CD reviews

The Offspring
Splinter
Columbia
Since the early 1990s, California-based punk combo, Offspring has been raking it in monetarily and kicking up a very pseudo-rebel racket with its stylized metal-punk revivalist sound.

It might have been one of the first revivalist punk bands to sell over 4 million albums on an independent label -- 1994's Epitaph release, Smash -- but Offspring's rebel stance soon became questionable.

Three after its indie success the band made the fatal mistake of crooning about rebellion while signing a deal with a major label, in this case Columbia Records.

The resulting multinational-backed musical anarchy saw 1997's

Ixnay on the Hombre receive rave reviews but fail to secure a first-rate chart position. Follow up albums, Americana and Conspiracy of One fared much better, but by then the band had become little but a crossover punk/pop act with the same faux-punk rock credibility as Blink 182.

Splinter, the Offspring's seventh full-length release, offers more of the same, over-played and stereotypical hooks and riffs that have come to symbolize rebel rock since grundge-chic replaced punk-panache in the late 1980s.

Tunes as Never Gonna Find Me, Long Way Home and Lightning Rod churn with the all-too predictable buzzsaw guitar. Even more embarrassingly, for erstwhile rockers, are the album's less boisterous moments, with tunes like The Worst Hangover Ever and Spare Me the Details see the band careening on a head-on collision with ska/pop act, Sugar Ray.

Splinter is a dud devoid of any form of originality. Neither clever enough nor crass enough to be a genuine punk record, Splinter is little more than an anthem to today's fashion-conscious frat-boy punk-rocker types. Arrgh!

Flaming Lips
Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell
Warner
The Flaming Lips returned to the fold last month with Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell -- an EP packed with all the

symphonic majesty and grace that Lip's fans have come to expect from the now heroin-free Wayne Coyne, Steven Drozd and Michael Ivins.

Featuring new tracks and three remixes of tunes from the band's 2002 release, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, the Lips' sublime fusion sound and emotional directness has never been so good.

Whereas Lips of yesteryear took listeners on a hurdy-gurdy, drug-crazed ride on which they were forced to face their most deeply repressed nightmares, the Lips of today take the listener on a musical journey through a mystical and magical symphonic world where happiness is the order of the day.

While of material from the band's breakthrough 1999 release, The Soft Bulletin, the EP's new tunes are much brighter, far more complete and, produced by Lips' longtime studio guru Dave Fridmann. As a result it is more reliant on digital influences and electronica than previous outings.

Sunship Balloons, Assassination of the Sun, A Change at Christmas and I'm a Fly in a Sunbeam are all sonic cinematic soundscapes and melancholy acid-soaked opuses filled with an assortment of highly positive vibes and emotions.

The EP's remixes don't come off badly either, with Do You Realize? receiving a mild trip-hop remix treatment from DNTEL's Jimmy Tamborello and Ego Tripping getting some fantastic mild acid jazz Fila Brazillia-styled ambiance added to it by Jason Bentley, as well as a more drum 'n' bass inspired reworking by Blow Up.

Santana
Ceremony Remixes and Rarities
Arista
For nearly 30 years guitar maharishi, Carlos Santana sat on the peripheries of the music world. While tuned in and, some might say, genuine music fans were fully aware of the Latin-tinged rock guitarist's prowess the majority of the record-buying public were swallowing the plastic music company manufactured kitsch hook, line and sinker and remained blissfully ignorant of the guitarist.

All this changed in 2000 after sales of his Supernatural exploded, taking it past the 10 million mark and garnering Santana 11 Grammy nominations, of which he won eight. Since then the guitarist has teamed up with just about everybody who's anybody in the music business and become a household name.

For his latest release, Arista has lumped together a selection of tunes that, while highly entertaining, offer genuine hardcore Santana fans very little to cheer about. Sure the remixes are not without charm, but the record buying public -- regardless of Santana smarts -- would be better off listening to the originals.

Some the album's better moments are the Latin-loaded, thumping-brass infused cover version of Femi Kuti's Truth Don't Die, a moody lounge version of Victory is Won and a wonderful icy-cool reworking of his 1999, Primavera.

The bottom line here is that, as one of the world's greatest guitar virtuosos, it is a real shame that Santana and his music have become so synonymous with commercialism.

NYLAS
Where Are You My Dear Uncle K
FNAC
This year's winners of Fnac's "Attention Talent" contest, NYLAS -- comprising Arny and La Pen -- has recently seen the fruits of its labor released by the French department store's record label.

The resulting mini-album, Where Are You My Dear Uncle K, is not a bad first effort. While the band's two members quote trip-hop gurus Radiohead and psychedelic post-punksters Mazzy Star as their main influences, the material on the album actually leans more heavily toward downbeat.

NYLAS resorts to flashes of trip-hop and other such basics as a last resort. Where Are You My Dear Uncle K is a predominantly soundtrack-music based album that has all the trappings of Portishead with slices of pseudo-cabaret for good measure.

Starting a slow wind-up and somewhat claustrophobic downbeat tune, Blow Away the Shadow from the Sky I, the pace on the mini-album picks up on track two, Stop Shining, which is a terrific mild dance tune that sees the duo blending trip-hop beats with child-like vocals.

As a mini-album, the CD only really gives listeners a taster of NYLAS. The nibble, however, is good enough to leave those with a passion for morose and ambient downbeat-inspired vibes itching for more.