CD Reviews for January's SLUG online at SLUGmag.com or in print at chillaxed joints along the Wasatch front and cooler zine venues nationwide.


The Capricorns
River, Bear Your Bones
Rise Above Records
Street: 11.25
The Capricorns = Tamerlane (- vox) + Philip Glass (Koyanisqaatsi era)


The Capricorns rarely miss on their third release and give new depth to the UK metal/hard rock catalogue. They blessedly do not stray too far from more well-worn construction patterns that have been mostly rejected by the sometimes scatterbrained songwriters of this style, yet they still manage a fresh take that I found better-than-decent every spin around. No vocals are needed (or used) to really shove this stuff in your brain, and it is a welcome change to the too-earnest lyrics you can find trawling through the depths of this genre. Opener "Broken Coffin of the Venerable King" is a perfect primer for this band and album. The whole work is stellar stuff to play as background music for some of your more devious adventures that don’t need lyrics busying things up.
–JP


Hooray For Earth
Self-Titled
Dopamine Records
Street: 01.13
Hooray for Earth= The Revolution Smile + Muse + Abandoned Pools

Hooray for nothing (sorry, that was too easy). These guys are so-so. A band like this may transform live, but this release is a little too bad/poppy for my taste. Hooray for Earth’s staccato drumming and song style gets wearisome fast. And the grungy guitar on tracks like "Want Want Want" doesn’t do anything to hide the fact that the electronica in this group is the overriding player in the musical equation and no amount of distortion will hide that and make it fly. The vocalist’s whiny delivery rubbed me raw, like a dry raincoat after two hours of exploratory "body working" on tweak. Sounds like a great idea on paper, but unless you have buckets of KY, this shit won’t lubricate your ears proper. The exception is the superb third track, "Heartbeat," which has nothing much to do with the rest of the album.
–JP


Various Artists
Arriba La Cumbia
11.18
Crammed Discs
Arriba La Cumbia = Buena Vista Social Club + Ozomatli


Cumbia, a Colombian take on the styles of South American music, gets a supercharge of R&B (rhythm and bass) on this release, and makes for awesome mole-making tunes. This compilation features a slew of old- and new-schoolers representative of this style. World music lovers will recognize Basement Jaxx and Pernett & The Caribbean Ravers on some of the more banger tracks. If you have ever salsa-ed at a club (or thought about it) DO NOT PUT THIS ON, or you will be looking to find some hot shit to dip or be dipped by. All the classic hallmarks of Central and South American music are here: horns, Spanish lyrics, accordion—but with a little more spice courtesy of some DJ scratches/samples, electronic keys and pumping, sometimes reggaeton, beats. It’s muy, muy bueno.
–JP