Albums of the Week
How to Destroy Angels
“Welcome Oblivion”
★★
HERE’S an odd p.r. move: Less than two weeks before the first full album release by his new group, How To Destroy Angels, Trent Reznor announced a forthcoming “return” Nine Inch Nails tour. Nothing quite like trotting out the better-known brand right before launching a new one, eh?
“Welcome Oblivion,” which is mostly sung by Reznor’s wife, Mariqueen Maandig, is suitably underwhelming, long on interesting musical ideas (the swirling strings of “On the Wing,” the laptop fritz of “Strings and Attractors”) but short on memorable songs.
One exception: “Too Late, All Gone,” with a title that has unintentional resonance in the wake of the NIN news.
They Might Be Giants
“Nanobots”
★★
BROOKLYN’S They Might Be Giants just about define uncool. But John Flansburgh and John Linnell can sway you, despite their unrepentant dorkiness — their tunes are really catchy, their genre pastiches and parodies are loving (and unnervingly accurate). Still, they’re annoying.
On their 16th album, that means a geeky ode to Nikola Tesla and a song titled “Call You Mom” that sounds like a harebrained sitcom pilot. No, it’s not kinky: They Might Be Giants-land is a wholesome place. That’s the reason they’ve successfully crossed over to kids’ records. Still, it’s nice to hear them addressing adults again, however nominally.
Downloads of the Week
Chelsea Light Moving
“Groovy and Linda”
★★ 1/2
EX-SONIC Youth guitarist-singer Thurston Moore’s new band sounds — surprise! — kind of like Sonic Youth. This cut from Chelsea Light Moving’s self-titled debut has that band’s tinny mid-’90s clang, dry and dissonant but poppy just the same, with Moore casting a story-writer’s eye on the younger bohemians with whom he surrounds himself.
Son Volt
“Hearts and Minds”
★★
THESE St. Louis indie-country vets, led by Jay Farrar (whose earlier band, Uncle Tupelo, pretty much invented the alt-country style), preview their seventh album, “Honky Tonk,” with this friendly tune. It’s neat and pretty, but also rather pallid, like most everything else Son Volt has done.
Kate Nash
“Death Proof”
★ 1/2
THis track from the young British singer’s new album, “Girl Talk,” was inspired by the Quentin Tarantino movie — in other words, it’s got surf guitars. That’s all that distinguishes it, unless you’re excited by Nash’s flat charmlessness (“I don’t have time today,” she sings, sounding it) just because she has an accent.
Shlohmo Feat. How to Dress Well
“Don’t Say No”
★★
GEEKY indie types have been trying their hand at R&B for years, as on this not-bad forlorn ballad. Shlohmo is an LA laptop beat-maker now in Brooklyn; on his “Laid Out” EP he recruited Tom Krell of How To Dress Well to croon over one of his moonier tracks.