AWmusic

Anyway, while the 5 I choose are probably not the 5 worst albums of 2008, it’s the ones I* (just me) that I found to hurt the ears (or brain) for one reason or another.

#5 Black Kids – Partie Traumatic
Original Rating: 1.25 out of 5
Traumatic isn’t a great name to include on your album name especially if people think it sucks. This album is passable though, and a lot of my harshness comes more from the disappointment when comparing the Wizard of Ahhhs EP to this album. They decided to take out things that made their songs universally dancey and did it by being overthetop and on this album more subdued and held back. To go from a self-released gem to shitty major label record, always baffles me but I guess it isn’t the first time it’s happened.
I’ve Underestimated My Charm (Again) by Black Kids

#4 The Killers – Day & Age
Original Rating: 1 out 5
The Killers did try something new on this album. As much as I hate the song “Human”, they do TRY and I do give props for that. I think this album fails because they just weren’t good with the types of songs they were making. I think they were better served being a powerpop band, not letting Flowers’ weaknesses as a singer to be exposed. I’d prefer their music when it was meant for the masses and not necessarily playing toward critics and “making the best album ever” (cough cough) – not that Sam’s town was bad.
Human by The Killers

#3 The Raconteurs – Consolers of The Lonely
Original Rating: 1.25 out of 5
While the original concentrated on other subjects regarding the marketing. Some critics calling it unique to release an album in short notice while taking down blogs at the same time who did promote it when the label could not seems smart (not). Anyway, this album was more noise then substance and just seemed like a cover songs that were bare to bone. Production was pretty terrible though to be fair that could’ve been intentional. Still, some albums work for some people, this album didn’t work for me. There was nothing for me to grasp ahold of, other then noise and distortion then was beginning to annoy me anyway.
Steady As She Goes by The Raconteurs (my favorite song by them, not on CoL)

#2 Mystery Jets – Twenty One
Original Rating: 0.5/5
I first got into the Mystery Jets with Young Love when I showed it to a friend and said it sounded like another track, specifically one of Hugh Grant and Haley Bennett. While I did call it copying, “borrowing” may be another word used and it occurs a lot on this album. I won’t outright call the MJs plagiarists unless they are sued but they sure aren’t very original. I think on each track, I kept going to myself “haven’t I heard that before?” all throughout the album. It’s not that bad to be influenced by certain artists but this album DID suck. I do love myself a good pop album, and I have no idea what the critics are smoking on this one. It’s mediocre at best and at times feels contrived like it’s sticking to a certain “template”.

E.g. Two Doors Down: “I think I’m in love with the girl next door” later in the song “I know I’m in love with a girl who lives two doors down”, clearly this isn’t a mistake it’s more of what fits better in the song. What gives a better hook? When my English teacher told me when writing lyrics, is lyric or the beat that comes first? For the Mystery Jets it’s definitely the hook and they don’t even do that well. This album doesn’t even work on a consistent level, they have no “real” sound, they jump all over the place without doing anything specifically well which is why they got a huge thumbs down. I stand by my review, could’ve been a better post but hey it was a popular post .
Way Back Into Love by Hugh Grant & Haley Bennett

#1 Cold War Kids – Loyalty to Loyalty
(You have to be pretty loyal to like this one)
Original Rating: 0.5 out of 5
Cold War Kids takes the #1 spot for both disappointing and sucking altogether. My review was simply:
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UUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSs
(okay there was more to it, I lied)
Robbers and Cowards used more guitaring and various other instrumentation to bring the music to epic levels. Nathan Willett vocals take a huge hit in this record. I think the thing is that his vocals aren’t so strong to begin with but the instrumentation made it a meaningless factor. Instead they tried to work with more rhythm and use some African influences (see The Killers for taking the wrong approach here) but again not really working to the strengths of the band and moreso then the Killers to their own weaknesses. There’s just nothing to like on this record. It doesn’t hurt the ears but I do either want to doze off or skip next to the album immediately. I did call Something Is Not Right With Me lackluster compared to anything they had on the previous album, I guess compared to the rest of the record …it’s a stand out (Golden Gate Jumpers is alright too). I liked this band live and their first record A LOT. Who knows now…
Hang Me Up To Dry by Cold War Kids

Anyway this paragraph should simply describe Loyalty to Loyalty:

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT SSSSSSSSSSSSSSsUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
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KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSs

If you didn’t catch the point, I mean “it sucks” and by sucks, I mean horribly. At this point I’m really tempted to end the review right now but I need to do some more bashing, because I absolutely hate this album.

