Published: Monday, September 15, 2008
Liner notes: Buckcherry, Blitzen Trapper, Chad Van Gaalen
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"Black Butterfly'," Buckcherry
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"Furr," Blitzen Trapper
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"Soft Airplane," Chad VanGaalen
"Black Butterfly" BUCKCHERRY
WHY CARE?: After almost disbanding, Buckcherry returned in 2006 with "15," an album that went platinum thanks to sleaze rock like "Crazy Bitch."
TRIVIA: Vocalist Josh Todd played with ex-members of Guns N' Roses before those guys dumped him and formed Velvet Revolver with Scott Weiland.
HIGH POINTS: "Rescue Me" landed on Rock Band with good reason, and "All of Me" is a nice acoustic change-up.
FANS ALSO LIKE: L.A. hard rock
ANDY SAYS: If grease had a sound, it would be Buckcherry. The group works best in small doses but might damage your health if glutted on. Dumb songs such as "Too Drunk…" will try the patience of anyone who doesn't strip for a living, even if other tracks do genuinely rock.
GRADE: C
"Furr" BLITZEN TRAPPER
WHY CARE?: After building a good rep with the indie crowd on past albums, the Portland, Ore., group jumped to Seattle's Sub Pop Records for "Furr."
TRIVIA: Singer Eric Earley, whose dad is a mechanic, has called NPR's "Car Talk" his favorite radio show.
HIGH POINTS: On the folky piano song "Not Your Lover," Earley sings that he could be "a moonwalking cowboy, a dusty ride, and I don't know what's in store. All I know is in my sleep I'm not your lover anymore."
FANS ALSO LIKE: Poppy indie folk
ANDY SAYS: Blitzen Trapper gets compared to tons of bands with good reason. Its polished songs sound by turns like the Zombies, Bob Dylan, Grandaddy and Beck. Generally, that mash of influences goes down smoothly.
GRADE: B
"Soft Airplane" CHAD VANGAALEN
WHY CARE?: Another Sub Pop artist, Chad VanGaalen released his third full-length album on the label last week.
TRIVIA: VanGaalen popped up on "Late Show With David Letterman" to perform a stupid human trick. See the clip at www.heraldnet.com/popsecrets.
HIGH POINTS: VanGaalen sings in a nasal twang like fellow Canadian Neil Young on the album's melodic opener, "Willow Tree."
FANS ALSO LIKE: Artsy folk music
ANDY SAYS: Melancholy, innocent and direct, VanGaalen does more right than wrong on "Soft Airplane."
GRADE: B
Andy Rathbun, Herald Columnist
arathbun@heraldnet.com
425-339-3455
WHY CARE?: After almost disbanding, Buckcherry returned in 2006 with "15," an album that went platinum thanks to sleaze rock like "Crazy Bitch."
TRIVIA: Vocalist Josh Todd played with ex-members of Guns N' Roses before those guys dumped him and formed Velvet Revolver with Scott Weiland.
HIGH POINTS: "Rescue Me" landed on Rock Band with good reason, and "All of Me" is a nice acoustic change-up.
FANS ALSO LIKE: L.A. hard rock
ANDY SAYS: If grease had a sound, it would be Buckcherry. The group works best in small doses but might damage your health if glutted on. Dumb songs such as "Too Drunk…" will try the patience of anyone who doesn't strip for a living, even if other tracks do genuinely rock.
GRADE: C
"Furr" BLITZEN TRAPPER
WHY CARE?: After building a good rep with the indie crowd on past albums, the Portland, Ore., group jumped to Seattle's Sub Pop Records for "Furr."
TRIVIA: Singer Eric Earley, whose dad is a mechanic, has called NPR's "Car Talk" his favorite radio show.
HIGH POINTS: On the folky piano song "Not Your Lover," Earley sings that he could be "a moonwalking cowboy, a dusty ride, and I don't know what's in store. All I know is in my sleep I'm not your lover anymore."
FANS ALSO LIKE: Poppy indie folk
ANDY SAYS: Blitzen Trapper gets compared to tons of bands with good reason. Its polished songs sound by turns like the Zombies, Bob Dylan, Grandaddy and Beck. Generally, that mash of influences goes down smoothly.
GRADE: B
"Soft Airplane" CHAD VANGAALEN
WHY CARE?: Another Sub Pop artist, Chad VanGaalen released his third full-length album on the label last week.
TRIVIA: VanGaalen popped up on "Late Show With David Letterman" to perform a stupid human trick. See the clip at www.heraldnet.com/popsecrets.
HIGH POINTS: VanGaalen sings in a nasal twang like fellow Canadian Neil Young on the album's melodic opener, "Willow Tree."
FANS ALSO LIKE: Artsy folk music
ANDY SAYS: Melancholy, innocent and direct, VanGaalen does more right than wrong on "Soft Airplane."
GRADE: B
Andy Rathbun, Herald Columnist
arathbun@heraldnet.com
425-339-3455
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