Ben's Blind Taste Test

by: Ben Siimes

It’s been a while, my loyal readers. My life has been filled with quantum theory and lots of unpleasant mathematics for the last few weeks so I have not been able to find the time to write up anything new. But now I’m here again, and I’ve brought along a new weekly column! This is Ben’s Blind Taste Test, a weekly write-up where I listen to albums I’ve never listened to before and I give you my most honest impression of them. For this week’s listening pleasures (and maybe a little displeasure), I have chosen 3 very different, unique albums: “AM” by Arctic Monkeys, “Electriclarryland” by Butthole Surfers, and “Troubadour” by K’naan. If you have any fun albums you’d like me to listen to and review, shoot me an email at rocktothemasses@gmail.com and I’ll give it a listen! Anyways, on to the music!

“AM” (2013) – Arctic Monkeys

I decided finally to listen to this album after seeing nothing but ravings about it on my Facebook feed, most notably by Rock To The Masses’ own Kitty White. Now, I was never a huge Arctic Monkeys fan, but I did enjoy their first album “Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not.” There was some level of punk infused indie energy that caught me a little, with infectious riffs and grindy vocals by lead man Alex Turner. None of that originality and interest is present on their latest release, however. The whole album just seemed like background music that tried too hard to sound like the Black Keys. The riffs, the guitar sounds, and especially the backup vocals make it seem like the Arctic Monkeys were trying to create a Black Keys tribute album. None of the songs on “AM” give me an impression that the band cares about its own music; it just sounds devoid of feeling and emotion, like they’ve lost the spirit that I so admired from “Whatever People Say.” Hopefully, Arctic Monkeys gets out of this funk and rebounds to create something more lifelike later on.

Album Rating: 3/10

“Electriclarryland” (1996) – Butthole Surfers

Up until yesterday, I had never heard a Butthole Surfers song outside of “Who Was In My Room Last Night?” from Guitar Hero II and “Pepper.” Listening to this album, though, has sparked in me a newfound love of this quirky hardcore band. It’s immediately obvious that this bizarre band from Texas draws much of its inspiration from the hardcore punk scene of the 80’s. Many of the songs on this album may easily have been Black Flag or Fugazi songs that were never released until the 90’s. The opening track, “Birds,” is about as heavy a track as I can think of from that era. Besides just having grinding, sped up guitar tracks, Butthole Surfers can get weird. Songs like “My Brother’s Wife” and “Let’s Talk About Cars” are just a few of the acid-riddled exploratory tracks that hearken to Jimi Hendrix in composition as well as pave the way for future bands to follow. Bands like MGMT, Muse, and others that employ psychedelic grooves and bizarre echoes and backtracking definitely subscribed to what Butthole Surfers were pushing. “Electriclarryland” is a trip through hardcore-psychedelic-surf-punk-pop-rock that will leave you saying “…wh…what?,” but in a good way.

Album Rating: 8.5/10

“Troubadour” (2007) – K’naan

Back last year, I went to Central Park in NYC to see a concert unlike any other. Global Citizen Festival was one of those concerts you will never forget: the headliners were the Black Keys, Foo Fighters, and Neil Young + Crazy Horse. That alone ought to get your Spidey senses tingling, because that lineup is heavenly to say the least. But among the superstars who were playing to thousands of screaming fans on the Great Lawn was K’naan, a relatively unknown rap artist opening for 3 of the greatest rock bands of our time. I was skeptical at first, but I immediately fell in love with his style, eschewing the normal rap treatment of having an above average amount of swears and curses per sentence than normal for lyrics about his story, his life. Fast forward to yesterday, when I finally remembered to find his music. I listened to his breakout album, “Troubadour”, and I was floored. It sounded like a more honest version of Outkast’s music, drawing from K’naan’s life in Somalia and the struggles that he had to face to make it in America’s music scene. The beats were infectious and even caused me to dance a bit in my seat, which is usually only reserved for Red Hot Chili Peppers. What surprised me even more, in particular, was the track “If Rap Gets Jealous,” a heavy punk rock song among traditional rap songs that shows off K’naan’s versatility as both a song writer and singer.  I haven’t listened to such an incredible album in a long time, and “Troubadour” has definitely propelled itself into my list of favorite albums overnight.

Album Rating: 9.5/10