‘Sonic Boom’

‘Sonic Boom’

KISS (KISS Records)

Grade: B+

“Sonic Boom,” the first KISS studio album in 11 years, is one of the best hard-rock albums of 2009. But what keeps it from being truly great is the massive musical identify theft by guitarist Tommy Thayer.

Since being promoted from traveling assistant to Ace Frehley’s replacement in 2003, Thayer has worn Frehley’s makeup and costume, copied his solos note for note — including his extended concert solo — and even briefly sang Frehley’s signature tune, “Shock Me,” to the dismay of longtime KISS fans.

So surely on his first studio session, Thayer would put his stamp on the band, recording his own solos in his own style. Right?

Wrong. On song after song, Thayer lifts key parts of classic Frehley solos rather than creating his own, and the theft is immediately recognizable. On “Russian Roulette,” he steals from Frehley’s solo on “Rock and Roll All Nite.” On “Yes I Know [Nobody’s Perfect],” he takes from “Rock and Roll All Nite” and “See You in Your Dreams.”

Paul Stanley, who produced the album, shines on “Modern Day Delilah,” the epic “Stand” and the anthem-in-waiting “Say Yeah,” with its shout-it-outloud chorus. Gene Simmons has his moment of modesty on “Nobody’s Perfect,” with the follow-up line, “but baby I come awfully close.”

Drummer Eric Singer wears predecessor Peter Criss’ catman costume and makeup. But Singer earned his whiskers through his 1992-96 tenure in KISS during the unmasked era. More important, he brings his own style to classic KISS songs, and his album vocal debut on “All for the Glory” is a decent one.

“Sonic Boom” also includes a second disc of KISS classics re-recorded with the current lineup, and tracks like “Calling Dr. Love” and “Heaven’s on Fire” have never sounded as fresh and raw. There’s even a bonus DVD of an April 2009 concert in Argentina.

— Wayne Parry, Associated Press

‘I and love and you’

The Avett Brothers (Columbia)

Grade: B

Like punk-blues trio Gossip, punk-folk-country quartet the Avett Brothers have been signed to Columbia by Rick Rubin, the Run-D.M.C., Johnny Cash, and Dixie Chicks producer who knows a thing or two about streamlining a band’s sound in pursuit of a larger audience. That’s what he does with the ever-earnest Avetts — fronted by brothers Seth and Scott, and backed by drummer Bob Crawford and cellist Joe Kwon — though not to their detriment. True, some of the frantic punk edge of this, a terrific live band that’s been barnstorming pretty much nonstop for the last decade, has been smoothed over. And the Avetts do have a tendency toward the unabashedly corny, as when they fret over the difficulty in saying out loud the three words in the title track. But the baker’s dozen of mostly piano-based ballads — with a few notable exceptions, such as the giddily jaunty “Kick Drum Heart” — convey a genuine (and genuinely tuneful) sad-eyed dignity, as the North Carolina band-on-the-rise evokes The Band in its attempt to carve out a safe haven from the “darkness all around us,” as Scott Avett put it in the tender, mandolin-flecked “January Wedding.”

— Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘Sorry for Partyin’’

Bowling for Soup (Jive Records)

Grade: B

Bowling for Soup makes no apologies for crassness on its latest, “Sorry for Partyin’.” From the lyrics right down to the album cover, which depicts the foursome frolicking in a giant toilet bowl, it’s apparent that lead singer Jaret Reddick and the boys clearly channel the perspective of the average 14-year-old boy.

Much in the spirit of Primus or The Offspring, Bowling for Soup chooses this irreverent path for expression, and the result is catchy, melodic tunes that have tinges of funk, punk and 1980s alt rock. And while lyrically humorous, they sometimes aim low with the subject matter.

The first single, “My Wena,” is exactly what you think it’s about. Released ahead of the album, the video stars a woman parading through the song dressed in a penis costume. Television airplay will probably be at a minimum, but that won’t matter since the song has already become a huge viral video hit.

As for the album, standout tracks include the torch song “Me With No You,” the 1960s-inspired “I Gotchoo” and the bouncy “I Don’t Wish You Were Dead Anymore.” Then there’s “Belgium Polka,” a modern homage to the dance music that will most likely not be heard at senior citizen centers. “BFFF” covers the platonic angle of having a gay friend with a chorus resplendent of a classic Seinfeld episode.

Though some may see this collection as an exercise in bad taste, there’s no getting away from the Texas quartet’s charm.

— John Carucci, Associated Press

The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.