sounds - 2 of the latest

Guster - Ganging up on the Sun ***1/2

Guster's new album has been on my iPod playlist since it found it's way into my way into my backpack at Newbury Comics a month ago. I just couldn't help it. How can a Bostonian resist the charms of Guster. As opposed to the easy sing-along harmonies and catchy acoustic guitar of Goldfly and Lost and Gone Forever, the new one is one of those that grows on you. Good stuff. Check out the tour diary on their website, by the way. My webpage would kick ass too, if my daily adventures consisted of traveling around the world playing rock shows.

Cursive - Happy Hollow ****1/2

Staying on the topic of albums that grow on you, I'm still trying to get my arms around Cursive's latest. It is a wildly inventive "folk-metal" concept album, careening all over the sonic map while pulling you in with quirky hook after quirky hook, oddly charming melody after oddly charming melody. Playful lyrics on unusual recurring existentialist themes, emotionally pleading, a musical tapestry as if the Shins and Bright Eyes grew up listening to nothing but System of a Down and They Might Be Giants (what??), this one is a strange gem. Song titles include Bad Sects: "I know this is wrong....because we're told this is wrong" and Big Bang: "There was this big bang once, but the clergyman doesn't agree. Oh no... There was this big bang once, but it don't jive with Adam and Eve." Rock on, Cursive. Indeed.