Mos def the ecstatic production5/31/2023 The group may still rely on catchy vocal refrains, but the growth of Lazzara’s songwriting has made its fourth effort a brisk, enjoyable outing. “Capital ME” is a scathing response to Mascherino’s exit that lets the prickly guitar line do all the talking, while the exploding hand claps of “Sink Into Me” make the single the band’s most immediate since “A Decade Under the Influence.” Taking Back Sunday’s appeal still resides in frontman Adam Lazzara’s vocals, and on “New Again” he deftly captures the sarcastic, sometimes melancholy mood of his lyrics. Yet on a stylistic level, the New York alt-rock band is also branching out from its emo roots, and they sound focused exploring complex melodies and thematic ideas. “New Again,” the title of Taking Back Sunday’s fourth album and its second for Warner, may refer to the departure of guitarist Fred Mascherino and the addition of Matthew Fazzi. Don’t miss the shotgun-blast opener “Sacred Trickster” before/after reality check “Anti-Orgasm” angst-y kiss-off “No Way” or soundtrack-ready scene-stealer “Massage the History.” ARTIST: TAKING BACK SUNDAY The album goes soft in the middle and the band sometimes wears its influences on its sleeve, but the guitar tones have rarely sounded better and new bassist Mark Ibold (ex-Pavement) brings a head-turning articulation to the low end. Of course, these ditties are couched in nasty, stinging skronk and often extend into six-minute-plus ruminations on love, death and unrewarded desire. The group even embraces - wait for it - harmonies. Hitting a second stride with “Murray Street” in 2002, the band maintains its leadership position among melodic noise-makers with “The Eternal,” which is so chock-full of hummable pop hooks you’d think a hit doctor lent a hand. The beats are better, too: There’s an angry tuba and xylophone on the banging Chad Hugo-produced “Twilight Speedball,” the epic and orchestral “Life in Marvelous Times” (they’re not) and the humid, hallucinogenic Eastern vibes on the dark narrative “The Embassy.” The back half is all over the place, prone to the sort of detours that seem designed solely to show off Mos’ scope, like the all-Spanish throwaway “No Hay Nada Mas.” Still, when’s he’s on, which is more than not, Mos is refocused and seemingly rededicated.ĪRTIST: SONIC YOUTH ALBUM: THE ETERNAL (MATADOR)Īlmost 30 years and 16 albums into its esteemed career, Sonic Youth is starting to make it look easy. Where “True Magic” was the uncomfortable sound of Mos stretched too thin among his myriad pursuits, “The Ecstatic” is a more focused set with more high moments than Mos has hit since his near-perfect (and never remotely approached) 1999 masterpiece “Black on Both Sides.” The killer first half is filled with off-kilter, dissonant soul hooks and Mos’ hypnotic, just south-of-smoked-out verses, all nicely merging his obsessive drive for hip-hop innovation with a distinct purpose. NEW YORK (Billboard) - Mos Def’s late-2006 release “True Magic” was so quietly whisked out in the dead week between Christmas and New Year’s (without cover art, no less) that rumors circulated that the “real” album was coming sometime later (it wasn’t).
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