Wolf Parade

At Mount Zoomer
(Sub Pop)

Remember 2005, when everyone was all about Canada for a minute? Every interesting new band suddenly seemed to be from Montreal, and The New York Times couldn’t send enough reporters to cover every aspect of the, for once, actually great Great White North. Well, that passed, eh?

Which isn’t to say that Wolf Parade’s second album isn’t pretty good. It is pretty good. Is it $9.99 good? Not really, it’s more like $6.99 good, but iTunes hasn’t made its inevitable devolution into Sam Goody yet. If you happen to be a reasonably hip, upper-middle-class 22-year-old girl, this will probably be the soundtrack of your summer.



The shame is that a band that has spent most of the past years on interesting side projects (Sunset Rubdown, Handsome Furs, etc.) has made a somewhat safe, at times bland, pop album that, at its best, is reminiscent of Weezer, Spoon or an Elephant 6 band, but it lacks the finest spark of any of those. Unique moments pop up for, well, moments, but like a burp during a meal, don’t dominate or last. This is a group who could emerge as extra special a couple of records down the line, or it could remain in the bargain bin.

c. 2008 LEO Weekly

The Watson Twins

Fire Songs
(Vanguard)

Once Louisville’s own Tegan and Sara, the twins have decamped for Los Angeles, where people’s idea of what acoustic, folk and/or that quaint country music is a little different from ours. Indeed, the “Grey’s Anatomy” producers who like this variation on our regional music must be thrilled that, not only are The Watsons easy to look at, but also that their record came out so slick, easily digested and NPR- and SUV-friendly.



I know many of you dear readers went to school with them; they’re probably nice gals, and I was certainly hoping to enjoy their disc. Throughout music history, sibling harmonies have a long and solid track record. Their band, led by fellow native Louisvillian Russ Pollard (Everest, Sebadoh, Out.), is skilled and tasteful (if, perhaps, restrained to the level of a benzo). Indeed, like Scarlett Johansson’s recent debut, the beasts help the beauty get it done.

C. 2008 LEO Weekly

Alejandro Escovedo

"Don't want your approval/It's 1978", begins "Nun’s Song," one of too many street-walkin' raps about how badass Al and his boys were back in the day. That's pretty much how this concept album goes.

Escovedo and his songwriting collaborator here, Chuck Prophet (also an '80s rocker turned '90s Baby Boomer singer-songwriter turned 21st-century NPR regular whom no one else cares about), were "Sensitive Boys" who were "Real as an Animal."



They were so enamored with "poets" like Lou Reed and Jim Carroll while dreaming of being rock stars like Iggy and Bowie (even hiring Ziggy Stardust producer Tony Visconti here) that they lived out their lives (being now 50-ish) without stopping to realize that, talent-wise, lots of guys can lead one of the best bar bands in town (have you seen Eddie and the Cruisers lately?), but there can only be one Bruce Springsteen.

c. 2008 LEO Weekly