Three
Three years of Sunless Suitcase. Hooray!! Celebrate!
I'm very proud of myself. Especially for keeping this thing running and not caving into the whole Myspace peer pressure. I'm still against it, and will not be changing my mind any time soon. Never!!
Anyways, three years.... yay. Let's celebrate three years with reviews of my three latest albums.
Page France - Page France and the Family Telephone
I saw Page France open for John Vanderslice last year and loved it. I fell for their happy clap-alongs. Their albums, however, never really reflected the live experience completely. Still good, just not as good. This latest album, on the other hand, is quite good. It's just happy and fun and just drives. Like a 45-minute duet between Bob Dylan and Sufjan Stevens.
White Stripes - Icky Thump
Great stuff here. The more I listen to Get Behind Me, Satan, the more bored I am by it. In fact, much of it sounds like Jack is bored. Icky Thump is definitely more of the crazed and ridiculously loud side of the White Stripes I love. Not all perfect here, though. I'm not crazy about the Spanish warcry "Conquest." However, pretty much every other song is just loud and wild and killer. "Bone Broke" and "Little Cream Soda" are a couple of the heaviest songs they've done. Also while "Rag and Bone" might be one of the most gimmicky songs they've done, I love it. Like Van Halen meets ZZ Top, or something.
Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
Ryan Adams can be pretty easy to pick on, and I've done my fare share here. I've felt that he's relied too heavily on quantity over quality for years. He's had some moments since Gold, but nothing that even compares to his first two solo albums. I was definitely scared when I heard Sheryl Crow's name as a guest singer on his latest album. Oh boy. However, Easy Tiger is for sure a back-to-basics approach. It's great. "Goodnight Rose," "Two," and "Pearls on a String" sound like they could fit in easily on Gold. Ditto for Heartbreaker with "Oh My God, Whatever, Etc.," "Tears of Gold," and "Rip Off." He definitely suffers a bit from some lazy songwriting on "Halloweenhead," but it's not a totally unlistenable song. If you've liked Ryan Adams in the past, you will be happy here. Great stuff.
I'm very proud of myself. Especially for keeping this thing running and not caving into the whole Myspace peer pressure. I'm still against it, and will not be changing my mind any time soon. Never!!
Anyways, three years.... yay. Let's celebrate three years with reviews of my three latest albums.
Page France - Page France and the Family Telephone
I saw Page France open for John Vanderslice last year and loved it. I fell for their happy clap-alongs. Their albums, however, never really reflected the live experience completely. Still good, just not as good. This latest album, on the other hand, is quite good. It's just happy and fun and just drives. Like a 45-minute duet between Bob Dylan and Sufjan Stevens.
White Stripes - Icky Thump
Great stuff here. The more I listen to Get Behind Me, Satan, the more bored I am by it. In fact, much of it sounds like Jack is bored. Icky Thump is definitely more of the crazed and ridiculously loud side of the White Stripes I love. Not all perfect here, though. I'm not crazy about the Spanish warcry "Conquest." However, pretty much every other song is just loud and wild and killer. "Bone Broke" and "Little Cream Soda" are a couple of the heaviest songs they've done. Also while "Rag and Bone" might be one of the most gimmicky songs they've done, I love it. Like Van Halen meets ZZ Top, or something.
Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
Ryan Adams can be pretty easy to pick on, and I've done my fare share here. I've felt that he's relied too heavily on quantity over quality for years. He's had some moments since Gold, but nothing that even compares to his first two solo albums. I was definitely scared when I heard Sheryl Crow's name as a guest singer on his latest album. Oh boy. However, Easy Tiger is for sure a back-to-basics approach. It's great. "Goodnight Rose," "Two," and "Pearls on a String" sound like they could fit in easily on Gold. Ditto for Heartbreaker with "Oh My God, Whatever, Etc.," "Tears of Gold," and "Rip Off." He definitely suffers a bit from some lazy songwriting on "Halloweenhead," but it's not a totally unlistenable song. If you've liked Ryan Adams in the past, you will be happy here. Great stuff.
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