If you read this blog before, I wasn’t a big fan of the first single, “Something Is Not Right With Me”. They did at least give it away for free which is more then what most artists do, but I felt it was a step down from their normal efforts from Robbers & Cowards, lacking something on the forefront. However, after listening to the rest of the album, it became apparent that Something Is Not Right With Me is indeed their best song on this effort.

What makes this album so horrendous? First off it’s incredibly boring. There’s barely anything at the forefront with CWK concentrating more on the rhythm section and Nathan Willett being exposed to his lack of range. There are far too many “silent” and quiet moments that do not work very well because Willett never has a command of the songs when the band isn’t doing something to mask it.

The album starts off with “We don’t gamble, we don’t do the stock exchange” CWK definitely come off as having played it safe and like the current economy has probably went for broke. Other then the rhythm section there’s nothing to like about this album. I don’t know how other people feel since I haven’t seen other opinions but there’s no way I would see many people liking it, it’s such a MUCH weaker effort. Something Is Not Right With Me does give a glimpse of what they can do again but there’s just way too much missing from this album to give it any higher then a 1 out of 5. There’s no emotion either and while it doesn’t necessarily kill the ears, there’s nothing to really like.

Rating: 0.5 out of 5

MP3s (don’t make me choose another song off the album….):

Something Is Not Right With Me by Cold War Kids

Hang Me Up To Dry by Cold War Kids
(off Robbers and Cowards – a very good song indeed)

Okay back to the Cold War Kids, I was actually a fan of their album Robbers & Cowards even when others hated it, including Pitchfork.

Their album, Loyalty to Loyalty is an album I’m looking forward and they released a track to hype up the album called, Something Is Not Right With Me. Much to my disappoint this track is only 2 minutes and 28 seconds hardly a full Cold War Kids song. It’s a song that does display some notable sounds that you’d find on the Cold War Kids previous album but lyrically it’s much weaker with Something Is Not Right With Me repeated several times.

Also the song seems to stop for a little spoken word, making this song feel like a lifetime (a bad thing). Not a great track to be excited about and I probably shouldn’t have contributed to the madness/hype. There’s some promise on this track but I’m starting to hate it. I’ll still check out the album though.

See what you think:
Something Is Not Right With Me by Cold War Kids (link removed by request, Allan was a naughty little boy)

Get it at RCrDLBL

Here’s a random playlist that I hope seems somehow related: ( I gotta go out)
1. The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance by Vampire Weekend
2. Flyin by Regina Spektor
3. Harder Better Faster Stronger by Daft Punk
4. Ballad of A Comeback Kid by The New Pornographers
5. Inaction by We Are Scientists
6. Attack of the 60 ft Lesbian Octopus by Does It Offend You Yeah?
7. In Search of the Youth Crew by Cadence Weapon
8. Passing the Hat by Cold War Kids
9. Heart and Soul by Joy Division
10. Lucky Ones by Kevin Drew

Filler so I can adjust the below alignment!!!

All from an opening act performance but I really like their style and lyrically they are awesome. Some people have told me about them but I think I was at first turned off by the name of their band “Cold War Kids”. They are an indie band out of Fullerton, California and had some success on the UK Charts (seems like all the bands I like do).

Anyway, my friend and I really enjoyed the shaker they used in their performances, which alternated between band members. This small thing has turned me into a fan and I’m glad they opened for Muse so there’s another band I saw.

If you haven’t heard of Cold War Kids check them out or listen to these two songs and see what you think:
We Used To Vacation.mp3

Tell Me In The Morning.mp3