The Soft Pack
"The Soft Pack"
Grade: C
Formerly known as The Muslims, The Soft Pack is the San Diego-based group’s debut album under its new moniker.
The band may have changed the name, but The Soft Pack still has its pop punk sound with more of a laidback Southern California vibe like on the track, "Pull Out." There is a comfortable familiarity with The Soft Pack and its no frills, just rock style.
Opening track "C’Mon" is full of energy but lacks any real excitement and ingenuity. It does however set the tone for what follows on the album.
Lead vocalist Matt Lamkin’s corrosive and who cares attitude translates well throughout the album as well as on the second track, "Down on Loving," which also has a nice underlying acoustic guitar.
Listeners can detect an earnest eagerness with The Soft Pack in songs like, "Flammable," "Move Along" and on-record standout, the closing track, "Parasites."
The ninth song, "Mexico," differs stylistically from the others. Subdued, a bit dull, but fine nonetheless.
"The Soft Pack" is simply a good album. There is nothing too spectacular to be found within the tracks.
It is a fun LP but does not have replay value.
Hopefully, with its next album, the group will move out of its comfort zone and deliver more of a dynamic work.
— niy
Freedy Johnston
"Rain on the City"
Grade: C
On much of this CD, Johnston sounds like a cross between light country and contemporary folk music.
Johnston has been releasing albums since the ’90s, and this CD shows a sort of musical maturity in his work.
However, the maturity displayed on many of his songs isn’t a good thing. Instead, it incorporates negative stereotypes of old people, insinuating they are slow or boring.
How this translates to Johnston’s music is that almost all the songs here are slow tempo and primarily acoustic.
This isn’t always a bad thing, but almost an entire album done in this style bores listeners quickly.
With few exceptions, each song sounds incredibly similar to the song before it, making much of the album sound like one long, boring track.
Some of the exceptions to this are the up tempo songs "Don’t Fall In Love With A Lonely Girl" and "It’s Gonna Come Back To You."
Still, these two songs aren’t enough to excite a listener, and the album quickly gets away from anything that’s generally fun to listen to.
This album was probably not written with college-aged listeners in mind, and older audiences might find more enjoyment when listening.
Listen to this CD on a rainy day for full enjoyment.
— mwa
Massive Attack
"Heligoland"
Grade: C-
British electronica/post-punk group Massive Attack has just released its new album "Heligoland."
The band, which is most likely known for its song "Teardrop" that is used as the theme song for the television show "House," has moved on from its trip-hop days to a slightly new sound.
There are definite Tricky and Radiohead influences throughout the album.
Songs like "Pray for Rain," which features vocals by Tunde Adebimpe, and the first single off the album, "Splitting the Atom," are two of the band’s darkest tracks.
One of the album’s highlights is a song called "Babel," which is vocally lead by female singer Martina Topley-Bird.
The singer sounds like a combination of Portishead, Fiona Apple and Lily Allen.
"Psyche," also sang by Topley-Bird, is one of the lighter songs on the group’s new album.
It’s worth noting that several well known musicians were supposed to collaborate with Massive Attack on this album, including David Bowie, Patti Smith and Mos Def.
This CD may have sounded massively different if these collaborations would have happened.
Songs like "Girl I Love You," "Paradise Circus" and "Atlas Air" don’t stick out and prove to be forgettable and unoriginal.
— jtp
"Valentine’s Day"
Various Artists
Grade: C-
The movie "Valentine’s Day," which stars a wide variety of actors and actresses, has a soundtrack equally as diverse as its cast.
Country-pop star Taylor Swift stars in the film and contributed a song specifically written for the movie, "Today Was A Fairytale," which holds true to her "damsel in distress" themed love songs and appeals to a younger audience.
Folk artist turned country singer Jewel has also written an original song for the soundtrack titled "Stay Here Forever."
Jewel’s song is an uplifting tune about being in love and wanting to be with your significant other every day but is barely recognizable compared to her past efforts and proves her crossover to the country music world is serious.
While the original songs aren’t great, the many covers of classic songs prove to be the highlight of the album.
Pop-rock band Maroon 5’s cover of Frank Sinatra’s "The Way You Look Tonight" and indie-pop band The Bird and The Bee’s cover of Herman Hermits’ original song "I’m Into Something Good" prove to be unique and modern renditions of classic love songs.
The CD does a nice job of picking out the best love songs for Valentine’s Day, but its original efforts fall short and the album could’ve been better.
— mdm
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