DEAD MEADOW

Old Growth

For the decade-long span of its career, Dead Meadow has operated under the radars of the mainstream and indie-hipster scenes, focusing on retro hard-rock and expanding its music with psychedelic textures.

“Old Growth,” the band’s first album in three years, succeeds in directing some much-needed attention back to the blues. It serves as a reminder – heck, even a plea – to today’s fragmented music world not to abandon its roots. The swaggering riffs of “What Needs Must Be,” “‘Til Kingdom Come” and “Between Me and the Ground” are prime examples of this. All the while, the layered flourishes of psychedelic guitar elevate Dead Meadow’s sound beyond the capabilities of your average hard-rock outfit.

Bookending the album are the two most ambitious pieces, the rousing “Ain’t Got Nothing (To Go Wrong)” and the plaintive “Either Way,” which show the scope of everything the band has to offer.

The only drawback is that Dead Meadow has a tendency to rest too heavily on its laurels. Clocking in at nearly an hour, Old Growth could have benefited from some editorializing; a few tracks (“I’m Gone,” “Keep Walking”) fail to bring anything fresh to the table and feel designed to exist as album filler.

But when stripped of its bland moments, “Old Growth” reveals itself to be a highly ambitious rock album. This can be seen in the dark tribal stomp of “Seven Seers,” which gathers momentum to arrive at a dramatic crescendo, and “The Queen of All Returns,” which sports a slithering bassline and frantic tom-style drums that evoke the best qualities of surf music.

Verdict: A solid mix of earthy blues-rock and atmospheric psychedelia that suffers from the occasional dull moment.

- John Barrett

STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS

Real Emotional Trash

Seminal indie-rock outfit Pavement has subsequently bit the dust, but from the ashes, lead singer Stephen Malkmus has continued to be revered as a respected alt-rock elder statesman thanks to a string of successful solo releases with his backing band The Jicks. “Real Emotional Trash” is another turn that’s simply too solid to be tossed aside.

Whereas Pavement used to rip on the hippie population in songs such as “Fillmore Jive” and the B-side “Jam Kids,” Malkmus’ latest LP finds him embracing said population to a pretty obvious but truly acceptable extent. He preserves the rough-edged aesthetics of Pavement’s electrified jangly guitars and rambly, run-on phrasing – but then trades in the excess fringe for tremendously tightened-up elements of classic rock.

Every song in some capacity is an opus unto itself, rising and falling with a surprisingly workable range of riffs that recall Santana or The Dead. The album’s title track alone just crosses the 10-minute mark, lyrically and musically depicting a man on the run and the world inside his head – a daring yet do-able departure from his grunge era formula that’s also found on the dark, driving track “Baltimore.” With other standout songs like the springy and irresistibly happy “Gardenia” and hooky hang-ons like “Hopscotch Willie,” this album demonstrates how Pavement fans can rest easy with Malkmus’ restorative and refined sense of songwriting, and others will easily embrace how he can still stay truly relevant.

Verdict: One man’s “trash” is another solo project treasure.

- Sami Promisloff

MARS ARIZONA

Hello Cruel World

Somewhere out there, in the far reaches of music fandom, it’s still popular to espouse a hatred of country music. Anyone still clinging to this antiquated sonic worldview owes it to themselves to pick up a copy of the exceptionally well-executed Hello Cruel World, the most recent release of California singer-songwriter duo Mars Arizona.

Comprised of Americana veteran David Grisman, Nicole Sorto and a host of guest musicians playing everything from pedal steel to classical strings, Mars Arizona’s third effort is a dose of traditional country tempered by enough unexpected innovations (wa-wa peddle, anyone?) to make it sonically interesting, even to country novices.

“Hello Cruel World” is a lamentation on the dark state of modernity using a mix of new material and covers of the likes of Loretta Lynn and Neil Young. Starto and Grisman switch lead vocal duties every other song and occasionally share the responsibility, resulting in the sort of beautiful, aching harmonies only the exceptionally talented can achieve.

“Earth,” a stately, elegant country waltz about the death of the planet, is the best of the original work. Unfairly buried in the middle of the album, the song somberly chronicles the slow destruction of the environment and summarizes the album’s overarching theme of devastation.

Mars Arizona has more to it than sadness, though. The best of Hello Cruel World’s covers is that of Loretta Lynn’s “Blue Kentucky Girl.” Starto’s vocals do Lynn’s legend proud, and while the rendition of the country standard is more faithful than it is revolutionary, even the most dedicated country hater can find something to enjoy the song’s story of a small town girl waiting for her lover to realize leaving for the big city was a bad idea.

Much the same can be said for the entire album. Don’t let the twang be deceptive, Mars Arizona has created some immensely enjoyable music.

Mars Arizona will play Little Kings on March 13.

- Amanda Mull