All-star bands are typically hit or miss much like their sports brethren. Seriously, who hasn't wasted a night in a bar arguing whether or not an all-star team of collective individual talents could beat a championship team of lesser talents who have had time to develop cohesiveness? In this musical battle, the clear advantage goes to Tinted Windows, who comprise of mid-90s teen idol Taylor Hanson, Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, Fountains of Wayne bassist Adam Schlesinger and Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos.
Their self-titled debut could be the soundtrack for a fifteen-year-old boy headed out the door of high school with no summer job and his first serious girlfriend. More cyncial listeners might accuse this CD of being too sweet but considering the members it would be unrealistic to expect numbers that evoke the Cure or Leonard Cohen. This is power-pop at its tightest.
Bring Out the Lighters and High School Memories
The opener, "Kind Of a Girl", hooks the listener in with its head-bopping "oh-ohs" in the chorus and breakneck pace. "Back With You" begs someone to get the lighters out and sway to the power-ballad backbeat. While Hanson and Schlesinger's influence is heard through most of the tracks "Doncha Wanna" is a song that wouldn't feel out of place on a Smashing Pumpkins disc provided Billy Corgan had taken his happy pills that day.
Techno Veterans Could Use Some Fresh Energy
Depeche Mode could have used some happiness on their latest effort, Sounds of the Universe. Even though the push-button pop princes could never be accused of living on the lighter side of the fence (at least since "Just Can't Get Enough") their trip down the dark side of life at least had some bouncy synths and tounge-in-cheek lyrics. This time Dave Gahan, Martin L. Gore and Andrew Fletcher seem weighed down by their collective troubles.
Not to make light of their struggles but from the opening track, the hymn-like "In Chains", it sounds like a soundtrack for a funeral and the accompanying wake. The first single, "Wrong", goes perfectly with the disturbing video. This song is a disjointed mess that sounds like a car wreck. "In Sympathy" is the only track that would be at home during the Alan Wilder era, though "Perfect" might have worked well for Duran Duran on their Red Carpet Massacre disc.
This Contest Has A Clear Winner
One of the lyrics on Universe goes "I'm leaving bitterness behind this time/I'm cleaning out my mind". Maybe Depeche Mode will get back to optimism, or at least darkly humorous allusions to sadomasochism, on their next effort. But Tinted Windows' teenage-like innocence is much better suited for days of barbecues, swimming pools and blockbuster movies.
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