JOHN MELLENCAMP
“No Better Than This”
4 stars
John Mellencamp’s new album sounds old — not like John Cougar “Jack and Diane” old, but more like Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly old. The record’s aged quality lies in Mellencamp’s grit ’n’ gravel vocals and his lyrics, which seem to have built-in workingman folk wisdom. Tunes like “Save Some Time to Dream,” the record’s opener, and “Don’t Forget About Me” are smart songs presented in timeless acoustic arrangements produced by T Bone Burnett. He set dials at lo-fidelity and recorded all 13 songs in mono with a single microphone and a vintage 50-year-old Apex tape recorder. Mellencamp recorded at three historically important locations: Memphis’ Sun Studio, where Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash first forged rock ’n’ roll; the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Ga., America’s oldest African-American congregation; and Room 414 at San Antonio’s Gunter Hotel, where Robert Johnson was first recorded in 1936. It may sound like a gimmick, but these old-fashioned songs and the retro recording treatment — not to mention all the ghosts — give this disc a vibe of Americana authenticity.
CHIEF
“Modern Rituals”
3 stars
You can hear fast, punkish New York and shimmering, laid-back California in the music of Chief, whose debut album, “Modern Rituals,” is out today. The mix comes from the four musicians’ Santa Monica, Calif., roots, which were nourished in the Big Apple when they met up at New York University a couple of years ago and formed the band (they’ve since returned to the West Coast). The music on “Modern Rituals” is hook-laden rock that has sterling harmonies and a propulsive weave of drums and guitar that may remind you of early U2. That musical reference is clearest on the song “The Minute I Saw It.” The pop brightness in the music is appealing, yet where Chief excels is on the echo-y, melancholy of “In the Valley” and on the pleading, slow ballad “You Tell Me.” This is a terrific debut by a baby band about to grow up into rock stars.
TRACE ADKINS
“Cowboy’s Back In Town”
3 stars
If you’ve ever wondered what happened to the classic rock sound, one listen to hat act Trace Adkins’ “Cowboy’s Back in Town” will give you the answer: It’s retreated to country. This is redneck rock at its best, with songs about why you don’t let a preacher hold your beer, about why farmboys blow off steam on Saturday night and how 15 minutes of fame will get extended when you goof up. The top tune on this disc is the rocking, rough-love song called “Ala-Freakin-Bama,” about a girl from Dixie. I love this disc when it moves with guitars and raucousness, but Adkins is a little sappy when he tries to ooze into a sweet piano ballad like “Still Love You.”
BRIAN WILSON
“Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin”
3.5 stars
Brian Wilson really is a musical genius. On his “Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin,” the famed founder of the Beach Boys has created a novelty record where the trick doesn’t get old. On Wilson’s homage to George and Ira Gershwin, he infuses the brothers’ American standards, such as “Summertime,” “I Got Rhythm” and “Someone To Watch Over Me,” with elements of surf rock, doo-wop and classic Wilson four-part harmonies. The arrangements are totally Beach Boys-like on “I Got Rhythm” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” yet Wilson also taps into old-school jazz on “Love is Here To Stay” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So.” Whether Wilson is interpreting Gershwin or totally reimagining him as a Beach Boy, this is a concept album that was actually a good idea.
