POP/ROCK
Japandroids, "Near to the Wild Heart of Life" (Anti )
Japandroids' 2012 truth-in-titling breakthrough was called "Celebration Rock." On it, the Canadian duo of singer and lyricist Brian King and drummer David Prowse executed a formula to near-perfection: Hard-driving, heart-on-sleeve songs gathered intensity as they built toward roughly shouted choruses that exploded in seize-the-day (and chug-a-beer) catharsis. After a long break, the band is back with the highly anticipated "Near to the Wild Heart of Life," hurtling down the highway and thinking about what has been left behind, on the title track, "North South East West" and "Midnight to Morning."
King and Prowse tend to perform as if everything is at stake all the time, an approach that can wear on the listener. And on the eight-minute "Arc of Bar," the duo sounds pretty tired themselves. But when they hit the sweet spot on the noisy and mercifully slowed-down "I'm Sorry (For Not Finding You Sooner)" and ecstatic "No Known Drink or Drug," they're as close to the wild heart of the matter as they want to be.
DAN DELUCA, Philadelphia Inquirer
Train, "A Girl, a Bottle, a Boat" (Columbia)
Train continues the odd Benjamin Button-like trajectory of the band's artistic view. They may have started two decades ago as roots rockers who leaned toward adult contemporary with weighty songs such as "Drops of Jupiter." But in recent years, since the success of the peppy "Hey Soul Sister," Train seems more interested in teen pop.
It starts with the fizzy "Drink Up," which sounds like a Maroon 5 reject, with its singsong verses and a chorus of "Take this moment and put it in a glass; if you want a sip, I've got memories on tap." The first single, "Play That Song," is built around a riff that sounds like "Blue Moon," one of the first songs kids learn on the piano.
There are moments of seriousness, like the parental piano ballad "You Better Believe," but those get overwhelmed by the clunkiness of songs such as "What Good Is Saturday" and its offers of French toast and "Working Girl" with its rejection of guys who aren't "sweet like aspartame." That's a track Train needs to switch from quickly.
GLENN GAMBOA, Newsday
Elbow, "Little Fictions" (Concord)
"Little Fictions" comes at a turning point in Elbow's career. The loss of an original band member, drummer Richard Jupp, is no small thing, and it is a testament to Elbow's craft that it extends its already enviable legacy so successfully. Compositionally, Elbow remains one of rock music's most invaluable practitioners, and the complexity of this music makes frontman Guy Garvey's positive pronouncements on life feel real, not platitudinal. When he sings "Yes, and I'm given to believing in love" on "K2," you can't help but feel the same.
Brice Ezell, PopMatters.com
new releases
• Big Sean, "I Decided"
• LeAnn Rimes, "Remnants"
• Wyclef Jean, "J'ouvert"
• Sampha, "Process"
