It really gets me going when the first song on a new (and much-anticipated) album makes me swoon on both a sexual and an intellectual level. Menomena’s “Queen Black Acid,” off their most recent album, Mines, does just that. Even more impressive is the equally stimulating bundle of tracks that follows. What girl wouldn’t like to hear, “You’re five-foot-five/not a 100 pounds/I’m scared to death/of every ounce” crooned over heavy brass? Maybe it’s me, but listeners can expect to be drawn in by catchy lyrics coupled with ever-changing delivery as the three Portland, Oregon natives share vocal duties on this new album.

It’s easy to classify Menomena as experimental, given the wide variety in sound found throughout their entire discography, which includes two previous LP’s I Am the Fun Blame Monnster! (2003) and Friend and Foe (2007), in addition to two EPs, Wet and Rustling (2003) and Under an Hour (2004). Add Mines to that list as well.

The acoustic grit of “Dirty Cartoons” reminds me of everything I like about live shows: hearing a stutter in a strum or a fault in what sounds like an otherwise perfect delivery. The simple addition of some piano also gives the track an impromptu feel, as if someone happned to lazily drag their fingers across the keyboard only make a splendid discovery.

A xylophone solo delicately opens the next track, “Tithe,” which became an instant personal favorite, if not for it’s simple beauty then for it’s heartbreaking lyrics: “Spending the best years of a childhood horizontal on the floor/like a bobsled minus the teamwork and the televised support/and nothing sounds appealing.” Driven and moody, the song showcases the band’s talent to create a surprise around every corner with a diverse selection of instruments—first a riffy guitar, next with bouncy bass, then a Korg-and-piano duet.

The second half of the album is more reminiscent of Menomena’s older work, specifically “BOTE,” which is heavy on the funk and brass. It tells a tale of reaping what you sow in a relatable “my boat is sinking and I’m lost” kind of way, while the vocals beg “Oh, sea legs please don’t fail me now!”

“Oh Pretty Boy, You’re Such a Big Boy” claims the longest song title of the album, yet has the least amount to say. Four or five lines are repeated over, driving home the track’s melancholy message:

All my life I’ve run away
From those who’ve begged me to stay
All your love is not enough
To fill my half empty cup
Your love, oh my love, is just not enough

The band has been criticized for feigning maturity, but I found Mines to be enjoyable without being too serious or calculated. This is evidenced in the last two tracks, “Sleeping Beauty” and “INTIL.” Here, Menomena find the perfect balance between what is ideal and what is real, pairing cohesive chords with sporadic, out of key movements, all without losing their sound. Perhaps that’s why Mines is such a success—it isn’t trying to be perfect. Rather the band seems to have let that fall behind a higher priority to mirror reality.

“Queen Black Acid”

This latest effort follows 2009’s Raditude, and Rivers Cuomo seems to be keeping suit with the ironic name-game, entertaining a possible title of Heavy Mental and telling NewsTimes.com “there’s definitely going to be more raw rock energy” on the album this time around.

The band is spending most of the summer touring Canada and the UK and will be back in the U.S. for Seattle’s Bumbershoot festival the week before the new album’s release.

After doing some hard time as a favorite iPod playlist, Stars’ albums from 2004 and 2007, Set Yourself on Fire and In Our Bedroom After the War, respectively, were retired and replaced by the release of the band’s latest album, The Five Ghosts. But not for too long. After a first listen, I missed the lovesick ballads and the clever mix of angsty and upbeat I had so guiltily and diligently indulged in on previous releases.

Take The Five Ghosts’ opener, “Dead Hearts,” for example, which reads like my most recent session at the psychotherapist’s office. Stars’ lyrical question-and-answer-style was more endearing on In Our Bedroom After the War, and I wish it didn’t remind me right off the bat of what I loved most about their older work. For the majority of the tracks on the new record, Stars misuse their talent, specifically, drowning out their drummer Pat McGee with a soulless beat machine and stepping away from the boy-girl ballad method they employ so well.

