listen up!: Timi Conley, Kings of Convenience, Weezer
November 19, 2009 by KATHLEEN DAILEY WYNN SAMMONS
Filed under Out & About
TIMI CONLEY
Nerd Sexy
Local musician Timi Conley’s new album, “Nerd Sexy,” provides a variation of music styles blended into a new hybrid of pop music.
There is no flow to the album, making for a random and sporadic listen, but it seems this is how Conley intended it: The cover art screams early ’90s pop music, the opening song is reminiscent of a ’50s “American Bandstand” cliché, and threads hints of modern techno-pop, jazz and blues.
Though the album offers music that is enjoyable to a wide variety of music fans, it jumps from A to Z at the drop of a pin, making it lack coherent flow.
However, for those who enjoy all music styles, “Nerd Sexy” will not disappoint. Conley acts as an iPod Shuffle within the 15 songs, never failing to surprise the listener from track to track.
Conley additionally utilizes retro song titles and a plethora of witty lyrics to test the boundaries of modern society. He has managed to create a fairly enjoyable album that only comes from hard work and obvious dedication.
VERDICT: Conley has compiled a wide demographic of music into a single CD, and while not every song will be enjoyable to all genres of music fans, every song will appeal to someone.
- Kathleen Dailey
KINGS OF CONVENIENCE
Declaration of Dependence
The cover of “Declaration of Dependence,” the third full-length album from Norwegian folk duo Kings of Convenience, depicts the pair sitting idyllically on a beach, hanging out together as the sun sets. It’s a striking image, perfectly depicting the lonely warmth the album resonates upon a cursory listen.
Like a sunset, though, “Declaration” quietly fades after its brief moments of beauty only to leave you in the darkness, pissed off and bored again. That’s not to say the album’s peaks aren’t worth the price of admission – they are – but the duo’s creative capacity exhausts itself by the halfway point.
The lush “Peacetime Resistance” highlights the group’s devastating ability to put you in chill mode. The harmony between both singers falls somewhere between the chemistry of Simon and Garfunkel and the smooth sensuality of Sade wrapped around bossa nova-tinged folk under the influence of a Corona commercial.
It’s curious that the album has a vaguely tropical, nautical theme running throughout, but within the framework of the album, it works despite both dudes hailing from Norway.
Despite some nice moments here and there, “Declaration of Dependence” comes off as toothless in the end, innocuous folk that misses more than it hits.
Considering it’s been five years since their last album, maybe these guys are just a bit rusty. Hopefully we can expect a little more frequent output from them in the future because, as a group, they’re talented and dynamic.
VERDICT: Though “Declaration of Dependence” is a welcome return for the duo, it seems – as the album cover suggests – that they haven’t quite come back from vacation yet.
- Wynn Sammons
WEEZER
Raditude
Attention Weezer: Your ironic, nerdy power pop schtick got old about 10 years ago.
Plenty of people may argue that your first two albums were great, but those people are well into their 30s and weren’t discerning enough back in the day to tell that even from the start, you were a corporate constructed pop band with a faux-Indie facade.
Weezer, you’re still the sellouts you’ve always been, even after listening to your new album, Raditude. You’d think your cardigan-clad, thick-rimmed loser of a front man would have learned to write a decent lyric or two, but on Raditude he’s just as terrible as he’s always been.
“Put Me Back Together” has Cuomo singing, “”My hairdo isn’t cool, And my lips are lined with drool. I’m a mess since you left. You can use this fool, I’m a useless tool.” To think a man of 39 could write such self-deprecating treacle is baffling and shows just how embarrassing and artistically void a career arc Cuomo’s had.
There’s really nothing left here to say about such an abysmal album. Shoddy musicianship, terrible lyrics about teenage longing from a man almost 40 – typical Weezer. Maybe Raditude will finally push Cuomo over the edge and end his band for good. I’m crossing my fingers.
VERDICT: Raditude makes a great coaster for your coffee table.
- Wynn Sammons
