(out of 5)

It’s finally cool to dance without a binkie-in-mouth/glow-sticks-in hand stance. At first, the latest wave of garage rock was a welcome change from the age of rave. Then hipper-than-thou became the accepted language of the music industry and suddenly shaking that ass was something strictly relegated to big pimpin’. Fortunately, trends are fickle in nature and people have tired of affecting wholly cynical ears. The Rapture is one band making it OK to bounce again.

The band’s six-song EP (Sub Pop Records) brandished its members as heralds of scratchy post-post punk. Two years later, Luke Jenner, Gabriel Andruzzi, Vito Roccoforte and Matt Safer have switched labels and expanded their repertoire, working closely with DFA (Death From Above), a producing duo that’s stood by them from the start.

After many drunken evenings spent toiling in the studio (and frolicking in the streets), the elaborately constructed Echoes is finally here—a remedy for rock and roll apathy. The debut full-length album is thick with equal parts computer-generated samples and live instrumentation and is an infectious call to the dance floor.

The opening track “Olio” sweeps in Robert Smith-like vocals over an increasingly rapid beat as Jenner’s screams become wildly urgent, “over and over and over again.” It feels hollow and hopeless, yet somehow still on an upward slope.

Throughout the record, Jenner is a drill instructor shouting out directions to dance, dance, dance! The passion is unrelenting, but intensity shifts on certain tracks. “Open Your Heart” is an aching a capella plea. A piano chimes with vinyl static while softly brushed drums shape a slow jazz tempo. It’s a sentimental break from the party, with strong solid notes that give listeners a chance to pause.

Swings in theme and pace help keep things interesting. Just when the constant blips and bleeps have grown wearisome, a distorted guitar cuts through and brings rough noise. There are also tribal drums, fuzz explosions, female screams, disco beats, speedy bass lines and even a cowbell tossed in for good measure.

Spin this record a few times, then head to the club for a bit of light-flashing table-dancing—and don’t worry, everyone else will soon be joining in.—JG

The Strangest Things
Longwave
RCA

(out of 5)

Whoever said “never judge an album by its cover” was obviously full of crap. I picked up Longwave’s The Strangest Things because I liked its cover (composed of what seems to be a grainy, black and white photograph of an Eskimo walking over a blue background with a huge red splooge just behind him. Don’t ask me why it appeals to me.) It turned out to be one of the best calls in my CD-reviewing career.
Longwave is a delightful surprise. This New York foursome that opened for the Strokes all throughout their Is This It tour. But by the time I saw Dave Fridmann’s name under the producer’s credits for this album I was slapping my forehead. I should have known all along that a band that would want the same producer as the Flaming Lips’ The Soft Bulletin is at least thriving for complete genius.

The band that Longwave immediately reminds me of is U2 circa The Unforgettable Fire. And I was pleased as punch to see the lead singer Steve Schlitz laughingly admit on the band’s bio page that he just wanted to start a band that sounded like that album. Longwave blows the ancient Irish sellouts when it comes to sounding like a GOOD band.

Of course, it’s easy to compare a band like Longwave to early U2, even if its lead singer didn’t admit to basically ripping them off. The aptly named band’s songs are composed of sonic and epic pseudo-ballads that make me want to spend all day hugging an anorexic-looking sad girl with dyed black hair and tiny scars on her wrists (after I blew up all her Cure albums, of course).

I recommend The Strangest Things to anyone growing up listening to his or her older brother’s Smiths records, anyone who genuinely cares that Sunny Day Real Estate broke up and anyone who thinks Zoo TV was one of the worst things to happen to music.—JS

Kill Bill Vol. 1 Soundtrack
Various artists
Maverick

(out of 5)

Quentin Tarantino has made several songs famous simply by putting them into really, really cool points in his movies. Where would “Little Green Bag” by the George Baker Selection or “Stuck in the Middle With You” by Stealers Wheel be without “Reservoir Dogs?” Where would “Bullwinkle Part II” by The Centurians or “You Never Can Tell” by Chuck Berry be without “Pulp Fiction?” And though there was no standout song or scene in “Jackie Brown” to warrant a mention in the “cool-songs-from-Tarantino-films Hall of Fame,” it is impossible to deny the hold that the music had on you in that movie and how it set the tone for the too-cool-for-school style of Tarantino’s filmmaking.

The music comes alive again with Kill Bill Vol. 1 Soundtrack, with the songs from Tarantino’s new foray into cinema now playing. And once again, the soundtrack is as diverse and sweetly cinematic as all the others. The album boasts songs from artists like Nancy Sinatra, Wu-Tang Clan’s The RZA, an instrumental from Isaac Hayes and even the theme song to The Green Hornet.

Just from those names, it’s easy to tell that Tarantino is still obsessed with the music of the ’70s. It isn’t hard to see why. After all, the director has always found inspiration in the violent irony of late-’70s cinema, so it’s natural that he would immerse his movies in the music of that strange time in U.S. history.

Tarantino is a natural at picking the right song for the right scene. I haven’t even seen the movie yet and I feel like I can already see the scenes in my head. I’m especially looking forward to the 10-minute version of “Don’t Let Me be Misunderstood” on screen.

In fact, if there’s anything wrong with this soundtrack, it’s that there’s not enough…well, music. A few of the tracks on this album are composed of just dialogue from the movie, a Tarantino soundtrack staple that just seems out of place on this one. Also, the album seemingly ends about four tracks before the CD actually ends. The last half-dozen tracks are composed of excerpts (excerpts!) of songs that I can only assume you can only hear upon seeing the movie in its entirety, and for some inexplicable reason, a few tracks composed of sound effects (with titles like “Sword Swings” and “Axe Throws”).

It feels like Tarantino had these things saved on his computer and then just added them there for the hell of it. There needs to be more soundtrack on this soundtrack, but I did like the alternate trailer of the movie, which you can view by putting the disc in your computer.—JS