“Wasted Daylight” could have used a little more development musically (i.e., cut the chorus in half) and sounds more like a waste of some clever lyrics, which much of their audience swoons for. With a little help from their website’s feature of the video, I came to like “Fixed”, thanks to singer-guitarist Amy Milan’s angelic voice.

“We Don’t Want Your Body” is a standout and appropriate choice for the middle of the album—I might not have made it through otherwise. The following track, “He Dreams He’s Awake” waits nearly three minutes to kick in to a tune worth listening to. Finally, three-fourths into the track, the vocals and instruments finally manage to synch up,but much too little, too late.

Milan’s the star again on “Changes,” an inspiring track that features some rich orchestra coupled with a funky, synth-driven beat, which is different from almost anything I’ve heard from them and (cross your fingers!) could signal that they haven’t completely lost their game.

The next few songs feel like fodder… I mean, really, with lyrics like “this is the last song ever written… this is the last time there will be a last time,” it’s hard to take the album seriously, especially considering lead singer Torquil Campbell’s often overly theatric voice.

Stars need to take one step away from the separated feel of this album and a few steps back toward the nuanced duet sounds of their previous work. Discourse plays out in some of their “Making Of The Five Ghosts” video, which leads me to wonder if the lack of organization and track development here is the symptom of an overall illness. Milan and Campbell sound best when balanced together, period. The inner teenager still trapped inside of me hopes they can make a comeback worth waiting for.

The Brooklyn-based quintet—Luke Temple (vocals), Michael Bloch (guitar), Kristina Lieberson (keyboards), Peter Hale (drums) and Jennifer Turner (bass guitar)—has maintained the variety of sound present on their favorably received self-titled debut from 2009, but this time around, listeners might strain to find a cohesive musical thread, as the band’s often-ineffable sound takes on many forms. Here We Go Magic have been described as “indie-psychadelic-folk,” but after listening to Pigeons, the label makes sense. We get a little taste of each on the new album—though not necessarily in that order. Pigeons is more like a buffet than a carefully planned five-course meal.

It’s also a more refined record, but not to a fault. The music maintains the gritty live nature of hits like “Fangela,” from their self-titled full-length. The very catchy second track, “Collector,” was released as the first single off the album, and the pace pulses hard and fast as the vocals punch in and out, woven over and under each other like a round. “I’ve got a mild fascination with you,” Temple sings over and over. The song could have easily been the opener and would have lent to a more high-key entry than what is found in the aptly named “Hibernation.”

Temple varies his vocal delivery in “Surprise,” forging into a playful new territory an octave above most of what is heard on the majority of the album. The guitar and keyboard unravel, creating a jam session mid-track that’s eventually wrangled back in before the music slows into the following number, “Bottom Feeder,” where we get another chance to experience the more straight-forward folk nature of the band. Lieberson and Turner’s ethereal vocals float above twangy guitar strums and strolling baseline.

Sharing the similar driving pace of “Collector” is “Moon,” found smack dab in the sweet center of the album. Things start to get more synthy and psychedelic toward this end of the record, with tracks like “Old World United” and “Vegetable or Native.” The exception is “Land of Feeling,” which highlights yet another facet of Temple’s vocal range. It’s obvious he is fleshing out some technique when it comes to both his lyrics and delivery. Somewhere between storyteller and swooning a lover, he’s achieved an ultimate sex appeal which stands apart from the generally lighthearted tracks.

“Herbie I Love You, Now I Know” is the album’s closer, and also shortest track, clocking in at just 2:49. It features the bands telltale metered-yet-random percussion and no vocals, a nice release back into the real world where we first began our journey. Some might say that repeating three words over and over, as is done in “Vegetable or Native,” or saying nothing at all, (“Herbie I Love You…”) is a leap into strange new territory, but HWGM is still a young troupe finding their footing and testing their audiences taste thresholds. It might seem like a stretch, but adventurous listeners will appreciate their moves in all directions on this album.

Because we know you’re busy, each Monday we throw the coffee on and pack the new week’s most anticipated releases into one easily digestible list. Note that all items are listed under their US street dates and subject to change anytime.

