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Review: “This Is Next: Indie’s Biggest Hits Volume 1”

August 22, 2007 4:50 PM

In an effort to boost the profiles of many of today’s most cutting edge bands, the top-tier independent record labels (Vice, Sub-Pop, Kill Rock Stars, Merge and Matador) have joined forces to release “This Is Next: Indie’s Biggest Hits Volume 1,” the first in a series that they hope will give the very successful “Now That’s What I Call Music” brand a run for its money.

(The album cover also states that the disc is “powered by MTV2,” but frankly, that seems to be a little bit of a joke considering that the channel seem to air reruns of “Pimp My Ride” much more than they show videos these days.)

Essentially, what they’ve created is a best-of, hits mix for the hipster crowd.  No doubt, they were also inspired by the success of similar indie-themed soundtracks to “Garden State,” “The O.C.” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” not to mention indie-rock’s many recent triumphs on the Billboard charts.

“This Is Next” opens with Bloc Party’s “The Prayer.”  Immediately you are hit with a powerful boom-bap, and a haunting chant that almost sounds like monks deep in meditation.  This surreal stomp is quite stirring.  It is such a bold track that it demands a full-throttle, hip-hop flavored remix or at least a darkly gothic cheerleading routine to go with it!

Out of 15 tracks on the disc, there are three flawless singles.  The first one is the Shins’ “Phantom Limb,” in which James Mercer manages to summon his inner Brian Wilson and deliver one of his most soaring melodies to date.  It’s no wonder the band debuted at No. 2 on the album chart.

The second flawless entry is Spoon’s new single “The Underdog,” which, with its rapid acoustic-guitar strumming, joyous horn section and hand-claps, sounds like it should be running over the credits of a Wes Anderson movie.  With a textured voice that’s full of bile and natural cynicism, you really believe and are a little scared by singer Britt Daniel when he sings, “You’ve got no fear of the underdog. That’s why you will not survive!”

Finally, the third masterpiece is “Hold On Hold On” by alt-country singer Neko Case.  By far the best song on Case’s great record “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood,” this is the kind of performance that makes careers. Case’s voice is much more booming and soulful than it is twangy.  It is a raspy, ethereal instrument.  I may have listened to this track two hundred times since its original release, but it never gets old.  It just continues to unfold.  Thirty years ago, this would’ve been a huge hit and perhaps her signature song.  These days, Top 40 radio has no sense of adventure; thus this stellar track is allowed to slip through the cracks.  Hopefully its inclusion on this compilation will boost its number of plays on radio.  If Brenda Lee were to reinterpret a Lee Hazlewood tune, it might very well sound like this.

When listening to M. Ward’s dusty, homegrown acoustic blues on “Chinese Translation,” you can almost picture the singer sitting on the front porch of a quaint, little house strumming away. 
Deerhoof deliver an off-kilter, semipsychotic sounding, organ-driven boogie on “The Perfect Me.”  It’s a track that is just as weird as it is appealing.  Imagine Stereolab with occasional speed-metal spasms. 

Bright Eyes’ “Four Winds” comes complete with a fiddle section. Cat Power brings the lights down low with an all-too-knowing, soulful ode to drinking on “Lived in Bars.”  Ted Leo & the Pharmacists manage to sound like a more updated, much more punk answer to the Joe Jackson Band on “Colleen.”  Of Montreal aren’t afraid to get weird and trippy.  The Hold Steady combine power-pop and pub-rock while Cold War Kids bring a sense of immediacy to their track.

The only track I can imagine never getting to rock radio is the closer, “Satan Said Dance” by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.  It’s a challenging piece.  Some may find Alec Ounsworth’s high-pitched, semi-off-key delivery to be an acquired taste.  The track is a little grating and sort of a mess, albeit with a pretty righteous organ solo. 

Perhaps it is being too picky to point out that both Sonic Youth and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs  have contracts with major labels.  Both these bands were signed to indie labels before, so I guess it isn’t a stretch to still call them indie rock. 

Sonic Youth pretty much helped invent the genre, and their last album “Rather Ripped” was one of their best and most accessible records to date, but “Do You Believe In Rapture?,” the track picked for this compilation, isn’t the best representation of their skills.  The record’s opener, “Reena,” would’ve been a much better pick. 

If you like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Cheated Hearts,” feel free to pick up their album “Show Your Bones.”  At the same time, I highly recommend you also pick up their astonishing new EP “Is Is.”  It is one of the best of the year.

“This Is Next” is a good compilation, even if most of these songs play better within the context of their original albums.  It’s an indie-rock starter-kit.  It will give people a chance to listen a lot of new, hip bands they may not otherwise hear. 

August 22, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (2)

User Comments

Posted by: Bill McCarron | Aug 22, 2007 8:49:41 PM

Posted by: Nathan | Aug 25, 2007 2:47:49 PM

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