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Moros ErosI Saw the Devil Last Night and Now the Sun Shines Bright

The convenience and ease of modern recording is a double-edged sword. On one hand, a starving artist can buy a decent computer and mic with money left over from his school loan. On the other hand, it has never been easier for marginally capable but well-meaning musicians with too much time and money on their hands to make a recording that sounds good but is comprised of utterly atrocious, meaningless songs. This album falls into the latter category. The drummer needs a Ritalin, while the songwriters need to spend some time woodshedding their craft. Moros Eros comes across as a dollar store version of At the Drive-In. The band is tight, but all the band members are prone to endless noodling, while shrill vocals scurry over the top of the riffing garage rock.

BaysideThe Walking Wounded

This album is a mix of average modern rock melodies and chords, with some sexyhott guitar lixx that would make Eddie Van Halen proud. Jimmy Eat World is partly to blame for Bayside’s bland sound. Close harmonies are a high point, but they are present in almost every song, so it gets a little old. The songs’ chord structures, melodies and rhythms are often generic. Forgettable lyrics comprised mostly of whining generalities about “I” and “you” make this mediocre but completely radio-ready. The straw that breaks this ho-hum camel’s back is the totally over-compressed mix, a problem found in many rock albums today. In an effort to make it sound radio-friendly or professional, the life is sucked out of it by squeezing together the high highs and low lows, both in volume and in sonic quality. What’s left is a recording without dynamics, where even the “quiet” parts come across just as loud as the crashing, raging parts.

Bayside plays March 16 at the Hawthorne Theater.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd10 Days Out (Blues from the Backroads)

Kenny Wayne Shepherd is a good-looking young white boy who plays blues guitar. On this album, he has wisely teamed up with a bunch of different old-timers who were apparently heroes of his. Recorded in just 10 days while Shepherd traveled around the country, each cut on this album features a different special guest, such as BB King, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Pinetop Perkins and more artists who are lesser known but equally talented. The result isn’t quite the crass commercial cash-in that one might expect. Instead, it’s an album of fairly authentic-sounding acoustic blues numbers and fiery electric blues songs, all filled with tasty solos and moaning vocals. The CD is packaged with a documentary DVD of the time spent traveling and recording this album, which also features some songs not found on the CD. If there is a complaint about his album, it’s that some of the recordings are too clean, too pristine-sounding. It’s a matter of opinion, but if you like your blues gritty and dirty, this ain’t the album for you.

Elisabeth Ames & The CountrypolitansAnytime

Former Portlander Elisabeth Ames leads the band on this CD of finely crafted country songs. Although the songs are sung with a little twang and filled with pedal-steel guitar, this isn’t idiotic hillbilly music. Instead, excellent musicianship and well-crafted songs filled with meaningful lyrics drive this album’s 11 songs. And it’s about what one should expect from a band that counts Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard among their fans. This is country “pop” in the sense that there are strong melodies and musical hooks throughout the album, but thankfully, the album doesn’t approach the commercial gloss of Shania Twain. From the breezy, Beatlesy pop of “Genesee,” to the glad-to-be-broken-up two-step of “Bound,” to the acoustic waltz of “Blue Water,” this album has everything you might want from a modern country album.

Elisabeth Ames & The Countrypolitans play March 9 and 10 at Duff’s Garage.