Week of June 21, 2010
Chamillionaire – Venom – (Chamillitary/Universal Republic)
Diddy – Last Train to Paris – (Bad Boy)
Early Graves – Goner – (Ironclad/Metal Blade Records)
Eminem – Recovery – (Aftermath)
Kode9 – DJ-Kicks – (!K7)
L’Aventure- Television Tribute Compilation – (Aquarium Drunkard)
Sebastian Blanck – Alibi Coast – (Rare Book Room)
Stars – The Five Ghosts – (Soft Revolution/Vagrant)
The Roots – How I Got Over – (Def Jam)

Because we know you’re busy, each Monday we throw the coffee on and pack the new week’s most anticipated releases into one easily digestible list. Note that all items are listed under their US street dates and subject to change anytime.

Week of June 7, 2010
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today – (4AD)
Blitzen Trapper – Destroyer of the Void – (Sub Pop)
Casiokids – Topp Stemning På Lokal Bar – (Polyvinyl)
The Chemical Brothers – Further – (Freestyle Dust/Astralwerks)
Deer Tick – The Black Dirt Sessions – (Partisan)
Delorean – Subiza – (True Panther)
Here We Go Magic – Pigeons – (Secretly Canadian)
Konono N°1 – Assume Crash Position – (Crammed Discs)
Light Pollution – Apparitions – (Carpark)
The Magic Numbers – The Runaway – (Heavenly)
Nada Surf – If I Had a Hi-Fi – (Mardev)
Peter Wolf Crier – Inter-Be – (Jagjaguwar)
Regina – Puutarhatrilogia – (Friendly Fire)
Roky Erickson With Okkervil River – True Love Cast Out All Evil – (Chemikal Underground)
Rooney – Eureka – (California Dreaming/ILG)
The Roots – How I Got Over – (Def Jam)
Sia – We Are Born – (Monkey Puzzle/Jive)
Suckers – Wild Smile – (Frenchkiss)
Teenage Fanclub – Shadows – (Merge)
Tokyo Police Club – Champ – (Mom + Pop)
Various Artists – Eccentric Breaks and Beats – (Numero)
Various Artists – The Psychedelic Sounds of the Sonic Cathedral – (Sonic Cathedral) (Roky Erickson Tribute)
Various Artists – Twistable, Turntable Man: Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein – (Sugar Hill)
Viernes – Sinister Devices – (Kanine)
Villagers – Becoming a Jackal – (Domino)
Wye Oak – My Neighor/My Creator – (Merge)

The album is the second from trio Benjamin Curtis (formerly of Secret Machines) and twins Claudia and Alejandra Dehaza, whose debut, Alpinisms, was released in 2008.

Produced by Curtis and mixed by Jack Joseph Puig, Disconnect from Desire was recorded in the band’s home studio and mixed in Los Angeles at Ocean Way Recording.

This time around, in addition to a more distilled sound, the band is throwing in a little something for the Ms. Cleo in all of us, a set of exclusive School of Seven Bells tarot cards with the limited edition (250 pieces at $15 each) UK CD box set.

Other pre-order options include a double-LP (limited to 3,000 pieces) and a CD version of the album. For those who seek instant (albeit, not celestial) gratification, all of the above will receive an immediate sneak peek of the single “Dust Devil.” More pre-order info can be found at Merch Lackey.

While the band has yet to release a full touring schedule, SoSB will play back-to-back, sold-out shows at the Mercury Lounge in New York City on June 9 and 10 before swinging over to Europe and Australia.

In a note to fans, auxillary axeman Charles Spearin described the process, “this B-Room quickly became our musical kitchen where we cooked up soups of sound without the pressures time and money.” One of the experimental tracks, “Me and My Hand” made it onto the LP as the closing number.

All preorders of Forgiveness purchased via Arts&Crafts before May 4th will include a free copy of Lo-Fi. Fans in the USA and Canada can also get their hands on a copy from your local participating record stores.

The video was written and directed by fellow Dane Jesper Just. Beginning with a frozen, cracked highway, the clip follows a fur-clad woman through some rather chilly surroundings. The baited sound of the track is exemplified with care in the imagery. (Read: the crag-like, smoky surface of the earth, the mysterious Madame). The result is an unusually sensual experience for both eyes and ears.