Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand
Domino
••••••••9.5•

With lines like, “It’s always better on holiday / That’s why we only work when / We need the money” (“Jacqueline”), and an angular guitar attack that conjures up the excitable ghosts of Television and Gang of Four, Franz Ferdinand can’t lose, can they? Granted, praise for their live gigs, combined with the hype heaped on their debut, has only burnished the insta-legend to a blinding sheen. Do they live up to it? Their first full-length may contain a lesser track or two, like “This Fire,” but songs that slay, like the jagged “Take Me Out” and seductive single “Darts of Pleasure,” make up for it. And “Fire,” which features a stuttering “Marquee Moon”-style riff, isn’t even a bad song; it simply fails to move like the rest, which end somewhere different from where they started.

“Jacqueline,” for instance, begins like a ballad and segues into an anthemic rocker. “Dark of the Matinee” is more like a short story. The lyrics, rather than the music, move things forward as singer/guitarist Alex Kapranos begins: “You take your white finger / Slide the nail under / The top and bottom buttons / Of my blazer.” You’re hooked, wanting to know where this come-on’s gonna lead. “Michael” is more explicit; comparisons to David Bowie’s “John, I’m Only Dancing” would not be misplaced. The other tracks appear to be about women, but “Michael” surely isn’t: “You’re the boy with all the leather hips / Sticky hair, sticky hips, stubble on my sticky lips.” You get the point. Throughout their debut, the Ferdinands create sexually charged scenarios and leave it up to the listener to fill in the details. I get the same sense of excitement listening to their record as to Clinic’s “Internal Wrangler.” It can’t be coincidental that these lads, who employ the haunting strains of melodica, just like Go4, are on the same label. While the Liverpudlians of Clinic were unable to hit quite the same heights with their sophomore effort, I wouldn’t count out a group with such a singular sound. It may prove just as difficult for Franz Ferdinand to top—or even equal—the brilliance of this CD, but one classic is still more than most bands can claim. —Kathleen C. Fennessy

Blonde Redhead
Misery is a Butterfly
4AD
••••••••9•

After years of silence, Blonde Redhead returns with a vengeance. The trio has made a record so beautiful, so full of surprises at every turn that I would be hard-pressed to find a more interesting CD released so far this year. From the elegant opening track, “Elephant Woman,” to the rousing closer “Equus,” the CD shows what people with talent and imagination are capable of creating. Kazu sings like she’s on her last breath, while Amadeo still has his trademark pleading vocals. When they duet, as on “Pink Love,” it’s magic. —De Kwok

United States of Electronica
USE
Self-released
•••••••8••

USE may seem like they’re just in it for fun (and to be honest they probably are), but as I listen to this album’s celebratory hedonism, especially on “There’s Always Music,” (which again, on the surface seems shallow, but it’s actually a moving statement about the soothing universality of melody and groove), I can’t help but wonder if they’re unwittingly part of a larger movement of what I can only call healing, which seems to be happening in the most unlikely of places all around this country and this world. Either way, I’m smiling. —Joel Hartse

Trans Am
Liberation
Thrill Jockey
•••••6.5••••

Trans Am’s seventh full-length is the band’s first go at a politically charged album. An almost overwhelming darkness permeates “Liberation” as the sounds of fear, lies, betrayal and hostility that the current administration has planted throughout the world are pointed squarely back at the regime. Once a tongue-in-cheek band, Trans Am is now using their synth-rock stylings and sound samples to share a message, but for me, the band’s method falls short. At times, there are flashes of brilliance, but overall “Liberation” seems somewhat flat, though clearly the inspiration was there. —Josh Davis

Trans Am will be playing Seattle’s Chop Suey May 31.

N.E.R.D
Fly or Die
Virgin
••••••7•••

N.E.R.D.’s debut “In Search Of…” was an undeniable classic defying categorization and firmly screwing a trucker hat onto the heads of hipsters everywhere. On “Fly Or Die,” just as before, the boys break out of their sound-of-the-moment: the result a mishmash of ‘70s funk, rock, new wave, and some serious pop sensibilities. Sound bizarre? At times it is, aided in no small part by Pharrell’s famously off-tune singing and often asinine lyrics. Lacking the sound and fury of “In Search Of…,” this disc, while fun and catchy as hell, seems both more mature and more adolescent than their debut. —Larry Mizell Jr

Hint Hint
Young Days
Suicide Squeeze
••••••7•••

To reference post-9/11 paranoia seems trite, but you can’t ignore the influence it holds over modern American music. On “Young Days,” Hint Hint delivers throbbing keyboards and chiming guitars set to pounding drums as a backdrop to crazed vocals. The lyrics are so impassioned that you can’t imagine the singer even existing in modern life. Yet, the beauty of the recording is that they send the songs careening like a train wreck straight to the dance floor; danceable terror will be all the rage in 2005. —Nathan Walker

