As promised last week, the lowdown on Nick Cave: effective for a coupla Birthday Party numbers, otherwise a pompous bore who never got past thinking Poe and Flannery O’Connor are essential literature (for many non-Americans, Southern Gothic seems like such a peculiarity that it must be “quintessentially” American). Also, he’s too old to be this corny. Grinderman is more of the same, but messier.
On the other hand, Brad Paisley can coast too often on charm and a guitar sound as killer as his grin, but he doesn’t burden articulated hooks with metaphorical baubles, can’t spell “despair,” and exploits nostalgia to delineate the good times he’s going to have rather than to bemoan what he’s lost. For Paisley, Daytona Beach and swingin’ on a tire comprise a litany of incomplete memories; the dimple in his voice and the souped-up raunch of his guitar suggest ways in which the present becomes material for good times.
Brad Paisley – Water (9)
Darius Rucker – Come Back Song (5)
Grinderman – Heathen Child (5)
Devlin – Brainwashed (4)
Interpol – Lights (2)
Linkin Park – The Catalyst (2)
Primary 1 – Princess (1)
Humanizing The Vacuum 