Tuesday is My Day of Worship

Tuesdays are my favorite. It's my day of worship--the day new albums hit the streets.

After being on their myspace page for the whole week, the Kings of Leon's new album, "Because of the Times," dropped today. The reviews continue to be all over the place. The Washington Post got it right in calling their debut "excellent," but then they blew it by calling the new album "the Kings' best." They're also a little off in referring to "Aha Shake Heartbreak" as "underwhelming." "Aha" wasn't on par with "Youth and Young Manhood," but it's still a solid follow-up. I'm curious to see what the music snobs at Pitchfork (www.pitchforkmedia.com) think. They've blasted everything the Kings have put out, except their first EP. Pitchfork tends to delve into some interesting musical territory, but unfortunately they tend to blast new music just for the hell of it or just to go against the grain. Good music is good music is good music, regardless of who likes it or how popular it gets. If you wanna a good laugh, check out Pitchfork's review of Jet's dartboard album, "Shine On."

Anyway, I'm really stoked about listening to Jarvis Cocker's new solo album, "Jarvis." He's the brains and broken pelvis (read his bio on answers.com) behind Pulp. Though not as well known stateside, Cocker is a beautiful mess and the tabloids adoration, before Pete Doherty rolled along. Not quite as debaucherous as Doherty, but as cantankerous as Oasis' dueling brothers, he's sheer entertainment on and off stage. He's as well remembered for his hit song, "Common People," as he is for crashing Michael Jackson's performance during the 1996 Brit Awards, where he performed in front of hundreds of children (if only Cocker would have busted up Jackson's shenanigans at his Neverland Ranch). Anyway, Reports state that Pulp is simply on hiatus.

Sidetracking a bit, I've been on a real Britpoprock binge lately: Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, etc. The binge started after working on a piece for New Jersey's Star-Ledger. I interviewed the Britpop rockers-by-way-of-Argentina, Babasonicos, for a story that unfortunately fell through. Ex-Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown even has a song named after them and during a recent show in Buenos Aires, Brown asked the hometown band to join him on stage. Must have been a riveting performance. Speaking of missing great performances, I really hope the Happy Mondays play at Virgin Fest in Baltimore (so far only The Police, Smashing Pumpkins and Beastie Boys have been confirmed), since I will not be making it to Coachella this year for their reunion show. Supposedly, they will also release a new album. Note to self: get home and upload all the Happy Mondays and Kula Shaker stuff onto my iPod and quench my music thirst.

Nick Cave's garage band side project Grinderman will come out next week. Waiting for this one, should keep me pumped until next week. Gotta go read Pitchfork's Jarvis Cocker and Nicke Cave/Grinderman interviews.