Scroll down for reviews of The Mendoza Line, The Clash, The Thrills and Maplewood

The Mendoza Line
Fortune

(Bar None)

www.themendozaline.com

Never before has a band, named for mediocrity, reached so high.

Since the first spin of Fortune, the new disc by the Mendoza Line - so named for the .200 batting average of Mario Mendoza and henceforth recognized as a reference point for sheer competency - I have been head-over-heels in love with it. Bittersweet and witty lyrics as well as hook-filled (and occasionally twangy) melodies spill out of the band's three songwriters. Each writer has his or her own distinct tone and feel, yet each track is also, certainly, a Mendoza Line song. Its cohesion comes through in their spirit and delightful looseness. This album delivers the heart of Dylan, the raggedness of The Replacements, and the poetry of both and if that praise seems extravagant then you'll have to take my word for it. Remember, I said I was in love.

Fortune leads off - like many Mendoza Line collections seem to - with a lazy rhythm track, in this case entitled "Fellow Travelers." Timothy Bracy sings like a graduate of the Shane McGowen School of Elocution as the song slowly builds with a rich choir of voices and slide guitar. "An Architect's Eye" is another Bracy- sung track; a fantastic bluesy shuffle with banging keyboards and soaring guitars all accented by the backing vocals of bandmate Shannon McArdle.

Ah, Shannon McArdle. To my ears, she is the Mendoza Line's clean-up hitter. Her voice is reminiscent of Lucinda Williams (though smoother, as though she's about a thousand shots of whisky younger than Williams) and her songs are more likely to include slide guitars, which makes her the reason the band sometimes gets lumped in with the alt-country crowd. "They Never Bat an Eye," a hymn-like ballad, does nothing to diminish that practice. "Flat Feet and Western Style" shifts back and forth between a rave-up and a lament."

She also sings lead on the album's brightest moment, "It's a Long Line (But It Moves Quickly)" written by Bracy and Peter Hoffman. In it she recounts a laundry list of bad relationships, tossing them on the scrap heap of history with deft turns of phrase and barely-masked scorn. And when she announces that, of all the men, "one's out to lunch and the other one's no picnic" I closed the polls and declared it my lyric-of-the-year.

Hoffman is the third songwriter in the band and the songs where he sings tend to remind me of Bill Janovitz from Buffalo Tom: a bit more straightforward rock with a more obvious hook than other tracks. "Tiny Motions" is the one that really gives me the Buffalo Tom feel; it does a great job of making more from less. There is space between the chords, but it continually moves forward, bringing the listener along through a rolling, hook-filled chorus. "Before I Hit the Wall" chugs with furious guitar riffing and keyboard parts that wouldn't be out of place on a John Hughes film soundtrack. Meanwhile, "Let's Not Talk About It" shows he can do slow songs as well as fast.

The Mendoza Line may have a reputation as indie-rock's loveable losers. They sort of stumbled out of the slacker-dom of Athens, GA up to Brooklyn, followed by stories of the occasional sloppy show and/or relationship breakdown. But this record strongly caps a great run (2002's Lost In Revelry is another must-own) that shows the band coming into its own. Search this record out. You'll likely find it at the top of my year's best-of list.

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The Clash
London Calling 25th Anniversary Edition

(Columbia Legacy)

www.epicrecords.com/theclash/

I'm probably always going to argue that The Clash's self-titled debut album is my favorite one from the band: that initial burst of passion, energy, and songs is near impossible to match. But after re-examining London Calling I have a better understanding of why some would argue that this is a better disc.

For The Clash, their punk spirit was still alive for this record, but the spit and anger had grown into an exciting mixture of a number of different musical styles that ended up being uniquely their own. But, really, is there anything anyone else can write that is a stronger argument for this album's quality other than looking at the track listing. "London Calling," "Train In Vain," "Death Or Glory," "Lost In the Supermarket," "Rudie Can't Fail," "Spanish Bombs," and the cover of "Brand New Cadillac" just begins to scratch the surface of what this album has to offer.

