Rock the Garden 2011 Lineup Announced!

After a couple months of guessing, speculating and just joking about possible bands for this year's Rock the Garden, The Current & The Walker Art Center officially announced the lineup this afternoon. As anticipated, the 4 artists bring together a wide variety of sounds, and trigger the unavoidable difference of opinion from local music "critics."

My Morning Jacket will headline the event, definitely bringing "rock" back into its title. While this can't necessarily be considered a coup for the promoters (that would've been reserved for the likes of Arcade Fire or The Strokes), they have tapped a reputable, relevant and intense live band to cap off the festivities. Kudos to the Walker for actually securing a legit headliner for this year's edition. The middle of the day will be taken over by R&B/Blues legend Booker T. Jones and the always stunning and intoxicating vocal prowess of one Neko Case (to which I give another huzzah!). This year's local opener is Pitchfork riches-to-rags rockers Tapes 'N Tapes, definitely the least exciting act of the day, but one that will undoubtedly get the 10,000+ crowd in shape for an overall impressive lineup.

Tickets are on sale now to Walker/MPR members (well, so says The Current...yet again, there's nowhere to enter in your Member ID # on the Walker's page, essentially making the tickets already available to the general public). Get them now, because they won't be available for long.

Tapes 'N Tapes - Outside (Album Review)

TAPES 'N TAPES * OUTSIDE

(Ibid Records)

If you take the praise given to Tapes 'N Tapes since their 2005 debut, The Loon, and throw it on a line graph, it would look something like Katie Holmes' smile....super high at first, then steadily declining as it reaches the other side of the teeth, and for some reason it never goes back up. Something like that.

After the former Pitchfork darlings lost the love of the means-too-much indie rock blogosphere with 2008's Walk It Off, Outside was supposed to be their explosion back into credibility. The lead single, "Freak Out," proved that Tapes 'N Tapes still had it in them...that they knew how to break the right amount of ground while still maintaining a certain amount of pop sensibility. It's a damn good track and it got me super excited for the rest of Outside.

Consider my balloon popped.

While "Badaboom" is a good way to start a record, what follows doesn't deliver on its implied promise. "SWM" and "One in the World" just seem lazy...with the latter embodying some sort of wannabe Vampire Weekend tribal vibe at times. The curiously named "Outro" in the middle of the record really wants to be an epic jam, but the band decides to cut it short right when the guitars are at their angriest. For this being a self-released album, it seems awfully restrained.

There are a handful of really good songs on the album, but Tapes 'N Tapes would've been better off releasing Outside as an EP.

Grade: B-