Photo of Failure by Lindsey Byrnes
First Thought Fridays is a (mostly) weekly column offering quick-hit takes on some of the albums released this week, serving up first impressions, favorite or least favorite songs, and whether or not they’re worth a second listen. Check back for more each Friday night or Saturday morning.
I like to cover a mix of big names and lesser known indie artists in this column, but the way this week shook out, it’s all the already famous (or, in the case of Julia Cumming and Doug Gillard, members of already famous bands). As luck would have it, it’s also pretty much all good stuff. A programming note: there is a high likelihood there won’t be a column next week, but we shall see. For now, here’s my thoughts on this week’s releases, in the order in which I listened to ‘em:
Failure, Location Lost (Arduous Records): After the release of their last album, 2021’s Wild Type Droid, Failure’s Greg Edwards told Bass Magazine that “This feels like a good place and time to abandon the space iconography and theme once and for all.” The trio’s new album arrives five years later with an astronaut on the cover brandishing a rifle as he stares down a giant eyeball in the sky, so I guess there’s been a change of plans.
Failure—bassist/guitarist Edwards, singer-guitarist-bassist Ken Andrews, and drummer Kellii Scott—were one of the great unsung ‘90s alt rock bands before splitting after their third album, 1996’s magnum opus Fantastic Planet. In the interim, Edwards formed Autolux and Andrews issued work under a number of names (solo projects under his own name as well as ON, the supergroup Year of the Rabbit) and became an in-demand mixing engineer and producer. The trio reunited for 2015’s masterful return-to-form The Heart Is a Monster. With the release of this album, they’ve now released more albums in their second act than they did in their first.
Location Lost matches the space-rock sonic palette of classic Failure a little better than Wild Type Droid’s more modern sound did, and possibly better than any album since they reunited. This is an album that’s best played loud, Andrews’ impeccable production letting the massive guitars, rumbling bass, and Scott’s thunderous drums all sit forward in the mix without drowning each other out or turning to mush. The best songs are the early ones where the six-string heroics really shine, from the watery guitars of album opener “Crash Test Delayed” to the epic, woozy riffs of “Solid State,” the most classic Failure-sounding song and the best track here. On a completely different note, another highlight is the gentle acoustic lament “The Rising Skyline,” which features a guest vocal by Paramore singer (and noted Failure fan—check out Paramore’s cover of Failure’s biggest hit, “Stuck on You”), Hayley Williams.
Most of my favorite songs are toward the front of the album, but the songs that didn’t grab me as immediately still have fascinating sonic textures—dig the languorous vibes of the title track (straight out of The Cure’s Songs of a Lost World) and the muffled, staccato beat in the background of “A Way Down” that sounds like machine gun fire off in the distance. “Moonlight Understands” wraps up the album in suitable fashion, the guitars undulating like rolling waves. Will I Listen Again?: Yes. And I’ll hopefully be hearing these songs on October 21st when the band takes the stage at Delmar Hall.
Nine Inch Nails & Boys Noize, Nine Inch Noize (The Null Corporation/Interscope): The surprise collaboration between Trent Reznor and Alex “Boys Noize” Ridha was the toast of this year’s Coachella, and now it arrives in a recorded form that’s not quite a live album (despite containing a fair bit of crowd noise on some songs) and not quite (or at least not “just”) a remix album.
What it is instead is a reimagining of some of the Nine Inch Nails catalog into a throbbing industrial dance party. These new versions are all synths and no guitars (save a few squalls of feedback that could be either, I suppose) and (as near as I can tell) all drum machines and no live drums, sounding a bit like a early KMFDM meets the best the Wax Trax catalog has to offer. The track selection is fascinating, mostly eschewing hits (“Closer” is the only big single here, joined by a particularly awesome reinvention of its The Downward Spiral teammate “Heresy”) in favor of deep cuts, from album tracks on overlooked mid-career releases (multiple songs from 2007’s Year Zero and 2013’s Hesitation Marks, plus one from 2016’s Not the Actual Events EP) to a track from How to Destroy Angels (Reznor’s side project with Atticus Ross and Reznor’s wife, singer Mariqueen Maandig) to a cover of “Memorabilia” by ‘80s new wave hitmakers Soft Cell (originally buried on the single for “Closer” 30 years ago). The Hesitation Marks track “Copy of A” is the only song that didn’t hit for me; otherwise, this is a kickass groove of a record, with Reznor’s vocal howl in fine form and synths so heavy you don’t even miss the guitars. Will I Listen Again?: Definitely.
