Rolling Stone Australia — June 2017

Ju ne, 2017 RollingStoneAus.com | Rolling Stone | 77

The Afghan Whigs
In SpadesInertia★★★★
Greg Dulli and Co. mine murky
themes and soulful alt-rock

Although lumped in with the
Nineties alt-rock movement,
this Cincinnati band developed
aswingandswaggerthattook
cues from heavy soul, R&B and
funk. Their second album since
reforming six years ago contin-
ues Greg Dulli’s exploration of
dark themes including power,
self-loathing and damaged re-
lationships. But opening track
“Birdland” signals a change in
approach,withsee-sawingMor-
ricone-like strings and chopped-
upbackingvocalsprovidinga
staccato rhythm. “Copernicus”
proves they’ve still got an ear
fornoise,butthere’sacinemat-
ic scope to the instrumentation
andanimpressionismtoDulli’s
lyrics that paint a more menac-
ing shade of murk. B.D.

Brother Ali

AlltheBeautyInThisWhole

LifeRhymesayers★★★½

Underground hip-hop hero

swaps anger for enlightenment

“Iamnotbeautiful.Iaman

elegant beast,” begins Broth-

erAlionhispeaceful,paci-

fyingsixthalbum.TheMin-

neapolis rapper meditates on

police brutality, race and per-

sonal topics like suicide and

family with a learned silver-lin-

ingattitude(“You’vegotaspir-

it that a bullet can’t kill”). But

themusic,producedbyAtmo-

sphere’s Ant, often tips from

inspiring to soppy, with sugary

pianos (“Dear Black Son”) and

mawkish horns (“Can’t Take

ThatAway”).Thatsaid,itsdra-

matic moments are sublime,

particularly the woozy trip-hop

of “Never Learn”. Ali’s message

is powerful; shame about (most

of ) the music. LAUREN ZIEGLER

Thurston Moore

RockNRollConsciousness

Caroline★★★

Sonic Youth guy surrenders to

mystical shoegaze sojourn

“Exalted” might be a cool indie

popsongifthechimingriffcut

to the vocal after four bars. But

no,it’satenseminutebeforethe

chordal vista opens; three more

til the stinging lead guitar and

almost eight when the metal

press shears your ears off. The

song’s muse (via London poet/

lyricist Radio Redieux) appears

after that, a prophetess “spaced

out in timelessness” and French

kisses. Gods and ghosts likewise

hauntthefoursongstocome,

inatexturalsouptellinglysea-

soned by Sonic Youth drummer

Steve Shelley and My Bloody

Valentine bassist Deb Googe.

“Aphrodite”isacosmicclimax

but naturally, the trip is more ex-

ploration than destination. M.D.

Little Dragon

Season HighWa r ner★★★½

Swedish dance-pop mainstays

strike balance of hard and soft

Having dipped a toe in the

mainstream with 2011’sRit-

ual Unionand then pivoted

away from the dance floor to-

wards Janet Jackson-inf lu-

enced R&B on 2014’sNaku-

ma Rubberband,Season High

settles somewhere between the

two,fusingtheBerlinglitch

ofRextheDogwithNineties

digital percussion and plen-

tyofswag.Therearemellow-

er numbers like the minimal-

lyfurnished“Don’tCry”,ledby

Yukimi Nagano’s pleading fal-

setto, and ice-cold club cuts

such as the hypnotic “Strobe

Light”, cantering synths and

stringsslicingthroughagloomy

bottom note. Insistent and de-

tached by turns, they’re beguil-

ing throughout. A.R.

The glorious

glitter cannon

crescendos of

2006’s Grand-

dance are gone.

As are any signs of the stadi-

um-sized ambitions of 2009’s

follow-up, Zounds, or the quirk-charm of 2004

debut A Smile, and its second act, the spit-

shined 2012’s Lake Air. The fi fth full-length

from the Sydney quintet is as imaginative as

its title.

Aside from a few f lirts with variance –

the heartland hope of “Know Your History”,

swooning chillwave wobble of “Stone Men”

and disco-funk counterpoint, the commanding

“That Sound” – Five is categorically capital-A

adult contemporary, where, between those few

selected side-steps, distinguishing each song

is isolated to inspiration source alone – be it

Fleetwood Mac soft-rock sway, Yoshimi-esque

melancholy or Ziggy Stardust-lite pop theatre.

The result sounds unmistakably unambitious,

a framework sketch of Dappled Cities’ previous

eff orts, where neither pop heights are scaled

nor rabbit-warrens of weirdness pursued.

The damage is done by the time we reach

standout closing track “Driving Home at Night

Alone”, a crushing take on the urges of adult-

hood escapism set to a dark, minimal synth-

pop soundtrack. It’s the band’s logical next cre-

ative pivot – yet unfortunately absent across

the album’s previous 10 tracks. JONNY NAIL

Zac Brown Band
Welcome HomeAtlantic★★½
‘Big Country’ dialled down on
ZBB’s seventh studio release

Zac Brown Band have throt-
tled down. Eschewing, for the
most part, the glitzy sheen that’s
slathered over most ‘big coun-
try’, Brown and Co. employ a
rougher, grittier edge, in the
process slowing things and plac-
ing the emphasis squarely on
the songwriting. Brown’s song-
writing has never been subtle,
and despite being full of heart,
it’s what lets the record down,
the by-the-numbers writing wa-
tery in comparison with the ex-
tremely talented band (Jimmy
De Martini’s fi ddle playing in
particular), which save Wel-
come Home f rom bec om i ng just
another ‘American big country
album’. SAMUEL J. FELL

Dappled Cities Five

Chugg Music/MGM ★★

Dappled Cities Come Up Short

Sydney quintet fi nd

themselves stuck

on fi fth LP