Cyndi Lauper
“BRING YA TO THE BRINK”
“Bring Ya to the Brink,” Lauper’s first album of original material in roughly a decade, repositions her sound for a shift on the dance floor. It’s a stubbornly fluorescent record, long on thudding downbeats and short on nuance or grace. The few successes here make use of Lauper’s still-powerful voice and her ear for full-throttle choruses. “Grab a Hold,” produced by the London electro-pop group Dragonette, plays to these strengths. The result feels unfortunately slight. [ NATE CHINEN, NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE ]
The Ting Tings
“WE STARTED NOTHING”
The Ting Tings are a British duo — Katie White on lead vocals and guitar and Jules De Martino on drums, keyboards and electronics — that loves the perky pop impulse wherever it has surfaced through the decades. The songs don’t hide echoes of predecessors from Blondie to Nancy Sinatra, although the Ting Tings are clearly fondest of the 1980s, when do-it-yourself punk and new wave flirted with dance music and bubble gum. The songs rarely use more than two chords, and they’re usually built on hand clap-ready drumbeats and scrappy guitar riffs. [ JON PARELES, NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE ]
CD RACK
Also in stores Tuesday:
– Eliza Gilkyson, “Beautiful World”
– Al Green, “Lay It Down”
– Andy Griggs, “The Good Life”
– John Hiatt, “Same Old Man”
– Sam Phillips, “Don’t Do Anything”
– 36 Crazyfists, “The Tide and Its Takers”
– Usher, “Here I Stand.”
