CD REVIEWS
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday August 14, 2009
paul dempseyEVERYTHING IS TRUE (EMI)Rating: 3.5/5Some people - let's just say my mother knows one of them very well - have had to make a bit of a journey to accept the "truth" that Paul Dempsey isn't really a boring songwriter and frontman of a dull band. But the last Something For Kate album got us close and his first solo album nearer still. There's a muscularity to these intimate songs that saves them from ho-hum singer-songwriter fare and far less of the overanalysed stiffness that have crippled his songs in the past. Bits of country flavour things, occasional moments of something like soul work too and there's easy touches of pop. Maybe, like Shane Nicholson, Dempsey has found not worrying about perfection but looking for naturalness instead can work.Bernard Zuelhyjak n torchaUNREGRETTABLE (Obese)Rating: 3.5/5With roots in Sydney's west, Hyjak N Torcha hit us with a very raw, gritty and angst-filled debut in Drastik Measures. Five years on and they've surprised us with a follow-up album that reflects maturity in lyrical delivery and musical depth. Gone are the snarling, adolescent rhymes, the group returning here with more resonate lyrical styles and sharper production. No Regrets flows with melodic rhymes, roughed up with clever word play that deftly hints at their urban roots. With Change, the duo introduces electronic beats into their beat-heavy canvas, while some '70s funk seeps into the more upbeat verses of Bring Back That Feeling.Chloe SassonspinneretteSPINNERETTE (Anthem/Shock))Rating: 2.5/5The good news is it doesn't sound anything like Spinnerette frontwoman Brody Dalle's old punk band, the Distillers. The bad news is a lot of it does sound like solo-era Courtney Love singing songs Dalle's husband, Josh Homme, might have rejected for use by his band, Queens of the Stone Age. On the (genuine) plus side, the ugly voice Dalle adopted for the Distillers has turned into something more palatable - she actually sounds female on Spinnerette for starters - and even the imitation QOTSA songs have a seductive grunt and groove. Otherwise it's unremarkable alternative rock, where cool titles (All Babes Are Wolves, Baptized by Fire) fail to disguise mediocre lyrics and forgettable tunes.George Palathingal
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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