record reviews

May 16, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

THE DEAD WEATHER

Album: “Sea of Cowards”

Grade: B-

With their second album in less than a year, The Dead Weather, led by White Stripe Jack White and Kill Alison Mosshart, has managed to take a great idea and steadily pound it into the ground. “Sea of Cowards” (Third Man/ Warner Bros.) is everything “Horehound” was — trippy, raucous guitar blues — without the surprises. “The Difference Between Us” plays like the electro cousin of “Seven Nation Army,” and the grinding single “Die by the Drop” simply extends the formula. Only “Old Mary” really offers any sort of experimentation, any sense of how good The Dead Weather can really be.

— Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday

GOLDFRAPP

Album: “Head First”

Grade: B

Throughout the ’90s, singer Alison Goldfrapp and instrumentalist Will Gregory made a luxurious brand of darkly erotic synth-pop that shimmered subtly with glam-rock and disco influences.

The duo could be moodier than Portishead and groovier than Broadcast when they so desired. Yet by the 2000s, pretty gals who could mood-swing as well as flaunt their breathy disco vibe (e.g. Annie, Robyn) threatened to push Goldfrapp aside. The limp electro-folk of their album “Seventh Tree” (2008) didn’t help.

What’s a girl to do? Head back to the dance floor with a kit bag of new tricks.

The influence of Italian disco’s prominent high hats and Giorgio Moroder-like sequencers runs rampant throughout “Head First” (Mute), Goldfrapp’s glossily sexy new CD. Odder still is the shiny Abba-esque gurgle that fills the likes of “Alive.”

What truly captures your attention is how memorably melodic and poppy these songs are in comparison to those of Goldfrapp’s past.

Despite its minor-key melody, “Rocket” shines while daring you to yell out its chorus. The pair’s moodier midtempo cuts and ballads, too, sound effortlessly contagious.

— A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer

THE NATIONAL

Album: “High Violet”

Grade: A

The National isn’t one of those bands that latch onto you with hooks and clobber you with rousing choruses until suddenly you’re screaming, “Your sex is on fire!” The Brooklyn-based quintet uses more of the boiling-frog approach, soothing you with musical subtleties and dramatic nuances that you lose track of no matter how many times you’ve listened to the album straight through and are too blissed-out to care.

“High Violet” (4AD) finds the unusual, symbiotic relationship between singer Matt Berninger and the rest of his band at its peak. Berninger weaves haunting, detailed tales with his deep, world-weary baritone, while the guitar-playing Dessners, Bryce and Aaron, and the rhythm-section Devendorfs, drummer Bryan and bassist Scott, build elaborate soundscapes to support them.

Sometimes, they are straightforward and rock-oriented, as in the rhythm-driven “Anyone’s Ghost” or the U2-influenced “Lemonworld.” Sometimes, they are subtle and orchestral, as in “Runaway,” where the band surrounds Berninger’s complaints and rallying cries (”I won’t be no runaway,” he promises, “because I won’t run”) with muted horns and acoustic loveliness. And sometimes, they build to epic proportions, as in “England,” where the gorgeous, regal arrangements are the stars, as Berninger offers a series of mantras.

It’s the riveting “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” driven by wild rhythms and a guitar roar, that may end up introducing The National to the mainstream.

— Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsda

THE FALL

Album: “Your Future Our Clutter”

Grade: B

Love him or hate him, Mark E. Smith is still a singular front man. The sole constant in England’s inveterate post-punk act the Fall, he barks, mutters, talks, and occasionally sings his way through this 29th studio album. He’s backed by the same hard-bitten four-piece as on 2008’s “Imperial Wax Solvent,” including his keyboardist wife, Eleni Poulou. The 50-minute “Your Future Our Clutter” (Domino) is an exercise in mutation, its nine songs changing form as they proceed. “Bury Pts. 1 + 3” spends its first third willfully muffled, while Smith asserts himself over the tarnished blues of “Hot Cakes” and off-kilter daze of “Chino.” As for rockabilly royalty, Wanda Jackson’s often-covered “Funnel of Love,” the tune becomes a deadpan oddity. It’s another Fall record, then.

— Doug Wallen, Philadelphia Inquirer

DAVID BALL

Album: “Sparkle City”

Grade: A-

On a commercial level, David Ball has never matched his 1994 hit, “Thinkin’ Problem.” But he’s never been less than a solid purveyor of neo-traditional country. “Sparkle City” (E1/Red Dirt) is a little gem that ranks as one of his best efforts.

Ball wrote or co-wrote all 11 songs, and he starts off with “Hot Water Pipe.” It’s a shot of double-entendre honky-tonk that Ball plays in his usual understated manner, making it all the more effective. That’s the way it goes throughout, from the self-explanatory “Country Boy Boogie” to the border-flavored “Just Along for the Ride,” and elegant ballads with hints of jazz (”Back to Alabama,” “So Long”) that bring to mind Merle Haggard. “On Top of the World,” meanwhile, is an irresistible slice of honky-tonk swing, and yet more proof that Ball is working at the top of his game.

— Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer