Listening Habits 06-07.2009

It's finally time for our summer vacations but before we prepare our suitcases and hang the "Gone Fishin'" sign, we'll be taking a look at the latest batch of fine records that fell into our lap recently.

The "Album of the Month" title for July goes to the latest Jack White-featuring supergroup, The Dead Weather. This time he has taken up the drums and hooked up with Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Dean Fertita from Queens Of The Stone Age and Jack Lawrence from The Greenhornes and, of course, The Raconteurs. Once again, his ongoing mission to deliver at least one classic record every year is accomplished. And with such an illustrious company it would be really hard to fail. The composition of the fiery, blues-inspired rock of "Horehound" is divided almost equally among the four members, while Alison handles the vocals in her customary passionate style, whispering sweet nothings in your ear one moment and exploding the next, howling her intentions to "grab you by the hair and hang you up from the heavens".

The singing style of Jonnine Standish of HTRK (stands for Hate Rock), on the other hand, is at the opposite end of the spectrum. Hypnotic, barely above a whisper and yet completely captivating. The 9 songs of "Marry Me Tonight" seem to be variations on the same slow-burning theme but they possess insidiously addictive powers and they'll have you craving for more just as the last notes of closing track (and upcoming single) "Disco" fade into silence.

Meanwhile, the return of the old school of indie-rock continues. After Sonic Youth's comeback to their indie roots with an album that takes inspiration from their early '90s sound, Dinosaur Jr. continue to build momentum and present another fine, typically ear-splitting LP, while their '80s SST comrades, Meat Puppets, return to form with "Sewn Together". The explosion of the grunge revival seems imminent and Rick Froberg's Obits (the voice of Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes) might be the ones to hit the detonator button. "I Blame You" is a hot lava of guitar meltdown and I'm starting to look for my old flannel shirts just in case. Did I forget to mention that Domino is re-releasing early Flipper albums? Oh, yeah! Punk Armageddon is upon us! And 'till that time comes, we'll be also grooving to the sounds of Viva Voce's "Rose City", The Gossip's "Music For Men" and Dirty Projectors' "Bitte Orca", while complicating things further with Jarvis Cocker and commuting with Jason Lytle.

Top 10 Albums

1. Horehound - THE DEAD WEATHER
2. Marry Me Tonight - HTRK
3. Farm - DINOSAUR JR.
4. Sewn Together - MEAT PUPPETS
5. Rose City - VIVA VOCE
6. I Blame You - OBITS
7. Music For Men - GOSSIP
8. Bitte Orca - DIRTY PROJECTORS
9. Further Complications - JARVIS COCKER
10. Yours Truly, The Commuter - JASON LYTLE

Top 15 Tracks

1. Treat me like your mother - THE DEAD WEATHER
2. Got nuffin - SPOON
3. Disco - HTRK
4. Sick muse - METRIC
5. Over it - DINOSAUR JR.
6. I'm not you - MEAT PUPPETS
7. Triangle walks - FEVER RAY
8. Heads will roll - YEAH YEAH YEAHS
9. Heavy cross - GOSSIP
10. Angela - JARVIS COCKER
11. Die a little - VIVA VOCE
12. Widow of my dreams - OBITS
13. Sunken union boat - JOHN VANDERSLICE
14. Ghost of my old dog - JASON LYTLE
15. Useful chamber - DIRTY PROJECTORS

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When we return from our short break, we are planing to hit you with another Blast From The Past. This time the late '90s will be under the microscope, selecting our Top 50 albums from 1995 to 1999. We leave you for now with this month's Killer Track, The Dead Weather's new single "Treat me like your mother":

The Dead Weather - Treat me like your mother