Kaiser Chiefs
Employment
(Universal)

B

Website: www.kaiserchiefs.net

Audioslave
Out of Exile
(Interscope/Epic)

A

Website: audioslave.com

Fans still mourning the loss of Rage Against the Machine should rejoice in the fact Audioslave has avoided the sophomore jinx with a solid and imaginative album which sets the band above other rock outfits. The union of Brad Wilk, Tim Commerford, Tom Morello and Chris Cornell continues to create driving and socially conscious rock, and even hardcore Rage fans are going to have to accept the great dynamic Cornell brings to the mix. Morello’s guitar work is as stellar as ever as he alternates between signature sledgehammer-ons and wild solos that push the envelope of axe effects. Album opener Your Time Has Come is a great track, with prescient lyrics speaking of too many people dying for no reason, and Doesn’t Remind Me is a haunting tune that mixes clean and dirty guitars without sounding like post-grunge garbage. Get it. Crank it.

Mike Warkentin

System of a Down
Mezmerize
(American/Columbia)

C



Website: www.systemofadown.com

Elvis
By The Presleys
(RCA)

C

Website: www.elvis.com

This sophomore album from Australia’s Intercontinental Playboys is well worth searching out if your tastes run toward medium-fidelity, bad-attitude, un-sloppy rock ’n’ roll. While the quartet may seamlessly borrow from some obvious influences, they ably craft their own unique mix toward winning the retro-garage sweepstakes. Vocalist Tomi Loncar has a sing-speak vocal yap that draws comparison to both Tom Verlaine and Hugh Cornwell channeled through Lou Reed. Organ, guitar and drums are all spot on, and there are certainly enough raving moments mixed into the steady songwriting to keep the crazed mop tops flailing on the dance floor. The IPs have created a solid album of mostly great songs (with boss titles such as Journey to the Centre of My Dirty Mind) that sound like everything and nothing else at the same time. Hip indeed.

Jeff Monk

So does it sound like Zeppelin? This time, it does. For his latest solo release, Percy takes things back a little with a disc that has strong ties to the sweeping, Eastern-influenced vibes of Led Zep. While a bit of a throwback, Mighty Rearranger is also unmistakably modern, with electronic effects thrown in courtesy of John Baggott (Portishead and Massive Attack). The overall character here recalls the dreamy, epic mood of Kashmir, and Plant proves throughout that his pipes can still carry the day. The best track is Tin Pan Valley, a rising piece based on a simple electronic riff but laced with atmosphere and a sense that something huge is about to occur. When that something does happen, it’s a sound to behold. Somebody order Robert a flagon of fresh blood — he deserves it.

Mike Warkentin

If you want a perfect example of living a life like a country music song, look no further than granite-jawed Waco, Tex., native Billy Joe Shaver. He’s been married and divorced three times (to the same woman), started a popular little musical style called outlaw country and recently lost his mother, his wife and his son all in the same year. This tribute gathers a slew of mostly Texan singer/songwriters to pay tribute and celebrate Shaver’s 65th birthday. Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Guy Clark, Todd Snider and others interpret Shaver’s songs or perform their own after completely ’fessing up to the fact that they stole their vibe from the gnarled birthday boy. Respectfully poignant, completely honest and simply wonderful from start to finish.

Jeff Monk