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The Arctic Monkeys’ third album Humbug leads this week’s fleet of New Releases. Coming just three years after the U.K. band’s breakthrough debut Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, Humbug finds the Monkeys, and especially frontman Alex Turner, maturing both in years and musical prowess. The band’s third album boasts a heavier sound thanks to producer Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, and the darker edge fits the morose grown-up world that Turner paints.
“[Turner’s] specialty is still thinking small, noting the everyday details of how people work hard to screw up their lives,” Rob Sheffield writes in his four star review of the “ace” Humbug. “He gets into bars more easily now, but he spends too much time in them not having enough fun. The women who reject him only make him slightly less miserable than the ones who don’t.” Among the album’s highlights are first single “Crying Lightning” and the Morrissey-esque ballad “Cornerstone.”
However, Sheffield was significantly less enthusiastic about the newest release from Australia’s Jet, who once again Xerox the AC/DC playbook with their new album Shaka Rock. There’s one song on here, “She’s a Genius,” that is worthy of standing in the shadow of the band’s 2003 iTunes commercial hit “Are You Gonna Be My Girl.” The rest of the album only earned two stars from Sheffield, who was inspired by Shaka Rock to create a new reality show, Are You Smarter Than a Jet Groupie?
Hasidic reggae singer Matisyahu also returns this week with his third album Light. Three years after his “King Without a Crown” was a breakout single, the novelty of an Orthodox Jew emulating Bob Marley has worn off, so thankfully Ma...
Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily