Campbell: Tuned In: Placebo, Darkest Hour, Ocote Soul Sounds and Adrian Quesada

Placebo dispenses ‘Meds,’ engages in epic ‘Battle’

“BATTLE FOR THE SUN,” Placebo (Vagrant)

Since the 2006 release of their successful “Meds,” Placebo founders Brian Molko (singer/guitarist) and Stefan Olsdal (bass) parted ways with the comfort of major-label Virgin Records and longtime drummer Steve Hewitt, replacing them with indie Vagrant Records and barely-drinking-age drummer Steve Forrest. The risky leap into the unfamiliar has yielded the new “Battle for the Sun,” an ideal soundtrack for self-absorbed emotional masochists.

Yet compared to the slit-your-wrists “Meds,” that’s an upgrade for the English band. Self-pitying and self-destructive though “Battle” is, there’s something oddly inviting and life-affirming about its complicated sonic and lyrical structures.

Androgynous frontman Molko, a high-pitched lightning rod for drama, is weirdly entrancing with his trembling show of unsettling horniness on the charged “Kitty Litter”: “The way you’re movin’/Hips from side to side/Makes you all that I desire!” Elsewhere, his complex moods are likewise intriguing, yet not impenetrable, as he makes a determined stand on the title track, angrily embraces doom or “For What It’s Worth” and longs for danger on “Speak in Tongues.” And the swooping confessional “Bright Lights” is a shockingly soft and dreamy break from the tension, though even here the singer has to toss around lines such as, “A heart that hurts is a heart that works.”

Molko is the type of vocalist who usually appears to be singing about himself, regardless of first- or second-person pronouns, however on the third-person “Julien” he seems downright sympathetic toward another, singing over gurgling electronics, “Julien, you’re a slow-motion suicide.”

“Battle for the Sun’s” sound is particularly refreshing. Produced by Dave Bottrill (Tool), it shifts through irregular rhythms, sweeping arcs and nonformulaic transitions without straying too far from high-voltage rock — an effective result akin to Tool with a bit of a pop bent.

Considering its dark past, it seems like Placebo’s winning the battle for a well-rounded soul.

Rating (five possible): 4

Heavy-handed Darkest Hour buries bright spots

“THE ETERNAL RETURN,” Darkest Hour (Victory)

It’s got to be tough to have the kind of job in which you must convey or inspire a specific emotion.

Imagine the comic who has to take the stage at a set time every night and make people laugh, regardless of his mood or what’s going on in his life.

And it’s surely no picnic for the Washington, D.C. band Darkest Hour, a heavy rock quintet committed to apocalyptic pronouncements declared in an anguished growl draped in electricity and thrust out at breakneck speed.

Obviously puppies weren’t allowed in the studio when the band recorded its fifth release, “The Eternal Return.” Vocalist John Henry could ill-afford distraction when he shredded his insides, delivering a ludicrous and unvaried monster roar through every single track and offering lines such as, “Oh death, pull me closer to your cold embrace!” (on the track “Death Worship”). The rhythm section was likewise dedicated to a tunnel-vision sound — a speed-metal shtick that sees its effect disintegrate from bracing to draining with each subsequent song.

Darkest Hour is so locked in to a (literally) one-note vocal style and solitary cadence that listeners might not catch the artful flair provided by guitarists Mike Schleibaum and Michael Carrigan, who seem to be on a mission apart from their bandmates as they impressively swirl through a modern heavy metal flurry. And without that guitarwork, the 10 tracks on “The Eternal Return” are nearly indistinguishable from each other.

Meanwhile, the monotonous sonic overload smothers the recurring moments of hope and dreams of redemption that attempt to poke through the fury with messages that parallel the optimism of major religions and/or cults.

Instead, this veteran band chose to rage on above all else.

Rating: 2-1/2

‘Coconut Rock’ goes for the soft sell

“COCOCNUT ROCK,” Ocote Soul Sounds and Adrian Quesada (ESL)

“Coconut Rock,” by Ocote Soul Sounds and Adrian Quesada, is a fine example of bait and switch.

The terrible title implies some kind of cheesy new music genre not unlike the lame Russian rock movement of the 1980s that was allegedly poised to engulf America (yet didn’t). But it turns out “Coconut Rock” isn’t rock music at all. It’s more like a Latin Americana tinged in psychedelia, so it’s a bit surprising that the two key members are Americans: New Yorker Martin Perna, who leads the horn section, and Texan Adrian Quesada (of Grupo Fantasma), who leads the rhythm section.

There are few spikes of excellence in “Coconut Rock,” however there’s a high minimum-standard for the sound, which is uniformly sweet and subtly ingratiating thanks to the beckoning drive of percussion, liberal use of non-blaring horns and periodic employment of distant, echoing vocals.

Superb track “Vendendo Saude e Fe” (“Selling Wealth and Faith”) stands out thanks to the intoxicating vocals of Brazilian guest singer Tita Lima, who supplies a toasty jazz ambience. Meanwhile, “Vampires” has extra bite as the slapping beat drives home a charged political message, in English, against capitalism: “It’s impossible to avoid them ... Vampires, vampires, red, white and blue.”

Although it rarely demands full attention, “Coconut Rock” starts well with a trio of cuts that invite notice with calming cadence, a mix of horns (including baritone sax, flugelhorn and trumpet) and flecks of electro, and it closes well with the slinkier groove of “Prince of Peace.”

The in-between stuff is also endearing — stimulating in an understated way.

Rating: 3-1/2

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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