Hives keeps up fast pace in ‘Tyrannosaurus’
The Hives
“Tyrannosaurus Hives” (Interscope) •••
One reason this Swedish quintet was such a refreshing arrival here two years ago was that it came with a secret weapon: a smile.
From its snappy wardrobe and self-congratulatory stage patter to its hyperactive mix of punk and garage rock, the Hives seemed not only smart but also blessed with a limitless imagination.
The group’s first album since moving to a major label shifts the musical shades — the influences are more aligned with ‘70s new wave in places — but the pace is just as frantic.
“Abra Cadaver,” the opening track, is a sonic tornado built around the Hives’ signature theme of resisting conformity and authority: “Tried to stick an office worker inside of me/ But I kept breaking free,” lead singer Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist declares.
But it’s “Walk Idiot Walk” that should keep alt-rock radio airways humming this summer. A deliriously upbeat attack on anyone who tries to stifle individuality, the track salutes the mocking, mechanical rhythms of Devo and the swagger and force of the Who.
After that, things start slipping. While the energy never fails, the themes and melodies feel commonplace at times.
For all its delights, “Tyrannosaurus Hives,” at only 30 minutes long, doesn’t really leave you wanting more — the way a great album should.
— Robert Hilburn, Los Angeles Times
Angie Stone
“Stone Love” (J) ••• 1/2
“Girls of the world, I’m pretty sure that you’re feelin’ like I’m feelin’ this evenin’,” R&B veteran Betty Wright declares in the intro to Angie Stone’s “That Kind,” a track that is pure pop-soul confection.
“You know sometimes you always feel like there’s something that can make you laugh better, something that can make you feel better. … Tell ‘em what you want, Angie.”
Stone celebrates good times not just in that tune but throughout this warm, uplifting, revealing album.
Like most soul singers, the fluid, graceful Stone has reflected on the painful side of relationships. But soul music is also about exorcising pain, and “Stone Love” tells us what romance feels like when it is just blossoming.
Snoop Dogg adds to the charm of “I Wanna Thank Ya” and Anthony Hamilton duets on “Stay for a While.” Elsewhere, Stone shines on her own, especially with “U-Haul,” a song co-written and co-produced by Missy Elliott that serves as a playful statement of survival.
By sticking to a single subject, “Stone Love” lacks the range and ambition of her splendid “Mahogany Soul” album in 2001, but it is still a joy.
— Robert Hilburn, Los Angeles Times
The Notorious Cherry Bombs
“The Notorious Cherry Bombs” (Universal South) ••••
Twenty-something years ago, the Cherry Bombs was the name given to Rodney Crowell’s backup band, which included, at various times, future country superstar Vince Gill and future superstar Nashville producer Tony Brown.
Now reunited, slightly reconfigured and renamed the Notorious Cherry Bombs, the band has made one of the year’s best country albums.
Crowell and Gill wrote or co-wrote 10 of the album’s 11 tracks, and they offer lesson after much-needed lesson in smart song-crafting to Nashville’s current crop of inspiration-challenged copycats. Crowell drives stark, Americana-like moments such as “Making Memories of Us” and “Dangerous Curves,” while Gill shines on the soulful, country-politan “Forever Someday” and the downright chilling “Heart of a Jealous Man.”
The two duet on the hilarious “It’s Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night That Chew Your Ass Out All Day Long,” a deliciously inappropriate honky-tonker that’s sure to strike fear in the hearts of female-friendly radio programmers everywhere. (Sample line: “Her eyes used to be so blue and shiny/God, you ought to see what’s happened to her hiney.”)
— Greg Crawford, Detroit Free Press
k.d. lang
“Hymns of the 49th Parallel” (Nonesuch) ••••
Canadian-born singer k.d. lang has had an uneven career since her last flat-out fantastic album, 1992’s “Ingenue,” which matched her powerful voice with equally powerful songs such as “Constant Craving” and “Save Me.”
She followed up with a misguided concept album of cover songs about smoking (“Drag”), then put out her worst album of originals (“All You Can Eat”) followed by a better collection of originals (“Invincible Summer”). Then came the treading-water “Live By Request” and the Tony Bennett collaboration “A Wonderful World.”
On “Hymns of the 49th Parallel” Lang tries out another concept, much more successfully: She pays tribute to her fellow Canadian partners in song, tackling material written by Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Jane Siberry, Bruce Cockburn and Ron Sexsmith.
Fans of Lang’s shiny, happy side may find “Hymns” overly precious and pretentious, with its austere, no-frills, no-drums (except for one song) arrangements. But repeated listenings will sweep away most reservations, especially on the exquisite renditions of Young’s “After the Gold Rush” and “Helpless.”
— Martin Bandyke, Detroit Free Press