But it is Perkins' versatile voice that pays homage to folk influences, and the album revolves around his keen ear for catchy melody, anchored by heartbreaking and instinctive lyrics. Like a Jeff Buckley reincarnate, Perkins floods "Ash Wednesday" with sorrowful laments and doesn't sacrifice composure.

At its most cheery, gang vocals in "May Day!" or the Highway-61-shuffle of "All the Night Without Love" provide bouncy backdrops to melancholy poetry. The remaining songs pair instrumental and thematic sorrow to create an album-long catharsis. Inspired by unimaginable tragedy (Perkins lost his father to AIDS and his mother in the Sept. 11 attacks), "Wednesday" is candid: "No one will survive Ash Wednesday alive/No soldier, no lover, no father, no mother."

Moments of abstract lyricism recall Neutral Milk Hotel, but it's the album's moments of directness - like the flawless simplicity of "The O.C."-approved "While You Were Sleeping" - that make "Ash Wednesday" timeless. Sticking to what he knows, Perkins shapes everything familiar about folk, like Dylan and Buckley and Mangum, into a fresh composite. When he promises, "Everyone will know who I am," you're inclined to believe him.

- Joseph Coscarelli

Field Music Tones of Town Choice cuts: "A House Is Not A Home," "In Context"

On Field Music's self-titled debut, it introduced a polyrhythmic and melodic blend of indie pop, influenced by the seminal British New Wavers XTC. On its new record, "Tones of Town," Field Music slightly improves on that sound while attempting to leave behind the slow and elegant melodies that slowed down their last release.

Field Music has not shaken the ghost of plodding melodies just yet, though. Album opener "Give It Lose It Take It" starts out spry, with excited drums and sharp-sounding guitar lines, before completely collapsing into a mediocre second half accompanied by a minimalist marimba line. On other tracks, the band sounds simultaneously full of energy and organized, evidenced in the excellent "A House Is Not a Home," featuring twangy Southern guitar coupled with a polite yet effective piano line and harmonized, enunciated vocals. "In Context" is the highlight of the record, building guitar and drum sounds on top of each other to create a growing energy that runs through the song.

"Tones of Town" runs out of steam by the end. "A Gap Has Appeared" and "Place Yourself" sound dangerously close to the low point of the record's first half. But by closer "She Can Do What She Wants," Field Music returns to the spiky pop and melodic harmonizing that makes its music appealing. "Tones of Town" is an appealing record from a band that's coming close to finding itself, but it still has a ways to go.

- Larry Fitzmaurice

Aqueduct Or Give Me Death Choice cuts: "As You Wish," "Wasted Energy"

Listening to Aqueduct's new album "Or Give Me Death" is like watching an episode of "The O.C." - bright, enjoyable, occasionally dramatic and instantly forgettable. This is hardly surprising, as the band was, in fact, featured on an episode of the show. David Terry's simple pop compositions don't deal with deep issues or possess delusions of grandeur, which is just as well, because there's nothing particularly original about his synth-heavy release.

Terry displays ample talent as a songwriter, and most of his tracks are laden with catchy pop hooks. His predictable sound, evocative of other West Coast bands like the Postal Service, detracts, however, from the songs - listening to the album is like having a case of dj vu: The rhythm section and whiny vocals are all too familiar. This is not to say Terry doesn't hint at something more ambitious. "Wasted Energy" is an example of how his rich melodies fare much better without the clichd qualities found elsewhere. The booming guitar and string arrangements are a pleasant surprise after the album's lulling first half. "Zero the Controls" clearly samples the opening to David Bowie's 1971 song "Andy Warhol" - it's one moment in the last part of the album in which it feels as if Terry is itching to break out of his safe, accessible mold.

Ultimately, he sees the marketability of his sound and never sees it through. Instead we're left with an album fitting for a Seth-and-Summer melodrama and not a whole lot more.

- Clementine Amidon