My Two Cent(ence Reviews)

MGMT's album 'Congratulations' lacks anything approaching the holy triumvirate of Kids, Time to Pretend and Electric Feel. Is it the big middle finger we all should have seen coming when their followup to Oracular Specatular was Metanoia?

'Together' lacks the "power" in the power-pop that The New Pornographers previously excelled at. Nico Case is great, but in the context of the N.P.'s she's better utilized as a foil for A.C. Newman than as the centerpiece.

While 'World Sick' is world class, I'm not sure the rest of Broken Social Scene's new 'Forgiveness Rock Record' measures up to that song or their previous two l.p.'s. This one still needs some time to grow on me.

Lost in all the hubbub of owning the internet earlier this year, OK Go released a really good album in 'Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky.' I also had to miss this show when they came to D.C. but at least I got to see them on Colbert. (Ok, three versions of the same song may be excessive, but just check out the rest of the album.)

I have no idea how I heard of them but somehow but I ended up with Drummer's 'Feel Good Together' in my digital music library. Made up of all Ohio musicians, including the Black Key's drummer (bah-dum) on bass, the album is definitely a rhythm driven rock record, punctuated equally by guitars and synths.

Delorean - Subiza

Although Delorean has been around since 2000, they only began popping up on the indie-radar last year with the ep Ayrton Senna. Originally from Basque country, the band relocated to Barcelona where their musical stylings became a mishmash of rock, pop and dance. Although most of the tracks on Subiza follow a pretty rigid formula, it doesn't grow wearisome. Dance music figures heavily in these songs, but techno it ain't. Think the atmospherics of M83 with the buoyancy of Phoenix. Or perhaps one could make a comparison to Cut Copy, but whereas that band has a cold and mechanical sound Delorean gives a strong sense of the warm Mediterranean locale that they now call home.  With song titles like 'Endless Sunset,' 'Come Wander' and 'Warmer Places,' it's pretty clear that Delorean aren't reaching for deep meaning and that suits these songs just fine. 

Unfortunately, Delorean set the bar pretty high on their previously mentioned ep Ayrton Senna. Although Subiza is solid from front to back, but it never comes close to reaching the ebullience of 'Seasun,' one of my favorite songs from last year. But no matter; Subiza has arrived just in time for summer and after just one listen, you'll know that summer is exactly what these songs were made for.