So what do you make of a rock album that begins with “Ode to Isis,” an orchestral slow build that chants the names of mythological gods? Or the lecture-prone title track, the 5⁄4 meters, or even the pictures of Bach and Shakespeare inside? Are Austin’s . . . AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD, who have always worn their loaded name with a knowing smirk, finally living up to their pretentious moniker? Fear not. On their fourth (and second major-label) release, WORLDS APART (Interscope), Trail of Dead haven’t moved from punk to prog rock. Surrounding the overblown ambition is a gale force of sonic melody. Songs like “Caterwaul” and “Let It Dive” layer on guitars, drums, and keyboards until they find a ferocious kind of beauty.
Reviewed by Jeff McCordEISLEY, a group of four siblings (and a neighbor) who began performing seven years ago in their parents’ Tyler coffee shop, might seem the most improbable of success stories. The youngest DuPree sister was just eight when she and her sisters, shunning cable and video games, sat in their room and honed a telepathic, childlike sense of vocal harmony. Adding a muscular rock backing created a novel sound, one that soon had the slavishly derivative record business falling all over itself. Their first major-label full-length, ROOM NOISES (Reprise), rerecords some winners from their 2003 EPs, but the new songs, with trademark melodies that unexpectedly swoop and soar, are equally impressive. By album’s end, Room’s gliding harmonies start to gnaw a bit on nerve endings, but Eisley makes beguiling and creative pop music all its own. Reviewed by Jeff McCord
Los Super Seven
Heard It On The X
Telarc
The conceit of the LOS SUPER SEVEN projects—which joined members of Los Lobos with the likes of Freddy Fender, Flaco Jimenez, and Rick Treviño—was an all-inclusive vision of Latin music that included in its lineup Anglos Joe Ely and Doug Sahm. Ethnic music has been homogenized longer than milk has, so credit the evolving LS7 bunch for staying true to their Tex-Mex roots. That is, until now. HEARD IT ON THE X (Telarc), ostensibly a tribute to the Mexican border stations that used to blanket the U.S., is an English-language Texas grab bag. Lobos ringleaders David Hidalgo and César Rosas are gone; instead we get Delbert McClinton revisiting Sunny and the Sunliners, John Hiatt rocking out on Sahm’s “I’m Not That Kat Anymore,” Lyle Lovett channeling Bob Wills, and so on. As you might expect, it’s schizoid as all hell, but occasionally it locks right on signal.
Reviewed by Jeff McCord
My Library
