Soundbites: Album reviews

By Josh Eiserike

Published: March 27, 2008

» DODOS, "Visiter"

Drummer Logan Kroeber was weaned on heavy metal, but there's nothing metal about San Francisco-based Dodos. Still, all his high velocity pounding experience serves him well, teamed with singer-songwriter Meric Long. The Dodos—think Animal Collective looseness without most of the freak rock excesses. Their second full-length, "Visiter," is glorious collage of finger picking, layered percussions and driving acoustic guitars, coming together behind straight-forward pop vocal melodies. Check out the video for album highlight, the infectiously subdued "Fools" over at YouTube.com, or poke around the Internet for a free Mp3, well worth the time it'll take you to Google. But, the only problem with "Visiter" is that at 14 tracks, it overstays its welcome. Songs like "Paint the Rust" and "Jodi" (12 and a half minutes between the two of them) border on excess. But the rest of it? Enjoy. 

»P.O.D., "When Angels and Serpents Dance"

Release date: April 8

"When Angels and Serpents Dance" is meant to be played at the highest decibel possible. Unless you're already a fan of the Christian head bangers' reggae-tinged nu-metal, that's not necessarily a good thing. Vague spiritualism aside, the majority of the tracks are interchangeable anthems backed with a lot of yelling. But "When Angels and Serpents Dance" isn't all headache, especially when the screaming stops and front man Sonny Sandoval actually throws down some melody. It works best on "Shine With Me," a catchy number where the screaming counters chorus instead of merely highlighting the angst with refrain. Forget the slick, layered guitars and mosh pitting--the best moments are mid-tempo tracks (which would be slow dances by metal standards) such as the "Walk On The Wild Side" character sketches on "It Can't Rain Every Day" and the genre-bending instrumental "Roman Empire."

»GLEN PHILLIPS, "Secrets of the New Explorers"

Fans of Phillips' solo stuff already know this, but the rest of you, consider yourself warned: Don't listen to "Secrets of the New Explorers," Phillips' new EP, expect-ing anything like his biggest hit, "Good Intentions," which he recorded with his former band, Toad the Wet Sprocket. "Secrets…" is stripped down interstellar travel, knocked off in five days last November. "Solar Flare" is the best of the bunch, an infectious nursery rhyme about a spaceship's demise. "Space Elevator" brings in some muted guitars, but for the most part, these are quieter numbers, like the haunting closer, "A Dream" would sound much better live in a small coffee shop than blasting from a car stereo. The good news, then: he's coming to Jammin' Java, where you can buy "Secrets…" (or just stream it for free at glenphillips.com)

»JULIE OCEAN, "Long Gone But Nearly There"

Released in May

D.C. quartet Julie Ocean's debut album is pretty much the musical equivalent of inhaling a couple Pixie Stix: 10 tracks, just over 25 minutes of unapologetic pop. It's been done be-fore, it'll be done again, but who cares? It's just fun. The logical comparison would be to front man Jim Spellman's old band, Velocity Girl. With Julie Ocean, the songs are shorter and more focused. But Spellman, stepping out from behind the drums to plug in a guitar and sing, lacks the personality and charm that Sarah Shannon brought to Velocity Girl. Spellman's a solid songwriter (check out "Here Comes Danny," at over five minutes, the longest song in the set by far) but he doesn't do much to distinguish himself vocally. Still, that's a small gripe. Spellman gets the job done—and hooks into your head.