Entertainment, Music - Army Times

Listen Up reviews: Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Tinted Windows, Rick Ross, Cage the Elephant

Depeche Mode

“Sounds of the Universe” (3 stars out of 4)

Comment: ELECTRO-ROCK THERAPY

One of the most influential bands on the planet goes intergalactic on its 12th studio album, a musical journey that’s part spaced-out voyager, part return to the launchpad. The bloated strings of the early ’90s are gone, as are the Gothic fog and the band’s misguided stab at stadium rock. Depeche Mode seems content to embrace its electronic supremacy on a crisply produced, lushly layered dreamscape.

The waves of loops and surges of synths suggest sonic wallpaper, but the band’s thrust, pounding beats and eccentricities thwart any lapses into easy listening. A reliance on vintage synthesizers and drum machines produce a buffed tech noise that’s simultaneously retro and futuristic, best evidenced in Jezebel, a lounge tune for Trekkers.

Despite the smoother texture and contemplative, even spiritual, tone, David Gahan, in a baritone more vulnerable without the earlier theatrics, hasn’t changed his tune thematically. Pain, anguish and regret flood the grooves. That’s a universal sound.

— Edna Gunderson

Download: “Perfect,” “Wrong,” “In Chains”

Consider: “Fragile Tension,” “In Sympathy”

Skip: “Spacewalker,” “Peace”

Pet Shop Boys

“Yes” (3½ stars)

Comment: POP POWER

The Pet Shop Boys bring the pop power with “Yes.” Remember when smart pop wasn’t a contradiction in terms? When producing three- to four-minute singles that gave people goose bumps was a serious art form, and wisecracking Brits became famous by recording such bittersweet gems rather than humiliating kids on reality TV?

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe never forgot, of course, but their 10th album, “Yes,” is particularly rich in pleasure and poignancy, harking back to the duo’s ’80s heyday. The first two tracks, the single “Love etc.” and “All Over the World,” which borrows a riff from Tchaikovsky, only hint at the emotional and textural sweep of the album. Aided by producer Xenomania, they wrap their insinuating melodies in electronic and orchestral drama, finding soulfulness where many of their techno-pop peers would find irony. Loneliness, nostalgia and yearning for the unknown and unattainable are recurring themes, but the songs betray, and provide, a sense of ineffable joy. “Do you believe heaven is a better place?” Tennant sings on “More Than a Dream.” “We’ll be there in a heartbeat.” And you believe him, if only for a few blissful moments.

— Elysa Gardner

Download: “Vulnerable,” “More Than a Dream,” “Pandemonium,” “Legacy”

Consider: “Beautiful People,” “King of Rome”

Tinted Windows

“Tinted Windows” (3 stars)

Comment: BOYS MAKE GOOD

What do Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, Fountains of Wayne and Ivy bassist Adam Schlesinger, former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha and former teen idol Taylor Hanson have in common? A penchant for brisk, driving guitar-pop, and now, an unlikely new forum for it. Schlesinger wrote most of the exuberant tunes, all of them infectious and executed with unpretentious virtuosity.

— Gardner

Download: “Nothing to Me,” “Cha Cha,” “We Got Something”

Consider: “Can’t Get a Read on You,” “Without Love”

Rick Ross

“Deeper Than Rap” (2½ stars)

Comment: RUNNING THE STREETS

The Boss’ latest doesn’t dent the surface any more than his previous projects. He touches on all the themes you’d expect — drugs, money, women and Maybachs — and not much beyond. Still, he keeps things interesting, with bold beats, a larger-than-life personality and a lot of help from a lot of friends. His tales of gangster riches are colorful, but you wish Ross would find something deeper to talk about.

— Steve Jones

Download: “Maybach Music 2,” “Usual Suspects”

Skip: “Lay Back,” “All I Really Want”

Cage the Elephant

“Cage the Elephant” (2½ stars)

Comment: UNCAGED STOMP

There’s nothing particularly original about this church-raised, hell-raising Kentucky quintet, but radio can always use a jolt of energetic, funkified alt-rock. The band’s Southern-shaded mash-up of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Kid Rock mercifully steers clear of rap-rock territory. Some tunes swing with genuine spirit; a faux rebel clatter taints others.

— Gundersen

Download: “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked,” “Soil to the Sun,” “In One Ear”

Skip: “Lotus,” “Drones in the Valley”