New Release Tuesday

Every year, and usually it is in the summer months, one Tuesday ranks higher than any other Tuesday in the books for me, and I usually dub it "Super Tuesday" or something lame along those lines. Today is that Tuesday for 2007. Besides Our Love To Admire which we covered yesterday, and The Else which you can now get in stores, here's the other notable releases this week.

They're far from My Formative Years, but Billy Corgan and his Smashing Pumpkins (or can we just say it's Corgan hiding under a moniker after TheFutureEmbrace,) have made a record I'm not ashamed to say I'm listening to constantly. Or, at least a few songs. After seven years, the messy solo record, and a decent supergroup that came out of Zwan, old Billy and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin shacked up and (as one of my best friends would put it) wrote songs in the vein of the Pumpkins to make Zeitgeist. Some songs, they honestly do shine: opener "Doomsday Clock" is gargantuan and on par with any song from Siamese Dream; "For God And Country" sneaks in elements of Machina; "Tarantula" actually isn't a bad single! But where the album strives, it also has its pale moments. With the use of three different productions teams (either Corgan and Chamberlin themselves, or with the help of Deftones producer Terry Date or the legendary Roy Thomas Baker,) the album at times has three distinct sounds. Where "Clock" has that signature brutal guitar and pounding drums, "Starz" sounds like a rough demo with lead guitar overdubs. The finale "Pomp And Circumstances" sounds as awful as anything we were expected to Embrace on Corgan's solo effort: covered in synths and all kinds of unnecessary electronic elements, the squealing guitar solo that comes in mid way makes you want to turn it off and question why this song is on the album? Luckily, the 10-minutes of "United States" is worth every second: holier than thou guitars, movements and changes like "XYU" almost. It's as close as we'll get to the Pumpkins of yesteryear. I do suggest checking out the multiple bonus tracks from various retailers (or blogs.) "Stellar" is exactly that, and makes me wonder why that isn't on the album instead.

Stream: Zeitgeist [Here] /// [Buy Here]

If Boxer (or, yeah that War Stories record) were the safe bet for my album of the year, "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb" is without a doubt the best song to come out in 2007. In 3:08 (not even, since the song ends at 2:44,) Spoon made me go cuckoo for Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. With the simple tambourine, the bright brass, and, is that a xylophone(?), Britt Daniel and the rest of the Austin band (now featuring ex-Get Up Kids/current White Whale bassist Rob Pope) craft a gem that I've been saying for two months now is the Greatest Motown Hit Barry Gordy forgot about. Besides the saccrine blast of "Bomb," Ga features what sounds like a sonic throw down between Chicago and a random mariachi band (the Jon Brion-produced "The Underdog,") brooding melodies that almost sound out of place ("Eddie's Ragga,") and the obvious inclusion of the hand clap, world's cheapest instrument ("Don't Make Me A Target,") Spoon have grown from their previous efforts into an even more comfortable zone and still don't let me down. First editions come with the Get Nice! EP: 12 songs in 22 minutes that fit perfectly as the soundtrack to 3 A.M. on Saturday after a long night out.

Stream: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga [Here] /// [Buy Here]