Album Review: Nude Beach ' II

In a recent interview with Nude Beach, Vice's Tony Rettman asked the Brooklyn rockers a simple question: 'If your parents or someone similarly clueless' like myself' asked what Nude Beach sounds like, where would you categorize yourselves?' Singer-guitarist Chuck Betz and drummer-vocalist Ryan Naideau both gave fairly impalpable answers. Naideau called it an 'annoying question' and said they were 'stuck somewhere between punk, power pop, and rock,' while Betz could hardly answer, stating that he was 'clueless as to what these classifications even mean.' Some clarity, perhaps: Nude Beach is strictly timeless rock 'n' roll.

Now, if you're a vinyl enthusiast who happens to even dabble in rock 'n' roll, you've probably at some point in time owned (or thought of owning) Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Damn the Torpedoes, Elvis Costello's My Aim Is True, The Replacements' Let It Be, or Thin Lizzy's Jailbreak. These are literally timeless records, worthy of a spin or two at any time of the day, at any point of the week, and amidst any sort of emotional state, whether it's a momentary snapshot of bliss or a flair-up of insert your own self-diagnosed mental conditions here. They're innately designed to connect with the pathos of the human spirit, and consequently, they become life preservers, aural parties, and sometimes everything you have in life.

There's a lot of that in Nude Beach's II, a record that's so traditional and dusty it almost feels gimmicky. It's not. Similar to landmark albums in the early aughts (e.g. The Strokes' Is This It, The White Stripes' White Blood Cells), Nude Beach echoes the past without drooling in the rearview mirror. The album's overall genetic code has strands of DNA from Costello, Petty, or Paul Westerberg, but who gives a shit. Those are strong influences to carry, and the flannel-wearing Brooklynites run well with them.

'Walkin' On My Street' dances around mid-'70s rhythms, 'Cathedral Echoes' gets sloppy but never stains past its napkins, and 'Don't Have to Try' traces Westerberg's early morning footsteps from 'Sixteen Blue'. There's a sense of brutish innocence on II, and it's all in Betz's delivery. Right from the get-go, amidst the immediacy of the fast wheelin' 'Radio', the soulful crooner marries his vocal tones with the melodies, as if to say, 'Yeah, this was all meant to be.' No kidding. Even when he's blatantly ripping off the vocal melody of Petty's 'Learning to Fly', as he does on 'Love Can't Wait', it all feels so goddamn natural.

But that's what makes a good rock record. It's never about the hooks or the melodies, or even the lyrics ' it's about the soul. It's about that feeling you get when you listen again and again and just swear you can taste the copper. It hearkens back to that timeless quality, to the special kind of rock 'n' roll that's neither tied to a decade nor defined by one. Judging strictly from II, Nude Beach are within arm's reach of that unique spirit, and prove to have enough chutzpah to carve out a timeless record. They only need to start on a cleaner piece of paper, not one with penciled-in ideas of yesteryear. It should be easy for them; after all, they've only just picked up the pencil.

Essential Tracks: 'Radio', 'Don't Have to Try', and 'Cathedral Echoes'

Album Review: JJ DOOM ' Key to the Kuffs

So DOOM has teamed up with an exciting producer (this time Jneiro Jarel), picked a theme to unite the team-up, and come out with an album under a moniker that combines the names and brands of the rapper and his collaborator. Not exactly a fresh formula, but one that has certainly worked in the past (Madvillainy, anyone?). On Key to the Kuffs, the duo known collectively as JJ DOOM work off of the fact that the man once known as Daniel Dumile was born in England, winding up with an album that references his semi-home lyrically, takes samples from Anglo-cultural material, and features famous Brits Damon Albarn and Portishead's Beth Gibbons. In end, that theme is a bit too direct for the dude who's best when he's that blurry, dadaist supervillain.

At times, it seems as if DOOM is attempting to drop just enough about England into a track to justify the theme. 'Banished' makes a sidelong attempt to mention the metal-faced rappers' exodus ('No, not deported, be a little minute before things get sorted') over a hyperactive, headrush beat. Jarel's on the money here, car alarms and dubby bass prompting DOOM to ask if 'anybody notice[s] time speeding up'. Albarn's appearance on 'Bite the Thong' attempts to sandwich that familiar voice into a barely-there chorus, distorted and faded far into the mix.

