Ry Cuming
Ry Cuming
(Jive)
From the album opener “Some Kind of Love” to the closing meditation “Home” (featuring Maroon 5’s Jesse Carmichael on piano), Australian-born Cuming crafts an engaging debut. He combines cascading melodies with uninhibited romanticism, and isn’t worried about taking chances. Nor is the former surfer afraid to wear his inspirations on his sleeve. On several tracks he branches into a yearning falsetto like his hero Jeff Buckley. Elsewhere, he deploys stacks of distorted guitar chords likely held over from his grunge cover band. Wah-wah pedal bubbles below the surface of the sing-along “Meaning of it All,” and the drums in “Chemistry” wouldn’t be out of place in alternative rock. Lyrically, the subject matter focuses on love, and the heartbreak felt when fickle emotions fade. Consequently Cuming asks, “Could it be love?/ Is it love, sweet love?” All signs point to yes. —Michael Cimaomo
The Stone Coyotes
My Turn
(Red Cat)
The cool thing about the Stone Coyotes is that they’re just as much disciples of Dolly Parton as they are of AC/DC—kind of like how Jack White occasionally whips out some old-time Appalachian cred that makes surprised hillbillies choke on their moonshine. Barbara Keith and the Tibbles boys cruise mostly familiar territory here—after all, pure rock ‘n’ roll is not about reinventing the wheel—and “I Sympathize with You” could almost be ZZ Top’s “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” with some cool vocal effects wrought by the ubiquitous mixing hand of Mark Alan Miller. There’s also an unlikely cover of Rhianna’s “Disturbia,” but the most interesting/new thing is a track (“The Boy from the Rodeo”) where Keith harmonizes with her own vocals in a way that channels 1975 Fleetwood Mac—it’s not their usual fare but it’s definitely a neat pop twist. —Tom Sturm
Gitar
Stuffed
(Seeland)
If you drank 16 espressos and listened to a radio stuck on scan (in 1989), you’d approximate Gitar’s Stuffed. The duo is so intent on stuffing in bulldada samples that no larger purpose seems to emerge. The CD, significantly, comes from Negativland’s record company. One member, “I Cut People,” says this about the album: “Pop music, advertisements, radio, television and film are sent through the microscope and the meat-grinder, to be reorganized into fun, disturbing, satirical, informative and utterly ridiculous packets of sonic brain food.” It is, to be sure, a unique conglomeration of sounds. Its strongest accomplishment is conjuring a jittery sense of endless distraction that recalls, if primarily by its choice of sources, the Less Than Zero world of the ’80s. Stuffed never alights for long enough to be thoroughly examined, and places itself irrevocably in the experiment category. Alas, what slender effect it possesses is unlikely to be considered interesting listening for more than a few moments. —James Heflin