Columbia Legacy has cleaned up the sound a bit and added a pair of other discs conveniently filled with recently discovered materials. Disc Two is entitled "The Vanilla Tapes" and contains the rehearsals and demos the band worked up for London Calling. I'm always interested in hearing a song come to life through earlier incarnations, and this disc delivers that. The ragged recordings (stay on the mic guys!) include most of the London Calling tracks as well as a Bob Dylan cover. A track called "Working and Waiting" would later have vocals added and become "Clampdown." "London Calling" would get considerably faster." We learn how "Hateful" grew from little more than a repeated guitar riff into a fantastic song. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if they had captured / included any studio banter to help capture the mood of the times or at least a 15-minute rant from Joe Strummer about overcoming social injustice.

Also packaged is a DVD documentary entitled The Last Testament that covers the making of the album. It is mostly talking-head commentary, with some new footage and other interviews from the 1999 Clash documentary Westway To the World. The highlight of this comes as everyone recounts the exploits of producer Guy Stevens who famously pogoed around the studio, tossed chairs and ladders, drenched a piano in wine, and wrestled the sound engineer - all supposedly to improve the band's performance. Also included on the DVD is some grainy footage of the band in the studio as well as promotional clips for "Train In Vain," "Clampdown," and the title track.

All in all it's another classic package from Columbia Legacy. The collection of material along with the restored packaging (the 35-page booklet is excellent for reading or browsing) is exactly the type of treatment that a landmark record like this one deserves.

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The Thrills
Let's Bottle Bohemia

(Virgin)

www.thethrills.com

For their debut record, The Thrills went on a quest from their native Ireland to the sunny shores of California and came away with a delightful album that ended up on plenty of best-of lists. But what do you do for a follow-up? Can you discover the Holy Grail of Pop a second time?

They came close, choosing to replace some of the lush synthesizers with a bit more guitar punch and some of the lyrical sunny optimism with shady realities. "Saturday Night" suggests that the night that's right for fighting isn't always all it's cracked up to be. "Whatever Happened to Corey Haim?" analyzes American tabloid culture. "You Can't Fool Old Friends with Limousines" reminds us that no one forgets your past no matter how far you run. "Our Wated Lives" is self-explanatory. And "Faded Beauty Queens" admits "I don't know how we ended up here." Perhaps the most optimistic sentiment on the disc is "I found my Rosebud." Sure, he found it. But that's a tough loss to first go through.

To match the lyrics, the music has a bit more of an edge, but this is still a Thrills record which means full orchestration and hooks a'plenty. I think the band is going to need to find a way to shake up their formula a bit if they are worried about longevity, but what they are doing right now still works.

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Maplewood
Indian Summer

(Tee Pee Records)

www.teepeerecords.com

Have you heard? Quiet is the new loud. The guys in Maplewood certainly have as they offer up a pleasant disc of tunes tailor-made for driving along the Pacific Coast Highway with the windows down and the AM radio playing.

Maplewood is a sort of indie-all-star line up with Mark Rozzo (Champale) and Ira Elliot (Champale, Nada Surf) as well as Steve Koester (Punchdrunk, Koester) Craig Schoen (Cub Country) and Jude Webre (The Places) plus guest appearances by Alan Weatherhead (Sparklehorse). The band's sound most resembles that of another famous musical collaboration - Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Youngsters would refer to last year's record by The Thorns. But regardless of who you want to compare them to (come to think of it, The Flying Burrito Brothers wouldn't be a bad choice either) Maplewood is all about breezy harmonies, gentle 12-string strumming, and a hint of desert twang.

When I reflect back on the record I don't remember individual songs or hooks quite like I do the overall mood and feeling. This is possibly the most comfortable record I've heard this year. But don't take that to mean I'm tagging it as easy-listening. It's just that when the songwriting, playing, and harmonies are this tight, it can't help but be soothing.

There is a little sameness to the disc as a whole - it's like the songwriters chose all the more mellow tracks from their other bands' albums. But there's no denying the quality of what's included.

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