10 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 9, 2002 BREAKING RECORDS REVIEWS OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY'S NEW RELEASES Goo Goo DOLLS GUTTERFLOWER A F "$ WARNER BROS. RECORDS ISRISSUED Tr By Christian Smith "°;___ _ _ Daily Arts Writer nnc w CCt T t - It is only once in a great while that an album comes along that eclipses all expectations. With the exception of reliable rock pioneers like R.E.M. and Radiohead, most highly anticipated releases are about as consistently firm as Brit- ney Spears' ... songs. Recent efforts from Kid Rock and Michael Jackson floundered, while the likes of U2 and Chris Isaak proved unexpectedly germane, sur- passing critical and commercial expectations with beautifully crafted pop masterpieces. With the release of the long-awaited Gutter- flower, the Goo Goo Dolls fall somewhere in between this shuffle in the battle against ephemeral success. Having been around for 15 years, there is no denying that they haven't earned their success. But after shaping and changing their sound with their 1995 break- through A Boy Named Goo and the multi-platinum follow-up Dizzy Up The Girl, Gutterflower seems like a small step backward. Full of jangly, down-tuned guitars and symbol-heavy drums, the album follows in the vein of its predeces- sor, blasting three-minute anthemic power pop ditties at full throttle. However, here they drop the strings and acoustic guitars and rip through chords with overstated yearning, allowing frontman Johnny Rzeznik to play off of his self- imposed vulnerability with his breathy and soothing vocals. Despite somehow finding a way to utter 'yeah' in the chorus of every song, Rzeznik does manage to pull off reflective lines like "I'm torn in pieces/I'm blind and waiting for you," and "I thought I lost you somewhere/But you were never really ever there at all." These are the types of brutally honest emo- tional outpourings that helped make REMY SHAND THE WAY I FEEL MOTOWN RECORDS By Dustin J. Solbert Daily Arts Writer Take Maxwell and D'Angelo, cross them with Jon. B and add a sprinkle of the Bee Gees and you have Remy Shand, Motown's newest addition to the neo-soul movement that has stampeded its way through the market faster than Jill Scott in a line at Ponderosa. The only difference between Win- nipeg-native Shand and all of the other popular artists cut from his cloth is the fact that he is "pigmentationally chal- lenged." Don't let his white boy status deter you, though ... the guy's got some blow to him. His old school influences leak out into his vocals and his music. In addition, he is already five steps ahead of the game because, much like D'An- gelo, he writes, composes and per- forms all his own music. Brownie points for that. The Way I Feel sounds somewhat like the poor man's substitute for Urban Hang Suite from Maxwell. The music contains that nice, jazzy, coffee house ambiance - background music ideal for discussions of progression of blacks and embittered feminism. Check for 04 "Iris" and "Slide" such huge hits. But those expecting a retread of such hits will be surprised to find the album void of such over-sappy tracks and more similar to their raucous arena rocker "Long Way Down." There are essentially three different kinds of songs here: The uplifting mid-tempo ballads, like the contrived yet rousing leadoff single "Here Is Gone;" moody rockers like the standout "Big Machine;" and the interchangeable rackets sung by raspy-voiced bassist (and also the original singer of the band) Robby Takac. The one exception, and the strongest hope for another smash single, is the stripped-down gem "Sympathy." The combination of the mandolin intro and Rzeznik's cautiously fearful lyrics prove that these Dolls are masters of creating simple pop confections. - Beyond that though, there isn't much variation in the structured formula that has gotten them to where they are today. Behind the board for the third consecutive time is producer Rob Cavallo, who seems to be achiev- ing a sound that prohibits the band from breaking free of the mold as not to alienate their longtime punk-rock following while simul- taneously trying to flatter the 13- year-old girls that propelled them to rock-star status. Seemingly, there is something for everyone. As it comes off though, save for hardcore fans, there isn't all that much here for anyone. RATING: * * i the high