Tommy Heavenly6 and the Kaiser Chiefs' New Albums

No, they're not recording together. That's just how I wrote the title...

I've been holding off on this one for a little bit until I had a something real to say other than a gut reaction. I got an advance copy of Tommy Heavenly's new album, "Heavy Starry Heavenly" a few weeks back. I didn't want to say anything about it until (a) it was closer to the album's release and (b) I was sure how I felt about it. Short version: I love it, but it's not as good as the self titled debut album.


The good: She's just as grandly goofy as ever. The line between camp parody and serious RAWK is nearly completely blurred. It's musically rock hard and the songs are becoming Geek Gothic, lyrically. There's one song called "Bloody Knee High Socks" that opens with her lamenting she fell asleep while playing FF! Well, that came out of nowhere, but rest assured the song in general is about Bloody Knee High Socks. Who else could get away with this stuff?


The not so good: There are too many songs from the 5 previously released singles. I expected to see Heavy Starry Chain", "Pray" and "I'm Gonna Scream+" listed, but was kinda surprised to see "Lolipop Candy BAD Girl" and "I {Heart} Xmas", as they are very much seasonal novelty songs. To it's credit, however, "Lolipop Candy BAD Girl" is edited down to include only the Tommy Heavenly sections and the Tim Burton Danny Elfman-esque intro is gone. The most disappointing aspect is the number of B-sides and Bonus tracks from the singles that are appearing here. Out of the 12 songs on this album, 8 are previously released on singles (that's 2/3 recycled material, folks!).

Still, all in all, I'm a fan of this album and I can't wait for the actual release with the bonus DVD.
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A Quick Note

So, for all of you NOT into the J rock scene, I've also been listening to the new Kaiser Chiefs album, "Yours Truly, Angry Mob". I rather like British snot rock, so this new one didn't disappoint. It seems to me to be a perfect continuation to their previous album, "Employment". If you're in Europe, this one came out yesterday; if you're in the USofA then it'll be out the 27th of March.

The lead single, "Ruby" is fab, but if you're a big fan, you probably know that already. It's made number one in the UK. Other tracks like "Highroyds" and "The Angry Mob" highlight their socially concious lyrics (if you're into that message type stuff) and slower tracks like "Love's Not A Competition (But I'm Winning)" inject a softer touch while the snotty factor remains in the sratosphere. I'm still giving it a major car ride spin, so I'm sure it'll grow on me much more, but as for now, I recommend it... Especially if you liked "Employment".