CD REVIEWS
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday September 25, 2009
the cribsIGNORE THE IGNORANT (Wichita/Shock)Rating: 3.5/5Very 1980s is this third album from the Brits, who have added Johnny Marr to their line-up to salutary effect. We're not talking terse post-punk or handbag disco but the bulging neck veins and earnestly staring eyes of intense indie rock, balancing garage urgency with out-on-the-moors big feels. There are many classic Marr guitar sounds and melodies scattered throughout these to leaven the ever-bustling other instruments and if the vocals aren't the prettiest, they don't stint on passion and it actually feels like they mean it. There is no genre breakthrough here but, then, it doesn't sound like another bunch of lads after a diet of lagerburgers, either. Surprisingly and consistently enjoyable.Bernard Zuelhenry manetta and the tripSEXJAZZ (Rivage)Rating: 3/5As the title suggests, there is a sense of humour at work here; a sly wink to let you know Melburnian Henry Manetta doesn't take this jazz lark too seriously, even if his singing is super cool, overtly clever and executed with considerable panache. You can hear echoes of Elling or Tom Waits but Manetta is carving out his own niche, with the help of songwriting partner Adam Rudegeair (on keyboards and marimba), by throwing R&B sassiness in amid the slippery jazz grooves and harmonies. Saxophone, bass and drums flesh out the songs, which keep Manetta's crooning, swooping, growling, scatting and generally zany voice and lyrics centre stage.John Shandel perro del marLOVE IS NOT POPRating: 2.5/5(Rogue/Inertia)Soon to be touring with Sarah Blasko, Swede Sarah Assbring (I wonder why she prefers to play under the name El Perro Del Mar?) hovers between sweet and dangerous. The surface is usually delicate and unobtrusive, even when she skips up the beats a tad, all airy gentleness and low-key keyboards and guitars. Her voice is wafty and it's always more whisper than scream, by choice as much as by limitations. But as with her cover of Lou Reed's Heavenly Arms, there's some tension beneath that surface. The pity of it is that there isn't more. Unlike Blasko's complex emotions, these songs are more sketches than full images. They're tugging at us rather than yanking us in completely.Bernard Zuel
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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