If there's any British cultural tic that seems a perfect fit for DOOM's style, it's rhyming slang. The practice can be difficult to wrap the head around, but it essentially involves making a patterned jump from one word to a seemingly unrelated other word, all based around rhymes. That has been a good portion of DOOM's game all along, connecting sound-alikes in a twisted web of verbal confetti. 'Rhyming Slang' the track, though, lays back, pushing the swagger to 11, where a rapid, hulking mass of words would've worked better.

While it may not hit the heights of Madvillainy (to be fair, what could?), there are some strong verses and some equally strong production. Few other rappers could make a track about washing your hands after going to the bathroom interesting ('Wash Your Hands'). Even on a middling set, DOOM proves his retained relevance.

Essential Tracks: 'Banished', 'Wash Your Hands'

New Music: Gotye ' 'Eyes Wide Open' (Cornelius remix) (CoS Premiere)

Gotye's Making Mirrors was one of last year's best albums, and now one of the album's best tracks, 'Eyes Wide Open', is getting its own remix EP. We've already heard reworkings by Yeasayer and Tanlines, and now he's revealed Japanese producer Cornelius' version of the track.

Cornelius is known for experimenting with layering dissonant sounds, and his remix of Gotye's work follows that design. Plucky electronic keys and bass keep a toe-tapping rhythm while skittering percussion scurries underneath. Little by little, other elements get added to the mix, building towards an aural tornado as Gotye's vocals ride high and clear above it all. Check it out below.

The 'Eyes Wide Open' remix EP is due August 21st.

Album Review: Steve Vai ' The Story of Light

Beneath the impossibly fast salvos of notes and dramatic whammy bar heroics, guitarist and composer Steve Vai retains an immense understanding of music. The man wrote his first orchestral arrangements while still in his teens. However, Vai's grasp on the inner workings of music have never really translated into records for average music fans t0 enjoy: He makes music for musicians, and he's quite proud of that fact, even going so far as to find a record label dedicated solely to providing a place for those artists with similarly aesthetic styles to call home.

Vai's latest release, The Story of Light, is the second part of a planned trilogy that began with 2005's Real Illusions: Reflections. Though the trio of albums are intended to eventually be arranged as something of a singular concept piece, there is no chronological organization or specific plot to speak of between the first two albums ' at least not one that can be sorted by listening alone ' though Vai has explained it as being 'the cosmic journey of a man driven mad by grief, intertwining tragedy, revelation, enlightenment, and redemption.'

The Story of Light has little in the way of vocals, though when voices other than Vai's guitar do appear, they are certainly substantial. The lead single for the album ' a cover of Blind Willie Johnson's 'John the Revelator' ' features The Voice finalist Beverly McClellan belting her way through the gospel number, which has been given the proper Vai treatment. The final result is an exciting mix of chunky and warped guitar rhythms holding down the fort as Vai's unbelievably deft lead guitar twists in and out of McClellan's call and response with a full choir. The song links up immediately with 'Book of the Seven Seals', a track that contrasts the bombast of 'Revelator' with a hokey-sounding choir and an awkward vibe that would be at home as the soundtrack to the bonus round of your average B-list Sega Genesis game. Though the two were obviously intended to juxtapose one another, 'Book of the Seven Seals' has a cheesiness that earns it the distinction of being the weakest track on the album.

'Creamsicle Sunset' shows Vai's guitar playing in rather uncharted territory for the axe-man, floating through lush, clean tones that recall the great lullaby-esque ballads of the Hawaiian-influenced guitarists of the 1950s, and rounded out by Vai using a playing technique that produces a pinched sound, similar to traditional Eastern stringed instruments. This is just one of countless reminders why Vai is one of the most revered guitarists on the planet: His progressing ability to coax different sounds from his guitars. Later in the album, Vai similarly exhibits his uncanny musicality on the track 'Mullach A'tSi', which is possibly the most dynamic number of the entire album, and features Vai paying homage to the vocal-style guitar work that Jeff Beck pioneered, over a subtle-but-crucial harp part. Yes, harp.

