Tuesday, February 16, 2010

The Luxury - This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things - 2007


You might say Jason Dunn’s new band sounds like his old band because it’s still his voice, his guitar, and some of his songs, but I’d say The Luxury is a step up musically from the Halogens; this incarnation can blow the doors off the club, as well as do the various elegant takes on better-than-Coldplay anthemic pop, see the end of “Rockets and Wrecking Balls.” There, and on “Let Go,” the record’s opener, the change of lineup has produced a rock band with some Oasis in the big hummable choruses, long wah-wah outro solos, and oddly, some REM in the driving pop of “Seven Stories.” For good measure, there are nods to Revolver era Beatles in the weaving of strings and cool sounds into the CD’s sonic periphery on “Malcontent,” another track that blends the (excellent) singer at the piano with the big guitar sound in a way that's classic sounding without being derivative.- The Noise



The Luxury - This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things - 2007/rs
or
The Luxury - This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things - 2007/sb