Pink’s Funhouse is More Fun

Oct 28

AndrewMusic Comments Off

It took a few tracks into Pink’s new album Funhouse before I was sucked in so completely. I’m a huge fan of Pink. Her musical style is so unique and I’m always blown away by her ability to go from bawdy to ballad and make it all so melodic. She says ‘fuck you’ better than any pop artist out there today, and probably more often at that.

To that end, Funhouse doesn’t stray much from the formula. The album version of So What is actually stronger than the edit on the radio. And while the first handful of tracks didn’t make a huge impression (except for the stunning and surprising Sober “How do I feel this good sober? Coming down coming down coming down.”) The fun really begins with the single-worthy title track, which is full of wordplay and a brilliant hook. Another highlight is the country-tinged Mean.

So there are no surprises on Funhouse, but Pink continues to take her signature pop sound and make it radio-friendly, touching and so completely satisfying. Like just about everything Pink has released, the songs here tackle the turmoil of her relationships and personal demons (like the deceptively soft-sounding It’s All Your Fault. “It’s all your fault, you called me beautiful.”) So what if there are no surprises? Funhouse is damn loads of fun anyway.

Staind Makes Progress on Illusion

Aug 19

AndrewMusic Comments Off

Staind’s sixth release The Illusion of Progress is a poetic, compelling alt-rock affair.  The lyrics are dark and morose at times (well most times).  Back to back ballads Believe and Save Me could almost be part one and part two of the same long-suffering track.  But don’t interpret the melancoly as a bad thing.  Here, Staind use the gritty tone to full advantage, and back off enough with some juice to keep the album interesting.  This is It is a sharp attention-grabbing song that was released as a digital single ahead of the full album release.

Tracks across the album come at the same, slow burn pace that makes a Staind song. But somehow, the band avoids any monotony from the electrifying fretwork on Pardon Me to invoking Johnny Cash on Tangled Up in You that strips away the band’s signature fuzz to great effect.  The album draws to a close with the gospel-tinged track The Corner, a standout track that has been streaming on their MySpace page.  Fans of the band will not be disappointed by Illusion and this is a great album for Staind to find attract new followers.

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