Sound Off | Singles of spring a pleasant surprise

Spring's here, so get ready for a useless filler sentence about the weather. In addition to sunbathing on the quad, the warmer temperatures mean a slew of new albums in the next couple of months. But since the album is supposedly dead, and no one has the attention span to listen to 12 songs in a row, I'm going to focus on a few singles.  In the world of hip-hop, we have three Wu-Tang stalwarts striking out on their own and a severely underrated southern rapper returning from prison. In the world of indie-rock, we have a fresh-faced group from the Garden State bucking the sophomore slump trend and a taste of the new album from longtime favorites The Hold Steady. So break out your sundresses and Ray-Bans, because this is another filler sentence about the weather.

Last year saw great records from both Ghostface Killah and Raekwon the Chef, not too bad for a couple of throwbacks pushing 40 years of age. But if you thought these guys would slow down, you're dead wrong. Later this month, Ghost, Rae and their Wu-Tang crewmate Method Man will release their own album, the redundantly titled Wu Massacre. The first single is "Our Dreams," and it gives no indication that the Wu have decided to switch gears and change up their style. Based on a lusciously sung hook and smooth soul track to match, the three masters do what they do best: dishing on their respective lady friends and the struggles they've faced to get to where they're at. If you're a card-carrying Wu-Tang fanatic, it goes without saying that there's plenty here to like. If not, then you probably won't have much incentive to pick up Wu Massacre. Some might argue that its hard for Ghost, Meth and Rae to stay relevant when they haven't changed much in close to 20 years, but if it ain't broke, why fix it?

When a well-loved band releases a new record, you hope for one of two things: that the band will successfully venture into new territory and expand their repertoire, or that they will stick to their bread and butter and satisfy the seasoned fans. From the sound of its first single, "Hurricane J," The Hold Steady's new record, Heaven Is Whenever, should do the latter. Filled with their trademark bar-band guitars and anthemic "ohs" and "ahs," lead scribe Craig Finn spins a familiar yarn about a wayward girl and her deleterious encounters with not-so-nice boys. For Finn, the devil is always in the details, and he's got the eye of a novelist, giving his cast of rapscallions all the nuances they need to come to life. But simply describing a bunch of grungy kids is no miracle; Finn gives his stories heart. And after being swept up by The Hold Steady's rolling, rollicking jam, you'll care about the title character as much as Finn does.

Next up, in a similar vein, is Titus Andronicus with "A More Perfect Union" from their excellent sophomore record, The Monitor. The album is supposed to be some sort of concept record about the Civil War, but aside from the title of the track in question and a few recordings of Civil War battle speeches dispersed throughout the songs, The Monitor stands on its own without any gimmicks. These guys know how to push all the right lyrical buttons, name dropping the Garden State Parkway and paying homage to the patron saint of New Jersey with the delightfully half-screamed line, "Tramps like us/Baby we were born to die!" (If you don't get the reference, you don't deserve to have it explained to you.) I can't say enough about the raggedy and propulsive aesthetic Andronicus has conjured up on "A More Perfect Union," complete with orchestral, multi-part song structures and emotion-laden-about-to-explode vocal hijinks. The effect is a more streamlined and less whiney take on one of Conor Oberst's less-known earlier bands, Desaparecidos. For all the shit that gets dumped on the fine state of New Jersey, Andronicus gives New York's armpit something to be proud of.

Switching back to the world of rap, we have a flurry of jail sentences, but only one release from prison, courtesy of T.I. You've got to hand it to him: the rapper picked the absolute worst time to get released from prison, thanks to the press Lil Wayne and Gucci Mane have been getting for their jail sentences. It's no surprise that his comeback single is titled "I'm Back"; you get the sense he's angry that he has to remind people he's not the only southern rapper dealing with the penal system. Lil Wayne notwithstanding, "I'm Back" proves that T.I. never really left. The beat is a classic slice of thumping bass and horror-movie synth that moves along just fast enough to get both T.I.'s flow and the dance floor moving. Though the lyrics aren't anything groundbreaking—its mostly filled with the same old gangsta platitudes—T.I. shows once again that his vocal talents are nothing to scoff at. His normally giddy inflection has been replaced with a contemptuous growl, the verbal equivalent of a middle finger held high. "I'm Back" sounds like a year's worth of backed-up talent rushing out of T.I.'s mouth like a tsunami ready to topple a city, and if you didn't see it coming, he definitely did.

—Martin Bergman '12 is a Jewish studies major writing a bi-weekly column on recently released albums.