St. Vincent
St. Vincent
(Loma Vista/Republic Records)
4/5
The self-titled fifth album by Annie Clarke, better known as St. Vincent, is a unique blend of jazz and pop with some of her unique guitar style (solos and all) and a David Bowie feel.
“Otherworldly” is how I would describe it, with a fabulous mixture of instruments and St. Vincent’s goddess-like vocals taking you completely away, despite some rather grim lyrics and themes throughout.
This new album by Clarke seems to be a fine-tuned version of a sound she’s been attempting for a while. St. Vincent is filled with some very danceable tunes and some slower, melodic songs as well, but the party is fairly consistent throughout.
The more upbeat songs stand out, not to say that the others aren’t great in their own right.
-Matt O’Connor
Killer Be Killed
Killer Be Killed
(Nuclear Blast Records)
3.5/5
It’s tough being labelled a “supergroup.” How do you live up to that? They’re destined for failure most of the time, but metal fans have a lot to look forward to with this one.
Killer Be Killed is made up of Max Cavalera (Soulfly/ex-Sepultura), Greg Puciato (The Dillinger Escape Plan), Troy Sanders (Mastodon), and David Elitch (The Mars Volta).
Opening cut “Wings of Feather and Wax” chops and slices: starts off with the Mastodon part, goes in to the clean Dillinger chorus part, then delivers Max’ fast punk/metal part. Luckily, the rest of the album mixes things up more cohesively.
Really, many songs here contain the members working together in a chemistry most non-supergroup bands would kill for.
-Greg Pratt