Listening Notes: Art Brut, Old 97's, Garland Jeffreys

Art Brut - Brilliant! Tragic!

No. Hell no.

I had to get that out of my system. Black Francis (that's what the credits say) is the wrong producer for them. He has Eddie Argos shouting too often. Eddie Argos needs charm to get his vocals across, and you can't be charming when you're shouting. Some of the songs work though. I hope they get over the Pixies infatuation.

Old 97's - The Grand Theatre Vol. 2

I have doubts about just how good most rock songwriters are at songwriting, but I think Rhett Miller is as good as any songwriter working in the, well, tradition. This is probably not his/their best, but it sounds great to me. I'm past the point in my life where I need to evaluate which albums by my favorite bands are the best.

Garland Jeffreys - The King of in Between, Escape Artist

What surprises me about the two albums is how similar they are: lots of songs about rock and roll and race, a garage rock cover, Jeffreys' one-sided romance with the streets. And why shouldn't the albums be similar? They were both made by the same man. I didn't think I liked the new one until I caught myself humming a couple of the songs.