Album Review: Wicked Will by The Ettes

After working with the Reigning Sound's Greg Cartwright on their previous album (Do You Want Power) and stretching the boundaries of their well-established garage punk sound a bit, the Ettes headed back to Liam Watson’s Toe Rag Studio to crank out the more Ettes-y sounding Wicked Will. This time out there are precious few ballads or moments of introspection, no psych-y interludes, not much subtlety, and lots of raw and ready energy. Once they get past the seething acoustic ballad “Teeth,” which opens the album, Coco, Jem, and Poni sound like they are on a mission of destruction.

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“Every time you smile, I can tell you’re just showing your teeth,” Lindsay “Coco” Hames snarl-purrs on Wicked Will opener “Teeth,” and it’s a apt and ominous m.o. for The Ettes’ fifth long player. Like The Dead Weather, Jay Reatard and The Black Keys, all acts that the Nashville-based trio has shared stages with, there’s an ominous cloud that hangs over The Ettes’ dirty pop.

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Nashville rock trio Ettes has some rage issues—and the band is not afraid to take them out on you. Led by the slight Southern drawl of Lindsay “Coco” Hames, Ettes’ fourth LP since forming in 2004 is upfront and edgy, each lyric prickling with unbridled honesty. Opener “Teeth” starts with Hames’ voice sounding innocent and childlike against the soothing yet suspenseful guitar melody.

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Thomas DybdahlSongs(Decca) Rating: Doe-eyed and slightly disheveled, Norwegian singer/songwriter Dybdahl is the perfect Sunday antidote for that Saturday night you’d rather forget. He drapes his lovelorn voice over sparse, acoustic, hauntingly introspective pieces that never go where you think they will on this sumptuous compilation of his five albums released in eight years. Low key and subtle but never snoozy, this gorgeous, slightly offbeat folk/jazz is music for the morning after.

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