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 Sleigh Bells
Treats (Mom+Pop)
A half hour of double-dutch girl power, flanked by a deafening artillery of noisy guitars and hip hop backbeats. The loud, thrifty and bubbly heavy metal cheerleading is akin to getting punched in the temple with a fistful of Sweet Tarts, but this musical piñata never seems to run out of candy. By the end, you’ll be convinced the psychotic bat-wielding kids are coming for your head. 9/10 Trial Track: “Crown on the Ground” (Erik Leijon)
The Black Keys
Brothers (Nonesuch/Warner)
As masterful as this Ohio duo was at breathing new life into the 12-bar blues form, it’s their more recent work that really breaks new ground. Repetition and groove is the name of the game here as singer Dan Auerbach tucks his guitar histrionics in a bit and lets his soulful croon guide these raw soul blasts. They can still cook up some swampy blues, like the stellar “She’s Long Gone,” but it’s with the psyched-out soul of “The Only One” that they prove they still have new tricks up their sleeves. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Everlasting Light” (Johnson Cummins)
The Dead Weather
Sea of Cowards (Third Man/Warner)
This second effort headed up by White Stripes’ Jack White and the Kills’ Alison Mosshart, is once again rounded out by members of Queens of the Stoneage and White’s “other” band the Raconteurs, and should prove to be a big one. Fat funk grooves and noisy jams mingle with blues as the band is ripped from the tether and allowed to roam free on dynamic, driven workouts. Nothing reinvents the wheel here, but there are too many great moments to be ignored. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Die By the Drop” (Johnson Cummins)
 Free Energy
Stuck on Nothing (DFA/Astralwerks)
The music of kids acting cool back in the days when they were still alright. LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy produces this Philadelphia-based quintet’s homage to Thin Lizzy’s rebellious, hard-rocking youth motif, to the extent that every guitar solo or big chorus appears ready to kick into “The Boys Are Back in Town.” The added strings and horns don’t make this spirited debut any less young or American. 8/10 Trial Track: “Bad Stuff” (Erik Leijon)
 Goatsnake
Flowers of Disease (Southern Lord)
Originally released a decade ago, this reissued doom-fest featuring Scream’s Pete Stahl and Sunn O)))’s Greg Anderson easily stands the test of time. Compared to the current crop of doomsayers, it’s Stahl’s melodic take on the downtrodden riffs that really make this mandatory. Along with Saint Vitus, Kyuss and Sleep, this is as classic as it gets, yet it can still sling its fair share of sludge next to current bong-bubblers. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Easy Greasy” (Johnson Cummins)
Stereo Total
Baby Ouh! (Dare to Care/Select)
Françoise Cactus and Brezel Göring are back with 17 bursts of kaleidoscopic electro fluff in French, German, Japanese, Spanish and English. Songs about Andy Warhol, Divine, biological clocks, Peter Pan syndrome, sex and boots (plus covers of Corbeau’s “Illégal” and Kraftwerk’s “Tour de France”) are backed by synths, guitars, drums and loads of squeaky-toy/chiptune SFX, making for a fun, if occasionally unnerving sonic stew. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Barbe à papa”
(Lorraine Carpenter)
 Wintersleep
New Inheritors (Labwork/EMI)
Recorded and mixed by Tony Doogan (Belle and Sebastian, Mogwai), this Halifax band’s fourth LP is a solid pop-rock record with a dark side. Packed with big hooks and amped-up guitars, strings, keys and brass, the record also incorporates minor chords, romantic angst, grim assessments of modern life and vocals in the key of Interpol. 8/10 Trial Track: “New Inheritors” (Lorraine Carpenter)
Holy Fuck
Latin (Young Turks/Select)
Bocce
Disambiguation (Dadmobile)
New ones from two preeminent Canadian acts trading in groove-minded rock sans guitar. Literally born in a barn as it may be, the second album from Toronto’s Holy Fuck finds them pretty housebroken. This new assiduousness doesn’t detract from the miasmic dub-funk and solid-state hosannas they’ve been flooring folks with worldwide. The title of Bocce’s debut long-player indicates a comparable resolve following a promising ’08 EP. The Waterloo, ON quartet take an affable tack, specializing in sparkling synth-capades and disco horseplay. Unambiguously good stuff. Both 8/10 Trial Tracks: Holy Fuck, “Latin America,” Bocce, “Mr. X (Board Game Character)” (Rupert Bottenberg)
 Reflection Eternal
Revolutions Per Minute (Warner)
Ten years after their now-classic debut, the team-up of Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek re-emerges with a second long-player, a sophomore record informed by the best aspects of a decade’s worth of progress, and a generation in hip hop comes full circle. Listen no further than the Jay-Z sample hook early on to understand that these two inspired a revolution and stuck around to build on it for a minute. Listen closely end-to-end to hear what they learned. 9/10 Trial Track: “In This World” (Darcy MacDonald)
Kavinsky
Nightcall (Record Makers)
Take a lethargic, thumping 4/4 beat, add a dramatic, looped ’80s-movie-soundtrack synth line and a couple of those epic Alan Braxe French-house keyboard horn blasts, then maybe a sample from some crappy car movie or perhaps a Decepticon voice blabbing about driving, and you’ve got Kavinsky. He hasn’t budged an inch in the four years he’s been releasing EPs, and this one isn’t a breakthrough. But the album art is, as usual, awesome. 6.5/10 Trial Track: “Nightcall” (Jack Oatmon)
 Carolina Chocolate Drops
Genuine Negro Jig (Nonesuch/Warner)
This is the third set for this intriguing trio, who faithfully recreate the bluegrass and folk music of the 1930s, only occasionally adding contemporary references to the mix. Banjos, fiddles and jugs figure prominently on songs like “Peace Behind the Bridge,” while elsewhere they strip down more recent tracks like Blu Cantrell’s “Hit ‘Em Up Style” to bare-bones testimonials. 7.5/10 Trial track: “You’re Baby Ain’t Sweet Like Mine” (Gerard Dee)
 The Rent
Musique de Steve Lacy (Ambiances Magnétiques)
Swift, skillful, imaginative, efficient. The music that Steve Lacy wrote is like this, and so are the players in the Rent, a Toronto quintet led by trombonist Scott Thomson. On their first disc, the band is all this and also exuberant, precise and swinging. They’ve discovered a way into a house full of air and light, and it’s delightful to hear how thoroughly they explore and enjoy the situation. 9/10 Trial Track: “Multidimensional” (Gordon Allen) With Maria Chavez, Seeded Plain at L’envers, Thurs. May 20, 9 p.m., $7
MINI CD REVIEWS
Japandroids No Singles (Polyvinyl) Canada’s most passionately aggressive rock duo re-releases their first two EPs in one package. 7.5 (EL)
The Crinn Dreaming Saturn (Nuclear Blast) Dillinger Escape Plan fiends: your second favourite band has arrived. 7 (JC)
Rose Cousins The Send Off (Old Farm Pony) East Coast songstress (and Joel Plaskett affiliate) skilfully straddles folk and pop, modernity and antiquity, cool and cute. 7 (LC) With Flora Poste at Petit Campus, Tues., May 25, 8 p.m., $20/$10 students
Tracey Thorn Love and Its Opposite (Merge) Onetime Everything but the Girl chanteuse (and the voice of Massive Attack’s “Protection”) sedates more than seduces on her third solo LP. 5 (LC)
Green Day American Idiot: The Original Broadway Cast Recording (Reprise/Warner) From “Longview” to jazz hands—American Idiot gone American Idol. 0 (EL)
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