Kings of Leon's "Because of the Times" is acting really weird with me lately.  It's like I'm digesting it in small chunks.  For the past three weeks I've pretty much just listened to 'Charmer' and 'On Call' over and over and over and over.  As soon as they're over, I rewind to track 2 and start again.  But I've listened to them each dozens of times... I just couldn't get further than that without wanting to hear 'Charmer' again, and after that was done I just needed to hear 'On Call', repeat ad infinum, etc.

Yesterday I started really digging 'McFearless' after it popped into my head (after weeks of not hearing it).  So now I'm four tracks into the album... maybe it'll keep going and going in that fashion.  I love those types of albums.  Both Interpol records were like that with me.  At first it was PDA and Stella Was a Diver and She was Always Down, then Say Hello to Angels, over and over and over.  With 'Antics' it was NARC and Evil, then Take You  On a Cruise and Not Even Jail.

I love it.

Now that I've had lots of time with "Because of the Times" I have a few thoughts... Yes, it's got some wonderful songs and really accelerates what they were going for on 'Aha Shake Heartbreak', but it's not the second coming.

The first four tracks all work really well... they are unique and convincing, catchy and strong, then track 5 is a boring trainwreck that I've now come to skip, and then the rest of the record just kind of blends together like one long thought. "Charmer" is the clear winner on the record as a whole, it's what I'd expect from the Pixies in 2007. I mean, its basically a Pixies song from 1992. I'll post it, and you tell me if you see the likeness. It may seem like a stretch, but when you really think about whats going on in that song, it's nearly 100% Pixies. from the poppy bassline, to the whisper/screams in the vocals, to the semi-wandering yet-still-driving guitar riff, its all pixies and it gets more and more pixie-ish as the track goes on.

I'm not dissapointed persay, i mean, its still a pretty great and overall solid record, but its not THAT big of a step up from ASH. it's just 'Taper Jean Girl' and 'Milk' times 10. I'm sure it will stick with me for the rest of the year, but i'm not as obsessed with it as i was with ASH. i mean, Modest Mouse keeps ending up in my player over and over. thats a pretty simliar record to Because of the Times. They both had a couple incredibly strong songs that I am craving to hear over and over again, and then the rest of the record is pretty good.

outside of Interpol, the only album I can think of recently that I was in love with song after song after song was 'Old World Underground' by Metric. Jens Lekman and Andrew Bird and scores of other records have held me for a while, but not on EVERY.SINGLE.SONG (or most every song).

anyway, its definately worth hearing, and is one of the best albums i've heard this year, and a great rock record, but it is subject to a little overhype recently, even if i was the one doing the overhyping.

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'GRINDHOUSE'

Jon had said that he hated that Rodriguez stuck so much to gimmicks while he admired that Tarantino ignored the gimmicks... I take issue with this view. The whole movie is a gimmick! its a modern day DOUBLE FEATURE, that samples generously from b-movies of the 70's... thats what we're paying to see and is the appeal of this project. i didnt pay to see this throw-back film to see a NORMAL film. Tarantino is the king of gimmicks. just look at Kill Bill volumes 1 and 2. the guy made a chop-socky film, then tacked on a story in the sequel. he animated pedophelia in the middle of the film. he shot part of 'four rooms', which was one movie in four parts. he loves exploitation films, which exist only as gimmicks! ie. here's some naked chicks/racial stereotypes/mutant freaks in jail/school/church/the jungle/concentration camps/etc. PURE BLISSFUL ENTERTAINMENT.

The movie is a walking talking GIMMICK. He should have played by the rules. His half of the film, Death Proof, is a 100% predictable tarantino film. its all about empowering women, which is fine, but i'm not a woman! if i wanted this experience, i'd throw on a carole king record and watch steel magnoilas. i wanted badass mamas shooting down badass brothas or SOMETHING like that. instead they made a serial killer cry. ok. right. typical tarantino in that the first hour is spent setting up the characters, though in a change in form, the second half then has nothing to do with those characters. he also left some cliffhangers, but they were so minor i doubt most viewers would even dwell on them.

i have SCORES more to write about the film... but i gotta get back to work! more later.

Today's the day... Kings of Leon! Anyone see the Letterman performance? Wonderful.