Fans of Vai's high-energy rock playing will not be left wanting with this album. The track 'Velorum' has a prog-meets-Hendrix vibe and is significant for its monstrous display of guitar chops. However, 'Gravity Storm' is the shred coup-de-grace, a hectic romp through all of the man's signature tricks and licks over a heavy groove. The track's title is also the name of his new signature guitar pickups, which hints at Vai's own fondness for the song.

The Story of Light is business as usual for Vai, a man who fights to avoid repeating himself and always tries to find new territory on an instrument that he has described as being 'infinite' in its creative potential.

Essential Tracks: 'John the Revelator', 'Creamsicle Sunset'

New Music: Boyfrndz ' 'Hear Say' (CoS Premiere)

In 2010, Austin trio Boyfrndz rose from the ashes of We The Granada. Guitarist Scott Martin and bassist Joseph Raines tapped Martin's roommate Aaron Perez to slap the skins, and the new rock band's core was formed. For their 2011 self-titled debut, the group added a second guitarist in Kelvin Baron and nabbed Ikey Owens (ex-The Mars Volta keyboardist currently playing with Jack White's The Buzzards) to co-produce and provide some keys. Now back as a three-piece, Boyfrndz are set to followup February's And So it Goes'EP with their sophomore full-length, All Day Pass.

Recorded live at Austin's Shelter studios over the course of three days, the new record puts Boyfrndz's live energy on tape. All Day Pass' raw rock sounds are perfectly demonstrated in the album cut 'Hear Say'. Reminiscent of early Jane's Addiction with a spacey twist, Martin's chugging guitars break into swirling solos while Perez keeps the percussion energetic and unpredictable. Listen to and download the track below. Ready, set, right click.

Boyfrndz ' 'Hear Say'

All Day Pass will be self-released on CD and digital download on September 11th, followed shortly after by a vinyl LP from Spora Records.

Album Review: Six Organs of Admittance ' Ascent

Ben Chasny is one of those dudes that you can't picture without a guitar in his hands. Whether he's ripping apart a roaring electric solo or strumming out a fireside drone, the notes seem to ripple out of his fingers organically. Chasny uses that natural power to propel a handful of projects, most notably the noisy psychedelia of Comets on Fire and droning folk outfit Six Organs of Admittance. Now that the former has been on hiatus for about four years, Ascent proves that he can fit those electric riffs in seamlessly with the latter's ritual depth.

While Chasny's recent work under the Six Organs heading has tended towards introspective, isolated territory, to say that Ascent is entirely new territory would be misleading. He's never been afraid to take listeners out of their woodsy comfort zones and challenge them with bursts of feedback or endless ripples of mantra-like themes. Tracks like 'Even if You Knew', however, take their raga single-mindedness from a new place, relying on continuously spiraling guitar solos and shuddering rhythms. There's something almost Doors-y to the track, with Chasny's mystic lyricism now couched in more familiar tropes. Nothing quite matches the burning garage intensity of opener 'Waswasa', a five-minute guitar solo with occasional breaks for haunted vocals.

'Your Ghost' proves that Chasny isn't turning his back on the tender stuff, either. 'I was your friend, I was your light, I was your ghost,' he coos over a descending staircase of chords. 'They Called You Near' similarly relies on the acoustic, a trilling, Eastern guitar riff anchoring a wafting pulse. The unifying factors between these glimpses of the recent Six Organs of Admittance past and the Comets on Fire-leaning electric guitar riffage is the primacy of the guitar, a compelling core.

Even when Chasny closes out the album a little silly with 'Visions (From Io)' ' intently whispering lines like 'satanic rockets have launched' ' the starlit scrawls of guitar make the entire thing fall into place. The track combines lilting elegance and fret-burning fervor, transporting the listener to a new plane where guitars ring free ' much like Ascent as a whole.

Essential Tracks: 'Waswasa', 'Your Ghost'

Video: Alabama Shakes perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Fresh off their appearance at Outside Lands, 2012 MVP candidate Alabama Shakes stayed on the West coast for a Monday night appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The band performed 'I Ain't the Same' and 'Rise to the Sun', off their debut LP Boys & Girls, and you can watch the replay below (via The Audio Perv).

'I Ain't the Same':

'Rise to the Sun':