Today's featured shit

Sleepy music here, like Mazzy Star or Innocence Mission. And her voice is almost that good too, especially on “Rosary.” Uniquely her own, it still inspires you to think of these other acts.

“Mary Come Alive” has a bit of an ’80s video game feel, but more in a serious RPG way than a goofy Sonic the Hedgehog title. The title track sounds a lot like “Rosary,” only with guitar to keep the beat.

“River of Dirt” is peppier with that same great voice. This is always tricky because a dreamy voice lends itself to the slow stuff, but it works. “Loner” has gothic-inspired music and screams to be compared with Cranes.

The rest of the album kind of runs together. There’s only so many ways to make Hamburger Helper, and Marissa Nadler’s options are a bit limited as well. Perhaps it would have been better as an EP, but there are still several gems here.

Ordinary isn’t the worst word to describe Company of Thieves. It has all the ingredients to make a fruitcake, but without love, it just tastes like fruitcake. (That’s an Archie Comics reference, by the way.)

“Oscar Wilde” stands out a little. There is a little more passion in the vocals here, and the music is a bit more spirited. But generally you’ve got a three-piece female-fronted rock band here. Like Arvydas Sabonis, they are a bit of a hobby spare.

My standards for Wind-up Records bands are pretty high. After all, Stretch Princess were on that label. Unfortunately, the 21st century has happened to Company of Thieves, and that makes it sound a little too modern for me. That might be good for you. If so, “Pressure” is a good song.

“Around the Block” sounds much better. Why can’t they do more like this? Very strong vocals and lyrics that mean something. “Even in the Dark” slows things down without making it boring. This sounds iike Club 8.

This album is backward. The end is so much better than the beginning. Tough it out, and you’ll be rewarded.

iTunes spells it “Dilema.” Shame, shame.

This local band has Eric Davis in it. Not the guy whose 1986 Donruss baseball card used to be worth several dollars but Randy Medeiros’ best friend. Then they realized that neither of them sings like Jennifer Valdez, so luckily they asked her to join them. And then Kevin McCarty and Kris Ayala got into the act. Onesheets are amazing.

This is an EP. The first track, “Captivate,” sounds like Pat Benatar. If you’re under 30, the band sounds like Evanescence. “Moons in Twilight” is second. It’s slower than the first song but otherwise sounds the same.

“Out of Focus” is much slower. It is the speed bump, in case you were joyriding through the album. “Along for the Ride” sounds like a Soundgarden ballad with a female singer. “Beauty of Truth” (“Beauty If Truth” in iTunes) sounds like a real ballad and is the song to play at your junior prom. It has prominent snare drums and not much else. It reminds me of “Loving You,” the song with “la la la la is easy because your beautiful” etc. in the lyrics. The Internet did not help me find who originally sang this.

“No Response” reminds me of “Tonight” by Smashing Pumpkins because it has the same doofy drumming, except it is during the verses instead of between them.

This sounds like catchy Portland, Oregon, rock ‘n’ roll. Turns out they are from Detroit. Really. Well at any rate these songs are catchy, non-threatening pop songs.

“DTC” has a bit of Killers in it, but it’s much better than that. The guitar sounds vaguely familiar, but I can’t place it. Very catchy track, however.

“February Thaw” has female lead and backing vocals and sounds tremendous. I find it unlikely, however, that anything thaws in February in Michigan. I mean, The Icicles did a whole song about that (“Snowbird”).

“What You Said” is pure gold. This could be one of the biggest songs of the year. It takes the different unique aspects of the other tracks and puts them all together here. This is truly an instant classic and makes me want lemonade on the porch right now. I’d much rather hear this than Kid Rock.

I always breathe a sigh of relief when I start one of these female singer-songwriter CDs, and there is reasonably fast percussion. I’ve had enough of farmers market singer-songwriting folkers. Gretchen Phillips is just fast enough to keep the beat on, and that’s fine with me.

“Peola” puts it all together like none of the other tracks do. It has hooks and keyboards and reminds me very much of Sweetheart. Phillips’ voice even reminds me of Rachel Blado’s. “Your Drinking” is a title that ought to be reserved for great songwriting, because it is so serious. No disappointment here. Sure, the chorus “your drinking is breakin’ my heart” is a little unoriginal, but what else would you expect your drinkin’ to do? The verses more than make up the difference.

“Swimming” has great musical accompaniment, like old Cardigans. Thankfully Phillips stays in her vocal range. The lyrics are certainly, uh, thought provoking. This is truly an enjoyable song. She should do some duets with Jennifer Trynin. Their voices would mix perfectly.

