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B+ Black Eyed Peas Elephunk (A&M)
Fast-rapping, library-card-punching L.A. rappers add a female vocalist and pick up where the Fugees left off. Moralizing on the conscious tip over neosoul, ragga, and head-snapping, old-school jack beats, they wonder, “Where is the love?” while bringing a surprising level of heat.
C+ AM Radio Radioactive (Elektra)
Rivers Cuomo-endorsed burn-outs who sing about the end of the world as if it’s the best thing since two-for-one Jell-O shots. Who can blame ’em? It’s no kinda rock’n’roll life when you chase a porn star all over Los Angeles and she turns out to have a boyfriend. Call ’em American No-Fi--or forget to call ’em at all.
A- Brand New Deja Entendu (Triple Crown/Razor & Tie)
These Long Island rockers seem like Taking Back Sunday’s natural heirs, except that Brand New’s second album--a fresh, literate blast of nuanced screamers and mid-tempo heart purging--boasts more maturity than TBS. Singer Jesse Lacey even croons a lovely closing-time ballad, “Play Crack the Sky,” that Counting Crows would kill for.
C- From Zero My So-Called Life (Arista)
Redeem me, say the boys of From Zero: May all my mookdom be forgiven. Leaning hard on singer Jett’s pinched Geddy Lee whine, From Zero try to bare the scars beneath their spiky exteriors but come up short of Staind. On a positive note: so not the kind of music you’d expect from a bunch of Claire Danes fans.
B+ S.T.U.N. Evolution of Energy (Velvet Hammer/Geffen)
These promising Warped Tour rookies infuse the bulldozing agitpunk of bands like Refused with a twisted pop sensibility. “Annihilation of the Genera-tions” is catchy combat rock, and “Boys and Girls” is about class war, not kissing. Extra points for a Wire cover (“Reuters”) that doesn’t remotely suck.
B Mayday I Know Your Troubles Been Long (Bar/None)
Members of Cursive, Bright Eyes, and Nebraskan elders Lullaby for the Working Class get all Amish on that ass, flipping warped-Puritan country rock as fiddle-scarred emo benediction. Titles like “Dyzfunctional Cuzin” are only half the fun; the other half is that fun is the furthest thing from their minds.
C Memphis Bleek M.A.D.E. (Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam)
Once Jay-Z’s annointed successor, Memph Bleek has been eclipsed by guest stars on almost every single he’s released. On M.A.D.E., “Everything’s a Go” singes like Roc-a-Fella’s best, but Bleek seems to have learned little from his time in the shadows. If dude doesn’t step it up, he’ll be exiled to Vegas with Amil.
B+ Tricky Vulnerable (Brown Punk/Sanctuary)
Tricky is sounding less and less like the trip-hop cyborg of our premillennial nightmares and more like Tom Waits rudely awakened from a disco nap. Yet, with brilliantly named new diva Costanza Francavilla stoking his dormant robo-libido, this is the Trickster’s best record in years.
B+ Randy Welfare Problems (Burning Heart/Epitaph)
Whether they’re whoopin’ and hollerin’ the disenfranchisement blues (“Cheater”) or decrying the police state (“A Man in Uniform”), Randy put a fine political point on Swedish garage rock. But it’s not just the government that’s let them down: Album highlight “X-Ray Eyes” is an almost-emo take on Mom and Dad’s disintegrating marriage.
A- CunninLynguists Southernunderground (Freshchest)
No indie yukfest (despite the yukky name), this Southern trio’s second album taps into OutKast’s tragicomic poignancy with a “bankrupt for life” lyrical edge and striking, savvy beats (even sampling Fiddler on the Roof!). Rjd2 drops a hot guest track, too, all sweeping strings and scratched-up Lauryn Hill bites.
B Ikara Colt Basic Instructions EP (Epitaph)
Dispassion becomes fashion on Ikara Colt’s third EP. “Bring It to Me” bangs and clangs like abstract sculpture in a clothes dryer, but it’s the driving synth-pop homages “Don’t They Know” and “May B 1 Day #2”--which turn the band’s seeming indifference into an asset--that are the most memorable.
C Ugly Duckling Taste the Secret (EmperorNorton)
Dippy SoCal threesome make indie hip-hop for suburban neophytes. Ugly Duck know the De La Soul/Pharcyde playbook backward and forward, but their songs excavate new depths of frivolity, possibly because frivolity’s all they’ve ever known. Naturally, they hate what they can’t conquer, coming out against thuggery on “Mr. Tough Guy.” Snore.
A- Various artists Idol Tryouts: Ghostly International Vol. 1 (Ghostly International)
From the Detroit label that brought you Tangent 2002: Disco Nouveau (easily the most invigorating of the electroclash-related compilations). This classy roundup drifts from slinky, abstract hip-hop (Dabrye) to slippery tech house (Matthew Dear) to spacey guitar pop (Dykehouse). Dope packaging, too.
B+ Woven 8 Bit Monk (Interscope)
Techno-rockers with a serious crush on Radiohead drown their sorrows in a black sea of gothy electronics and trip-hop squiggle. Sometimes their lead singer sounds like Marilyn Manson moonlighting as a moody software engineer, but if you let your guard down, you’ll see that his blues are your blues, too.
