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Round & Shiny: Lightning Round |
 In the spirit of brevity we invoked earlier, we offer you snapshot takes on a handful of new discs.
The Fratellis' Here We Stand is a stellar follow-up to the Scottish trio's raucous debut, Costello Music. More musically ambitious, it's packed with knockout tunes, notably the indelible single "Mistress Mabel."
The soundtrack to the rock musical Passing Strange made history by being the first Broadway cast album to have a digital-only initial release (the CD version hits stores on 7/15). But this Tony-, Obie- and Drama Desk Award-winning masterwork from L.A. rock innovator and national treasure Stew (in collaboration with the similarly inspired Heidi Rodewald) is as witty and soulful a meditation on racial politics, drugs, sex, art and the search for identity as you're likely to find anywhere on the pop scene – and the songs are just brilliant, putting influences as diverse as Burt Bacharach, Funkadelic, Stephen Sondheim, Gilbert & Sullivan, Kander & Ebb and Gang of Four into a cosmic blender.
@#%&*! Smilers, the latest collection of reliably tuneful crankiness from singer-songwriter Aimee Mann, offers her world-weary voice in a slightly different musical setting, distinguished by string-laden arrangments, bubbling synthesizers and New Orleans-style horns. With the summer heat and political doubletalk beating down on your head, had-it-up-to-here songs like "Freeway" and "Medicine Wheel" really hit the spot. But Mann also disarms with astonishing tenderness; check out the soaring "It's Over."
L.A. alt-rock mainstays Weezer have put out yet another disc titled Weezer (their third – thank goodness for the easy-to-spot red cover). This time they deliver a pleasing ratio of new to old, burnishing their signature distorto-pop style but also venturing into some surprisingly grandiose and beautiful territory. Wherever they go, it's usually brashly melodic, playful and really loud, with choruses that hit home like a Mack truck. The most memorable track: the epic suite "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived," marked by enough careening genre shifts to give a musicologist the bends. Best of all, the 11-song set clocks in at under 42 minutes. Brevity rocks!
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