Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks
REAL EMOTIONAL TRASH
RATING: 3 1/2 EXCLAMATION POINTS
For almost 20 years, back to his beginnings in Pavement, Stephen Malkmus has been famous for lyrics that carried no trace of rock ‘n’ roll sentiment. “Real Emotional Trash” still has all that glibly indirect lyric writing. (Like this, from “Cold Son”: “to my wheel-well you’re getting close/so say adios/the conjecture is reject the rose.”) But it’s a record that builds serious, musical and very direct jamming into nearly every song. The album is both a generous, transparent body pleasure and a flinty, oblique mind pleasure. [BEN RATLIFF, NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE]
Kathleen Edwards
ASKING FOR FLOWERS
RATING: 2 1/2 EXCLAMATION POINTS
A few of the characters Kathleen Edwards sings about on “Asking for Flowers” are probably Edwards herself: a Canadian songwriter with a breathy but obstinate voice who has played her country-rooted rock on tour far and wide. Yet “Asking for Flowers” isn’t exactly Edwards’ road-warrior album. It’s about separation, whether it’s a musician’s homesickness or losing a loved one. In the title song, a breakup ballad, she ponders the “fading memory of all the things I tried to get right.” “Flowers” could use more feistiness. But even the quieter, kindlier Edwards stays tuneful and observant. [JON PARELES, NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE]
Bauhaus
GO AWAY WHITE
RATING: 3 EXCLAMATION POINTS
The recording sessions for “Go Away White,” Bauhaus’ first album in 24 years, were apparently so intense that the goth pioneers broke up shortly after finishing them. The strain shows at times (on the overblown “Black Stone Heart” for example), but it starts out strong with the classic glam-sounding “Too Much 21st Century” and the menacing “Adrenalin,” which updates the Bauhaus sound with some of Love and Rockets’ more contemporary trappings. Though there’s nothing as anthemic as “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” here, there are enough glam rock guitar riffs paired with dark imagery and Peter Murphy’s melodramatic vocals to keep a new generation of goth kids satisfied. [GLENN GAMBOA, NEWSDAY]