"I Need Some Fine Wine, and You, You Need To Be Nicer" - The Cardigans. The last three Cardigans albums have been just perfect but entirely different. First Band on the Moon was all about '50s lounge-pop. Gran Turismo infiltrated trip-hop territory, and Long Gone Before Daylight ended up being an alt-country masterpiece. This newest single off the band's upcoming album Super Extra Gravity sounds like a mixture of all the other Cardigans' styles. It doesn't work as well. And the lyrics are nothing to write home about. Lead singer Nina Persson's icy vocals, though, get me every time.
"Everything To Me" - Liz Phair. Music connoisseurs may not be one-bit surprised to find out that Phair has sold out once again. The former queen of indie rock became an Avrilabee in the blink of an eye on her last record. And while songs like "Why Can't I" and "Extraordinary" were delightfully tasty pieces of bubble-gum pop, the sudden departure from the gnarly, brazen anthems of "The Divorce Song" and "F- and Run" was mindblowing- at least to some diehard fans. On her latest single, Phair wants to be a traditional singer-songwriter in the vein of Sheryl Crow or Michelle Branch (except she doesn't really write her songs as much as she used to.) Not even a bite of derision or snarliness is present; Phair's sharp tongue has finally dulled. This from the woman who, even when she sold out the last time, penned a song called "H.W.C." (The spelled-out abbreviation is unprintable.)
"Monster Hospital" - Metric. I love Metric. In fact, I would go so far as to say that they're the best synth-poppers out right now-which is a big deal. So I was very excited to hear the premiere single off their sophomore LP, Live It Out. And while it sounds a lot more Yeah Yeah Yeahs than Elastica (which was more their style on debut Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?), it's still every bit as good. And, of course, lead singer Emily Haines' mesmerizing lyrics like "I fought the war, I fought the war, but the war won," are still intact here. A rousing preview of what should make an incredibly delicious album.
"Can I Have It Like That" - Pharrell Williams Featuring Gwen Stefani. It just sounds like a bad Burger King commercial-and i'm not just talking about the cliched call-and-response chorus. Seriously, I love these two but in their followup to their last joint smash "Hollaback Girl," they combine talents to, unfortunately, highlight their creative weaknesses. Pharrell's minimalist drum beats and vintage samples fall incredibly flat. The real atrocity here: Stefani's helium-infused vocals that repeat to no effect, "You Got It Like That?" This ain't no burger joint. No, you can't have it your way. Instead, this superstar colloboration turns out a hollow, redundant dud and a serious eyesore in the career of both artists.
"Precious" - Depeche Mode. You won't hear this on American radio but the most delightful slice of '80s synth-pop in decades is certainly the new song from, who else, this '80s holdover wunderkind group. Sweet, sweet melody and steely blades of synth wizardy converge for a truly heady, masterful single. David Gahan's melancholic full-throated vocals and Mode's trademark robotic beats make for the most hauntingly sentimental single of the year. It's not like this recess editor's eyes are tearing.
"Boyfriend" - Ashlee Simpson. In this incisive-not!-slam record against fellow teen divalookalike Lindsay Lohan, Simpson tries a last-ditch attempt to salvage her career by singing in tune even though she mostly sounds like Daisy Duck goin' punk. And she's also trying for an edge; this song has the former 7th Heaven sweetheart bopping over a Strokes-lite beat. And while it's not quite "La La," it's a palatably listenable song that will surely provoke a Lindsay rebuke. Plus, she's hotter than Jessica.
"Teary Eyed" - Missy Elliott. For the first time in a long time, Missy goes the Fantasia/Angie Stone route, and the results are nothing good. She doesn't really have the vocal range to support the track nor does the track really do anything but staggle. recess misses her usually crunk-tastic array of beats. On her last single, she sang, "Music make you lose control;" that doesn't really pertain to this song though.
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