These days, it feels as if we're on the cusp of a guitar comeback in the mainstream. Ever since Mumford and Sons set off a new wave of pop-folk, Top 40 radio has slowly relented on its "dance only" policy. While we're not back to where we were in the mid-90s yet, we at least have the 2015 Best Alternative Album category from The Grammys, featuring six-string virtuoso Jack White and throwbackers Cage The Elephant. Alt-J eschewed much of the guitar work that made them stars on their debut, but their sophomore album's big hit ("Left Hand Free") features one of the year's catchiest riffs. Who should win and who will win?
Here are the nominees:
This Is All Yours by Alt-J (Canvasback/Atlantic)
Reflektor by Arcade Fire (Canvasback/Atlantic)
Melophobia by Cage The Elephant (RCA Records)
St. Vincent by St. Vincent (Loma Vista Recordings/Republic)
Lazaretto by Jack White (Third Man Records/Columbia Records)
WHO SHOULD WIN: Let's talk about the effort from Alt-J. This Is All Yours is not a complete withdrawal from the sound that made them UK superstars on An Awesome Wave, but it's certainly not the radio-friendly cash-in you'd expect.
There are plenty of cavernous tracks that run together like a string of meditations. "Left Hand Free" is the earworm, while "Every Other Freckle" has also done time on the FM dial.
Sample from our September review: They've succeeded in making this dream-like effort into something socially diverse and interesting. That's what's always drawn me to Alt-J, that they are sonically unpredictable. I don't feel like this album is better than their debut, but they are definitely still doing their thing.
Cage The Elephant is one of the few mainstream rock bands that could've hacked it in any era. They're starting to come around to more of a "2010s sound," but its beautiful.
Frontman Matthew Shultz is one of the genre's most creative vocalists, even if some of the band's structural choices are a bit wonky. Melaphobia is not the pop machine that the 2008 self-titled debut was, or the grand experiment of 2011's Thank You, Happy Birthday.
It finds that happy middle ground that pleases fans of both. The only knock is the lack of a true standout track, but (silver lining alert) that adds to the LP's cohesiveness.
Jack White is a pretty consistent entity, even though he's well past the earth-shaking days of working with drummer Meg White as The White Stripes. Lazaretto was another solid effort from his Third Man Records imprint in Nashville.
But we couldn't agree on the artistic merit of the new album when we discussed it in June.
Here's a sample from our summer review (via Joey DeGroot): It pains me to say that, because I'm a huge fan of the White Stripes and Jack White's songwriting, but two albums in, his solo career just isn't doing anything for me. He can still write a guitar riff and tear through a punk-blues solo like nobody else, but without the minimalist template he had to work with for the White Stripes, his songwriting's taking a backseat.
But St. Vincent separated herself from the pack.
She had one of critics' favorite albums of the year in 2014. Her self-titled record blended ethereal introspection with pop sensibilities.
Here's a sample from our review: It is her most musically ambitious album to date. She is provocative, witty, confident, and strange, but clearly very self-aware, making sense of why she decided to name the album after herself at this particular time.
The sounds are eclectic and challenging while still accessible, showing that it's possible to make experimental music that is still pop music.
WHO WILL WIN: Arcade Fire have been the biggest indie band in the world for awhile now, and it's no wonder: They keep pumping out excellent albums. Even when they're at their worst -- 2010's The Suburbs was solid but... you know -- they get nominated for Grammys.
Reflektor is not the band's best work, but it continues the group's sonic development into new, exciting areas. The title track was the primary record pusher, and even that cut spanned more than seven minutes.
Win Butler and co.'s fourth studio album stands up against anything else on the market. And with their three-year gap between releases still intact, we're making the safe assumption that they'll provide us with another classic LP by 2016.