pitched kick on "Burning Bridges." The title track is a sweet up-tempo joint that should keep radio listeners scratching their heads wondering who the newest "neo-soul" voice is. "The Mind's Eye" is the best track on the album, bringing it to a close with a mood-setting instrumental medley. Remy Shand's album is not spectac- ular or groundbreaking in any sense, other than the fact that there it is a gen- tleman of the Caucasian persuasion behind the music. No joints on the album will yield greatness, but if you are all about "neo-soul," then you defi- nitely wont be disappointed. RATING:* * ' THE BALDWIN BROTHERS COOKING WITH LASERS TVT RECORDS By Scott Serilla Daily Arts Writer Relax, this isn't what you think. Your reoc- curring nightmare that Alec, Billy, Stephen and Danny Baldwin might follow the lead of the Bacon Brothers and begin releasing horrible, horrible folk records with an annoyingly heavy- handed social conscious has not come to fruition. Yet. Instead of another entry into the recent rash of uncalled-for movie star albums (Jack Black, you are excused), these Baldwin Brother are actually a Chicago quartet of real musicians, who, despite anything else, cannot be blamed for "Pearl Har- bor," "Bio-Dome" or "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas." What these boys are accountable for is their brand new debut LP, Cooking With Lasers, a funky mix of Electronica and 70s lounge jazz. With a sound centered around leader TJ Winder's retro Fender Rhodes keyboards, the Baldwins have broken down the extended jams of their live shows and rebuilt them loop-by-loop on their lap- tops, using Sonic Foundry's Acid program, a rela- tively straightforward variety of music-software. The result is a slightly warmed-over collection of grooves that never quite gets around to be impressive as you might hope. The tracks are never unpleasant or unlistenable, only somewhat "Haven't we been here before?" sense of deja vu. The album is filled with a seemingly endless number of 70s pop culture references, which try to flesh out the retro feel the band can't quite muster sonically. The album contimplates TV's "Sanford and Son" ("Funky Junkyard") and "Six Million Dollar Man" ("Bionic Jam") to Daredev- il Evel Kneivel ("Viva Kneivel") and Judy Blume novels ("Are You There Margaret? It's Me God"), and even an instrumental tribute to the light fix- ture that defined a decade: the "Lava Lamp." Yes pseudo-Baldwin Brothers, you were alive in the 70s, we get it. Nice work, way to go. But it's get- ting to be time to move on. It's the kind of half kitsch irony, half youthful remembrance that Generation X-ers have been comically referencing/sobbing over for almost a decade now. (Remember how Reality Bites wouldn't shut up about this sort of thing? You still have to answer for that one Ethan Hawk and Ben Stiller.) Anyway. you have to let things go ... well, except crappy movies, those wounds never heal. The record is helped along though by mostly live material like the laidback "Somebody Else's Favorite Song" and an appearance by Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto/Gorillaz on the lovely "Dream Girl." Next time around, lets hope the Baldwin Brothers don't bother cycling their music through the computer and just bring forth their grooves directly instead of endlessly loop- ing them on the PC. It'll save time and money. RATING: * * @s f BREAKING RECORDS STAR SYSTEM * * * * * CLASSIC * ** * GREAT - If you missed a week of BREAKING RECORDS, check *** FAIR the archives at * * SUB-PAR www.michigandaily.com * WORTHLESS repetitive. There is unfortunately nothing here as cool or infectious as the solo records of the Beastie Boy's extraordinary organist Money Mark, or anything as compelling or innovative as jazz/jam band trio Medeski, Martin & Wood's work with DJ Logic. Those acts went a long way to capture the depth and soul of master jazz-funk key- boardists Jimmy Smith and Richard "Groove" Holmes, while simultaneously blending in a defi- nite modern edge. But because they follow close in those footsteps, the Baldwin Brothers fail to either match or re-invent those previous efforts on Cooking with Lasers, giving the record a >:~, .~ INTERN SUMMER HOUSING IN NEW YORK CITY. YOUR TIME IS RUNNING OUT! RESERVE NOW www.studenthousing.org SCOREKEEPERS t gs T O so~y 49So41T $1 CALL B RINKS FRIDAY M law no- .II snni uiI.WIe .n .eaf. iI