Switchfoot
Nothing is Sound (2.5 stars)
The fifth album from San Diego, Christian-crossover rockers Switchfoot is a logical extension of their 2003 breakthrough, The Beautiful Letdown. Nothing is Sound is full of earnest, polished rock songs and plaintive ballads, perfect for the adult alternative radio that's embraced the band in the past. The Christian influences are barely discernible and come across as more aspirational than preachy. Singer Jonathan Foreman isn't afraid to question his beliefs, making like a second-rate Bono on songs like "Happy is a Yuppie Word."
Songs like "Stars" and "The Setting Sun" are as catchy as the band's big hit, "Meant to Live," and could very well be just as popular. But the album is just a mix of styles from better bands and offers little that the Goo Goo Dolls, Matchbox Twenty and Lifehouse haven't already brought to the table. Switchfoot are playing it safe, both in regard to their music and their beliefs, and that makes for a pleasant and forgettable album. It's exactly what you'd expect from the second-string.
The Pussycat Dolls
PCD (3 stars)
God help me, but this is actually a pretty decent album. Featuring the LA troupe (as opposed to our own, doubtlessly more talented gang at Caesars), the burlesque dancers, fronted by Nicole Scherzinger, deliver 12 pop tracks with "hit" written all over them.
The lead single, "Don't Cha" with Busta Rhymes, is already No. 1 on Billboard here and is getting glowing advance buzz in Britain. Like all of the tracks, it benefits greatly from polished production. The song also sets a tone of cheeky sexuality that's carried for most of the album, with Scherzinger and girls dishing out female braggadocio, taunting male listeners that their girlfriends aren't nearly as hot or as fun as the Pussycat Dolls. And given Scherzinger's sultry voice and looks, it becomes difficult to argue the point.
In the same vein are a number of other libidinous songs such as Will.i.am's "Beep," "Wait A Minute" with Timbaland, "Buttons" and "Right Now."
Not to be discounted are covers of Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" and Soft Cell's "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go" that manage to stay true to the originals while veering off in new directions.
Like the girl group itself, it's all slickly produced candy and damn if I don't feel guilty for enjoying it so much.
Dropkick Murphys
The Warrior's Code (3.5 stars)
The Vans Warped Tour has given the Dropkick Murphys a well-deserved national audience but the band makes regional hard-core punk as it was done in the '80s.
Though they have been around for a decade and have had more than their fair share of personnel turnover during that period, you know exactly what to expect with the Dropkick Murphys: punk rock, bagpipes, blue-collar anthems and plenty of Boston pride (yes, the Red Sox's 2004 victory is still being celebrated in song on this release). Last time out, Blackout (2003) took this formula into the sublime, resulting in the group's best studio outing. If The Warrior's Code does not have Blackout's flowing grandeur, it does have plenty of standout moments such as the title track, "The Walking Dead" and "Wicked Sensitive Crew."
There is also a front-and-center political rage driving tracks such as "Citizen C.I.A." and "Last Letter Home." Of course, the Dropkick Murphys don't have Green Day's melodies or Rancid's musical instincts, but on The Warrior's Code, the band proves they can still deliver plenty of heart-on-sleeve and fist-in-air punk.