INDIE ROCK
“Show Your Bones”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Interscope
Fueled by a creeping, late-’70s rock line – Nick Zinner’s simple guitar progressions, Brian Chase’s arena-styled drums and Karen O’s Joan Jett catcalls – “Gold Lion” gets things started here with an anachronistic yalp.
And from there out, the album stays the course. This is retro rock from beginning to end, from the head-nodder
“Phenomena” to “Honeybear,” which borrows everything from the first notes to the last reprise from the cheeky guitar rock of the late ’70s and early ’80s. It breaks little new ground – sometimes YYY trademarks sneak in via Zinner’s playing or O’s penchant for playful melodies – but for the most part, it’s a great party record.
It’s a far cry from the band’s best effort, the eponymous five-track 2001 EP, but this polished work is a breezy exercise for a contemporary band toying with ideas of nostalgia: Their parents’ record collections filtered through years of dreaming, playing.
– Ricardo Baca
MAJESTIC ROCK
“Everything All the Time”
Band of Horses
Sub Pop
When Ben Bridwell and Matt Brooke disbanded their little-known Seattle outfit Carissa’s Wierd – yes, they meant to spell it that way- it made sense: There was nowhere for the act’s patient, melancholy indie rock to go.
Bridwell and Brooke started Band of Horses shortly thereafter, cranking up the volume and tempo of their country-leaning pseudo-anthems. The result, “Everything All the Time,” stands as one of the year’s most bracing guitar-rock albums, even if its hitching posts are well-worn.
Jangly, gloriously ragged riffs frame Bridwell’s vocals, which confirm him as a graduate of the Neil Young School of Singing (alumni include Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips). Fortunately, the soaring melodies and relaxed vibe of songs like “Wicked Gil” and “Our Swords” cement the album’s appeal more than any influence ever could.
– John Wenzel
