Daily Staff Writer

“Days of the New”

Days of the New

One of the biggest challenges for rock musicians is to redefine themselves so they can maintain and expand their audience.

Days of the New’s Travis Meeks steps up to that challenge confidently, taking his band by the reins and steering them in a completely different direction on their second album.

Meeks fired Days of the New’s original lineup before recording the new self-titled record, claiming they did not share his same vision.

Part of Meeks’ new conception is reflected in the color green, a visual element that surfaces as a reoccurring theme on the record.

Incorporating the help of an orchestra and chorus to give the album more depth, he enlisted female vocalist Nicole Scherzinger, whose magnetizing vocals provide a contrast.

The songs themselves are like chapters in a novel. The storyline follows Meeks’ spiritual change from a problematic childhood to the man he is today.

The album opens with a stampede of horses as the music of “Flight Response” rises in intensity. The song parallels Meeks’ newfound identity and the response needed to make a positive change.

“Enemy,” the album’s first single, is an intricately woven acoustic pop song with techno drum beats. The radio mix is more compressed and hides the small details that comprise the album version.

Following a soothing acoustic interlude, the orchestra steps into play with a powerful opening to “Weapon & the Wound,” a song that Meeks wrote for his daughter, whom he has lost contact with because of legal matters. The orchestration breathes life into the song, and Meeks shows off his lush singing voice, something he rarely did in past musical endeavors.

The only track sounding like old Days of the New is “I Think,” a song that slowly builds in intensity before exploding into a powerful thrash of guitars linked with Meeks’ familiar gnarl of a voice.

Stylistically, “Days of the New” touches on music with both American Indian and Eastern influences.

“Longfellow” seems Egyptian in nature, conjuring up images of camels trotting through deserts carrying beautiful princesses.

Days of the New’s sophomore effort shows that 20 year-old Meeks has outdone himself. The album’s concept is awe-inspiring, especially considering the age and experience of the man who envisioned it all.

5 stars

— Kevin Hosbond

“Morning Becomes Eclectic”

Various Artists

Commercial radio conglomerates have nothing on National Public Radio and the Los Angeles-based KCRW affirms it with “Morning Becomes Eclectic,” an engaging compilation of edgy on-air performances from Nic Harcourt’s popular morning show of the same name.

“Morning Becomes Eclectic” follows in the footsteps of the “Rare On Air” series, which was based on the same show and featured artists like Beck, Fiona Apple, Ben Folds Five and Tori Amos like we’ve never heard them before.

The formula hasn’t changed, nor has the diversity of artists. Think “120 Minutes” meets “Storytellers,” only you paint the visuals in your own mind, which isn’t a challenge with this collection of intrigues.

Harcourt, KCRW’s Creative Music Director who also produced “Eclectic,” has a critic’s ear for music, basing his selections on song craft, ingenuity and lyrical expression. These are the artists who show up on Rolling Stone’s best of the year lists — PJ Harvey, Mercury Rev, Beth Orton, Air and Morcheeba, to name a few.

Harvey and Orton live up to their lofty reputations, each capturing a rare mood of seductive insecurity you can’t find on a Jewel record.

Orton, whose toned-down “Sugar Boy” originally appeared on her amazing 1996 debut, “Trailer Park,” showcases a vocal prowess that is more soulful than Lauryn Hill and more precious than Sarah McLachlan.

Cake also dig into their early material with “Is This Love?,” featuring frontman John McCrea’s storytelling skills and a smokin’ trumpet solo as the icing on the … Cake.

KCRW utilizes the record to boast its discoveries, which happen to include Sixpence None The Richer. The station was the first to spin “Kiss Me,” but don’t hate them for it. The “Eclectic” version is spiced up with mandolins and is a bit less annoying than the way-overplayed original.

Another interesting take on a way-overplayed radio hit is Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn,” only on it’s not performed by the Australian soap star, but by the original authors, Ednaswap, who play the pop tune as a ballad.

Male singer/songwriters are mainstream radio no-nos, but KCRW embraces them. “Eclectic” includes heartfelt numbers by Joe Henry, John Martyn and Lyle Lovett.

Martyn sheds the same Robert Bradley-like tears, crying “Gimme a reason to love you” like a street corner musician in a ghost town, while Lovett’s “Bears” is classic folk with a Jacko-twist.

Sure, “Morning Becomes Eclectic” has a few sinkers, but they’re not enough to keep you from floating for a while on clouds of musical diversity.

If only public television was this innovative.

4 stars

— Corey Moss

“Diamonds in the Belly of the Dog”

OtherStarPeople

If the now defunct members of Veruca Salt gave birth to four bratty toddlers, they would be OtherStarPeople.

This two-year-old pop-rock group hits the airwaves with their major label debut, which mixes fun and funky sounds with a unique girl-guy combo of talent.

L7 bassist Jennifer “Precious” Finch takes a break from her infamous grunge-punk band and takes a stab at guitar in this project.

Finch shares vocals with Xander Smith, who provides a lower vocal range. Bass player Junko Ito and drummer Todd Philips round out this quartet of misfits and complete OSP’s unique sound of pissed off tots refusing to share their toys in the sandbox.

On the wistful “Sun and Sky,” the group nearly breaks the heart with a whispered refrain of “Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day.” Even the compact disc booklet has the group playing dress up in a variety of mom’s clothes.

Each tune includes the band’s distinct calling card of a “do-do-do” or “ooh-ooh-ooh,” especially on the radio-friendly, “The Half of You I Love.” At first, the formula is mindless and almost refreshing, but after an entire album of it, it seems like they run out of lyrics.

The band also visits the dark end of the spectrum with “Go To.” The obvious destination of a lost lover is excluded, but the intended malice is made clear with the screaming of “Lick the edge of a kitchen knife.”

Time will tell if this unique group is different enough to make the public take notice or if OSP is just too ahead of their time to last.

3 stars

— Kelsey Foutch

Indie Spotlight

“Very Emergency”

The Promise Ring

Jade Tree Records

Milwaukee emo-popsters The Promise Ring crash landed into the public eye two years ago with “Nothing Feels Good,” a humble album whose unique songcraft gained them praise on college radio and in national media.

Punctuated by quirky lyrical word puzzles, fuzzy guitar fills and easy-going vocals, The Promise Ring have always held simplicity high as a core ideology.

The band’s third full-length album, “Very Emergency,” which hits stores Sept. 21, takes simplicity to a higher level of importance.

Gone are the deep, introspective lyrics that made 1997’s “Nothing Feels Good” captivating.

Instead of the poetic, thought-provoking epithets of the last album like “Where’s New England in my life/ It’s only cold when you sleep alone/ And pink chimneys in Maine couldn’t keep me awake,” the band tones down their philosophical tendencies.

Frontman Davey von Bohlen writes songs about girls, kicking to the side deeper topics like religion and philosophy.

The excited “Skips a Beat” addresses the difficulty of a crush blossoming into something more.

“So wouldn’t it be nice if we could live twice in just one life/ And then we’d know what to do when I’m shaking in my shoes and my heart skips a beat over you,” von Bohlen sings.

While that song concentrates on new love, the somber “Things Just Getting Good,” deals with a relationship turning sour.

The group’s new focus shouldn’t be feared. The songs here are still short, punchy glimpses into the thoughts of four twenty-somethings passionately trying to leave their juvenile past behind and enter adulthood.

When all is said and done, “Very Emergency” must be accepted for what it is — a modest pop album. And that promise is fulfilled.

3 1/2 stars

— Conor Bezane

Ratings based on 5 stars scale.