New Track Roundup: Anticipated Releases Edition
By: Christian Hagen
Tapes ‘n Tapes, “Freak Out” from Outside (due January 11)
One of the greatest undue casualties of the buzz band backlash effect, Tapes ‘n Tapes have quietly released some of the strongest, most rollicking indie rock anthems of the last decade. Finally, in January, the band will be releasing their follow-up to the criminally underrated Walk It Off, and the band is playing it smart going forward. Releasing the album on their own label, Ibid Records, the group has made their first single available as a free download on their website. And “Freak Out” is more than worth the bandwidth and time it takes to acquire.
The group does, to great effect, much the same that they attempted on previous singles like “Insistor” and “Hang Them All,” building from a singularity into an increasingly off-the-rails cluster of persistent snares and chugging guitars. Singer Josh Grier’s voice works into a froth above the noise, and bassist Erik Appelwick, the band’s unsung secret weapon, whips the bubbling drink together into a thrilling mixture. The song is all the things that people hoped from this group from their first breakthrough in 2005, things which critics and dismissive fans ultimately forgot the band could produce: Rocking fun, and yet with the melodic chops and rough exterior to keep it pumping fists and warping the minds of listeners for days after they hear it. It’s the kind of song that sticks to the frontal lobe, letting go only when something harder and faster comes along and knocks it to the side.
The Decemberists, “Down by the Water” from The King is Dead (due January 11)
As much as I loathe coming across as a parrot, repeating the same assertions of PR firms and other critics, as pretentious and shallow as it may be to simply use an artist’s words to judge a work rather than finding unique perspective and meaning outside its inception, I have to say: when Colin Meloy said the latest Decemberists album was R.E.M.-influenced, he wasn’t kidding around.
Obviously, a significant part of this sound comes from the familiar spaghetti-western guitar twangs of R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, as he lent his skills to this first single from the group’s newest release. But aside from a vague accordion lolling in the background, this song sounds as though Meloy and guest Gillian Welch simply tied up Michael Stipe and made the rest of his band back a country song.
This isn’t to say it’s a bad song, and it certainly has charm. And for those weary of The Hazards of Love’s daunting symphonies and rock operettas (ed. note: Not me), it’s going to be somewhat refreshing to hear a return to the down-home folk-rock of classics like “Yankee Bayonet” and “Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect.” It’s undeniably rousing, though it does drag a bit towards the end; its 3:49 run time feels almost a minute longer through simple repetition.
But one fear the group needs to avoid in this new album is that of becoming another band altogether. The guest spots on this track, and on their previous album, are always fun, but it’s easy for the group to lose sight of their identities in favor of the chance to spend a track as somebody else. Colin Meloy is not Michael Stipe. Chris Funk is not Peter Buck. John Moen is not Bill Berry. But listening to “Down By the Water,” I had flashbacks to “Losing My Religion.”
Nicki Minaj & Will.i.am, “Check It Out” from Pink Friday (due November 19)
When I first heard Nicki Minaj, admittedly late to the party, on Kanye West’s all-star showcase “Monster” earlier this year, I was blown away. Here was a female rapper with the makings of a superstar. Between her aggressive style-flipping (note the four or five accents she hits in a single wild verse) and her creatively violent lyrical skills, I knew, in my heart, that I was hearing a legend in the making.
It seems the legend may be more of a cautionary tale than a success story.
From the first strains of “Check It Out,” with the grating “Video Killed the Radio Star” sample and heavily auto-tuned vocals, I thought for sure I was listening to the wrong song. Here’s this stellar rap dynamo reduced to a passive backup singer for one of the most overrated bubblegum producers in hip-hop. The aforementioned style-flipping? Buried under a harsh computerized tone so heavily ruinous it takes even her brief rap bridge and reduces it to a toy robot’s effectiveness. Any bite Minaj has ever had is wasted in a cotton candy techno haze dominated at every moment by Will.i.am.’s ‘look at me’ production.
Is Nicki Minaj the best new flavor in hip-hop? I guess we’ll have to wait to hear her album when it releases tomorrow. If she follows her firey wordplay to rap dominance, she could be one of the year’s brightest stars. If she follows her pink robot impulses, she could crash and burn harder than any rap debut in years.