Soundcheck

[Atmospheric]

Scarlett Johansson

Anywhere I Lay My Head

****

Until now, Scarlett Johansson’s karaoke rendition of the Pretenders’ “Brass in Pocket” in the film Lost in Translation was the 23-year-old’s most famous vocal performance. Stilted and thin-sounding where Chrissie Hynde’s version was brazen and assured, Johansson’s delivery nevertheless possessed quirky, distinctive charms.

The actress brings the same sense of ownership to her debut album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, which is a collection of 10 Tom Waits covers and one original song. But unlike her film persona, Johansson and her collaborators (including TV on the Radio producer David Andrew Sitek, Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner and David Bowie) play to her strengths.

Head feels like a hazy nightmare, or a fairy-tale haunted forest; towering guitar drones and hypnotic, heartbeat rhythms create undulating ambient space that drifts between feeling ethereal and macabre. Either way, it’s a perfect match for Johansson’s lost-little-girl singing. In fact, her limited, flat-affect vocal range brings out the darkest aspects of Waits’ songs.

The dirge-like near-monotone she employs on the Magnetic Fields-meets-Blondie gem “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” and her Sinead O’Connor-like emoting on the title track are both superb. “I Wish I Was In New Orleans”—whose only accompaniment is a reverb-laden music box—is almost unbearably mournful, while Bowie’s ghostly backing echoes on the daybreak-drone, Velvet Underground-aping “Fannin Street” neatly match her manicured sorrow. The lone original, “Song for Jo,” even resembles a solid TV on the Radio song—especially since Tunde Adebimpe contributes vocals and loops.

Many likely won’t give Head a chance, simply because it’s by an actress attempting to cross over into music. And with the spotty track record of thespians trying to become pop stars—only 30 Seconds to Mars’ Jared Leto has found any real success—it’s not surprising. But anyone dismissing Head out of hand is missing out; it’s a fantastic, cohesive mood piece with nary a dud song.

–Annie Zaleski

[Rock]

3 Doors Down

3 Doors Down

**

If only 3 Doors Down would just give in and become a country band, their music would probably sound a whole lot better. They’re already favorites of NASCAR and practically the official band of the U.S. military; “Citizen/Soldier,” from their new self-titled album, has been used as a National Guard recruiting jingle for months now. The thank-you list in the liner notes for the album mentions such mainstream country stars as Sara Evans, Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts and Big Kenny of Big & Rich. The band’s small-town Southern roots and regular-dude looks (only one guy has visible tattoos and a fauxhawk) ensure their appeal to the heartland fanbase.

And anything has to be an improvement over the generic sludge-rock they’re peddling yet again on their fourth release. These songs almost all sound like retreads of past hits, and are either dour, plodding rockers or lifeless, falsely uplifting power ballads. The only flashes of inspiration come when the band flirts with some other arena-friendly genre: Lead track “Train” has a slight hint of twang, like it could turn into a country-rocker, and “Runaway” features a lively, infectious riff that almost conjures up memories of hair metal. Neither possibility pans out, though, and while a few songs have catchy choruses, they quickly run together in a soup of unremarkable riffs and interchangeable sentiments. At least bland, faceless country acts like Rascal Flatts sometimes sound like they’re having a good time.

–Josh Bell

[Roots]

Old 97’s

Blame It on Gravity

****

Determined and dogged are the two words that describe the Old 97’s music and behavior. The band formed in the early ’90s as part of the alternative country movement (albeit with a pop streak), releasing independent singles and discs and eventually winding up on a major label for a few years, before being unceremoniously dumped. By 2001, in commercial terms, the Old 97’s were past the point when a band has either made it or not. And, for the Old 97’s, destiny’s answer was that they were to remain one of the best bands that never had a hit.

But the band did not burn out, and instead began an ugly fade-away. Now, in 2008, the Old 97’s return with Blame It on Gravity, a disc which leans more to their pop than country or rock sides. And, if this means the tunage is not as combustible as the band’s previous work, Blame It on Gravity in exchange offers fantastic and mature songwriting focus from leader Rhett Miller and a band that does not waste a note in the presentation. There is no filler here. Tracks like “The Fool,” “My Two Feet” and “The Easy Way” stick at once affixed to the mind by the Old 97’s flawless precision.

Of course, there are no hits for 2008 on Blame It on Gravity. But still, one of the great bands of the past decade is back in top form, ready once again to be ignored by you. –Richard Abowitz

[Hip-hop]

Foxy Brown

Brooklyn’s Don Diva

** 1/2

The first track on Foxy Brown’s fourth solo album, Brooklyn’s Don Diva, is interspersed with news accounts detailing her troubles with the law, including her attack on a pair of nail-salon workers which led to a probation violation and a stint in Riker’s Island. “I still make the front page news if I just sneeze,” brags Foxy once she gets around to rapping. This is a telling summary of this multi-platinum gangsta rapper’s mentality; she is not only proud of her reputation, but also apparently believes it gives her license to coast.

It’s not that the album doesn’t have infectious beats (“Too Real,” “We Don’t Surrender,” “Bulletproof Love/One Love”) and bravado to spare; it’s just that Foxy is so busy bragging about how badass she is that she never gets around to telling us why she’s so badass. She pays nothing but lip service to her time in the pokey, her battle with hearing loss and the label struggles which delayed this album. “I’m every black girl’s dream,” she rhymes on “Star Cry.” “Controversy sells, I was taught at 16.” But despite all the controversy playing out in her life, this record is rather dull. Foxy’s got plenty to say—she’s just not saying it.

–Ben Westhoff

[Screamo]

From First to Last

From First to Last

*

At the time, the early 2007 departure of From First to Last frontman Sonny Moore—and the band’s subsequent release from Capitol Records—seemed to be taken in stride. Primary songwriter and guitarist Matt Good resumed duties as the group’s original vocalist, Matt Manning came on board as bassist, and the post-hardcore foursome leapt into the studio to bang out a self-titled third effort with something to prove.

The result, while recapturing the aggressive energy of 2004’s Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count, is mostly a generic grab bag of styles, advancing none of the technical promise shown on 2006’s Heroine. The fact that Good tries to mimic Moore’s slightly adenoidal hollers could be overlooked if songs like “Tick Tick Tomorrow” weren’t deeply indebted to Story of the Year, opener “Two As One” didn’t evoke The Used and closing ballad “In Memorium in Advance” neglected to somehow ape Fuel. “Deliverance!” and “I Once Was Lost, But Now Am Profound” feature call-and-response histrionics straight out of the Screamo 101 textbook, and lyrically, the band takes an entire step backward. Though they’re desperate to propel themselves forward from their setbacks, this rush job ultimately just leaves the remaining From First to Lasters spinning their wheels. –Julie Seabaugh