CD Reviews

Roz Bell The First Sunbeams Independent/2007 ♥♥½	This album features interesting takes on different influences but has troubles along the way. Most of the tracks descend into pop music trappings and lose their alternative flair, squandering the reggae-hip-hop and folk-rock sounds that demonstrate plenty of potential. The best rapping comes from tiny interludes where Bell draws on a raspier tone to deliver. It is not that Bell runs into terrible moments, just mediocre ones. Like a proverbial Sisyphus, who could never get a rock atop a hill, Bell cannot quite get this album to be innovative enough to be memorable. The liner notes talk about his long, hard journey to get interest from a record label. I’m sorry to say that I had only so much interest with my listening. Bell is worthwhile but comes nowhere near the ground that bands like Sublime did — as unfair a comparison that might be. The songs can start to dry at points where you want to be having fun. With negatives behind me, this album delightfully varies in song structures. Many are typically popish, some stray into heavier beats, while others to an acoustic guitar. This album does its best to keep things interesting and it keeps you curious about what is to come with the next track. -William O’Donnell
J.Holliday Back of My Lac Capitol/ 2007 ♥♥♥	There is no doubt that this R&B crooner can sing, however, that doesn’t make his first release a “must have.” He relies heavily on hook-centred songs and his music sounds just like a ringtone. That said, I wouldn’t suggest you purchase any of his ringtones. Growing up in Washington, D.C., J. Holiday used to sing in church choir groups like many ’90s R&B groups, including Boyz II Men. J. Holiday makes a noble effort to bring storytelling back to R&B; however, his lyrics tend to be preachy, boring, and sometimes altogether weird. For example, on one of the album’s singles, “Bed” (a raunchy sex tune), Holiday sings — “I’m a put you to bed, I’m staring at you while you sleep” — perhaps I am alone in my sentiments when I say that I found this to be rather creepy, in a Clay Aiken sort of way. This fresh face to the R&B scene has promised to deliver more, but it’s unfortunate that Back of My Lac comes off as passive, slow, and bland. With amped up production and a few more years of songwriting under his belt, J. Holiday has the talents to deliver a promising album. -Leah Werier
Baby Shambles Shotters Nation Emi/Parlophone/ 2007 ♥♥♥½	I’ll confess that, prior to listening to this album, I best knew Baby Shambles through its lead singer, Pete Doherty, and his affair with Kate Moss and a clip of him performing at the most recent Live Aid. Moss’s connection to the band is apparently stronger than I assumed as she has writing credits on four of this album’s tracks. The sound of this album harkens back to the era of Iggy and The Stooges, as well as to the more recent period of the “garage rock revival” in the form of The Vines, The Hives, The White Stripes and other assorted “The” bands; even dipping further back in time to The Pixies on such a track as “Baddie’s Boogie.” Again, like those in The Vines or Iggy Pop, Doherty brings a decidedly strung out mien and musical approach to rock. Delivering its greatest charms through feelings of disenchantment, Baby Shambles offers a decent listen to those looking to find a contemporary voice for the pale, poor, and bored. Bringing up Kate Moss earlier may seem like a non-sequitur, but I suppose picturing her in all of her heroin chic does not hurt the experience of listening to this album . . . maybe it even adds to it. She and Doherty make great poster-children for this album’s vibe. -William O’Donnell