Strand of Oaks, “Eraserland”: The backstory of “Eraserland,” the seventh Strand of Oaks album from Philly’s Tim Showalter, involves an existential crisis, a songwriting trip to the Jersey Shore, and a call to action from Carl Broemel of My Morning Jacket. The results are excellent. Recorded in Louisville, Kentucky, with most of MMJ as backing band, “Eraserland” is somber and rollicking, angsty and triumphant, earnest and joyful. Showalter has always been an introspective songwriter, and much of the album finds him thinking about his role as a musician and a music fan. The album begins in doubt: “I don’t feel it anymore,” is the stark opening line of “Weird Ways.” But when the full band kicks in with an MMJ-like wall of guitars after 90 seconds, the doubts are gone. “Eraserland” has some of Showalter’s tautest songwriting (the Springsteen-esque “Ruby”) but also a pensive nine-minute ballad (“Forever Chords,” with some Neil Young echoes) and a few psychedelic freakouts (“Moon Landing,” with Jason Isbell on wild guitar). “I gotta get my s- together before I’m 40,” Showalter, who’s in his late 30s, pleads on “Keys.”
— Steve Klinge, Philadelphia Inquirer
The Chemical Brothers, “No Geography”: Back in the mad, bad 1990s, Manchester, England’s Chemical Brothers — Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons — crafted a brand of electronic music infused with big, block-rocking beats that borrowed as much from hip-hop as from Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. Not only did they start an indie-electro movement that would include Fatboy Slim, they made hits that oozed into pop’s mainstream, especially as their once-tough tones grew cleaner and less raw. “No Geography” is a return to their original unbridled, grungy funk, with zero big-name guest appearances and a density and aggression that’s been missing from their sound since the start of the 2000s. Using vintage electronic and sequence-based equipment, but sticking with the melodicism they’ve developed over the last three decades, tracks such as “Got to Keep On” and “Free Yourself” are noisy, bass-booming anthems rich with dynamic layers and creaky textures. “Eve of Destruction” is both effervescent and apocalyptic, while freeing your mind in order for your rump to follow. You can’t ask for more when it comes to the Chemical Brothers’ brand of frenetic dance music.
— A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer
Jenny Lewis, “On the Line”: Five years ago, Lewis reached her solo peak with 2014’s “The Voyager.” Its long-brewing follow-up has a whole new vocal inflection and everyone from Ringo Starr to Jim Keltner at her disposal. The lead track has an organ solo, and “Little White Dove” apes “Gotta Serve Somebody”-era Bob Dylan. The songs are catchy as ever, but they’re so streamlined there are no real quotables or shocks to the system, like 2014’s “I’m just another lady without a baby.” In Stevie Nicks terms, that means there’s no “Stand Back” or “Talk to Me” here. Just solid throughout, almost hopelessly so.
— Dan Weiss, Philadelphia Inquirer
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