Audioslave
Out of Exile
(Epic)
Audioslave make for an unlikely supergroup. Sludge-voiced singer Chris Cornell was in grunge-metal titans Soundgarden and followed several other grunge-metal singers (Cobain, Scott Weiland, Layne Stayley) into rehab. The remaining Slaves were once three-quarters of political punk-rap-metal heroes Rage Against the Machine, committed buckers of rock pig cliché. The success of Audioslave's first album proved the foursome could beat a middle path between their origins with meaty basslines. Out Of Exile sees guitarist Tom Morello up to his usual impressive tricks on a handful of songs. Overall, though, the metal edges are wearing off this project. Cornell has aged his voice into to a kind of approximation of blustery man-soul. The effect is that Audioslave sound more like an ordinary grown-up rock band, which is a shame.
Black Eyed Peas
Monkey Business
(A&M)
Their last album, 2003's Elephunk, upgraded the Peas from middleweight nice-guy rap troupe to four-times-platinum-selling international pop phenomenon. The celebrations show no sign of ending. Monkey Business keeps up the band's borderline-deranged energy levels, and hosts a variety of guests. Justin Timberlake's on the Timbaland-produced romp 'My Style', conscious rappers Q-Tip and Talib Kweli on 'Like That' and (less exciting, this) Sting on the 'Englishman In New York'-sampling 'Union'. There are a lot of Bollywood steals, Latin inflections and interpolations of 'Pass the Dutchie' to boggle the ears in the Peas' hyperactive fusion-happy music. But the downright strangest cut here is the raw 'My Hump' which features Fergie (the female singer who bumped BEP up into first pop class) going on about her 'lovely lady humps'.
Smog
A River Ain't Too Much to Love
(Domino)
Some artists are like airport novels, and some are volumes of short stories, outwardly unassuming, but highly charged. Chicago-based Bill 'Smog' Callahan has been producing potent songcraft for over a decade, but some of his latest albums have been his most rewarding. A River is one of these. The plucked emotional vibrancy of 'Palimpsest', the first song, sets the mood. But Callahan isn't as sexually creepy as he once was - his declarations of love on 'Rock Bottom Riser' seem, uncharacteristically, to come without disturbing strings attached. Even without the dirty mac, he remains a mesmerising writer and a riveting singer, his sparse tunes enriched here and there with piano, drums and backing vocals.
Sons and Daughters
The Repulsion Box
(Domino)
Glasgow's Sons and Daughters introduced themselves last year with startling live shows supporting Franz Ferdinand and Love the Cup, a mini-album full of rollicking songs on murky themes. This follow-up sounds like a crash of tour buses carrying Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and the Coral, with lead singer Adele Bethel dancing witchily on top of the rubble. She trades tonsil blasts with co-singer Scott Paterson, and their male/female face-offs animate the band's folk-influenced rockabilly. 'Monsters' is an especially effective shanty. It's obviously derived from the Bad Seeds but is given a fearsome slant by Bethel, who is no naturally gifted singer but a terrific vocalist never the less.
Turin Brakes
JackInABox
(Source)
The duo who stumbled to renown with 2001's mopey Optimist have brightened up significantly for their third album. Instead of their usual down-in-the-mouth strumming, JackInABox offers a little futurist bossanova and even twangy funk. Of course, the south Londoners can still do a passable impression of mid-period Radiohead round a soggy campfire, such is the rising damp of Olly Knights's singing voice. And there are songs ('Asleep With the Fireflies', 'Last Clown') that rival Gomez for crimes committed with guitar. But the sweeter mood suits them. 'Forever' is a pretty love song and the feathery 'Building Wraps Around Me' suggests the Brakes might be learning to lighten their touch and their outlook.