record reviews

June 5, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

Album: “Codes and Keys”

Grade: B

Who knew happiness could be such a problem?

Death Cab for Cutie built an impressive catalog of memorable indie-rock around heartache. On their breakthrough “Transatlanticism,” they made the ache sound epic.

For “Codes and Keys” (Atlantic), though, the ache is gone. Unfortunately, Death Cab didn’t replace it. It’s as if when the ache left, so did their ambitions and ideas. The craftiness of Ben Gibbard’s vocals and the inventive guitar work of Chris Walla is noticeably absent. Instead of the disappointments of new years and the pain of drifting apart, we get Gibbard repeatedly singing, “We are alive,” over a nice, safe groove in the title track. Uh-oh.

“Codes and Keys” has some happy moments — the sprightly, string-filled “Stay Young, Go Dancing” is memorable as a pretty, lovey-dovey change of pace, while the playful, piano-driven “Portable Television” gallops off in unexpected directions. But those bits only make the rest of the album seem that much more lifeless. The single “You Are a Tourist” is pleasant but aimless modern rock, sort of like a kinder, gentler take on Modest Mouse’s “Float On.”

“Codes and Keys” finds Death Cab in a happier place spiritually — there have been marriages (including Gibbard’s to actress-singer Zooey Deschanel) and kids born. What they need now is an interesting way to describe their new, more pleasant surroundings.

— Glenn Gamboa, Newsday

My Morning Jacket

Album: “Circuital” (ATO)

Grade: B

Over the course of five studio albums, My Morning Jacket established itself as one of America’s best rock bands, rooted in Southern country rock but wide-ranging and experimental. Blessed with the heavenly vocals of Jim James, MMJ dabbled in soul and funk on 2008’s fantastic “Evil Urges. The long-awaited “Circuital curtails some of that wild eclecticism, although it does veer into heavy psychedelic set pieces several times.

This mostly live-in-the- studio album contains a few underwhelming tracks (the repetitive “The Day Is Coming,” the ambling “You Wanna Freak Out”), but it also has one grand anthem (“Circuital”), one playful celebration (“Outta My System”), and several transcendent ballads, “Wonderful [The Way I Feel]” among them. “Circuital is the first MMJ album in a long time that’s less than epic. But it’s still wonderful.

— Steve Klinge, Philadelphia Inquirer

Stevie Nicks

Album: “In Your Dreams” (Reprise)

Grade: C

After a decade away from the recording studio, onetime Fleetwood Mac nightingale Stevie Nicks returns, untouched by time. At 62, her distinctive adenoidal voice is still oddly bewitching. It papers over some of the CD’s more wifty tracks, as does the crisp production of Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard. (Waddy Wachtel and Mike Campbell made significant contributions to the music.) Nicks takes songwriting inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe (“Annabel Lee”) to Stephenie Meyer (“Moonlight: A Vampire’s Dream”). Perhaps tellingly, the track with the most pop appeal, “Secret Love,” was written by Nicks in 1976. If nothing else, “In Your Dreams” proves that there’s life in the old girl yet.

— David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer

THE VACCINES

Album: “What Did You Expect from The Vaccines?” (XL)

Grade: B

The Vaccines’ preoccupation with expectations is understandable, considering how they zoomed from garage band to British Next Big Thing within months. But as listener- friendly as their debut “What Did You Expect from The Vaccines?” is, it’s more influenced by previous sensations rather than being sensational itself. “Blow It Up” could be Glasvegas. “If You Wanna” channels The Jesus and Mary Chain, while the addictive “Post Break-up Sex” recalls Flesh For Lulu. Only the revved-up “Wreckin’ Bar” and “Norgaard” offer an idea of what has gotten the U.K. so riled.

— Glenn Gamboa, Newsday

Patti Austin

Album: “Sound Advice” (Shanachie)

Grade: B

Patti Austin has spent much of the past decade successfully recasting herself as a jazz singer, winning her first Grammy for her 2007 CD, “Avant Gershwin.” But her new CD, “Sound Advice” — mostly covers of tunes by Bob Dylan, Brenda Russell, the Jacksons and others — finds Austin returning to her soul, R&B and pop roots with an assist from producer-arranger Greg Phillinganes (Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Toto).

Austin is at her best on her gospel-inspired take on Des’ree’s “You Gotta Be” that builds to a rousing call-and-response with the Fire Choir. She rocks out and adds some soul to the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” engaging in spirited interplay with her backup vocalists, and on Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me,” she starts softly and ends with a soaring climax. The 62-year-old singer’s still-powerful vocals stand out even though some of the song choices are less inspiring — Paul McCartney’s “Let ‘Em In” and Depeche Mode’s ethereal “Enjoy the Silence.”

— Charles J. Gans, Associated Press

Kool G Rap

Album: “Riches, Royalty & Respect” (Fat Beats)

Grade: A

What to do when you’re hip-hop’s lion in winter? Keep pushing forward, it seems. Since the Reagan era, Nathaniel “Kool Genius of Rap” Wilson has influenced your favorite rappers’ favorite rappers by pushing ice-cold lyrics through a flow-within-a-flow delivery, his lisp adding a human touch. “Riches, Royalty & Respect, G Rap’s fourth proper solo album, isn’t much different from the previous three — or the three records he did with DJ Polo, or any of his umpteen guest spots — which is to say, it’s awfully good. It’s also refreshingly naive: indebted to mob life and steeped in soulful break beats, “RRR” doesn’t sound a day past 1998, minus the clever Feist sample in “The Meaning to Your Love.” Keep the change. Kool G Rap will keep his money and guns.

— Michael Pollock, Philadelphia Inquirer