Online Rock: Empowering Musicians  
OnlineRock CD Review  





New Tales To Tell: A Tribute To Love and Rockets Artist:
Title:
Label:
Release Date:
More Info:
Free Download:
Various
New Tales To Tell: A Tribute To Love and Rockets
Justice Records
August 18, 2009
www.loveandrocketstribute.com
None Listed

As I began to write this review, I heard that John Hughes had died. The man who almost single-handedly defined the '80s in film, starting in 1983 with Vacation and moving on through Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club before closing out the decade with Uncle Buck. As the '90s rolled into town, he changed up his schtick a bit, and did three Home Alone movies, Curly Sue and a few others we won't mention here before ultimately petering out. Regardless, he is remembered for his work in the '80s, which helped to define not only that decade, but much of what came after; where would Judd Apatow and Kevin Smith be today, if not for Hughes?

I mention this here because like Hughes, Love and Rockets got started and rose to fame in the '80s, helping to define that decade and influencing many bands that came after. They broke up in the 90s after changing up their sound, and despite a few feints at getting things back together, gradually petered out. And much as I remember growing up with The Breakfast Club, I also remember growing up with Love and Rockets.

It is somehow fitting, then, that I have the opportunity to review New Tales To Tell: A Tribute To Love and Rockets today, because it's an opportunity to doubly reminisce. Most tributes tend to end right there, at reminiscence; fans buy tributes to be completists, and aside from one or two good songs, what they often end up with is a bunch of filler material from lesser-known bands. In this case, however, the filling is full of tasty goodness, and there's little here to dislike, from start to finish.

Black Francis covers "All In My Mind" with love, a churning, bouncy sort of ska-like love that kicks things off with a bang before dropping you off an electronic cliff into a dark "Holiday On The Moon," ably handled by Puscifer. Other standouts include Dubfire's cover of "I Feel Speed," which practically lets you see the white dotted line slipping past into the rearview mirror, as well as Frankenstein 3000's "No Big Deal" and The Dandy Warhols' "Inside The Outside," which would have been equally at home on the Cool World soundtrack. Much more delicate songs close out the album in a wash of fuzzy shoegazey pop, Ian Moore leading the way with "Sweet F.A." followed by Snowden's cover of "No Words No More," the subdued, ethereal hum ending abruptly mid-whisper.

But the album is nothing if not unpredictable (is that one too many negations?). The Flaming Lips cover of "Kundalini Express" sounds like a drunken Cylon playing with a broken guitar, yet still comes across as mostly melodic and worth repeat listens. Immediately following is Sweethead's "Life in Laralay," a fairly straightforward guitar-driven rocker with a spot-on female lead. Later, Chantal Claret and Adrian Young turn "Lazy" into a sultry lounge-act. Blaqk Audio's cover of "No New Tale to Tell" starts off in a rather understated fashion before pumping up the jam about 1:30 in; "Mirror People," covered by Monster Magnet and Adrian Young, likewise hits the spot at about the same spot, the psychedelic surf rocker effectively dividing the album in two; VEX's cover of "It Could Be Sunshine" starts with sweet vampish vocals atop deep, dark beats that become a race to the finish at 1:35; Film School's cover of "An American Dream" makes it just a few seconds longer before drifting into something that races along picking up steam before hitting a wall and tapering out with (you guessed it) about 90 seconds left. Must be something about changing things up when you hit the '90s...

If there are minor bumps on the road, they're to be found with "The Light" and "So Alive." The former, covered by A Place To Bury Strangers, drifts too far into the electronic side of the spectrum and washes out the vocals with too much feedback; the latter, covered by Better Than Ezra, takes a slow, seductive 4:08 classic and turns up the tempo, getting it done in 3:30 and making me wish they'd followed the speed limit signs a bit more closely.

Sadly, I must also take issue with the fact that much of the material recorded for this album has been split up and spread out, with special bonus tracks available on Amazon, iTunes, and vinyl versions of the albums. Though the completist in anyone would be thrilled with any one version, I find it hard to swallow the idea that fans should have to purchase 3, 4, or more versions of the same album to get all the material. It's the slightly bitter aftertaste to an otherwise very sweet album -- but only because I wish I'd had the chance to review ALL of it at once.

Favorite Track: "Sweet F.A."

Click Here To Submit Your CD For Review

Michael Fiegel is a freelance writer and game designer. His diverse background includes journalism, radio copywriting, technical writing, graphic design and music reviewing. He is best known as the creator of the Internet cult sensation Ninja Burger and the dark, twisted psychological Vox RPG. He can be reached at aeon@aeforge.com or at his website, www.aeforge.com.

 
AboutOnlineRock RecordsPress RoomContactAdvertisePrivacyShop