This week Built to Spill, the pride of Boise, Idaho, release their latest disc There Is No Enemy, the group’s first album since 2006’s You In Reverse. Fifteen years into their career, There is No Enemy proves frontman Doug Martsch is still an expert at building “a crystal palace of refracting guitar tones and textures,” Will Hermes writes in his three-and-a-half-star review. “What’s on Martsch’s mind? What you’d expect from a dude spending lots of time in his head: dreams, boredom, life’s meaning or lack thereof.” It’s not as perfect as Perfect From Now On, but fans that have stuck with the jangly noodlers won’t be disappointed.
RS was also a big fan of the Gossip’s Music For Men, awarding Beth Ditto and crew’s newest LP a four-star rating. The disc finds the trio trading in their punk grooves and transforming into a badass dance machine, thanks in large part to producer Rick Rubin, who is usually associated more with heavy metal and hip-hop than the club scene. Among the many highlights are “Men in Love” and the B-52s-inspired “Spare Me From the World.” “Punk purists may hate it,” writes Hermes in his Rolling Stone review, “But dance-floor revelers will drown them out.”
Also out this week: Tokio Hotel’s Humanoid, the disappointing follow-up to their English-language debut Scream. As Jody Rosen says in his Zwei-star review (that’s two for non-German speakers), Humanoid “is melodically anemic and strangely low-key.” Seemingly overnight, singer Bill Kaulitz has lost all the charisma that made Tokio Hotel one of Europe’s most popular bands.
Finally, a pair of discs worth checking out: Air’s Love 2 and the Very Best’s Warm Heart of Africa.
...Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily