Lady Antebellum
Own the Night
Capitol Nashville
3/5
Lady Antebellum been given many accolades throughout the span of their career, including six Grammy awards. Although the biggest award yet would have to be my total and complete devotion. If you think that’s adorable, just wait until you hear what they have in store.
I am not a country fan, but after five minutes of listening to their September release, I was an instant Lady Antebellum addict. Own the Night has quickly become as popular as their previous works. The first single, “Just a Kiss”, is one of the best songs. Written in collaboration with Dallas Davidson, an American country music artist, the song is a slow and heartfelt country ballad about a couple newly in love. It is as cheesy as cheesy gets, but it’s just so darn catchy!
Lady Antebellum yet again manages to compose a country-pop album reviving the soul of Nashville. The lead vocalists, Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley, add a great deal of talent to each track while avoiding any repetitive tones.
Listen to the record when you are driving around in your car and want something extremely happy to sing along to. Go ahead, lip-sync your heart out. It’s worth embarrassing yourself for.
—Grace Iori
Rich Aucoin
We’re All Dying to Live
Sonic Centre Entertainment Group
2/5
TO DEVOTEES OF CBC Radio Three, Rich Aucoin may be a familiar name. The excitement should stop there though, as Aucoin’s most recent oeuvre, an LP/EP combo entitled We’re All Dying to Live, is a rather lacklustre offering with most tracks failing to catch the listener’s attention.
Nearly an hour of electro-pop beats plague the album. The only highlight is that it could serve as decent background music to a party. The experimental synth sounds all blend together and you can’t really tell one song from the next. The tracks are largely instrumental, with vocal arrangements occasionally interspersed without conveying much of a message. If one track out of the whole album stays with you, it is likely “P:U:S:H”, a catchier number that punctuates the chorus repeatedly with its title. While it may just be a matter of taste, no tracks leave a lasting impression. I won’t be dying to listen to this album again anytime soon.
—Natalie Tremblay
Ox
tUCo
Cosmic Dave Record Factory
3/5
IF YOU ARE an Ox fan, then prepare to be satisfied by the band’s latest release, tUCo. They wrote this album as a soundtrack for an indie film that was never made, and that’s precisely how it sounds. The unfinished, dragging-your-feet pace of song after song—while charming—falls just a little short. No song compels you to make enough of an effort to skip over it, but none of them beg a repeat either. The album peaks with “Share Gas Drive West” and “Rock and Roller”, two well put together tracks right in the middle of the record.
The overwhelming atmosphere the album elicits is one of a family reunion coming to a close at midnight, where people are sitting in silence at a tissue-strewn table with nothing left to say to each other. Not necessarily a bad thing, but if you’re looking for something to put you in a chipper mood, this isn’t the album you’re looking for.
—Cristina Apavaloae
The Ethics
What I did for Modern Love
Play All
3/5
OTTAWA-BASED BAND The Ethics has returned with a much anticipated third album titled What I did for Modern Love. Keeping with its distinct blend of pop-like yet wistful harmonies, this local talent delivers solid music that most fans will enjoy. What I did for Modern Love comes across more as a follow-up effort from At Cities End, but it seems as if The Ethics are not willing to mess with something that isn’t broken.
Starting it off is a mid-tempo song, “Untouchables”, which is heavy on the guitars and light on the drums. Most of the sounds are more guitar-centric and at times are reminiscent of riffs from 70s rock mixed with cool, trembling vocals and a folk-rock vibe. One of the highlights and the best song by far is “Centretown”, a track that showcases vocalist Kevin Hersack’s voice perfectly as he croons along about compromise and love.
All in all, The Ethics has made a decent album that is worth a listen, even if it is very similar to their previous works.
—Sofia Hashi
The Kooks
Junk of the Heart
Virgin Records
3/5
NOT ALL THAT much has changed since “Jackie Big Tits”, no matter how many times The Kooks stomp their feet and try to tell us otherwise. They’ve tossed another perfectly listenable album our way and it is as decent the rest of their music. Some people might not be so fond of the synthesizer yawning here and there in the background, but it’s 2011 and it seems like we’re not going to get away from it any time soon.
We shouldn’t be so scornful and afraid of the word “pop.” The truth is Junk of the Heart is a better-than-some pop album and “How’d You Like That” is a stand-out single off an album filled with semi-catchy pop songs. If you need something to listen to while walking through the leaf-littered campus this fall, choose The Kooks.
—Cristina Apavaloae
