Paste Magazine June/July 2010 : Page 75
HERE WE GO MAGIC TEENAGE FANCLUB MACY GRAY N E W M U S I C HERE WE GO MAGIC Pigeons SECRETLY CANADIAN RELEASE DATE: JUNE 8 Here we go again It’s been an especially fruitful year for Luke Temple. Since the psych-folk singer re-branded himself as Here We Go Magic in 2009, he’s released a self-titled debut, gained four band members, toured with The Walkmen and fellow Brooklynites Griz-zly Bear and crafted a follow-up,Pigeons. The music is richer, more atmospheric and stranger than ever. This sophomore release is more collaborative than his debut, but the main aesthetic—electro-ambience buoyed by airy, dreamlike vocals—remains the same. With Temple’s sleepy voice, songs like “F.F.A.P.” and “Casual” sound like distorted bedside lullabies. ThoughPigeons feels at times like the noisy, circuitous soundtrack to a yoga retreat, the frontman does just enough to keep things lively: “Old World United” and jaunty lead single “Collector” both represent a curious cross-section of Matt & Kim and Beach House. For all of Temple’s artful ambition, his catchy choruses and dance-ready beats give this album its pulse. JEREMY MEDINA 7.3 TEENAGE FANCLUB Shadows MERGE RELEASE DATE: JUNE 8 Long-running Scots deliver more pop purity Even after two decades as a band, it has to be intimidating when Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake brings in another hook-laden pop masterpiece, and then Gerard Love or Raymond McGinley have to offer something that matches up. Like a world-class pitching rotation, nobody wants to be the guy to give up all the runs and blow a winning streak. And so nothing about Shadows, the band’s 10th outing (and eighth sinceBand-wagonesque, the grunge-era classic that briefly turned the Big Star-loving Scots into flavors-of-the-month), should surprise long-time fans of their impeccable craftsman-ship. If the album has a weakness, it’s too much sedate, midtempo consistency and not enough power in the power-pop; many tracks blur together, and the production en-sures that tasty instrumental moments—like the multi-guitar outro on “The Back Of My Mind” and the violin on “Dark Clouds”—don’t really stand out. Still, the pop landscape is littered with folks who wish they could de-liver one or two tracks as good as the dozen found here. REID DAVIS 7.0 JUNE | JULY 2010 75 MACY GRAY The Sellout CONCORD RECORDS RELEASE DATE: JUNE 22 Coming (back) on too strong The problem with Macy Gray's comeback album is that, on it, she talks too much about her come-back album. On tracks like “Lately” she sings, “I am popular, they say I'm pretty, you should come back to me”; another song is titled, quite unsubtly, "The Comeback." It's when she's not obsessing over being “back” that Gray really asserts herself, bouncing between her signature soul-pop groove, stadium rock-stompers and love-struck sing-a-longs. Highlights include the melodic “Let You Win,” as lush and laid-back as a lazy spring afternoon, and the beguiling “Still Hurts,” on which Motown-style “ooh oohs” echo in the background. But Gray's writing is never as sharp as her lye-scrubbed voice, and though the album is one sustained plea for you to re-acknowledge her existence, a host of guests often overshadow her, from the Ting Tings’ distinct inflections on “That Man” to Slash's (yes, Slash’s) screaming guitar on “Kissed It.” On “Stalker,” Gray coos, “Just like the ocean need the water / ... Baby you need me.” If she wasn't so hellbent on con-vincing us, she might be right. SARA LIBBY 6.8
