record reviews

May 27, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

Garbage

Album: “Not Your Kind of People” (Stunvolume Records)

Grade: A

For a band that’s been around for almost two decades, Garbage has released surprisingly few studio albums.

Their fifth, “Not Your Kind of People,” comes on the heels of a seven-year hiatus, which makes it all the more anticipated.

Fans who have missed Shirley Manson’s powerful vocals and scenic presence will revel in this blast-from-the-past album, released on their own label for the first time.

This artistic freedom allowed them to make just the kind of album they want — bold, honest and accessible to those not of rock sensibilities.

The 11 songs on “Not Your Kind of People” — all written and produced by all four Garbage members — cohabit wonderfully, each bringing to the mix something the others don’t have.

“Man on A Wire” is the petulant, self-destructive one of the group, whose drum-and-bass sets the rhythm for the argument.

“Battle in Me” is its twin in tone but not in temperament; together they work the crowd, like a bad cop, good cop routine trying to get a confession of love out of the listener.

“Blood for Poppies” is the cool, trendy one who’s nonchalantly talking up strangers, while “Sugar” is the incurably romantic, the perpetually lovesick one whose plaintive whispers haunt you.

— Christine Jaleru, Associated Press

JOHN MAYER

“Born and Raised” (Columbia)

Grade: C

There’s a strong retro vibe to Mayer’s latest — a loose, unvarnished quality to the songs and their arrangements that is not always appealing. It is as if in concert with producer Don Was, Mayer was determined to make his own version of Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline.”

But most of “Born and Raised” ends up sounding musically and lyrically indulgent and a little sloppy. “Queen of California,” a sweet shamble with a slight Southern accent, is one of the few songs (“If I Ever Get Around to Living” being another) that seems to have received Mayer’s full attention.

— David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer

JOEY RAMONE

Album: “ ... ya know?” (BMG)

Grade: B

What’s next, a Joey Ramone hologram? Why should Tupac have all the fun when it comes to coming back from the dead? The first solo album by the 6-foot-6, bleating-voiced lead singer of the Ramones came out in 2002, a year after his death from lymphoma at age 49.

Ten years later comes “ ... ya know?”,a title derived from a signature Ramone conversational tic. “ ... ya know?” is a collection of leftover demos lovingly filled out and finished off by a talented cast of characters that include Joan Jett, Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, and E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt, who correctly credits the Ramones for making the world safe for “countless freaks, misfits and outcasts who would find salvation, redemption, and sanctuary in the one lifestyle that didn’t judge them.”

The 14-song, slightly overlong set, which contains a slowed version of the holiday song “Merry Christmas [I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight],” doesn’t sound like a Ramones album so much as a collection of punchy pop-rock that bears the influence of the Byrds and Phil Spector and is evocative of Tom Petty here and AC/DC there, particularly on the lead single “Rock And Roll Is the Answer.”

It’s all pretty darn catchy, and gives us one more shot in the arm from a beloved figure who was an underappreciated master of mixing vulnerability and swagger in his inimitable vocals and who Van Zandt calls “a man that would surprise everybody on a regular basis.”

The final surprise is how good this record is.

— Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer

KIMBRA

Album: “Vows” (Warner Brothers)

Grade: B

You may know New Zealand’s Kimbra from her powerhouse turn on Gotye’s hit “Somebody That I Used To Know.” “Vows,” her debut album, came out in Australia to much acclaim last year.

It has been updated — five songs dropped, six added — for its U.S. release, and like Gotye’s “Making Mirrors,” it’s a wide-ranging collection of appealing pop with a subtle experimental streak.

Although anchored by Kimbra’s emphatic, leaping vocals and by a penchant for constructing beats from vocal samples, “Vows” whiplashes between big R&B production numbers and trip-hoppy ballads. The percussive “Settle Down,” the dense “Come Into My Head,” and the bubble-gummy “Cameo Lover” contrast with the plinky, Bjork-like “The Build Up,” the slinky “Good Intent,” and the even slinkier cover of Nina Simone’s “Plain Gold Ring.”

“Vows” isn’t much on coherence, but it introduces an enticingly eclectic talent.

— Steve Klinge, Philadelphia Inquirer