Too much shine boy, not enough acid brat
Yesterday morning:
Yes, I'm excited about the new Springsteen album. All signs point to awesome, and not even the usual indications of trouble are popping up. The single — for sure Monday, but maybe this weekend — is going to confirm or deny a lot. But so we've got that album at the beginning of October. Then, if the rumors and Ticketmaster mistakes are correct, the tour immediately follows. If the album is great, multiple cities aren't out of the question.
And now Marah confirms for the fall. The Can't Take It With You EP drops on Halloween on iTunes and vinyl, with two songs from the early 2008 album and the "studio version" of the last album. Who knows how that's going to sound. Despite mostly recording in someone's apartment, the last album (If You Didn't Laugh, You'd Cry) already has a mostly studio feel. But I digress. Marah releases a second EP, Counting the Days, on November 13, and we don't have details yet there. And the Shalitas still arrive in their debut form on September 15.
At least none of them have the chicken pox. Says Pitchfork, a week ago but I'm catching up: "And you thought Sky Blue Sky was wimpy! (Zing! Actually, we hear chicken pox is particularly nasty for adults.)"
This morning:
The first single from the new Bruce album has leaked online since last night. Radio Nowhere doesn't meet the hype, but it's intriguing. For a beat, almost everyone's comparing it to 867-5309. For a sound, the best description I've read is "overproduced Gin Blossoms, totally jacked up on steroids and amphetamines." For the lyrics, "cliched" is getting tossed around a good deal. If you're a big fan, the most common comparison from the catalog is Trouble River — vague longing, big guitars, short run-time, no hook.
On the good side, there's praise for how the band sounds energized and how Springsteen's voice is generally straight ahead. Also, folks are rightly reluctant to make judgments on a lo-fi Web version. But. Short of sonic issues, there's clearly an awkwardness to the track evident from the first listen. The knock on Brendan O'Brien's term as producer has been the lack of the devil — the risk, the Other, the alternative, the step beyond the studio doors and into endangerment — and this song settles nothing. Let's hope the album takes some chances.