Another charity compilation, this time for children affected by war. For sure was this a time to misuse the word “impacted” but no. It’s written right there on the cover: an album to benefit children affected by war.

It’s all covers of popular songs by popular artists, but different ones. So you get Lily Allen covering “Straight to Hell” by The Clash. Mick Jones was nice enough to help out on this one, however.

Duffy did Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die,” and it’s fan-fugu-tastic. Guns and Roses totally screwed this up when they covered it.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs predictably cover the Ramones classic “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker.” However, Peaches does a nice job with Iggy Pop’s “Search and Destroy.”

Because you’ve heard of the original and the cover artist, it makes it pretty easy to pick out something you will have a good time with. Last but not least, Franz Ferdinand covers Blondie’s “Call Me,” and you want to talk about making a song your own? This is it. Truly a barrel of fun.

For those of you aspiring artists out there, sending a picture of your band does make a difference. I just can’t say bad things about a group of people when I have a picture of them looking at me, especially when they’re smiling. Especially when they’re smiling.

If you were going to name yourself Blackberry River Band, it would probably be because you were a bunch of fun-loving people trying to recapture your youth by playing in a classic rock-style band, one that people would like if it played Steely Dan and CCR covers all the time at the local bar. Ordinarily such acts are not good enough to create their own music, but not necessarily. There are a few gems on this album that are worth a listen.

“You’ll Be There” has all the components of a legitimate bona fide song. You can sense that a lot of effort was put into the production of the music of this album. Oddly, it makes the lyrics sound out of place because the music is too clean, or the lyrics are too raw. Take your pick.

“Two Halves Make a Whole” will never win any songwriting awards, but the musicianship is easily transferable. Weird Al Yankovic should take note. All it needs are some funny lyrics and an accordion, and we’re all set.

The songs don’t all sound the same, but they all have a common theme: rhythmic music that would sound great live. It’s mostly male-led, but there is a woman that sings every now and then. All the tracks are solid, which is another way of saying that none of them stand out either.

I always thought that it would be interesting to hear what Operation Makeout would sound like if Jesse sang more, and now I know. They would sound like Ketman. Ketman’s sound is not as distinct as theirs, but it’s about as close as it gets. You can definitely hear the passion.

Many would label Ketman as punk. I don’t know. I think it’s music that fans of punk rock would like. Nobody ever orders cheese toast at Sizzler, but everyone is happy to eat it when it’s set in front of them.

“Chemists Fighting” has the lead singer doing his Jello Biafra impression. Although the impression fails, the song itself is great. Ketman will be fine just by rockin’ out. No need to try so hard.

Remember in the mid-’90s after Nine Inch Nails broke and White Zombie was trying to do this weird hardcore industrial rock thing? Well, it took 15 years, but The Qemists figured out how to do it.

“On the Run” was the song that everyone tried to make but failed miserably at doing. One listen of this song, and you’re on the roof of Carlos Bee Hall, lying on lawnchairs you stole from the pool at Wimbledon Woods. No, you come up here and tell me to get down.

“Dem Na Like Me” is a similar song, although it has a bit more of an urban feel. “Drop Audio” is more along the lines of Machines of Loving Grace. For a while we all thought Prodigy would sound like this, but instead they went off to smack their bitches up. It’s our loss.

“When Ur Lonely” takes away all the pretense and decides to have both drums and bass. Listen closely, and you will swear you’re hearing Underworld.
If you’re into that mid-’90s fake dance music that had both guitars and beats, look no further. This is it, and it’s the shit.

If it were a cookbook, then Angus could justify his top billing. Instead, listening to this album leaves me wondering, “Where’s the beef?”

There’s nothing wrong with this slightly upbeat, marginally catchy collection of folk not named Nick. “Mango Tree” is as good a song as any. The increased tempo partway through the song makes it quite listenable.

The better songs feature Julia’s singing. I know, you’re shocked that I would say that. But “Private Lawns” not only features great pipes, the lyrics are actually intelligent and fun. It really is a package deal. This is the direction we all wanted Jewel to go in, but instead she decided to stiff the Alaska state fair, and the rest is history.

“The Beast” is not about Anthony Forrette’s old Cadillac. It’s a chipper number that wastes no time burrowing itself in your heart like a maggot on a corpse. “Paper Aeroplane” has the same beat as “O Baby” by Siouxsie and the Banshees.

“Hollywood” brings to mind The Innocence Mission. There is nothing wrong Angus’ voice. “Just a Boy” in fact does a great job of mixing his voice with the accompaniment. But Julia simply overpowers any track she has lead vox in.