Pop and Rock

Rhett Miller

Rhett Miller (Shout Factory)

Rhett Miller's full-time band the Old 97's is an alt-roots outfit with a pop edge, but his solo work focuses on his pop muse with the occasional country and folk flourishes.

He's been around long enough to know how to balance the styles seamlessly, as he does on his tastefully crafted fourth solo album.

Without having to follow any template, the Texan weaves from the bouncy Like Love through the jangly I Need to Know Where I Stand to the Wilco-esque Refusing Temptation into the lazy shuffle of Another Girlfriend seamlessly. In a perfect world the jubilant Happy Birthday Don't Die would be the new sing-along at parties and the single of the summer, knocking the Black Eye Peas' Boom Boom Pow back to the depths of hell from whence it came.

The album loses momentum as it winds down and ends with a light kiss on the cheek rather than an invitation upstairs for a drink, but the 42-minutes you spent together ensures there will be another date with the play button. 'Ö'Ö'Ö1/2

-- RW

Voivod

Infini (Sonic Unyon)

Voivod's new album is something of a tribute album to guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, who died of cancer in 2005 during the making of the band's previous effort Katorz.

The guitar tracks on Infini were laid down on D'Amour's computer before he died, so it's a hodgepodge of different ideas, ranging from plodding to brilliant, sometimes in the same track.

Piggy was one of metal's most inventive guitarists and his riffs are typically strong, especially on album highlights From the Cave, Global Warming, Krap Radio and Volcano.

The fact that the band was able to make an album based on his guitar tracks is a credit to their collective skills, even though some tracks are simply rudimentary Voivod, particularly God Phones (until the climatic tempo change halfway through), Earthache, Room With a V.U. and Destroy After Reading. It would have been interesting to hear how the songs would have been reworked and reimagined if D'Amour was alive to tinker with them more, but it's a testament to his abilities that the album is as strong as it is.

Infini won't replace your copy of Killing Technology, but it's a worthy ending from Canada's greatest metal band of all time. R.I.P. Piggy. 'Ö'Ö'Ö

-- RW

Chickenfoot

Chickenfoot (Redline)

Don't let the stupid name fool you: Chickenfoot is a "supergroup" featuring former Van Halen bandmates Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, who have teamed up with guitar whiz Joe Satriani and Will Ferrell look-alike Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The result from the assembled arena-rock vets is surprisingly cohesive in a straight-up rock 'n' roll way. Hagar wails on sexed-party anthems like Soap on a Rope and Sexy Little Thing like he's just shot back a fifth of tequila and the chugging bottom end gets equal weight with Satriani's riffs, which proves he can handle rhythm duties in a band with a skill equal to his own solo instrumental albums. He gets to cut loose with at least one solo in each song, while showcasing his trademark dips and dive bombs.

Chickenfoot is a surprisingly unpretentious affair that's as good a soundtrack as any for a drive to the beach or for fans who miss Hagar fronting Van Halen. 'Ö'Ö'Ö

-- RW

Eels

Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire (Vagrant)

The first two tracks of the latest album from Mark (E) Everett's Eels set the tone for the rest of the record: gutsy, wailing blues numbers and tender, melodic downers. It's a formula he's been working for years, and there's not a tremendous amount here to recommend it over other Eels releases, though there's no denying the moper-in-unrequited-love appeal of E's patented husky-voiced laments.

There are some other keepers: the New Wavey/ska bounce of Beginner's Luck provides an unexpected and charming pop moment, and the opening track is a killer -- a fuzzy, Dylan-esque stomp called Prizefighter, on which E howls, "I'm a dynamiter... I'm a don't-do-wrong-do-it righter / I'm a prizefighter." That goodwill goes to hell with Tremendous Dynamite, however, which sounds like a parody of the kind of squalling blues he's aiming for (though the line "being the bomb is her birthright" is sort of awesome).

Eels fans may howl at the moon, but others should start elsewhere. 'Ö'Ö'Ö

-- Jill Wilson

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 27, 2009 C4