CD Reviews

Lenka | Lenka

Epic (2008)

By MIKAEL WOOD | October 1, 2008

3.0 Stars

Remember Frente!, the Australian combo responsible for that mid-’90s acoustic cover of New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle”? Lenka does: a few months ago this pint-sized diva from Down Under posted a similarly cutesy rendition of Modest Mouse’s “Gravity Rides Everything” to her MySpace page. Now, on her solo debut, she sounds determined to update the super-sunshiny folk pop of Frente!’s Marvin the Album. Lenka used to sing for a Mogwai-influenced electro-psych outfit called Decoder Ring, yet there’s nothing moody (or in need of decoding) here. “Life is a maze and love is a riddle,” she reveals in “The Show,” a bouncy, brass-flecked number in which she decides the best way to cope with confusion is to let it go and enjoy the show. Elsewhere, over a bubbly bongo groove in “Trouble Is a Friend,” she figures that since she can’t shake misfortune, she might as well make it feel at home. Producer Mike Elizondo embellishes the music with bells and whistles (both literal and figurative), but he keeps the spotlight on the singer’s airy little-girl coo. He knows that sugar can stand only so much sweetening.

Floating on
Like so many indie-rockers raised in the shadow of Northwestern clouds Isaac Brock knows a thing or two about gray skies.
Various Artists: Accepted: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
The Pixies kick things off with, appropriately, “U-Mass,” and an A-list of alterna-indie artists (Modest Mouse, Le Tigre, Weezer, Ryan Adams, the Chemical Brothers with Beth Orton) all provide top-notch if familiar cuts.
Big-theater blues
It was an intense, chaotic moment, one that probably would’ve felt sublime at, say, the Middle East downstairs.
Road worriers
Right around this time 10 years ago, our van died in the desert plains of Arizona on some godless stretch of I-8.
The Big Hurt: Fire sales
The world’s largest collection of recorded music has gone up for auction on eBay with a starting bid of $3 million.
Forward into the past!
Could it be just a coincidence that as I sit here writing this, a grizzled Bob Seger is gearing up for the release of Face the Promise , the Detroit rocker’s first proper studio album in, oh, forever and a day? The Lemonheads, "No Backbone" (mp3)
Skeleton crew
With a sound rooted several thousand miles away in the Pacific Northwest, Figurines prove there’s something brilliant in the state of Denmark.
Review: Theodore Treehouse at Slainte Wine Bar Mardi Gras
A few weeks back, Theodore Treehouse made a brief appearance in this spot, lending the band the quote that now appears on their MySpace page: "Even the bike punks couldn't resist bopping their heads."
Arcade Fire is overrated
Now that the Best of 2006 lists are all finished and everyone has stopped arguing over whether TV on the Radio are overrated, we can get back to discussing whether the Arcade Fire are overrated?
Wincing the blogs away
In the first quarter of 2007, more than a dozen bands who made very big names for themselves via the Internet hype machine face a compelling and dangerous question: what does it take to maintain your cred and succeed commercially in such a dynamic environment?
America Blows
The United States of America is a nation with a proud history.
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