record reviews

March 18, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

WZRD

Album: “WZRD” (Universal Republic)

Grade: B

WZRD, band and CD, is an alliance of Kid Cudi and one of his earliest producers, multi- instrumentalist Dot da Genius (“Day N’ Nite”).

Cudi drums, plays guitar and sings. “WZRD” comes across as something like “The Wall” — if only 1960s Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd had recorded Roger Waters’ ode to dark introspection.

Throughout this wiry epic, there are lyrical hints of a life well-squandered. The sour “Live & Learn” is a particularly testy track, filled with starry eyes and scars.

Although the melodies are strong and the hooks deep (“Brake” might be one of the catchiest space-rock tunes of the last 30 years), the airy, synthetic arrangements and rude grooves here have a duskily psychedelic and grungy edge that would do that creepy, hypothetical Barrett/ Waters Floyd team proud. “Teleport 2 Me, Jamie” embraces Pink’s messed-up mesh of layered keyboards and skuzzy guitars. The fuzz-toned, raw-knuckled “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” is an acidic come-down, the soundtrack to a bad trip’s finale. How comfortably numb can you get?

— A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquire r

VCMG

Album: “Ssss” (Mute)

Grade: C

VCMG stands for Vince Clarke and Martin Gore, the two synth-pop vets who cofounded Depeche Mode. Clarke left Depeche Mode after writing most of the band’s debut album, including perky New Wave classics such as “Dreaming of Me” and, with Gore, “Just Can’t Get Enough.” While Gore led Depeche Mode into gothic seriousness and arena-size popularity, Clarke found success with Yaz and Erasure. “Ssss” is the first Clarke/Gore collaboration since 1981.

It’s not a return to the percolating pleasures of early synth-pop; instead, it’s an instrumental techno album, less concerned with melodies or hooks than with the steady beat to thump in clubs. That’s fine, but it’s disappointing coming from two guys once so good at writing catchy, memorable pop songs. Tracks hover around the six-minute mark, but they seem longer: The relentless rhythms, even with hints of the men’s youthful obsession with Kraftwerk, prove you just can get enough.

— Steve Klinge, Philadelphia Inquirer

CHUCK PROPHET

Album: “Temple Beautiful” (Yep Roc)

Grade: B

Chuck Prophet bills his new album as an ode to his adopted hometown of San Francisco. The Bay Area references are obvious in numbers such as “Willie Mays Is Up at Bat,” which names not only the Say-Hey Kid, but also other noted and notorious San Franciscans, such as stripper Carol Doda, promoter Bill Graham and Jim Jones of the People’s Temple. On most other tracks, however, like the fratricidal tale of the porn-purveying Mitchell Brothers (“The Left Hand and the Right Hand”), the S.F. connections are not so clear.

That’s OK, because Prophet is not going for historical accuracy. Rather, the veteran rocker is out to create an impressionistic portrait, and more often than not, he pulls you in even if you don’t know the real-life inspirations for the songs.

It’s a multifaceted portrait, both romantic and clear-eyed, and so is Prophet’s musical palette, which starts, as usual, with taut, sharply melodic rock and then works variations from there. Deceptively expressive for someone with a nasal voice and an often phlegmatic delivery, he’s as at home with the string-draped balladry of “Museum of Broken Hearts” as with the peppy pop of “Little Boy, Little Girl,” or the R&B-flavored groove of “White Night, Big City.” That last one’s about the 1978 slaying of Harvey Milk, though, again, Prophet never comes right out and says so.

— Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer