Long & Extremely Overdue

Due to some pretty high profile leaks lately (Black Keys, Gaslight Anthem, I’m lookin’ at you!) here are two reviews I’d been meaning to write for a while. Hopefully, this is a reminder for me to keep a good pace as opposed to thinking I’ll get to this stuff later. Plus, it’ll free me up to dive right into those leaks, which at the moment, are sounding pretty darn stellar.

So here we go:

Coheed & Cambria- Year Of The Black Rainbow (***½)
Much like George Lucas, Coheed & Cambria find it difficult to keep fans engaged in the story of their prequel to the Amory Wars Saga, and fifth overall LP, Year Of The Black Rainbow. By this point, anyone still following the disjointed plot will love whatever the band drops, so perhaps it’s best to focus on what the uneducated Coheed fan can glean from the album, which is where it DOES get interesting. Slicker, darker, and heavier than their lackluster Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Part Two: No World For Tomorrow, Year Of The Black Rainbow is a dizzying feast for the headphones. Enlisting Atticus Ross and Joe Barresi to infused their lurching prog-metal with some electronic flair, Year Of The Black Rainbow benefits from muscular production that makes it as heavy as it is lush. While the 1-2-3 riffage of “The Broken” doesn’t reinvent Coheed’s wheel, it’s the ballads that truly shine on Rainbow. “Far” is a hazy, dense soundscape with thunderous drums and ethereal vocals. On “Pearl Of The Stars,” guitarist Claudio Sanchez lets his inner Slash loose against shimmering acoustics and drifting beats, with deliciously flashy results. While the band’s “concept” has definitely run out of steam, adding drummer Chris Pennie to the fold has proven they can at least make a solid rock record that sounds immersive. The casual listeners will take that any day over understanding what The Crowing actually is.

Key Cuts: The Broken, Far, Pearl Of The Stars

MGMT- Congratulations (*)
Congratulations is, perhaps, the most appropriate tongue-in-cheek designation for MGMT’s new album. Unfortunately, I think they were looking at the joke from a different angle, namely, that their album wasn’t a colossal joke. So, permit me to fill them in on what’s so funny: CONGRATULATIONS MGMT, you’ve made a record that sacrifices any sense of accessibly in the name of pretentious, Brian Eno inspired, wankery. CONGRATULATIONS MGMT, you’ve buried all that was unique about your group, a balance of innovation and pop hooks, under layers of phasers, boring keyboard lines, and goofy harpsichord theatrics. CONGRATULATIONS MGMT, for creating “Siberian Breaks,” a 12 minute test of patience with no rhyme or reason to its transitions, a cut and paste fantasia of throw away snyth-folk that’s got the Pitchfork kids (pun intended) hot and bothered. CONGRATULATIONS MGMT, because the one star you’re receiving is for “I Found A Whistle,” a delicate and shimmering organ number that actually sounds like YOU and not Sgt. Pepper’s Trendy Hipster Club Band. CONGRATULATIONS MGMT, because like so many bands with early promise, you’ve reminded us that the sophomore slump is a hard fall from grace. So there you have it, Congratulations by MGMT, get it?

Key Cuts: I Found A Whistle, Oracular Spectacular