Breaking Laces
Sohcahtoa
Sidewinder Records
••3.5•••••••

Breaking Laces singer Willem Hartong has a likeable voice that effortlessly propels album opener “God In Training.” Unfortunately, this is the lone standout on an album that too quickly devolves into a series of generic melodies and clichÈd lyrics. I half expect these songs to appear on the next episode of “The O.C.” or “Smallville.” Many a fine album has been recorded by overgrown math geeks who exploit the acoustic guitar as a conduit for their romantic yearning or sexual frustration. This, however, is not one of them. —Brian Graham

Robert Roth
Someone, Somewhere
Pattern 25
•••••••8••

Former Truly frontman Robert Roth has created his masterpiece. And I mean literally. Put together over three years in his own Georgetown studio, he has written every note and lyric, played nearly every instrument, and self produced his first solo album—beautifully, I might add. Haunting guitars sneak into metallic riffs with orchestral soundscapes textured by strings, horns, analog synthesizers and mellotron. Backed by singer Om Joharis, front woman from Hell’s Belles, Roth’s vocals curl to complement the music. The result is reminiscent of untainted and timeless ‘70s rock. —Angela Larck

Worm is Green
Automagic
Rock Arena Records
•••••••8••

What is in the water of Iceland? Whatever it is, I want some. Worm is Green (awful name by the way) soaks in the same pool as Sigur RÛs, Mum and Bjˆrk. With microbeats, alluring vocals and pretty melodies, “Automagic” is an intriguing debut, if a little derivative at times. Still, WIG manages to carve out some delicious audio delights (“Drive Thru” is a standout) and their cover of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” is nicely done. Near perfect chill-out sounds. —De Kwok

Tony Touch
The Piecemaker 2
Koch Records
•••••••8••

Major label releases are Tony Toca’s way of bringing the mix-tape hustle to mainstream markets. As an accomplished DJ, MC, producer and radio show host, this guy’s got beats for days and the distinct ability to showcase dozens of MCs without creating a jumbled, commercialized mess. Yeah, “The Piecemaker 2” features Sean Paul and P-Diddy, but steadfast artists like Large Professor, Pete Rock and Slick Rick combined with such underground champs as Dead Prez and Q-Unique set the balance. Next time I just want a little grittier, a little funkier, and a lot more Spanglish on that ass. —Emily Youssef

Various Artists
The Hip Hop Box (Four-CD set)
UMG Records
•••••••8••

While it would be impossible to provide a complete overview of hip-hop, this beautifully packaged four-CD box set is a solid compilation of popular hip-hop singles (1979-present) featuring over four hours of beats and rhymes in over 50 cuts. It begins with, of course, the Sugarhill Gang and continues through other such artists as Grand Master Flash, Public Enemy, Biz Markie, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Qwest, Digable Planets, Wu-Tang Clan, the Roots, 2Pac, Dr. Dre and many others. If you are just getting into hip-hop, this is a great introduction, and if you’ve been a fan, “The Hip-Hop Box” will bring it all back. —Josh Davis

Blood & Time
At the Foot of the Garden
Neurot
•••••••8.5••

Featuring Scott Kelly and Noah Landis of Neurosis, this monumental debut album from this dreary four piece shines as one of Neurot’s most profound releases this year. Acoustic guitars, samples, static, noise and a creeping rhythm permeate this release behind Scott Kelly’s low, melancholy vocals. Musically, Blood & Time’s epics travel somewhere between early Nick Cave and “Avalanche”-era Leonard Cohen. Given the last couple of Neurosis releases, Blood & Time’s arrival didn’t come off as a surprising departure, but more of another developing chapter in these Bay Area experimentalists’ career. A powerful and well-crafted work. —Robert Hanna

Xiu Xiu
Fabulous Muscles
5RC
••••••7•••

Imagine hearing “Doolittle” or “Psychocandy” for the first time, getting very excited, and then having the experience ruined halfway through by a smug, spoken-word anti-war track. There’s a range of great sounds from analog sequencing to reverbed guitars, and the lyrics are wrenching and personal. I was loving every second until it was disrupted. I have loved many albums that once raised social consciousness, but Xiu Xiu could’ve done this more tactfully. The best artists find a way. This could’ve been a classic. But now I’m so disappointed I never want to hear it again. —John Lankford

Clutch
Blast Tyrant
DRT Entertainment
••••••••9.5•

Maintaining their tradition of down-tuned majesty and conspiracy theories, Clutch has updated production, thrown down hook after monster hook, and crafted a genre-crushing bona fide masterpiece. Songs infuse doomy tension with funky pop choruses, Bonzo bulldozer beats, and straight delta blues riffs. Golden-throated Neil Fallon struts and swaggers with trademark irony and rusty bark, working the notorious lyrical snap. His urban flow is countered with tent revival call and response. No quarter for the secret gear society, our own private Maryland is no more. —Wendy Colton

The Business Machines
Almost Automatic
Act Your Age Records
••••••7.5•••

“Rock n Roll” is the first song on the Business Machines’ first album, and its title pretty much sums up their sound. But it’s really more of a punk-rock-n-roll, like what would happen if Rye Coalition started playing more like the Clash, but faster. I don’t know where these guys came from (obligatory namedrop: the album was recorded by Steve Albini), but this is a solid album whose half-hour of rockin’ and rollin’ tunes promise many more good things to come. —Catherine P. Lewis