ShareThisBy CHUCK CAMPBELL
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
"SATURDAY NIGHT WRIST," Deftones (Maverick)
The Deftones haven't lost their touch, but they're apparently more reluctant to flaunt it if their new "Saturday Night Wrist" is any indication.
One of the best hard-rock groups to emerge in the past decade, the California band indulges itself in exploration beyond its niche, yielding a somewhat disappointing follow-up to its superb self-titled release from 2003 and gripping "White Pony" from 2000.
There's certainly no call for the Deftones to engage in the generic chaos of screamo that results in the anonymous new tracks "FM" and "Rats." If the group entered those cuts in a high-school battle of the bands, chances are they'd lose.
More successful experiments are likewise question marks. Fans probably won't react well to the crackling hypnosis of the electronic-based "Pink Cellphone" _ despite a crudely hilarious explanation of why the British have bad teeth by guest vocalist Annie Hardy of Giant Drag. The loopy, ballad-esque closer "Comanche" and the mid-album instrumental "Interlude" also might throw off the group's longtime followers.
Still, there's more to commend than condemn about "Saturday Night Wrist."
The signature interplay between dexterous guitarist Stephen Carpenter and mesmerizing vocalist Chino Moreno is often brilliant. Carpenter's steady squall on "Beware" packs a creepy backlash as Moreno melodically slinks around, and the singer's soaring swirls on "Cherry Waves" are at peace with the guitarist's death-grip of sound, just as the vocalist's delivery spellbinds from atop the blustery undercurrent of "Tilde."
Elsewhere, Moreno punches through "The Earth's" crust, escaping Carpenter's molten core, and on the similarly titled opener, "Hole in the Earth," the singer's thoughtful vocals are contrasted by thrashing rhythms. Also, "Mein," has an evocative, gothic air thanks in part to guest vocals by System Of A Down's Serj Tankian.
The finer tracks on "Saturday Night Wrist" are much the same as the better material the Deftones have already churned out on previous releases. Yet a formula as good as this band's isn't likely to feel over-exploited.
Rating (five possible): 3-1/2
"JIBBS FEAT. JIBBS," Jibbs (Geffen)
The name of Jibbs' debut, "Jibbs Feat. Jibbs," is a parody of rap titles, which are practically obliged to acknowledge guest performers _ and who would think of doing a rap song without guest performers?
Yet as the title implies, the St. Louis rapper features precious few guests on "Jibbs Feat. Jibbs," and that's an awfully bold move for a 15-year-old newbie.
But producer Da Beatstaz DJ Beats (Nelly, Chingy), Jibbs' older brother, is at the boards for much of "Jibbs Feat. Jibbs," serving as a secret weapon of sorts for the teen.
The brothers strike memorably with the hit first single "Chain Hang Low," a novelty song about metallic necklaces where a chorus of kids sing a rewritten version of "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" ("Do it shine in the light/Is it platinum, is it gold?") while Jibbs bellows and boasts about his taste in jewelry. (For the record, he lets it hang.)
It's a patently ridiculous track, but it's contagious.
Unfortunately, the gimmick-driven "Chain Hang Low" upstages a broader point of "Jibbs Feat. Jibbs": The teen can rap, and he flows his adult-ish, freestyle vocal with apparent ease.
Trouble is, where does a mature-sounding performer in a mature-oriented genre go after the nursery-rhyme spoof?
Jibbs and his brother steer clear of anything that would require an "explicit-lyrics" sticker. Relationships don't get any more serious than a wimpy "Go Too Far" that features Pussycat Doll Melody Thornton and elements of Janet Jackson's "Let's Wait Awhile." And talk about street life doesn't get any heavier than the Eminem-lite "Hood" ("Either you will ride or get rode on").
There's another ringtone-friendly joke song _ "King Kong" featuring Chamillionaire _ but mostly Jibbs is left rambling about cars, sound systems and other rappers while he waits to grow up and earn his cred. Meanwhile, the producer overcompensates for the lyrical void, sometimes ditching his little brother in booming reverberations.
Jibbs has talent and potential, but he isn't legit yet.
Rating: 2-1/2
"THIS HUNGRY LIFE," Tanya Donelly (Eleven Thirty Records)
Before she went solo, Tanya Donelly tended to be the most accessible member of whatever influential band she was in _ Throwing Muses, The Breeders and Belly. Donelly uses that relatability to her advantage on her new "This Hungry Life," recorded live to a receptive crowd in a Vermont hotel lobby.
After a quarter of a century of experience (she was 14 when she formed the Throwing Muses with her stepsister, Kristin Hersh), Donelly is sounding more subdued than usual on her fourth solo release. Yet the 40-year-old mother of two and wife to her guitarist, Dean Fisher, still projects some of that impish spirit and cockeyed philosophy that has marked her entire career, including Belly's seminal hit about death, "Feed the Tree."
"It's June, and I'm still wearing my boots," she exclaims at the beginning of "This Hungry Life's" swaggering opener, "NE," a tribute to her homeland of New England (and its "outstretched arms and lost charms"). And even if she's a world-weary woman these days, Donelly keeps her dismay in check with her humor, wondering, "How am I still in the dark when the world is on fire?" on the cut "World on Fire."
"This Hungry Life" is more Americana than rock _ a more gracious genre to veteran musicians who have aged out of their youth _ and Donelly and Fisher are supported by Rich Gilbert's pedal steel, Joan Wasser's violin, Joe McMahon's upright bass and Arthur Johnson's drums.
The homey musical context works well for the singer's reflective disposition, though the arrangements, plus her lyrics, blunt much of Donelly's childlike charm and make the release grimmer than it ought to be. Later tracks _ including an austere cover of George Harrison's "Long Long Long" _ slow the gentle momentum to a crawl.
Still, "This Hungry Life" is for the most part fulfilling as Donelly imbues her songwriting with poignancy, whether she's looking outward at a global crisis on "Kundalini Slide," generalizing about life on the title track ("You can change a thing or two before you go") or making a stark revelation on "Invisible One" with, "Now that you're looking through her eyes, that toxic cloud in the corner must be you."
She's not as playful as she once was, but Donelly is still thought-provoking.
Rating: 3-1/2