Julia Cumming, Julia (Partisan Records): I’m far from an expert in the Sunflower Bean catalog, but nothing I’ve heard from that band would have made me expect that singer-bassist Julia Cumming had a Carole King album in her, and yet here we are!
Julia is soaked in the vibe of ‘70s singer-songwriters, particularly King and the way she could use just a warm, plainspoken voice and piano to hit you right in the soul. Cumming is truly King-esque on the opening autobiography “My Life” (though I’ve never heard King sing a lyric like “I’m too lonesome or too horny, or too feisty or proud”) while “Emotional Labor” blends King-esque vocals with confessional lyrics that have a Taylor Swift twist (and a chorus that would have fit on Folklore/Evermore). There are more sounds too, though, from the peppy lite funk of “Revel in the Knowledge” to the flamenco-tinged summer breezin’ soft rock of “Hollywood Communication” to the strutting Haim-ish “Ruled by Fear.” “Forget the Rest” is a fun, bouncy album closer in the manner of Jenny Lewis with a simple, sweet message: “I love you/ Forget the rest.”
The songs are appealing, but even more impressive is Cumming’s vocals, warm but strong with rich but not overpowering vibrato. This album is not at all what I was expecting, but if you’re on its ‘70s-inspired wavelength, I highly recommend it. Will I Listen Again?: Yes.
Foo Fighters, Your Favorite Toy (Roswell Records/RCA): Opinions on Threads were sharply divided on the new Foo Fighters album, with about equal numbers of people calling it great, or terrible, or the contingent I find myself in: it’s not as good as Wasting Light, their last legit great album, but it’s pretty good. It gets off to a helluva start with “Caught in the Echo,” a real barnburner of an opening track that’s savage and packed with energy. Then “Of All People” comes in and it’s…basically just a slightly poorer version of the same track? Add in that the press materials have bandleader Dave Grohl promising an album of “noisy, loud bangers” and I was a little worried that Your Favorite Toy’s tracklisting would be a series of increasingly blurry photocopies. Fortunately, that isn’t the case here.
Contrary to his promises, there are a few mellow tracks mixed in: the shambling “Window” is a highlight as is “Unconditional” with its skipping, Police-like verses and power pop chorus, while the quiet-verse-loud-chorus “Child Actor” has melodic appeal but lyrics that are way too repetitive. On the “noisy, loud banger” end of the spectrum, the title track has a hypnotic Black Keys-y groove and “Spit Shine” is an abrasive throat-shredder.
Far from being a simple journeyman late-career album, the Foos are exploring new sonic territory here and seem engaged and locked in (not something you can say about a lot of bands’ twelfth albums). This is the first album with new drummer Ilan Rubin (ex-Nine Inch Nails) but considering how (understandably) drum-centric the Foo Fighters sound has been traditionally, it’s kind of surprising how much his playing just kind of fades into the background for the most part. On balance, it’s a pretty good record, not something I’ll necessarily seek out often, but if pretty much any of these songs came on the radio (and you know they will, because it’s the Foo Fighters), I’d definitely leave it on and crank up the volume a bit. Will I Listen Again?: Probably.
Doug Gillard, Parallel Stride (Dromedary Records): I’ve never really tried to rank my favorite guitarists, but if I did, Doug Gillard would definitely be near the top—not because of his technical prowess (though he is one helluva technical badass), but because his playing is so damn hooky, a skill he’s put to great use backing up the King of Hooks, Robert Pollard, in Guided by Voices as well as being Nada Surf’s second guitarist for most of the 2010s. Somehow, he found spare time between the 11 GBV albums released in the last 5 years to record Parallel Stride, his fourth solo album but first in 12 years.
I’m happy to report that the guitars on Parallel Stride are every bit as hooky as you’d hope. Gillard’s vocals, though, are a little less attention-grabbing, as he sings in a hushed everyman voice a little reminiscent of Elliott Smith. It honestly took a bit for me to get on his wavelength, but I still enjoyed the album on my first listen through it and liked it even more the second time. Favorite tunes: the muscular power pop strut of the title track, the Fables-era R.E.M. of “Yes She Loves Me,” the Byrds-y jangle of “Until I See You Again,” the “Cut-Out Witch”-conjuring “My Friends,” and the hypnotic, Frank Black-ish album closer “She Showed Me the Earth.” Will I Listen Again: Yes.
