New Reviews: Cobra Starship, the Stone Roses and Mindy Smith

August 11th, 2009 by Rolling Stone Leave a reply »

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We’re exactly one month away from the release of Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3 and the end of the slow summer release schedule, but there are a couple new albums out this week to keep your ears interested until Jigga’s newest LP arrives on September 11th. For starters, there’s Cobra Starship’s third disc Hot Mess, a literal hot mess of chart-topping singles like “Good Girls Go Bad” (featuring Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester) and failed snark in the form of songs called “Pete Wentz Is the Only Reason We’re Famous.” The album earned a three-star review from Rolling Stone’s Christian Hoard, who adds that Hot Mess finds Gabe Saporta and Cobra Starship’s emo roots even further in the rear view as they (successfully) embrace their love of electro-sleaze and ’80s-pop dreams.

Also in our new issue, David Fricke reviews the 20th anniversary edition of the Stone Roses classic eponymous The Stone Roses: Legacy Edition. The double-disc collection features the album how it originally appeared in the UK in 1989—meaning there’s no “Elephant Stone,” for shame—as well as a second disc of 15 demos, B-sides and outtakes, including a previously song called “Pearl Bastard.” Fricke gives the reissue four stars in the new issue of RS, adding that the band was “briefly brilliant” at their best.

This week also finds the release of Long Island songwriter Mindy Smith’s Stupid Love, which earned a three star review as the former potential country star instead indulges her pop sweet tooth with songs like first single “Highs and Lows” and the Rumours-esque “What Love Can Do.” Also this week, you can familiarize yourself with Britain’s current club craze with The Sound of the UK Funky compilation, which scored a thre...

Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily

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