Amazing! Three excellent rock records came out in the past month. Who’da thunk it?

Pearl Jam – “Backspacer” I really liked their last record – more than any that came after Vitalogy. But this new one is a different animal. What you’ve got here is eleven short, fast, tight, fun pop songs. I don’t mean pop in a derogatory sense – ‘cause I love guitar based pop. I just mean these songs are bright and shiny and will sound good coming out of your radio on a summer afternoon. Even the ballad “Just Breathe” hits that mark. It is a totally unstressed album and I, for one, appreciate it.
Built To Spill – “There Is No Enemy” It seems BTS fans fall into two categories: those who revere Keep It Like A Secret (short songs) and those that worship Perfect From Now On (long songs). I consider myself part of the latter camp. The new album tries to have it both ways and pretty much succeeds. The short songs are okay, particularly “Hindsight”. But the long tunes are golden. “Done” and “Tomorrow” help the album end on a really high mark. Also liked “Planting Seeds” with it’s tip-o-the-hat to Bill Hicks.
Mission Of Burma – “The Sound, The Speed, The Light” Yes! My favorite band has a new album! The new one isn’t as blistering as The Obliterati. There is a bit of laying back here, but anyone who knows MOB knows that those tunes are great. Here you’ve got “After The Rain”, “Feed” and “Slow Faucet”, which will be great in concert. There are some slack tunes. The record didn’t kick in for me until “Forget Yourself”, but from there on it was an excellent addition to the canon.

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