This New Wave of the New Wave thing, interesting in terms of nostalgia, is basically a genre of subtleties. Like picking from a hat, it's a general rule of thumb that the discovered band will be arbitrary and that there is another one waiting, buried in a shallow grave. It is a group of bands (most based in New York) whose sound recalls the late '70s and early '80s era of CBGBs and amphetamine-driven New Wave, No Wave and Post-Punk bands like the Talking Heads, Television, Wire and Gang of Four. \nThe original was an excitingly new aggregate of Captain Beefheart and the Velvet Underground. The sound of old combined Beefheart's steady, staccato beats and anything goes avant-gardism with VU's moody primitivism and Lou Reed's monotonality. The tenets of dance (not really an antithesis to disco, but a hipper, less trivial version of it) were also prevalent in the heyday of New Wave.\nThese new bands are all direct descendants of this day gone by. What they have in common is good and deep taste in music and the perpetual beat. When involved with rebop and slight undulation, most of these bands can become contenders. Too often though, they become harassing rather than memorable.\nThe Strokes - Is This It? (RCA, 2001)
So far the best pop record of the new school. It takes the Buddy Holly aspect out of the Velvet Underground by making those rhythm guitars sound like chimes and skiffle. Julian Casablancas's 'know-nothing other than I miss you baby' personality can slide because the sound is right on and the bass is intense. With the song structure idiom down and the firing of Radiohead and Beck's producer Nigel Godrich already this spring, the Strokes seem to be on a righteous journey. I just hope hanging around all those smart people will rub off a bit on Casablancas. B+
Liars - They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument On Top (Gern Blandsten, 2001)
Really an awesome, unmerciful album. I don't care what anyone says about the 30 minute closer, it's captivating because you can't believe these guys would calm down for so long. So you'll sit through it and wait, expecting the unexpected, and in the end you realize that's just what you got. A-
Spoon - Kill the Moonlight (Merge, 2002)\nBritt Daniel is perhaps the most interesting character the New New has. Writing slightly twisted tales of the Austin streets, Spoon is able to plunge the darker side of the life in really intriguing ways. Going minimalist on Kill the Moonlight by putting the piano up front and guitars in the back, this could be the only album discussed that is as spooky and edgy as advertised. A
Clinic - Walking With Thee (Domino, 2002)
The British version of the New Wave of New Wave, Clinic plays up the kitsch in the movement. Behind the surgical masks they wear in concert is some of the best rock percussion around. Minus the Thom Yorke whine of Ade Blackburn, this could very well be a hip-hop record with its dirty polyrhythms and hypnotic melodica. A-
Interpol - Turn On the Bright Lights (Matador, 2002)
Absolutely the lamest record, all image and savvy business sense. Trying really, really hard to cop Joy Division's dark haze, Interpol fails in every regard. The band reminds me of Bob Denver as Maynard G. Krebs, except you're not supposed to get the joke. D
Radio 4 - Gotham! (Gern Blandsten, 2002)
More hardcore, post-punk than the others, but this album by yet another New York band becomes too nondescript. At times living up to the Public Image, Ltd. reference its band name is, but too often Gotham! becomes ambient, which is clearly not its intention. C+\nHot Hot Heat - Make Up the Breakdown (Sub Pop, 2002)
Why Hot Hot Heat gets compared to the Flaming Lips is because the Lips existed before The Soft Bulletin if anyone remembers, when it rocked as much as it popped. 3H has that nervous jitter like the genre calls for, but look out for it to become the progressive. B
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell (Interscope, 2003)
While Nick Zinner may be the guitarist with the mostest, Karen O. is downright annoying at times. My Bloody Valentine is an obvious citation. It takes O. being sweet to become endearing, and while Zinner can shine on the faster ones, she performs vocal acrobatics soullessly. Kinda like she don't have a thing to say!? B\n \nLongwave - The Strangest Things (RCA, 2003)
MBV and shoegazing. I guess that's the next step for this crowd. But while the sound is there, the personality is not. I often can attack these sort of albums for being too evenhanded; nuances may be unveiled to someone who's willing to listen a few dozen times. That's not going to be me. C-
For Further Inquiry: Mt. Gigantic, The Walkmen, Ex Models, The Rapture.
