The Severed Cortex

Remember when I said I was almost caught up with music? I lie.

Inside the Human Body by Ezra Furman and the Harpoons

Ezra Furman and the Harpoons put a out a jangly rock-o-planes and cotton candy full length in 2007 and were hailed as the next coming of Bob Dylan. In group form. Although, lets be honest. Ezra gets most all the credit. The Chicago group's second bite from the apple came along relatively quietly. Because it wasn't as good as the first? No, not at all. While in many ways it is a repeat of their debut album, this one is also quite different. The Harpoons are clearly much better players, Ezra seems more aware of what's going on, and the production is leaps and bounds better than the debut. Oh, so it's a studio album where someone polished them up? Well, yeah. Sort of. Minty Fresh put more money in this one and the response from the band is that they want to ride the hype for just a while longer. There is a lot of studio direction on this. Otherwise, if you really believe Ezra pulled off something this slick you have to suspend disbelief of his persona. And of the band. So studio direction or not, this is still very much Ezra Furman. It couldn't be more obvious than Big Deal, referring to himself as a trained seal in the chorus. A lot of what Ezra Furman does is very much derivative of the Violent Femmes. You get healthy doses of Bob Dylan and Neil Young mixed in as well, but there's still a heapin' helping of Ezra Furman for your listening pleasure.
Take Off Your Sunglasses gives you the best dose of the grab for mainstream appeal. The aforementioned Big Deal is just plain fun. I really like The Worm in the Apple. A lot. Brilliant song. Of course I have to also give the nod to Springfield, IL, but buyer beware. It's kind of a downer song.

You Kingdom You by Fires of Rome

Flat out, you will be blown away by this. From the opening number until the end I guarantee every listen of this will add more to your listening pleasure. Well, maybe not guarantee. If you absolutely hate prog rock with all your heart and soul then you probably won't like this. This is very much prog rock-esque. It's also a fair amount of theater. No, not that awful Dennis DeYoung Styx theater crap. It's more like Freddie Mercury and Queen, except without far less perverted mustaches. A lot of this is very reminiscent of bands like Queen, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Yes, and dare I say it, Rush. No, Fires of Rome does not sound like a single one of those bands. You might call it a new millennium version of that same genre, but Fires of Rome own their own distinct sound. If you want to call it redefining the genre, then feel free. I think that's a fair assessment. The 70'ish glam/prog aspect intrigues me a great deal (no they aren't glam either), but I still say this band is way more substance than style. The eventual reality may be that Fires of Rome never produce anything this good ever again. If that happens I'll admit that they were all style. Or at least mostly style.
Buy the whole thing and be amazed that there are bands that put out stuff of this quality. If you simply can afford only single songs, go with any of them besides It Makes Me Weak or Handgrenade. Those are still good songs, just weaker than everything else on here. I like Set in Stone, Song is Yet Unsung, or You're Such a Cherry. I find that last one to be the most different than the rest of the disc, but it is still a damn fine song.