The Deseret Morning News Pulse team set its sights on some new album releases, just in time for spring break:
ANNE McCUE; "Roll" (Messenger Records)**
On this CD, Anne McCue tries to combine classic rock and country. The result is something sounding much like folk songs.
An entire album full of songs about heartache, breakups and her hard life gets old very quickly. To be honest, "Roll" reminds me of hippie music.
McCue, a native Australian, plays acoustic and electric guitars, a banjo and tambourine, along with singing. Her "flower-child" aura is stifling.
There is one redeeming song though, "Crazy Beautiful Child." This is the only song on the CD with a sing-along chorus and a happy, upbeat melody.
I didn't like this CD initially but surprisingly it grew on me. Although I don't highly recommend it, it is fairly decent. — Kristen Nielsen
CHRONIC FUTURE; "Lines in my Face" (Interscope Records)** 1/2
To be honest, when I first listened to "Lines in My Face," I wasn't very impressed with Chronic Future — Mike Busse, Barry Collins, Ben Collins and Brandon Lee. But as I listened to it over and over again, it began to grow on me, like fungus.
This doesn't fit into any of my usual music types. Actually, it doesn't seem to fit anywhere. It's more like a mix of hip-hop, alternative, and rock.
One of the biggest strengths of this album is its diverse introductions and instrumentation, something many artists don't have today. I heard a huge variety of instruments and sounds, mostly done by synthesizer (Ryan Breen). The exciting guitar and awesome drums mix together very well to create a solid, energizing beat, accompanied very well by some incredible bass.
The lyrics seem honest and true-to-life, another thing many artists have trouble with. The topics are a bit strange, though. One song says "I had a friend who was way too young to die/I guess death is just one of those things some people do to life." See? True, but odd.
On the other hand, this album had some serious weaknesses. Although this album is quite strong as a whole, most of the songs are rapped with background vocalists taking over at the chorus. The lead "singer" had a very rough and annoying voice, which took away from the potential of this CD.
But after weighing the album as a whole, I'd suggest it to anyone looking for something new and slightly different. — Lisa Christensen
WALKING CONCERT; "Run To Be Born" (Some Records) ***
"Run To Be Born" is filled with quirky, nonsensical songs that, all in all, are quite clever. Each song talks of old girlfriends, catching colds and a messed-up studio.
Walking Concert, formerly known as Walter, Walter (Walter Schreifels being the name of the lead singer), has put together an album that you don't hear every day.
It all has that punk-rock feel to it. Schreifels wrote almost all the fun tunes that are on the CD.
Walking Concert was recently featured on the Fox network teen soap "The O.C.," which gave it a bit of publicity since the release of the album back in September. After listening to this CD,you'll be humming "What's Your New Thing" to yourself the rest of the day. — Coryn Cope
Kristen Nielsen is a junior at Bingham High, Lisa Christensen is a senior at Grantsville High School and Coryn Cope is a junior at Timpview High School in Provo, and are members of the Deseret Morning News Pulse team of high school writers. If you are a Utah high school student and have a topic you would like to see covered, please e-mail pulse@desnews.com or write to Susan Whitney at the Deseret Morning News.